The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) will now better manage and support beche- de- mer fishery farmers and investors in the country with the newly revised National Beche- de- mer Fishery Management plan that was ratified just recently. NFA Managing Director, Mr. Justin Ilakini said the decision to close the beche-de- mer fishery is intended to allow stocks to fully recover and to provide sufficient time to review and update the National Beche-de-mer Fishery Management Plan, so to ensure it reflects the evolving dynamics of the fishery and the ecosystems that support its viability. “The revised management plan will continue to promote sustainable harvests of the stocks and to ensure long-term benefits for the livelihoods of coastal and island communities. We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders.” Mr. Ilakini emphasized that the closure is essential for the finalisation and ratifying a new revised management plan by the NFA Board. This strategic modernisation plan aims to incorporate a holistic approach to ensure that the beche-de-mer fishery is incorporated, so to safeguard the interests of both present and future stakeholders while promoting economic prosperity for local communities without compromising the biological sustainability of the beche-de-mer stocks. “Furthermore, these revisions will support the implementation of initiatives such as community-based sandfish farming, commercial hatchery development, enhanced monitoring and reporting, and improved harvest strategies to enable longer open seasons for the fishery.” “The NFA is conducting a nationwide biological assessment to update the status of the beche-de-mer stocks.” “We expect to complete these efforts by the end of the year, after which a decision on reopening the fishery will be made.” The NFA seeks the support of island and coastal communities to assist the technical team in expediting the review of the management plan. This will help ensure that a management decision is made promptly, and the public is informed in a timely manner. Mr. Ilakini also reminded the coastal and island communities to be cautious of companies or individuals claiming to have valid licenses or permits, as this could lead to illegal beche-de-mer harvesting. “Companies and individuals engaging in such illegal activities should cease immediately, as the penalties are severe,” warned Mr. Ilakini. “The public will be informed of any reopening of the beche-de-mer fishery through the mainstream media by the National Fisheries Authority, once all requirements are met.” The NFA remains committed to promoting sustainable, responsible fishing practices and ensuring the preservation of marine resources for future generations.

Financial literacy continues to be delivered to the people of Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the aim to empower people with the financial knowledge capacity to handle their money better, and financial institutions are very much in the forefront of this in partnership to deliver it. Just recently, one such financial institution is ANZ where it went into partnership with Santos to help more Papua New Guineans improve their money skills, knowledge and confidence, through its MoneyMinded training program. ANZ PNG Country Head, Lachlan Halstead, said: “We are pleased to deliver MoneyMinded training, ANZ's flagship adult financial education program, to Santos staff across their Port Moresby office and Field Operations, helping them make the most of their money throughout their working lives.” Around 10,000 people in PNG have already taken part in MoneyMinded training since 2010, which teaches skills including setting financial goals, budgeting, saving and investing. Santos Bank Accountant, Robyne Joshua, said: “With this training, I now have better control over my finances, which will help me remain disciplined, and continue to advocate financial literacy for my colleagues, family, and friends.” “One key takeaway from MoneyMinded is the importance of being assertive, specifically in the ability to say 'no' and clearly explain the reasons behind it. Taking those small steps to achieve my financial goals is a big win for me.” Santos Graduate Petroleum Engineer, Steven Pikip, said the MoneyMinded training gave him new budgeting techniques and savings strategies. “The vision board way to remind myself of my financial goals, and this visual reminder will help me stay focused on saving and making smarter financial decisions,” Mr Pikip said. ANZ’s flagship financial education program, MoneyMinded, aligns with Santos’ Healthier Me staff wellbeing initiative.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) continues to be a preferrable investment destination that has attracted a lot the world’s biggest names in business. That was the statement from Prime Minister (PM) James Marape when addressing the 2024 Business Advantage PNG Investment Conference at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Brisbane, Australia, when assuring foreign investors of the favourable business climate the country offers. Firstly, the prime minister apologized for being unable to attend the conference in person because of very busy work schedule, the prime minister addressed the gathering online and carried on his advocacy for PNG as an investment destination. “Papua New Guinea continues to remain as an investment hub. We have a huge potential remaining untapped in Agriculture, Tourism, the expansion of small businesses (SME),” said the PM. “We continue to host companies such as Steamships Trading long-term, who have been here for more than a hundred years.” “Some of the world’s biggest companies have invested and remain here. Barrick Gold (Canada), Newmont (USA), ExxonMobil (USA), TotalEnergies (France), Santos (Australia), Telstra (Australia), JX Nippon (Japan), and Toyota (Japan) continue to invest in Papua New Guinea.” “This demonstrates our potential for long-term heavy investment.” Marape continued by highlighting to the investors Papua New Guinea’s connections to markets through its existing membership on regional and multilateral bodies such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Pacific Island Forum (PIF); and its bilateral relationships with the United States of America, China, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia for ease of market access and trade. He said while there has been a big spate of movement in the minerals and gas sectors, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism continue to remain untapped, and invited Australian investors to explore these areas in PNG. The prime minister pointed out the development of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) initiatives in Port Moresby, Lae, Madang and Manus as further platforms for investment. He then highlighted the efforts his government was undertaking in developing enabling infrastructure to support investors, mentioning particularly the Connect PNG Programme and the construction of roads, bridges, wharves, airports and airstrips, powerlines, and telecommunication lines through this flagship programme. He also acknowledged challenges PNG is facing in law and order but assured the Australian audience of continuing government efforts in addressing these challenges through an upgrading of the police and judiciary in their policing and dispensation of justice. “We are expanding police manpower through additional recruitment. We are adding an appeals court into the court structure for better arbitration. We have increased the ceiling for judges and empowering the magisterial services with more financing. “Our Central Bank has an independent monetary policy which we are working to align with the government’s fiscal policy, as we continue to address the Forex issues,” said PM Marape. The prime minister concluded his remarks by thanking Australian investors who continue to invest in the country. “Papua New Guinea remains as a firm place for Australian investment, and I invite many more to come in,” he said.

The Port Moresby Moni Plus AFL 2024 season is drawing to a close with the grand finals set for this weekend to be played out at the Colts Oval. The Port Moresby AFL Association (POM AFL) President, Mr. Douglas Lai expressed delight that the season is coming to a close with not major hiccups so far. “The Moni Plus sponsored POM AFL 2024 season has gone very well since the start and this weekend we will be having our grand finals for the season for the men’s division,” said the POM AFL President. “We’ve had no major problems throughout the season unlike last year and the previous seasons. So, we are very happy that we are going to complete the 2024 season on a high this weekend.” Meantime, this weekend’s grand final line up will see the University Tigers taking on the Lamana Dockers in the A- Reserve grand final and the Gereka Bombers taking on the Gerehu Magpies in the main A- Grade (Senior Men’s) grand finale. The president adding that this grand final is also the first for the Gerehu Magpies. Mr. Lai also made mention that to open the grand finals this Saturday, there will be a curtain raiser match played out between two clubs from the Central province, one from Hood Lagoon and the other from Hula village in the inaugural Rigo Coast AFL Club Challenge. He said this will become an annual thing. “This is going to be an annual curtain raiser match for the grand final matches. We are doing this so to promote the AFL code in the Central province,” he said.

The Department of Works and Highways now has a new Acting Secretary following the recent termination of the former Secretary. Prime Minister (PM) James Marape on Tuesday 13th August confirmed that Cabinet has made the decision to appoint Deputy Secretary, Mr. Gibson Holemba to replace former Works & Highways Secretary Mr. David Wereh. The prime minister also confirmed that Mr. Wereh is being posted overseas to take up appointment as Papua New Guinea’s ambassador to the Philippines. Marape said a formal letter signed by the Governor-General effecting the decision has been dispatched to Mr. Wereh, and that he was looking forward to seeing a smooth transition. “Cabinet has made the decision to get Mr. Holemba to take the place of Secretary Wereh, who, in an earlier Cabinet decision, is being transferred to the Philippines as the PNG ambassador to the Philippines,” said the PM. “The Public Services Commission and Department of Personnel Management have initiated this process while they find a permanent replacement. “Three deputy secretaries were shortlisted, and Mr. Holemba was appointed by a majority Cabinet decision as the acting secretary. Mr. Holemba will remain so until the Department of Personnel Management advertises the position for someone to take up the position on a permanent basis.” Prime Minister Marape acknowledged the contributions made by Mr. Wereh during his time as Secretary for Works & Highways, especially in implementing the Connect PNG Programme. “On behalf of the country, I want to offer our highest commendations to Secretary Wereh. He served well, with high work ethics; he is the author of Connect PNG Programme, and his legacy will remain. “During his time, he has maintained decorum and high works standards at the department, but it is best to move on after holding the position for some time. It is good for his career that he moves on to another place to allow someone else to come in so that we do not compromise Connect PNG Programme,” said PM Marape.  On concerns raised by former prime minister and Member for Ialibu-Pangia, Peter O’Neill against Mr. Wereh, Prime Minister Marape said Government is taking this seriously and will be investigating the claims. “Mr. O’Neill did raise some serious issues in terms of how the Works department was run, among them concerns about contracts being given to one or two contractors only. This will be investigated. “But the major focus of our government to open up the country with enabling infrastructure remains and we will continue this going into the future,” said PM Marape.

Tax holidays, although a good incentive for investments especially in the extractive industry, has the potential to lead to poor tax revenue collection from the sector in the long run. This was revealed in a research which was conducted by Ms. Ann- Tania Sipori at the recent 2nd Geoscience, Exploration & Extraction 2024 (GEE 2024) Conference in Port Moresby city. Before presenting the findings of her research to the audience in a packed APEC Haus, Ms. Sipori, who is the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) Technical Manager, made it clear that the research she conducted was independent and does not reflect the views and opinions of the MRDC. She said a tax holiday is something to be reconned with because of its pros and cons in tax revenue for the country, which may lead to people having to pay higher taxes. She said it is a topic that not everyone wants to talk about, hence the reason for her independent research. She deduced from the research that a tax holiday is not the only form of incentive that a government can give to major developers in the resource sector as there are other forms of incentives that can be used such as Capital Gains Tax, which is a levy placed on profits from the sale of an asset. Ms. Sipori said Papua New Guinea (PNG) needs to look at countries like Indonesia and even Australia on how these countries manage their incentives and tax holidays. She said there are different varieties of tax holidays and there are different applications for tax holidays for different settings, and it also depends on the kind of project agreement signed with an operator. “These agreements are key to how tax holidays are interpreted,” she further explained. However, she concurred that there are some advantages to tax holidays acting as incentives. “Part of it is attracting new foreign investors, but from the MRA (Mineral Resources Authority), exploration has decreased, so did the tax incentive work?” she questioned when referring to what the MRA said at the GEE 2024 Conference on the decline of mining explorations in the country over the past few years. “Is tax holiday the only trump card to securing direct investment, no. It may be ineffective to promote business because we have just seen the decrease in exploration activities." She concluded by saying that there are options to collecting tax revenue, especially from the extractive resource sector and that should be explored further by the State instead of just looking at giving tax holidays to major developers in the future.

Two mine villages in the Western province will finally be connected to the rest of the province thanks to a new road link that is currently in the works. The funding of this road link project is facilitated by Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML), through the National Government’s Tax Credit Scheme (TCS) and OTML has already awarded the road construction contract worth K36.1 million from Atemkit to Kavorabip in North Fly district. The 28.74 km road will serve as a critical link for the two villages of Atemkit and Kavorabip, whose people include the principal landowners of the Ok Tedi Mine operation. Currently, the two villages are only accessible by helicopter. “The people of Atemkit and Kavorabip are principal landowners just like the people of Finalbin and Bultem. Unfortunately, it took Ok Tedi and the Government too long to recognise them through such infrastructure projects,” said OTML Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kedi Ilimbit. “Today we are witnessing the signing of a road construction project that will link these very people to the rest of Western Province,” added Mr Ilimbit. Fly Engineering & Asset Management Limited (FEAML) a local company was awarded the project, which is expected to be completed within 30 months. FEAML Managing Director Joel Dangkim, expressed his sincere appreciation to OTML for being the successful bidder and committed to completing the project to expectations. Meantime, the member for North Fly district, James Donald thanked OTML and the National Government for their collaboration in having the project approved for delivery. “Though this has taken a long time, we are thankful and grateful for this project to finally begin,” said Mr. Donald. Also present at the signing was Western Governor, Taboi Awi Yoto, who thanked the landowners and people for supporting the mine over the years despite the challenges faced.

Poultry farming in the East Sepik province is set to further expand with a new hatchery established in the Yangoru- Saussia district. This new hatchery, located at Haripmo Farm, should enable the province to produce its own day- old chicks to supply the out-grower farmers starting in September. The new hatchery has the capacity to produce 20, 000 day-old a week, says the Farm Manager, Mr. Chris Prestwood. “We will start with producing 5,000-day-old chicks on September 1, 2024, and will ramp up to between 10,000 to 20,000 chicks a week,” Mr. Prestwood said. The Minister for International Trade and Investment and Yangoru-Saussia MP, Richard Maru is excited about this latest development in his electorate. “This is a very exciting news for the province as we will be able to support thousands of families in the district and two Sepik provinces to go into owning village-based chicken farms.” The people from areas along the Sepik River said it cost them up to K150 to buy a whole life chicken, which Mr. Prestwood described as ridiculous. “This ridiculous price will be a thing of the past for our province, with the day-old chicks being produced at our own farm under our Sepik Fresh label. We are happy that wholesalers in both Maprik and Wewak are already lining up to order from the farm to sell day-old chicks as distributors and our own people can go to the farm to place their orders,” said Minister Maru. He also added that the farm needs to be expanded next year to meet the demand for eggs, chicken meat, day-old chicks of both East and West Sepik provinces. “Chicken will become a major livestock industry in our two provinces, especially when our village-based chicken out- growers have their regular supply of day-old chicks produced at the Haripmo Farm to supply their total demand so they don’t have to wait for day-old chicks from Lae.”

The people of Yangoru- Saussia and Angoram districts of the East Sepik Province (ESP) can expect better access to services and to the main centers all thanks to a newly set up bridge. The local Member of Parliament (MP) for Yangoru- Saussia and Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, told his people that the long awaited Bararat Bridge in the Sepik Plains is now up and positioned. “This next three weeks the contractor, China Shenyang International Corporation, will concentrate on the causeway. This bridge is set to be completed over the next four weeks and ready for opening,” said Minister Maru. Tears of joy flowed freely as the local people of Sause and Angoram deep in the heart of the Sepik Plains, realized their lifetime dream of finally getting a bridge to connect them to the provincial capital Wewak, will soon become a reality in weeks after 49 years of Independence. The new bridge will also see 14 village in both Yangoru-Saussia and Angoram districts connect all the way down to Timboli where the Middle Sepik High School is located. Minister Maru added, “To God be the glory for the great things He is doing in transforming our Yangoru-Saussia District.”

Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has given his assurance to companies operating in the extractive industry that his government continues to support the mining sector. The PM when giving his keynote address at the official closing of the 2nd Geoscience, Exploration & Extraction 2024 (GEE 2024) Conference in Port Moresby city on Friday 09th August, said his government is doing this through reforms to mining policies and laws with aim to get in the right investors to do explorations and developments in the countrys mining sector. He then went on to reveal to the participants, international guests and heads of major mining companies that policies are being developed in the backroom of the government think- tank that would encourage transparency in securing the investments of true potential companies to develop the mining sector. We are looking at a transparent way of ensuring the best companies are participating in exploration as well as development of our resources, and also the mining department as well as MRA (Mineral Resources Authority), are asked to look at the possibility of putting our resources to auction. The auctioning of mineral resources is one of many approaches to assigning mineral rights to developers. Rights are sometimes assigned via informal processes such as first- come- first- serve, or other formal processes such as administrative processes. However, the advantage of an auction is that it is a competitive and transparent method of assigning rights, and maximizing revenues for developing countries. So, we are looking at this. The first- come- first- serve is the first law to go in as far as the reform we are pushing for next year (2025). He explained that this approach should put a stop to companies that do not have the capacity to do business in the resource sector from getting exploration and development licenses and environmental permits. Marape said PNG has 100million ounces of gold in the ground and only 20million ounces have been extracted. That is in addition to sufficient resources in copper and silver yet to be extracted. As such, it is vital that the right investors are engaged in exploration and development. We are seriously looking at the laws so to ensure we protect the environment in the context of resource harvest, but at the same time, we get better return on investments for our country, so as those who chose to invest in our country. PM Marape then went on to encourage more investors to invest in the mining sector, stating that PNG remains a free market economy that is governed by democracy and a very independent robust court system.

Alluvial gold mining continues to play a significant part in the country’s resource sector with its annual export revenue contributing significantly to the nation’s annual budgets; however, there negative implications that come along with it. These negativity impacts were stressed by Mr. Rodney Biri, who is a tutor for Agriculture Research at the University of Goroka in Eastern Highland province. Mr. Biri, who hails from Central Bougainville, shared his experience with PNG HAUSBUNG at the margins of the 2nd Geoscience, Exploration & Extraction 2024 (GEE 2024) Conference in Port Moresby after giving an enlightening presentation on the subject. He said alluvial mining or small-scale mining, poses a significant threat to the environment with the use of the liquid metal mercury and the methods used to extract the gold deposits. Meanwhile, Mr. Biri also thanked the Mineral Resource Authority (MRA) and its sponsors for hosting the GEE 2024, stating that it has given him the opportunity to talk on this important matter, and helped him to appreciate the other important matters as well in the resource sector. “I find it very helpful in that people come in and share their ideas. People talk about mining, and I realized that no one was talking abut the impacts of alluvial mining. I was the only who did, and it was greatly appreciated by the participants.”

Employees at the Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) from the Enga province have successfully raised K80, 000 to support their affected people in Mulitaka following the landslip in the Enga province. The proceeds are from cash donations from the Engan workforce and community in Tabubil as well as a corporate dinner hosted in Tabubil that was attended by the Tabubil business communities including OTML. Speaking at the corporate dinner recently, the group’s lead, Edward Maiapu said, “Although the Mulitaka incident has garnered a lot of support from PNG and the global community, there are certain social issues in the affected three villages that the community cannot utilize the donated funds to resolve. This includes the customary obligations of compensating death to ensure peace prevails.” Seeing this need, the OTML Engan workforce decided to raise funds to address this issue to ensure the families of the deceased come to terms with the loss. Mr. Maiapu said the team plans to present the fundraising proceeds to the leaders of the three impacted villages in the coming weeks. OTML Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kedi Ilimbit commended the Engan workforce for taking the initiative to raise funds for a much needed and culturally important issue that emerged from the Mulitaka Disaster. “The Engan workforce have shown us that they are from the area, have done their due analysis of the impact and found an area that would be left unattended to, thus they took the lead in providing a solution for that,” Mr. Ilimbit said. “Such an initiative is to be commended and sets a precedent for us here at OTML and also across PNG to stand up and do what we can within our means to assist in any given situation.” OTML is a 100% PNG owned mine and is committed to conducting its operations in an environmentally, socially, and economically responsible manner that respects cultural heritage and human rights. OTML will be announcing its donation support to the Mulitaka Appeal soon.