Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has announced the appointment of Ambassador Ivan Pomaleu as Secretary to the Prime Minister's Department. Amb. Pomaleu, a distinguished Papua New Guinean from Manus, who worked as Managing-Director of Investment Promotion Authority and Ambassador to APEC, was appointed by the National Executive Council, last week. Prime Minister Marape said: "Amb. Pomaleu will be Secretary to Prime Minister's Department, under my vision of a flatter public service structure. "In this structure, department and agency heads report directly and only to their ministers and not to a chief secretary, as it was over the last 20 years. "The Prime Minister's Department Secretary, however, will still coordinate Government policies and programmes by maintaining Chairmanship of the Central Agencies Coordination Committee. "This is part of the my Government’s reform agenda in the public service. We are trying to make Waigani lighter and shift public services to rural areas, provinces and districts. We want to cut down on too many offices in Central Government." Prime Minister Marape thanked outgoing Chief Secretary Amb. Isaac Lupari, for his services to Government. "As Prime Minister, I pay my respect to the outgoing Chief Secretary Amb. Isaac Lupari, who chose not to apply for this new designation. "Amb. Lupari will go out as the longest-serving and last Chief Secretary."

Over 50 women and youths who attended the 2020 Fashion Festival Workshop in Kavieng, New Ireland Province will display their products tomorrow in a Mini Fashion Show at the Malagan Hotel.  PNG Fashion and Design Week (PNGFDW) CEO Janet Sios said that Partipants will wear their own products on the runway to help them not only market their products but also boost their confidence.  "I am hoping that through the Mini Runway tomorrow, here in Kavieng, participants will be able to walk with confidence."  "I beleive in empowering women and youths through fashion, it's a dream and I am so happy to have this last workshop in my hometown." "Since 2015, when I first started I've taken the workshops to others provinces and this is the first time, I've brought it back home and I also hope that the Mini Fashion Runway will help to promote New Ireland's beauty," she said.  The 13-day workshop is a PNG-Australia Partnership Program and was run in Port Moresby, Milne Bay and Eastern Highlands before coming to New Ireland.  New Ireland Facilitator Christine Aisoli said that it was an oppertunity for women and youths in the Province.  "Fashion is a growing Industry and I saw it's potential and wanted to help empower women and youths in the Province through fashion."  " There was a lot of hunger for  it, women in the province have been asking for it and so I helped to facilitate it," she said. Aisoli also thanked the Australian Government for supporting the program through the PNG-Australia Partnership program. "I thank PNGFDW and the New Ireland Provincial Government."  "Investment Promotion Authority and the National Youth Development Authority for making the workshop possible, Kavieng Town is looking forward to the Mini Fashion Runway tomorrow (today)," she said. 

Young people who are suffering from any form of violence or abuse either at home or the workplace now have a voice to speak up for them. Youth Lead PNG is a subsidiary Youth Lead Asia and the Pacific Network of Young Key Population. Their vision is to create an inclusive country where human rights of Young Key Populations (YKP) affected are respected and the impact of HIV/AIDS is lessened through meaningful involvement of YKP to equal access to services. “Youth Lead PNG will be the voice of the voiceless young key population who are being marginalized, suppressed and discriminated. It is a youth led organisation of people between the ages of 14-24 that advocate for human rights, sexual reproductive Health and Rights, HIV/AIDS and other issues affecting young people in PNG.” “Growing up in Nipa, Southern Highlands, I have seen and witnessed young people being victimized, harassed, discriminated and abused by parents, family and relatives.” This is from the Interim Country Coordinator, Mr Gilson Rex Olgemo. He added that plans are being drawn up for the roll out of their nationwide Awareness Campaign on Discrimination against young key population. There will also be other programs and workshops that will target youths who are adamant to be agents of change. “My message to young people out there is that we must all stand together to make Papua New Guinea a better place for everyone. We must stop despising, harassing, discriminating  and abusing other people who are being affected by sickness, sexual orientation and other societal disorientation. We must respect the rights to live freely just like everyone.”

The Managing Director of Climate Change and Development Authority Mr Ruel Yamuna has been suspended over allegations of corruption and misconduct in office. The Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change Hon Wera Mori has announced his suspension. Minister Mori said Climate Change is an important issue that cuts across all sectors of the economy and every aspects of life and ensuring transparent and accountable management and leadership in the office of the managing director for the CCDA was very fundamental. “Climate Change involves a lot of important partners and key stakeholders both within the country and abroad and as Minister responsible, I will am duty bound to ensure there is confidence in the Government and the leadership driving climate change agendas in our country. “Public Servants and departmental heads who are unproductive, complacent and corrupt should make way for others who are willing to walk the distance with our Prime Minister who is very serious about addressing corruption and driving national development,” Minister Mori said. The Minister said Mr Yamuna was suspended effective Friday 27th November, 2020 and an independent investigation is currently underway concerning the allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled against him. “This is done to protect the integrity of the office of the managing director and in the interim, I have appointed Mr Jacob Ekinye, the general manager of Adaptation and Special Projects Division as the Acting Managing Director,” Minister Mori said. He said Mr Ekinye is a career public servant who has been with the CCDA since its establishment from the then Office of Climate Change and Development and has made his way through rank and file to be the general manager. “He has the necessary skills, experience and qualifications to lead the organization in the interim and I am pleased to also announce his appointment as the acting managing director,” the Minister said. Minister Mori urged the CCDA staff to offer their undivided support to Mr Ekinye to lead the CCDA as climate change is an important issue affecting the nation and the global community.

A 57 year old female is the latest to be tested positive of Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the National Capital District in the last 24 hours. She was detected at the Pacific International Hospital. At the time of testing she was experiencing fever and headache. NCD has recorded a total of 361 positive cases. Meanwhile, as cases are reported in NCD and other centres, Controller of the National Pandemic Response, David Manning has called on all citizens to adhere to new normal save themselves, their families and communities. The measures in the new normal calls on citizens to: Wear a face mask or face covering in all public places to protect yourself and others;Clean your hands often. Wash with soap and water or use an alcohol based sanitizer;Keep a physical distance of at least 1.5 meters between yourself and others;Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth;Greet others with a smile, a nod or a simple hello-no handshakes, no fist bumps and no high fives;Cough and sneeze in your bent elbow and not your hands;Limit social gathering and time spent in crowded places; andClean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. The country’s total number of cases to date stands at 721 with eight COVID-19 deaths. 16 provinces including AROB have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: ProvincesCasesNCD361Western Province204West New Britain103Eastern H/lands13Central9Morobe6Western H/lands5East New Britain5East Sepik3Enga3Milne Bay2New Ireland2West Sepik2Southern H/lands1AROB1Hela Province1TOTAL721 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 69,143,017, including 692,165 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 1,576,516; of which 13,141 were reported in the last 24 hours.

A 57 year old female is the latest to be tested positive of Coronavirus disease ( Covid 19) in the National Capital District. She was detected at the Pacific International Hospital. At the time of testing she was experiencing fever and headache. NCD has recorded a total of 361 positive cases while PNG’s total is now at 721. Keep to your COVID-19 safety practices, listen in to the news on this station or follow our website pnghausbung.com for more on this story.

42 Teacher-librarians from Buk Bilong Pikinini’s Library Learning Centres across the country will attend a week-long Digital Training program from the 14-18th of December. The digital training program and associated website has been developed in partnership with Deloitte and Deloitte Digital and is valued at more than $100,000. The website will ensure that the teachers can access the new website to continue their training on a needs-basis and will be open for everyone to access. All BbP’s Library Learning Centres will see the implementation of a new Digital Learning Program in 2021 for the enrolled 5-year-old children. BbP’s teacher training program will ensure that the teachers are confident in their digital and online skills and ready to deliver the program. The Digital training program includes basic computer and tablet training, how to create and print documents, research on the internet, online safety, using digital learning in the classroom and much more. Many teachers in PNG have still not had the opportunity to use computers and tablets as part of their teaching and will greatly benefit from this comprehensive program and will enable children to enter the digital world. The launch of an early childhood development App based on BbP’s curriculum will also take place during the training. The BbP Early Learning App will be an additional and fun opportunity for the children to become literate and increase their technology skills at the same time. “Deloitte has a longstanding relationship with Buk bilong Pikinini that has benefited both of our organisations but, most importantly, so many PNG children for whom the best possible education is so important," said Benjamin Lee, Managing Partner Deloitte PNG. "A digital platform that takes advantage of new technologies can clearly facilitate new ways of both teaching and learning across the board. The focus has been on traditional literacy, but digital literacy, which is key to many employment opportunities, is also now more accessible than ever." "We look forward to seeing this initiative into implementation and give children an even better opportunity to learn and reach their potential.” Niunet's David Valentine said a quality education is enhanced and enabled through digital literacy. He said they can't wait to work closely with BbP on this journey to digitally enable their teachers and team members. "We are proud to be partnering with them, helping them in a small way with the amazing work they do." BbP’s Early Childhood Development program seeks to provide children access to comprehensive teaching of literacy, numeracy, pre-STEM and problem solving as well as a well-stocked library of books. The upcoming digital learning program will merge digital and traditional learning and will include app-based learning games and also utilizing digitized curriculum content and books. Leanne Resson, Buk bilong Pikinini, Executive Officer said: “We have been fortunate to have books and teaching and learning resources over the last 12 years in order to establish a solid foundation for the children who attend our library learning centres. We now acknowledge and appreciate the need to merge traditional and digital learning. This training will enhance community educators’ skills in digital learning. We are grateful to all our partners who have supported us in making this happen”. The Digital training program has been made possible thanks to the support received from ExxonMobil PNG, Deloitte/Deloitte Digital, PNG Air, Cogniss, Paddy’s Hotel, Niunet and the PNGAus Partnership.

It was a proud moment for Tokarara Secondary School Principal, Mr. Gabriel Manga, to have the Nation’s Capital based school listed among the 15 best performing secondary schools in the 2020 grade 12 national examinations. Mr. Manga commended his deputies and the hard-working teaching staff for the admirable results, saying it was the result of their hard work. “I actually believed that we were there somewhere near the top,” Manga added, before acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic for the top results. “Otherwise, we are very pleased with our efforts this year.” “There’s nothing different from what we’ve been doing. We’ve been doing the same thing all throughout these year.” Despite disruptions to this academic year due to the COVID pandemic, the students have managed to prove themselves through their outstanding performance. “You know, this bunch of kids are good. They are our top students.” “With this recognition here, I think the teachers will be psyched up and we want to keep that momentum going; not only at the secondary level but also at grade 10 level too.” Mr Manga has always held on to the sentiment that Tokarara Secondary is a top performing school and is optimistic for similar results in the future.

The NRL has announced several rule changes for the 2021 Telstra Premiership season to make the game "faster, more free-flowing, entertaining and unpredictable". The changes are: the introduction of a two-point field goal for kicks taken from more than 40 metres out;six-again to be called for 10-metre infringements;penalties for teams if they leave a scrum before a referee calls "break";a play-the-ball restart if the ball or player with the ball goes over the sideline;The Bunker will now review replays after an on-field referee awards a try but a conversion attempt will not be allowed until it gets the green light;injured players will be interchanged if a trainer ask for play to be stopped;when a captain's challenge is inconclusive a team will not be docked for an unsuccessful attempt;and a handover will be ordered when a player does not make a genuine attempt to play the ball correctly with their foot. The ARL Commission met on Friday morning to discuss recommendations put forward from Monday's meeting of the newly formed innovation committee. Chaired by ARL Commission member Wayne Pearce, the committee was made up of chairman Peter V'landys, head of football Graham Annesley, veteran coaches Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart, referee Matt Cecchin, as well as current internationals Luke Keary and Damien Cook. V'landys said these innovations would lead to "less stoppages, more unpredictability and increased excitement for our fans". Source: NRL.com

Medical experts advising the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recommended emergency approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. The decision comes after a 23-member panel met to determine whether the drug's benefits outweigh the risks. The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The drug still needs to be formally approved by the FDA's vaccine chief, which is expected in the coming days. The recommendation comes a day after the US recorded more than 3,000 deaths in the latest 24-hour period - the highest total in a single day anywhere in the world. Alex Azar, the US health secretary, said on Wednesday that after the FDA meeting, "we could then have a vaccine within days, and be administering it to the most vulnerable by next week". Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's vaccine distribution programme, has said that vaccine deliveries will begin within 24 hours of approval. Pfizer plans to have 6.4 million doses ready for the US in its first rollout round in late December. Because two shots are required per person, that is enough for three million people, out of a total US population of 330 million. Federal officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the nation's 21 million healthcare workers should be prioritised first, as well the three million elderly Americans living in long-term care homes. But there is less consensus on how states should distribute it to other groups. The nation's approximately 87 million essential workers are expected to be next in line for the jab, but it will be up to states to decide which industries to prioritise. Officials say vaccinations for groups that are not at a high risk are expected to take place in the spring of 2021. A second vaccine, developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, is also seeking emergency approval in the US. Like the Pfizer vaccine it requires a second round of injections. Source: BBC news

Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama has raised the question on where is the bi-partisanship in the opposition as the National Federation Party was not even part of the decision making process to choose the next Leader of Opposition. Bainimarama has also said in parliament that former Opposition Leader, Sitiveni Rabuka did not sacrifice his seat for anyone but he has abandoned his post. The Prime Minister says Rabuka left his party and also left SODELPA’s leadership bitterly divided. Bainimarama says those who are left in parliament and are still praising Rabuka after his departure should do the honourable thing - leave SODELPA and join the party he has proposed. He says the same goes for the members of NFP including Leader, Professor Biman Prasad who latched themselves to Rabuka’s hip on the so-called Listening Tour. The Prime Minister says the SODELPA members demand that the government work with them but they don’t even work with themselves, and their contributions are empty of ideas, facts and principles. Bainimarama also says SODELPA are a party of pretenders. He has also urged the Leader of SODELPA to set their MP, Mitieli Bulanauca straight for his venomous lies that he is telling in his speech in parliament. However Bainimarama says he cannot tell who is calling the shots in SODELPA. Bainimarama says SODELPA should provide principled leadership. He says last week 7 parliamentarians were charged by FICAC for allegedly claiming money they were not entitled to take. Bainimarama says 6 of those MPs are still sitting in parliament and this is embarrassing. He says FijiFirst MP Vijendra Prakash had the dignity to step down and protect the sanctity of parliament. The Prime Minister then called on Ratu Suliano Matanitobua, Aseri Radrodro, Niko Nawaikula, Adi Litia Qionibaravi, Simione Rasova and Peceli Vosanibola to step down and step out. He also says we need to embrace every COVID fighting tool whether it is personal protective equipment, testing kits, vaccines and contact tracing apps like careFiji. Source: fijivillage.com

Papua New Guinea has recorded its eighth death from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a 49-year-old male from West New Britain. The deceased had abdominal pains, cough, headache and shortness of breath that started on 4th December. He passed away on 8 December. Papua New Guinea has now recorded a total of 720 COVID-19 cases, with 36 new cases reported in the last 48 hours. Thirty-five of the new cases are from West New Britain (WNB) whilst the National Capital District (NCD) had one new case. Among the new cases reported in WNB, 34 are from Talasea District while one case is a nursing officer from Gloucester who is a contact of a previously-identified case. The youngest of the new cases is an 8-year-old female while the oldest is a 62-year-old male. Of the new cases, there are eight students, three nursing officers, two community health workers, an environmental health officer, a medical staff and a security guard. Most cases were identified as part of contact tracing and diagnosed through mass testing. The Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response, Mr David Manning said, “Our cases of COVID-19 in PNG continue to increase as contact tracing is ongoing. This is a reminder to all of us that the threat of COVID-19 remains in our communities and there is no room for complacency. "Please continue to observe the COVID-19 health protocols. Use hand sanitisers or wash your hands regularly with soap. Wear a face mask when in a public space and avoid crowded places. Be responsible. COVID-19 is here. There is no cure so our best defence is by taking the necessary COVID-19 health protocols." To date, 16 provinces, including AROB, have reported COVID-19 cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: Confirmed Cases by Province: NCD - 360 Western Province - 204 West New Britain - 103 Eastern Highlands - 13 Central - 9 Morobe - 6 Western Highlands - 5 East New Britain - 5 East Sepik - 3 Enga - 3 Milne Bay - 2 New Ireland - 2 West Sepik - 2 Southern Highlands - 1 AROB - 1 Hela Province - 1 TOTAL - 720 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 67,780,361, including 546,703 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 1,551,214; of which 10,132 were reported in the last 24 hours.