After 3 years of waiting the people of Metemana in the Lavongai LLG on Friday 11th February, finally witnessed the grand opening of a four in one classroom for the Ranmana Childhood Centre. This was made possible through a K120,000 grant from the New Ireland Government in 2019 and the sheer determination of the school board and Local teacher Daniel Lasvut. New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan was present to witness the occasion, along with members of the Provincial Executive Council, members of the New Ireland Education board including Chairlady Dr Kappa Malpo and CEO for Education Benson Apelis and a community awareness group from the Matalai LLG. Sir J congratulated Daniel Lasvut and the School board for their persistence in ensuring the project eventually got completed despite the challenges. “Lasvut and the school board stepped forward with tools, skills and the right spirit to invent your children’s future out of your imagination. Your struggle was not in vain,” said Sir J. Two flush toilets, Solar Street lights and a permanent flag pole stand were also erected. “ People of Metemana, this is not wasteful SME giveaways like rice and tinned fish and noodles. This is solid Investment in the foundation for elementary education of our children. You never had this before, now you have it under my Government. This is what we call partnership,” said Sir J. Sir J said the children will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to become smart, and work smart for New Hanover and New Ireland of the future. “People of New Hanover, historically you are very determined, bold and smart people. Your forefathers were some of the history makers of Papua New Guinea. Leaders like Judge Konilio Tomarum, Brigadier General Carl Malpo, Walla Gukguk, Sitting Gion, Ilias Maris, Steven Taong, MaulKara, Maul Karau, Mane Isana and Marius Soiat.” Other notable Lavongai’s were Boski Tom the first Papua New Guinean teacher, Tumat Sogolik Commonwealth boxer and Willie Sep International Soccer star.

The Juha landowners of petroleum development license (PDL) 9 in Hela province want the National Government and Exxon Mobil to start constructing a gas pipeline project to bring it into production of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The landowners today while demanding the government also thanked Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua and the Department of Petroleum & Energy for their stance on clarifying Juha PDL-09 Project not identified yet but missed out on many privileges. Leaders from both Hela and Nomad Local Level Government (LLG) in Western Province want to see the production of their gas resources out of the Juha PDL 9 as they have not yet received any royalty payments. Frustrated PDL 9 Association Chairman Robert Angamane and Sinaku Malingi of Sinali Tribe with other clan leaders demanded to know when Juha gas resources project will be developed, or else the PDL should be revoked and landowners can seek other investment partners to develop the project with Muruk gas discovery. The landowners and their leaders from both sides of Hela and Nomad LLG made the call following Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua’s respond to questions raised by Western Governor Toboi Awi Yoto last month about the PNG LNG project being integrated with different PDL areas and that the pipeline had not been constructed into Juha. Juha PDL 9 was granted license by Government in 2009 to produce gas for PNG LNG project. Unfortunately, this has not happened yet, there is no pipeline into the PDL 9, Juha area. The landowner’s leaders urged Mr. Kua, Secretary David Manau and LOBID Chairman Gai Pobe to come to Koroba and complete the Clan Vetting exercise so landowners can participate in LBBSA and receive the lawful benefits for Royalty and development Levy payments. The landowners further demanded Exxon Mobil to pay compensation for the many lives lost and those living with injuries because Exxon Mobil failed to identify landowners before getting license for Juha. Landowners cited clause 15 of May 2008 Gas Agreement as evidence of negligence by Exxon Mobil and the State that the Agreement was superior to Oil and Gas law of 1998. “Based on the 2009 UBSA Agreement in Kokopo, State and Developer identified that 98% of Juha PDL-09 Gas were part of SHP and 2% in Nomad LLG in Western Province. That was before the separation of Hela Province and Southern Highlands Province, for now we want developer and PNG Government to identify political Boundaries before confusing real Landowners of North Koroba LLG's and Hela Province. “The 98% of Project itself is in Hela Province and not in Western Province,” the leaders claimed. They said the State has failed to honor the UBSA and LBSA Kokopo agreements. “We demanded the National Government to complete the Clan Vetting in accordance with Cabinet Decision of November 2017 and conduct LBBSA forum in Koroba and start paying 100% of our lawful entitlement for Royalty Equity and Development Levy as required under PDL beneficiaries as per Oil and Gas Act of1998,” they reiterated. The Juha 9 landowners say numerous attempts for answers have failed, and the next course of action will be file legal proceedings and hopefully will allow other investors to develop their gas project.

Former NRL superstar Jarryd Hayne has had his sexual assault conviction overturned and is set to face a third trial. The Court of Criminal Appeal on Monday quashed his conviction after he last year applied to the state’s highest court. Mr Hayne, 33, had been in jail for over nine months having been sentenced to at least three years and nine months in prison for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in her Newcastle home on NRL grand final night in 2018. [caption id="attachment_18994" align="aligncenter" width="890"] Jarryd Hayne was in May last year sentenced to spend at least three years and eight months in prison. Photo: Sam Mooy/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images[/caption] A District Court jury in March last year found the former Dally M winner guilty of two counts of sexual assault, accepting the woman’s version of events that he performed digital and oral sex on her without her consent. He was subsequently sentenced by Judge Helen Syme to five years and nine months jail, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months. He launched an appeal against his conviction claiming the NSW District Court jury was given flawed directions and there were inconsistencies in the evidence. [caption id="attachment_18995" align="aligncenter" width="889"] Jarryd Hayne during his playing days with the Parramatta Eels. Picture AAP Image/Darren Pateman.Source: AAP[/caption] His barrister Tim Game argued that the jury was given directions that were “flawed in almost every possible way” before they were sent to deliberate. According to Hayne’s barrister, Judge Syme used words like “might” and “may” when she should have used “beyond a reasonable doubt”. Mr Game also argued before the Court of Appeal that the woman’s words in a text sent to a friend did not accord with her evidence that she repeatedly said “no” and “stop”. The Court of Appeal of Monday quashed his convictions and ordered him to face a fresh trial, with the matter listed to be mention in the District Court on Thursday. SOURCE: FOX SPORTS

The girl in a video that went viral on social media recently, where she was apparently being questioned by a member of the police force, has come forward to the police to give an official statement. ACP Anthony Wagambie Jnr sent out a message on facebook assuring the girl’s safety and appealed to her to come forward which she eventually did last week Wednesday. NCD Metropolitan Superintendent, Gideon Ikumu says the girl came to the Boroko Police Station and gave a full statement, adding that her statement implicated a number of policemen. Police are currently in the process of investigating the case and so could not give out much information. NCD Met Supt was able to reveal that the girl had accompanied her female friend to the Sanctuary Hotel for a few drinks. “These girls were picked up at a suburb in Port Moresby by the driver of Jamie Pang and taken to the Sanctuary Hotel in Port Moresby,” said Met Supt Ikumu. “While there at the hotel, they were said to have drank and taken illicit substances with Pang.” “Pang is alleged to have sexually assaulted the girl during the course of these events.” “Thereafter, Pang advised his drivers to take her away so she was taken to Boreboa, where she says Pang’s drivers paid an unknown taxi driver K200, to get rid of her.” “This unknown taxi driver is said to have sexually assaulted the girl as well before ditching her at the Garden Hills settlement.” “The girl found another cab and made her way to the Hohola police station.” “A policeman at the Hohola police station saw that the girl was disoriented and took her to the Town Police Station, where she says, she was also sexually assaulted by yet another policeman.” “The Policeman in town, eventually dropped her off at her place of residence,” stated Met Supt Ikumu. In the video, the girl can be seen, being questioned by a policeman and is heard saying that she was just driven around town and she had never reported the incident of her alleged assault by Pang and a couple of policeman on that night. This incident is said to have taken place in November last year and she was questioned and videoed a few days after her alleged ordeal however, this video surfaced on social media just a few weeks ago. NCD Met Supt Ikumu says the police are yet to find out who released this video on social media. Meanwhile, the girl is currently being protected by police, while they continue their investigations.

Joe Biden on Saturday night warned Vladimir Putin that the US would “impose swift and severe costs on Russia” if his forces invaded Ukraine. In a phone call that lasted more than an hour, the US president said an invasion would “produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russia’s standing”. The call was the culmination of a frantic day of diplomatic activity aimed at averting a war in Ukraine, which the US has warned could start as soon as Wednesday. It brought “no fundamental change” to the worsening crisis, according to a senior US official briefing reporters afterwards. The official said the two leaders agreed to stay engaged in the coming days “but Russia may decide to proceed with military action anyway”, adding there was no evidence of “meaningful” de-escalation on the Ukrainian border. In Moscow, Yuri Ushakov, a senior foreign policy adviser, called the conversation between the leaders “balanced and businesslike” and confirmed “the presidents have agreed to continue contacts at all levels”. But he rejected US claims that a Russian attack was imminent. “Hysteria has reached its peak,” Ushakov said. Earlier, Emmanuel Macron held a separate conversation with the Russian president, which was reported to last one hour and 40 minutes, while the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, also spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Blinken called for “a diplomatic resolution to Russia’s unprovoked military buildup around Ukraine”. Lavrov accused the US of ignoring its security proposals, which include a guarantee that Ukraine would not join Nato and a withdrawal of Nato forces from eastern Europe. The US has said there is a high risk of a Russian attack on Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in China on 20 February, and the CIA is reported to have briefed allies that Russian troops have been ordered to be ready by Wednesday. But Ukraine’s president yesterday hit out at the US for causing “panic”. “I think there’s too much out there about a full-scale war from Russia, and people are even naming dates. The best friend for our enemies is panic in our country, and all this information only creates panic, it doesn’t help us,” said Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been saying for weeks that the tone of the US messaging is helping to cause panic and economic pain in Ukraine and is thus playing into Putin’s hands. Zelenskiy was speaking in the Kherson region, where he was observing drills by interior ministry troops. Ukrainian forces began 10 days of training on Thursday, to coincide with Russian exercises in Belarus that have been seen as a key part of Russia’s threatening buildup. [caption id="attachment_18987" align="aligncenter" width="622"] President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, centre, visiting the Kherson region of Ukraine to observe tactical training exercises. Photograph: Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters[/caption] “No one can look into the heads of Kremlin leaders and say for sure what exactly their actions may be. But we are ready for absolutely all scenarios,” said Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksiy Reznikov. In Moscow, Lavrov denied there were any plans for an attack, saying US warnings were part of a propaganda campaign. “After Russian troops finish drills and return to barracks, the west will declare ‘diplomatic victory’ by having ‘secured’ Russian ‘de-escalation’,” the Russian foreign ministry quoted him as saying, describing it as a “predictable scenario and cheap domestic political points”. Later on Saturday, the US denied it had carried out military operations in Russian territorial waters, after Moscow said a Russian naval vessel chased away an American submarine in Russian waters near the Kuril Islands in the Pacific. The Russian defence ministry said it had called in the US defence attache over the alleged incident, but a US military spokesperson said there was ‘“no truth” in the claims. The US and Russia have begun rapid evacuations of their embassies, as has Australia. The US state department said a small number of diplomats would remain in Kyiv to keep channels of communication open with the Ukrainian government, some will pull back to Lviv in the west to provide emergency consular services, while most will be posted in neighbouring countries. “I think prudence requires us to assume to plan for, and prepare for, a worst-case scenario and the worst-case scenario would obviously involve substantial Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital,” a senior state department official said. “These developments mean for private American citizens that it isn’t just time to leave Ukraine – it is past time for private citizens to leave Ukraine,” the official added, stressing that the consular staff were no longer in a position to help private citizens leave. Western intelligence agencies have predicted that a Russian attack would be immediately preceded by a fabricated pretext, such a “false-flag” attack on Russia or the Donetsk and Luhansk regions run by Moscow-backed separatists. Michael Kofman, the director of Russia studies at the Center for Naval Analyses, said Russia could move to formally recognise the Moscow-controlled so-called “people’s republics” in eastern Ukraine. He said this could “offer a basis for Russia to extend security guarantees, and militarily protect those considered to be Russian citizens living in the separatist regions. This may be interpreted as a clause which formally authorises the Russian state to use force in Ukraine.” The Russian Duma is due to consider an appeal to Putin to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics on Monday, although there have been suggestions the hearing may be postponed in a sign Russia is still weighing up various options. Several governments yesterday urged their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible. In the UK, the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, called on the government to learn “the right lessons” from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer, which saw frantic efforts to escort British nationals and vulnerable Afghans out of the country. Lammy wrote to Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, on Saturday night calling for a substantial increase in staff with relevant language skills to deal with the crisis, a cross-government crisis centre and a contact line for MPs with urgent constituency cases in Ukraine. “The opposition stands united with the government in the face of Russian aggression and in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty,” wrote Lammy. “However, following the chaos of the evacuation from Afghanistan, we ask the government for reassurance that the right lessons have been learned. The first duty of any government is to keep its people safe. The government must act now to ensure it is prepared to provide safety for British citizens in case of any incursion.” Melinda Simmons, Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, said on Saturday that she was staying in the country to “continue to work there with a core team”. She added that the embassy remained open and operational. Dutch airline KLM said it had suspended flights to Ukraine until further notice after a security analysis and in light of Dutch government warnings against travel to Ukraine. A debate around the extent of Britain’s potential involvement broke out this weekend. Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, described the tensions as “our Cuban missile crisis moment” and called for British-led Nato divisions to be deployed to the country. However, Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said that providing training assistance was more useful to Ukraine than the deployment of British troops. He said the country’s own troops were “increasingly capable to defend themselves”. “We’re enabling them to have the ability to fight themselves, and having served in combat in countries around the world I can tell you that training local forces to fight for themselves is a significantly better defensive technique than putting troops in,” he said. “The reality is that the Ukrainians already have some 145,000 in their army, they have another – depending on how you count – 100-odd thousand border guard reserves and people like that so they have a significantly larger army even than we do.” The former foreign secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, said the deployment of a Nato division inside Ukraine would be “very unwise”. Rifkind and Ellwood said that the current instability caused by Boris Johnson’s alleged involvement in Downing Street lockdown parties was undermining Britain’s standing on the world stage. Dominic Cummings, the PM’s former chief adviser and now his fiercest critic, condemned Tory MPs for allowing Johnson to continue in office “while another major global crisis unfolds”. SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

The UFC's reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is facing former champion Robert Whittaker again at UFC 271 today in Houston, Texas. In 2019 Adesanya knocked Whittaker out in the second round in front of a hostile Australian crowd, to claim his undisputed championship title. Since the pair last met, Whittaker has gone on an impressive three fight win streak, while Adesanya has comfortably defended his belt three times, with his only UFC loss coming from a step up in weight-class to take on the light-heavyweight champion at the time, Jan Blachowicz. SOURCE: RNZ NEWS

The New Zealand government is being urged to prioritise sending more vaccine supplies to Pacific nations, in order to stem the spread of the Covid Omicron variant. Over 2000 people have tested positive to Covid-19 in Kiribati and two people have died. Low vaccination rates have led to hundreds of deaths in Papua New Guinea and 50 deaths in the Solomon Islands. Although Tonga currently has 108 cases, its vaccination rates have still been promising. Similarly the Cook Islands, Samoa and Niue, appear to be successfully vaccinating their populations. New Zealand has donated at least 1.2 million doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, helping 11 Pacific nations both directly and via the COVAX scheme. But humanitarian aid groups say that more can be done and have vowed to keep the government accountable as the pandemic continues. Council for International Development executive director Josie Pagani said that New Zealand has a vested interest in helping the Pacific. "In New Zealand, we are onto our third jab with boosters. Some countries are on their fourth. You can have as many booster shots as you like, but until you get the poorest countries and most vulnerable populations with their first jab, we are going to keep having new Covid strands keep emerging and they are going to end up on New Zealand shores." Minister of Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio said Aotearoa has managed to meet every vaccine-related request from the Pacific, with the help of Australia. "We were committed right from the start to ensure that the Pacific's needs will all be meet. I believe to date we have been able to meet the needs from the Pacific, the more recent requests from Samoa and Tonga," he said. Sio said that New Zealand is currently preparing to send vaccines to the Pacific which can be administered to children aged five to 11. [caption id="attachment_18972" align="aligncenter" width="886"] PNG is struggling with a third wave of the pandemic which has overwhelmed the country's hospitals. Photo: AFP[/caption] However, Pagani also stated that it was crucial the New Zealand government collaborated with locals, as well as officials, to learn how best to support remote areas in the Pacific. "We're hearing from people on the ground that the best thing New Zealand can sometimes do is not just donate vaccines but to actually fund mobile vaccination units, buses to go out to remote areas or improve communications and digital connectivity so you can counter some of the misinformation around the vaccines." Epidemiologists warn that new variants could emerge in large Pacific populations like Papua New Guinea, so it is crucial that they receive sufficient amounts of vaccine. ChildFund programme director Sally Angleson said that wealthier nations owe it to developing countries to increase the resources they provide as Omicron spreads. [caption id="attachment_18973" align="aligncenter" width="874"] Kiribati extends curfew as second Covid-19 death recorded Photo: RNZ / Chris Bramwell[/caption] She said the world was not safe from new variants until all Pacific nations have enough vaccines for their populations. Anderson also urged governments to avoid hoarding vaccines or sending close-to-expiry vaccines as aid. "I think the NZ government needs to be very cognisant of coordination. I know our partners in the Solomon Islands are saying they have got different vaccines from different sources and now there is even more vaccine hesitancy because they are getting mixed messaging from people." [caption id="attachment_18974" align="aligncenter" width="863"] The lack of bed space is a huge issue at the National Referral Hospital in Solomon Islands. Photo: Supplied[/caption] Misinformation has also been a major issue in Papua New Guinea. The country, with a population of over 8 million, currently has 600 recorded Covid-19 related deaths; health experts suggest that the actual death toll is likely to be higher. Pagani was also concerned about the impact that the low vaccination rates in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were having. "Some Pacific countries even if they have an increase in hospitalisations due to an Omicron outbreak even if it is not so severe, if there are only two or three ICU beds in the country, then you are in real trouble if there are more than that who need ventilation and care. "Covid has shone a light on existing problems, one of the biggest problems in the Pacific - a very fragile health system. It's not going to take much for Covid to knock that over and that is our biggest concern." SOURCE: RNZ NEWS

From 16th February the Controller has advised of changes to the requirements for passengers travelling to PNG. 1. No PNG Pandemic Controller Approval will be required any more for arrivals from 16th February 2. Passengers arriving from India and Philippines are no longer required to quarantine for arrivals from 16th February 3. All passengers will still need to show evidence at check-in of being fully vaccinated. PNG Citizens returning to PNG, or those under the age of 18 are exempted All passengers will still need to complete a negative PCR test within 72 hours of scheduled flight departure, and will undertake a rapid test on arrival. For Air Niugini flights arriving from Australia this will be conducted free of charge by ISOS. For all other flights the arrival testing will be conducted by Trakpro at a cost of K 350 per passenger. Passengers being tested by Trakpro are recommended to download and complete the “Scram TouchPoint” App in advance from the Apple - AppStore or for Android’s from the Google Play Store. All passengers also still need to complete, prior to check-in, the online health declaration form at https://www.pnghdf.info/

BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) is advising schools registered as Mobile Banking School Merchants in the country to accept legitimate e-receipts provided by parents to ease the burden of queues in branches and improve schools’ operational efficiencies. Despite the BSP Mobile Banking *131# school fee payment platform being available for all to use, BSP branches continue to see influx in the number of people lining up in queues across the country. For example, in Mt Hagen, due to schools’ insistent on paper receipt and their reluctance to accept e-receipts for school fees paid via the Mobile Banking *131# School Fee payment option, parents and guardians are forced to queue up at the branches. BSP Retail Group General Manager Daniel Faunt is urging registered schools in Western Highlands to accept electronic receipts provided by parents and guardians as these are legitimate payments. “Mobile Banking *131# school fee payment option is genuine and improves school’s operational efficiencies by saving valuable admin time for teachers, easily recorded directly into the school system and allows for parents to make payments in their own time and place which essentially reduces banking queues,” he added. In addition to digital banking options, BSP also opened 16 of its branches, including Mt Hagen branch on 3 consecutive Saturdays for school fee deposits. This allows for parents and guardians who are unable to pay school or tertiary institution fees including project fees during the weekdays to have the opportunity to visit respective BSP branches on the weekend. BSP Mt Hagen Branch served over 700 customers over the three Saturdays it was open. BSP has 24 schools in Western Highlands that are currently registered for the Mobile Banking School Fee payments platform and the bank is calling on these schools to accept e-receipts from parents and guardians. “We understand the challenge of making school fee payments at this time of the year and have implemented digital solutions to provide parents with convenient options rather than having to go into BSP branches. Therefore, schools are urged to accept legitimate e-receipts for ease of banking and administration efficiency for parents and schools respectively,” said Faunt. Parents and guardians are encouraged to sign up for Mobile Banking while at the Branch for ease of school fee payment going forward.

The Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response Dr Daoni Esorom has expressed concern over people’s non-adherence to COVID-19 protocols and the measures and directives put out through the Controller’s office. “In the midst of a surge in the number of cases in the country, there’s still large sections of the population who are not adhering to the measures and directives put up by the National Control Centre through the Controller’s Office. The non- adherence to these measures is resulting in the increasing number of cases currently being seen,” said Dr Daoni. Dr Daoni has warned that as a result of non-compliance, a lot of people will become infected and it will affect a lot of staff or working people both in the private and the public sectors. “The NCC is receiving reports that most workplaces currently have more that 50 per cent of their staff who are infected and a lot of staff are absent from work,” Dr Daoni said. These, he warned, will affect government services being delivered by public servants and will affect companies’ bottom lines. He also reminded people that the current surge is predicted to end in March, but will be prolonged if people do not adhere to COVID-19 measures. “It may even extend into the election period where it is anticipated that there will be a lot of crowd and congregation of people and campaign houses set up. The only way to flatten the curve in the current surge is to fully adhere to the COVID-19 protocols. This includes getting tested if anyone presents with COVID-19 symptoms and most importantly getting vaccinated,” he said. Dr Daoni has encouraged the vulnerable people, who are mainly frontline workers; people with existing medical conditions and old people to get vaccinated. He also encouraged the vulnerable, even if they are fully vaccinated, to get their boosters. “Getting boosters will improve these people’s immunity and protect them against the current variant of COVID-19,” he said.

The Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response Dr Daoni Esorom has advised people against using COVID-test kits that are not approved by the National Control Centre for testing and for self-testing for COVID-19. Currently, he said there is only one test kit namely Panbio that is approved as a rapid test kit to be used to test for COVID-19. He said, “Any other test kits that are being used are not approved and anybody selling them must stop selling them and must take them off the shelves. The use of non-approved rapid test kits will mess up the national testing protocols.” He said the NCC is currently working with the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) to validate four other antigen test kits. These will be approved next week when the results become available. Dr Daoni said the validation has been completed by CPHL and the final report is being worked on. “When the results are finalised, additional test kits will be approved for use. These test kits will be used in the health facilities and also people will use them to self-test at home. “It is anticipated that with the availability of more test kits, more testing will be undertaken in the country,” Dr Daoni said.

Work on the restoration of power supply into the Upper Highlands Region is still ongoing as of this afternoon. PNG Power expects to have the work completed tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon and have full power supply restored to the Upper Highlands Region townships of Kundiawa, Minj, Banz, Mt Hagen, Ialibu, Mendi and Wabag. We would also like to correct the misleading headline put out on the front page of one of the dailies (Tuesday February 8) stating that the power outage will be off for an indefinite period. We would like to assure the general public affected by this outage that we are working around the clock to restore full power supply from the Ramu Hydropower Station as quickly and safely as possible by tomorrow. Challenges on the site of the damaged power pylons have delayed work by a few days but we expect to have full power supply restored for our consumers and business houses in the Upper Highlands Region. The act of sabotage on our tower 101 power pylon at Dumum Village, Chimbu Province for reasons only know to the locals has disrupted power supply to these townships and PNG Power is calling on the provincial authorities in these areas to assist stop this continuous act of vandalism and service disruption.