Commissioner of Police David Manning signed a MoU between the Joint Security Task Force and the PNG Electoral Commission on Wednesday July 6 which effect Police coordination of logistic air support for the 2022 National General Election. The MOU, which was signed in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Province, was witnessed by the Chair of the Inter-Departmental Election Committee (IDEC) Mr. Ivan Pomaleu, who is also Secretary for the Department of Prime Minister and NEC. Mr. Pomaleu said this is in recognition of the limitation of air assets available for contracting to the PNG Electoral Commission. “The contractors engaged by the PNGEC for air support do not have adequate capacity to deliver logistics for the elections. So after having reviewed and evaluated the air support arrangements with Hela, and the first couple of days of polling, it became necessary to reconfigure the coordination and leadership arrangement for insertion and extraction of polling teams and the required security oversight. “This MOU recognizes the critical air assets capacities with contractors procured for the movement of polling teams and ballot papers, and sets out to achieve a more coordinated approach, and to ensure that all available air assets are coordinated through a lead point,” Mr. Pomaleu said. He added that there will be a need to reassign resources to fill the gaps as part of this MoU, with the key outcome being the achievement of operational efficiency as the teams move into the Enga and other provinces for polling. Chairman Pomaleu said the MoU may be reviewed depending on the evaluation of the operating environment after covering the upper highlands region and moving on to Simbu and Eastern Highlands provinces. The MoU was a result of discussions between the Police Commissioner Manning, Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai and Secretary Pomaleu. “Under this agreement, the RPNGC Air Wing hereby takes over the coordination and the delivery of air support,” Chairman Pomaleu said. The RPNGC Air Wing will command, control, manage and coordinate air support for this 2022 National General Election

OUR CULTURE will sustain the country’s economy after all the extractive resources are depleted, says the Executive Director of National Cultural Commission, Steven Enomb Kilanda.   While officiating the launch of Kala Community Culture Center at Kala Village outside Mt Hagen City in Western Highlands Province on Tuesday Mr Kilanda reminded the guests and villagers of the importance of preserving, safeguarding, developing and promoting their cultural heritage.   He said after all the minerals that are currently being developed around the country are extracted, one of the fall back plan to sustain the country’s economy would be their culture.   “Therefore, you must make every effort to preserve and safeguard your cultural heritage so that they will benefit you and your children in the future,” said Mr Kilanda.   He said apart from other cultural activities and events, the cultural center is where they practice and express their culture and arts on daily basis while passing on their cultural knowledge and skills to young people.   Mr Kilanda while commending the Chairman and Chairlady of Kala and Moga Community cultural centers said they took the challenges of preserving, safeguarding and promoting their dying cultures and arts.   He said the National Cultural Commission (NCC) was only a small government organization mandated to deal with the huge cultural matters of the country.    Therefore, he told the committees of both culture centers and the villagers to use the certificates that were presented to them to venture into small to medium enterprises (SME) because NCC does not have enough money to give it to them.   “Don’t expect NCC to give you money, rather use the certificate NCC is presenting to you to go into SMEs and earn incomes,” said Mr Kilanda.   He said conducting cultural activities and events at the cultural centers would certainly bring tourists into the communities because their cultures and arts is the only standalone tourism product in the country.   After the speaking and officially presenting the certificate to the chairman of the Kala Community Cultural Center he committed K10,000 and another K5,000 to Moga Community Cultural Center.    He also committed another K2,000 each during the official ribbon cutting to open the culture center for the cultural groups that performed during the launching for both cultural centers.   One of the NCC Board Members and one of the sons of Western Highlands, Professor Michael Mel was also invited to the launching.   He spoke highly of the efforts of the chairman of the Kala Community Cultural Center, Martin Nusa and his committee.  Prof. Mel visited the Kala Community Culture Center and Mini Nature Park and talked to Mr Nusa on conducting traditional knowledge and skills training with children and young people in that area.  Mr Kilanda, Prof. Mel, invited guests and other dignitaries who were there at Kala village were taken on tour into the Kala Community Culture Center and nature park after the facility was officially launched. 

 To create an enabling environment for cocoa, vanilla and fisheries entrepreneurs and to generate real possibility for economic growth that will enhance the livelihoods of rural communities, the UNDP under the EU-Funded Joint UN STREIT PNG Programme, is closing in on preparatory works with stakeholders to install solar generated clean and renewable electrical energy in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. In a one-day workshop organized by the Programme in Wewak, East Sepik Province, on Thursday 23 June, participating stakeholders from Division of Education, Sepik Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Mission, Division of Health and Catholic Health Service came together to discuss and gauge feedback from beneficiaries on the installation of micro grid solar systems in six identified facilities. The selected recipients in East Sepik Province are Taul Community Health Post in Turubu area of Wewak District, Nagum Adventist Secondary in Yangoru-Saussia District and the Catholic Health Service-run Dagua Community Health Centre along west coast highway in Wewak District. The beneficiaries in Sandaun Province are all located in Vanimo-Green District namely Don Bosco Technical School, Vanimo Secondary and Baro Community Health Post. These education and health facilities are located in areas with limited or no access to grid-connected electricity. Opening the workshop was Head of FAO Country Office in Papua New Guinea Mr Bir Mandal who was visiting Wewak to support the programme to expedite the programme implementation and enhancing partnerships with East Sepik Provincial Government. Mr. Mandal draw attention to the global scenario on energy access and what this means for the Greater Sepik Region and PNG. “A third of the 2.6 billion people in the world still do not have access to safe, clean fuels and technologies for cooking or heating their homes, at significant health, social and environmental costs. In PNG, only 15% of the total population of about 8 million have access to grid connected electricity.” He added: “For change to occur, we need to reset our energy systems and put people into the centre – ensuring that these systems are cleaner, more secure, more resilient, and totally inclusive.” “Under the Programme, we’re working together with relevant Government of PNG (GoPNG) agencies at the national level and our target provinces to ensure communities in the agri-value chain get connected to electricity via renewable energy sources. This initiative will contribute to the GoPNG’s energy access target as outlined in the Medium-Term Development Plan III and various development plans, policy frameworks and regulatory instruments,” said Mr Mandal. Despite the disruption in the global supply chain by the Pandemic which has put a strain on the progress of this effort, UNDP’s Project Manager, Ms Karen Anawe, said, “I’m pleased to announce that preparatory works are now underway to ensure we assist the government to close the energy access gap by promoting clean energy and a transition towards a low carbon economy in our focus areas.” Ms Anawe said the meeting also discussed sustainability and ownership arrangements of these micro grid solar systems. For the recipients, unreliable electricity supply has been an ongoing dilemma for years, hence the support will give confidence as well as strengthening their operations to service better the rural people. “Nagum Secondary is a recipient of this support and I like to say thank you to the European Union as financiers of this impact project, not only for the school, but for the community at large. We’re glad that the solar project in the future will gather for students from the Sepik provinces, and also from Madang and Morobe,” said Mr Jeffrey Saigomi, Secretary for Sepik SDA Mission. For Dagua Community Health Centre, serving sick patients after hours or in the night has been an concern for some years because of no proper lighting. “This is a big help to us, especially for the people living along west coast including Dagua LLG. The solar power will provide sufficient lights for sick patients in our wards. It will also help with some emergencies we conduct after hours and in the night like attending to deliveries and injuries from road accidents mainly,” said Mr Ignatius Burr, Health Extension Officer. The rural health facility services some 100,000 plus rural population of Dagua LLG including those from Boikin LLG. Despite being handicapped in its operations, the facility is known for being the first to attend to some very serious road accident injuries along the west coast highway before referrals are made to Boram General Hospital in Wewak Town. A feasibility assessment for renewable energy power was conducted in early 2021 for the region, and six facilities were identified for solar energy installation. The UNDP under the EU-STREIT PNG Programme supports development and improvement of renewable energy to create an enabling environment that will embrace development of the three targeted value chains which thousands of rural communities in the Sepik Region depend on to sustain their livelihoods. The EU-STREIT PNG, as a UN Joint Programme (FAO as leading agency, and ILO, ITU, UNCDF and UNDP as partners), is the largest grant-funded Programme of the European Union in the country and the Pacific region. Being implemented in close cooperation with the National and provincial government institutions, research entities, civil society organizations, and private sector enterprises. The Programme aims to help improve the lives of the people from East Sepik and Sandaun provinces, by focusing on increasing sustainable and inclusive economic development of rural areas through improved economic returns and opportunities from cocoa, vanilla and fishery value chains while strengthening and improving the efficiency of value chain enablers, including the business environment, and supporting sustainable, climate-proof transport and energy infrastructure development

To celebrate the launch of the American Chamber of Commerce Coral Sea (AmCham Coral Sea), the Chamber hosted young Papua New Guinean business leaders for a networking reception. Young professionals met with both the leaders of the AmCham and U.S. embassy officials to share their stories. This event marks AmCham’s first event within the business community upon becoming an official organization. Leaders chose this event as the first in order to spotlight that empowering young people and promoting inclusion is a cornerstone to the AmCham’s mission. Winifred Kula, President and Co-founder of PNG Digital ICT Cluster, attended the event as a young leader. She said, "I really like the shared vision and mission of AmCham and the PNG Digital ICT Cluster association.  As we also believe in prosperity through partnership and entrepreneurship as a powerful strategy to help individuals gain economic independence and serve as a catalyst for creating jobs and wealth in our society and way of life.” The recently established AmCham is committed to empowering all groups within Papua New Guinea to develop a diverse and equitable business community that will thrive in the decades to come. The AmCham notes the importance of youth voices in the business community, and empowering them is not only good for individual professional growth, but is also a key pillar in promoting a sustainable and strong economy. During the event, Duncan Lowe, Business Development Manager at Airswift and AmCham founding member, emphasized the importance of empowering all groups to create an inclusive and sustainable business environment. She said, “AmCham Coral Sea represents an amazing opportunity to create meaningful relationships and positive impact in businesses, communities and our people in the Coral Sea and the Pacific. The Chamber also works closely with the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby. Joseph Zadrozny, Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Embassy, said, “The United States is dedicated to our partnership with Papua New Guinea. We’re committed to supporting equal opportunity and economic growth in the region. And we are especially committed to supporting Papua New Guinea’s young people.” Over the coming months, AmCham Coral Sea will continue to build its presence and outreach into the Papua New Guinea business community. The AmCham plans to host its inaugural Business Breakfast, as well as attend the 2022 Business Advantage PNG Investment Conference. To learn more about the mission, vision, and future activities of the AmCham Coral Sea, as well as how to engage and become a member, please visit: https://AmChamCoralSea.org For further information, please contact info@amchamcoralsea.org.

Save the children is working with the National Department of Education and Provincial Departments of Education to implement trainings in 37 clusters and 27 districts in 6 provinces under its Boosting Education Standards Together (BEST) PNG project. Last week, the BEST PNG team held a week long training attended by 17 primary school teachers on Module 2 of the Standard Based Curriculum (SBC) Mathematics for Junior Primary (G3-G5) teachers for the Vanimo cluster in West Sepik Province. The implementation of the BEST PNG project is led by the National Department of Education (NDoE) in partnership with the Provincial Divisions of Education and funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Save the Children is the Grant Agent for the project. Other trainings under the BEST PNG project that have been carried out include SBC Module 1 Maths and Science to improve learning outcomes for junior primary students in 6 low performing provinces through strengthening pre-service and in-service for teacher education, to expand access to teacher training for female teachers and improve access to textbooks. The SBC Maths Module 2 expands on learnings from Module 1 and aims to equip teachers in using the SBC materials in supporting their planning , teaching, and assessment of students in Mathematics. It also focuses on a problem-solving approach for teachers to get students to understand and be interested to learn Mathematics as well as arms the teachers with the knowledge to return to their schools and share these learnings with their fellow teachers. West Sepik Provincial Department of Education's Superintendent for Operations & Standards, Basil Pere highlighted that these trainings were important for West Sepik because it is one of the 6 provinces that needs to upgrade in Mathematics. He said Maths is a subject that trains the mind of logically analyze and solve problems. Pere said, "In West Sepik training like this is important because we've been identified as one of the provinces that need to upgrade in out mathematics capability, so our children have to be upgraded in their knowledge through this kind of programs, so they acquire a lot more in Mathematics". Pere further challenged teachers attending the training to take ownership and fully implement what they've learnt from the trainings back in their schools when they returned. Provincial In-service Coordinator Sharon Buke with West Sepik PDOE further emphasized that trainings like this ensured that students learning was in line with the national curriculum's overarching benchmark. Buke said, "It is important to be trained in a way that when they sit for national examinations, the knowledge skills, and aptitudes they have gained from the teachers through this curriculum it has to be aligned to out national curriculum overarching  benchmark. Buke said, "It is important for students to trained in a way that when they sit for national examinations, the knowledge skills and aptitudes they have gained from the teachers through this curriculum it has to be aligned to our national to our national curriculum overarching benchmark. And the teachers must be competent". BEST PNG Project Manager Ambrose Ruyooka thanked the teachers for their participation in the training and shared a bit about components of the project and its objectives. The training was led by BEST PNG Provincial Coordinator Pauline Area together with officers from the West Sepik PDOE which included Provincial In-service Coordinator Sharon Buke, Provincial Trainer Elizabeth Bingop, School Inspector Basic Education William Basehan and Master Trainers Marie Gumari and Salley.

NCSL currently is urging its 143,000 members to update their personal member details to ensure the Society correctly captures member details onto NCSL’s core banking system. The mandatory updating of member records came into effect on Thursday 2 June, 2022 following a series of communications sent through the mainstream and social media, registered employers, SMS and other online advertising platforms. NCSL CEO, Vari Lahui said ensuring accurate and correct member details on file is a very important part of securing member’s funds and ensuring that NCSL deals with the rightful owner of the account and not someone pretending to be a genuine NCSL member. “As a result, we have decided to make it mandatory on our system for specific and important personal details to be provided by a member before we can progress any transaction for this member,” the CEO said. “There have also been instances where someone pretended to be a genuine NCSL member and had intentionally provided incorrect information to defraud the Society. For this reason, NCSL began the process of updating the records of our genuine members to avoid any more potential fraud cases,” he continued. NCSL’s Team Leader Branch support, Mr. Raphael Leo reiterated the importance of updating details which helps the NCSL staff to immediately identify a genuine member and attend to their queries more swiftly and efficiently,” he said. Presently, members with incomplete details or records will see a pop-up message on the Member Online Portal as “Your transaction(s) will not be processed due to missing member details. Email datacleansing@ncsl.com.pg or call 313 2049 for assistance”. Members who are yet to update their details are required to complete the Member Data Update form and submit with a copy of a valid identification card to the Data Cleansing group email. For more information on this article, please contact Ms. Louise Mary Kodor – Media & Communications Officer on 313 2055 or email lkodor@ncsl.com.pg

More than 1,500 members of the Joint Security Task Force began moving into the Enga Province from Hela as of Tuesday, July 5, in preparation for polling duties. Polling for the Enga Province is scheduled for today, July 7. Commissioner Manning who is in the Highlands overseeing the election security operations said, “The security operation focus has been in the highlands provinces based on the past experiences and intelligence reports but so far Hela has been reported relatively quiet with few isolated incidents which have been managed. We expect the same from the remaining provinces of Enga, Southern Highlands, Western Highlands, Jiwaka, Simbu and Eastern Highlands provinces.  “However, the security deployment and capability still remain heightened for worse case scenarios for polling leading in the couniting period.

As the incumbent Governor and Member for NCD, I want to once again express my absolute disappointment and disgust at the deferral of polling in the Capital City. The excuse made for the initial deferral from the 4th to the 6th of July and now from 6th to maybe 8th of July is completely unacceptable. I am furious and completely disgusted. I am sure our people are equally disgusted. Securing counting venues and preparing polling officials, ballot boxes and ballot papers are basic outcomes Chief Electoral Commissioner and his staff should have sorted out well before the 4th or 6th of July. These are basic issues they ought to have templates and be experts in these areas by now. This basic failure shows highest level of incompetency and someone should be brought to account for this level of  incompetency which is bordering on stupidity. This basic failures shows poor level of leadership, poor planning and total incompetency on the part of Chief Electoral Commissioner and his Officers. They ought to hang their heads in shame! For our Capital City to be continuously be subjected to such basic of problems is totally unacceptable! It reflects badly for the Electoral Commission, our Capital City and our country. These are basic planning matters that should have been resolved well before polling. They had four (4) years and then a number of weeks due to deferral of the Issue of Writs and then two more days and they still can't solve these very basic issues. As a veteran of four (4) past General Election and one By Election this is like deja vu. History repeating itself. Same problems in 2012 and 2017 and now 2022! As a Party leader too, I am concerned that the delay will affect our Party politically. Delay in polling means delay in counting delay in declarations. The delay is also costly for candidates and political Parties as we have to continue to meet cost incurred unnecessarily because of plain incompetence and stupidity. At the end of the day too our country and our people pay a high price in not just paying more financially for this delay but equally in the poor images and impressions which such completely avoidable problems create. Our people continue to lose confidence in the electoral process, international community including investors lose confidence in our systems and our leadership as a result of such blunder and incompetence! I want to also call on all Candidates too not to interfere too much with the process and management of the process. Let the Electoral Commission and its staff do their job and deliver the elections. We should respect the process by leaving the scrutiny of the process to our Scrutineers. It’s not necessary for candidates to go to the election Centers to intervene as the law allows them to be represented by their Scrutineers. Elections in PNG sadly have never been perfect but it allows for highest levels of scrutiny and we should respect that process.

Athletics PNG have announced a team of eighteen athletes for the Commonwealth Games which will get underway in Birmingham later this month, with the Athletics competition running from 2 to 7 August. The team includes ten male and eight female athletes , seventeen of whom who were nominated last year to the PNG Olympic Committee and endorsed by the Justification Committee. However Athletics PNG held off making any formal announcement of the team to ensure that only those athletes who were fit and ready to compete at the Games would be included in the final team. President Tony Green said that the US based athletes who were selected were informally advised earlier this year for obvious reasons as this had implications for their movements after the Mini Games in Saipan. It was agreed that the team be announced after the Pacific Mini Games and APNG is now doing that after clarifying the situation with some athletes who were carrying injuries, and after consultations with the PNG Olympic Committee. In announcing the team President Tony Green said that some of the US based athletes have had a long season and we have to be realistic in our expectations of their performance. However the experience of attending a higher level competition will stand them in good stead for the important competitions next year and beyond, especially for the relays. The womens 4*100m relay and mens 4*400m relay will be the main focus for the sprinters, but they will each take one individual event,possibly two in some cases. The team is : Male : Leroy Kamau , Emmanuel Wanga, Shadrick Tansi , Jonathan Dende, Daniel Baul Ephraim Lerkin, Peniel Richard , Lakona Gerega , De’bono Paraka and Karo Iga In form throwers De’Bono Paraka and Lakona Gerega will be looking to improve on the National Records that they set recently at the Oceania Championships and Pacific Mini Games respectively. Paraka, who wasn’t originally considered for the Games because he has had a low key last couple of years has proven his doubters wrong by getting himself into the best shape of his life and throwing consistently very well. He is now at the Gold Coast undertaking his final preparations with Coach Brett Green. 400m Hurdlers Daniel Baul and Ephraim Lerkin will be aiming to improve the times they clocked at the Mini Games and aiming to secure a place in the final four for the relay. Karo Iga, whose 2019 Gold medal winning performance of 6643 points is also his personal best will be aiming to accumulate close to 7000 points which would then put him in striking distance of Albert Momberger’s 30 year old National record of 7178 which he set during his lead up to the 1992 olympic Games in barcelona The womens team is Flag bearer Rellie Kaputin (Long Jump) , Annie Topal (Triple Jump) , Toea Wisil (100m) Leonie Beu and Isila Apkup (200m) , Adrine Monagi (100m Hurdles) ; Edna Boafob (Heptathlon) and Sharon Toako (Javelin). Monagi is another in form athlete who will be aiming for a top showing at the Games. Her hopes of making a significant improvement in her personal best time in the 100m hurdles in Saipan recently were thwarted by strong headwinds. Head Coach and Field events coach will be Brett Green assisted by Allan Akia , with Subul Babo and Allan Akia the sprint coaches. Team Manageress will be Nola Peni. The male sprint squad as well as isila Apkup and Leonie Beu are now at NSI after a short break at home and will leave for the Games on 21 July with the main PNG contingent. Only Leroy Kamau and Ephraim Lerkin opted to base themselves in Port Moresby for their final preparations. A total of ten athletes who require specialist coaching in the jumps, hurdles and throws are undertaking their final preparations on the Gold coast. Green thanked the National Sports Institute through Director Janet Gimots for the part they have played in supporting athlete training programmes and the HP Unit for the support provided to port Moresby and Lae based athletes. Sponsors PNG Air, Prima Small goods and Kumul Consolidated Holdings through the PNG Olympic Committee have also played an important part in team preparations, he added.

Polling kicked off in Morobe Province on Monday and at the University of Technology, polling ran smoothly. The University Vice Chancellor, Dr Ora Renagi said that ever since he was eligible to vote, he has been voting during the National General Elections. “By casting my vote, it is my way of expressing the kind of leader that I want to be in Parliament.” [caption id="attachment_23462" align="alignnone" width="768"] The University Vice Chancellor, Dr Ora Renagi[/caption] “Voting is the democratic right of every individual and no one should stop them from voting.” He said that the Electoral Commission must make available every opportunity for everyone to vote. Dr Renagi added that during the last National General elections in 2017, there were disruptions during the polling day as there were not enough ballot papers and some people didn’t have their names on the common roll. “I learnt from the last election so as soon as the polling site was set up on campus, I was there to monitor and see that polling went smoothly.” “If your name is not on the list, check with the Electoral commission and sort it out.” “If there are not enough ballot papers, talk to the Electoral Commission and solve the problem in an intellectual manner but not to come and disrupt the polling process.” [caption id="attachment_23468" align="alignnone" width="906"] Final year Mathematics and Science Student, Jemimah Job[/caption] Meanwhile, final year Mathematics and Science Student, Jemimah Job said that as a first time voter she was happy to cast her vote. She said that the leaders in parliament make decisions for the country and she hopes that her vote gets in the correct leader to bring in change in the country as most places don’t have access to basic services.

The Ulamagi Nazarine Clinic sees over 100 patients daily, serving not only the Gereka Community but 6 mile’s Dogura Community, back up the hilltops of the Koiari Mountains and even down the coastline villages of Barakau and Gaire along the Magi Highway in Central Province. Operating since 2013, the health facility has not received any maintenance assistance until this year. As part of its 2022 Community Project initiative, BSP Boroko Branch reached out to the Ulamagi Nazarine Clinic, giving the facility a facelift, replacing its fly-wire, installing new tables and shelves for proper medicine storage and installing a handwash basin for the community use. BSP Boroko Branch Manager Madeleine Leka and her team handed back the completed project to the Ulamagi Nazarine Clinic staff on Friday 1st July, 2022, thanking them for allowing BSP to come into their community to deliver the project. “It is pleasing to be handing over another Community Project back to the community. All branches, departments and units in BSP carry this out across PNG and the Pacific as well. I hope that through our contribution today, it will make a meaningful and lasting change in the community. We are also donating 10 First Aid Kits as well to assist with the generous work you are providing in the community, here in Gereka and along the Magi Highway,” Ms Leka added. Officer in charge of Ulamagi Nazarine Clinic - Nickson Kondi described the event as significant, noting it is the first time a corporate organisation has come to its assistance in 11 years. “Our clinic never had shelves in the past to safely store medicine or supplies, with this project, we now have new shelves, tables and we can store drugs away safely. I thank you for the vision you have in giving to the communities,” Mr Kondi added. Director of Nazarine Rural Health PNG, Gabriel Mahisu, also extended his appreciation to BSP for the assistance, in maintaining the clinic facility . “We had challenges with our operational budget. Despite having only 4 staff, we were unable to carry maintenance at this place. It was an unspoken need and we really thank you for your heart,” Mr Mahisu said. “This is a busy clinic, your investment is worth it and we appreciate the partnership in working with the church. Last year we saw 21,000 patients and everyday over 100 patients. The community thanks you, “he added

The people of Derim in Deyamos rural LLG, Kabwum District of Morobe Province travel two hours on a PMV to the nearest BSP Sub-Branch at Kabwum station to access basic banking services. BSP Lae Top Town Branch recently commissioned Modu Trading as a BSP Cash Agent in Derim village, a service that will save the people a K100 roundtrip to Kabwum station for banking transactions. Owner of J Mondu Trading, Mr George Honeta said; “As an Agent for BSP, I wanted to assist the communities by providing banking services here to minimize their cost of travel to nearest BSP Sub-Branch at Kabwum. Normally it takes two hours’ travel by PMV and costs K100 both ways trip from Derim to Kabwum for banking transactions. The people of Derim have had such a hard time traveling to Kabwum BSP sub Branch and Lae Branches to do withdrawals and deposits. Now that we have a Cash Agent in Derim Station, it will make it more convenient for the people of Derim Station to do deposits and withdrawals. No more traveling to the branches to access these services,” added Mr Honeta. Lae Top Town Branch Manager Bevilon Homuo said the services would now help make it easier for local businesses and people to do deposits and withdrawals on site. “Our branch team will do regular visits to open new accounts and register customers on mobile and internet banking. There is no need for you to spend K50 on PMV to travel to Kabwum or K300 by plane to Lae to do your personal banking transactions. You can do it here at Derim”. She said. BSP Lae Top Town Branch now has 11 active Cash Agents operating in parts of Morobe Province. The Agents are issued wireless EFTPoS terminals or devices by BSP. This enables the Cash Agents to facilitate basic card based transactions like real-time cash deposits, withdrawals and funds transfer. SP is the first to use technology to deliver innovative banking services to the most remote rural areas in PNG. Through an expanded network of Sub Branches, Agents and Payment Processors, and in collaboration with local communities, BSP is delivering the very best banking services for a range of diverse customers – at their doorsteps. BSP has 193 Agents operating across 22 provinces in PNG providing unlimited access to financial services, especially for the unbanked population. This banking system operates with the help of agents who conduct basic financial transactions on behalf of the bank.