Papua New Guinea’s national petroleum company, Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (Kumul Petroleum), announced today that it has appointed Mr Craig Schulz as its new Chief Operating Officer, filling a position that has been vacant for a while. Wapu Sonk, Managing Director of Kumul Petroleum said, “given our present level of operations in the petroleum sector, in non-petroleum related national development activities, and with forthcoming major projects such as Papua LNG and P’nyang LNG, it is timely that we have adequate and appropriately qualified senior technical management personnel.” “I am confident that Craig will be a huge asset for Kumul Petroleum with his decades of experience in engineering and petroleum development projects in Australia, PNG and internationally. As an organisation we have to be technically and managerially ready to participate in a meaningful manner in Papua LNG, P’nyang LNG and other petroleum development projects that are in the pipeline.” Mr Schulz has more than 25 years of leadership and major project management experience in the energy and resources industries in Australia and other locations, having worked with Kellogg, Brown & Root, BHP and Santos. This experience includes three years in PNG from 2010-2012 as Country Manager for Santos, a major partner in the PNG LNG Project and operator of the country’s oil fields. Mr Sonk continued, “Craig is not new to Papua New Guinea or our petroleum industry and has useful connections to other national and international stakeholders. He will hit the ground running and will be actively supporting Kumul Petroleum’s existing cadre of national professionals.” “Development of PNG’s natural gas resources will underpin future national development so it is important that the economic and social benefits from petroleum projects can be maximized. Kumul Petroleum has to have the right team members to ensure that this is achieved.” Mr Sonk concluded.

The Solomon Islands government has slammed an Australian offer to fund national elections next year, calling it an "assault" on its democracy and an attempt at foreign interference. Foreign Minister Penny Wong earlier on Tuesday confirmed that Australia made an offer to help fund elections in Solomon Islands next year as the country's parliament debated a deeply controversial bill to defer the national poll until 2024. The Solomon Islands opposition has accused Manasseh Sogavare's government of undermining democracy and trying to "bulldoze" through a constitutional amendment that would delay the election until after the Pacific Games in late 2023. Mr Sogavare brought the bill forward for parliamentary debate this week and it could pass as early as Thursday, despite protests from the opposition and civil society groups. The government argued it could not afford to hold both the Games and the election in the same year. Last month, some opposition MPs appealed for Australia to step forward and offer to provide financial assistance to allow the poll to be held on schedule. On Tuesday morning, Senator Wong confirmed the federal government had made a formal offer to help Solomon Islands hold the election next year, although she did not lay out the scope of that offer. "We have made an offer of assistance, and it's a matter for Solomon Islands as to whether they respond and how they wish to respond," she told RN Breakfast. [caption id="attachment_26280" align="alignnone" width="862"] Senator Wong says the funding reflects Australia's commitment to democracy.(AP: Robert Kitchin, file)[/caption] But late on Tuesday, the Solomon Islands government issued an angry statement calling the offer "inappropriate" and scolding the Foreign Minister for making it public while MPs are debating the bill to delay the poll. "The timing of the public media announcement by the Australian government is in effect a strategy to influence how Members of Parliament will vote on this Bill during the second reading on Thursday 8th September 2022," the statement says. "This is an assault on our parliamentary democracy and is a direct interference by a foreign government into our domestic affairs. "The Solomon Islands government has conveyed to the Australian government its concern on the conduct of bilateral relations via the media through the Australian High Commission Office in Honiara." Earlier, Penny Wong denied that the government's offer was a direct response to the Solomon Islands opposition's appeal for an intervention, stressing that Australia already had a track record of backing recent elections in the Pacific Island country. "No, this is because Australia has always historically supported democracy in Solomon Islands," she said. "We have previously offered support and we are offering support again." Opposition MP Peter Kenilorea Jr slammed Mr Sogavare's response, saying it proved the Prime Minister's real ambition was simply to hold on to power in Solomon Islands. "The attack by Sogavare on what is a generous offer by Australia is unfortunate and extremely unhelpful. It has exposed Sogavare and his government's … selfish agenda to hold on to power," he told the ABC. "We do not agree that Australia's offer amounts to foreign influence. When Australia gave $17 million for the Pacific Games it was heartily welcomed with smiles. But when an offer is made to support timely elections, it is seen differently. "This simply highlights the schizophrenic nature of Sogavare's relationship with Australia. He will take what he feels is good for him and will brand an offer to help uphold our own constitution as foreign influence." Australia has offered logistical and financial assistance for several recent elections, including the most recent contest in 2019. The government has contributed $700,000 through the Australian Electoral Commission, as well as $5 million channelled through a United Nations initiative designed to strengthen electoral processes through to 2024. But this offer makes it clear that Australia is willing to make a larger contribution over and above that to help Solomon Islands hold elections next year. "If the election remains in 2023, we will support Solomon Islands to ensure it can successfully occur," a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. Still, the Foreign Minister and Australian diplomats are treading carefully. 'A sad moment indeed' The election deferral is politically charged in Solomon Islands and some of Mr Sogavare's supporters have already taken to social media in the country accusing Australia of meddling in domestic politics. The opposition says the Prime Minister remains intent on rushing the constitutional amendment through as quickly as possible, and are angry they won't get a chance to scrutinise the bill in the Bills and Legislation Committee. The MP chairing the committee, John Maneniaru, lashed the process in parliament this morning, accusing the government of trashing democratic conventions. "I am very disheartened, very disappointed indeed, by the fact the Prime Minister and [his party] have seen it fit [and] decided to hijack my Bills and Legislation Committee mandate and parliamentary responsibility," he said. "This for me is a sad moment indeed … for our democracy. A fresh and new history has been pencilled down into our parliamentary democracy, [a] history that a deliberate decision was made to bulldoze into our parliamentary democracy process for the first time." Tess Newton Cain from the Griffith Asia Institute's Pacific Hub said the furious response showed how "sensitive and delicate" the subject was in Solomon Islands. "It's now becoming something of a flashpoint in the relationship between Solomon Islands and Australia," she said. Dr Newton Cain said it was reasonable for Australia to make the offer to fund the 2023 elections, despite the risk of it stirring controversy. "It was something of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation", she said. "Making the offer probably wasn't a miscalculation but publicising it before the Sogavare government had made their own response … is obviously something that has really got up Mr Sogavare's nose." "Having said that, as we've seen previously from Prime Minister Sogavare, he is very adept at taking each and every announcement and spinning it to suit his own narrative, and I think there's a bit of that going on now."   Source: ABC News

Liz Truss became the third female prime minister in British history on Tuesday and pledged to immediately set about tackling the United Kingdom's spiraling cost of living crisis, saying she was confident that "together we can ride out of the storm" of economic problems facing the nation. Truss, 47, took office on a day of ceremony that saw her scandal-plagued predecessor Boris Johnson bow out in a defiant speech at Downing Street in London before both politicians flew to meet the Queen in Scotland for a transfer of power. Truss, who served as foreign minister in the previous government, enters office after winning the most votes in the Conservative Party leadership contest to replace Johnson, who announced his resignation in July in the wake of a series of scandals. Her appointment fills a months long leadership void that the UK has endured as its worst economic crisis in decades has worsened. Truss's to-do list is long, with the country facing a deepening cost-of-living crisis, a crumbling healthcare service, and a seemingly endless wave of labor strikes. Speaking on the steps of Downing Street on Tuesday evening, Truss said her priorities were delivering tax cuts to grow the economy, improving Britain's energy security amid soaring prices, and fixing the National Health Service, though she did not outline any specific policies. She also said she would defend freedom and democracy in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine. "I will deal hands on with the energy crisis forged by Putin's war. I will take action this week to deal with energy bills and to secure our future energy supply," Truss said. "By delivering on the economy, on energy and on the NHS, we will put our nation on the path to long-term success." She ended on an optimistic note, acknowledging the many difficulties the UK faced at the moment. "We should not be daunted by the challenges we face. As strong as the storm may be, I know that the British people are stronger," Truss said. "Our country was built by people who get things done. We have huge reserves of talent, of energy and determination and I am confident that together we can ride out the storm." The most urgent problem Truss must address is the skyrocketing cost of energy, which could unleash a wave of business closures and force millions of Britons to choose between putting food on the table and heating their homes this winter. Experts have warned that people will become destitute and cold-weather deaths will rise unless something is done fast. The Bank of England anticipates that inflation in the UK will jump to 13% as the energy crisis intensifies, and that the country will enter recession before the end of the year. Goldman Sachs has warned inflation could even reach 22% if natural gas prices "remain elevated at current levels." Truss was formally installed as prime minister on Tuesday after visiting Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle, one the royal estates in Scotland, in a break with norms. Traditionally, the Queen invites a new prime minister to form a government during an audience at London's Buckingham Palace -- but for the first time in her 70-year reign, the monarch chose not to travel to the British capital as a precaution due to her mobility issues. Truss's meeting with the monarch took place shortly after Johnson met with the Queen to officially resign as prime minister. In his farewell speech outside Downing Street early Tuesday, Johnson touted his achievements, made no mention of failures, and pledged to support Truss' new government. "Like Cincinnatus, I am returning to my plow, and I will be offering this government nothing but my fervent support," referring to a Roman statesman who according to legend devoted himself to the republic during times of crisis. "It's time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team and her program." Truss will now set out to appoint a Cabinet, and will be expected to promote many allies who backed her leadership campaign. Kwasi Kwarteng and Suella Braverman are tipped for promotions; two Johnson loyalists, Nadine Dorries and Priti Patel, have quit. Truss will also be expected to outline her plans for dealing with the UK's urgent cost-of-living crisis as soon as possible. Her political opponents, both inside and outside the Conservative Party, will not deem it acceptable if the new leader fails to outline specific policies in the next 48 hours. Truss will then face the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, for her first Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon, which will be seen by her team as an important moment to set the tone of her leadership. Particular attention will be paid to how much Truss deviate's from Johnson's legislative agenda, particularly as she was seen as the Johnson continuity candidate in the leadership race. Source: CNN News

Community advocacy organisation ACT NOW! says there are a lot of important issues for the new Forest Minister, Salio Waipo, to address, including rampant illegal and unsustainable logging. Campaign Manager Eddie Tanago says that it is shameful that more than 30- years after the Forestry Act 1991 introduced a raft of reforms aimed at stopping the unsustainable logging and corruption exposed by the Barnett Commission of Inquiry, the situation today is no better. “The Forestry Act was supposed to mark the end for Colonial era Timber Rights Purchase (TRPs) agreements which were found to be full of abuses” says Mr Tanago. “Yet, more than thirty years later, the majority of log exports are still from TRP areas under agreements signed by landowners who have long since passed and with no sustainability clauses”. ACT NOW! is also highlighting the abuse of another type of logging permit, the Forest Clearance Authority (FCAs). “The FCA is supposed to allow the clearance of small discrete areas of forest so they can be planted with agriculture crops or for a road to be built”, says Mr Tanago. “But instead, the PNG Forest Authority is issuing FCA permits that cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest and which are used by logging companies for large-scale export logging operations”. Mr Tanago says the Forest Authority is failing to follow many of the steps mandated by the Forestry Act in issuing the FCA permits which means that many are probably illegal. According to official government figures, in 2021, 28% of all log exports came from FCA areas and a total of more than 2.7 million cubic metres of logs were exported. This means that PNG is still the largest exporter of tropical logs anywhere in the world. This is despite Vision 2050 having set a target or 2010 for the end of such exports. Before the recent National Elections, Prime Minister James Marape said his government was committed to end the export of round logs by 2025 in favour of 100% downstream processing. “Yet claims by the PM that no new log export licences have been issued to foreign companies since 2020 are simply not true”, says Mr Tanago. ACT NOW! has identified at least twenty new log export operations that have commenced in the last two years and the number of new operations is accelerating, not declining. Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) is still auditing more than twenty logging companies accused of defrauding the country through tax evasion and false accounting. “The Prime Minister and his government say they are committed to effective action to stop corruption, says Eddie Tanago, “it that is true, they need to start by ending the ongoing and very serious abuses in the forestry sector”. ACT NOW! says there must be an immediate halt to the issuing of any new FCAs and the extension or renewal of any logging permits granted under TRP agreements while an independent audit is conducted to establish whether any of the existing operations are actually legal. There must also be an end to the issuing of any new log export permits or licences or the extension of any existing licences so the government can meet its 2025 commitment.

Executives of Newcrest mining met with the New Ireland Government on Tuesday 6th September, to revive its quarterly meetings, which temporarily ceased due to the advent of the Covid19 pandemic. Leading the 8 member delegation was Lihir Operations General Manager Johan Labuschagne and Country Manager Stanely Komunt. Mr Labuschagne said he was keen to create an effective working relationship based on open dialogue with the Provincial Government. While giving an overview of current operations he touched on the K1.52 billion financial contributions injected into the PNG economy this year from royalties, total taxes, production levy, and vendor contracts. Further to this Labuschagne said Lihir contributed US$487 million to the national account through acquisition of K1.711 billion of currency and K310 million in salaries and wages to Papua New Guineans working for the mine. On New Ireland’s financial report, so far K17.2 million each (20%) has been released to the Kavieng and Namatanai District Development Authorities, K8.6 million (10%) to the New Ireland Provincial Government, K25.7 million to the Nimamar Local Level Government and K17.1 million to the Lihirian Special Mining Lease landowners (SML). New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan again emphasized on the need for Provincial Governments to get a bigger share of tax revenue generated from the mining spin offs like road contracts, instead of everything going to the National purse. He reminded Newcrest of the National Executive Council’s direct breach of the Lihir MOA of 1995 which he signed when he was then Prime Minister. “The MOA is clear the 50 percent is paid to the provincial government and then distributed to the districts. DDA’s are not governments. Implementation of major infrastructure projects and policies are made at the Provincial Executive Council level to benefit the districts and then monies from the royalties are used to fund the budgeted items which have always been captured in our yearly budgets which are approved by the Legislative Assembly. The NEC has set a dangerous precedent of breaking MOA’s any time they see fit. That’s how landowners lose trust in the Government,” said Sir J. An update on the Lihir Ring road found that the Provincial Works Department has been working closely with Newcrest to start work on the last 27km section of the road. In total the ring road is approximately 76km. Sir J noting that the ring road is a National Government project under the Lihir MOA accepted that the National Government has been too slow in implementing the project and urged the company to fully utilize the tax credit scheme to fund the project. Sir J said the National Government is treating New Ireland with contempt. “New Ireland continues to be the biggest contributor to the National purse and our peaceful culture of resolving disputes must not be undermined.” Meanwhile the transfer of Londolovit or Lihir town land titles to landowner families by the company also sparked debate on how the company should administer the titles in the lead up to mine closure. Nimamar President Stanely Tunut speaking on behalf of his LLG Council said more dialogue is needed before such a transaction is made. All parties later agreed to find a way forward to address the matter amicably.

The Papua New Guinea Kumuls believe they can beat anyone on their day as they prepare for the Rugby League World Cup. Their first pool game is against Tonga and Papua New Guinean utility Lachlan Lam said they will go into the match as underdogs. The Kumuls are in a group with Tonga, Wales and the Cook Islands at this year’s tournament, which is hosted in England. Lam said being the underdog gives the Kumuls the belief to come out on top. He said this was evident when they beat Fiji 24-14 in June. [caption id="attachment_26248" align="alignnone" width="768"] Lachlan Lam with his teammates and fans during the 2017 RLWC. Picture: Lachlan Lam Facebook[/caption] “PNG have always been a team that have been looked past pretty quickly,” half-back Lam told Love Rugby League podcast. “Even this year in the Pacific Test against Fiji we were looked over pretty quickly. For the players who put on that jersey it means a lot more to them than a lot of people understand. “We’re definitely capable of turning over teams that people wouldn’t expect us to. Last time we made the quarter-finals for the second time ever and we won all three of our pool games. This year we will be looking to go a little bit better than that.” Papua New Guinea head into the World Cup on the back of an impressive 24-14 win over Fiji in June. The Kumuls will also face Australia’s Prime Minister’s XIII before they travel to England this autumn. Lam is the son of most coveted PNG player Adrian Lam who now coaches Leigh Centurions, the same club the younger Lam also plays for. [caption id="attachment_26249" align="alignnone" width="768"] Lachlan Lam said being the underdog gives the Kumuls the belief to come out on top. He said this was evident when they beat Fiji 24-14 in June. Picture: Lachlan Lam Facebook[/caption] Lam recalled his first RLWC game in 2017 when they were pitted against USA in the cross group round. Having never played USA, Lam said players were not sure of how the match would turn out. He said the players went into the game as the underdogs and came up winners by hammering USA 64-0. The Kumuls won three pool games in 2017, beat USA in the cross group round and made it to the quarterfinals where they eventually lost 36-6 to England. Lam said it is an honour every time he gets to put the Kumuls jersey on and is looking forward to doing it again this autumn. He said in 2017, he was not sure if he was even going to make the cut for the team. He said he went to PNG on the backing of his father and it is a decision he has never regretted. Papua New Guinea begin their World Cup campaign with an all-Pacific clash against Tonga at St Helens on October 18. Source: Pacificadvocate.com

The University of Papua New Guinea, (UPNG) wishes to inform prospective applicants that the Online Applicant Portal for receiving applications for Undergraduate programs to be offered by the University for academic year 2023 is now open. It will close on the 15th of October 2022. Click UPNG website link below, read the Instruction carefully and fill in the Online Application form. https://www.upng.ac.pg/

Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty is adamant the Green Machine has hit top gear at the right time and can repeat their 2019 finals heroics when they stunned the Storm at AAMI Park. After finishing the regular season in fourth spot, the Raiders ventured to Melbourne and got home in a thriller thanks to a John Bateman try to earn themselves a week off. In 2022 they find themselves in a sudden-death semi-final after finishing eighth, but having charged home from 11th in Round 17 to be part of the play-offs, the Raiders have momentum and confidence on their side. The roll started with a 20-16 victory over Melbourne in Round 18 at AAMI Park before Canberra went on to win five of their last six to return to the finals for the first time since that 2019 campaign. “We had a fair few young blokes in that Storm game and it gave them a bit of confidence, to go down there and play the way we did,” Fogarty said after Sunday’s win over Wests Tigers. “Our style of football is a bit unique and different to other teams. The Storm are very defence-orientated and so good at it, but I think our second-phase play and offloads disrupts that a little bit.” Having missed the first 11 rounds due to a knee injury, Fogarty has made the most of every moment since then, racking up 10 try assists and 13 forced dropouts as his partnership with halves partner Jack Wighton has flourished. “Our team was chopping and changing so much early in season but we’ve got a bit of flow about us now,” Fogarty said. “Me and Jacky and Tommy [Starling] and Zac [Woolford] and our big boys up front have got a bit of flow about us now and we understand the way we want to play and that’s the main thing. “When I first came back we weren’t passing the ball a whole lot so we’ve had a focus of playing a bit more football and playing the style of footy the Raiders have always been known for.” As the Raiders’ combinations have gelled and confidence has soared, the points have flowed, with 18 tries scored across the past two weeks against Manly and Wests Tigers. So lethal was their attack at Leichhardt on Sunday that the game was over after half an hour, prompting coach Ricky Stuart to give Fogarty and others a rest in the second half. He may not have liked it at the time but the No.7 sees the wisdom in Stuart’s ways. “Since I’ve been back I haven’t missed a game, so I wanted to keep playing, but Ricky wanted to make sure nothing went pear shaped in that second half,” he said. “He had a plan for a couple of boys to get a rest before next week but we got what we needed out of the first half. “We spoke about our start, we wanted to go through the middle, run hard and have blokes in shape and if we could get an offload we’d play off the back of it. “The last month has given us more confidence, we are playing a nice style. “Everyone knows their roles and we’re all enjoying our footy… it’s not how you start the season but how you finish it.” Source: NRL.com

Newly appointed CEO of the New Ireland Provincial Health Authority Dr Stennard Hiashiri made his first official address to the New Ireland Provincial Executive Council today. Top of his priority is to create a 100 day health management plan to ensure the PHA is effective in its role as an administrator of health in the province. He said he would outline the plan during the next Provincial Executive Council meeting after he sits with his board and makes a thorough assessment of the PHA. “It will be a tedious task but we have to totally bulldoze and cleanup the NI PHA. We have to put the right policy frame works in place and ensure the right tools are being used to effectively administer health in the province,” said Dr Stennard. He also said he would ensure that the 32 health facilities including the Tinkoris medical centre set up by the New Ireland Government are fully functioning to serve the people. New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan welcoming Dr Stennards remarks said his government would like to see the NI PHA become more decentralized, working in partnership with the New Ireland Government to better manage health in the province. He encouraged Dr Stennard to embrace the New Ireland Governments vision of providing free Primary Health care to all New Irelanders which was one of Sir J’s election promises. “When you are drafting your 100 day plan also incorporate my Governments Free Primary Health policy. Chart an entire 5 year plan that will set the course for the years ahead,” said Sir J. Sir J also highlighted his government’s desire to establish mobile health services including a floating clinic to serve the majority of New Irelanders living on remote Islands.

Teachers from the Porgera Secondary School in Enga Province are calling on the Provincial Government and the Provincial Education Authority to reconsider the decision of the PEA on the resumption of classes. Deputy Principle, Mr. Amos Amail has advised that the teachers informed the PEA and the Governor that they should not rush to reopen the school as there are many things that need to be prioritized. Mr. Amail said that they would like to have the issue of the displaced teachers sorted out and at the same time declare a State of Emergency in that part of the province. “We still have displaced teachers who are living with wantoks and many have fled the province, also we would like to see them declare a state of emergency and like more security personnel to help assist the police to maintain security,” Amail said. Meanwhile, the teachers at the Porgera Secondary School are still waiting on the Provincial Education Authority to release funds to help assist them in getting back on their feet. Amail said that he has now travelled to Wabag to sort this out. He added that many have taken shelter and refuge with their wantoks, some going to the extent of fleeing the province in the aftermath of the tribal fight that took lives and displaced many almost two months ago. During the fighting, many lost their belongings when both factions turned on the school, which led to the destruction of staff houses and classrooms.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under EU-STREIT PNG Programme, in its mission to increase the production of high-quality cocoa that will improve the agribusiness of rural communities in the Sepik, signed agreements with over 30 registered nurseries and now these enterprises are distributing (CPB) pest-tolerant seedlings to the potential cocoa producers in the Sepik region. The newly boarded partners have been already equipped with nursery set-ups by the Programme that meet PNG Cocoa Board standards. FAO also purchases and covers transportation cost of the supplied (CPB) pest-tolerant seedlings to target cocoa blocks. These partnerships provide opportunity for the nurseries to further nourish in PNG agri-businesses environment, being empowered to engage, provide and meet local demands for cocoa seedlings sustainably. “We’re engaging farmer groups as service providers to deliver seedlings to their members including youths and women. The FAO under the Programme will purchase these seedlings at the rate of between K3 and K4 per seedling. Transport cost for distribution to farmers who live far from the nursery sites will be paid as well,” explained National Cocoa Production Officer Mr Michael Lames. “Payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of deliveries that will be followed with field verification where seedlings are actually planted into the ground. The money paid into the groups’ respective bank accounts is to support their operation as a business for the benefit of their members,” added Mr Odrick Urum, the FAO-STREIT Cocoa Production Officer. Another benefit under this collaboration is the capacity building of group leaders to learn and adopt recommended practices for running agribusinesses. “It is an exciting opportunity for us to learn some new things like how to operate as a service provider which requires quality delivery on a set period or time,” said Mr Wilfred Mombiang who represents a registered farmers group of Saure Village, in Wewak District, that are supported under the Programme.   The Programme has already built the capacity of nursery owners as well as the producers in efficient cocoa cloning, budding and block management and now the Programme take a new step to connect two critical nodes along cocoa value chain by supporting and facilitating the distribution of high-quality inputs from nurseries to cocoa block owners. All these initiatives are part of the EU-STREIT Programme broader workplan to strengthen cocoa value chain actors. Highlight of Cocoa for Papua New Guinea The Papua New Guinea, and namely the Greater Sepik region, has excellent agro-ecological potentials to produce valuable agricultural economic crops, including cocoa, and to further downstream agri-businesses activities development. Cocoa production provides jobs and income for the rural population, which remains predominant throughout Papua New Guinea. In the main regions of production, around 30% of households produce cocoa, while representing 15% of the number of households at the national level. Around one million people’s livelihoods depend on cocoa. Cocoa in PNG is estimated to grow on 130,000 ha in coastal provinces, as a monoculture or intercropped with coconuts or other food crops. However, this potentiality mostly remained untapped or under-developed, mainly due to lack of sufficient investment, support and capacity, and insufficient infrastructures, leaving the Sepik region less equipped with resources to progress toward sustainable economic development. 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.

Prime Minister Hon. James Marape yesterday (September 6th 2022) announced a K42.7 billion health intervention programme for the next 10-15 years in Papua New Guinea. He made the announcement yesterday (September 6 2022) when addressing the 56th Medical Symposium of the Medical Society of PNG in Port Moresby, with the theme, ‘ICT in COVID-19 Pandemic, Education and Research’. “Our Government has committed to a K42.7 billion 10–15-year programme of interventions in the health sector,” PM Marape said. “These interventions must be made correctly, in the correct places, so that small steps are being worked upon for the collective dreams of the country going forward. “It calls upon every one of us to work together, and at this juncture, let me thank those of you who have played your part for our country to be where it is today. “I bring to you our total commitment to ensure that our National Health Plan is financed to the best of our ability, and we can together work to ensure that the standard of health is better for our people to benefit from going forward.” PM Marape said his Government was putting its money where its mouth was with the biggest-ever allocation of K2.8 billion to Health in the 2022 Budget. “Our Government is committed to making health our major focus,” he said. “You cannot find a better place to read Government policy than every year’s annual appropriations. “In the last annual appropriation, Health sector received the highest-ever presented to any sector, since 1975. [caption id="attachment_26204" align="aligncenter" width="1044"] Photo Courtesy: Papua New Guinea National Department of Health, Facebook page[/caption] “Health has always come behind infrastructure and education, but we have turned this around, with Health receiving the highest.” PM Marape said COVID-19 had awoken PNG to the ailing state of health facilities throughout the country. “The COVID-19 pandemic exposed our vulnerability that we have been carrying all along,” he said. “How can a nation of 10 million people have only 200 ICU beds nationwide? “Of the 200 ICU beds nationwide, only 40 had oxygen and ventilation, 26 of which were in Port Moresby. “I was dumfounded and I was stunned, I was embarrassed. “Having been a politician since 2007, I felt that I had let the country down in a very big way.” PM Marape said PNG must “leapfrog” in ICT and his Government was prepared to make substantial investment in this. He urged all medical practitioners to look into the National Health Plan 2021-2030, which he launched last year, and recommend ways to improved PNG’s health system based on research. PM Marape also talked about the need for PNG patients to be treated in-country than going overseas and for quality health services to be just one-hour away. He said his Government was committed to supporting medical research.