Newcrest Lihir has commissioned an improved Temperature Measuring Unit (TMU) that further enhances safety for personnel working at its geothermally active mining pit. This second generation TMU comes after the christened Anako 13, commissioned on 6 March 2018; it engineers out the risk of personnel exposure to geysering events during drill hole measurement activities. Anako 13 allowed geothermal technicians to operate a mobile arm from the vehicle remotely and simultaneously lower or raise a probe safely to measure and record temperature, water level and depth. All these are done from the safety and comfort of the vehicle cabin. Newcrest teams collaborated with several business partners to deliver the improved Anako early this year, allowing geothermal technicians to continue doing their work safely as Lihir’s mining pit phases extend deeper and further north into Kapit orebody. Manager – Mine Technical Services, Mr Ben Likia, thanked various Newcrest teams and business partners for delivering the project safely and ensuring a timely site deployment of Anako Sense, including training sessions for key personnel. “I also congratulate our national employees who completed their training sessions. We have competent geothermal personnel who are now operating the new TMU, and several mobile maintenance personnel who will assist in ensuring the TMU is regularly maintained and fit for purpose,” he said. “As a business, we value collaboration in creative and innovative work because it makes our business safe and sustainable in Papua New Guinea. The safety of our people in Lihir is our number one priority, and this improvement is testimony to that. We are committed to ensuring everybody goes home safe and healthy every day,” Mr Likia added. Superintendent – Geothermal Operations, Mr Kaipale Pano, said the enthusiasm and feedback from the project team and personnel were heartening. “The project is a success for Newcrest Lihir because we (Newcrest) encourage employees to experiment with new ideas to improve safety and production performance. We displayed Newcrest’s practice ‘Bottom-up Innovation’ and values ‘Working Together’ and ‘Innovation and Problem Solving’ through this project. We are proud to have the best people and outstanding operators, mostly Papua New Guineans, who constantly team up to deploy safe and latest mining technologies at Lihir,” said Mr Pano. The name Anako was inspired by an incident at Lihir eight years ago. In 2013, Mr Samuel Ayata, a geothermal technician from Eastern Highlands and Morobe, sustained injuries from geysers when collecting data. His father, Ayata Anako, collapsed upon receiving news about the incident and was bedridden for almost three weeks, begging his son to quit his job. “The scars on my body were a drive for our team to take on this safety initiative and continue improving it; we named the TMU after my father. I thank Newcrest for supporting our commitment to work safely for our families,” said Mr Ayata.

Air Niugini has now rolled out a centralised Customer Service and Support solution that can automatically track and manage all customer queries from a single contact point. This solution aimed at ensuring your queries are addressed in real time went live on Monday 02nd May. Customer queries can now reach Air Niugini through your preferred communication channel such as Facebook Messenger, Twitter Direct Messaging, Web Feedback forms as well as through Air Niugini’s Customer Service email address csc@airniugini.com.pg Depending on what your issue or query is, the system will automatically categorise and correctly route your message to the right support team within the airline, so that your queries are quickly attended to. The solution will ensure a unified view and visibility of customer interactions and personalised help in real time. It will also provide the Airline Management team oversight to ensure matters raised are indeed addressed in a timely manner. A self-service hub has also been introduced for customers to browse and find quick answers to common airline and travel queries without the need to reach customer service agents. This support hub can also be accessed here: https://support.airniugini.com.pg/support/home

Continuing their support to the Nature Park for the second consecutive year for the BSP Trash to Treasure Sculpture Festival are youth members from ATS community in Port Moresby. Now into its fourth year running, the BSP Trash to Treasure Sculpture Festival has educated and inspired more students and youth around Port Moresby and Central province about the importance of recycling and reusing waste material for better purposes in the household and community. For the youth at ATS, their involvement in the BSP Trash to Treasure Sculpture Festival is part of their community leaders’ efforts in changing youth mindsets that living in a settlement should not limit them to opportunities that can earn them employment or more learning to better their livelihoods. Their involvement in last year’s festival as volunteer artists was an added bonus to the Park as they collaborated with volunteers from the University of Papua New Guinea to create some very fascinating sculptures from trash collected around the city. The Port Moresby Nature Park and all its volunteers are now hard at work putting together more trash sculptures for the upcoming BSP Trash to Treasure festival in June and call on residents around Port Moresby to help donate reusable trash such as cans, plastic bags and bottles, aluminium trays, etc to aid the volunteers construct more sculptures this year. To find out more about the BSP Trash to Treasure Sculpture Festival and how you can donate reusable waste material towards the sculpture festival, you can call Port Moresby Nature Park’s Sales & Marketing team on 326 0248 or email marketing.pomnp@gmail.com Port Moresby Nature Park is a charity organisation that relies on grants and donor funding to operate. By visiting the Park and joining our Membership, you help support the Park’s efforts in preserving PNG’s unique natural environment for future generations, including the Park’s 350 resident animals, majority of which have been surrendered to the Park for care.

18 teams from 18 unions in 17 provinces are set to participate for the next four weeks in the Kumul Petroleum Super 7s series beginning tomorrow at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby. Patron of PNG Rugby Union and NCD Governor Powes Parkop officially welcomed all the provincial teams this evening at the stadium as he urged them to take the game to a new dimension. Speaking to the players from the different provincial teams this evening, Parkop said the recent investments were made to lift the game and the onus is now on the players to give their best on the turf. “This is the new horizon for this sporting code and it starts this weekend,” Mr Parkop said. “All the other sporting codes have received government and public support over the years while Rugby Union has been a sleeping giant.” “But with the new management under Paul Siwi and the recent launch of the corporate plan for this game, we want to unleash its.” The code recently received a funding support of K10 million from the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited for the next three years and Governor Parkop also committed K500, 000 from the National Capital District Commission for the series this weekend. Governor Parkop further said the series is set to be staged at a very iconic venue where the country for the first time raised its national flag in 1975 and NCDC has marked Sir Hubert Murray Stadium as the new home ground of Rugby Union. PNG Rugby Union President Paul Siwi thanked all the stakeholders who have played a part in reviving the game and urged the participants to give their best for the games this weekend. “This is the biggest gathering of a national rugby event since the arrival of this game and I want all your unions to work together and promote this sport,” Mr Siwi said. “We have the right kind of support we can ever get at this time and it is our time now to play our part.”

Although they are not in the current MoniPlus Port Moresby Australia Football League (AFL) pre-season challenge, the Alavana Swans from Hula village in Central province are building up their teams in preparation for their first ever season in the city competition. The Head Coach of the Swans Mr. Paul Dickson said they are fine tuning the boys and girls with trainings and team preparations before they kick off the proper season in a week’s time. “Last year we played three games in Port Moresby and the boys are familiar with the competition and how it goes, so this year we should be good to go with the season,” said the coach. Coach Dickson also clarified that the club for now will be hosting matches in the Hula village and which clubs that will be on the draw to challenge them, will travel to Hula to play against the Swans in the various divisions. The Swans is one of two newest clubs joining the city competition this year. The other club is Port Power which is currently playing in the pre-season games. Meanwhile, the Swans will go all out by putting in two men’s teams, one for the A grade and the other for the Reserve grade, and a women’s team as well for the female division.

The reopening of the Panguna Mine has become inevitable following an agreement between the landowners and the Autonomous Bougainville Government to reopen the multi-billion kina defunct mine. Following the meeting of the ABG and the Panguna Mine Landowner Clan Chiefs held at Tunuru Catholic Mission, Kieta District on Wednesday 04 May 2O22 and the signing of the Post Summit Resolution between the ABG and the landowners both parties have agreed to reopen the mine. The ABG and the Panguna landowners have also agreed that the government with the landowners will jointly establish a completely new local Bougainville entity to develop the mine, and not an existing entity that has had history with the Panguna Mine. The completely new local Bougainville entity once established, will be jointly owned by the Panguna Mine Landowners and ABG on behalf of the people of Bougainville. The five major clans; Mantaá, Basikang, Barapang, Bakoringku and Kurabang and their 22 sub clans have unanimously agreed to the undertaking in partnership with the Autonomous Bougainville Government. Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama who signed on behalf of the Autonomous Bougainville Government has congratulated the landowners on their courage to finally put aside their differences and work with the government. ‘’The Panguna Mine was the economic guarantee for Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975, in the same manner the Panguna Mine will be the economic guarantor for Bougainville’s Independence,’’ declared President Toroama. ‘’In 1988 when the Bougainville Revolutionary Army High Command decided to shut down the Panguna Mine, the Late Francis Ona incentivized the mine as the key to Bougainville’s independence,’’ President Toroama revealed. ‘’Today as we stand on the threshold of creating a new future for Bougainville where we are finally on the path to independence I stand here to thank the landowners of Panguna in making a strong decision on the fate of the mine,’’ President Toroama said. President Toroama assured the landowners that the Autonomous Bougainville Government will work in partnership with the landowners in creating the locally owned entity to redevelop the mine. He said the government will not compromise the rights of the landowners but will work towards ensuring a benefit sharing agreement that benefits all of Bougainville.

The Board of Pacific Re Limited (Pac Re) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Victoria Clifford as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. From North Sydney, Australia, Victoria brings more than 20 years of industry experience into the business. She has worked for a number of insurance and reinsurance companies, and underwriting agencies across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands during this period. Victoria is a Fellow of both the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) and the Financial Services Institute of Australia (FINSIA). She has a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics; a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment from FINSIA, and an Executive Certificate in Insurance from ANZIIF. Victoria’s passion for agriculture and her work in the technical and specialised agricultural segment of the various markets has allowed her develop a strong market and leadership profile among various insurers, brokers and reinsurers. Her industry experience includes working with two (2) of Australia’s leading reinsurers spanning Australia, New Zealand and, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Given her track record and experience, the Board is confident that Victoria will provide the much-needed leadership to drive growth strategies and product development initiatives. With the appointment of the CEO, the installation of the full Board and the strong financial support from Motor Vehicles Insurance Limited (MVIL), Pac Re is well positioned to realize its full potential in the reinsurance. We welcome Victoria to Papua New Guinea and to Pacific Re Limited.  

Amini Park will be alive with the first Trukai VPL for 2022 kicking off. The six franchise teams, Fairprice Furniture Mambas, Panamex PNG, Gamoga Lawyers Spirit of Rigo, Northern Alexanders, Koita Warriors, Zara Wanderer’s will start playing from 9am, each hoping to win the Trukai VPL 2022 Cup and first prize of PGK 20,000. The first T10 match will be Panamex PNG taking on Zara Wanderer’s at 9am. Over the day, all teams will play in their pools, hoping to take top position for the finals the following Sunday. The top placed team from each pool will automatically advance to the Semi-finals, while the lower teams will face immediate elimination in a Knockout Quarter-final. Entry for fans will be free and for those that can’t make it in person you will be able to follow the live scoring through CricHQ https://www.crichq.com/competitions/14568/draws/55924/rounds/pool/1 and livestreaming through our match centre powered by Interact Sport https://www.cricketpng.org.pg/ The teams were set a month ago with each franchise competing for players, and now is the time to see how they perform on the big stage. Each game in the Trukai VPL matters, with no one wanting to finish the tournament early, going home without any prizemoney. We want to also acknowledge all mothers on Sunday, and we hope to see many mothers come to Amini Park to celebrate Mother’s Day with us at the Trukai VPL. Our very own Kumul Petroleum PNG Lewa, Ravini Oa, will be having a particularly special Mother’s Day as she lines up with the Fairprice Furniture Mambas as the only women playing in the Trukai VPL. Ravini is a star for the Lewas, and she is breaking barriers playing in the Trukai VPL. Cricket is the sport for everyone, and we welcome everyone to be part of the Trukai VPL this Sunday.

Kwikila Secondary School, a pioneer high school in the Central Province, established in 1959, have rarely seen much infrastructural development in the schools 62 years of existence, becoming a boarding school in 1960 and gaining secondary school status later on. After six decades of operation serving students in the province with rundown infrastructure, Central Governor Robert Agarobe came to the aid of the school pumping in a whooping K2.5 million under the provincial governments phase one 'restoration of schools program.' The first new infrastructure from the program are two staff houses that were completed and launched this week in the school. “You can see around that these buildings are 60's classrooms, 60's dormitories, 60's toilets even teachers houses,” said the Kwikila Secondary Board of Governors Chairman, Mr Kore Burana during the official opening of the two staff houses for the school. “62 years on, we are changing the classrooms, dormitories and other infrastructure facilities in this school.” The two staff houses built were part of the 6 staff houses that were to be constructed for the school under the restoration program. Two houses are completed, two are in still under construction and 2 more to be built. Mr Burana added that Kwikila Secondary school is currently a level 9 school and they are working towards getting the school upgraded to a level 10 school. “We need at least 42 teachers houses, 10 dormitories for girls and 12 dormitories for boys and then we’ll qualify to their standards.” Meanwhile, Governor for Central Province, Mr Robert Agarobe said that he has 4 phases for Kwikila Secondary and Kupiano Secondary school. “I have given K2.5 million to Kupiano Secondary and another K2.5 million to Kwikila Secondary.” Phase 1 includes staff housing, double dormitories for the girls and boys and 4 in 1 classrooms and phase 2 includes specialized classrooms such as science labs, practical skills workshop and home economics classrooms. The total money given to both schools is for both phase one and phase two of the restoration for the schools.

The merit squad for the Women’s Division have been released (refer to list below) after selections were made following the recent inaugural Telikom National Nines Championships in Port Moresby. 1.Joanne LAGONA Southern 2.Lisa-Marie ALU Highlands 3.Belinda GWASAMUN Highlands 4.Martha MOLOWIA Southern 5.Lyiannah ALLEN Highlands 6.Lila MALABAG Southern 7.Delilah AHOSE Highlands 8.Regila WILFRED Highlands 9.Rosewita KAPO Southern 10.Gloria KAUPA Highlands 11.Bethshiba ALOI Southern 12.Leilah KEROWA Southern 13.Susan YOL Southern 14.Veronica WAULA Southern 15.Michelle JOHN Northern 16.Tere KINIWI Southern 17.Freda WAULA Southern 18.Lorraine TARAO NGI 19.Doreen WILLIAM Southern The merit squad will head into a monitoring program that will include an extended squad of 25 players from each Confederate that participated in the Confederate Nines. Potential players that took part in the Confederate Trials and are aprt of the women’s game across our affiliates but missed out on playing in the Confederate Nines have also been considered and will be part of the extended regional squads. “We are giving the girls a second chance by putting them all in this monitoring program,” said PNGRFL Women’s High Performance Coordinator Della Audama. “The women’s game is a strong and emerging game globally and as such we are adamant that due consideration and support needs to be provided,” Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Chief Executive Officer, Mr Stanley Hondina, said. The PNG Orchids are currently ranked fourth in the world, and with a World Cup looming in 5 months’ time, it is within PNGRFL’s interest to prepare for the international event. “We do not have a semiprofessional competition for the women like men’s Digicel Cup and the Hunters, this model of monitoring and training fills in that gap. Therefore, we are very supportive of the program and are committed to assist in preparing our girls well for the RLWC at the end of the year,” said Mr Hondina. “We are confident that we have a good coach in Ben and briefly his attendance to the short Nines Championships was evident, he knows what he wants to do and also knows where we are with the female game here in PNG,” Mr Hondina further added. PNG Orchids Head Coach Ben Jeffries expressed his appreciation of the commitment and passion displayed by the females over the recent National Nines Championships. “Flying over to Port Moresby for the Telikom National Nines was an exciting experience where I walked away pleased on what transpired over the 2-day carnival,” Coach Jeffries said. “I certainly went away post tournament excited to be working with the PNG Orchids and one of the most pleasing aspects was the ability to see the females play some free-flowing footy post covid barriers with plenty of passion and that’s something we’ll try to bottle once we start playing together as a group.” “I’m additionally looking forward to getting over to PNG soon, plus to see how the Nationals pans out shortly. The extended squads from here will endure plenty of education going forward not only to assist this year’s World Cup players, but also all staff and future groups post tournament so that the PNG Orchids become a recognized force within International Rugby League.” The monitoring program will span over 3 months facilitated by qualified trainers from Digicel Cup Franchises and NRL in PNG, who have assisted with monitoring programs since 2019. The monitoring program is scheduled to begin with testing and collection of players’ data on the 7th of this month, and will cover camps with the venue yet to be announced, while sessions will be held at the Santos National Football Stadium in the lead up to the Women’s Nationals set for July. The extended squad for each Confederate will be announced later this month.

Students at Kopkop College were excited to have their BSP savings account opened, following the launching of the BSP school banking and financial literacy training program at Kopkop College on Tuesday May 3, 2022. The program which comes with the support of BSP’s community Partner, Australian NRL Club, Brisbane Broncos will begin next week and is aimed at helping schooll children understand the life skill of saving money, basic understanding of simple budgeting and practice making decision on the use of their money. Grade 10 student Isharlyn Tepure who has a small informal business says the BSP school banking ensures she has her own personal Bank Card which gives her the independence to manage her money. “I think it’s a very good program because it enables those who do not have accounts to save money and teaches us a lot about savings and putting those money to good use.” The 15-year-old says she learns a lot about the importance of savings from her accountant dad, and with her new Bank account, her goal is to start saving profits made from her sales. “This small business just started over the holidays and the highest I have saved so far is K205,” she says with pride. Kopkop College Primary School Principal Mr. Satchell Ben described the program as a great opportunity for Kopkop College students to learn about what it means to save money at an early age. “In PNG we don’t have a savings culture, meaning we don’t plan for rainy days and we don’t plan for tomorrow and so the focus now is that if we can develop the mindsets of these little ones to start a habit if saving money, we will have future citizens who are self-reliant.” Parents who turned up yesterday to help their kids open up their BSP Kids Savings accounts have thanked BSP Bank and Kopkop College. Mom, Sabina Koin who deposited K20 towards her Grade 4 child’s savings account says, “It’s great for the kids to start saving their money because sometimes we parents spend unnecessarily and we don’t think about our children.” Another mother, Gou Jack said, “My son has his little savings at home but it’s been used unnecessarily and he has asked that I come and help him open his account so he can really start saving. You know in future they won’t rely on us because they have learnt all about savings in school.” Mr. Ben said due to an overwhelming interest from the whole school they hope to arrange with BSP and have every student open an account and take part in the financial literacy school program.

First batch of teachers and volunteers are undergoing Just Play Program training sessions at the PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby. The program was shelved due to mismanagement and was revived under the president John Kapi Natto after it was seen as a very powerful medium to get the message across the mass population through schools and community. Just Play Manager Christine Wamala-Uru was relieved to see the first phase of the pilot program is getting off the ground in Port Moresby. The program will be conducted in three regions of the National Capital District with Moresby Northwest schools being the first to be followed by Moresby South and Moresby North West by the end of the month or next month. The programs are going under work planned in conjunction with OFC Just Play office. “I am very excited, and so does the teachers and volunteers,” she said. Ms Wamala said after the three-day workshop, those teachers and volunteers will become facilitators in their own school or community in the North West electorate in NCD. The program will expand to other provinces depending on the reporting purposes to Just Play OFC. The provinces likely to come under the program include Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Morobe, Madang and Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB). The former Just Play Manageress Margaret Aka welcomed Just Play Program with a big relief describing it as a very good program for kids. The program started in 2011-2019. Aka said the program helped a lot of kids and the community. Some of the kids that went through the program become volunteers in the program. Catered for kids between 6-12 years old, the program takes participants through a range of football activities and games in a fun learning environment with the aim of generating an enduring interest in football. With the restructure and recruitment of new Just Play Program Manager, the program will become the focal point of the country’s football activity again this year, 2021-2022 going forward. Ms Aka is a co-facilitator of the program currently underway in Port Moresby. It started today and will finish on Friday.