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Transnational Crime Unveils: Chinese Mine Boss Sentenced by Lae’s Court

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Li Dezhang, a Chinese man wearing a red shirt and black pants standing in front of a brick building holding a small parcel.

A Chinese mine manager convicted earlier this month by the Lae District court over a shooting in Lae at Eriku’s residential area was sentenced to three-years imprisonment.

Senior Magistrate, Nasaling Bingtau said Li Dezhang, the General Manager of Guancai Mining Limited, will serve three years at the Buimo Prison. Dezhang will then be deported to China after serving his term.

Li Dezhang moved to the Papua New Guinea shortly after serving a prison sentence in China for a series of violent extortions, according to Chinese legal records.

Li Dezhang, 56, was found guilty by Lae’s District Court in Morobe Province on May 1st for unlicensed possession of a firearm, unlawful discharge, and assault over a mid-April incident in which he fired a Chinese-made pistol at another Chinese citizen who had confronted him about unpaid bills.

Li had worked as a manager of Guangcai Mining Limited, which operated three unlicensed gold mines in Bulolo, Morobe Province, which had been the subject of complaints of environmental destruction from the local communities.

Earlier this month, immigration authorities and police detained 19 workers at one of the company’s mines and deported most of them after finding that they didn’t have the proper work permits, according to Lae’s police commander, Chief Superintendent Chris Kunyanban.

Li was responsible for bringing the illegally employed workers into the country, Kunyanban said.

Before his arrival in PNG, Li already had a criminal history in China for a series of offenses he had committed in West Africa, according to Chinese court documents.

Li was arrested in Ghana and repatriated to China in early 2020 for using violent threats to extort a casino investor in the country out of 100,000 cedi (about $7,400), as well as the kidnapping and assault of another man who owed him a debt, according to announcements from a court in Li’s home province of Guangxi.

He served just over three years in prison and was released in early 2023, court records show.

Records in a separate civil case also show that Li was successfully sued for fraud in China for failing to deliver paid-for mining equipment to clients in Ghana.

Environmental destruction from mining has long been a public concern in resource-rich PNG.

PNG Immigration Minister, John Rosso told Inside PNG and OCCRP that the raid on Gunagcai’s mine earlier this month had to be done with officers that were “handpicked to avoid compromise.”

“We cannot practice double standards,” Rosso said.

“Once they are processed, anyone breaching immigration laws will be deported immediately.”

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St Paul’s Graduation

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St Paul's Graduation

A total of two-hundred and fifty-nine (259) Grade Eight students graduated at the St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School in Lae today.
 
School Head Teacher, Alfred Norman Lewong says this the graduation is significant in marking the end of the traditional grade eight graduations for primary schools in the country.
 
“With the proposed phasing out of examinations for students passing out of grade eight, this is a memorable occasion for our school,” says Mr Lewong.
 
Mr Lewong further thanked the board, parents, stakeholders and sponsors for their continuous support to the school throughout the year outlining funding delays from the government.
 
“We haven’t had a graduation ceremony for some years and I am grateful to our corporate sponsors who had came on board this year to make this graduation a success,” added Mr Lewong.
 
One of the sponsors, the Owner of Wonderful Taxi and Hire Cars Services and Gabensis Guest House, Chris Donald says he is proud to sponsor some awards at the graduation because education plays a vital role in the development and growth of the nation.
 
“As a Lutheran devotee,  I am happy to be supporting one of our pioneer schools in Lae and Morobe province,” says Mr Donald.

Mr Donald also represented PC & JY Woo company who sponsored the grade eight dux award which was presented to top student, Ms. Grace Totabun.
 
St Paul’s Primary School is one of the biggest schools in Lae with a total of 1,648 students.
 
Mr Lewong says as a Level 8 school, it would be a massive challenge if they are chosen to accept Grade nine students in 2025.
 
“Under the 1-6-6 Policy, we would have to accept grade one to grade nine students and that would be a burden on the limited learning infrastructures we have in the school,” says the Head Teacher.
 
Meanwhile, Education Minister Lukas Dekena this week says examinations will continue and will not be used as means to select students to continue or being left out.

IMAGE: Supplied by Sylvester Gawi

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Buimo Correctional Service to Receive New Cell Block

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The Morobe Provincial Administration has set up a Special Committee, headed by the Deputy Provincial Administrator Social Sector, Mr. Robin Bazinuc for the establishment of a new cell block for Lae’s Buimo Prison to address the issue of overcrowding.

According to the Provincial Administrator, Max Bruten, the Committee had sent out letters requesting the Chief Executive Officers of the 10 District Development Authorities to assist the Provincial Administration with money to build a new cell block for Buimo Prison.

This follows the intervention of the Ombudsman Commission on the issue of overcrowding at Lae’s Buimo Prison last year through a media article published in Post Courier, one of the two daily news papers.

Buimo Correctional Service to receive new cell block

According to Morobe’s Provincial Administrator, Mr Bruten, the Provincial Administration was summoned by the Ombudsman Commission and interrogated by the Ombudsman Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Pagen on why the Administration has not done anything to address the issue of overcrowding at Buimo Prison.

The issue of overcrowding has always been a health risk in Lae’s Buimo Jail, the second largest prison in PNG. Initially, the prison was designed to accommodate 600 prisoners. However, it currently accommodates over 900 inmates.

The completion of the new cell block will ease the issue of overcrowding, health risks, inadequate food supplies, and jail breakout.

Meanwhile, Buimo Prison Administration and Health Center is working really hard to attend to very sick inmates.

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MPA Supports CS Officers with Uniforms

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Lae’s Buimo Correctional Service Officers received brand new sets of uniforms at a cost of over two-hundred thousand kina (K200,000) from the Morobe Provincial Administration.

The presentation was made over the weekend.

Morobe’s Provincial Administrator, Max Bruten, said the Provincial Government and the Administration will continue to assist the National Government in supporting the Buimo Prison with its operations.

According to Bruten, the Buimo CS Prison has received support of over five-hundred-and-forty thousand kina (K540,000) this year.

This includes maintenance work concerning the Prison’s ablution block at a cost of K47 000, mattress for the Prison blocks at K188 000, K43 000 for inmates quarters and food rations for the inmates at a cost of over K21 000.

Mr. Bruten thanked the Provincial Government for making available the funding to support the three Disciplinary Forces, including the Correctional Service.

“I urge the Commander to continue to support us in ensuring that our Lae City Law and Order is maintained at a minimum level in ensuring our business community live and operate in a safe and peaceful environment.

“We must work as a team and as a unit. We must not work in isolation. It is important that we work in partnership to better serve our people,” said Bruten.

Lae’s Buimo CS Commander, Chief Superintendent Michael Wundia, thanked the Morobe Provincial Administration and Government for their continuous support when receiving the uniforms.

The ceremony was witnessed by the Provincial Administrator’s Deputies, Mr. Robin Bazinuc and Mr. Miring Singoling and the Ombudsman Commission and CS Officers.

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Area Medical Store in Lae Goes Up in Flames

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The Area Medical Store in Lae, Morobe Province, went up in flames at around 2:45am this morning (1 September).

This particular Area Medical Store is responsible for medicine supply and distribution for almost 200 Health facilities in Morobe Province and four other catchment provinces, including Eastern Highlands, Madang, Manus, and the Northern Province.

In Lae City, there are seven urban clinics, each serving between 200 and 300 patients a day. They get their medical supplies from the Government Area Medical Store (AMS) in Lae. The AMS in Lae also supplies the Highlands and the rest of Momase.

This follows a successful visit by the Minister for Health, Dr. Lino Tom and the Health Secretary, Dr. Osborne Liko, on December 3, 2023.

Prior to this, there were discussions between the National Department of Health and the Department of Treasury to allow for the recruitment of additional casual staff for the Lae Area Medical Store (AMS), to speed up the rate at which medicines are distributed to health facilities. This was one of the short-term measures announced by Health Minister, Dr. Lino Tom, after visiting the Lae Area Medical store.

Meanwhile, more than 2000 Health facilities in Morobe, Eastern Highlands, Madang, Manus and Northern Province and Morobe’s Provincial Angau Hospital in Lae will be affected the most concerning the supply and distribution of medicine.

The cause of the fire is still unknown. Inside PNG will bring you more updates today.

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Two Chinese and Six PNG men to face trial for Drug Trafficking

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Eight men, including two Chinese nationals accused of orchestrating a black flight, trafficking 72kilograms of methamphetamine valued at K42 million from Morobe’s Bulolo District to Australia in March 2023, will face trial.

This follows the ruling made by the National Court in Lae on Wednesday that the eight accused will proceed to trial after the defendants’ Lawyers asked the court to stop the trial following a no case submission.

Lawyers, Greg Sheppard from Young and Williams Lawyers and Sosten Toggo from Sosten Lawyers submitted that there is no case against their clients and that the matter be struck out due to insufficient evidence and that meth wasn’t considered a criminal element according to the Controlled Substance Act.

Senior National and Supreme Court judge, Justice Panuel Mogish presiding in Lae, made the decision after the State Lawyer rebutted through a submission to the two Counsels’ no case submissions on why the Court should reject the credibility of all the accused evidence and why the court should not rely on them.

Following the State Lawyer’s submission, five witnesses were called by the State to give evidence and two hundred and forty-eight (248) exhibits were tendered by consent and received into evidence during the trial.

The eight accused, including the two Chinese Nationals, 64-year-old Ling Hezong from Fuging City, Fuzieng, China; Chun Li, 43 from Chen City, Guang-Dong, China, and PNG nationals Levi Wartovo, Hosea Tarere, Steven Temen, Alfred Sanage, Luke Mede and Joshua Tupana, were charged on two counts.

One on Money Laundering and the other for Stealing.

On the count of Stealing, the Court found that there was no evidence implicating the accused, Ling Hezong, Chun Li, Levi Wartovo, Hosea Tarere, Steven Temen and Alfred Sanage, because their identity hasn’t been established in the commission of the offense.

However, there’s evidence upon which Joshua Tupana and Luke Mede will face trial, according to the Court.

Justice Mogish ruled that trial will proceed for all eight accused who have a case to answer on the charge of Money Laundering, hence they will face trial.

In March 2023, these eight men were arrested by Lae’s NCIU Police in Lae in relation to the ‘Bulolo Black Flight’.

They appeared before the Lae District Court and were kept under the custody of Lae’s Buimo Correctional Services.

Deputy Commissioner of Police-Specialist Operations, Donald Yamasombi confirmed the arrests saying that a local security firm was alleged to be involved in the transportation of 72 kilograms of methamphetamine at a value cost of K42 million out of Lae into Bulolo and assisted in getting the drugs onboard the flight.

Chinese born business woman and owner of KC 2 in Lae, Morobe Province, Mei Lin, 41, was another suspect arrested in the Australian City of Brisbane on 16 January, 2024. Police accused her of facilitating the ‘Black Flight’ last year.

The drug smuggling scheme was foiled on March 21 in a coordinated operation by PNG and Australian police, who swooped in as the light plane stopped to refuel in the rural Australian community of Monto.

Six people were arrested and charged in Australia, including two pilots.

Eight others were charged in PNG, including a police officer and a soldier.

Mei Lin was the ninth suspect arrested in Brisbane, Australia.

Meanwhile, Defense closed its case just before midday on Thursday (May13) at Lae’s National Court. The matter was further adjourned to 1st of July, 2024 for submission on Verdict.

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Common Roll Update in Lae

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Youths from the six wards of Lae, Morobe Province are currently doing enrollment for new eligible voters following the 2024 LLG election that will take place next month (July 2024).

The task was given to the members of the six wards by the Electoral Commission of Morobe Province headed by Mr. Simon Soheke.

Man in floral shirt handing over papers to a man in a red shirt.

The enrolment began on Monday (13th May 2024) and is nearing completion.

This follows an induction workshop by the Electoral Commission Office in Lae for the agents, who then identified team members to work as volunteers in updating the roll.

Lae’s Ward three area has already completed the enrollment process and handed in the forms used to update the roll.

Four youths standing on a street holding papers in hand

The six teams are being supervised by three Coordinators who oversee two wards respectively.

According to the Electoral Commission of Morobe, especially Lae, the engagement of community in the common roll update is the first approach the office has taken to prepare for the LLG election.

With limited resources, including lack of funding, the EC office and over 200 Electoral Commission Common Roll agents from the six (6) wards of Lae managed to cover all areas in their community including Ahi LLG, which is headed by a woman.

Meanwhile, Ward 6A of East Taraka, which is headed by Team Leader, Gabriel Jamine has completed the update and enrolment process and will hand over the completed forms to the Electoral Commission Office.

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Supply of Medical Drugs

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Medical Supplies

Nine urban clinics in Lae Open will be supplied medical drugs from the Lae City Authority (LCA). Whilst the procurement and supply of medical drugs is a concern for the National Treasury and the Department of Health, Lae City Authority wants to ensure urban clinics have medical supplies.

In ensuring this happens, LCA CEO Robin Calistus delivered the supplies to Nursing Officer, Sr. Manzia Bomie on behalf of local MP, John Rosso.

The K100,000 worth of medical drugs will be distributed to Butibam, Buimo Road, Buimo CIS, Milford Haven, Malahang, Tent City, Taraka, Centre of Mercy and Sir Bob Sinclair clinics.

Sr Bomie from Butibum Clinic thanked authorities for the support and said the supplies will complement the work of medical officers.

“This supply will sustain the clinics until the next supply from Area Medical Store is received in November,” said Sr. Bomie.

In Parliament this week, Bulolo MP Sam Basil Junior questioned the government on the issue of shortage of vaccines for babies.

“It was reported yesterday (on Post Courier Tuesday 10 October 2023) that there was shortage of vaccines for children,” Basil stated.

Narrowing the concern down to his district, Basil said mothers in Bulolo are finding it hard to bring babies to Bulolo for immunisation because of the recent floods in Morobe.

“How will mothers take their children to the hospitals? These are basic drugs and vaccines for the children”, Basil asked.

However in responding Prime Minister James Marape said at no time his government will compromise the health of the children and its people.

“I have been told by the Health Department that there are supplies in stock and where areas of demands are they will be dispensing those supplies to,” Marape said.

Meanwhile Local MP and Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso said, he is working closely with Health Minister Dr Lino Tom to ensure that health reforms including the efficient procurement and distribution of medicine for the country is given the priority attention it requires.

The Morobe Provincial Health Authority (MPHA) is responsible for ANGAU Memorial Hospital and all health services in Morobe.

Recent: https://insidepng.com/collaboration-for-cleaner-lae/

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Collaboration for Cleaner Lae

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Lae Independence

One of the busiest bus stop area’s located in the heart of Morobe’s capital city, Lae, for the first time after four decades was decorated beautifully with PNG’s Red, Black and Gold colors, welcoming the celebration of the country’s 48th Independence Anniversary Celebration on the 16th of September 2023.

This was initiated by the Kumul Metropolitan Services, a registered organization established by unemployed and dedicated youths in Lae led by Ezra Tali, a young father of one.

In an interview with Inside PNG, Mr. Tali said the original purpose of forming the group was to create space and give hope to young men and women to address issues concerning them and their Metropolitan city of Lae.

On 15th September 2023, the eve of the 48th Independence Anniversary Day, the team worked diligently throughout the night to clean up the town, ensuring a pristine atmosphere for the Independence celebrations.

The following morning, under the leadership of George Mal, they beautifully decorated the main bus stop in town with PNG colours.

“Maintaining a secure environment was our utmost importance. We also have youths from Lae’s Hanta area who joined and helped us the youths from the town area to make this year’s Independence Anniversary Day Celebration special.” Tali said, “Our job is voluntary and we the youths of Lae Top-Town are united to help the responsible authorities, especially the Lae Metropolitan Police Command in ensuring a safe and clean environment for all citizens.”Group leader,” Mr. Tali said,

Lae Independence
Lae Independence Weekend

During the celebrations on 16th September, security was provided to Lae residents and visitors by the Kumul Metropolitan Services in collaboration with Lae’s Metro Police Reservists throughout the day.

After the celebration, the Kumul Metropolitan Service team and the Police Reservists headed by Officer In Charge Sergeant Joseph Wilson, gathered to commemorate the Independence Anniversary and their partnership of almost seven months.

Kumul Metropolitan Services Team Leader, Ezra Tali said the youths have been working hand in hand with the Lae Reservist policeman to maintain cleanliness and safety in the bus stop area where we are stationed under a blue tent called ‘Unity Tent’.

“The tent at the Bus Stop not only serves as our shelter, but is also a SME area that helps sustain us through the little sales of sausages, bananas, soft drinks, and water to all residents and visitors. We are extremely grateful for the continued support from everyone who buys from our tent. Your contribution enables us to carry on with our important work to help police ensure a safe, clean and healthy town.,” Tali said.

The youths called on the general public to be mindful of their rubbish when entering and leaving the Top-Town area. They also called on other youths in Lae to unite and take ownership in making Lae a better place for all.

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Clean Water for Nasuapum Village After 40-Years

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Clean Water

Nasuapum Primary School and its surrounding villages in Wampar LLG has had no access to clean water supply for more than four decades.

However, this is coming to an end with a groundbreaking ceremony for the clean water project at Nasuapum Primary School.

This water project is predicted to not only provide access to clean water for the students at Nasuapum Village, but will extend to benefit nearby villages in the area.

The water service once completed is expected to last for over 50 years, relieving the need to find clean water and providing a sustainable solution to the long-standing water crisis.

The initiative is implemented by the Huon Gulf District Development Authority (DDA), headed by the DDA Chairman and Huon Gulf MP, and Minister for Community Development Jason Peter, in approving K1 million for Water and Sanitation Projects for Schools and Villages across Huon Gulf District. The funding will ensure that more schools and villages in the district will have access to clean water in the future.

Wampar was chosen as the location for this crucial project due to its history of water scarcity since the establishment of the villages.

The pilot projects for the water and sanitation program will focus on Nasuapum Primary School in Ward 16 and Bobong Elementary School in Ward 18. With a total of K10 Million already submitted to the National Planning, additional funding is expected to be granted under the Water and Sanitation (WASH) program for the continuous development of this project.

The water crisis in Nasuapum Primary School and its surrounding villages has had a severe impact on the daily lives of the residents. Lack of access to clean water has affected the health and wellbeing of the community, especially the children attending the school. With the implementation of this water project, the community will finally have access to safe and clean water, leading to improved health, hygiene, and overall quality of life.
Huon Gulf District Development Authority said that the the water project is a significant milestone that marks the beginning of a brighter future for Wampar and the Huon Gulf district.

The locals of Nasuapum village and the Nasuapum Primary School Administration commended the Huon Gulf MP and DDA for the water project.

According to Huon Gulf DDA, they hope the project will serve as an example for other districts across Papua New Guinea to prioritize water and sanitation issues and ensure that every citizen has access to this basic necessity.

As the Nasuapum Primary School and its surrounding villages celebrate the end of their long-standing water crisis, the entire community was filled with hope and gratitude. The DDA said the water project was not just a solution for the present but a promise for a brighter and healthier future.

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