Lae Snax Tigers duo Kitron Laka and Sherwin Tanabi who both debuted for the premiership winning club last year will now find themselves on the same side again this year as they prepare to debut for the SP PNG Hunters in the upcoming Queensland Intrust Super Cup. Both lads whose rugby careers initially started in 2017 are the latest inclusions into the Mathew Church coached side and will be bringing in a fresh vibe into the squad as they go through the final leg of preparations down in Queensland. Kitron who hails from Hagen only started playing serious rugby in 2017 when he was in high school back home in Togoba, Western Highlands. The youngster made it through the local village competitions then onto playing representative rugby in university and other tournaments as well before making his big break in the Digicel cup in 2019 playing for the Moni-Plus NCDC Vipers. Laka’s journey although a short one has been quite successful so far as he now has two Digicel Cup premiership wins under his belt in just 3 years of playing in the competition and finally about to make his debut in the Intrust Super Cup. Laka in an earlier interview said that he was aware that there were many good players out there and that entry into the SP Hunters could be tough but that’s something he was willing to sacrifice his time and efforts for and his hard work has truly paid off with the announcement of the final 26-men squad earlier this week. The young man who first made the Hunters pre-season camp in 2018 straight after the Southern Zone Confederate Championships but missed out on making the final playing squad then said that he is happy and satisfied now that he has made it into the Hunters on his second attempt. “I first came into the SP PNG Hunters training camp in 2018 straight after a successful Southern Zone Championships and without any Digicel Cup experience so that was quite a big deal for me.” “Being able to finally make the squad now is a dream come true and is a testament of the fact that as young people chasing dreams, we should never give up no matter the setbacks,” said the elated Hunters debutant. Young Tanabi, who is the new kid on the block like Kitron, also kicked off his rugby league career in 2017 when he made the decision to switch from rugby union to league, joining the Royals under-20 team in the Lae Rugby League competition and also playing in the school boys competition. According to the young man from Lae City, he had his eyes set on making it into the champion Lae Snax Tigers team since 2017 and finally got his call-up to the team in 2021 after a couple of attempts in the Lae Snax 9s tournament. “Every young boy playing rugby in Lae wants to make it into the champion team (Lae Snax Tigers) and so when I look back on my journey now, I realise that it happened so quickly for me and for that I am thankful and blessed,” Sherwin said. It has been 4 years since making the switch and Tanabi has gone from playing suburban and town competitions to making his debut in the semi-professional Digicel Cup competition last year, playing 6 round games and an appearance in the major semi finals to now debuting for the SP PNG Hunters for the upcoming season. In an interview last October, when asked why he chose to switch from rugby union to league, Tanabi said, “I had to choose rugby league over union because I saw that there was a career pathway in league and if I did well, I could actually progress and have a future there.” True indeed, Tanabi’s future in rugby is already looking bright and promising with his departure yesterday (Friday) with the final 2022 playing squad of the SP PNG Hunters to their home at Runaway Bay in Gold Coast, Queensland. Both Kitron and Sherwin come in as young forwards for the SP Hunters side forcing the returning forwards to level up and lead by example as they go into yet another hunt for the coveted Intrust Super Cup championship title this year. Image Sources: Pilai Piksa, SP PNG Hunters

Over 35, 000 people of Kapuna in the Kikori District of Gulf Province can now access improved health care services following the opening of the upgraded Kapuna Hospital on Friday 28 January. The PGK10 million project was funded through the Papua New Guinea-Australia Partnership’s Incentive Fund in collaboration with Gulf Christian Services. Locals joined dignitaries including Prime Minister James Marape, Australian High Commissioner Jon Philp and Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta to celebrate the opening of the upgraded facility. The upgraded facilities include a new emergency centre, dental clinic, birthing suits, operating theatres and 24hour solar power. Other new facilities also include paediatric and maternity wards, as well as additional offices, water systems, hospital equipment, staff houses and kitchen facilities. Australia’s High Commissioner, Jon Philp said “Providing high-quality health care in PNG is challenged by geographical remoteness, lack of access to clean running water, lack of equipment, and other vital resources that impact service delivery. This kind of support is especially needed in the farthest and most remote regions of PNG, such the Purari Delta in Gulf Province where we are today.” He also highlighted that Papua New Guinea and Australia have a long-lasting commitment to strengthening PNG’s health capacity, infrastructure and service delivery through programs such as the Incentive Fund. With approximately 60 per cent of the hospital services supporting women’s health, a key priority for the hospital management is to support the implementation of its gender equality and social inclusion policy. This includes developing relevant policies and building capacity of the hospital staff to implement the policies on a daily basis, while also increasing women’s voices in decision making at the hospital. Representative of Gulf Christian Services and Project Manager for the Kapuna Hospital Project, Marshall McKean stated that “years of hard work and dedication of many wonderful people and organizations has culminated in the completion of our fantastic new Kapuna Hospital.” He continued that the project is “well suited to our mission to provide Christ-centered services to remote communities in the Gulf Province and throughout Papua New Guinea.” In 2021, Kapuna Hospital reached more than 25,000 people through on-site services and community outreach including COVID-19 awareness sessions. The Incentive Fund-supported infrastructure will support increased access to and quality of health services for the local population, both now and in the future. Australia is proud to work in partnership with the Government of PNG, Gulf Christian Services, Total, Curtain Brothers and Summer Institute of Linguistics to deliver this critical health infrastructure for communities in Kikori District.

Police Commissioner David Manning has condemned the alleged rape of a female prisoner whilst being detained at the Kavieng Police Station in the New Ireland Province. Mr Manning said whilst the Police Top Management has not yet been briefed by the New Ireland Provincial Police Commander, the allegation is worrying and warrants a full and thorough investigation. “Members of the public must feel safe and protected in police establishments throughout the country and not be subjected to such abuse. We will investigate the allegation and if confirmed will deal with those responsible both criminally and administratively,” Mr Manning said. Mr Manning said the Police Internal Affairs Directorate is now being tasked to investigate this allegation and take appropriate action.

As an update on Port Moresby Nature Park’s ground-breaking success in sowing Kwila seedlings, the first batch of seedlings sowed in November 2021 are now ready for transplanting into the natural environment. Scientifically named Intsia bijuga or ‘Kwila’ as commonly known, due to its long-term rewards is a great inclusion in the variety of trees already provided for Governor Parkop’s ‘One million Trees’ campaign through the Park’s Trees4life initiative. “From when we first mentioned the successful sowing of the first batch of Kwila seedlings, we’ve received numerous requests for the seedlings; however we had to put those requests on hold in order for the seedlings to be strong enough for transplanting”, said Junior Muli, Port Moresby Nature Park’s Horticulture Team Leader. Over 500 Kwila seedlings are now ready for sale and field planting. Interested buyers can visit the Port Moresby Nature Park to inquire about their prices and how they can purchase. Due to the success of the first batch of Kwila trees sowed, the team are currently hard at work propagating and transplanting a second batch. The ‘Trees for Life’ initiative is supported by the global NGO Cities 4Forests and One Tree Planted, the Sir Brian Bell Foundation, the British High Commission, Rotary Club of Port Moresby and Skal Port Moresby. With continuous environmental issues affecting many societies today, the work of Port Moresby Nature Park will be even more important as we advocate, protect and conserve PNG’s Wildlife and Natural Environment.

Passengers travelling internationally are reminded that they need to provide acceptable evidence of being fully vaccinated at time of check-in. This is now a requirement for travel to most countries, including Papua New Guinea. Exemption from vaccination for children is dependent on the requirements of their destination country. Certificates valid for travel includes (amongst others) the PNG International Certificate of Covid Vaccination (ICCV) , the WHO yellow card, the Australian Covid-19 Digital Vaccination Certificate, as well as compliant certificates issued by other countries. The Green Card PNG Vaccination Certificate is not valid for international travel, as it does not include either the persons Date of Birth or their Passport Number. Passengers without any valid certificate of vaccination valid for travel cannot be checked in. The PNG International Certificate of Covid Vaccination is available from PNG National Department of Health (NDoH) upon production of a copy of your green vaccination card and passport either to email: intvaccinecertificate@gmail.com or by visiting the NDoH office- Level 3 Aopi Centre in Waigani. The NDoH have been providing the capability for the ICCV to be issued at the airport prior to departure, but this has now ceased. Passengers travelling to Australia are required to complete a new “document” being the Australian Travel Declaration/ATD including as part of this an attestation (confirmation) that the passenger is fully vaccinated and the certificate is valid. The ATD is a mobile phone App and available for download at the Apple iPhone Store for iPhone, and Google Store for Android phones. Initial one off entry of set-up information takes about 15 minutes, so it is recommended this is downloaded and updated prior to coming to the airport. Manual paper forms will be available at check-in if required.

The new proposed electorates recommended by the Electoral Boundary Commission are now subjected to the National Parliament’s discretion whether or not they will be formally recognized and included in the upcoming National General Elections later this year. Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai told PNGHausbung that the recommendations by EBC was given to the Prime Minister early this month and it will be presented in Parliament for its endorsement. “Whenever the report will be presented in Parliament is the cabinet’s call,” Mr Sinai said. He said from there, the parliament through its votes will either accept or reject these recommendations as stipulated under the constitution. “I’m not going to name the proposed electorates, nor the total number of them at this time as this is now a confidential information and the government will announce that,” Mr Sinai said. “But if the majority votes for the recommendations, then the new electorates will be enacted.” “Whether all this will be in time or not before the upcoming 2022 National General Elections is the government’s call.”

Getting the booster dose of the COVID 19 vaccination is as important as getting the first vaccination doses because the COVID 19 virus mutates or changes overtime. Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response Dr Esorom Daoni highlighted this in light of the uncertainty by the public on the matter. “COVID 19 vaccines are effective against the known variants that we have seen so far, however the efficiency of the vaccines are reduced when the virus changes itself,” Dr Daoni said. “As a result scientists advised that to increase our immunity to the changes, these boosters must be taken.” The booster dose can only be given to a fully immunized person who has completed the two doses of AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines and the first dose of Johnson & Johnson. “If you already got two doses of AstraZeneca, you are considered fully immunized so after six months, you get the third dose of AstraZeneca and a Johnson & Johnson booster.” “If you have taken a single dose of Johnson & Johnson, you are eligible to get a booster shot of Johnson and Johnson after two to six months.” “As for Sinopharm, if you have two doses of Sinopharm then you can either get a booster shot of Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca after three to six months.” He added that as for how many times the booster shots will be taken depends on the behavior of the virus and what the scientists and pharmaceutical companies will recommend. “At the moment it is premature for me to tell you how many booster you will have but we will be driven by the behavior of the virus.”

West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel and members of the provincial government have gave an undertaking with the Chief Ombudsman Richard Pagen to help fund certain projects for Correction Services and Police institutions in the province. This was to address issues such as overcrowding, deteriorating infrastructure and several issues which concerns the welfare of Police and CS officers. Mr Pagen and his team visited the province after receiving complaints of the deteriorating conditions of police holding cells, police stations and the deteriorating and overpopulated police staff houses. The Ombudsman Commission noted that there was a need for the Police, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the Office of the Public Solicitor and the Correction Services to work together in a more efficient manner to ensure they expedited hearing of the cases involving the inmates, especially those on parole and remand to prevent overcrowding. Adding to those issues was the shortage of police personnel in the province. Governor Muthuvel stated that they needed more police personnel on the ground to address law and order issues as the province is a major economic hub and sometimes law and order gets out of hand. He said the ceiling for the province is 200 personnel; however, currently there are only 123 police personnel in the province with most of them stationed at Kimbe town. Mr Muthuvel said the provincial government however, has gone ahead and taken steps to address some of these issues and have initiated the following in liaison with Police and CS: • Building of 20 new houses for police accommodation. • Repair and maintenance of the Provincial Police Commander’s office which had its roof blown off by strong wind. The Police headquarters allocated a mere K16,000 for the repair and maintenance which wasn’t sufficient so the provincial government decided to take full responsibility of the job. • Completed a duplex building for two families at the Buluma Police Station • Building of a Covid testing facility at the Lakiemata jail. • The refurbishing of the PPCs house while the PPC relocates to one of the houses owned by the West New Britain Business Trust. • Refurbishment of the CID wing Mr Muthuvel said that the only thing they could not maintain were the police lock-ups and jail because these facilities abide by certain building requirements which will come from the Police and CS. However he said they are ready to counter-fund any development in that area.

Work is progressing into the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) with the second meeting for this year held by the ICAC Appointments Committee in Port Moresby on Wednesday 26 January 2022. Prime Minister Hon. James Marape called attention to the absolute need for the Government to address the “cancer of corruption” in the country and hastened the Committee to immediately move the process along before Parliament rose for the National General Elections this year. Hosted by the Department of Justice & Attorney General (DJAG) at its WNB Haus office and chaired by the Prime Minister, the meeting discussed the composition of the Commission, its check and balance and administrative mechanisms, its reporting structure, and various other administrative and legal requirements, including recruitment for its composition. Prime Minister Marape also pointed out the Undisclosed Wealth Act and the Whistle Blowers Act – the supporting legislation that will assist to operationalise the work of the Commission when it is up and running. A very stringent process has been agreed to by the Committee, details of which will be released at a later date when the Commission is ready to launch. These efforts by DJAG continue at the back of a record number of legislation sponsored by the department and passed by Parliament last and this year which have contributed to an improvement in PNG’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International, report of which was released recently. ICAC Interim Chairman Thomas Eluh, while providing a brief, said PNG has dropped from 142nd placing out of 180 countries to 126th place in the 2021 Corruption Perception Index. "This is a massive drop in one year, highlighting the positive and strong efforts of the Marape Government in tackling rampant corruption in the country, " said Eluh. "The full operationalisation of ICAC will further improve PNG’s grading on the CPI." Prime Minister Marape encouraged the Appointment Committee, the ICAC team, DJAG and other integrity organisations to strive to reduce PNG's ranking on the CPI to double digits, adding that the 2021 CPI ranking is very encouraging for the Government and the country. He also urged DJAG to use the three years before the country turned 50 in 2025 to strengthen the legislative and administrative mechanisms to “clean up the country” in time for the Golden Jubilee celebrations. The meeting was attended by the Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, ICAC Interim Chairman Thomas Eluh, Attorney-General Dr Eric Kwa, and various key members of DJAG.

COVID 19 cases in the country, especially the Omicron variant is expected to surge within this month until March as the National Control Centre awaits the results of COVID samples collected this month and sent to Melbourne, Australia for testing. Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response Dr Esorom Daoni sounded the warning yesterday during the COVID 19 virtual press conference in Port Moresby. “With low testing rate, low vaccination rate, people not conforming to the COVID protocols, not wearing proper mask and no physical distancing, we are confident that the Omicron variant will become very dominant very soon because of our behaviour,” Dr Daoni said. “Most of the past surges in the country resulted from major national events and so we are confident that after the Christmas break and the gathering and partying activities, we are expecting a surge between now and March. “From the samples that we sent in December to Melbourne, we got only one case of Omicron variant and two cases of Delta variant.” “On Monday this week, we sent 66 samples and we’re expecting the results to be back early next week.” Dr Daoni said the Omicron variant is highly transmissible and a lot of its patients will require hospital admission. He said the vulnerable groups are the frontline essential workers, people with comorbidities and old people. “So, we will be calling up the Provincial Health Authorities next week to see how prepared they are as we head into the next months.”

This Circular is to inform all staff and the General Public that Port Moresby General Hospital is experiencing 4'h COVID 19 surge indicated by the  rising number of covid- 9 positive cases recorded since the 21st of January 2022. All Coordinators, Managers, Supervisors and staff are hereby instructed to liaise with your respective sections in preparation as we enter into this 4’h surge, particularly with regards to escalation of our surge response plans. COVID-19 Representatives from respective divisions are advised to effectively coordinate through the PMGH COVID-19 Steering committee with regular meetings effective Thursday 27’^ January 2022. I urge all staff and the public to adhere to strict COVID-19 Niupela Pasin Measures as we continue to closely monitor this ever-evolving Covid-19 pandemic on our shores.

The SP PNG Hunters have officially announced their 26-man playing squad that will travel to Australia and compete in the 2022 Hostplus Cup competition. Head Coach Matthew Church announced the squad today and expressed his excitement for the season ahead: “It is my absolute pleasure to announce the final squad of 26 for the upcoming 2022 season. We have an exciting mix of returning and new players from PNG’s premier Rugby League competition the Digicel Cup, and there is a real hunger within the group to perform, challenge each other and strive towards a better season in 2022. Church also confirmed the SP PNG Hunters’ leadership model for the 2022 season: “I am proud to announce that Keven Appo (2021 vice-captain) steps up alongside Ila Alu (2021 captain) to be co-captains of the Hunters in 2022. They will be joined in a leadership group with 2022 vicecaptain Brandon Nima. All three players have been dominant voices throughout an encouraging preseason.” This will be the second year that the SP PNG Hunters have relocated from Papua New Guinea to Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast in order to compete in the QRL competition. Church acknowledged the added difficulty but says his squad is motivated to perform. “Last year presented plenty of challenges, none more so than many of the Hunters’ players living in a new country for the first time. Like most first time adventures, you can't expect to always get things right and we’ve taken confidence from lessons learnt in 2021. Season 2022 has the promise to be better still.” “On behalf of the playing squad and staff, I would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of our sponsors, partners and stakeholders that make all this possible. Without your support we couldn’t do what we love and that is represent you all and PNG in the best light. To the families of the Hunters’ players and staff, thank you for supporting them on this journey. To everyone across PNG, please stay safe. We take great honour in representing you all and aim to bring you pride every time we play in 2022.” SP PNG Hunters’ 2022 official 26-man playing squad: Terry Wapi, Solo Wane, Brandon Nima, Gilimo Paul, Judah Rimbu, Ila Alu, Samuel Yegip, Sylvester Namo, Dilbert Isaac, Jordan Pat, Keven Appo, Emmanuel Waine, Benji Kot, Matthew Jesse, Liam Joseph, Rodrick Tai, Mark Tony, Jamie Mavoko, Casey Dickson, Anthony Worot, Sherwin Tanabi, Francis Kembis, Kingstimer Paraia, Wesa Tenza, Junior Rop, Kitron Laka.