There have been concerns being raised about the small-scale mining sector being taken over by foreigners, a sector that is considered reserved to Papua New Guineans and this has prompted parliament to look into it. The matter was also raised during the recent parliament session where questions were raised regarding why a lot of foreign companies are now getting into alluvial mining, prompting the Permanent Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship Matters to conduct an inquiry with key stakeholders on this issue. Committee Chairman Ricky Morris, MP made this statement when endorsing the Chief Migration Officer Wellington Navasivu on the Advisory Committee and the official swearing-in of members of the Committee at Parliament House recently. Chairman Morris said the inquiry will look into selected alluvial mining activities and small- scale/artisanal mining operations in the country, following reports of an increase in foreign investors participating in this sector. “Certain business activities, including alluvial mining are reserved for PNG citizens to promote local participation and economic empowerment,” he said. “It is a significant livelihood activity for many local miners and any foreign investor found operating in this domain may face legal consequences.” As the Committee responsible for oversight on a broad range of citizenship-related issues, stakeholders including Investment Promotion Authority and other regulatory bodies who actively monitor business activities to prevent unauthorized foreign participation in reserved sectors, will be invited to give evidence at a public hearing or consultative meeting in the coming months. He said the Committee was committed to empowering PNG citizens by ensuring they have exclusive access to key economic activities, thereby fostering national development and self- reliance. Details of the proposed inquiry will be announced at a later date. Meanwhile, the government has established a Reserved Activity List (RAL), effective from January 3rd, 2022, of about 39 activities reserved exclusively for PNG citizens, including small-scale farming, retail trade and security services. The list is reviewed biennially to ensure its relevance and effectiveness.

The new TISA Bank, having received its commercial banking license in August 2024, aims to increase its presence through its services in the areas of Retail, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Corporate Banking in 2025 and onwards. TISA Group’s Chairman Mr. Gabriel Tai during the recent announcement of the bank’s 2024 financial year performances on Thursday 5th June in Port Moresby city, stated that TISA Bank aims to become a trusted financial Group that empowers every customer to thrive. “We will continue to invest in technology, people, partnership, and responsible practices that reflect the values on which we were founded. These are not just principles we talk about; they are the foundation of every decision we make,” said Chairman Tai. Meanwhile, TISA Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Mr. Michael Koisen confirmed this saying that the bank has been their biggest project at the moment, so a lot of investment has been made in the bank in terms of people and technology. “We are opening branches. Port Moresby branch has been opened, Wewak, Madang, Kokopo and Hagen are next. Hopefully by this year we’ll open those branches as well. The focus of course, is on the retail because we believe very strongly and the evidence is quite clear that the banking service in this country need a lot of improvement. So, our focus is on the retail area to try to improve services for the retail customers. Also, there’s the SME portion of it that we are concentrating a few resources on to grow that sector because we believe very strongly that the SME sector is the growth engine for the economy of PNG, so we want to support that,” said Mr. Koisen. In addition to the retail and SME, TISA Bank also welcomes corporate clients. “Large corporates that wish to do business with us are quite welcome to join us. We’re growing on all fronts on banking in the country,” Mr. Koisen added.

The Constitutional Law Reform Commission (CLRC) this week launched the Development of the Underlying Law book, a book which evolved as a means to keep records and also for educational purposes, especially for law students in the country. The book, which contains Papers from the 3rd Underlying Law Conference in 2017, was launched on Tuesday 3rd June in Port Moresby city. The CLRC Secretary Dr. Mange Matui in his speech highlighted the importance of the book, asserting it as a guiding discourse for discussions surrounding underlying law in Papua New Guinea (PNG). “The idea of publishing this book stemmed from the need to preserve, share and institutionalize the critical discussions and legal thinking generated at the 2017 Conference. This book serves as a knowledge repository and a stimulus for further dialogue on the underlying law.” “These discussions across various aspects of law relating to the underlying law, offers a rich contribution to the existing body of knowledge and provides valuable insights into its ongoing development and application in Papua New Guinea.” The book consolidates 13 papers out of the collection of scholarly papers presented at the conference, with minimal editorial changes made by Secretary for the Department of Justice and Attorney General Dr. Eric Kwa, PhD; CLRC Secretary Dr. Mange Matui, PhD; and Senior researcher and publisher David Gonol, to ensure clarity, consistency and academic quality suitable for publication. Other contributions were from lawyers, judges, jurists, legal scholars, researchers, the CLRC management and the Chief Justice, Sir Gibbs Salika. The book will now be available to the general public and the legal fraternity like the Judiciary and magistracy; legal practitioners and law students; universities and academic institutions; government departments, traditional leaders and community-based legal advocates. Anyone with a serious interest in developing a truly Papua New Guinean jurisprudence, will find this book both informative and inspiring.

One of the oldest political parties formed prior to independence over 50 years ago now has a new parliamentary leader following the recent passing of the founder of the party and the last man standing, late Sir Julius Chan. This is the People’s Progress Party (PPP), established in the late 1960s, it is the longest serving political party in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and this afternoon in Port Moresby city, the Opposition Leader and Member for Kiriwina- Goodenough, Douglas Tomuriesa, was announced as the newly appointed Leader. The Leader said the first thing is the restructuring of the party to ensure the party aligns itself with the expectations of the people. “We’ll restructure the party; we’ll make sure that the party policies go in line with a lot of great parties we have in the Opposition and the policies that will drive this nation the way the people of Papua New Guinea want it to be. So, we’ll realign the policies of the party in few months' time. I have had wonderful discussions with the party executives in the past week, and we are prepared to prepare the party’s policies and guidelines heading forward. Our focus will be 2027 (national election) and that focus will be working very closely with other party leaders in the Opposition and friends in the government as well,” said Tomuriesa. Mr. Tomuriesa thanked the family of the late Sir Julius Chan for their blessing and support for him to take on the role of their late father. He also thanked the PPP executives and supports across PNG for the support and vowed to do his very best in leading this party going forward. The Leader also thanked the Registrar of Political Parties for fast-tracking his appointment as the new Leader of the People’s Progress Party.

Well, great news for the 80, 000 plus members of the Teachers Savings & Loans Society (TISA), they can expect a 7% bounce interest paid to their Yumi accounts and be able to access it tomorrow, Friday 6th June. This was announced this morning in Port Moresby city by the Chairman of TISA Mr. Gabriel Tai when giving a live stream presentation on the performance results of the 2024 financial year, describing it as a great year of financial performance. In 2024, TISA continued to deliver on its promise of helping members save, borrow, and build toward a secure and dignified future. “We remain committed to creating value not only through financial returns but through trust, transparency, and long-term impact. We believe that real growth happens when we invest in people- our members, our commodities, and our staff. That is the TISA way, and it is why our mutual model continues to stand strong in a changing world,” said Chairman Tai. TISA Savings and Loans made: A profit of K62.2 million after taxes and a robust balance sheet of K0.99 billion for the 2024 financial year. A total income increase of K42 million in 2024 and a modest decrease in Assets by 2% to K0.99 billion compared to 2023. In 2024, the TISA group achieved an overall profit of K22.7 million, with a Total Group Assets increasing by 22% to K1.39 billion compared to the previous year. “Although our insurance and banking verticals incurred losses, TISA still managed to generate profits at the Group level,” said Mr. Tai. TISA maintained strong financial and operational performance, continued to grow its member base and reinvested earnings into technology, staff development, and member benefits. “I am pleased to announce that the TISA Board has approved an additional Bonus Interest of 7%, which will be credited to all our members’ Yumi Accounts with TISA Bank for the financial year ending 31st December 2024.” This 7% is equivalent to approximately K24.5 million in total to be paid to all TISA members accounts. “Members will be able to access the 7% interest in their Yumi accounts tomorrow.” This achievement shows TISA Group’s commitment to providing value and benefits to its members. Meanwhile Mr. Michael Koisen, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Teachers Savings and Loan Society (TISA), explained that the 7% has been consistently paid to members over the years as per the Savings and Loans Legislation. “We’ve never gone below that 7%. If the legislation allowed us, we could pay more, depending on the profits we make and the board’s decision, but the Savings and Loans Legislation limits us to paying only 7%. If you’re not in the Savings and Loans Legislation, you can pay more depending on profits you make. So, 7% last year was about K24 million, this year the same, K24 million," said Mr. Koisen.

Parliament resumed sitting this morning only to be adjourned right after it commenced proceedings after experiencing power disruptions. Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Koni Iguan addressed the house saying that the continuous blackouts in the city of Port Moresby yesterday have badly affected the National Parliament’s standby power generators; hence, during the opening prayer this morning, the lights went out in the parliament chamber. “It’s already affected the aircon and while we were praying, you can see that we have a blackout.” “So, honorable members, I adjourn parliament to tomorrow (Thursday 5th June) 10 o’clock AM,” announced the Deputy Speaker. Much of today’s activities have now been moved to tomorrow and it is hoped that the power issue at the parliament house can be resolved, especially its generators. Meanwhile, PNG Power has been attending to power issues in Port Moresby city. From notices issued out, PNG Power over the weekend attended to power issues. On Sunday 1st June, PNG Power teams worked on the Moitaka Feeder and the Bomana 33kv line where an emergency outage had to be made. PNG Power also advises customers with standby generators, like the parliament house, to utilize them during times of blackouts.

The question pertaining to funds allocated to districts and provinces to celebrate the 50th Independence Anniversary of Papua New Guinea (PNG) was raised during question time in parliament this morning in Port Moresby city. West Sepik Provincial Member, Tony Wouwou, directed this question to the new Finance Minister, Thomas Opa, enquiring if the National Government will be giving additional funding apart from the K50 million already allocated in the 2025 national budget, for the celebrations. Minister Opa said the government through the Finance Department has given Financial Instructions to District Development Authorities (DDAs) and Provincial Governments to use K1 million from their DSIP and PSIP funds to mark the celebrations on September 16th. He also explained that the K50 million is for the national events and will be used by the National Events Council for that purpose; however, he did not clearly state if this funding will also be distributed to the districts and provinces as support or whether there will be a supplementary budget introduced where supporting funds can come from to go towards staging the 50th Independence Celebrations throughout the country. That explanation did not go down well with the Member for North Fly, James Donald who raised a supplementary question seeking clarification on whether the use the K1 million from the development funds for celebration purpose, is not breaking the law. Minister Opa responded that it’s not illegal to do that. “The Department of Finance through the (Finance) Secretary, has issued the Financial Instructions for the Chairman of DDAs and provincial governments to allocate K1 million in their budget, making it legal for DSIP funds and PSIP funds to allocate K1 million,” the further minister explained. The Member for North Fly strongly believes that these development funds for the provinces and districts should not be touched for the 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations. It should be used to bring about the much-needed services like health, education and law and order in the provinces and districts.

The National Government imposed cut to the 10% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on thirteen (13) essential household goods and items is now in effect as of Sunday 1st June 2025, something which Trukai Industries Limited commends. Trukai Industries Limited, Papua New Guinea's leading rice manufacturer, producing iconic brands such as Trukai, Roots Rice and Wantok Rice has welcomed the recent decision by the Government to implement a zero-rating for GST on essential goods, rice being one of those essential goods. Trukai Industries acknowledges the Government's intention to provide direct relief to consumers during these challenging economic times, and the company valuing its consumers deeply, welcomes this significant initiative by the Government, recognizing its potential to alleviate financial pressures on households across the nation. Mr. Andrew Grace, Head of Trukai Industries, expressed his strong support for this measure, stating, “We are right behind the PNG Government on this. We know times are tough for families across PNG right now, and removing the tax on essential items is a great way to help everyone stretch their budgets a little further." Trukai Industries remains dedicated to providing high-quality, nutritious rice products to all Papua New Guineans at affordable prices. Meanwhile, the 13 essential household items that have had the 10% GST slashed are: Rice, Chicken, Tinned meat, Tinned Fish, Tea, Coffee, Biscuits, Noodles, Flour, Cooking oil, Women’s sanitary products, Soap, and Baby diapers The GST exemption will run for one year, from June 1st, 2025, to 30th June 2026.

The issue of unemployment can be addressed through investments in the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) focusing on downstream processing, which can create thousands of employment opportunities. That was the massage from Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru when launching the official website for the 2025 SEZ Summit today in Port Moresby city. He said the problem has been Papua New Guinea (PNG) relying on the resource sector generating revenue and creating employment; however, as history would show, that has not been the case. “We now have eight (8) mining and petroleum projects on the run, including the PNG LNG project. Despite that, we have the highest unemployment ever, highest law and order issues, highest national debt. So, the resource sector has not been the answer. This is a fact, and we cannot continue to deny that. Our biggest policy mistake as a country, and I’m not blaming anyone, is our over reliance on the mining and petroleum sector. I say that with no apologies. We have to seriously rethink the way we have been doing business over the last fifty (50) years,” said the minister. In saying that, Minister Maru reaffirmed his strong conviction that the way forward is the development of the Special Economic Zones to bring in direct foreign investments with the aim to go into manufacturing and processing raw goods to sell to overseas markets through downstream processing. Giving an example, he said the downstream processing of fisheries products alone in a SEZ is capable of creating employment opportunities for more than 5, 000 people. So far, there are a total of six (6) SEZ projects in line to be granted licenses this year (2025) once they meet all the requirements set by the National Government. The first SEZ granted an operational license was Paga Hill Development, where they are currently building the Paga Hill SEZ project in Port Moresby city. Meanwhile, Minister Maru has high hopes that the upcoming 2025 SEZ Summit that will be held in August in Port Moresby city, will bring in more investors to invest in the SEZs in PNG.

Police Commissioner David Manning has confirmed that senior officers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) will be investigated by police for alleged corrupt practices. Commissioner Manning in a statement, confirmed receiving a formal referral from the ICAC Commissioner, Mr. Andrew Forbes, pertaining to the conduct of senior ICAC officers. The referral includes allegations of finance irregularities and expenditure of public monies not approved by an officer authorized under the Public Finances (Management) Act 1995. Manning said the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) has commenced initial enquires. “In accordance with established procedures, initial enquiries are being conducted by police to inform consideration of the referral by the Sensitive Investigation Board. Where the Sensitive Investigation Board assess a referral as disclosing suspicion of criminal offence, the matter will be assigned for independent investigation by the National Fraud and Anti- Corruption Directorate.” “It is the expectation of the RPNGC and that of government, that all matters relating to the transparent and legal management of public entities be held to the highest standards and scrutiny,” said the police commissioner. ICAC was established by the National Parliament to combat corrupt conduct by public official, public bodies and corruption by private individuals who may be in receipt of government funds. “It is appropriate that the anti- corruption watchdog adheres to the expectations of the nation and refers any concerns pertaining to its own personnel for independent and transparent scrutiny.” “As in all claims made in a referral to police, any accused are innocent until proven guilty in a Court of law,” said Manning.

The people the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) can expect to see the Aropa Airport get some quality improvements to its facilities with the upgrade project now commencing. The project was officially launched over the weekend by Prime Minister James Marape, who said it aligns with the Papua New Guinea Government’s development plans. “The Aropa Airport has long required substantial upgrades, having last been improved over a decade ago. “This project aligns with the Government's Medium-Term Development Plan IV (MTDP IV 2023-2027), aimed at boosting connectivity and fostering economic growth in the region,” Prime Minister Marape said. Awarded to China Railway Construction Group Co. Ltd (CRCG Ltd) for K58.20 million on October 9, 2024, the project encompasses: • Aircraft pavement repair and strengthening • Bituminous chip seal resurfacing • Construction of a new terminal building and parking facilities • Installation of a new Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) • Upgrades to airport power, water supply, sewerage systems, and electrical systems “The benefits of this project include a 5-10-year lifespan for the chip seal without major maintenance, modernized terminal facilities that enhance passenger processing, and job opportunities for local residents,” Prime Minister Marape said. The project is expected to be complete by 2027 and is one of five major airport projects under CADIP II, which also includes upgrades to Gurney, Kiunga, Hoskins, and Wewak airports. Marape thanked the Asian Development Bank, National Airports Corporation and the CRCG contractors for ensuring commencement of this upgrade project, asserting to it as an important milestone paving way for more spinoff opportunities for the people of AROB.

The Treasurer, Ian Ling Stuckey, was questioned in parliament this afternoon on whether there will be supplementary budget put in this year to realign expenses. The Deputy Opposition Leader raised this question during question time, raising some serious funding and financial issues that the country is currently facing, due to what he said was the Treasurer failing to generate the projected revenue as per the 2025 National Budget. “Are you as a responsible government going to bring in a supplementary budget and realign expenses, cut off the Connect PNG scam and focus on districts, provinces and key sectors like the health department?” He gave an example of the Goroka Hospital’s emergency ward having to close due to no medications to keep it operational. Also, he said the provinces and districts have not received their full funding in the PSIPs and DSIPs, stating that his district just received only K2million recently, not the full amount for the district administration to function. He said these are serious issues that question the financial management of the Treasurer and the fiscal implementation of the 2025 budget. “The 2025 budget will fail if we don’t bring a supplementary budget and realign our priorities for the nation,” Nomane said. In response, Treasure Ling Stuck said, yes, that is on the cards but, there is a process to go through before it can be decided if the need be for a supplementary budget. “There is a process to follow for supplementary budgets, obviously, we need to finalize mid-year economic outlook report that’s due on the 31st of July, after we’ve received confirmation of where we are on the implementation of the budget, then we can have a more informed view to table a supplementary budget. At this point in time, we’ve had some very detailed discussions to do so, and at this stage we at the department of treasury are intending to recommend to cabinet for a supplementary, but of course that’s subject to where exactly we are with numbers,” said the Treasurer.