PNG International Rugby Player, Watson Boas recently presented Jerseys to the PNG Flag bearers to show his support to them as a fellow Papua New Guinean living in England. “The presentation was to show them how proud and happy I am to see them travel all the way here to represent their families and Papua New Guinea as a whole.” Boas said that he wished team PNG all the very best when they compete in their respective events. He said on a personal note, his current aim is to work on his fitness and play good footy after coming back from an ACL injury and knee reconstruction surgery. “I still have a lot to work on and get back to the way I used to play before.” “I don’t think about next year or the year after, just letting the future worry about itself.” Boas added that for young ones who dream about playing rugby overseas, they must not only concentrate on playing rugby but balance it with school as well. "It's important to get a good education while excelling in the sport of Rugby League." "For myself, I struggled with his English when I first moved overseas to play professional Football so I don’t want anyone to do the same." Meanwhile Boas added for the SP PNG Hunters, from seeing highlights, his opinion was that individual players need to work on themselves and be consistent with their games. Boas further added congratulations to former coach, Michael Marum for becoming the new Governor of East New Britain in the 2022 National General Elections.

A newly refurbished Tubusereia Health Centre will now provide an improved and friendlier environment for the lone health worker Sr. Nancy to treat patients in and around Tubusereia village. The refurbished Health Centre was part of BSP Treasury Strategic Business Unit’s annual community project, which saw the BSP Treasury team handing over a newly painted building with tiled interior and exterior along with 10 new chairs for patients and building repairs. Sr. Nancy, who has worked at the Health Centre alone for five years, applauded BSP for the overhaul on the Health Centre saying that will motivate her to perform her role better in assisting patients. “The new tiles gives this place a more refreshing look for the patients, unlike in the past where we have patients seated outside on the concrete floor awaiting treatment,” said Sr. Nancy. BSP Group CEO Robin Fleming accompanied by BSP Treasury General Manager Rohan George upon handing over the project said, “Doing the right thing for our employees, customers, and local communities is what we aspire for and our community projects like this helps us achieve that, not only in PNG but also in the other Pacific countries that we operate in.” “Our active engagement with local communities strengthens, energize, and supports our community values to help our local communities prosper and thrive. Mr George reaffirmed this saying, “We believe that we’re all a part of a community. A healthy community and family will contribute meaningfully to the community and country at large.” “This is our first health project as we have been doing projects for schools and sports since, and we believe with this improved facelift on this health centre, it will improve working environments, motivate clinic staff to serve better, while the patients are more comfortable and relaxed when they visit the clinic,” added George. BSP has delivered 529 community projects since 2009, worth over K13.39 million. This year under the theme ‘Health and Education’, BSP handed over nine community projects from the 49 projects proposed by each of our Branches and Business Units

The PNG-Australia Partnership is supporting the law and justice sector to better measure incidences of gender-based violence (GBV) and use this data to help inform policies and services to help combat sexual assault, workplace sexual harassment and GBV. Among the twenty officers who attended the week-long workshop was RPNGC Family and Sexual Violence Coordinator, Superintendent Delilah Sandeka, who said the training would help improve the way her organisation collected and presented data on gender-based violence. “I now know what support to provide to researchers and what information to give them,” Superintendent Sandeka said. This information will help guide the allocation of resources and the provision of services across the 46 Family and Sexual Violence Units (FSVU) nationwide, which are part of the frontline support services for survivors of family and sexual violence. Another to attend the training was Amelia Raka, Senior Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Officer at the Department of Personnel Management (DPM). Ms Raka said the training equipped her with the skills to measure the prevalence of gender-based violence. She said the five-day training had given her the knowledge and confidence to undertake a national baseline survey, sanctioned by the DPM, to measure how many public servants experience gender-based violence in the workplace. “I see the potential for us to carry out a baseline survey on the rate of violence that happens within the public service such as sexual harassment, workplace bullying and the use of power and authority to disadvantage certain officers within the organisation,” she said. Constitutional and Law Reform Commission GEDSI Officer, Vincent Gigmai, said the training helped broaden his understanding and ability to undertake GEDSI-related research. Mr Gigmai said the training in data analysis and the presentation of findings was particularly useful. “We have enough data, but the problem is we do not know how to present it in a way that will influence policy makers, legislators and parliamentarians and this course really fills the gap and brings forth everything we need to know,” Mr Gigmai says.

The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an initial $100,000 (352,500 Kina)  in immediate humanitarian assistance to respond to displacement in Papua New Guinea resulting from election- and tribal-related violence which began in May and continues. According to the UN, 25,700 students are unable to attend school and more than 550,000 people have no or limited access to basic health services due to damaged facilities, lack of staff who have fled the violence, disrupted supply chains, and other impacts from the violence.  There are also continued reports of violence, including violence against women and girls. Estimates from organizations and government officials in the affected districts and provinces indicate that tens of thousands of people are displaced from the conflict-affected areas.  Through CARE International, this initial $100,000 (352,500 Kina) will provide immediate food, water, sanitation, and hygiene services to 3,000 of the most affected people in Porgera-Paiam District. The funding will also support shelter and livelihood recovery for affected populations. USAID humanitarian experts in the region are working in close coordination with partners to identify and meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy, Joseph E. Zadrozny, reiterated his earlier statement condemning the recent violence. He said, “I again call for an end to the violence and a peaceful and free democratic process. The United States stands by and supports Papua New Guinea during this difficult time, and we will continue to work together to effectively address these issues.” This emergency funding is in addition to long-standing USAID investments in disaster risk reduction programs in Papua New Guinea and across the Pacific that are active year-round. In Papua New Guinea, USAID has invested $5.4 million (19 million Kina) in preparedness programming that support communities and first responders to improve their resilience to disasters.  For example, USAID implementing partner the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is training national, provincial, and local disaster management authorities in Papua New Guinea on disaster response coordination, shelter needs assessment, and emergency shelter management. As a part of this program, IOM prepositioned emergency shelter supplies in high-risk and hard-to-reach areas in case of disasters. These items will be distributed to displaced individuals affected by the ongoing violence in the Highlands Region.  In addition, USAID has provided CARE with $1.2 million (4.2 million Kina) to strengthen the resilience of communities in the Highlands to the impacts of climate change and disasters through inclusive community disaster risk management, climate-smart agriculture, and gender-based violence risk mitigation.

A remorseful Pat Carrigan insisted he didn’t intend to injure Jackson Hastings after receiving a four match suspension for a hip drop that left the Wests Tigers lock with a broken ankle and syndesmosis injury in last Sunday’s match. Carrigan pleaded guilty to dangerous contact after being referred to the judiciary on an ungraded charge but the Broncos forward was not called to give evidence during the 85-minute hearing. Before deliberating for 25 minutes, the panel of former Dallas Johnson and Henry Perenara heard detailed comparisons with a hip drop tackle by Dragons forward Josh McGuire last season on then Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr. McGuire received a five-match suspension and Carrigan's legal counsel Nick Ghabar argued that his tackle was "at least reckless", whereas the involvement of Broncos team-mates Keenan Palasia and Corey Paix had been a significant factor. Ghabar submitted a report from a doctor, Dr Tim McMeniman, who outlined how Palasia and Paix had contributed to the injuries sustained by Hastings. NRL prosecutor Patrick Knowles sought a five-to-six match suspension, Ghabar said the tackle was worthy of a two-match ban. While disappointed with the outcome, Carrigan said afterwards that he accepted Hastings would be sidelined for three-to-five months due to the injuries sustained in a tackle NRL head of football Graham Annesley had warned clubs of in a 2020 memorandum. “I just wanted to say that I am very grateful to Nick and the NRL for a fair hearing tonight,” Carrigan said. “I am little bit disappointed with the result. I certainly didn’t have any intent or malice in what happened, but I am also very aware that Jackson is going to miss a bit of footy. I just want to wish him all the best with his recovery. “My focus now is to be as supportive as I can for the Broncos and for the next four weeks help them out. Hopefully I can get back in the team for that Dragons game and go from there." He will return in the final round of the season after the panel decided on a four match ban. Source: NRL.com

19 children with congenital heart disease have been offered the gift of life after they were operated on at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Heart Hospital in Suva at no cost. A 21-member team from the Sai Sanjeevani Hospital in India are currently conducting operations on the children. The Director of Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Hospital in Nasese, Doctor Krupali Tappoo, says they aim to complete 25 to 30 surgeries this week. She says they are grateful to their partner hospital in India for sending their best doctors to operate on the children. Dr Krupali says they are hoping that another team will visit Fiji next month. Out of the 19 children that were operated on, six have been discharged. Dr Krupali is urging parents to take their children to their nearest health centre if they feel and see that something is wrong. Source: Fijianvillage

A week after a school bullying case went viral on social media of students from Popondetta Secondary School, the school has received a lot of calls from concerned parents to have this issue sorted out and the girls dealt with. School Principal, Mr Clarence Honani said that according to the girls statement, the incident happened after there was a confrontation about rumours and gossip between the victim and the girls involved. “The girls were suspended and their parents and guardians were notified as soon as the school had found out about the incident.” “They will face the School Board of Governors next week to decide whether they should come back or be expelled.” Mr Honani expressed his disappointment that this incident happened in his school and has painted a bad image on the school. He said that he doesn’t want to see anything like this happen again in his school and they will be taking tough measures to make sure bullying is stopped in the school.

Team Papua New Guinea's Neville Warupi, Arthur Lavalou and Jamie Chang have reached the boxing quarter finals of the Commonwealth Games set for this Thursday. Heavyweight (Over 86kg-92kg) boxer, Lavalou and Chang in the Bantamweight (Over 51kg-54kg) division had byes which pushed them straight into the quarter finals. In the Welterweight (Over 63.5kg-67kg) division, Warupi booked his spot after beating Solomon Islands' Pemberton Lele on points (4-1) on Tuesday at the NEC. An elated Warupi said there was no shortage of motivation going into the fight against Lele. "With John Ume, Charles Keama and Allan Oaike all bowing out earlier, this is what pushed me to want the win even more. It gave me even more strength and determination," he said.  

The Buk Bilong Pikinini launched Book Week today with a field trip to the Airways Hotel Kitchen where they learnt how a kitchen operates and they decorated cakes with the Managing Director of the Constantinou group of Companies, Mr George Constantinou. George Constantinou said that Airways Hotel and the Constantinou Group of Companies proudly support charity and NGO organizations such as Buk bilong Pikinini, who provide essential services in the disadvantaged communities. “Early childhood education for children is important as it creates their foundation in learning and education. Education is key aspect in everything to help build a safer, stronger workforce and improved community.” “It is wonderful to be a part of an organization as BbP that provides education foundation for children. Children are our future. Education is key aspect in everything, so it is important that children have an education foundation established in their lives.” Mr Constantinou read to the children the ‘When I grow up, I want to be a Pastry Chef’ book before the children were given a tour of the kitchen. The Buk Bilong Pikinini will be celebrating book week for the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Executive Officer of Buk bilong Pikinini, Leanne Resson behalf of BbP thanked the Board, Management and staff of Airways Hotel for launching Book week. She also thanked Airways Hotel for being a foundational sponsor of Buk bilong Pikinini and providing generous sponsorship to the organisation since 2009.

South Pacific Brewery Limited has opened its new-look staff housing complex, refurbished at a cost of K6 million today. Refurbishment work began in December 2021 and took 8 months to complete. The investment of K6 million into the refurbishment of these residential complexes will now ensure forty-eight staff and their families will be housed in clean, well-maintained, and safe accommodation. The staff housing compound consists of forty-eight accommodation units: 20 single bedroom units and 28 double bedroom units. "SP Brewery continuously strives to provide quality staff housing for our people," says Managing Director Ed Weggemans. He added, "As the Managing Director of SP Brewery, I have presided over a number of events of importance to the company, but nothing is as important to invest in accommodation, especially in Port Moresby, where the rental rates are high". [caption id="attachment_24763" align="aligncenter" width="597"] SP Brewery Managing Director Mr. Weggemans[/caption] Mr. Weggemans urge the occupants and their families to look after the facilities to benefit them into the future. The staff housing project will be ready for occupancy next week.

The Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition (PNGNRLC), the Digicel Cup competition continues with matches in Kimbe, Kokopo, Lae and Port Moresby this weekend as the nation winds down on the closure of the 2022 National General Elections. Round 14 of the semi-professional rugby league competition will be played this weekend on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th August at the venues mentioned, with the Minj double header now relocated to the Lae Rugby League Grounds for Sunday. This is the only change with counting still in progress in Jiwaka, as a result the double header in Minj has been relocated to Lae for the security of all stakeholders of the annual Digicel Cup competition. The Santos National Football Stadium will host a double for Port Moresby fans with PRK Gulf Isou taking on the Bintangor Goroka Lahanis, and the main feature of the day will be between the Moni Plus NCDC Port Moresby Vipers and the Kroton Hela Wigmen, which will be a close tussle between the two teams who have prominent representative players in their respective line-ups. In Kimbe, the West New Britain Provincial Government Kimbe Cutters will host the Central Provincal Government Central Dabaris on Saturday at 2pm at the Sir Peter Humprey’s Oval. The top of the table clash will see the PRK Mendi Muruks go up against the Agmark Rabaul Gurias at the Goldspot Kalabond Stadium also on Saturday at 2pm with a bumper crowd expected for this match. The competition is now into Round 14 with 3 more rounds of competition remaining before the four weeks of finals so the battle to get into the top 6 is heating up. Crowds are encouraged to behave appropriately during game days to ensure the matches are played without any outside disturbances. Franchises in charge of the games and venues are required to ensure security and protection of everyone involved as we near the end of the election period.

The NGO Development Council appeals for the restoration of peace in the National Capital, Highlands and other concerned areas during this period. The NDC urges the government and authorities to play a proactive role in ensuring security of all its citizens and residents. During the recent weeks, they have witnessed and received reports of a deteriorating security situation with grave injuries caused, and even deaths. Killings of innocent people and atrocities against women and children have been concerning and should be checked regardless of whether they are election related or not. Communities have been displaced and are constantly living in fear, with businesses and markets also being looted and affected and several communities face an uncertain future. NDC urges the government and authorities to put a stop to these incidents and apply the rule of law to ensure the safety of all citizens and residents, and preventing loss to lives and property. They also wish to encourage the government and authorities to work with other stakeholders to provide humanitarian support to the affected communities and make a coordinated effort to restore peace to fighting and tension zones in the country. "We stand to support and help in any way we can."