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Turi is New Police Boss for NCD/Central Command

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ACP NCD/Central Command, Ben Turi mid shot

An outcry by city residents and the Governor for NCD, Powes Parkop over the disturbing rise of law and order issues in Port Moresby has seen the permanent appointment of Benjamin Turi as the new Assistant Commissioner of Police for NCD and Central Province.

Today, the NCD and Central Commanders met at Boroko Police Station to witness the Hand-Over-Take-Over of Command from ACP Northern Command, Peter Guiness to newly appointed ACP NCD-Central, Benjamin Turi.

Guiness was brought in from Lae to take charge after the collapse of Command that lead to the “Black Wednesday” riots in Port Moresby.

On January 10th, 2024, dubbed “Black Wednesday “, Police personnel had protested against huge cuts in pay and subsequently abandoned their duties.

Opportunists took over, causing riots throughout the city with a number of shops burnt down and several deaths reported.

After ten (10) months of acting on the post to regain control and command in NCD, Guiness handed over the reigns to return to his substantive position as ACP Northern Commander, looking after Eastern Highlands and Morobe Provinces.

Guiness acknowledged the support from all the Police Station Commanders (PSC’s) and heads of divisions in the NCD Command for their support in ensuring that stability returned within the police force.

Moving forward, with collaboration from the NCD Metropolitan Command, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and National Capital District Commission (NCDC), they have formulated a new policing approach to ensure all Police Station Commanders take charge of their areas of command effectively.

Part of this approach is to ensure all the Police Station Commanders are involved in Management meetings and relevant trainings to up skill them as Managers.

“I want all the Police Station Commanders in NCD to become part of the Management team so that we can all sit down together and discuss issues that are affecting the Command,” Guines said.

Taking on from where his predecessor left, ACP Turi said starting Monday, he will meet with individual PSC’s and the Metropolitan Superintendent Commander to discuss respective areas of Command.

“We will revisit the duty statement of each and everyone of you. The Station Commanders you have a very big role to play.

“We will look at the duty statements from the PSC’s down to the operations on ground,” Turi said.

Another aspect of ensuring command is taking control of disciplinary challenges with each Station.

PSC’s were encouraged to ensure members of their commands are disciplined if they step out of line.

“Discipline is good. If you don’t discipline your men, you spoil your men,” Turi stressed.

Witnessing the HOTO was NCDC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Newton Albert who announced that with this new plan in place, NCDC will be announcing its support to Police next week.

The support includes fuel and logistics to help police tackle the escalating law and order issues in the city.

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Stabbed to Death

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Stabbed to death in Port Moresby

A 21-year-old man is now behind bars after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death.

The attack on the 20-year-old woman happened on Tuesday morning at Lapwing Drive, Gordons in Port Moresby.

A love that blossomed at Fatima Vocational School in Jiwaka ended tragically for the victim, whom police identified as Dorcas Mafu.

According to police reports, the victim and the suspect met at Fatima Vocational School and commenced a relationship.

Dorcas family immediately withdrew her from the school when they found out about the relationship. She then returned home to Port Moresby.

The suspect, identified as Isaac Kuri followed Dorcas to Port Moresby and resided at 6mile.

Acting NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Commander, Rubiang Manzuc said on Tuesday, the 30th of October 2024, the suspect held up late Dorcas and her Aunt at gun point.

“After the shopping they tried to get on a cab to go back to the house when he approached the aunty at knifepoint and ordered her not to go into the taxi.

“The aunt was shocked to see what he was doing.

“Her aunty then asked the other girl who was with them, which she identified him as Dorcas’s boyfriend.”

The deceased then assured her boyfriend that they would not get in the taxi but would walk so they could talk about what was going on between them.

While they were walking up towards Sand Piper Street the suspect, allegedly pulled Dorcas (deceased) towards him and stabbed her three times on her chest then let go of her and ran away.

She collapsed and died instantly.

Her aunt saw what happened and called out to the public who quickly responded and apprehended the suspect.

Manzuc said police soon arrived at the scene and took the suspect to the police station and detained him in a cell.

The NCD police boss extended his condolences to the family and assured the relatives that police will do its best to make sure the suspect faces the full force of the law.

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Fish Farmers in Imbonggu Call for More Training

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Inland Fish Farming is becoming popular in the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea with many choosing fish as an alternate source of protein aside from the usual pork or lamb.

With an increase in demand, many villagers are also venturing into the business.

Recognizing the interest, the National Fisheries Authority officers from the Kavieng Training College recently completed a two-week training on inland fish farming in Kou Village in Imbonggu, Southern Highlands Province.

James Anjo, fish farmer, standing in front of the NFA fish farm training banner.
James Anjo, Fish farmer and Chairman of Imbonggu Fish Farmers Association.

James Anjo is one of the farmers. He is also the Chairman of the Imbonggu Fish Farmers Association.

Anjo’s motivation for forming the group stemmed from the lack of financial assistance and sustainable income sources in their village.

As a fully registered organization, the Imbonggu Fish Farmers group aims to secure funding from the Southern Highlands Provincial Government and the Imbonggu District Development Authority through the Services Improvement Program Funds (SIPs).

As the newly appointed chairman of Imbonggu Fish Farmers, James Anjo has gained the support of the Imbonggu District Council President, who serves as his deputy chairman.

With hundreds of other fish farmers expressing interest in future training sessions, the NFA trainers have already compiled a list of new trainees for potential programs.

The demand for additional training underscores the enthusiasm and commitment of local residents towards enhancing their skills in fish farming.

Through the collective efforts of the group and ongoing collaboration with relevant agencies, Anjo and his fellow fish farmers are determined to secure the necessary resources to further develop their farming practices and contribute to the economic growth of their community.

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Sport

Santos renews sponsorship for Orchids

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Santos renews sponsorship for Orchids

Fossil fuel giant, Santos, has renewed its naming rights sponsorship for the Papua New Guinea women’s national rugby league team, the Orchids.

Despite the recent slump in form by the National women’s team, Santos sees the potential to invest in the pathways and programs to improve the standard and empowerment of women in rugby league.

The three-year multimillion kina investment by Santos will cover the junior school rugby league development programs, technical coaching and support staff, travel and accommodation and international fixtures for the orchids such as the current Pacific Championships leading up to the World Cup in 2026.

Santos Country Chairman, Leon Buskens said Santos continues to support the empowerment of women in Papua New Guinea in line with its values in building a better future.

“At Santos our purpose is about creating a better world for everyone by delivering positive outcomes in the areas where we operate, and the Orchids provide a great platform for our young women and girls to realize their full potential,” Buskens said.

Santos renews sponsorship for PNG Orchids.
L-R: PNGRFL CEO Stanley Hondina, Orchids Chairlady Ms Celestine Ove and Leon Buskens, Santos Country Chairman.

Santos is also the naming rights sponsor of the first ever women’s national rugby league competition, which is part of the partway to strengthen the national women’s team.

Chairlady of the Santos PNG Orchids, Celestine Ove said Santos believes in the pathways that are being set up by the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football league, and despite a slump in performance, they see improvement soon.

“The sponsorship is purpose driven. It is a powerful platform to empower our women and girls to give them an equal opportunity to participate. Rugby league is said to be the national sport and it’s for both men and women.

“I know the performance wasn’t desirable but from the start of the Orchids in 2017 to now, having the Santos Cup, we are working on strengthening the pathways for our women and girls.

“With the emergence of the junior Orchids who performed well against the Australian school girls, we are excited that in a few years time we look to see the Women’s competition,” Ove said.

The PNG Womens team (Orchids) was established in 2017 as the first ever women’s national team for Papua New Guinea.
In 2019 they beat the England Women’s side and in 2022 they made it to the Women’s Rugby League World Cup semi-finals.

Chief Executive Officer of Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League, Stanley Hondina said there is a clear pathway set to grow the game and standard of women’s rugby league in Papua New Guinea.

He added that rugby league experts involved in establishing the developmental pathways are important.

He said the Australians are playing at a different level and we must get the best options to help improve the standard of the women’s game in Papua New Guinea.

He added that the focus is on improving the domestic competition so the women can be competitive during international matches.

“The quality of Santos Cup is equivalent to the BMD Cup in Brisbane. Everything that we do in the Santos Cup is of that standard, instead of sending five girls to play in Australia, we build our players on the domestic front so bring in the subject matter experts and build our systems, build the processes for us so that our players can come through.

“In the next five years we want our competitions to compete with the Queensland Cup,” Hondina said.

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NHC Act Under Review

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NHC Act under review

After more than 30-years the National Housing Corporation or NHC Act of 1990 is under review.

Housing is an important human need, and the Government arm responsible for affordable housing is finally working to fix itself and move forward into the future.

The Southern Regional consultations for the review of the Act, was held in Port Moresby on Wednesday the 23rd of October.

In his speech Acting Managing Director of the NHC, Abel Tol said the review was necessary to keep up with the modern needs for housing that the people of Papua New Guinea face.

He further stressed that the consultative meetings conducted as part of the review, were to help identify possible changes for the current policies, and to propose workable recommendations including an update of the legal framework.

“The purpose of the stakeholder engagement is to get reviews form different departments to improve the National Housing Corporation and its work, improving the mechanisms and the legal framework is important,” Tol said.

The high cost of rental properties in the country was also addressed by the NHC Acting Director.

Tol said that the private sector and individuals continue to control the rental market causing major inequality in the marketplace.

He added that in comparison to the NHC Housing the rentals are low and seem affordable compared to the private sector properties, which he says was unfair.

He said there was an option for the National Housing Corporation to be a regulatory arm of the Government.

He added that currently NHC is seen as a developer to provide affordable housing for the citizens of Papua New Guinea, but plans are that they should also be a regulator in the real estate market as well.

“NHC cannot remain as a construction arm or a developer for that matter, we can also create a regulatory authority which reports to the housing ministry and regulate real estate and the housing industry.

“It’s not like we are trying to change our function. If we look at the Act it is a very good piece of legislation. We can keep our NHC Act, but we can also look at creating a regulatory authority that can operate hand in hand with the NHC in helping to regulate the rentals that are very high and uncalled for,” Tol said.

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Vehicle Restriction Imposed among Emergency Orders after Enga Killings

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Jospeh Tondop issues emergency orders

Payback killings among tribal factions in Laiagam-Sirunki of Enga Province has resulted in the death of nine (9) people.

The most recent, was just yesterday, Tuesday the 22nd of October when 6 people were killed and two currently fighting for their lives at a hospital.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner, Joseph Tondop since the first killing in March has been working tirelessly to ensure peace, but it seems peace is not a priority for these clans.

What is most shocking, is that the killings have now gone outside of tribal conflict.

“This sort of revenge killing is unheard of in the history of tribal conflicts in Enga Province where innocent people unrelated to the conflicts were killed,” Tondop said.

Tondop who is also the State of Emergency Controller has now issued several emergency orders including the restriction of vehicles into the Laiagam-Sirunki areas for a month.

The orders are as follows;

· A curfew is now imposed from 4pm to 6am along the affected highways with restricted vehicle movement for one month
· State Security Forces will intensify patrols and maintain a strong presence along the Wabag to Sirunki, Laiagam and Maip Militaka routes

While these emergency orders are in force, the Investigation Task Force team from Pogera will expand its scope to include the most recent attack.

The attacks date back to an unresolved death on the 20th of March 2024, when a man from Mulapin was slashed with machetes (bush knives) and died. According to police, the man was killed at Kulapi 4, near the Open Pit Mine in Pogera.

The suspects are believed to be from the Sakare Clan of Laiagam. Police had commenced investigation into the matter since it occurred and the suspects had gone into hiding.

Almost seven months after the incident took place, on the 11th of October, at around 8am, gunmen from the Mulapin clan ambushed a vehicle packed with passengers from the Sakare Clan, near the Tambitanis Health Centre in Sirunki.

The vehicle transporting a deceased person and relatives were fired upon resulting in the death of a woman.

An hour later on the same day, men from the Sakare Clan retaliated. They shot a PMV driver and his crew at close range. The injured driver and crew managed to reach Laiagam hospital but succumbed to their injuries shortly after.

Police launched an investigation following these brutal payback killings and as part of it’s peace awareness met with the Kunalin and Lyain tribe leaders on Monday 21st of October.

These two tribes were praised by police for advocating peace since 2009.

According to Tondop, they have been actively encouraging their people not to resort to violence but to maintain peace in Enga.

Both the Kunalin and Lyain leaders called for the suspects from both the Sakare and Mulapin clans to surrender to police to ensure peace.

But a turn of events on the 22nd of October, when men from the Lyain tribe, “regrettably” ambushed a 25 seater PMV bus travelling from Wabag to Sirunki, Laiagam and Mulitaka and mercilessly shot at it, killing six people, injuring two.

Seventeen (17) of the passengers are missing. Police have launched a search this morning.

Acting ACP Tondop has appealed to immediate relatives of the deceased to refrain from further escalating the situation.

Any information to help the police with the investigation is welcomed to help fast track the investigation.

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District Builds House for Primary School

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Abiara Oreke Primary School

Abiara Oreke Primary school in ward 17 constituency of Kairuku District in Central Province opened a single stand alone staff house on Saturday (19 October).

The staff house was built at a total cost of K40 000.

The funding came from the Kairuku District Development Authority.

The DDA made another K50,000 commitment to assist the school with any infrastructure developments.

Head teacher for Oreke Primary School, Mr Jimmy Francis said housing is one of the key areas that needs serious consideration.

“Teachers, Doctors, etc, are very important service providers in the country, therefore to revive the District to a new level, housing is needed the most,” Francis said.

Mr Francis said Oreke Primary school is one of the least developed schools in the district, but with the help of the Kairuku DDA team he will now be intending to build one more staff house before the 2025 schooling year begins.

He further added in the beginning of this year there were eight teaching staff including Mr Francis, however, due to housing difficulties some of the teachers had to leave.

With the minimum number of teachers it is very difficult to double lessons and also take lead as a Head teacher for running the school.

He said it is a mammoth task.

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Popular Game Fishing Kanosia Road to be Upgraded

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Kanosia Road

The Kanosia road in the Malati LLG of Kairuku District in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea is a popular route for participants of the sport of Game Fishing.

It’s the route used by team leads to check on their crew during the tournaments.

With a spike in the number of visitors that enter Kairuku during the Game Fishing season, the local District Administration think it’s best to upgrade the road.

Kanosia road is about two kilometers from the main highway before reaching the jetty.

In a recent trip along the highway to inspect the road, local MP Peter Isoaimo said the road is durable during the dry season but the wet weather brings its own challenges.

“We want visitors passing through for the Game Fishing to access the jetty with ease, rain or shine,” Isoaimo said.

The road is not only frequented by the game fishing teams but also families in Port Moresby who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

This creates an opportunity for villagers along the highway to earn a bit of income from the comforts of their home instead of travelling into the city.

The newly created Kairuku District is prioritizing the upgrading of all feeder roads to allow accessibility.

This year the DDA has committed K1 million for road upgrades.

Local contractors have been given the opportunity to bid for the funding.

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District Sends Students to Study in China

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TEN students from Unggai-Bena District i Eastern Highlands Province are settling well at China’s Three Gorges University.

The students departed PNG shores at the beginning of this month and will undertake various Undergraduate programs at the University.

This program to pursue education abroad is fully funded by the Unggai Bena District Development Authority.

Costing about K388,000, the district commits to give young Papua New Guineans the opportunity of exposure to study overseas and experience different cultures.

The crop of students included in this program are recent Grade 12 graduates and who met the entry requirements of University.

The District aims to send a maximum of 200 students by 2025 to study abroad.

Director of the Unggai-Bena District Education Scholarship, Dr Jethro Messimato expressed gratitude toward the local MP and Minister for Higher Education, Research Science and Technology, Kinoka Feo for the support.

“Our aim is to provide our young people with exposure and opportunities they may not easily access locally,” Messimato said.

“We facilitate the process by helping students identify scholarships, apply to universities and secure placements based on their academic achievements.”

The District also has a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Parul University with a similar number of students expected to depart soon under this agreement.

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Government Focus on Private Education Providers

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In his efforts to ensure that every citizen has access to quality education, Prime Minister James Marape, encouraged and directed the education ministries to focus not only on public schools, but also on private education providers.

He said with the growing population and increasing demand for education, there is a huge potential for private education providers to thrive in our country.

“By giving attention to these institutions, the government can facilitate their growth and provide more opportunities for students to receive a well-rounded education.

Marape said he recognizes the importance of education for the progress of Papua New Guinea and adds that his emphasis on private education providers demonstrates his commitment to creating a strong and diverse education system for all.

On a related note, PM James Marape also said he would like to ease the financial burden of parents who send their children to private schools.

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