The signing of a supplemental agreement today at the Government House in Port Moresby for the Sustainable Highlands Highway Investment program, will see an additional K34million added to the original contract for the repair, rehabilitation, upgrade, and maintenance of the Highlands highway. According to the Department of Works Secretary, Mr. David Wereh, the funding will be for a specific purpose on the road works taking place. “What you witnessed today was a scope increase for some maintenance and emergency works on the first section from Nadzab junction in Lae all the way to Henganofi in Eastern Highlands under the MCC (Metallurgical Corporation of China) contract for thirty-four million Kina on top of the original contract. So, we came to sign the supplementary agreement as cleared by the cabinet and the state solicitor,” he said. “The new contract amount is around two hundred and sixty-four million Kina now with the addition of the thirty-four million Kina variant.” The secretary also said the road works is in progress from Morobe province to the Eastern Highlands province. “It’s a four-year long-term program-based contract under three major sub-sections of the four-hundred-and-thirty-kilometer road from Lae Nadzab airport junction to Kagamuga junction in the Western Highlands province and we got three major Chinese companies that are working under the ADB funding.” “We are halfway through the project duration and the achievements so far as far as the physical works are concern, we are about forty-five to fifty percent complete now.” The Governor General Sir Bob Dadae officially signed the documents this morning along with the Department of Works Secretary and the contractors to make way for the works to begin.

The Em Nau Niukick program for the National Capital District (NCD) kicked off yesterday at the St Peter Chanel Primary School in Erima with youngsters taken through the basics of the Australian Football League (AFL) code to teach them about the sport and built their interest in the footy game as well. AFL Junior Development Program Manager, Mr. David Topeni, said the event is the first for 2021 after the Office of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response Controller, gave the go ahead for sporting activities to start. “The Em Nau Niukick program takes students through the basic skills of ball handling and kicking. Once the students have gone through the basics, they are usually arranged into groups and then take part in non-contact fun games.” He added that apart from this the Niukick team will also be giving out awareness to students on social issues like violence and illicit drugs and their bad effects. All these are aimed at promoting a positive mindset for the youngsters to help shape their futures. This week the Port Moresby AFL Junior Development Program team will be busy running the Em Nau Niukick program for primary and secondary schools. Today will see the team at Kilakila Primary and Secondary Schools, while Gerehu Primary School will host the team tomorrow. The Em Nau Niukick program was made possible with the support of Paradise Foods Ltd through sponsoring the program and the Junior Development Program will continue to work alongside Paradise Foods throughout this year in delivering the Niukick program to schools throughout the country.

The newly sworn in member for Moresby Northwest, Lohia Boe Samuel, will not waste anymore time going into delivering some of the promises he made to his people in the suburbs, the settlements, and the villages of Motu Koita. Speaking at the press conference today in parliament after his official declaration of office and swearing in by the Speaker of Parliament, the new member said the time frame from now until the general elections in 2022 is just 8 months and within this period he will try to deliver some of things he promised his people. “So, my role now is to ensure that the long-suffering people of Hanuabada, Gabi and Tatana, the people of ward one, get services immediately,” he said. “We will make sure that some of the commitments we made during the campaign, are rolled out.” However, considering the short time frame he has as a leader, Mr. Samuel made it clear that not everything planned or promised during the campaign can be delivered. “Also, with the support of the prime minister, we have committed to ensure that settlements are turned into suburbs. It's not a quick fix, it’s a medium to long term plan that the prime minister and I have set down to discuss.” Mr. Samuel added that some of the issues in the suburbs like bad road condition will also be look at immediately. The election of Lohia Boe Samuel also marks a significant milestone for the people of Motu Koitabu whose land is where the city of Port Moresby is sitting on. “The people of Motu Koita haven’t had a member in the last thirty-five years. Our last member of parliament was my grandfather, Mahuru Raruararua, back in 1982. Since then, we haven’t had a member, so we have suffered for a very long time.” "So, by God’s grace the people of Motu Koita have been given an opportunity to have services delivered to them and also have a voice in parliament. "

The twelve landowner villages that received their share of payments from the K19.4million dividend proceeds from Mineral Resources Star Mountain (MRSM) Limited’s equity in Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML), were urged to put to good use the funds that they will continue to receive to sustain their future beyond the life of the mine. Western Governor, Taboi Awi Yoto, told the recipients that OTML has less than 10 years before it winds down. The task of the provincial government now is to look after the people after the mine closes, but the people must also make further investments and go into business as well to sustain themselves going forward. “We must find an alternative source of income generation once Ok Tedi mine closes,” said the governor. The Western Provincial Government is doing its part to generate income going forward, which the governor said is through initiatives like building a road to Frieda River through Telefomin in West Sepik Province so to create an opportunity in times of negotiation for the Frieda mine to access existing facilities in Western Province to process the gold and copper, thus generating income for the province. However, the provincial government can only do so much in taking these initiatives to generate income for the province. “These resources will one day end, so I appeal to landowners to ensure the future of their children is secure.” Governor Awi Yoto also applauded the landowners for partnering with the provincial government to invest in businesses, like the Hilton Hotel in Port Moresby which landowners are benefiting from. He said this is how things should go in terms of investments. “I appeal to our leaders; I know you want to invest for the future because we don’t know when the mine will close. I am told that around 2027 or 2028, the mine will close. So, we got seven to eight years to prepare.” Meanwhile, the cheques of the portions of the dividend payment were presented to the twelve Directors of the villages at a presentation ceremony at the Migalsim village in Ok Tedi on Monday.

Villagers of Porebada village in Central province were proud recipients of dinghies with outboard motors yesterday that should go to ease their livelihoods making a living from fishing the seas to sustain themselves. This was made possible when the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) through its subsidiary Gas Resources PNGLNG Plant Limited (GR-PNGLNG PL), handed over a few of its Community Investment Trust Fund (CITF) to Porebada beneficiaries of the PNG LNG Project. The Board Director for Porebada village on the GR-PNGLNG PL, Mr. Peter Vagi, said the dinghies are going to be distributed among all the thirty-five clans. “This is because there is a lot of hardship people are facing at the moment and we want to help them ease some of the burdens in the village, in terms of benefit for the people,” he said. The CITF projects are essential projects and infrastructures that will contribute to the sustainability of the people of Porebada and other PNG LNG impacted neighboring communities. The thirty- five dinghies were among other items all at a total cost of K3.7million that were handed over to the people of Porebada village. The others include, • a fully-operational community health centre; • three health staff houses; • two community trucks; • one multi-purpose tractor; • two small-church trucks; • an ablution building; • three incinerators with generators; • a water tank for the Health Centre and; • a board walkway for the Porebada-east community. GR PNGLNGPL funded these projects under its 2019-2020 CITF which MRDC manages. Meanwhile, speaking during the hand-over, Managing Director for MRDC, Mr. Augustine Mano said, the projects are vital and will deliver broader community benefits to the Porebada village.

The Port Moresby Australian Football League (AFL) Association has finally got the go ahead from the office of the Controller of the PNG Covid-19 National Pandemic Response to start the 2021 season, mid-year. Port Moresby AFL Association President Mr. Douglas Lai also confirmed that the pre-season will start this Saturday 26th June at the Colts Oval.  However, the games will be played following strict COVID-19 sports protocols. “We will be following strict COVID-19 protocols and that means there will be no spectators during the games,” he said. Meanwhile, the city competition this year will be played from time to time at villages in the Central province. Mr. Lai, said the purpose of holding the recent games at Keapara village and the previous one in Hula village, was to get the youths interested in the sporting code and to encourage local clubs to join the main city competition. Already a team from Hula village has shown interest and is currently in the process of getting registered in the city competition and hopefully participate the in 2022 season.

If there was any lesson to learn from the government's closure of the Porgera Mine last year, one thing is for sure; that the people must be able to sustain themselves whenever the mine reaches its life span, and closes. That is the message from Ms. Elizabeth Iarume, who is the President of the Porgera Women in Business and the owner and operator of the Aumbi Guesthouse in Porgera. She said the people have come to depend on the mine for almost everything and when the mine closed due to the non- renewal of its Special Mining Lease (SML) license over a year ago, the people suffered a lot as local businesses had to scale down and prices of goods and services increased. “We strongly believe that sustainable development after the mine closes must become a priority for the government and the developer,” said Ms. Iarume. The one year the mine remained closed has been challenging, especially for the women and children and the elderly population. Therefore, she said everyone is looking forward to this Framework Agreement signed by the government and the developer of the Porgera Mine, Barrick (Niugini) Limited. “Now that the government and the developer have signed the Framework Agreement, it is a big relief, and it is good news for the people of Porgera.” She said the Framework Agreement is for the best as it is a win for the people of Porgera and for the country as well because the prime minister has secured a good deal for the landowners to benefit from equity and royalties moving forward. As such, she is appealing for collaboration among the leaders in the Porgera valley. “I appeal to our leaders, whatever differences we have, put it aside and let the mine reopen. Later we can always go to the drawing board and discuss. The people have suffered enough.” [caption id="attachment_10008" align="alignnone" width="294"] Ms. Elizabeth Iarume, is the President of the Porgera Women in Business and the owner and operator of the Aumbi Guesthouse in Porgera.[/caption]

The people of Porgera and Paiam Town in Enga province, have been busy for the past couple of days preparing things to welcome the prime minister and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL) to officially hand over the Framework Agreement to the landowners of the Porgera Mine. The Porgera Special Mining Lease (SML) landowners in a statement said, they have been conducting community awareness following the signing of a Framework Agreement between the State and BNL in April, which paved the way for the reopening of the mine. During these community awareness activities key aspects of the Framework Agreement that impact landowners have been shared. According to the milestone agreement, both PNG government and BNL will own and operate the Porgera mine with PNG having 51% equity and BNL having 49% equity. The mine is on track to resume operations later this year, with BNL to finance the restart. The new deal secured an additional 1 % royalty taking SML Landowners and the Enga Provincial Governments royalties to 3%. The wider Porgera community also stands to gain with BNL paying K10.6 million annually for 10 years to Porgera Sustainable Development Fund, and a further K53.3 million upfront to the appropriate categories of Landowners. The BNL CEO Mr. Mark Bristol, is expected to travel up to Porgera today and will later join Prime Minister James Marape to address the impacted people of the Porgera valley regarding the Framework Agreement when the Landowner Equity Forum is launched on Friday 04th June. Meanwhile, the PM in statement said the visit to the Porgera Mine in the Lagaip-Porgera District was to talk to the affected landowners, the mine management and other mine affected communities. He said that the government has no intention of leaving out the affected landowners and will be included in every step of the way towards reopening the mine. “The landowners will be made known and will have a copy of the Framework Agreement before any awareness is carried out, which will include the Enga Provincial Government and their community leaders. Marape added that after this visit, his government will set a date for a proper development forum where all benefits will be heard and consulted for benefit split.

It is not over yet for Papua New Guinea’s Opposition side despite the country’s Supreme Court just recently ruled in favour of the government over the case filed by the Opposition Leader on the legality of parliament’s adjournment to August during the last sitting. In fact the Opposition is currently studying the ruling handed down last week Friday (21/05/21) by the five-men Supreme Court bench which ruled unanimously that the action of the Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, to adjourn Parliament was constitutional and refused all the associated orders sought by the Opposition Leader, Belden Namah. According to the Opposition, there are options available and they will be considering them and the public will be made aware of their position in this matter in due time. The Prime Minister James Marape in a statement after the Supreme Court ruling, said that it is time the Opposition stop misleading the people by mounting mischievous court actions. On that note, the prime minister paid tribute to the majority government that he leads and the leaders who have chosen stability over politics. He said these leaders have demonstrated political maturity over actions that have caused uncertainty affecting government services as well as private sector activities. “What we do in government affects decisions that other people must make in terms of their businesses and their lives. We must take responsibility over our actions.” Nevertheless, this Supreme Court decision could also make it difficult now for the Opposition to move a Vote- of No- Confidence against the prime ministers, which they initially planned.

Staff from PNG FM Ltd, the parent company of Yumi FM, Nau FM and Legend FM, were among members of all other media houses in Port Moresby that rolled up their sleeves and received their first dose of the AstraZeneca Vaccine yesterday (22/05/21) at the National Football Stadium (NFS). The vaccination for media houses was in line with the efforts to minimise the transmission of the coronavirus for frontline workers because media personnel also interact with a lot of people daily. Although the vaccination is not mandatory, a good number of staff members decided to put safety first and received the first jab. As of yesterday, a total of 31 out of 81 staff from PNG FM have received their first shot so far, including Legend FM morning host Frankie, who said her choice to get vaccinated was to keep those she interacts with including her family, safe from COVID-19. “Its good media houses are getting vaccinated with the front- liners because we put ourselves at risk getting news and making sure that the public is being informed about what’s happening around the country. So, it’s a good initiative by the government to have media houses get vaccinated,” she said. Meanwhile according to the National Control Centre, the vaccines received, were part of the 8600 batch that Australian Government donated and all that vaccine finished yesterday 22-5-2021 on the media houses. [caption id="attachment_9272" align="aligncenter" width="924"] Yumi FM's morning kapmaus show host, Barbara taking the vaccine.[/caption]

For the country to see the economy really pickup and the industries to fully recover from the downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccination program must reach a very extensive level. That’s according to the Director of the Papua New Guinea Institute of National Affairs (PNG INA) Mr. Paul Barker when highlighting the importance of the vaccination program on the economy of the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said to achieve this; the targeted group of people must be vaccinated and there must be enough vaccines to go around, and although the vaccination rollout has started, Mr. Barker said it’s still a long way to go. “We really want to reduce the transmission level to protect those at risk so we can return to normal and restore the industries that are really affected.”  “We need to build up the vaccination rate, get the transmission down and really enhance opportunities for a wide range of economic activities to resume,” said Mr. Barker. “We’ve not been restricted like many places because we have a more diverse economy, but even there it’s affected. We have seen it in the informal economy, which employs many people. It is restricted in their trading and activities even though we are conducting exports.” Barker said other areas that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic included the tourism industry where some provinces that depend on it, lost a lot in terms of income and employment during the lockdowns and overseas flight restrictions. Meanwhile, it is hoped that the increased number of vaccines expected to come into the country next month will intensify the vaccination program right across the country.

Apart from vaccinating the frontline workers involved in the COVID-19 response in the country, the vaccination of people against the virus in the private sector organizations is also of importance as it will enable business continuity and investment generation, especially at a time when the country’s economy is in need of a boost. The Executive Director of the Business Council of Papua New Guinea (BCPNG) Mr. Douveri Henao, said corporate organizations that interact with people on a daily basis, the food industry or those that have high level intensive 24 hours operations, will have to ensure all their employees are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Before the vaccines arrived in country, these organizations operated under a bubble, which strictly enforces measures to prevent or contain the transmission of the virus. This was evident in major mining and petroleum companies that focused of ensuring that business continues. “The bubble is deliberately designed to ensure that community transmission doesn’t disrupt the value chain, and when the vaccines became available it complemented strengthening the bubble. So, basically what that means is that more employees get vaccinated it strengthens the bubble.” “The larger question is this, does the non-vaccination impede on working for companies? The answer to that lies in the employment environment that they (employees) are in. In a 24 hour operation and the existence of that bubble, there are businesses that would be encouraging vaccinations of those employees that are in that bubble. That again is to ensure the value chain is not disrupted,” said Mr. Henao. He added that the availability of the vaccine now increases the chances to continue business without disruptions brought about by COVID-19. This then allows confidence in opening up the market and interacting domestically and internationally. The Papua New Guinea Institute of National Affairs (PNG INA) Director Mr. Paul Barker, also made similar remarks saying that some organizations are able to implement certain rules to ensure all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. That all depends on the nature of that organization. “They are not telling people that they have to have the vaccination, but they are saying if you want to do certain jobs, you’re going to have to be vaccinated.” “You can’t really force people to get vaccinated, but employers can say certain functions require people that are vaccinated and obviously if you don’t want to be vaccinated, then you are going to have to either shift roles or even review if that’s the work you want to do.” “Companies and government institutions have some rights to require this. It’s not compulsory for people but employers can specify certain conditions for certain jobs.”