PNG Haus Bung

This just in, there has been another COVID-19 related death bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 12.  This death comes as 89 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours…the highest number of cases reported in a single day.  This now brings the total number of COVID-19 cases for PNG to 1, 228 confirmed cases.   Continue to practice COVID-19 safety protocols and keep listening to the news on this station & follow our news website: pnghausbung.com for more on this story. 

It is with great sadness that the Somare's on behalf of Lady Veronica Somare announce the passing of her beloved husband, the father of her children and grandchildren and great grandchild Sir Michael Thomas Somare at 12am on Friday 25 February 2021. Sir Michael was only diagnosed with a late stage of Pancreatic Cancer in early February and was admitted to hospital on Friday 19 February 2021. Sadly, pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers that are rarely detected early. We as a family had only two weeks to look for possible treatments for our father. "Sir Michael was a loyal husband to our mother and great father first to her children, then grandchildren and great granddaughter,"said daughter Betha Somare. "But we are endeared that many Papua New Guineans equally embraced Sir Michael as father and grandfather." She said as a man of great faith, they are pleased that Sir Michael was able to be given his last rites and Anointing by Cardinal Ribat. "In our presence Sir Michael opened his eyes to acknowledge the blessing by his Eminence before passing away peacefully." "We take this opportunity to thank the Cardinal for making himself available so quickly." Arrangements will be made in due course to take Sir Michael home to his final resting place in the East Sepik Province. "We his children know that it is the wish of both our parents to be laid to rest together on Kreer Heights in Wewak." "We thank everyone who in those few days had worked so hard to save Sir Michael’s life be it through a medivac, healthcare itself or providing transport. We also thank everyone who wrote in to express their support and offer their prayers to our father and our family." "We are humbled." Photo sourced: voanews.com

Bougainville has confirmed its second positive case of COVID-19 for the region this week. The Bougainville Public Health Committee said the case is that of a female, who displayed symptoms of the virus and went in for voluntary testing this week. Her sample was tested at the Buka Triage Center using the Gene Xpert machine and brought back a positive result. The ABG Health Clinical Team confirmed that her condition is stable and she is currently being treated and is in self-isolation at home. Contact tracing and sample collection has already commenced for close contacts of the positive case, and those currently being tested. These samples will be tested to determine the status of the contacts and inform intervention to prevent any further spread of the virus. While the COVID-19 Response Team is engaged in its quick response efforts, the general public is urged to remain calm and to strictly adhere to Covid-19 protocols to prevent spread of the virus. This includes the Niupela Pasin preventive measures which are: Wear a facemask or face covering in public places to protect yourself and others Keep at least 1.5 meters’ distance between yourself and others. Limited social gathering and times spent in crowded places. Greet each other without touching. No handshake, no fist or elbow bumps. Greet with a smile, bow, nod or a simple hello. Clean hands frequently, wash with soap and water or use alcohol-based sanitizer Cough or sneeze into your bent elbow not your hands. Avoid touching your mouth eyes and nose Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. If you have Covid-19 symptoms such as fever, dry cough, sore throat or shortness of breath, call toll-free #: 74460830 or visit your nearest health facility. The Triage Center located at the Buka General Hospital is operational and has the capacity to conduct assessment of clients and collection of samples for testing. The public is urged to visit the Center and get tested if you are not feeling well. While Bougainville is no longer in an emergency period, the ABG through the Bougainville Public Health Committee, will take immediate action to implement necessary precautionary containment measures to prevent any further transmission.

Jenny Gonapa had no office when she started her business in 2009 – just alaptop, an idea and her determination. Today, PNG Highlands Tours is regarded as a reliable tourism operator, anachievement obtained through Jenny’s commitment to learning and hardwork. In many ways, her journey as an entrepreneur started back in 2001 whenshe was selected to undertake an Australian Government supportedscholarship – a business management diploma she completed through TAFEQueensland. After she graduated and returned home, Jenny worked with a tour operatorin Goroka, but in the back of her mind was the desire to run her ownbusiness. With the encouragement of her brother, who also worked for a tour operator, she started PNG Highlands Tours. The first few years were tough – as is the case with many start-ups – butJenny and her husband were committed. They invested thousands of Kina to attend overseas travel expos, promoting the business and hoping to attract tourists. “I participated in a lot of travel shows like our very own Lukim PNG NauExpo, the South Pacific Tourism Exchange in Auckland, the Birding Fair inLondon and even the world’s leading travel show – ITB in Berlin,” Jennysaid. “It was costing me and my husband so much time, effort and money, and Ihad not gotten one tourist to take an interest in coming on my tours. We were sacrificing a lot just for me to attend these expos, and every time Iwent, I came back without any booking.” With prospects looking bleak, Jenny was about to give up when she got acall from a friend. “Alice Kuaniningi, the then marketing manager for the PNG TourismAuthority, was assisting me and other tour operators with attending exposand roadshows,” Jenny continued. She told me, ‘You mustn’t give up. You’re dealing with humans, not cargothat will be brought in on ships. Be patient!” Sure enough, the first group of tourists signed up for packages in 2012. They were American and European retirees – a demographic that hasremained a key market. Tourists bought full packages, which featured trekking, cultural festivals,bird viewing, diving, village stays, road transfers and hotel reservations. With the business growing steadily, Jenny invested in land in Goroka whereshe built an office and diversified into other operations, including a bottleshop, food bar and grocery store. PNG Highlands Tours has five permanent staff in Goroka and agents in PortMoresby, Rabaul, Kavieng, Mt Hagen, Tari, Mt Bosavi, Karamui, Telefomin,Madang, Simbai, East Sepik, Milne Bay and Tufi. They use digital platforms and clients can book online through theirwebsite, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, or through travel agents in theUSA, Europe, Japan, North America, Australia and New Zealand. In 2019, Jenny took part in the PNG-Australia Partnership’s Laikim Sisterproject, which strengthened grassroots business connections between Papua New Guinean and Indigenous Australian women. “I learnt a lot from my sisters from Australia when they came up last year,”Jenny said. “I can say that this was the best network and exchange program to havebeen part of.” Jenny opened an office in Cairns, was planning to open new offices inSydney and Canberra, and was working with agents around the world toincrease bookings before things were disrupted by COVID-19. Flights stopped, tours were cancelled and business ground to a halt. “Our income is mainly tourists travelling into the country, and when theborders are closed we are shut down completely,” Jenny said. “We are not recovering as yet – maybe [this will happen in] late 2021.” To assist small and medium enterprises to survive the pandemic and adaptto challenging conditions, the Australian Government supported PNG Highlands Tours and other Laikim Sister entrepreneurs by providingbusiness coaching and mentoring. They have been taking part in Zoom video sessions and working throughstrategies to pivot their businesses and cope with the personal stress. For Jenny, the connections built through Laikim Sister proved useful as sheadapted her business to export handicrafts and cultural items. “I built my network of handicrafts business from here and have beenexporting to keep my business going,” she said. “I have done five exports so far and am preparing to send more in thecoming weeks.” Times are challenging, but Jenny has the mindset of an innovator. She’sfocused on the opportunities and keeps moving forward.

Police Commissioner David Manning has defended his recent transfer of senior police officers saying these were made in the best interest of the Constabulary and the country and were within his powers as the Commissioner of Police. Mr Manning made this statement following media reports of six police officers who have taken the Commissioner to Court over the recent transfer directives he issued. Mr Manning said the Police Commissioner has the authority to issue directions to officers regarding the conduct of criminal investigations, applying for arrest warrants, laying of charges, and the deployment of members of police force anywhere within the constabulary and country. He said the Supreme Court made the interpretation in 2014 when it dealt with constitutional issues relating to the commissioner’s powers with regards to arrest warrants and contempt charges. “Justice David Cannings, who gave the ruling on behalf of Justice Colin Makail, Justice Don Sawong, Justice Goodwin Poole and Justice Lawrence Kangwia, said then that the ultimate power of command and the primary responsibility for operational control of the police fell within the domain of the Commissioner of Police. “If officers run to the courts every time a transfer directive is issued then we will get nothing done. This is a disciplined organisation where there is supposed to be command and control and one police commissioner. If officers are unable to comply with directives issued by the Commissioner then they will have to seriously reconsider their continued employment within the Police Force. “Transfer directives are made from time to time by the Commissioner of Police in consultation with the two deputy police commissioners and where necessary the respective divisional assistant commissioners. This was the case in the recent transfers and this is intended for the effective and efficient management of the Constabulary,” Mr Manning said. The Police Commissioner said in the case of the six officers, one has withdrawn his case and is taking up posting as PPC Morobe. The other five officers have cited a breach of contract as the reason for their court case. However, Mr Manning said besides the change of postings the officers do not lose anything. He said these five officers are uniformed officers and continue to earn the same salary. “It has now come to my management’s attention that all the five officers are also over the compulsory retirement age and will need to be retired immediately. My management will have to review the previous transfer directives to compensate for the imminent exit of these five officers,” Mr Manning said. Further, Mr Manning said that when he was appointed as Police Commissioner he took measures to do away with contracts for senior police officers from provincial police commanders to directors as this affected the effective administration of the Constabulary. “Whilst I understand that the performance-based contracts were initially established to improve performance of officers and reward them accordingly, we just did not have the capability or capacity to manage those contracts as intended. What this has done instead is to erode the authority of the Office of the Commissioner of Police to deploy officers as and when required. “Whilst performance-based contracts may be a thing for the future, without the capability or capacity to manage them these contracts become counter-productive and detrimental to the effective command and control and administration of the Constabulary. “In fact contracts created a way for officers to question and refuse to accept directives from the Police Commissioner and further provided them with the justification to go to court as now being experienced in this recent case,” Mr Manning said, adding that he will defend his directive in court. Mr Manning said he is mindful that the National General Election is a year away and decisions have to be made now to strengthen the planning process for the security operations. “I need officers in place on the ground now preparing for a free, safe and secure 2022 National General Elections. If officers feel that they cannot deliver for whatever reasons then they must indicate now. I need good strong committed and disciplined officers who are team players and 110 per cent in the serious business of protection and serving our citizens,” Mr Manning said.

Port Moresby General Hospital will continue to provide normal services amidst the surge in COVID-19 in the city. PMGH serves over a million residents of the NCD, people from Central, parts of Gulf Provinces and referrals from the rest of the country. PMGH is the only public Health facility providing 24 emergency services (with Gerehu Hospital), theatre services and labour ward with 50-60 deliveries per day. PMGH Chief Executive Officer Dr. Paki Molumi said over 300 prescriptions per day are processed at our pharmacy and over 300 x-rays are processed per day at the Radiology Department. The specialist clinics runs every day from 8am to 4pm with over 500 patients per day. Added to that 900 plus inpatients are managed. Patients queue up to receive the service and many wait long hours. "With the scaling down of Gerehu Hospital due to COVID, PMGH will be more stressed. The overcrowding of patients will increase further. The overcrowding is a potential risk of spreading COVID," said Dr. Molumi Gerehu Hospital scaling down operations "The Hospital will continue providing normal services as there is no other Health Facility like PMGH in the city." He said to ensure that, strict COVID protocols are in place to protect the patients been infected, protect our staff whilst managing COVID-19 cases. PMGH activated its surge plan last week to cater for increased cases and also take on the role of Rita Flynn in managing mild to moderate cases. The public is encouraged to adhere to COVID protocols in place when visiting PMGH so we continue provide normal services.

This just in, there has been another COVID-19 related death bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 11. This death comes as 28 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours...20 in Western and 8 in NCD. This now brings the total number of COVID-19 cases for PNG to 1139 confirmed cases. Continue to practice COVID-19 safety protocols and keep listening to the news on this station & follow our news website: pnghausbung.com for more on this story.

The Teaching Service Commission Disciplinary Committee (TSCDC) made a decision to reinstate (8) teachers of the Kui Wamp Nga High School in Western Highlands who were terminated by the Provincial Education Board for assisting students to cheat in the 2019 Grade 10 National Examinations. Teaching Services Commission Acting Commissioner Policy, Mr Joel Nava, made it clear that the TSCDC decision to reinstate the 8 teachers was handed down by an appeals committee appointed by the TSC which reviewed appeals put forth by the teachers who were terminated by the Western Highlands PEB. The appeals committee comprised of Grade 5 Principal Magistrate of Western Highlands, Her Worship Miss Betty Kup Jacobs, PNGTA Regional Director, Mr John Melson and TSC Acting Commissioner Policy, Mr Joel Nava. “The committee looked at all the cases and they saw some errors on the part of the provincial education board,” stated Mr Nava. “The committee was of the view that the provincial education board did not have the power to terminate a teacher or a member of the teaching service.” “The Provincial Education Board can only recommend to the Teaching Service Commission for dismissal. But in this case they did not recommend to the TSC for dismissal, they themselves terminated [the teachers] from the teaching service, which means they acted beyond their powers.” The appeals committee acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations against each teacher, however on the basis that PEB acted beyond their powers, the appeals committee then decided to reject the decision of the Western Highlands PEB to terminate the teachers and had them reinstated with a lesser penalty.  “Since the committee found out that the teachers admitted to assisting students in the exams, the committee decided to impose a lesser penalty – to reduce their salaries by 4 increments.” Mr Nava further stated that apart from the 8 teachers who have been implicated, there are others who have not appealed to the TSCDC. For those teachers the Western Highlands PEB decision to have them demoted or have a reduced salary classification will simply be confirmed by the TSC.

Meet Charlie Koneng, a man on a mission to fight open defecation by leading the campaign in communities in Nawaeb LLG, Morobe Province to get every household build a toilet and learn the importance of personal hygiene to keep diseases at bay. Charlie left his wife and children behind to be an advocate against open defecation. As one of the over 200-250 Klinpela Komuniti Projek (KKP) motivators , he left behind his family’s poultry business, and spends months as a volunteer with World Vision staff, walking from one community to the next, promoting healthy living. Charlie was met by World Vision staff again, this time in a-plastic compound, a peri-urban settlement a few minutes' drive away from Lae city. This time he had created a model community for the entire Nawaeb District to learn from. Plastic is a community that has risen from plastic makeshift houses to a more permanent community setting and now an Open Defecation free Community. It wasn't a peaceful community to handle in the peri-urban settlements, but Charlie survived to make the change happen for the innocent children of Plastic compound. Working under the European Union-UNICEF PNG Government WASH project, World Vision officers had a different perception of this slim, tall, and easy-going lad from Finschafen and Nawaeb parentage when they first met him. From the first impression, they saw a villager who walks into the World Vision office in Lae. It was not until he invited the World Vision WaSH officers to celebrate the achievement of a first community that had declared itself open Defecation free through his effort. He is highly committed and speaks with authority , and the tone of his voice was of hope and courage, moving the audience to cheer in support. Not only that, he walked the talk as a health motivator. Charlie had to build himself a safe toilet, to know by heart, and practice proper hand-washing and hygiene key messages in order to teach others. In a quick interview with Charlie, this is what he said; “I have worked with World Vision in this project for one year three months as a volunteer. I don't get any allowances, but I will be with World Vision through to the end. “ I have seen many changes in my personal life. I have learned so much about sanitation from the world vision staff. This is a knowledge they could only spend me thousands of kina to learn in a classroom, I had it for free,” Charlie said. Charlie said the most important principle about changing a community is for the person to change in order to be an agent of change. The Klinpela Komuniti Projek co-funded by The European Union and UNICEF initially introduced tippy taps to the community through World Vision as the key implementing partner, however, Charlie from his own innovation created a bamboo hand washing station for 38 households to use. “Not all community members could afford to buy 25 litres containers for tippy tap. I had to introduce bamboo taps’’, Charlie answered when asked about his innovation. He was frank but somewhat passionate in his selection of words when commenting about the seriousness of creating Open Defecation free Communities The most important of his innovation are better explained by himself in these words; “When I tell these people to do tippy taps, their excuses are always on the cost of buying plastic containers and soap for hand-washing. Now that I introduced the use of bamboo as tippy taps and ashes as a substitute for soap, they have no reasons left but to adopt the safety measures. Bamboo is available in abundance to the community. What we did was we got the big bamboos, boreholes through hollow chambers, blocked both ends, and made a hole into the bamboo at one end as a tap. So once we tip one end of the bamboo, the water comes out. The bamboo can hold more water than an 8-litre container’’ He has also taught his community the art of constructing a bamboo tippy tap. Pictured is a bamboo tippy tap constructed in Plastic compound. What amazes the WASH Officers most was how he could modify a sato pan designed for squatting into a sit on a toilet bowl. With no plumbing background and experience, Charlie had learned from creativity. One of such creative modifications was a toilet seat he changed with sato pans for Cletus Miembei, a 66-year-old person with a disability in plastic compound of the Nabak Local Level Government constituency. A squat on sato pan modified onto a sit on bowl for people living with disability. This was done by Charlie.  Nawaeb District invited Charlie to exhibit to the public his simple tippy tap innovation during the Global Hand-washing Day on October 15. From a simple villager , Charlie is         now a recognized village Health Motivator. With no training, he had learned from World Vision WaSH technicians and field officers by observing and creating his own model. With confidence, he said, “I will try out a leech pit at those communities in swampy land where we can't dig pits. I will build it up from topsoil up and place steps to climb up to use or build it under a high post house”. From a humble semi-skilled villager and little of a WaSH specialist, Charlie has equipped himself into an expert of sanitation innovation, a resource person mentored through implementing the EU-UNICEF, PNG Government Klinpela Komuniti Projek, implemented by World Vision, Nawaeb District, Health and Education department as a pilot phase of the PNG National WaSH Policy 2015-2030.

PNG’s long , triple and high jump record holder Rellie Kaputin  is aiming this year to fulfill her dream of representing her country at the Olympic Games. Kaputin is targeting some high level competitions in Australia over the next two months, starting tomorrow at the Coles Summer Series Meet in Canberra. Coach Phillip Newton will be hoping that all the hard work of the past twelve months will be translated into some good results in the coming weeks. Kaputin returns to Canberra next month for the Canberra Track Classic and will also compete in the Queensland Championships next month and the Brisbane Classic, before the season ends with the Australian Championships in mid April. Kaputin was in action in Brisbane last weekend and her best jump was 6.03m and whilst this is some way below her best of 6.50m both Newton and Kaputin are confident that she will get better as the training load lightens and the focus turns to competition.

A cumulative total of 55 new COVID-19 cases have just been confirmed! The cases reported are 15 in NCD, 3 in WHP, 2 in East Sepik & 1 in Central for Monday's 21 confirmed cases. Another 34 new cases today have 23 in Western, 10 in NCD, and 1 in New Ireland. In NCD, 15 cases were reported on Monday of which nine were males and six were females between the ages of nine to 68 years old. Eleven of the 15 cases were showing symptoms of COVID-19 whilst four were asymptomatic at the time of testing.   Three cases were reported in Western Highlands of which all three cases were males between the ages of 21 and 38 years. All these cases were showing symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing.   Two cases in East Sepik province were a 56-year-old male and a 26-year-old female who were reported positive. In the Central province, a 41-year-old male is the latest to be reported positive. He was not showing symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing but swab samples returned otherwise. For today Tuesday 23 February, 34 new COVID-19 cases reported increasing our cumulative PNG total to 1,111 The latest cases were reported in the Western Province, New Ireland and in the National Capital District. In NCD, 10 cases were reported of which five are males, four females and one unknown. The youngest of the 10 cases was 15 and the oldest was 66 years old. Five cases were showing symptoms of COVID-19 whilst five were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Two out of the ten cases came into contact with a previous positive case. Western Province reported 23 positive cases of which 20 are males and three females. The youngest of the 23 positive cases is 19 and the oldest is 61. Of the 23 cases, two showed symptoms of COVID-19 whilst 21 were asymptomatic. All 23 cases are from the North Fly area. In the New Ireland province a 57-year-old female is the latest to be confirmed positive. She was experiencing a cough, headache and running nose at the time of testing. The country's COVID-19 case as a result stands at 1,111 with 10 known deaths. Seventeen provinces including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: Provinces Confirmed Cases NCD 422 Western Province 303 West New Britain 194 West Sepik 39 Madang 35 East New Britain 35 New Ireland 23 Eastern Highlands 13 Western Highlands 13 Central 12 Morobe 9 East Sepik 5 Enga 3 Milne Bay 2 AROB 1 Hela Province 1 SHP 1 TOTAL 1,111 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 111,102,016 including 338,118 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 2,462,911 of which 7,580 were reported in the last 24 hours.

This just in, a cumulative total of 55 new COVID-19 cases have just been confirmed! The cases reported are 15 in NCD, 3 in WHP, 2 in East Sepik & 1 in Central for Monday's confirmed cases. Today's cases have 23 in Western, 10 in NCD, and 1 in New Ireland. This now brings the total number of COVID-19 cases for PNG to 1111 confirmed cases. Continue to practice COVID-19 safety protocols and keep listening to the news on this station & follow our news website: pnghausbung.com for more on this story.