The Japanese Special Economic Zone (SEZ) experts from the Japan Development Institute (JDI) visited Middle Ramu District in Madang Province today to assess its viability to be a SEZ. Middle Ramu SEZ is targeted for large-scale rice and pineapple development. The experts were led by Middle Ramu MP, Hon. Kansol Kamdaru and Madang Governor, Hon. Ramsey Pariwa. The JDI team will visit the proposed Rai Coast SEZ tomorrow, led by Vice Minister for International Trade and Investment and Rai Coast MP, Hon. Kessy Sawang. They will visit Finschaffen in Morobe Province and Pomio in the East New Britain Province next week, followed by visit to the proposed Port Moresby Industrial Park and Western Province before they conclude their visits to all the proposed SEZ locations in the country. JDI have been working with the local experts to help Papua New Guinea (PNG) formulate its SEZ Masterplan. The draft Masterplan will be presented in April this year when PNG hosts its very first SEZ Summit in Port Moresby where all SEZ experts from around the world will come together to share their story and experience on how their countries used SEZs as a vehicle for economy growth. “These experts will be given the opportunity to comment and put their input in the draft Masterplan before it is finalized and presented to the Government for approval and implementation,” said Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru.

Ninty- eight policemen and women graduated today from the Bomana Prosecutions Training School in Port Moresby after successfully completing a four-year Prosecutors Qualifying Program. The graduation ceremony for the 98 police prosecutors was held at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby. Acting Manager Prosecutions Training, Senior Inspector Ruth Tusela, said that this is the first of its kind for the college, the Prosecutions Directorate and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. Senior Inspector Tusela said, “The Prosecutions Qualifying Program sets a milestone and a new chapter into professionalising the Prosecutions Directorate. The program is designed only for prosecutors and in order to be in this program you must be a prosecutor and be registered in the Prosecutions Directorate. “Anyone who had been in the prosecutions directorate prior to the program had been approved automatically and commenced when the program started in 2020.” She said police prosecutors who have missed out on the training program can always fill in the registration papers for future courses. “Together with that form they will have to attach all the relevant approvals from their immediate supervisors and send their applications to Director Prosecutions and a copy to the Prosecution Training. “This program is mostly funded by the PNG Australia Policing Partnership (PNGAPP). I thank the people of Australia and the Australian government for funding this program. Just last year, the RPNGC took ownership and co-funded some of the programs,” she said. The Prosecutors Qualifying Program is a 4-year program consisting of two years of theory and two years of prosecution. There are three stages in the program and include: Distance Education, Residential school and court assessment phase. Some of the topics covered include: Introduction to criminal law; Criminal practices and procedures; Duties and powers; and Defendants’ rights. SIP Tusela said prosecutors have a duty in appeasing the court to come to a satisfactory conclusion of each case where everyone consisting of the defendant, the victim and every interested party is happy with whatever decision that is handed down by the courts. She stressed that this program has enhanced the prosecutor’s knowledge of the law and the skills attained will enable them to confidently and competently carry on their duties as police prosecutors. She said, “Now we have all the resources and the knowledge and skills to professionally do our job, so it’s about time we give back to our organisation the results that our organisation needs through our duties when prosecuting in court.” The four-year Prosecutors Qualifying Program is an ongoing Diploma program in Law at the University of Papua New Guinea.

The Warriors have started the Andrew Webster era off in style with a thumping 48-12 win over Wests Tigers in the opening round of the Pre-season Challenge on Thursday night. New recruits Te Maire Martin and Luke Metcalf combined well in the halves to help the Warriors to a 14-0 lead before Marcelo Montoya crossed for his third try of the evening as the left edge caused havoc in Auckland. Montoya produced a charging effort that knocked Charlie Staines off his feet for his second try but Staines otherwise looked solid at fullback for Wests Tigers in his first showing for the club despite limited opportunities in the match. Metcalf though continued to impress with a brilliant solo effort in the second half that will give new Warriors coach Webster a halves selection headache with Martin, Shaun Johnson and Ronald Volkman all pushing for Round 1. Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens has a decision to make between Staines and Daine Laurie for the fullback spot in the club's season opener against the Titans on March 5. Sheens would've been disappointed by the side's start but buoyed by their efforts in a 10-minute period during the second half with Stefano Utoikamanu and Trey Peni both getting over the line. The momentum quickly evaporated, however, with two intercept tries to Viliami Vailea adding an exclamation mark to the Warriors win. Another of Sheens' recruits, Brandon Wakeham, had a mixed evening in the halves after only arriving to the club a fortnight ago. Source: NRL.Com  

Remington Group today announced the successful applicants for their leading Graduate Development and Apprenticeship Program in Port Moresby. Since the inception of both these development programs, the Apprenticeship Program initially took in TVET graduates for Remington Group’s business unit’s Remington Technology and FX Business Centre. In 2022, the Group successfully received approval from the National Apprenticeship Trade Testing Board (NATTB) to hire apprentices for their print business BizPrint and Scan. The Graduate Development Program (GDP) continues to attract some of the best graduates with the attitude to excel in their careers. “Since the commencement of these two programmes, it has become more competitive based on the data we gather. The candidates we come across through the shortlisting and interview process never fail to indicate that there is an increasing need for new graduates to have career advice, hands on experience and work exposure”, says Natasha Austin, Remington Group’s HR Manager. “As part of our contribution to nation-building and economic empowerment of our youths, Remington who has been operating in PNG for 75 years now, provides these pathways for young women and men to gain vital exposure and professional experience”. The process of selecting these individuals was a long and rigorous one, with over 300 candidates applying for both programs, from this pool of applicants, we chose two exceptionally high-performing individuals who are Ivy Puipui and Ivatius Igara to join us under our GDP program. Our popular Apprenticeship Program identified three outstanding candidates – Lindon Tairo, Sione Mega, and Nowes Nati – who will join our Remington Technology Service Team as Junior Service Technicians.

The Australian government on Wednesday turned down a proposal for a new open-cut coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef, invoking environmental laws and the risk of “irreversible damage.” The mining project, proposed by controversial Australian businessman Clive Palmer, would have been located less than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the reef on the Queensland coastline, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) northwest of Brisbane. Tanya Plibersek, the minister for the environment and water, indicated last year that she intended to reject the mine and formalized her decision on Wednesday. She said it was the first time a federal environment minister had used their powers under environmental laws to reject a mine. In turning down the project, Plibersek cited significant potential environmental dangers to the reef, which is already heavily threatened by climate change. “The risk of pollution and irreversible damage to the reef is very real. The project would have had unacceptable impacts on freshwater in the area and potentially on fragile seagrass meadows,” Plibersek said in a video posted on social media. She said that during the public consultation period, her department had received 9,000 public comments about the mine in just 10 business days. The government has been under pressure from UNESCO to better protect the reef and in 2022, it pledged one billion Australian dollars ($700 million) for efforts to protect the fragile ecosystem, including climate adaptation measures and water quality programs. Last year, the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for more than 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles), experienced its sixth mass bleaching event, due to warming waters caused by climate change. The government, elected in 2022, came to power promising stronger action on the climate in a country still heavily wedded to fossil fuels. But its climate policies are rated “insufficient” by Climate Action Tracker, which found Australia is not on course to meet targets to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The government has rejected calls from the country’s Green Party to turn down all new fossil fuel projects. Central Queensland Coal, Palmer’s company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

King James is now the king of NBA scoring. LeBron James became the association’s all-time leading scorer in the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, surpassing the record that six-time NBA MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had held for 39 years. With 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter, James sank a fadeaway jumper from the left elbow – scoring his 36th point of the game and 38,388th of his career. He stretched his arms in celebration as the supercharged crowd at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena went into a frenzy. Officials paused the game to honor him on the court, where his mother, wife and children met and embraced him. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver congratulated him, and Abdul-Jabbar – in attendance and clapping as James neared the record – raised a basketball aloft before handing it to James as if relinquishing the scoring crown itself. “I just want to say thank you to the Laker faithful. You guys are one of a kind,” James said into a microphone. He asked the crowd to give Abdul-Jabbar a standing ovation. “Everybody that’s ever been a part of this run with me the last … 20-plus years, I just want to say I thank you so much, because I wouldn’t be me without y’all.” James scored two more points in the fourth quarter in a 133-130 loss – a disappointment for a team now two games behind the Western Conference’s final slot for the NBA’s play-in tournament. But the night – like so many moments in his career – belonged to him. The 38-year-old needed fewer games than the legendary goggles-wearing center to hit the top of the scoring list – 1,410 to Abdul-Jabbar’s 1,560. James’ record-breaking feat is even more impressive given he’s widely considered a pass-first player in the league, recently claiming the fourth spot in the NBA’s all-time assist list. The record fulfills one more promise that James seemed to hold when he made the jump from high school to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers as a highly touted 18-year-old hoops prodigy in 2003 – a year after a Sports Illustrated cover story dubbed him “The Chosen One.” The accomplishment comes alongside his four NBA championships and four league MVP awards. Silver released a statement congratulating James “on breaking one of the most hallowed records in all of sports.” “It’s a towering achievement that speaks to his sustained excellence over 20 seasons in the league. And quite amazingly, LeBron continues to play at an elite level and his basketball history is still being written,” Silver’s statement reads. A legendary status After the game, TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal asked James about whether he was the greatest player of all time. “I am going to let everybody else decide who that is or just talk about it. It’s great barbershop talk,” James responded at first. When O’Neal pressed, James said: “I am going to take myself against anybody who has played this game. But everyone is going to have their favorite, everyone is going to decide who their favorite is. I know what I bring to the table every single night and what I can do out on this floor.” “I always feel like I am the best to ever play this game, but there are so many other great ones that I am happy to just be a part of their journey.” James told TNT he still has more in the tank. “I know I can play a couple more years. The way I’m feeling, the way my body’s been reacting to me throughout this course of the season, I know I can play a couple more years.” “It’s just all about my mind. If my mind is still into it, if I’m still motivated to go out and try to compete for championships, because I feel like that’s what I can still do for any group of guys, for any franchise. I can go out there and still help win multiple championships or win a championship.” The scoring record was “something I never made a goal of mine or set out to do – it just happened,” he said, and credited great teammates and great coaches that allowed him to be “me.” Luminaries from the NBA and beyond, including Dwight Howard, Paul Gasol and boxer Manny Pacquiao saluted him on social media. Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who was at Tuesday’s game and helped lure James to the Lakers in 2018 when he was the team’s president of basketball operations, hailed James on Twitter as “such an amazing man on and off the court.” “I want to personally thank you LeBron for trusting & believing in me & the Lakers in 2018 … Everything you said you would do, you’ve done; led the Lakers to a championship, elevated the Lakers brand, & gave back to the city of LA!” Johnson tweeted. The Miami Heat, with whom James won two NBA titles, tweeted: “Congrats @KingJames! What a time. What an accomplishment. Proud of you, #ScoringKing.” Source: CNN News

PNG will be represented by six male and five female athletes at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst NSW on 18 February. Siune Kagl , Dilu Goiye , Abel Siune , Israel Takap , Aquila Turalom and James Kuadua make up the mens team whilst Scholastica Herman , Ongan Awa , Mary Tenge , Aina Goir and Mary Kua make up the womens team. Athletics PNG President Tony Green who will take the team to Bathurst said he was very proud that PNG were able to field teams in both the Open womens 10km and Open mens 10km events as well as the mixed relay. He said that a lot of work had gone into preparing the team over the past two years and that significant funding from World Athletics through the Athletics Olympic Dividend Project combined with support from the National Sports Institute, PNG Olympic Committee, PNG Air and Prima Smallgoods. “We would have liked to have had 14 athletes in total Green added, but we lost Wilford Baia who was in great form at the PNG Air National Championships and the two newcomers that were identified late in 2022 could not complete their travel documents in time. Mary Kua and Aina Goir will fly into Sydney from the USA on Friday this week to allow time to get over jet lag whereas the other nine team members with Coach Philip Kamane will fly in from the Gold Coast on Wednesday 15 February. The City of Gold Coast through its Sports Attract Programme as well as Oceania Athletics are assisting Athletics PNG with their final preparations for the Championships. The nine athletes have been training at the Gold Coast since mid December. Following the late withdrawal of coach Bernard Manau, Head Coach Brett Green has been taking the athletes for their key track workouts and providing guidance for their other sessions prior to the arrival of Kamane. A number of other Pacific Island nations are taking up the opportunity to have their athletes participate in what promises to be a wonderful experience at Mt Panorama , Bathurst including Fiji (with 9 athletes), Solomon islands (5) and with Guam NMI , Kiribati and Tahiti each sending one male and one female. Green said that he will be encouraging the athletes to go out and soak up the atmosphere and enjoy themselves. The opportunity to compete in a world championships is a once in a lifetime occurrence for the vast majority of athletes and this is only the second time the WXC has ever been held in the Oceania Region. Since this is a World Championship our athletes know we are up against the best in the world. Whilst our times are obviously not going to challenge these athletes the PNG athletes have been training hard and will always give their best. The Championships are an experience and opportunity for our distance runners to observe and learn from the best. We have a much stronger squad of middle and long distance runners as a result of this programme, especially in the mens division,so we expect to see a better performance in the distance events at the Honiara Games this year than at any full Pacific Games since the 1980’s

Since supporting the Men Of Honour Awards since season one, Atlas Steel has renewed its sponsorship for the 7th season by becoming a regional sponsor with support of K25,000. The Men of Honour Campaign is a peace building initiative by Digicel PNG Foundation that focuses on positive behavior with the aim to break the cycle of violence in PNG. To date, the Men of Honour Campaign has awarded 95 men across the nation on the outstanding work they are doing in their communities to build peace and address drivers of violence in their community. This year, the campaign is in its seventh season. Three ambassadors will be selected from each of the four regions, with one ‘Unsung Hero’ award going to an ambassador from each region. Atlas Steel PNG Branch Manager Peter Browne mentioned that Atlas Steel PNG is pleased to remain a proud sponsor for the Men of Honour Awards since the beginning of the campaign in 2014. ‘ ’This is the seventh year the company is supporting, now with a sponsorship of K25,000. Additional support includes merchandise packs for each of the three selected ambassadors for the Momase Region.’’ Digicel PNG Foundation CEO Serena Sasingian thanked Atlas Steel for the continued support when receiving the cheque. She acknowledged Atlas Steel for their unwavering commitment in supporting the Men of Honour Campaign from the start. “Partnerships with companies in the private sector is vital in our agenda to advocate against violence and promote positive behavior through recognizing positive role models in our communities. We value our partnership with Atlas Steel, and appreciate its commitment in showing recognition to ordinary men doing outstanding work through this platform.’’ Nominations are open until 17th February 2023; click here to get a nomination form: https://bit.ly/3zn2902

Petroleum Resource Kutubu (PRK) presented a mock cheque of K120 million- to mark the completion of its legacy taxes. PRK’s had tax disputes since 2011, and in 2019, all of these issues were resolved, resulting in a total tax liability of K120,758,504. Given that this was a considerable amount to pay, the Commissioner General placed them on a structured payment plan based on their cash flow. The final monthly repayment was made in January 2023, marking the complete settlement of the debt. PRK is a subsidiary of Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC). It was incorporated in 1989 under the Companies Act to hold the landowners and provincial government equity interest in the Kutubu Petroleum Project. PRK currently holds a 6.75% stake in Petroleum Development License 2 (PDL2) and 1% of PNG LNG. At a small but significant press conference held today at the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), the Managing Director of MRDC, Mr Augustine Mano, expressed his relief after this huge payment debt and assured all the companies under his watch are also reordered to be tax compliant. Mr Mano thanked the Commissioner General for putting PRK and all their companies through a payment arrangement to settle their outstanding debts. PRK Chairman John Kappi Natto said, “sometimes, people think that landowner companies will not be paying taxes, but today we are showing that we can pay our fair share of the taxes. Today, it reflects the governance of the landowner companies who continue to pay their taxes.” Mr Kappi Natto expressed concern that although so much is extracted from their resources and they are paying these taxes, they are not seeing basic government services like roads, schools and hospitals being provided to the resource landowners. He urged the Government to look back at the resource owners as the Oil and Gas were going to run out. He thanked Mr Mano and MRDC for running the resource companies and ensuring that the companies under MRDC continue to comply with their tax obligations. He committed to continue to comply with their tax obligations. IRC Commissioner General Sam Koim acknowledged and thanked PRK and MRDC for completing the payment of their legacy tax liability. He expressed his gratitude that on top of allowing the extraction of their natural resources for the benefit of all, the resource owners are also considerate to pay their fair share of taxes to be further redistributed through the taxation process for the benefit of all. The Commissioner General praised PRK as demonstrating exemplary compliance behaviour and urged all taxpayers with legacy tax problems to discuss their tax problems with the IRC to establish similar payment plans to suit their cash flow. He urged taxpayers to follow similar due processes to resolve their legacy tax problems.

After appearing in 30 top-flight games in a season which stretched over 10 months for him last year, James Fisher-Harris could have been forgiven for thinking about giving this week’s NRL Harvey Norman All Stars clash a miss. In total the 27-year-old’s workload last year included over 4300 running metres and 908 tackles, as he helped the Panthers to a second-straight Telstra Premiership title, in addition to earning representative honours with the Māori All Stars and Kiwis. But Fisher-Harris, who will co-captain the Māori on Saturday alongside fellow big man Joseph Tapine, said the thought of sitting out the 2022 All Stars event on home soil never entered his mind. “Every year I want to play this game. It means a lot to me and that’s why I am here; to me it’s pretty simple,” he said. “I have had the same pre-season the last three years, the same break. I am fortunate to have made three Grand Finals in a row which has meant my pre-season has been pushed back a bit. “It is a pretty brutal game, very physical, but this will be something pretty special. We always wanted this to happen in New Zealand and it’s finally here, so we have just got to embrace it and enjoy it, because you don’t know when it’ll be back here. James Fisher-Harris With three All Stars appearances under his belt, Fisher-Harris is very much a veteran in a side set to be made up predominantly of players who have less than 50 NRL games to their name. “Some of those boys got called up late, but they are here for a reason and I think they’ll step up for the jersey and find that confidence,” Fisher-Harris said. “I’ll just do what I do and try and help them out where I can. “I have done this a couple of times now, so I know what to expect.” On Saturday night Fisher-Harris will fly the flag for Te Rarawa as their sole representative in the men’s side, while he’ll be one of six players in his side with links to Ngāpuhi. Source: NRL.Com

PNG Power and Puma Energy have come to a mutual understanding that will ensure power supply is restored in most of its centres who rely on diesel fuel to run its power stations. Puma reached out to the PNG Power management to resolve the issue despite the large amount of outstanding payments due from PPL. Puma has agreed on an exceptional basis to release further fuel supply to PNG Power starting today and for the rest of the week. This is to ensure power supply is restored fully for our valued customers, the general public and the business community in most of the centres like Wewak, Aitape, Alotau, Kerema, Daru and Arawa which have been greatly affected. As part of this agreement, PNG Power has committed to pay portions of its dues to Puma no later than Friday February 23, 2023. Should PNG Power make this payment in full, we are hopeful that power supply through our diesel power stations will continue on normally in the following weeks. On this note, PNG Power also apologises to the business community, our consumers and the general public in the centres affected for the lack of electricity supply or heavy load shedding in the in the last few weeks. PNG Power will ensure to work along with Puma to ensure there is fuel available for constant power supply in the affected centres.

The SunRice Group and the PNG University of Technology recently commemorated the development of eight hectares of land given as a training farm for participants of Trukai’s Smart Farmer Program. The ground-breaking ceremony was officiated by SunRice Group’s CEO Rob Gordon, Trukai Industries’ CEO Alan Preston and Unitech’s Acting Vice Chancellor, Dr. Garry Sali. Trukai Industries is a subsidiary of the SunRice Group which owns two-thirds of the company with the remaining shares held by the people of Papua New Guinea through the Melanesian Trust Services Limited who manage the Pacific Balanced Fund. SunRice Group CEO Rob Gordon was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the event as it demonstrated SunRice’s and Trukai’s core values of innovation, sustainability and community. “As leaders in our industry here in PNG, it is our responsibility to develop programs that benefit the places we operate in and its people. This collaboration with Unitech, who has been one of our longtime partners, reinforces this commitment to the people of Papua New Guinea,” said Gordon. He added that this partnership also demonstrated the company’s support for local rice farmers through Trukai’s Smart Farmer Program and is their contribution towards rice development in PNG. It is one of many past rice projects that Trukai Industries has supported or led in partnership with Unitech and NARI. The ground breaking ceremony will commence the construction of two dome sheds, two silos, a rice drying facility, mini seed cooling room and an office space. This is part of the five-year private-public partnership agreement that Trukai Industries had signed with Unitech last October. Unitech’s Acting Vice Chancellor, Dr. Garry Sali emphasized on Unitech’s role in the development of Papua New Guineans, stating that it is their vision to grow world-class technocrats for the real world. “Unitech in partnership with Trukai Industries is focused on serving this purpose and we look forward to being a part of this expansion of the rice industry that will impact the lives of our people,” said Dr. Sali. Trukai Industries with the support of the SunRice Group has been supporting Agriculture in PNG since 1989. This has resulted in the company spending millions of kina in investments in local rice farming, testing of different agricultural crops, training of local farmers and providing sustainability kits for subsistence and semi commercial farming.