Police in Western Highlands Province have begun a manhunt for eight suspects who have been allegedly involved in the death of a man from Tomba in Tambul Nebilyer District. Provincial Police Commander for Western Highlands Jacob Kamiak said the deceased was brutally murdered over a land dispute between two clans. “Axes and bush knives were used to attack the deceased and he died as a result of the injuries he sustained and the huge amount of blood loss” Kamiak said there were many eye witnesses at the murder scene who managed to assist police identify the eight key suspects, however the suspects have fled the village following the killing. “I had dispatched Tambul police with another police unit to the area to capture the suspects but they ran away to another village and believed to be in hiding.” “With the help of the Council President of the Lower Kagul LLG, they are negotiating the surrender of the suspects” He said the Police in Tambul are working closely with the people to avoid retaliation or any further problems as a result of the killing.

Jacks of PNG through the Management of City Pharmacy Limited announced the Top 5 winners of the Design PNG – PNG’s Most Influential Design Competition at the Jacks of PNG Retail shop at Waigani Central last night. The Top 5 winners were Max Talian (POM), Arison Kul (POM), LaForce Mand (LAE), Dian Neah (LAE) and Junior Nalo (MANUS), who all walked away with K2000 each. CEO for CPL GROUP, Mr Navin Raju said in Papua New Guinea, as you travel around the province, there is an abundance of talent, there’s so many different cultures, there are so many different colors and there’s so many diverse variety of the art from one province to another. “Jacks of PNG and CPL Group took this initiative to actually give the talent based in PNG an avenue or platform to showcase their designs”, said Mr Raju. He said the team here at Jacks of PNG has done a tremendous job in organizing this. The event was actually launched in November last year and going through the process was a difficult task of getting all the designs all over the country. He also thanked the Judges who took time and effort because it was quite a tough job going through all the 330 designs. “As I’ve said, this whole competition has given an avenue to the artists/designers of PNG to showcase their talent. Apart from the prize money of K2000, the winners are signing a contract for Royalty so if we use their design for the product, we are not just giving them K2,000 and going to make a profit out of their designs but we are actually contributing back to them as winners”, said Mr Raju He also said that all this designs are going back to their team in Fiji and if they are interested in using any of the other designs that were not in the Top 5, they will be contacted and will be signing a contract and will also be given a fair amount of Royalty.

NCD police farewelled the outgoing NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Perou N'Dranou and welcomed his successor and new head of the NCD Command Gideon Ikumu in a joint police parade march earlier this morning at the Boroko Police Station, in Port Moresby. Superintendent Gideon Ikumu takes over as the City's top cop effective today vacating his position in New Ireland as Provincial Police Commander following his appointment late last year to lead the NCD command. He now takes over the reigns from his predecessor Mr N'Dranou as NCD's Acting Metropolitan Superintendent, a position N'Dranou held since late 2017.

The Capital Rugby Union (CRU) President announced this week that the CRU Club Presidents met on Thursday 7 January 2021 at Rugby Haus and resolved to accept the Expression of Interest from MBB Marlins Rugby Club to join CRU from the 2021 Season. CRU is pleased to announce that MBB Marlins will be the ninth Club to join the CRU Family after meeting the required criteria as a Club. MBB Marlins Patron Mr Rawali Bokuik said the Club was looking to offer their players the maximum benefit by joining CRU who have a wealth of experience in the development of rugby union players. Our players asked the Club to join CRU and we decided to submit our Expression of Interest. We are grateful for the opportunity and look forward to being part of the CRU Competition. The CRU competition has approved the Club to play in all five Divisions from the Premiers to the Under 19 Division. CRU Clubs have commenced planning for Season 2021 with the draw expected to be released later this week. CRU President Kori Chan said that the admission of MBB Marlins is part of the ongoing development of rugby union in the National Capital. A major announcement regarding rugby union is expected before thecommencement of the 2021 CRU Season.

Papua New Guinea reported ten new cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours increasing the country’s total cases to 833. A total of nine cases were reported in West New Britain whilst New Ireland province reported one positive case. In Talasea district in West New Britain, five female and four male, ages ranging between 19 to 53 have been tested positive. All nine cases did not show symptoms of COVID-19 but swab samples returned positive. In New Ireland province, a 51 year old male who lives in Lihir, Namatanai district is the latest to be confirmed positive. The 51 year old was not showing symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing but results from swab samples returned positive. The country’s COVID-19 cases as a result now stands at 833 with 9 known deaths. Sixteen provinces including the Autonomous Region Of Bougainville have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: Provinces Cases NCD 365 Western Province 212 West New Britain 156 East New Britain 30 New Ireland 18 Eastern H/lands 13 Western H/lands 10 Central 10 Morobe 6 East Sepik 3 Enga 3 Milne Bay 2 West Sepik 2 Southern H/lands 1 AROB 1 Hela Province 1 TOTAL 833 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 89,707,115 including 566,186 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 1,940,352; of which 9, 371 were reported in the last 24 hours.

This news just in! 10 new COVID-19 cases just reported which brings PNG total to 833. 9 of those cases just confirmed are in WNB & 1 more for New Ireland. Keep practicing your COVID-19 safety protocols, listen to the news on this station or follow our news website pnghausbung.com for more on this story.

Emmanuel Tipi and Salam Lavaki are the faces behind the social media famous ‘KabbageGang Entertainment’ which have taken Papua New Guinea comedy to a whole new level. Everywhere on Social Media, especially Facebook and YouTube, you will not miss scrolling across any one of their videos shared by fans. Emmanuel hails from Enga and Salam from Gulf, and the duo came up with the name ‘KabbageGang’ because they thought the name was humorous and that no one would react to what they did seriously. But without it being intentional, KabbageGang Entertainment has grown to be one of the funniest entertainment household comedy names on Social Media. “We were bored at home during the COVID19 lock down so we started recording funny videos randomly to make my kids laugh, and before we knew it, that was the start of KabbageGang Entertainment”, said Emmanuel. There were no expensive gadgets or high tech recording devices used for the recordings, the duo used the smartphones that they had to capture and edit the videos. “If you have a smartphone, you have an asset." KabbageGang said that although they have their fair share of criticism to contend with,  they still have a lot of fans to entertain and the videos that they upload are to keep their fans entertained. “We must be ready to accept criticism and negative comments because that is life and people will always have something negative to say about what you are doing. But at the end of the day it is how we react or respond to it, grow, change or just ignore it." He further added that another challenge they are currently facing is the fact that a lot of Papua New Guineans do not have a YouTube account and using YouTube to upload their videos is more suitable for a bigger audiences and viewers rather than that only outside of Facebook. KabbageGang Entertainment plans on creating a brand under KabbageGang here in Papua New Guinea and also to create more Educational videos that will change the mindset of the people. KabbageGang Entertainment also hopes that the Government in future can somehow create an organization or a business opportunity that will support and grow the entertainment industry by promoting their type of comedy.

Papua New Guinea reported four new cases of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours increasing the country’s total cases to 823. Two cases were reported in West New Britain and a case each reported in New Ireland Province and the National Capital District respectively.   In West New Britain, a 35 year old female and a 12 year old male were both reported positive. Both cases did not show symptoms of COVID-19 but swab samples returned positive. In the National Capital District, a 63 year old male who lives in North-east electorate is the latest to be confirmed positive. In New Ireland province, a 53 year old male who lives in Lihir, Namatanai is the latest to be confirmed positive. He was identified though contact tracing. The country’s COVID-19 cases as a result now stands at 823 with 9 known deaths. Sixteen provinces including the Autonomous Region Of Bougainville have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: Provinces Cases NCD 365 Western Province 212 West New Britain 147 East New Britain 30 New Ireland 17 Eastern H/lands 13 Western H/lands 10 Central 10 Morobe 6 East Sepik 3 Enga 3 Milne Bay 2 West Sepik 2 Southern H/lands 1 AROB 1 Hela Province 1 TOTAL 823 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 89,048,435 including 664,574 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 1,930,265; of which 11,139 were reported in the last 24 hours

Lae based Pharmaceutical company Chemcare have provided a donation of first aid supplies worth over K1,000 to Athletics PNG for its training programme in Kerowagi, Simbu Province. It is the second time Chemcare have come to the assistance of APNG in recent times, having also donated supplies for the training camp at NSI in Goroka leading up to the 2019 Pacific Games. President Tony Green was on hand to collect the supplies from Sales Representative Martha Nakaio which were later taken up to Kerowagi. On behalf of the athletes, Green thanked Chemcare’s Operations Manager Angus King for the generous donation.

Vehicle owners will have to fork out a bit more from their pockets to purchase fuel following an increase in retail prices for petrol, kerosene and diesel across the country. The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) hereby announced the new retail fuel prices for this month, which took effect on Friday, 8th January, 2021.                     "For this month, the Indicative Retail Prices (IRP) for petrol, diesel and kerosene will all increase on average, throughout PNG", said ICCC Commissioner Paulus Ain. These increases in the retail prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene have mainly been attributed to the increase in crude oil prices during the month of December, 2020.   The average oil price increase was mainly due to the easing of lockdowns following the second wave of Covid-19 which led to increased oil demand from Asia. Furthermore, the price increase is also reflective of the increases in the domestic wholesale and retail margins for fuel products in 2021. The domestic retail fuel prices for this month are inclusive of the Import Parity Prices (IPP), domestic sea and road freight rates for the first quarter of 2021, the annual wholesale and retail margins for 2021, excise duty, and Goods and Services Tax (GST). According to the ICCC’s calculations, retail fuel prices for petrol, diesel and kerosene will all increase right across the country. Vehicles fetching fuel at a Puma Service Station in Port Moresby. PORT MORESBY As a result of adding all the various cost components mentioned above, the maximum retail prices for fuel in Port Moresby are as follows: Port Moresby Retail Prices (toea per litre) Petrol (tpl)Diesel (tpl)Kerosene (tpl)Retail Prices as of 8th January, 2021299.27259.94230.25Retail Prices as of 8th December, 2020283.19242.82210.88Price Variance (+/-) toea per litre16.0817.1219.37 Retail prices in all other designated centers will change according to their approved in-country freight rates and their respective retail margins for 2021. ALL CENTRES For all centers, the maximum retail fuel prices for each petroleum product in the country will change on average as follows: Petrol prices will increase by 16.07 toea per litre;Diesel prices will increase by 16.36 toea per litre; andKerosene prices will increase by 18.62 toea per litre. As part of the ICCC’s enforcement and compliance of fuel prices, its Investigation Officers will conduct inspections at all service stations to ensure prices of petroleum products do not exceed the allowable maximum prices. The following ICCC officers will conduct compliance inspections in Lae, Mt Hagen, Kokopo and Port Moresby. Inspections in other provinces will be supported by our contacts in those provinces. Please note: Mr. Christopher Gabesoa, Mr. Seri Tau Vali, Mr. Dennis Jerry and Mr. Bill Boiu will conduct compliance inspections to all service stations in the National Capital District. They can be reached on telephone number 325 2144;Ms. Pamela Ipambonj, Mr. Allen Monyomb and Mr. Timothy Ponau will conduct compliance inspections in Lae. They can be reached on telephone number 472 2859;Mr. Bobby Tei, Mr. Roman Rosting and Mrs. Dorcas Baining Julai will conduct compliance inspections in Kokopo, Rabaul, Kerevat, Warangoi and Toma. They can be reached on telephone number 982 9711; andMr. Kevin Kondo and Mr. Jeffery Khar will conduct compliance inspections in Goroka, Kainantu, Kundiawa and Mt. Hagen. They can be reached on, following mobile numbers 7369 8251/ 7232 4861. The prices set by the ICCC are the indicative maximum retail prices, for which retailers may choose to sell below the ICCC approved maximum price. The ICCC would like to remind retailers who sell fuel-using pumps to set fuel prices to one decimal place while the ICCC will continue to set the maximum price to 2 decimal places. No fuel pump operator should charge above the Indicative Retail Price for this month’s price regardless of the number of decimal places. This is to ensure compliance with the Prices Regulation Act under which the maximum prices of refined petroleum products are set. Retailers who are displaying prices to 1 decimal place are urged by the ICCC to round the prices down to ensure prices are within the allowable indicative retail prices. ICCC Inspectors will continue to conduct spot checks after 8th January, 2021, to ensure on-going compliance by retail fuel operators. Consumers are advised to report any instances of overcharging by retailers through the ICCC’s Consumer Protection Division on 325 2144, on toll free number: 180 3333 or by contacting our Regional Offices closest to you on the numbers provided above.

Two minors are currently on observation for head injuries while one passenger was pronounced dead on arrival at the Port Moresby General Hospital Accidents and Emergency Department following last Friday's tragic motor vehicle accident along the Waigani Boulevard in the National Capital District. The Independence Boulevard, Waigani The casualties were among a total of 10 victims brought in to the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) for medical attention after Friday's nasty accident involving a 10 seater and a 25 seater PMV bus. PMGH CEO Dr Paki Molumi confirmed these numbers, adding that the one adult who had suffered head injuries has been intubated and is in critical condition. Dr Molumi added that of the further 6 casualties, 1 is in shock following a pelvic injury while another who had suffered arterial bleeding from facial injuries sustained has been operated on by ENT specialists. The further 4 are recovering with multiple soft tissue and limb injuries. Port Moresby General Hospital

Passengers travelling to The Australian Government has announced changes to the requirements for travel to Australia. All passengers travelling to Australia will at some point be required to provide evidence of a negative PCR test at time of check-in. At present that is still not yet a requirement for this PCR test for flights to Australia, but the Australian Government will advise when this will come into effect, and Air Niugini will provide this information as soon as we are notified.   These PCR tests can be completed in Port Moresby at PIH and St John for a fee with results provided quickly. It is probable there are also other service providers in PNG also able to do these PCR tests for passengers to Australia as well.  Other types of test such as the rapid (or Gen-X test) are not acceptable. The Australian Government has also mandated that all passengers must wear a mask on all flights to Australia.  Failure to comply comes with significant penalties. Air Niugini will continue to operate the five flights per week to Brisbane and the Monday flight to Cairns.   However these new restrictions also include very significant reductions in the number of passengers allowed to be uplifted to Australia. Consequently based on the number of passengers already booked, Air Niugini has had to close all the Port Moresby to Brisbane and Cairns flights for any additional sales from 15th January out to 15th February.