A fisheries project that will create over 40,000 jobs for Papua New Guineans and several billion kina for the country is yet to kick start because of funding constraints. The Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) project in Madang was launched in November 2015 and also captured in the recent Fisheries Strategic Plan 2021-2030 where the special economic zone for fisheries will provide necessary infrastructure for downstream processing of fish products. Yangoru-Saussia MP Richard Maru raised the question in Parliament this week regarding the project following the delay in its work. “This industry is worth over K1.5 billion if we are able to process all the fish in our waters,” Mr Maru said. “Currently we’re losing over 10,000 new jobs.” Fisheries Minister Dr Lino Tom in response said 40,000 jobs are pending at the moment because of the delay in building the infrastructures required. “Our only problem is funding, it is something we don’t really have to start off this good project,” Dr Lino said. “As leaders, we have our local needs that seem to be pressing and having more space in the fiscal budget so it is quite difficult for us to build this transforming infrastructure,” Dr Lino added.

Papua New Guinea needs external support to beef up the security capacity for the upcoming 2022 National General Elections. Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas said it is evident that the national security force lacked the capacity in dealing with the election exercises and this has led to many compromised elections over the years. Sir Peter proposed to Prime Minister James Marape to seek assistance from Australia and New Zealand police forces to provide support in capacity building in the lead up and during the national general elections. “Why are we shying away from asking outside help for this matter?” Sir Peter asked. “During APEC, we asked for outside help where foreign troops were deployed to beef up the national security.” “Why don’t we do the same for this upcoming national election where we all know too well our past experiences in this exercise has always been compromised.” “These external security personnel can come in as early as January next year and work with the national security personnel to identify areas that have the potential to disrupt good elections and ensure that doesn’t happen.” He said elections in the country, especially in the Highlands region is always filled with corrupt practises and this should be minimized and stopped if the government is responsible to the people.

It may have been Venus and Serena Williams on the court all these years, but the story of their success isn't just about them. In an interview with ABC News, Venus Williams said the film, "King Richard" highlights the significance of her family's role in the making of the two pro tennis champions. "I think you get to really see the ecosystem of my family," she said. "It's not perfect, but all that matters is that you are going in the same direction together and building each other up. That's what we did and that's what we do." The title of the film alludes to the dad Richard Williams, who famously had his youngest daughters' fate as tennis greats mapped out before they were even born. Will Smith, who plays Richard Williams, has said Richard Williams was one of the most misunderstood people of his time. "People didn't understand him but I think that it didn't take long for people to realize that this is a guy who's for his family, for his daughters, ride or die, no matter what," said Venus Williams. As a tribute to her dad, Venus Williams created an activewear collection inspired by "King Richard" to be added to her brand Elevens. Williams said the clothing encapsulates the essence of her dad and the clothing the family wore in the '90s. SOURCE: ABC NEWS

The opportunity to vote freely and fairly in the upcoming National General Elections must be given to the people unlike what was experienced in past instances. Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas said for this to happen, this government needs to seriously address the security issue surrounding the national elections. “In this parliament, we said to give the opportunity to women to vote freely, how do we ensure that happens when we cannot control the law-and-order issues faced during elections?” Sir Peter asked. “Over many years now, we have observed that many elections are not properly held and successive governments have failed time and again to fix these election related issues.” “Some of us sitting here are responsible for corrupting the elections and we cannot continue to sit here and do nothing about it.” Sir Peter called on Prime Minister James Marape to admit the fact that PNG lacked the security force capacity to carry election operations and to seek external help wherever possible.

Dr Jack Amana, 55, Deputy Chief Heart Physician/Cardiologist at the Sir Buri Kidu Heart Institute was diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer of the mouth or squamous cell carcinoma in August this year and urgently needs funds for his treatment overseas. “Dr Amana has helped a lot of people and has touched a lot of lives so we really want to return this favor by making sure he gets the best treatment.” “We have been outsourcing his medication from Australia through Sesago Pharmacy.” “So far, he has completed a 6-cycle treatment at the Port Moresby General Hospital,” said his sister, Mrs Ruth Mays. Mrs Mays said that his 6-cycle treatment of immunotherapy treatment with cetuximab injection costs K15, 000 per week and he will need another 6-cycle treatment before travelling down to Raffles Hospital for further investigation and treatment between December and January of next year. She also said that Dr Amana needs an estimate of K250,000 for him to receive the Post Chemotherapy treatment. The family has previously had mini fundraisers by selling food packs and Mumu dishes to start of the fundraising for Dr Amana’s Medical Appeal, however still need to raise more funds to make the trip possible. There will be a corporate fundraising dinner to raise funds for Dr Amana to travel to Raffles Hospital, Singapore for the post chemotherapy treatment. The dinner is set to take place on the 4th of December at the Dynasty restaurant inside Vision City. “We originally planned to have the dinner in October but we could not do so due to the C19 measures in place in the city.” “We have written a letter to the Controller and we have gotten approval to have the dinner in December.” Mrs Mays added that they had hoped to have about 500 people for the dinner however due to the C19 restrictions, they’ve been given approval to have only 100 people at the fundraising dinner. The Family has created a Trustee account with Kina Bank and they have been receiving donations from family and friends which has covered the costs of his medical treatments so far. Mrs Mays thanked everyone that has helped out in donations of cash and kind to date.

Following the resumption of jet services to Wewak last week, Air Niugini has advised the travelling public that the airline has now also resumed its Fokker jet services to Madang as of Wednesday this week. The resumption of Fokker flights follows the completion of runway maintenance works by the National Airports Corporation (NAC). Since the works on the airport runway commenced early this year, Link PNG has been operating to Madang airport using smaller Dash-8 aircraft, but with passenger numbers restricted to as few as 20 at times because of the shortened runway. For a period of time in July/August the runway was closed to even Dash-8 size aircraft. Air Niugini General Manager Commercial, Mr Dominic Kaumu said the last months of restricted operations at Madang has been inconvenient for both the customers, business houses in Madang, and the airline. "However, we understand runways must be maintained to the highest standard and we are pleased the works are now complete and we can resume our Fokker 100/70 jet services into Madang airport,” Mr Kaumu said.

The National Identification Program (NID) will be reviewed by the government in December this year to ensure the issues experienced in the processing and its’ requirement to access services faced by the public is resolved. Prime Minister James Marape gave this undertaking on the issue in Parliament today after being asked by Nawae MP Kennedy Wenge on the government’s approach to the issue. Mr Wenge said people in his electorate including students have had issues accessing banking, travel and other services because of the hiccups with the NID system. “Some had to ask me to assist them with money to travel to Port Moresby so they can visit the main office to process their NID cards.” “And when they come to Port Moresby, they are lined up again at the NID office and wait again for some time to have their NID processed,” Mr Wenge said. In response, Mr Marape said so much money was put in for this project however because the funds were given on an ad hoc basis, it wasn’t successfully carried out. “The then O’Neill government committed over K400 million for this project but it wasn’t rolled out to expectations and my government now had to inherit these issues.” “The intention of the project was good, however the set up did not cover all parts of the country.” The Prime Minister said after the review next month, the government will announce on how it will ensure the NID requirements are relaxed so it is accessible while at the same time work with provincial governments to establish NID offices throughout the entire country.

Quality data and assessment on the impacts of climate change is needed for the government to be able to draw money from the Global Climate Fund and address these impacts. Environment and Conservation Minister Wera Mori said this in response to Sumkar MP Chris Nangoi’s question on what the government has achieved through its’ participation at the recent global Climate Change meetings. Mr Nangoi said the impacts of climate change is very much experienced in his electorate affecting the island and coastal communities on Karkar Island as well as other communities around the country. “Since we have been attending global climate change meetings with other developed nations, are there any plans that are being discussed to address this?” Mr Nangoi asked. Mr Mori in response said the outcome of the recent COP26 meeting will be released in a ministerial statement however there are some outcomes that will be discussed regarding issues addressed. “Loss and damages of those communities that are impacted by climate change will be addressed by way of quality statistics and records being captured to be able to draw money that is being promised through the Global Climate Fund,” Mr Mori said.

While we understand that getting the vaccine is not compulsory we also take into account the safety of our employees and that of their families. Trukai is a family oriented company that has been supplying rice to the country for over 50 years. We believe that by encouraging our workers to be vaccinated, we intend on contributing to the decrease in deaths due to Covid-19. Although this virus is being transmitted communally, we would like our workers to at least be safeguarded by this as we value their contribution to our business. Trukai does not have a “no jab, no job” policy but we encourage our employees, especially those who are in jobs which allow them to come in close contact with our external clients, to be vaccinated as we consider them in high risk roles. While we value the freedom of choice to be vaccinated with our freedom of speech and the right to protest, we have to keep in mind that we have a business to run. As safety in the workplace is our utmost priority, we encourage workers to be considerate and to always look out for one another. The loss of human resources due to Covid-19 will negatively impact Trukai greatly. This results in a domino effect where the lives of our employees and their families; our farmers and their communities, families and rice projects; and other charity organisations that we support, through our corporate social responsibility program, will also be impacted negatively. Not only that but food security will be at threat as rice has now become a staple food for Papua New Guineans. Currently Trukai employs over 1000 workers. I appeal to our Trukai employees to think of their families, if not for themselves, to be willing to accept the vaccine as the decision that they make today will greatly impact their livelihoods.

The Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI) and the Market for Village Farmers (MVF) this week (Thursday 18th November) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with seven (7) Partner Financial Institutions (PFI). The MoU will see the PFI’s partner with MVF in implementing the project in six targeted provinces, Western Highlands, Jiwaka, Simbu, Eastern Highlands, Morobe and East New Britain. CEFI will facilitate the work of the seven PFIs through the establishment of the MoUs and provide technical assistance to the PFIs, with the support from an expert consultant to design and develop innovative financial products and services that meet the commercial and business financial needs of MVF target rural communities. CEFI and each of the PFI’s will develop a business development plan, including a three-year training plan, to build internal organization capacities and ensure that they provide affordable and diversified financial services to MVF target households and value chain players. PFI’s that signed the MoU, Bank South Pacific, Mi Bank, Women’s Micro Bank, People’s Micro Bank, Kada Poroman Micro Finance, Nasfund Contributors Savings and Loan Society and East New Britain Savings and Loan Society. CEFI Executive Director, Saliya Ranasinghe says, “Today is an important milestone for agriculture sector where financial institutions are committing to support and assistance. Farmers should not see the banks as a lending institution but an institution that provide range of financial services that are important. Banks are important partners in progress.” George Awap, Manager Financial System Development, on behalf of Bank of PNG Governor and CEFI Board Chairman Loi Bakani, says, “CEFI stands ready to work with the MVF project and the financial institutions to promote financial inclusion services with fresh produce farming communities in the six provinces.” “I want to thank the financial institutions for volunteering to take part in this innovative approach and the stakeholders for bringing the project to the business phase in Papua New Guinea,” said MVF Project Manager Robert Lutulele. FPDA (Fresh Produce Development Authority) General Manager Mark Worinu added, “This is a milestone achievement for the project and the important reason of the project is partnership because if you want run the supply chain you must have a strong support from the financial institutions.” Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) Acting Secretary, Stephen Mombi says “I am very happy to see the financial institutions coming onboard to support the project. The project will build partnership and identify key partners that will connect famers with the urban markets. I commend the seven financial institutions for taking the bold step to coming forward to provide financial services to this sector.” “We got a commitment not just to Papua New Guinea but to the agriculture sector. We will find a way to assist the agriculture sector. BSP is very happy to be part of this project and we are committed to making sure we can deliver it and continue the support to Papua New Guinea,” said BSP General Manager Retail Banking Daniel Faunt. CEFI is implementing subcomponent 2.2 of the MVF project which is focused on providing livelihood and financial literacy training and provision of innovative financial products and services to improve the lives of farming households in the six selected provinces in the Highlands region, Morobe and East New Britain provinces. The MVF project is valued at $USD38 million and is executed by the Government of Papua New Guinea  through the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and implemented by FPDA, with funding from International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).

This Christmas will be bigger and better with Digicel giving customers more ways to win. From guaranteed Shake to Win daily, to a massive grand prize and other prizes and surprises in between, it means everyone can be a winner this Christmas with Digicel. Digicel is leveraging all of its apps, products and services, so that customers can be rewarded simply for being part of the Digicel family and the MyDigicel app will serve as the go-to place for all things prize related. Taking engagement to the next level, the more customers use Digicel’s suite of digital apps (BiP, D’Music, GoLoud, Loop, PlayGo and Billo), the more chances they get to win prizes this Christmas. With more ways to win, customers can be entered into the prize pool simply by buying a WoWi 4G LTE Extreme Smartphone, Topping K5 or More, Activating a 1TOK Prime Bundle, Shaking to WIN in My Digicel app or by using any three of Digicel’s digital apps daily. By doing any one of these customers will receive a chance to win daily prizes in the MyDigicel app, weekly prizes of K1,000 cash, Smartphones, Water Tanks and Gensets. Plus, Digicel customers will get a chance at winning one of three Grand Prizes of K20,000, K30,000 or K50,0000. Lorna McPherson, Senior Vice President of Digicel PNG said, “This Christmas, we’re excited to offer our customers more ways to win, and to make switching to Digicel worthwhile for non-customers. Most of our apps are available to anyone, regardless of the network they’re on, but of course we make it worth their while if they’re with Digicel. From our Digicel 1TOK Prime Bundles which gives dedicated free 1GB data daily for each of our digital apps, to the countless prizes on offer, this Christmas customers can win more with Digicel”. Christmas is all about spending time with loved ones, whether that’s having a Christmas movie night with PlayGo, or rocking around the Christmas tree listening to a holiday playlist on D’Music or podcast on GoLoud, this season, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Ms. McPherson continued, “At Digicel, we’re all about keeping people connected to the people and things they love the most. We know the last two years have been difficult, so this holiday season, we’re looking to celebrate safely with friends and family. Chat more with loved ones on BiP, share more memories with them on Billo and read more on Loop to keep up to date with what is happening this festive season. We’re giving you more ways to win this Christmas, so stream more, watch more, listen more, talk more, read more, share more and store more on Digicel’s apps, so that you have a chance to win big this Christmas.” For more details on how to win big with Digicel this Christmas, visit the website at: https://www.digicelgroup.com/pg/en/offers2.html

With exactly 23 weeks remaining before the scheduled issuing of writs for the 2022 National General Elections on Thursday, April 28 2022, Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) is issuing a call on the National Government to take action and make a formal appointment to the position of Electoral Commissioner, and to ensure that this appointment is formalized in accordance with the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elections. While Prime Minister Marape has restated his position during the Parliament sitting this week that the elections will proceed as planned, the long-standing vacancy at the head of the PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) and the current acting arrangements may cause instability within the Electoral Commission workforce and as a result could disrupt planning and preparations for a successful delivery of the 2022 National Elections. TIPNG Chair, Peter Aitsi said with less than six months left before the issue of writs, the current leadership vacuum within the PNGEC should be a very serious concern for all stakeholders. “Simon Sinai was officially appointed Acting Electoral Commissioner following former Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato’s suspension in August of 2020,” Mr Aitsi said. “This acting appointment has since expired in February and was further extended in August this year, with no substantive appointment yet to be made.” He said the National General Elections represent a very significant logistical undertaking which should not be taken lightly. “As we have experienced in past elections, staging a national election in PNG is a complex and challenging exercise on many fronts, and so if we are to have any hope of carrying out the 2022 National Elections in a truly free, fair, efficient, and peaceful manner, the PNG Electoral Commission, as the lead agency, must be given ample time to put its house in order.” “This includes ensuring that an impeccably credentialed, competent, and qualified individual is appointed to lead the organization, confidence in the process to appointing the new commissioner, as well as the credibility and integrity of that person, will go a long way to restoring public trust, including the trust and confidence of intending candidates.” TIPNG’s call to action comes after a two-month-long silence from the Electoral Commission Appointments Committee (ECAC) headed by the PM, following the official closing of applications for the position of Electoral Commissioner on Friday 6th August 2021. “We (TIPNG) understand that a shortlist of applicants has been put together since the position was formally advertised in June this year. The legitimacy of this appointment must be upheld to the highest standards, as the outcome will ultimately underpin the integrity of the 2022 National Elections,” said Mr. Aitsi.