Prime Minister, James Marape announced that the Bank of Papua New Guinea has recorded the highest levels of foreign exchange ever.

He made the announcement in parliament that BPNG made more than K10 billion, amidst the international crisis brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Marape revealed this in Parliament when answering a question from NCD Governor, Powes Parkop, on whether PNG had sufficient forex for fuel importers, particularly Puma Energy which runs the Napanapa Refinery.

“At this point in time, Bank of PNG has more foreign reserves than it has ever had, more so for the last 10 years,” he said.

“Today, we have got K10 billion-plus, or about US$3 billion sitting in our foreign reserves.

“This means that important customers like Puma, and others who need forex, should have easy access now to US dollars for their purchases.”

The Prime Minister said if Puma had problems accessing foreign reserves to bring in fuel, they should see Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey or himself, to assist.

“This is so that in these tough times, we don’t have queues (for forex), or shortage of fuel in our country,” he said.

On the question of whether Napanapa could source oil from Kutubu in Southern Highlands, PM Marape said Kutubu had fixed contracts, but could attend to domestic market obligations as well.

“As you know, Kutubu Crude has export contracts to it, but this is something that we are looking at going forward into the future,” he said.

“That is why this Government has already been aggressive in the domestic market obligation side of gas, so that we move into the space of downstream.

“Downstream processing is something that we have overlooked in our country for many, many years, but we are now moving to get more from our oil and gas so that we Move into downstream processing.

“This is so that in the future we are not so dependent on imported items like fuel, we are not dependent on external market forces, where a price rise means rise in prices in our domestic economy.”

The PNG Kapuls have just earned their spot in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Oceania Qualifiers after beating Fiji 2-1.

Fijian Midfielder, Tevita Waranaivalu scored Fiji’s one goal in the first half of the match, before being sent off with a red card for using his elbows against PNG Kapuls Forward, Ati Kepo, leaving the Fijian side with only 10 players.

The red card made a lot of difference for PNG.

A strike into the corner by Kapuls forward, Ati Kepo leveled the scoreboard just before the half-time buzzer on the 45th minute.

PNG came back stronger in the second half, this time dominating the game, mostly keeping possession of the ball.

A second strike into the corner of the Fijian goal by Kapuls Forward, Tommy Semmy at the 63rd minute brought the scoreboard to 2-1 ensuring PNG’s lead.

Despite a number of missed targets by forwards Raymond Gunemba and Tommy Semmy, the Kapuls dragged Fiji on throughout the rest of the second half, eventually claiming the win at full-time.

Captain Alwin Komolong expressed pride in the team’s effort and said going into the semi-final is a massive achievement for the Kapuls and for PNG.

The Kapuls are now safe into the semi-finals and now look forward to going up against Solomon Islands on March 27th.

Picture: Courtesy of Oceania Football Confederation

With a dream for Madang to grow into an economic powerhouse for Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister James Marape announced a funding of K100 million for the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ).

Marape said hundreds of millions of kina for the PMIZ had been squandered during the terms of the past two governments, with nothing to show for, and assured the people that this would not happen again.

“The project would be managed by the National Fisheries Authority and the K100 million, included in the 2022 Budget, had already been allocated,” said Marape.

The PMIZ project was first mooted in 2004, and launched by the O’Neill government in 2015, but nothing has happened with hundreds of millions of kina wasted.

Marape said the National Government will spearhead this and appeals to the people in Madang to support his Government drive the project.

The Prime Minister assured the people of Madang that the mistakes of the past two governments would not be repeated.

“We are doing it (PMIZ) much better (than previous governments),” he said.

“This year, for the first time, we are putting K100 million into the PMIZ project.

“We will be making the PMIZ project come to life for the first time.”

A leading environmental and human rights firm will be tasked to carry out an impact assessment on the Panguna Mine and its surrounding communities.

This was discussed in the second meeting of the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Committee held recently in Ioro in the Panguna area of Central Bougainville.

The committee, made up of representatives from various clans in Panguna including the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and mining company Rio Tinto met to discuss a way forward in assessing the environment and human rights impacts and damages associated with the now defunct Panguna Mine.

Following an agreement made in the 1st meeting, a draft assessment report was presented to provide vital information to the impacted communities for the main impact assessment to begin.

“Throughout this process engaging well and informing our community members will be critical for the impact assessment,” said Paramount Chief Blaise Iruinu.

Currently the impact assessment is in a tender process where a firm will be selected to undertake this process within an 18-month period. An independent fund management system is also in place to enable a transparent contracting and payment of the selected contractor.

With discussion being made on the possibility of reopening the Panguna Mine, the legacy committee has agreed to keep the ABG informed on the progress of the impact assessment.

The assessment is planned to start in July.

Meanwhile A 3rd meeting of the committee will be held in May with representatives from Rio Tinto.

A clash by two clans in Karizogo, in upper Bundi, Madang Province on the 17th of March 2022 has not only disturbed peace but almost cost the lives of four people.

Footage supplied by Kumura Foundation show three man bleeding uncontrollably and a woman nursing cut fingers.

The four were slashed with machete or bush knives.

They were lucky, medical experts from Kumura Foundation were close by.

Bundi is located at the border of Madang and Simbu Province. It has some of the most challenging terrains in PNG making it difficult to get to a nearest health center immediately.

Vincent Kumura, the Director of Kumura Foundation said two of the injured were escorted for miles uphill to Snow Pass and the other was carried on a makeshift stretcher for two hours to Betty Camp near Pandambai, Upper Bundi to be transported in the Kumura Foundation’s Upper Bundi Ambulance to the Sir. Joseph Nombri Memorial Hospital (SJNMH) in Kundiawa.

With the help of Rat Wara- a local PMV owner of Gembogl, the head of the Emergency Department at the SJNMH Dr Bobby Welsh and his team, all four injured persons received timely treatment.

Three of them have been discharged from the hospital.

The other is in a stable condition.

Kumura thanked the Sir. Brian Bell Foundation for the much needed Upper Bundi Ambulance that is saving lives in this part of the country.

The Ambulance was donated last year.

So far, 140 patients have been transported to health facilities in Simbu Province.

Thirty percent are from the Kundiawa-Gembogl District and the rest from Bundi.

Long serving West New Britain Provincial Administrator, Williamson Hosea has resigned from duties.

Today he handed over the reigns to his successor, Leo Mapmani who will be Acting Provincial Administrator for the next three months.

Mr. Hosea has served for 46 years in the public service with 10 years as Provincial Administrator.

West New Britain Governor, Sasindran Muthuvel said this follows a National Executive Council decision on the 9th of March under the compulsory retirement age of 65.

Muthuvel said this is a directive with both Mr Hosea and Mr Mapmani receiving letters from the Department of Personnel Management.

“We will do a formal farewell ceremony after Parliament sitting”, said Muthuvel.

The Governor added that this should see a smooth flow of transition to ensure the public service in West New Britain continues to deliver services.

Muthuvel thanked Hosea for his outstanding service to the people of West New Britain and urged him to work with his successor during the transition period.

Mr Hosea hails from Galilo Village in the Hoskins LLG of Talasea District. He started as an Agriculture Officer and worked his way up to Deputy Provincial Administrator before being appointed as the Provincial Administrator.

He reached the retirement age of 65 last November.

Meanwhile Hosea’s successor, Leo Mapmani was the District Administrator for Talasea District prior to this appointment.

Both announcements were made at the Office of the West New Britain Governor.

Thirty-Five (35) public servants have recently graduated from the Pacific Institute of Leadership and Governance (PILAG) Highlands Regional Centre in Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands Province.

The eight females and twenty seven males were awarded with certificates in Leadership and Governance, a course funded and supported by the SP Foundation Incorporation since 2018.

The public servants were from 9 different organizations within the Highlands region.

While congratulating the participants, Department of Personnel Management Secretary,Taies Sansan who is also the interim Chairlady of the PILAG Board took time to inform them about several changes within the sector.

She highlighted a number of key policy changes to the public service which includes the Public Service long term plan, and the Human Resource Development Strategy Plan 2020 – 2050.

“The public service now has training policies which aligns to and complements the 30 year long term plan”, she adds.

Sansan challenged the graduands to be the change agent in their respective organizations when they return to work.

“Serving in the public service is a well-regarded and privileged role for individuals who are paid to carry out services for and on behalf of the general public.

“Public Servants are expected to display commitment, dedication and ethics in their conduct”, said Sansan.

Secretary Sansan also took time to acknowledge SP Foundation Incorporation for their continued support and PILAG for ensuring that their regional centers provides more leadership training courses to those in the provinces that need up-skilling.

COVID19 entry requirements into PNG has been relaxed.

Commissioner of Police and Controller of the National Pandemic Response David Manning released the new measures today, replacing Measure No.2.

The new measures omits the “timeframe” required by a passenger to get a booster shot or any of the approved vaccines, however passengers travelling by plane will need to take a covid19 test 72 hours before boarding.

Test results from Polymerase Chain Reaction of PCR will be the only one accepted.

For passengers and crews entering PNG through the maritime Ports, covid19 tests will now take place upon arrival.

Previously, the passengers took the covid19 test 72 hours before arrival.

For passengers whose test results return positive they will be required to follow the normal isolation and quarantine protocols until cleared of covid19.

The new measures come into effect on 21 March 2022.

All passengers travelling by both modes of transport must be fully vaccinated.