WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday received one of New Zealand’s highest honors for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and pandemic.
Ardern was made a Dame Grand Companion, the second-highest honor in New Zealand, as part of King Charles III’s Birthday Honors. It means people will now call her Dame Jacinda. Royal honorees are typically chosen twice a year in New Zealand by the prime minister and signed off by Charles, the British king who is also recognized as New Zealand’s king.
Ardern was just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, and was seen as a global icon of the left. She shocked New Zealanders in January when she said she was stepping down as leader after more than five years because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do it justice.
She was facing mounting political pressures at home, including for her handling of COVID-19, which was initially widely lauded but later criticized by those opposed to mandates and rules.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who succeeded Ardern, said she was being recognized for her service during “some of the greatest challenges our country has faced in modern times.”
“Leading New Zealand’s response to the 2019 terrorist attacks and to the COVID-19 pandemic represented periods of intense challenge for our 40th prime minister, during which time I saw firsthand that her commitment to New Zealand remained absolute,” Hipkins said in a statement.
Fifty-one Muslim worshippers were killed during Friday prayers in the 2019 attack at two Christchurch mosques by a white supremacist gunman.
Within weeks of the attack, Ardern led major changes to New Zealand’s gun laws by banning assault weapons. More than 50,000 guns were handed over to police during a subsequent buyback scheme.
Ardern said she was in two minds about whether to accept the award because much of what she was being recognized for were experiences that were collective to all New Zealanders.
“So for me this is about my family, my colleagues and all those who supported me to do that incredibly rewarding job,” she told 1News.
Ardern will be temporarily joining Harvard University later this year after she was appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also taken on an unpaid role combatting online extremism.
Also recognized in the King’s Birthday Honors list was rugby coach Wayne Smith, who helped lead both men’s and women’s rugby teams representing New Zealand to World Cup victories.
In keeping with tradition, Britain’s Queen Camilla was given the top award by being appointed to the Order of New Zealand.
PHOTO FILE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers his speech at the Helsinki City Hall, Finland Friday, June 2, 2023. (Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva via AP)
By SUSIE BLANN and MATTHEW LEE (Associated Press)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday the United States won’t support peace talks in the war in Ukraine until Kyiv holds the upper hand, possibly after a Ukrainian counteroffensive that appears to be taking shape.
Blinken said heeding calls from Russia and others, including China, for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war now would result in a “Potemkin peace” that wouldn’t secure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity or enhance European security.
“Potemkin Village” was a tactic Russia’s 18th century government minister Grigory Potemkin used to build brightly painted village fronts to create an illusion of prosperity for Russia’s empress.
In a speech in Finland, which recently joined NATO and shares a long border with Russia, Blinken repeated the U.S. view that “a cease-fire that simply freezes current lines in place” and allows Russian President Vladimir Putin “to consolidate control over the territory he has seized, and rest, rearm, and re-attack — that is not a just and lasting peace.” Allowing Moscow to keep the one-fifth of Ukrainian territory it’s occupied would send the wrong message to Russia and to “other would-be aggressors around the world,” according to Blinken.
Blinken’s position is similar to that of Ukrainian officials, including his statement that Russia must pay for a share of Ukraine’s reconstruction and be held accountable for the full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials have given confusing signals about whether a counteroffensive is coming or already underway. Some have suggested it will not be a barrage of simultaneous attacks across the entire front line, rather a series of more targeted, limited strikes, first to weaken Russia’s supply lines and infrastructure, then broaden and intensify.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in again on Friday.
“This is not a movie,” he told reporters in Kyiv. “It is hard to say how you’ll see the counteroffensive. The main point here is for Russia to see it. And not just see but feel it. Especially, we speak about the troops that have occupied our territories. De-occupation of our territories – this is the result of our counteroffensive. When you see this, you’ll understand that it has started.”
Zelenskyy has said his goal is to drive Russian troops out of the four territories it has partially occupied and illegally annexed last fall, as well as from the Crimean Peninsula the Kremlin illegally seized in 2014.
Putin has said two of his goals in invading Ukraine were to improve Russia’s security and prevent Ukraine from joining NATO but the Kyiv government has applied to join the alliance, and Sweden is hoping to be accepted as a member in July. That would leave Russia surrounded by NATO countries in the Baltic Sea.
Blinken described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a catastrophic strategic failure for Moscow that had strengthened, not weakened, NATO, the European Union and Ukraine. Russia has become more isolated, he said, shackled to China as a junior partner in a relationship that Beijing has increasingly come to resent, and no longer able to use energy as a political tool in countries it once counted as its own or satellites.
For its part, Russia wants any talks to address Ukraine’s request to join NATO.
“Naturally, this (issue) will be one of the main irritants and potential problems for many, many years to come,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
Blinken said Washington was ready to support peace efforts by other countries, including those by China and Brazil but that any peace agreement must uphold the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.
China, which says it is neutral and wants to serve as a mediator but has supported Moscow politically, on Friday urged countries to stop sending weapons to Ukraine. The United States is a leading Western ally and supplier of arms to Kyiv.
In Kyiv, in Moscow’s sixth air attack in six days, Ukrainian air defenses late Thursday and early Friday intercepted all 15 cruise missiles and 21 attack drones targeted at the capital, Ukraine’s chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said. The Ukrainian capital was simultaneously attacked from different directions by Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea region, senior Kyiv official Serhii Popko wrote on Telegram.
A 68-year-old man and an 11-year-old child were wounded in the attack, in which falling debris damaged private houses, outbuildings and cars, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
Moscow’s recent focus on aerial attacks in Kyiv could backfire, however, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. The air campaign aims to “degrade Ukrainian counteroffensive capabilities, but … the Russian prioritization of Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign’s ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions,” it said.
Elsewhere, several explosions occurred in the Azov Sea port of Berdyansk Friday in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, one of the four provinces Russia illegally annexed. Russian-appointed officials blamed Ukrainian rocket attacks and said nine people were wounded. Videos posted on social media appear to show a rising column of smoke in the port area. Ukrainian officials acknowledged their forces were responsible and claimed Russian ships were evacuating the port.
The Moscow-appointed governor of Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, claimed Friday that Ukrainian strikes had killed three people and wounded four, including a 3-year-old-girl.
Border regions of Russia once again came under fire from Ukraine in what could be a Ukrainian strategy to disperse Russian forces before a counteroffensive. “Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to (strengthen) defenses in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.
In the cross-border attacks Friday: —Two women died in Ukrainian shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Gladkov reported two people were wounded in attacks that hit cars in the village of Maslova Pristan, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The Freedom of Russia Legion, one of the groups that has claimed responsibility for prior attacks on Belgorod, blamed the Russian military for the deaths. The group alleged that the Russian army had mistakenly believed one of the cars belonged to the paramilitary group. According to the Freedom of Russia legion, the incident occurred near a different village than Gladkov cited, Novaya Tavolzhanka. —Air defense systems shot down several Ukrainian drones in Russia’s southern Kursk region, Gov. Roman Starovoit reported. —In Russia’s Bryansk region, Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Ukrainian forces shelled two villages, with no reported casualties. —Two drones also attacked energy facilities in Russia’s western Smolensk region, which borders Belarus, officials said.
Matthew Lee reported from Oslo, Norway. Karl Ritter contributed from Stockholm and Andrew Katell from New York.
The PNG Correctional Services have partnered with the Pacific Institute of Leadership and Governance to provide a training pathway for PNGCS staff.
This partnership will see executive staff from PILAG undergoing leadership and management training at PILAG to ensure they are better qualified in their level of command.
This is part of the institutions drive to build the capacity of its senior officers.
PNGCS Commissioner Stephen Pokanis said, they are appointing commanding officers to take up roles at the executive level.
In an executive meeting, they decided on providing a training pathway for emerging and current leaders, who can command at the Prison level and also in executive levels in the future.
“In the future we are looking at uniformity, where officers who are appointed or promoted, would have special skills, experience and qualifications that should bring them to that level of command,” Commissioner Pokanis said.
The Commissioner said this training partnership with PILAG has to continue annually.
The PNGCS is also seeking assistance from PILAG to carry out a training need analysis, as it is critical for them to identify gaps and put in place proper organizational training plan, to assist in career development of CS personnel.
A cheque of K200 000 was presented to PILAG, as tuition fees for the executive staff, last Friday.
PILAG CEO Micheal Barobe thanked PNGCS for their confidence in PILAG to roll out this training.
“It’s all about giving capacity and competency to our people, so that they deliver government goods and services in a way our people benefit,” CEO Barobe said.
The CEO further assured the PNGCS Commissioner that the training will be delivered, to give capacity to senior executive staff.
He further added that PILAG is going forward with various reforms, to ensure People are appointed into the Public Service, based on experience and qualifications.
They are also working together with international partners to adopt their course structures, and contextualize into PNG homegrown courses, based on PNG context.
Fijian Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka in his recent visit to PNG, was given the opportunity to visit the Innovative Agro Industry’s farms over the weekend.
The Prime Minister and his delegates began their tour at the Ilimo Dairy Farm at 14 mile, outside of Port Moresby.
They were given a tour of the milking parlor and the production facility, where they witnessed first-hand the different processes of producing milk and other Ilimo products.
The Fijian Delegates ended their tour at the 9 mile vegetable farm.
They had the opportunity to visit the green houses, where various vegetables are grown, including the advanced drip irrigation and climate control systems.
The Prime Minister was impressed with the tour, saying it was an eye opener for them.
“I am sure the official delegation will take back with them a lot from this visit, and try to incorporate them into the Agro Industries at home,” said Prime Minister Rabuka.
The Innovative Agro Industries was first established in 2011, and they are involved in a wide range of activities such as farming, greenhouses, poultry and dairy.
AIA Executive Director, Ilan Weiss said the visit is an opportunity for them to showcase the progress and advancement in the fields of agriculture and food production.
“It is always an honor for us to show dignitaries visiting the country, what we do. We took a lot of pride in what we do, and there’s a lot of passion put into our work.
“It is agriculture, it is a long term investment.” The Executive Director said.
Morobe Governor, Luther Wenge today presented the petition from the students of the University of Technology to Prime Minister, James Marape at the Tutumang Provincial Assembly Haus in Lae, following a sitting protest on Monday at Unitech concerning the signing of the Defense Cooperation Agreement between Papua New Guinea and the United States.
PM Marape received the petition as part of his two-day official visit to Lae.
When addressing the members of the Provincial Assembly, Marape acknowledged the petition presented by the governor saying, “The National Government will not do anything unconstitutional. The people have the right to express themselves concerning government decisions.”
He thanked the students for the petition and said, “I appreciate the maturity of the students and the people in 2023. During the previous successive governments, we burn vehicles, we fight and argue.”
The Prime Minister further clarified the Defense Cooperation Act to the Chamber saying it’s not new.
“There’s a Law passed in 1975 by the government called the Defense Visiting Force Act. This allows the country to enter into agreement and partnership with International Military Forces.”
PM Marape
Marape said there would be more agreements following the DCA when Parliament sits again. He said copies of the defence agreements with Indonesia and Australia will be made accessible to the public, however, the recently signed US pact would be accessible later.
The Prime Minister further stated that the signed agreement with US Defense Force will help strengthen PNG’s Military Force.
Marape said a session will be hosted tomorrow at the University of PNG by government officials to outline details of the DCA. The same session will be held with students from Unitech next week.
PM Marape and his delegation outside the Tutumang Haus, Lae, Morobe Province.
PM Marape’s visit to the Tutumang Provincial Assembly Haus today makes him the first Prime Minister to address the members of the Provincial Assembly of Tutumang.
He later moved with his delegation including the Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Lae, John Rosso, National Planning Minister and Finschhafen MP, Rainbo Paita and Minister for Community Development and Huon Gulf MP, Jason Peter to the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium for a public forum concerning the Wafi Golpu Gold and Copper Mine.
The PM will address the private sector tomorrow in a business breakfast, facilitated by the Lae Chamber of commerce and Industry, before returning to Port Moresby.
Papua New Guineas Prime Minister James Marape says the Defense Cooperation Agreement signed between Papua New Guinea and the United States of America was not forced by the United States rather it was Papua New Guinea who invited the United States.
Prime Minister Marape says the agreement is not a move by the United States to counter China’s geopolitics in the region, rather an agreement to improve PNGs military capabilites, these sentiments were shared by US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, who despite popular theory didn’t mention any involvement of US military in PNG as a counter to Chinas growing military presence in the South China sea.
Prime Minister Marape says the Agreement will be made public to debunk claims of the agreement being undermining of PNGs sovereignty.
Papua New Guinea police have launched an international bribery probe after OCCRP and partners revealed questionable offshore dealings by Australian businessman Don Matheson. The country’s prime minister has sought to distance himself from Matheson. But reporters found evidence that both the PM and a key minister had closer ties to the Australian than previously disclosed.
In public, Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape has taken a hard line on Don Matheson, an Australian consultant at the center of a multi-million-dollar offshore payments scandal that caused an uproar in the Pacific country.
A joint investigation by OCCRP and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in March revealed that Matheson played a central role in suspicious offshore payments to senior officials at the time they awarded major international contracts to operate the country’s biggest ports.
The report made headlines in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and prompted Marape to order official probes of the state-owned PNG Ports. Under pressure, the prime minister also denied claims made by Matheson that he enjoyed close ties to Marape and his family.
Asked by the country’s opposition leader in March about his links to Matheson, Marape told parliament that he had merely played “one or two rounds” with the Australian businessman at a golf course in the capital, Port Moresby.
“[I] play anyone who walks into that club, who’s a visitor or new person, I invite them. ‘You wanna have a golf with me?’ I invite everyone [to] come for a walk at the golf course. Part of my health regimes anyway. So Mr. Matheson plays one or two rounds of golf with me,” Marape said.
But new evidence shows the relationship was closer than the prime minister has claimed. Marape and Matheson appear to have made high-level introductions for each other in both PNG and Australia, according to interviews and official documents obtained by OCCRP, the ABC, and Inside PNG.
One newly obtained series of letters appears to show that in early 2021, Marape personally introduced Matheson to PNG’s powerful State Enterprises Minister William Duma — the same man the prime minister has now tasked with looking into the current scandal.
Duma then sent a letter of recommendation to help Matheson pitch for lucrative contracts to develop state-owned land in Port Moresby. It is unclear if Matheson was successful in obtaining the business.
Duma told an ABC journalist that he would not answer any media inquiry from the Australian public broadcaster unless it was accompanied by written permission from Australia’s communications minister “to inquire into domestic issues of another country.”
“The alleged notion of conflict of interest which you have assumed does not arise here,” Duma wrote in an email.
Reporters also found that, the following year, Matheson attempted to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Marape and a senior Australian politician, Queensland state opposition leader David Crisafulli, during a 2022 visit to Australia.
Neither Marape nor Matheson responded to questions sent by reporters.
The head of the PNG chapter of Transparency International, Peter Aitsi, said evidence of previously undisclosed ties between Matheson, Marape, and his senior minister Duma, could undermine public confidence in the government’s review into the offshore scandal.
“If there is proof that there is a relationship between [Matheson and Duma], then, rightfully so, Mr Duma should be removed” from overseeing any government review, he said.
“Investigating Other Engagements”
The new evidence that Marape and his key minister had undisclosed contact with Matheson comes as PNG police have launched an international investigation into the Australian businessman and dealings at PNG Ports, OCCRP and partners have learned.
Joel Simatab, the criminal investigations chief of the PNG police, told OCCRP and partners that national authorities have launched a wide-ranging criminal probe with the assistance of Australian law enforcement and Interpol.
“As part of the investigation, PNG Police will be investigating other engagements involving Don Matheson in PNG, apparently due to him allegedly paying bribes to PNG Ports Corporation officials,” Simatab said.
Australian Federal Police declined to comment. Interpol did not respond to questions.
OCCRP and ABC’s previous investigation revealed that a Singapore company owned by Matheson had received roughly US$4.35 million in unexplained payments from a Manila-based global ports operator, International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), around the time it secured a lucrative contract to run PNG’s two busiest freight terminals. The company’s account was then used to pay for apparent benefits for two senior officials at the state-owned ports operator, PNG Ports, including a racehorse and medical equipment.
One of those officials, PNG Ports CEO, Fego Kiniafa, was murdered last September. Police are treating the killing as unrelated to the corruption investigation. The revelations about Kiniafa have prompted questions for Australia, which had negotiated a $434 million ports funding deal with the late CEO as part of its efforts to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
The Pandora Papers files also contain information on nine other contracts that Matheson said he had secured in Papua New Guinea. OCCRP and partners found signs that one of those contracts, a master plan for a new provincial capital, was won via a bidding process that may have been tilted in Matheson’s favor.
“The Best Piece of Real Estate in the South Pacific”
Official letters obtained by OCCRP and partners show that Prime Minister Marape apparently boosted Matheson’s business prospects in PNG by introducing him to State Enterprises Minister Duma.
Matheson wrote to Duma on May 3, 2021, to express interest in his company, CSG International, playing a role in the commercial redevelopment of an old wharf site in Port Moresby belonging to PNG’s state holding company, Kumul Consolidated Holdings.
“I would like to take this opportunity to formally acknowledge and thank you for making time available to meet me on Tuesday April 29, 2021 following my introduction to you by the Prime Minister, Hon. James Marape, MP about my role in town planning and design,” Matheson wrote to Duma.
Duma forwarded the letter on to Kumul Consolidated Holdings’ managing director at the time, Isikeli Taureka, in early June. In a cover note, Duma described the contents of the letter as “self-explanatory.”
“I suggest that Kumul Consolidated Holdings enter into discussions with CSG in relation to the proposal,” he wrote in the note.
Taureka wrote back to Matheson shortly afterwards. He did not commit to working with CSG, but said he was open to further discussions with Matheson.
Records obtained by OCCRP do not show whether Matheson obtained the contract, and Kumul Consolidated Holdings did not respond to reporters’ questions about the project. Taureka was dismissed as head of the holding company in October 2021 for what the prime minister said was poor performance.
Taureka confirmed to OCCRP that he had received the letter from Duma suggesting a discussion with Matheson, but believed he needed to first find out more about the Australian businessman.
“I asked Don to present himself to receive his credentials but he didn’t show up,” he said, adding that he did not know if Matheson was ultimately given the contract.
However, in two separate interviews with the ABC last year, Matheson implied that he had indeed won the contract. He called the old wharf site “probably the best piece of real estate in the South Pacific at the moment.”
“We’ve got a lot of Australian government departments that if we could get them as tenants in some of the buildings we can have created here, that would underpin the development.”
Matheson said he had met with the managing director of Kumul Consolidated Holdings, David Kavanamur, to discuss “our planning report and… we’ve nailed it.”
“He’s thrilled, the PM’s thrilled, our challenges will be to get it through density planning,” he said.
He said he had “nearly completed” his work on the old wharf site and “after I complete my contract there, I’m entitled to talk” about it.
Matheson also attempted to carry out at least one high-level introduction for Marape in Australia. He told the ABC last year that he attempted to set up a meeting for Marape with Queensland Opposition Leader Crisafulli during a visit to Brisbane in October.
A spokesman for Crisafulli, Rob Morrison, confirmed that Matheson did contact his office seeking a meeting for Marape. But he said that the meeting did not take place because of a clash in their schedules.
Matheson “sent [Crisafulli] a text saying the PNG PM is in town and is keen to meet,” Morrison said, but “their diaries never lined up.”
‘We Didn’t Tender for It’
Police did not specify which of Matheson’s other PNG projects they were examining in their probe, and the country’s government agencies typically do not publish details of public contracts.
However, OCCRP and partners found records in the Pandora Papers of at least nine other contracts the businessman said he had won from PNG state companies and government agencies between 2013 and 2019. The details of the deals were contained in documents Matheson filed when becoming a client of Asiaciti Trust, one of 14 offshore service providers whose internal data was leaked as part of the Pandora Papers.
The contracts included plans for a new hospital outside of Port Moresby, the redevelopment of an old military barracks, a housing estate and industrial area for PNG Ports, and master plans for two towns. OCCRP is not alleging any wrongdoing in those projects.
However, reporters did find evidence that a third town master planning contract — a 4.9-million-kina (roughly US$1.4 million) deal to design a new provincial capital city in PNG’s remote highlands — was won via a tender process in which his competitors say they didn’t even know they were taking part.
Signed bid documents filed by Matheson with Asiaciti show that the tender board of Hela, then a newly created province, awarded a contract in September 2016 to CSG International to produce a master plan for the town of Tari. The town sits in a national electoral district held by Prime Minister Marape since 2007, but there is no evidence he played a role in the deal.
On paper, CSG won the bid by offering a cheaper price than two other Australian bidders. EJE Architecture, a firm based in the Australian city of Newcastle, is listed as having bid 5.4 million kina (around $1.5 million). MG Group, a property consultancy on Australia’s Gold Coast, was put down for 6.1 million kina (around $1.7 million).
Both companies had worked as subcontractors for CSG on other projects in PNG. But they denied to reporters that they were involved in the Tari bid.
“We didn’t tender for it,” said Matthew Grbcic, the principal of MG Group. “I don’t even think… I did any work on that particular job.”
Michael Rogers, a director of EJE who worked on the company’s PNG projects with Matheson, said that he doesn’t recall bidding, although he said there was a small chance that any records of a bid may have been thrown out as part of a regular purge of office files.
“I’m 95% certain that [the bid] won’t be ours and it sounds like it’s dodgy,” Rogers said.
“So everything points to being that it wasn’t ours and it was falsified.”
William Bando, the former provincial administrator who signed off on the contract with CSG, said he did so “based on advice from my technical staff.”
Bando, who now serves as the MP for a nearby electorate, said that it was Matheson who had “provided the bids from overseas bidders.”
He said he was later “instructed to terminate Matheson’s contract” when there was a “change of political leadership” in the province. He did not elaborate.
Hela province paid CSG International for at least some of the project, Pandora Papers files show. In November 2016, CSG invoiced Hela Province for 330,000 kina (around $94,000) for an initial “desktop report” for the city plan. The invoice appears to have been paid by the following February: a copy of CSG’s bank statement for that month shows the provincial administration made a payment of 330,000 kina on February 6, 2017.
The inaugural Special Economic Zone Summit or SEZ Summit hosted in Papua New Guinea ended successfully last Tuesday.
The three day event was led by the Ministry for Trade and International Trade and was opened by Prime Minister James Marape on Sunday (May 7, 2023).
Over 400 participants from government and private sectors, including international speakers and investors gathered to discuss the establishment of Special Economic Zones in the country.
Global experts shared their experiences with Special Economic Zones for local experts to learned from them.
Prime Minister James Marape in his key note address, welcomed all participants to the forum.
Furthermore, he said his government is committed to supporting Special Economic Zones, as a key driver of the Economy.
International Trade and Investment minister, Richard Maru in his opening remarks said the world has known the Special Economic Zone Concept for over 50 years.
For PNG, the SEZ concept started over 30 years ago, however some have failed.
The Minister further explained that the objective of the summit was to understand the definition of Special Economic Zones, and the types of Special Economic Zones.
“The second objective is to work towards understanding why we fail over the last 30 years by listening to the success of other countries,” Maru said.
Stalls and information booths of government agencies and stakeholders were set up during the summit.
The second day of the summit saw China and Philippines sharing their experiences of Special Economic Zones, including PNG SEZ experience and an update on Paga Hill Special Economic Zone.
Discussions on SEZ policy framework and masterplan were held on the final day of the summit.
Some enablers of SEZs discussed during the summit are: Policing for SEZ, Road Connectivity, Ports Solutions, Energy Solutions for SEZs and Application for SEZ Licenses.
International Trade and Investment minister Richard Maru expressed satisfaction saying the summit was successfully delivered.
“I want to close by thanking all of you again for coming, this is a start of a long journey,” The Minister said.
The Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change and Member for Lufa Simo Kilepa says as long as he remains in office, education will be one of his priorities.
He said this during the week when presenting K188, 000 to the University of Papua New Guinea as part of the school fee assistance package.
“This funding is from the District and Provincial government to support the National Government’s support to our students studying in the institutions,” he said.
About 47 students from the University of PNG benefited from the assistance, part of a K2m package for school fee assistance.
“K1m is from our Lufa District Development Authority funding and K1m is from Governor’s assistance”.
Students from the Pacific Adventist University outside Port Moresby also were recipients of the school fee assistance.
Many who gave their testaments at the presentation of the funding support said it was the first of its kind to see support coming to them from a political representative.
“This funding is to help your parents and off-set some of the burdens they have, I understand many of them are subsistence farmers and many sell store goods in the informal space,” Minister Kilepa said.
All Lufa students throughout the country will benefit from this funding according to the DDA.
Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Justin Tkatchenko, this afternoon announced stepping aside as Foreign Affairs Minister following protests over statements he made in the media.
Both Tkatchenko and his daughter were the subjects of wide public debate on social media after his daughter posted a TikTok.
The video showed his daughter, Savannah Tkatchenko, parading extravagant meals and a shopping spree during the public funded trip for the Coronation of King Charles.
Papua New Guineans criticized Tkatchenko’s daughter for what they perceived as a waste and inappropriate use of the taxpayer monies.
Tkatchenko responded to critics in a radio interview with ABC calling the social media commentors “primitive animals”
Tkatchenko says his comments were directed at internet trolls and cyber bullies who hailed hateful comments toward his daughter adding that his daughter is now traumatized by the comments on social media.
However, his response only seemed to fan the controversy, with many Papua New Guineans taking to social media and the streets to express their anger and frustration with the Foreign Minister’s apparent lack of respect.
Many have called for Tkatchenko to apologize, while some have suggested that he resign from his position as Foreign Minister.
In light of this, Prime Minister James Marape has issued a public statement asking the people of Papua New Guinea to forgive the Foreign Minister for his recent comments.
Marape says Minister Tkatchenko has apologised to the people of Papua New Guinea for the remarks he made on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio interview.
He further added that he too was offended by Tkatchenko’s remarks, labelling social media critics of his daughter as “primitive animals”, but had accepted the minister’s apology and asked all Papua New Guineans to do the same.
Marape’s statement has been met with mixed reactions from the public, with some praising his call for forgiveness and reconciliation, while others argue that Tkatchenko should still be held accountable for his actions.
The PNG Trade Union Congress has condemned Tkatchenko’s labelling of Papua New Guineans and demanded that he resign.
President of the Police Association, Lowa Tambua said the Prime Minister should not make an individual decision to forgive Tkatchenko on behalf of the people of Papua New Guinea but let the people decide.
The TUC also demanded that Tkatchenko be deported from the country, arguing that his actions have brought disrepute to Papua New Guinea on the international stage.
The Union leaders concerns were centered around Tkatchenko’s lack of representation and poor choice of words as a leader of this country and leader of the people.
Tkatchenko conveyed a second public apology in a press conference this afternoon with an official announcement that he will step down.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister James Marape in a statement has made known that he will take charge of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
