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November 2023

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Environment

Environment Council Re-established

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Environment Council

Government has reminded Environment Council members of the very nature of their existence which is to provide the necessary duty diligence which progresses or terminates level three permit environment activities in country.

Motsy David, First Secretary to the Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change made this known at the swearing in of the council members today following a two-year absence of a board under a previous management.

“The Government has trust in the high caliber Papua New Guineans to oversee this important function of protecting our environment, but it must be done with care for our people, country and God who gave us this earth,” the Minister’s Spokesman said.

The Environment Council is an important part of the scientific government office – Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), it provides an oversight of the highest-level environment permit issued in the land.

After taking office over a Year ago, Environment Minister Hon. Simo Kilepa, MP, has tasked Acting Managing Director Jude Tukuliya to furnish some of the outstanding issues in the organization which include the establishment of the environment council.

“We are seeing positive feedback from the investors now that the council is in place,” Mr. Tukuliya said.
The council members include Jude Tukuliya (Chairman), Professor Kaul Gena, Jack Kariko, Tom Pringel, Professor Simon Saulei and Dr. Eric Omuru.

Related: https://insidepng.com/category/climate-change/

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News

Exercise Pukpuk Concludes

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Exercise Pukpuk

Exercise Pukpuk was conducted at the PNGDF Lombrum Naval Base, in Manus. Concluding with the completion of a three in one classroom, road and electric works done at houses at the naval base.

Conducted for the first time at Lombrum Naval Base, the annual engineering exercise brought together PNG Defence Force members from the Engineering Battalion and the Australian Defence Force; Townsville 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment and members of the British Army.

Supplied Picture

PNGDF Commanding Officer for Lombrum, Buni Dorea spoke highly of the joint efforts by all three defence forces.

“Most of the works being completed are repairs and maintenance around the school and married quarters. And there are lots things to be done here. To have Australians here, especially on [Exercise] Pukpuk, has grown the relationship and made it stronger. This is the way forward to have a good partnership,” said Commander Dorea said.

Australian Army Captain Helena Sorial described the joint exercise as a rewarding experience.

“The best part is working with the PNGDF, in their country, experiencing their culture, and doing real-time tasks. When you go overseas on holidays you often skim the surface of understanding a place and its people. But we get to interact, see how the people live, how they work, and complete the work with them, ” said Captain Sorial.

Exercise Pukpuk

The repair works include, tradies repaired stairs, decking, roads, and made-safe electric wires in the Married Quarters. And also a renovated classroom for children of Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) members posted to the base.

CO Dorea said the joint exercise created the solution for school children to not be moving around during the rainy season and children won’t be disturbed from their lessons.

Recent: https://insidepng.com/pacific-partnership-in-moem/

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News

Disaster Preparedness

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Disaster Preparedness

Communities in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and nine other provinces in Papua New Guinea will undergoing trainings or activities aimed at building resilience and improving government systems when responding to natural disasters.

This is part of the a renewed partnership between International Office of Migration (IOM) and United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID).

Through this partnership a $2.5 USD million was injected into IOM to facilitate the project called, Addressing the Drivers and Consequences of Disaster Displacement Through Enhancing Resilience in Papua New Guinea.

This project is aimed at forming a closer working relationship between sub-national and local disaster responses though timely information management with local authorities in disaster prone communities.

IOM will be leading discussions on how to maintain preparedness and how to respond to disasters that is in line with the PNG National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework, the Provincial Disaster Risk Management Strategies and Standard Operating Procedures.

This is a collective approach and IOM will be working with government, civil society, faith-based organizations, community services organizations, and partners in disaster risk reduction and management to provide quality, timely and sensitive protection and assistance.

Since opening up a USAID Country Representative Office in Papua New Guinea, more humanitarian assistance work as been coordinated by IOM with support from the USAID Country Office.

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Agriculture

Inspection Trip

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China Engineers

PORT MORESBY:

A technical team from the China Machinery Engineering Corporation or CMEC arrived in Port Moresby on Sunday for a week-long inspection trip.

From the 5th to the 10th of November, they will inspect all ranches and abattoirs owned by PNG’s state-owned livestock company, Livestock Development Corporation (LDC).

The CMEC team is sent from their headquarters in Beijing, China.

The visit follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed between LDC and CMEC earlier this year as a company to company arrangement that was sanctioned by former Agriculture Minister John Simon.

Under this MOU CMEC will inspect all ranges and abattoirs in PNG and design and construct several state of the art abattoir facilities in designated sites, in line with the PNG Government’s downstream processing and food security policies.

The inspection started on Sunday afternoon at Tiaba, abattoir, 12mile, just outside the Port Moresby city.

Before inspecting the abattoir, LDC Managing Director Terry Koim took the team around the 35 hectares land to show them the potential of production if the abattoir is revived.

The engineers were amazed with the amount of land, saying with an abundance of free land, PNG has the potential to be a global exporter of cattle and China being a major beef consumer, can be it’s biggest client.

Apart from Tiaba, the Chinese delegation will also visit LDC establishments in Launakalana in Central Province, Wariman and Urimo in East Sepik, Sagalau in Madang and Baiya in Western Highlands Province.

As part of the MOU, CMEC with its vast experience in engineering design and construction of reliable power projects in well over a 100 different countries, will further assist LDC with renewable energy generation to promote commercial agriculture.

Carrying on from where the former Minister left off, Minister for Livestock Hon. Seki Agisa acknowledged Prime Minister James Marape’s visit to China last month, affirming the need for CMECs visit.

CMEC is one of China’s reputable companies entrusted to roll out vital infrastructure projects in more than 100 countries under the China “One Belt, One Road” program.

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News

Households Affected by Election Related Violence Receive Food Rations

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Household relief

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), working in partnership with the national, and provincial disaster centers, are distributing food rations to households affected by election related violence in Enga, Southern Highlands, Hela and Jiwaka provinces.

The relief efforts were made possible through financial assistance from the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

Last week, Food rations of rice, cooking oil, tinned fish, sugar, and salt have been distributed to over 700 households comprising of over 3900 people.

It has been over a year, since the Election-related violence broke out in various provinces, mainly in the Highlands region.

Food crop gardens and shelters were destroyed, which affected the livelihoods of women, children, people living with disabilities and the elderly.

The relief efforts target households headed by women and the elderly, especially those hosting people living with disability.

These homes were identified through IOM’s displacement tracking matrix information.

Community leaders and women from these areas shed tears as they noted the hardships that affected groups were dealing with. Especially in providing meals for their families.

“It will take months for us to replant and harvest our crop fields destroyed during the fight. Providing enough food for families has been difficult and we are thankful to USAID and IOM for this assistance,” said Mambu Gene, a women’s representative.

“We faced several difficulties and several families had to skip meals. We did not have enough money to buy food and this help is appreciated,” she added.

Jiwaka Provincial Disaster Coordinator, John Kupul extended his thanks to the people and government of the United States for supporting affected communities. He appreciated the partnership of IOM and Jiwaka Provincial Disaster Centre, made possible through funding from the USAID/BHA.

Kupul noted that this partnership will go a long way to improve the lives of the most vulnerable populations. “This partnership has saved lives,” he said.

Related: https://insidepng.com/stop-election-violence/

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News

PNG Prime Minister Welcomes Newmont Corporation

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Newmont Welcomed

Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea (PNG) yesterday extended an official welcome to Newmont Corporation, the world’s leading gold company, marking its acquisition of all Newcrest operations in PNG.

In a joint press conference with Mr. Peter Toth, Chief Development Officer of Newmont, Prime Minister Marape highlighted the significance of this corporate transaction. Which now places the world’s top two gold companies, Newmont and Barrick, in PNG.

“It adds value to Papua New Guinea’s global branding as an investment destination,” said Marape. “What this country effectively has now is the world’s No. 1 gold company.”

The Prime Minister also revealed that Newmont has agreed to establish its headquarters in PNG and will conduct an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange, enabling PNG residents to buy shares to the value of K100 million.

In the same conference, Prime Minister Marape provided an update on the Wafi-Golpu Mine project in Morobe. Indicating that the government expects to make a major announcement regarding the project at the upcoming PNG Mining and Petroleum Conference in Sydney, Australia, next month.

“We’re now at the stage where the principle of what constitutes the Mine Development Contract (MDC) and Special Mining Lease (SML) is waiting to be agreed upon,” said Marape. “We want to have these two key documents ready at the same time, and we’re hoping that at the December Mining and Petroleum Conference, we will make an announcement to the market.”

The Wafi-Golpu project, now controlled by Newmont, has a 36-month timeline to reach a Final Investment Decision. Marape expressed his confidence in the process, pointing to the successful collaboration between stakeholders in establishing an MDC and SML for the Porgera Mine in Enga.

Marape thanked Wafi-Golpu partners Harmony, Newmont, and Kumul Mineral Holdings for their commitment to the project and emphasized the importance of adhering to the agreed timeline. He also called for increased local employment and content, with preference for nationals over expatriates, and encouraged the procurement of goods and services within PNG to stimulate the local economy.

Earlier: https://insidepng.com/marape-welcomes-ramu-nickel-expansion-plans/

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Environment

Carbon Trading Benefitting Communities

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Carbon Trade

Tavolo Community Conservation Association is one success story of the future of carbon trading in Papua New Guinea.

The people living within the conservation area have benefited from school fee assistance and also household support through a family package. Thanks to benefit sharing arrangements between Tavolo Community Conservation Association, the Government of PNG and international Partners.

The Community based organization is located in East New Britain Province in the Pomio District it is the combined initiative of the people of Tavolo, Lausus and Mukus.

Chairman of the Association Peter Kikele says the association has partnered with the Government and other relevant stake holders. This is to ensure they benefit from Carbon Trading as part of their efforts in conserving large areas of forests in their area.

After the sale of their carbon credits they have a family package that they give to members of the clan. As part of a benefit sharing arrangement.

The benefit sharing arrangement involves the Government of Papua New Guinea the agencies that facilitate the sale of Carbon Credits and the clan members that have given the right for the sale of carbon from their area.

Kikele says that they are well off conserving their flora and fauna. In the past they had logging which not only destroyed their environment but also yielded minimal benefit in terms of monetary return. This time with the sale of Carbon Credits they have conserved their forests and have enough disposable income to pay for their children’s education and also build homes using modern materials. Kikele says that is a much better outcome compared to logging that happened in the past.

Recent: https://insidepng.com/capacity-building-for-environment-conservation/

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Rugby League

PNG Kumuls are Pacific Championship Bowl Champions

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Kumuls Win Final

The PNG Kumuls have done it, they are the Bowl Champions in the Pacific Championship.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo was there to witness the triumph of the Kumuls. He along with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape watched closely as the Kumuls redeemed themselves of last weeks flogging.

Picture by NRL

The presence of CEO Andrew Abdo being here is a positive for PNG’s NRL Bid.

Picture by NRL

PNG Kumuls

Picture by NRL

PNG managed a 32 points to 12 Victory over the Fiji Bati side.

PNG managed five tries in total to redeem themselves of last weeks devastating loss to Fiji Bati.

Edwin Ipape was awarded the man of the match. He made a complete turn around from last weeks performance for the Kumuls.

Robert Derby the 21 year old Kumuls winger also grabbed a double, two tries as PNG leaped into the lead at 26-0 at halftime.

Fiji came back in the second half determined to score. They did score two tries but PNG managed to defend their try line for majority of the match with Epel Kapinias scoring the only try in the second half to close the score 32 points to 12.

Kumuls Coach Justin Holbrook was impressed with the turnaround from the Kumuls and it showed the passion from the side.

Picture by NRL

Big Dan Russell taking a hit up as Fiji Bati’s Kurt Donoghoe attempts the tackle.

“Obviously we did a good job early in the match. We turned them back and managed to score big in the first half. We conceded in the seconded half but we hung in there quite a bit in the second half and we managed to win,” Holbrook said

PNG Kumuls Captain Kyle Laybutt raises the Pacific Championship Bowl as PNG Prime Minister James Marape looks on.
(Picture by NRL)

The Captain of the Kumuls, Kyle Laybutt, was also impressed with the team.

“Extremely happy for the boys we turned it around from last week to this week a massive improvement,” Kyle Laybutt said.

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Rugby League

Putt, Horne and Rop Back Against Fiji Bati

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Kumuls Final

PNG Kumuls Coach Justin Holbrook has picked his strongest side to take on the Fiji Bati in the Pacific Championship Bowl final.

Holbrook is looking for aggression and versatility off the bench. Opting to bring back Nixon Putt, Liam Horne and Junior Rop back into the side.

“Junior Rop is strong and aggressive, Nixon Putt has a tireless work rate and Liam Horne has the versatility. And he can gain meters up the ruck and is also great at lock,” Holbrook said

Holbrook said he wasn’t at all disappointed with individuals in the team. But these three deserved their spot in the final side.

“I wanted to give everyone a game. Especially to the guys that came down from England. I have been impressed by Nixon Putt, Junior Rop and Liam Horne. [I} wasn’t really unhappy with any individual performance, I was just unhappy with how collectively the team played. But these players, they deserve a call up. They were pretty good in the games they played in,” Holbrook said.

PNG Kumuls Coach Justin Holbrook admitted that the team needs to discipline themselves in defense. One area of concern was PNG allowing Fiji to pick up speed off the ruck.

Edwin Ipape was poised to be a game changer for the Kumuls but it turned out to be quite different. The Coach said Ipape needed to familiarize himself with conditions and hopes this week he can make a difference.

“Edwin needed a run to be honest. He didn’t play for a month and he was on the other side of the world in different conditions, and Fiji didn’t give us any real opportunity.

“We have had a look at the video. And we have a number of areas we have to work on and improve on them and execute them this weekend,” Holbrook said.

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Business

Potential of Kava Industry

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Kava

Papua New Guinea is looking at maximizing its potential in establishing and commercializing a Kava Industry in the country.

The idea birthed out of a conversation during the 14th World Indigenous Business Forum held in Port Moresby. Where International Trade and Investment Minister, Richard Maru, learned from indigenous Fijian business owners that the demand for Kava had outgrown the supply.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape greets International Trade & Investment Minister Richard Maru at the 14th World Indigenous Business Forum.

Maru said the cultivation and sale of kava both in domestic markets and as a processed export product is an important source of income for thousands of smallholder farmers and their families across the Pacific.

“Because of its associated relaxing benefits and the removal of trade restrictions in many countries. The demand for kava has increased and thousands of smallholder farmers across the region are now engaged in kava production,” said Maru.

Maru said Kava has become one of the main sources of economic importance to many Pacific Island countries and as a significant contributor to GDP, foreign exchange earnings, and balance of payments through exports for some countries.

“In 2020, Fijian kava exports were worth over A$43.6 million and in 2019, Vanuatu’s kava exports were worth A$48.4 million, with these figures set to grow in coming years.

“While some of these exports are to other Pacific Island Countries, larger markets include New Zealand, New Caledonia, Europe, and the United States, partly due to the large Pacific Island communities living there.

“The bulk of this trade is associated with selling kava as a beverage.

“With a growing quantity being exported as an ingredient, for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products,” said Maru.

The growing popularity and demand for kava in Papua New Guinea is due to more Fijians travelling into Papua New Guinea, for work or visiting families and more Papua New Guineans trying out Kava.

“Papua New Guinea has the potential to become the biggest producer of kava in the world.

“If we establish kava as an industry and undertake multi-cropping with kava being planted under the cocoa trees to fully utilize the land. So our farmers can make money from both cocoa and kava using the same land. This is one industry that is ready to boom,” Maru added.

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