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 farmerand 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.
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.
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.
Jamayne Isaako believes an NRL team in Christchurch could grow to the same levels of popularity as the booming Warriors in Auckland.
The NRL last week rejected three separate bids from New Zealand’s South Island among eight that were unsuccessful in the latest round of expansion applications.
But to players from the area, the Pacific Championships clash between New Zealand and Australia on Sunday was the latest reminder of the game’s potential in Christchurch.
While Christchurch has long been synonymous with Super Rugby powerhouse the Crusaders, some 17,005 fans packed into Apollo Projects Stadium for the Kangaroos’ first visit since 1989.
The last three NRL games played at the ground have also pulled crowds above 17,000, while construction on a 30,000-seat stadium in the Christchurch CBD is set to be completed in 2026 as another boon for sport in the area.
Teams from Perth and PNG remain the favourites to enter the NRL as the 18th and 19th teams in coming years.
But in his role heading up Christchurch’s leading bid the South Island Kea, ex-NRL chief executive David Moffett told Nine Newspapers this week he was committed to revisiting the push for inclusion in the NRL.
Players hailing from the area were hopeful Christchurch would be considered in plans to expand to 20 teams in the next decade.
“I definitely think that they’re ready for a team to be blooded here in Christchurch or in the South Island, wherever it is, that they look to bring another team in,” Dolphins winger Isaako said after playing in New Zealand’s 22-10 defeat by Australia.
“It was good to see the passion of the Cantabrians when it comes to rugby league.”
For further evidence of rugby league’s growth potential in New Zealand, Isaako pointed to the Warriors’ spike in popularity since their homecoming after COVID-19 restrictions eased.
The Auckland side became a national phenomenon en route to a preliminary final in 2023 and sold out every home game this season for the first time in any of their 30 years in the league.
“You see the fanbase that turn out for the Warriors. We could certainly have that here in the South Island if there was a team brought here,” said Isaako.
“Rugby league certainly is a game that’s growing here in New Zealand. If we could bring another team to New Zealand, it’d only add to that.”
Local product Jordan Riki knows first-hand of rugby league’s growth in Christchurch. The Brisbane second-rower’s mother Janelle sits on the board of the Canterbury Rugby League.
“I talk to her pretty much nearly every day and she’s been telling me about some cool plans that have been coming through for Canterbury Rugby League and South Island rugby league,” he said.
“It’s awesome to see that it’s growing down here.”
Fossil fuel giant Santos has rejected allegations it plucked arbitrary figures out of thin air to support claims it could reach net-zero emissions by 2040, a court has been told.
The oil and gas exploration company has been accused of misleading and deceptive conduct by advocacy group Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility in Federal Court proceedings launched in August 2021.
As a 13-day trial began on Monday, Santos’ barrister Neil Young KC denied claims of “greenwashing,” saying his client had merely set out targets and had not promised any achievements.
“They are all targets, they’re not promises or predictions to achieve those outcomes,” he told Justice Brigitte Markovic.
Santos made no promises or predictions about greenhouse gas emissions, its barrister said. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
Announcements that the firm could reduce emissions by 26 to 30 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2040 did not have to be accompanied by ready-made projects or detailed modelling, Mr Young said.
“Some of the elements depended totally on the development of a market that did not currently exist and that could not be modelled in the way contended for by ACCR,” he argued.
Santos had never argued that natural gas was carbon-neutral but rather that it was an important transition fuel as the country moved towards net-zero, Mr Young said.
He argued that the firm had also flagged the use of carbon capture technology to remove carbon dioxide emitted during the production of “clean” hydrogen fuel but only if that was accompanied by carbon credits.
Earlier on Monday, barrister Noel Hutley SC made arguments for the advocacy group, claiming that Santos lacked reasonable grounds for making its statements.
Santos’s climate change “plan” was not a plan at all, he told the court.
“It was little more than a series of speculations … cobbled together in a matter of weeks.”
Kevin Gallagher told investors Santos had a “doable plan” to reach its climate targets. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)
The centre holds shares in firms like Santos to try to force them to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty on climate change that was signed by various nations in 2016.
The mining giant’s chief executive Kevin Gallagher told a December 2020 investor briefing his company had a “doable plan” to reach its climate targets, Mr Hutley said.
“I think we’re now at a point where we can talk confidently about realistic roadmaps, real activities and a plan to achieve net-zero by 2040,” the company boss said at the time.
This was all pitched with certainty and not as mere aspirations, Mr Hutley said.
The firm claimed it could completely reduce its emissions through the use of carbon capture technology and blue hydrogen production, with a minimal reliance on offsets, he said.
Blue hydrogen is created from natural gas but uses carbon capture to remove the related emissions from the atmosphere.
Santos forecasts failed to include carbon dioxide produced in the manufacturing of this hydrogen and the fact that it was impossible to completely capture all emissions produced, Mr Hutley said.
The firm’s claims it could rely on carbon offsets to meet its goals would “make a total farce” of the touted roadmap, he added.
Calculations of estimated emissions and barrels of oil and gas produced out to 2040 were “wholly arbitrary”, Mr Hutley said.
“Those figures get locked in because of Mr Gallagher’s directions,” he said.
“The basis for them is wholly unexplained.”
Santos allegedly made the misleading statements at the December 2020 investor day and in its 2020 annual report and climate change report, both published in February 2021.
The advocacy group is seeking injunctions forcing the firm to issue a corrective notice about the environmental impacts of its operations.
It is not seeking damages or compensation, saying it had filed the lawsuit to vindicate the public interest in ensuring corporate climate change commitments are reasonably based.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
