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PNC Endorses Candidates for Maprik and Sohe By-elections

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Red and Gold PNC Logo on a black background with PNC in red color

THE Peoples National Congress Party or PNC has endorsed two candidates for the Maprik and Sohe By-Elections.

Hildeanne Wefin, a former banking finance executive and founder of WomenLink PNG will contest the Maprik Open seat in East Sepik province. 

Ms Wefin holds two Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Applied Finance. 

Party Leader, Peter O’Neill said Hildanne Wefin’s dedication to gender equality and her impressive educational background and extensive professional experience make her the right choice.

The seat was left vacant following the death of then MP and PNC man, Gabriel Kapris who passed on in August 2023. 

Meanwhile, the Sohe Open seat in the Northen province was left vacant after a Supreme Court Ruling in November last year that upheld a National Court decision declaring the election of Pangu Party’s Henry Amuli null and void due to bribery. 

Amuli is recontesting this seat under the Pangu banner.

Sixteen candidates are contesting the Sohe Open seat including only female candidate Delilah Gore, the petitioner in the Court of Disputed Returns. 

In the 2022 National General Elections, she contested under the PNC banner, however, in this by-election, the former MP (2012 -2017) has been endorsed by Social Democratic Party while PNC has endorsed Paulinias Uhena, the runner up in 2022. 

Uhena is a former senior public servant who served as Manager Finance with the Oro Provincial Administration for 35 years. 

The Maprik and Sohe by-elections will be held simultaneously with polling scheduled to start 25th May and end 29th May 2024.

Writs will be returned from 14th June to 18th June 2024.

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News

Glare in for Mavoko

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Rugby player wearing orange and white SP PNG Hunters Jersey

Finley Glare is set to come into the SP PNG Hunters side as the replacement for Jamie Mavoko for this Saturday’s clash against the Northern Pride.

Finley is the younger brother of former SP PNG Hunter Warren Glare; the Lae City junior was the captain of the Junior Kumuls that played the Australian School boys last year in Port Moresby.

The young utility is a promising dummy half and has been at rake for the Hunters off the interchange bench.

The inclusion of Glare at halfback is a show of trust by Coach Paul Aiton who is currently short on halve pairings, with both Sakias Komati and Jamie Mavoko unable to take the field due to injury and concussion.

Glares inclusion comes after recently returned halfback Jamie Mavoko was stood down this weekend, after a failed category one (1) Head Injury Assessment (HIA), this happened during the team’s 52 to 16 win over the Townsville Blackhawks in round eight (8) last week.

Glare will partner fellow Lae Snax Tigers team mate, Joshua Lau in the halves.

The young duo will have a tough task ahead this weekend, however, Coach Paul Aiton says his side is preparing well for the clash this Saturday.

Coach Paul Aiton commended the teams dominating performance against the Blackhawks in Townsville last week which saw the Hunters score nine tries and Jamie Mavoko with the boot nailing eight out of nine conversions.

The performance by the SP PNG Hunters to dominate the Blackhawks has sparked new life into the team.

All along Coach Paul Aiton has been talking about sticking to their game plan and having trust in the players, but this weekend they face their biggest opponent yet.

For the Hunter, taking on competition leaders the Northern Pride at home is a huge contrast and challenge for the Hunters who are 10th out of 15 teams.

Coach Aiton added that the team are starting to grasp the systems and processes in their game plan and with the teams performance last weekend they look to maintain that consistency as they take on the competition leaders on Saturday.

“We were individually prepared, we are understanding our systems and processes a lot more, and the reduction of our errors and penalties we reduced that quite a lot, its about having faith in what we’re doing, don’t stray away from what we are doing, even though it looks like its not working it will work, we just have to stay with it.

“I am looking forward to it, I know the guys are looking forward to it as well, it will be a good measure for us the Northern Pride are right in front at the top of the ladder,” Aiton said.

(PHOTO FILE: Provided by SP PNG Hunters)

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News

Gumine Road Closes Again

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Pile of dirt and debris sitting on the road

The Gumine road in Simbu, has for the second time been blocked.

Landslips and floods at the beginning of this month are the reason for these blocks.

The flood happened at Sikola, about six kilometers from Kundiawa, where the major landslip occurred and buried 10 people, among them an unborn child on 13th March.

Water running off down a slope eroding the soil as it runs down the Gumine road

The 50 kilometers of Gumine Highway, located to the south of Simbu, was cut-off from Kundiawa for almost two months till the road was restored and made accessible on 19th April.

However, on the 01st of May, the loose soil up the Sikola slope flooded onto the cleared road.

Debris caused by landslip scattered all over the Gumine road

According to Sikola Natural Disaster Committee’s Clement Bruno, the flood of silts and fresh landslips some meters away from Sikola occurred on 01st of May.

Bruno said further up to the Baul main village of the Kobilkane clan another landslip occurred blocking off the road.

He said the people of Gumine should take precautions while travelling on the road at this time.

Mr Bruno said he informed the Gumine District Administration of the situation on the road.

The Gumine District Administrator, Diang Kil said he was being informed and the District Works Unit will move into clear up the road blockages soon.

(Supplied by: Ennio Kuble)

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News

DLPP Closes all Regional Offices

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Man wearing a grey shirt holding a key and locking the DLPP door

The Department of Lands and Physical Planning or DLPP has closed all its regional offices in Lae, Goroka and Kokopo, and all regional lands officers have been relocated to the National Department of Lands and Physical Planning in Port Moresby.

Department of Lands and Physical Planning Secretary Benjamin Samson was in Goroka, Lae and Kokopo, to personally lock all offices for the last time, to signify the closure of the offices.

Secretary Benjamin Samson said it was a collective decision by the Executive Management Committee to shut down all regional offices in Goroka, Lae and Kokopo, with all regional lands officers to be operating from Eda Tano Haus, in Port Moresby.

“The regional offices have served its purpose and its time is up.” Mr. Samson said.

“The regional offices were created when all Provincial Lands Offices were reporting to the National Department of Lands and Physical Planning Head Office. The regional offices were created to ensure things were done according to procedures and protocols, and for Provincial Lands Officers to report to the Regional Lands Officers, who then reported to National Lands Officers.

“Following the government’s decision to decentralize certain government functions to provinces, all land functions were absorbed into the Provincial Structures in each province, and hence there really was no need for a regional office.” Mr. Samson said.

Mr. Samson urged the regional lands officers to join the team in Port Moresby and be part of the new and exciting changes that are happening at the Department.

“We have great vision for the department. Our aim is that all our business processes must be automated, and we must do away with paper tittle and start issuing electronic tittle. I can’t do it without your support.” Mr. Samson said.

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Environment

More Evidence of Logging Crime in Forest Sector

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Round logs facing upward

Act Now! PNG has released a third report, highlighting yet again, one of the many logging abuses in Papua New Guinea.

Titled “Where is the Beef? The Wasu Cattle Farm Project”, the report points out the abuse of the Forest Clearing Authority (FCA) concession.

This new report is a case study out OF Wasu in the Tewai-Siassi District of Morobe Province.

The report is a third of a series and focuses on a project that is referred to alternatively as a cattle project or an integrated agriculture project, but to date, there hasn’t been any cattle on ground or any agriculture project.

The Morobe based Wasu Integrated Agriculture Project, received an FCA in 2019 and began exporting logs in 2021.

To date, it has generated over K15.6 (US$4.5 million) in log export revenue for Malaysian owned Wasu Resource Limited.

The new report highlights:
• Allegations by customary landowners that they did not give their legally-required consent to the project;
• The absence of any evidence that the logging company has established a cattle farm in the area, despite exporting logs valued at over K15 million since 2021; and
• Evidence from satellite imagery showing a logging pattern more consistent with commercial selective logging than forest clearance for agriculture.

In a statement released yesterday following the release of the report, Act Now! calls on the Government to act now and address the abuse of the Forest Clearing Authority (FCA).

An FCA is a type of logging license intended to allow forest clearing to promote use of land for the economic development. However, previous reports by ACT NOW! and others have discussed cases in which FCA licenses have been misused to facilitate large-scale selective commercial logging activities.

ACT NOW! is calling on the government to undertake an independent, public and transparent audit of all existing FCAs’.

Act Now! Campaign Manager, Eddie Tanago says, until this is done, log exports from FCAs should be suspended.

He said an urgent review should also be conducted to see if the Wasu Cattle Farm project is operating legally.

The full report can be accessed through the Act Now! website.

The other related reports are “Ten Years Without A Crop- The Wammy Rural Development Project” and “A New Forest Grab – The Mengen Integrated Agriculture Project“.

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Sport

First ever Women’s National Rugby League Competition to kick-off in July

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PNG Women's National Rugby League players wearing red black and gold team attire

To ensure the growth of rugby league in Papua New Guinea, the Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition or PNGNRLC is introducing a women’s national competition.

The competition will be led by six participating franchises.

Taking a page out of the Women’s National Rugby League Competition in Australia, the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League with funding support from Kumul Mineral Holdings and other stakeholders are ensuring a strong and vibrant women’s competition takes place in Papua New Guinea.

The expansion of the Competition to include the women and juniors is part of the PNGNRLC five-year plan (2023 to 2027).

An ecstatic Chief Executive Officer of the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League, Stanley Hondina after making the announcement said the first premier women’s competition in PNG will be launched soon.

“We will for the first time have a women’s national rugby league competition, we are starting with six teams and the competition will be for seven weeks,” Hondina said.

The competition is slated for kickoff in July this year.

Out of the current 12 franchises in the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup; six franchises have been selected to field teams in the Women’s competition, and these franchises were selected following a Club audit of the 12 franchises in line with the Club Professionalism Pillar of the PNGRFL’s PNGNRLC five-year strategic plan (2023 – 2027).

In supporting the realization of the Women’s Competition the Kumul Mineral Holdings Limited has committed to giving K15 million over five years to the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League.

The funding package will run from 2024 through to 2028 and part of this funding will go towards boosting the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup and the new Women’s Competition.

KMHL made a cheque presentation of the first K3 million to the CEO and Directors of the PNGRFL in Port Moresby last week Friday; Chairman of KPHL Dr Ila Temu said KPHL was more than happy to make the commitment.

“We are committed to and excited to partner with the PNGRFL for the first time as it continues to build the domestic competition, this provides a great opportunity for our women and girls,” said Dr Ila Temu.

CEO of PNGRFL Stanley Hondina says that the funding was timely and would provide the seed funding for the Women’s Competition to get off the ground.

“We actually set 2025 to start the National women’s Competition but we’ve managed to bring it in a year early due to the great cooperation with the franchises and among other factors this support from KMHL will really assist us,” Hondina added

The PNGNRLC is responsible for the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup, which is the men’s premier rugby league competition in Papua New Guinea.

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News

Central Provincial Land Board Sworn In

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Central Provincial Land board

THE Governor for Central Province, Rufina Peter recently witnessed the swearing-in of the newly appointed board members of the Central Provincial Land Board.

The swearing in of the board members marks a significant milestone in the administration, development and governance of Land in Central Province.

The Central Provincial Land Board is headed by Paul Sai as the Deputy Chairman, with Members, Ruben Kaiulo, Anna Bais, Elliot Mark and John Orea. They were sworn in by Central Provincial Senior Magistrate Alex Kalandi.

The five (5) newly appointed Board members will deliberate and make decisions on state leases application, including other responsibilities pertaining to land in Central Province.

Central Provincial Land Board with Lands Minister John Rosso and Central Governor, Rufina Peter.
Lands Minister, John Rosso speaking to Central Governor, Rufina Peter in the presence of the newly sworn in Central Provincial Land Board.

In congratulating the newly appointed board members, the Governor said Central Province has a lot of land issues that must be addressed.

“The issues that my province faced within the land functions include the common illegal land grabbing, and provincial boundaries between Central province and NCD, and more recently between Gulf and Central province,” the Governor said.

She also challenged the board members to uphold the principles of transparency, impartiality and accountability.

“Your role as members is to ensure land resources are allocated in a fair and equitable manner, protecting the rights of our people, and promoting sustainable land use and practices,” she said.

Also there to witness the swearing in was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Lands and Physical Planning John Rosso, the executive management team from the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, and members of the Central Provincial Executive Council.

Deputy Prime Minister Rosso said: “A land board that can better manage and administer the affairs of land in Central Province is critical to the development of the province.”

Minister Rosso added that a highly technical Lands division in the province is also critical to ensure better framework are in place for the board members to deliberate and make their decisions.

Deputy Secretary for Lands and Physical Planning, Customary Lands, Mr. Lazarus Malesa in his remarks, gave his assurance that the department stands ready to work with the board to address land issues in Central province.

Deputy Secretary Malesa said: “Land Grabbing and other land related issues in central province, is a result of a lack of effective communication between the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, and the Central Provincial Government.

“Going forward, we must work hand in hand to manage customary land and other state land in central province.” Malesa said.

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Community

IOM and USAID deliver rain catchment materials in Highlands

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IOM

THE International Organization for Migration or IOM has delivered rainwater catchment installation materials to the Kumbal Community in Jiwaka province.

These materials were generously funded by the United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID-BHA), and was welcomed by the Kumbal community, located at the border of Simbu and Jiwaka provinces, and home to approximately 10,000 people from six council wards.

With the population in the area, the accessibility of water has been an issue, especially for women, children, and the elderly, which has resulted in the collection of drinking water from the muddy Waghi river and nearby creeks.

IOM’s interventions will alleviate water scarcity, and provide quality water, which is very much needed by these communities.

Jiwaka Provincial Disaster Coordinator, John Kupul, acknowledged USAID’s funding assistance, and thanked IOM for being an active partner working closely with his Jiwaka Provincial Administration to improve the resilience of local communities.

“All thanks to the people of America through USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance for this critical assistance to improve community access to safe drinking water. This has been a need for the people of Kumbal,” said Kambiye Tolak, the Councillor for Kumbal Ward 2.

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News

DWU Rabaul Campus opens a new administration building

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DWU Rabaul Campus opens new administration building

The Divine Word University or DWU Rabaul Campus officially opened a two-story administration building at the Kabaleo Teachers College in Kokopo District on Friday (5 April) 2024.

The building is named after the late Archbishop Karl Hesse, and replaces the old building that was burnt down in 2010.

DWU Rabaul Campus

Speaking at the occasion, DWU Rabaul Campus Vice President, Professor Francis Hombhanje said the national government financed the building at a cost of K2.2 million and had been constructed by Kanda Construction Limited.

“St Mary’s Vunapope School of Nursing is now a department of nursing under the faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences and is no longer school of nursing.

“OLSH Kabaleo Teachers college is now a department of Primary Teachers Education under the faculty of Education and is no longer Kabaleo Teachers college,” said Prof Hombhanje.

The DWU Rabaul Campus consists of two faculties; the faculty of Education and the faculty of
Medicine & Health Sciences and has been developing new infrastructures slowly but steadily.

Delivering the speech for the Minister of Department of Higher Education, Research, Science,
Technology & Sports (DHESRSTS) Don Polye, was Principal Data Analyst Franklyn Kulukal
who said that true power emanates from one’s ability to learn from their mistakes and emerge
stronger and wiser.

“I extend a challenge to this great institution to expand our offerings to encompass Early
Childhood Education and Secondary Education. Also extending into the highest echelons of
academia like Masters and PhDs. I also call on the DWU nursing program to diversify our
programs into specialized branches such as pediatric nursing, critical care nursing, mental
health nursing, community health nursing, obstetric & gynecological nursing and geriatric
nursing,” said Ms. Kulukal.

The expansion will cater for evolving needs in health care and ensure that nurses are fully
equipped and specialized with the necessary skills they need.

She further commended the leadership of Prof Hombhanje for the transformation from ashes
into a magnificent building, adding that the structure stands as a testament of his exemplary
leadership.

Deputy Provincial Member Boniface Gerep said that the DWU Rabaul campus has shown it’s
potential by extending it’s infrastructures as it advances it’s status to be one of the leading
institutions in the province and country.

“The ENB Provincial Government is embarking on improving all our existing secondary schools
to meet the standards,” said Mr. Gerep.

ENB Education Planner Wilson Kairat said that the provincial administration will continue to
support the institution to make sure students are given the best so they can go out and serve
the people.

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Health

18 New HIV Cases Recorded Daily in PNG

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Lukautim Yu Yet Long AIDS - Billboard

An estimated 18 new HIV infections per day (approximately 6500 in 2022) is PNG’s current statistics.  This represents a 131 percent increase since 2010.

Around 800 new HIV infections occur annually among infants born to HIV positive mothers, equivalent to 2 infections per day in 2022.

CSO representatives taking questions from the media.

The total number of people living with the virus stands at 72,000 in 2022 translating to 1% percent prevalence nationally among adults aged 15 – 49. This level is the highest in the past 12 years.  UNAids reports that all 22 provinces recorded HIV infections with most showing an upward trend.

Most new infections result from sexual transmission due to multiple unprotected sexual encounters.

On the occasion of World TB Day, Sunday 24th March 2024,  Civil Society Organizations also called for action in consultation with the government and media to prevent the spread of the virus.

Speaking at media networking event on Wednesday 27th March, organized by Media Development Initiative, a PNG-Australia partnership, UNAids Country Director Maoela Manova said there is a critical need for immediate action to address the HIV epidemic in the country.

18 new HIV cases recorded daily in PNG
UNAIDS Country Director Maoela Manova

While Tuberculosis is preventable, it is closely related to HIV infections thus in PNG, TB remains a major health issue causing nearly a thousand deaths among people living with HIV.

An estimated 44,000 people fell ill with TB in PNG alone in 2022.

In her statement, Mrs Manova said while there is a decline globally in HIV infections, PNG is seeing the opposite.  Globally the number of new infections has dropped by 59 percent from 2.1 million in 2010 to just 1.3 million in 2022, this progress in a testament to decades of knowledge and evidence-based prevention strategies worldwide. 

Jonathan Wala – KPAC Rep

Other key partners in the fight against HIV/Aids are amplifying the messages of awareness on testing and stigma and discrimination and treatment through Antiretroviral Therapy.

Two such groups are Catholic Church Health Services {CCHS} and Key Population Advocacy Consortium PNG [KPAC].  CCHS has over 200 Health Facilities and 1,600 staff spread across 21 provinces. Meanwhile KPAC advocates for human rights of key populations to reduce stigma and discrimination and also advocates for legal and policy reforms as part of its mission.

Graham Apian – CCHS Director Projects
Graham Apian – CCHS Director Projects

These CSOs agree that PNG’s HIV status can be contained through awareness and the treatment of ARV drugs.  A major part of collaborative work by Civil Society Organizations is getting people to know their status through testing.   Antiretroviral Treatment is also free and available in most health centers. 

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