It seems that the water ration in the city of Port Moresby could continue beyond the scheduled time given by Water PNG, so to allow for further cleanup of debris to take place at the water treatment plant just outside of the nation’s capital city. According to Water PNG, the initially matter was the cleanup of the debris caused by the heavy rains up in the Sogeri mountains in the Central province, but another issues popped up. According to a notice put out by the state owned water company, due to a urgent maintenance work carried out by another state owned company, PNG Power Limited, the new schedule will be put out. The urgent maintenance work at Rouna 1/3 has resulted in the Water PNG plant affected by high turbidity of water from Rouna power stations. Water PNG is expected to put out that revised schedule as soon as the plant is stabilized. The current water ration was for Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th April; however, the revised one could see the rationing progress further. Water PNG also sent out an apology to its customers in the city of Port Moresby, for the inconveniences caused. Meanwhile, the reason for the debris affecting the water plant time and time again, was because Water PNG uses the same outlet of water supply that PNG Power uses; therefore, whenever there is some dirt in the water upstream, it affects the water plant and then the cleanup begins. This issue can be avoid if only the water company has its own separate outlet of supply to its water plant, instead of from the same PNG Power one.

It has been officially confirmed that the President of the United States (US), Joe Biden will be here in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on the 22nd of May to visit the country on his short stop over to Australia. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Justin Tkatchenko, made the announcement on Saturday 29th April after getting the official confirmation from the US White House in Washington DC of the president’s stop over and visit. The US president’s visit will fall on the same date as the Forum for India- Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) where the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be attending here in Port Moresby city. The minister said it’s significant because it will be the first time in the history of PNG to have the two biggest world economies visit the country at the same time. [caption id="attachment_39509" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Minister for Foreign Affairs, Justin Tkatchenko[/caption] “First time that this has ever happened and this is because of the confidence in the government, this is because of the relationships that we have put together in partnership with the United States and of course now with India,” said Minister Tkatchenko. “So, the president of the United States will be dropping in on the 22nd around about 2pm to Port Moresby. Stay for three hours in the APEC Haus, see all the 18 pacific leaders that attend (FIPIC) and from there, have a very important bilateral meeting as well as making some very big and important announcement for this visit and why he is in Port Moresby.” Tkatchenko said what is also significant about the US presidential visit to PNG, is that it will be the first time for a United States president in history to ever visit a pacific island nation. This visit will play an important role on strengthening the bilateral relationships and diplomatic relationships with the United States and the pacific and all its leaders. “This is all about working together in partnership to promote our country for the long term benefit of our people,” said the minister. The minister further explained that this visit and meeting with the US president is not just something out of the blue, but a result of previous dialogues between Prime Minister James Marape and President Biden during their earlier engagements during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City. Meanwhile, after President Biden’s short visit and stop over, he will travel to Australia where he will have a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) or a Quad meeting with India, Japan and Australian.

The Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) is in the process of conducting inquiries into matters relating to high costs being charged to consumers in both the motor vehicle and shipping industries. ICCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Commissioner Mr. Paulus Ain, said that there have been complaints coming to the office about the hefty prices charged for products and services in these two industries that prompted the planned inquiries. “We are conducting an inquiry into the motor vehicle industry because the price of vehicles has gone up.” “So, we received a lot of complaints from the government that we have to conduct an inquiry as to why the price of motor vehicles are very exorbitant and it’s not becoming affordable for everyone.” The next phase will see the Commission conduct an inquiry into coastal shipping; that is, the shipping industry will be under an inquiry also for unrealistic hikes in prices and fares. Mr. Ain said there are separate teams in the organization that will be conducting these inquiries from the information they received. These two inquiries will be formally announced soon and then the process will commence.

The BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) stands ready to support the expected economic growth to come from the soon to be constructed Papua LNG project in the Gulf province. BSP Group Chief Executive Officer Mr. Mark Robinson, said this is expected because the Papua LNG project represents a significant investment in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He said the announcement earlier this year that the Papua LNG has reached the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase indicates some good signs for PNG’s economic prospects. According to the Pacific Economic & Market Insight report, the US$10 billion (K35.2 billion) Papua LNG project is expected to complete the FEED phase in the 04th quarter of 2023 or 01st quarter 2024, by when the Final Investment Decision (FID) is expected. “FID triggers a construction phase that is expected to last four (4) years,” Mr. Robinson added. “During this time we will see resource-adjacent sectors benefiting, as local service providers are contracted to support the construction phase.” BSP stands ready to support the next economic growth phase in PNG. However, he said despite the positive outlook domestically, global risks remain skewed heavily towards the downside, as evidenced by geopolitical instability and the collapse of a small number of overseas financial institutions in earlier this year. “BSP has a strong balance sheet and prudent liquidity management to protect our customers and our capital adequacy and leverage ratios stand at 24.6% and 9.9% respectively, which are well above domestic and international regulatory standards.” “We continue to monitor external financial contagions and the domestic economy to ensure customers’ deposits are safe,” Mr. Robinson added. Nevertheless, BSP remains confident that it will be an integral part of PNG’s economic growth story with its prudent risk management, strong financial metrics, and unrivalled reach across the PNG market.

The country’s consumer watch dog, the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) would very much like to see business houses pass on the expected reduction of prices of basic goods to consumers in the coming months or be dealt with. The ICCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Commissioner Mr. Paulus Ain said that the global indicators from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), have shown some decline in the overall prices of basic items. “Especially for rice (there has been stable fluctuation), for flour and cooking oil to name a few that have seen some decreases in the prices compared to what we were in 2022 back then,” said the Commissioner. Mr. Ain said these price differences and declines are showing some positive signs based on what is happening globally. In terms of soap, Mr. Ain confirms that the price has gone up due to the reintroduction of the tariff on soap, which has resulted in the price increase in the country. “But otherwise, the ingredients to manufacture soap, has seen decline,” explained the Commissioner. He said shipping rates are also coming down, global food prices are coming down, so domestically business houses should be passing that savings on to the consumers. “People are going back into production, Food and Agriculture Organization is telling us the indication out there. Food price is actually declining, so we should be expecting some price reduction over the next 6 to 12 months.” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=599511248815885

Nambawan Super Limited (NSL) has announced a Net profit of K144million for the year 2022, which resulted in the declaration of an interest rate of 1.6% to be paid to members’ accounts. The NSL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) that although it was a slight increase in interest rate from last year, it was still a good result given the challenges globally and domestically the superfund faced last year. “I’m sure many of our members will be disheartened by this result, it’s completely understandable to feel that way when investments one has made don’t go as expected.” “The result for 2022 may be discouraging; however, we want to remind and reassure out members that the funds are safe with us and are available to our members.” “We are a long term savings and we continue to grow and make those funds available for members when they are ready to retire and exit the fund,” said the CEO. He explained that it is normal in any investment environment that our investments are subject to economic conditions that a company operates in. “This may lead to low, high or even potentially negative returns in one year and this is something that we need to manage for our members going forward and also to make sure that education is passed across to our members.” He said in early 2022, the fund expected the members might get a negative crediting rate; however, the fund worked really hard to ensure that does not happen. “Considering the tough time the fund had in that portfolio caused by the volatile economic circumstances, the following crediting rate of 1.6% for our members, we feel is a good result.” The superfund had to adept to change tactics to manage the effects of rising inflation and other challenges posed in 2022. Some of those challenges include the issue of the lack of foreign exchange, the global economic situation from geopolitical issues and the government’s additional bank tax imposed on the BSP Financial Group Limited.

The Australian Football League (AFL) Junior Development team in the West New Britain (WNB) province has so much lined up for this school term; however, the program is being delayed a bit by the recent unrest experienced in the province. The Junior Development Coordinator Mr. Alphonse Jambarufo said the programs went well during term one of the school year, but term two has been a challenge with the increase in law and order issues and now the unrest. “It is really a tragic moment for us, but we are grateful that there is now more security on ground and we hope things would get back to normal soon.” He said there are a lot of activities for the juniors this second term of school like the schools competition and the Smart Start Niukick program planned for this year, and the sooner they start, the better. The first activity will be to organize the schools competition for Kimbe urban and the key focus will be in the three zones. The next one will be for the schools in Bialla and that is planned for next week, while Hoskins will be after where they will get the communities will be involved in starting the school competition. “We hope to get things better organized once things settle down.” Meanwhile, Mr. Jambarufo said the team will host the Talent ID later this year and they are looking at bringing in participants from New Ireland and East New Britain provinces.  

The country's consumer watch dog, the Independent Consume and Competitions Commission (ICCC) has announced that the country should see the prices of goods, including fuel to drop in the next six months. The ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Paulus Ain said in a press conference this morning that the expected decline in price has to do with the good performance in the global market according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) latest report. “The price of agricultural items globally are doing well despite the war in Ukraine and oil prices are also doing well,” said the Commissioner. He said the results globally should result in the domestic prices dropping, especially for the imported goods. However, Mr. Ain said domestically, the ICCC now would like to see businesses and companies like shops, fuel stations, and wholesalers pass on that reduction in price to the consumers when the import price drops in the coming months. Mr. Ain warned that the ICCC will be out working with its partners and stakeholders to monitor how things go in the coming months and would be dealing with any business houses that would continue to defy instruction and charge hefty prices to consumers for goods.

Although Prime Minister (PM) James Marape welcomes foreign investments into the country’s energy sector, what he wants to see in the future is major companies in Papua New Guinea (PNG) tapping into this area by making investments as well in electricity production. It was this that prompted him to make a call during his keynote speech at the Edevu Hydropower Reservoir Impoundment ceremony held in the Central province recently, to PNG companies to consider this in the future. “I call on those of you who have capacity in our country, including those superfunds to be adventurous. We have superfunds with K5billion, K6billion and over K7billion assets. We have MRDC (Mineral Resources Development Company Ltd), our landowner companies in our country, they have potential to move in the clean energy space,” said Marape. The PM gave the example of the developer of the Edevu Hydropower project, PNG Hydro Development Ltd, saying that the project was all done through their private investments with not much help from the state, but within 15 years the company has accomplished a milestone project that would benefit the country and the people. He said that this should set the precedence for other investors, including local investors to follow. The country’s energy demand is increasing due to major developments taking place in the oil and gas space and agriculture; therefore, there is a need to supply energy in the form of electricity to these emerging industries. The PM said the key to this, is by making more investments in the energy sector. It’s not only that, Marape said more investments in the energy sector should also lead to the government achieving its national goal to have 70% of the country have access to cheap and reliable electricity by 2030, which is only 6 years away.

The country continues to develop and the economy continues to expand as well meaning that there will be more demand for electricity supply for the industries and businesses for their operations, something which the government wants to address through private sector investments in the energy sector. That was made known by Prime Minister (PM) James Marape when giving his keynote address at the Edevu Hydropower Reservoir Impoundment ceremony for the new hydropower project in the Central province on Friday 21st April. Marape said that there is no doubt that demand will continue to increase with the expansion of Port Moresby city and the developments in the neighboring provinces like Central and Gulf. The PM said when the Edevu Hydropower project was at its initial stages in 2009, the energy demand for Port Moresby was below 100megawatt, but today Port Moresby electricity demand load has increased in the last 15 years. “The need of Port Moresby is approaching 200megawatt,” said the prime minister. “We will work to support the power expansion by building out of Port Moresby into Central province in a planned manner, partnering the Central Provincial Government,” said the PM. That support is the government funding of the electricity infrastructure, which is the 132KV transmission lines from Edevu Hydropower site to Port Moresby, where 54megawatt of additional power will be supplied. Marape thanked the developer PNG Hydro Development Ltd for this investment. He took the opportunity to also invite other investors to do the same, to tap into the energy sector so to meet the increasing demand of electricity. “This is because energy is a major focus of ours and we want the private sector to get engaged, freeing up government capital for us to invest in health, education and other enabling infrastructures.” On that note, the PM said that the investors must also look at other areas of energy generation like green energy solutions going forward when making investments in the Papua New Guinea energy sector.

Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has assured the landowners of the land where the new state of the art hydropower dam project in Edevu in Central province stands that their outstanding land issues will be sorted out in due course. The PM said this during the Edevu Hydropower Reservoir Impoundment ceremony on Friday 21st April. Marape told the landowners and their leaders that he and his team of ministers will be meeting with the Central Province Governor Rufina Peter and Member for Hiri Koiari Keith Iduhu on Tuesday 25th April to discuss and sort out the matter of the outstanding landowner issues, which includes royalties and equity for them. “We’ll get your two local members, Minister William Duma and the team to go through what happened thus far,” the PM told the landowners. Marape also told the landowners not to interfere with the operations of the new hydro dam project because their landowner matters are now the responsibility of the state to handle. “Any issues with the land, any issues going forward, it is no longer investor business; it is government business.” Meanwhile, both the Hiri Koiari Member and the Central Province Governor raised genuine concerns about landowner issues and benefits and would like to work with the Marape- Rosso Government to have better arrangements and agreements in place in the future for all project site landowners in the province going forward.

Fuel pumps at PUMA service stations in the city of Port Moresby are pumping Unleaded Petrol in full again after the resupply arrived a day early. Re-fueling commenced at all PUMA Energy locations covering Port Moresby since midday yesterday, Saturday 22nd April. “Our team has delivered a great outcome for Port Moresby and managed a potentially challenging situation both professionally and efficiently,” commented PUMA Energy Country Manager, Mr. Hulala Tokome. “While there were circumstances out of our control (weather related in Australia), it is vital that we manage any situation. Our team has done this, minimizing disruptions to all our valued customers.” “As soon as the re-fueling ship arrived at the port, our team moved efficiently and effectively to get the unleaded petrol off the ship and into re-fueling vehicles. They have achieved a re-fueling plan across Port Moresby one day ahead of schedule.” Mr. Tokome assured customers that from today onwards, there will be no more rationing of unleaded fuel across PUMA Energy locations in Port Moresby. “I applaud our PUMA Energy Teams' swift action to rectify this situation, and I thank all of Port Moresby for their patience and understanding.”