Works Minister Michael Nali has explained that the fee charges imposed by the Department of Works on JICA donated road work equipment was done so as to meet the cost involved in maintaining these equipment. He made this known in Parliament yesterday after Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat raised concerns as to why the Provincial Works Department in East New Britain has been charging fees for the utilization of the equipment. Mr Nali explained that these equipment were donated by JICA specifically to the disaster-stricken provinces including East and West Sepik, East and West New Britain, Hela, Southern Highlands and Gulf Provinces. “Yes, I do acknowledge that there are fees being charged and we do have a division under the department that is responsible in issuing the charges, which is basically to maintain these equipment,” Mr Nali said. “On many occasions, the department does not receive the full budget for the maintenance of equipment therefore, we are doing this.” “There are actually two options given, either you pay a fee to the PTD division to carry out the road work or you pay a small fee to the division for the usage of the equipment.”

BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) has today announced further changes to its fees, which will result in a lower cost of banking for many of BSP’s customers. These include a reduction in the Kundu Package Account monthly fee for its personal account customers, changes to Cash Handling Fees on withdrawals and removal of cash handling fees on deposits effective as of 1st March, 2022. BSP Group CEO Robin Fleming when announcing this said BSP will reduce the monthly fee on its all in one BSP Kundu Package Account customers who will enjoy a reduction on their monthly account service fee by K1, from K9.50 to K8.50. The Kundu Package Account is a packaged account designed for customers who do multiple transactions per month and would prefer to pay one monthly fee for these services. This reduction on its monthly maintenance fee means that BSP’s 65,000 Kundu Package Account customers will now pay a lower monthly fee for unlimited transactions conducted in branch and on EFTPOS with merchants and BSP ATMs in PNG. BSP is also removing the K20 Cash Handling Fee charged to customers for deposits made in branches above K10, 000 whilst lowering the cost of its Cash Handling Fee by increasing its Cash Handling Fee threshold for cash withdrawals from K5, 000 to K10,000 for transactions made in Branches. This means BSP customers will not be charged for deposits made over the counter at BSP branches. Similarly, only customers withdrawing cash of K10, 000 or more over the counter will be charged 2% of the amount withdrawn with any withdrawals below K10, 000 now not subject to a fee. “The bank has made conscious decisions in not passing on any increased costs to customers and BSP has made every effort to reduce fees and ensure customers are provided with a cost-effective solution that suits them,” said Mr Fleming. “The reduction of fees is a significant benefit to BSP customers and gives them improved and affordable access to banking services – particularly for personal account customers when conducting transactions in BSP branches” said Fleming. The bank chief also emphasised; “BSP has not increased its fees since 2014 and has in fact reduced and/or removed many of its fees over that period, foregoing in excess of K60m in fees annually as result of its fee-reduction initiatives.” While BSP continues to reduce its fees on products and services for transactions over the counter, it encourages customers to embrace the BSP digital banking channels such as Mobile Banking (*131#) and Internet Banking for safer, more convenient, and cost effective banking options.

Works Minister Michael Nali has clarified on the specification of different road networks within the country and has also pointed out the different government authorities that are responsible for their maintenance. Minister Nali clarified on these following a question by Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat if there is a document available that captures the different road networks in the country and their categories. “Is there in existence, some kinds of publications or books where roads in each province are laid out and is described as either national roads, provincial roads or district roads?” Dr Marat asked. “Because it seems that what were once national roads are now becoming provincial roads, what were once provincial roads are now becoming district roads and some of us districts are struggling to fix our roads at the moment.” Minister Nali in response said there is no document available that shows the variation however he went on to explain the specification. “The roads are identified in this manner; a district road is a road that connects a Local Level Government to another Local Level Government within a district while a provincial road is identified as a road that links a district to another,” Mr Nali said. He said it has been the Department of Works' responsibility over the years to carry out maintenance on all the roads in the country however in recent years, some responsibilities, especially to maintain district roads were distributed along with its fundings to the custody of the District Authorities. “Within the provincial roads itself, there are some important economic road networks and the Department of Works at this stage is responsible only for the regional highways that are captured in the Connect PNG program.” “Dr Marat has pointed out an important issue also because in due time, we will see our districts and provincial roads faced with a lot of issues because of the responsibility being given to the district and provincial authorities.” “You will notice that we have not been able to get enough funding for all the district roads although there is some funding made available over the last couple of years, with a minimum of K5 million and maximum of K8 million.” “As long as the government can make funding available to all districts and provinces and also if the respective leaders can take fully the responsibility to maintain these roads, this issue can be managed,” Mr Nali said.

The results of an investigation into the death of late Rex Wanzing following a surgical procedure at the Port Moresby General Hospital last year has again been raised in Parliament yesterday. East Sepik Governor Allan Bird directed the question to the Health Minister Jelta Wong during Question Time on the outcome of the investigation as well as what direction victims of medical treatment in public health system should seek if in such situations. “I understand the parents of late Rex are asking for answers and we’ve raised this on the floor previously,” Mr Bird said. “Is the minister able to speak to the parents on this floor because there was an investigation conducted and I would like to know if a finding has been made.” “If so, has that been made available to the family? If not, why not?” He further said apart from late Rex’s case, there are others who sometimes suffer from treatment but do not know where to seek recourse because there is no clear pathway to go about doing that. “What opportunities for recourse or compensation are available either through the public health system or some other system? If so, could the minister make that known to our people?” Mr Wong in response said the report of late Rex’s case has been completed and has been brought to his office. “We are going through our legal process and administrative process to ensure that everything is in place before we talk to the parents,” Mr Wong said. “I’ve spoken to the parents and had set up a date next week to sit down with them with the secretary and our lawyers so that we can work through this process.” “The compensation claims and all this is a normal government process which we all follow and the attorney general will be with us in the meeting and will let us know what the punishment and compensation amounts are," Mr Wong said.

North Fly MP James Donald has obtained a restraining order against the signing of the P’Nyang Gas Agreement between the State and the gas developer Exxon Mobil. Donald told PNG Hausbung that he was able to serve the restraining order only to one party before the signing was done yesterday. He said he had to do this because there were several issues that were not yet fully addressed before this project could be signed. “Our grounds are of the reasons that there was no dialogue with the landowners, leaders of the host project and as well as the provincial leaders and also that the developer had no legal standing to strike another deal on the project,” Mr Donald said. Minister for Petroleum Kerenge Kua was named as the first defendant, the state as the second defendant and developer Esso P’Nyang as the third defendant. The matter will return to court on February 25, 2022.

After a lengthy process, the MSG Secretariat has a new Director General, he is Mr. Leonard Louma OBE from Papua New Guinea. This follows an announcement by the Chairman of the MSG and Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Honourable James Marape in an Official Statement issued on the 1st of February 2022 in Port Moresby. The MSG Secretariat was without a Director General since the departure of former Director General, Ambassador Amena Yauvoli of Fiji who served the Secretariat from 2016 – 2020. The Official statement of appointment was delivered on behalf of the four MSG Leaders including, Honourable Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama MP, Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, Honourable Manasseh Sogavare MP, Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Honourable Bob Lougman Weibur MP, Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu; and Mr Victor Tutugoro Spokesperson of the FLNKS. Prime Minister Marape stated that the appointment of Mr Leonard Louma was a result of a lengthy and rigorous merit-based process of appointing a new Director General. He reiterated that the process of recruitment of the new Director General was done in accordance to the agreed policy process of recruiting a new Director General which was adopted at the 20th Leaders’ Summit in Honiara, Solomon Islands on 26 June 2015. The Process is based on a merit-recruitment system that allows for a best candidate to be appointed. In compliance with the agreed stipulated policy, a Recruitment Committee comprising of Members (PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu), also called the TROIKA did a thorough screening of applicants, shortlisting and interviewing of the shortlisted candidates. The TROIKA from its interviews and assessment concluded and recommended in their report the appointment of Mr Leonard Louma as first choice. In the event that that he declines then the offer can be given to the alternative next best preferred candidate. The recommendation as contained in the TROIKA report was considered by the MSG Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and duly endorsed out-of-session by the MSG Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM). The MSG Chair further officially requested for his MSG Colleague Leaders to consider and approve out-of-session the appointment of the new Director General in December 2021. And having received no objection from his colleague MSG Leaders when the due date for consideration had lapsed, he proceeded with the necessary preparations to make the formal announcement of the appointment. Prime Minister Marape in his statement stated that, he is satisfied and confident that due process had been complied with and that his announcement of the appointment of the new Director General is in order and in the best interest of the MSG Group. While he conveyed his appreciation to his colleagues, the MSG Leaders, for their continuous support and confidence rendered to him as the MSG Chair, he reiterated the fact that the MSG Secretariat has been without a substantive Director General for 1 year and 10 months and has been the longest since the establishment of the Secretariat. Therefore, the appointment of the Director General is a necessity and a matter of urgency for the Group. Prime Minister James Marape on behalf of the MSG Leaders, in congratulating the newly appointed Director General, Mr Leonard Louma stated that he has confidence in him to continue to lift the visions, spirit and solidarity of the MSG and moreover to lead the MSG Secretariat into new heights. Mr Leonard Louma OBE who hails from Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea is a former seasoned diplomat and a senior public servant who had more than 30 years of senior management experience in both the government and private sector. Mr Louma has served in the Papua New Guinea Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (USA) and the Papua New Guinea Embassies in Paris (France) and Beijing (China). He was responsible for opening the PNG Embassy in Paris as Charge D’Affaires and was Papua New Guinea’s roving Ambassador to APEC, ASEAN, ESCAP and concurrently PNG High Commissioner to Singapore. Additionally, nationally he had served as head of several departments within the Papua New Guinea Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Prime Minister. In the latter, he served as Special Advisor on International Relations, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs matters to the Prime Minister and subsequently as Chief of Staff to the late Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare from 2005 – 2011. Regionally, he has been involved in the development and implementation of many regional initiatives such as the original Pacific Plan and its successor in the Framework for Pacific Regionalism, MSG’s 2038 Prosperity for all Plan as a member of an Eminent Person, The MSG Trade Agreement, Re-enlistment of New Caledonia on the UN list of Non Self Governing Territories, the development and negotiation of the binding tariffs for PNG’s WTO membership bid, and the development of the Pacific Island Forum’s Boe Declaration. Prior to his appointment, Mr Louma continues to be engaged privately as a free-lance consultant providing strategic advisory services to the Papua New Guinea Government including strategic business advisories to several private organisations and businesses in Papua New Guinea. Mr Louma has officially accepted the appointment and preparations are now underway to enable him take up his posting in the MSG Secretariat headquarters in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Jane Marczewski, a singer known by her stage name Nightbirde, who earned a legion of followers after being a contestant on NBC's "America's Got Talent," has died after a battle with cancer, her family confirmed. "We, her family, are devastated by her passing and unimaginable loss," the Marczewski family said in a statement, provided by NBC. Marczewski fought cancer for four years and died Feb. 19, her family said. The singer caught the attention of many after delivering a stunning audition last year on "America's Got Talent," performing an original song called "It's OK." During her performance, she disclosed to the judges that she was battling cancer that had spread to her lungs, spine and liver. She impressed judge Simon Cowell with her positivity and resolve. "You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy," she told the judges. Cowell awarded Marczewski a coveted "golden buzzer," which advanced her to the next round of competition. She ultimately had to drop out, but during a virtual interview aired on the show, Marczewski said it was "beautiful to see the world welcome that song into their own dark night." "I'm overwhelmed by it," she said, of the reaction to "It's OK." "Your voice, your story, and your message touched millions. Nightbirde will always be a member of the 'AGT' family. Rest In Peace, Jane," the show said in a statement to CNN. Host Terry Crews and judge Heidi Klum also paid tribute on their own social media accounts. "Those who knew her, enjoyed her larger-than-life personality and sense of humor. She had a witty joke for every occasion—even if the joke was on her," her family added. "Her lasting legacy will be the gift of hope she gave to so many through her music and the strength she found in Jesus. We thank everyone for their messages of love and support." SOURCE: CNN NEWS

North Queensland Toyota Cowboys Elite Pathways Coach Ben Jeffries has been named the Papua New Guinea Orchids head coach for the upcoming Rugby League World Cup in England. Jeffries, who earlier this month coached the Indigenous All-Stars women to an 18-8 over the Māori women, said that he is honoured to coach the Orchids in their second World Cup appearance. “I see PNG as an untapped playing market in the women’s game,” Jeffries said. “If they play with the passion and pride that they normally demonstrate with some football smarts added in, it is a good recipe for success. “I believe there would be more PNG qualified players that could play at the level of NRLW, they just need to be identified and possibly filtered into the NSW & Queensland competitions to provide that steppingstone.” With a long history working in women’s rugby league, Jeffries says the growth of the game over the last couple of years been great to see. “It’s very pleasing to see not only the game and skill levels progress, but the perseverance and time invested within the female format from many personnel is paying off in providing pathways opportunities from the grassroots up. “The game is now reaping the rewards in another market that never existed prior. “The International, Origin and NRLW formats are only going to intensify from this point onward.” Currently the fourth ranked team in the world, the Orchids will open their World Cup campaign against Canada on Wednesday, November 2. SOURCE: NRL NEWS

With only two months to go before the scheduled start of the 2022 National General Elections in Papua New Guinea, many provinces have only just begun the roll update exercise. Jiwaka Province in the Highlands Region is one such a province, with a 10-day roll update exercise for all 214 Wards starting on the 16th of February 2022, and running till the end of the month. Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) was informed of this roll-update exercise by the Jiwaka Provincial Election Office, during a five-day civic awareness from 14-18th February in the province as part of its Building Elections Integrity through Partnership (BEIP) Project. The BEIP Project funded by the #PNGAusPartnership is conducting national civic awareness with Civil Society and election partners across eight target provinces in all four regions of the country. “The reality is that administrative delays in election preparation has severely impacted the rights of Papua New Guineans and the situation will only worsen if partners do not share information and collaborate in the lead up to the elections. Jiwaka, and many other provinces are only now starting to update the electoral roll, and if there is no clear coordination and collaboration, these vital democratic processes will sow mistrust in communities and create avenues for the corrupt to abuse electoral processes,” said Mr. Yuambari Haihuie, TIPNG Deputy Director of Policy and Partnership, who led the awareness team in Jiwaka. “TIPNG is calling on all Provincial Election Steering Committees (PESC) to include well-established provincial Civil Society partners, media outlets and faith-based organizations to ensure information is shared with communities and that electoral planning includes the views of citizens. It is Papua New Guinea’s democracy and Papua New Guineans must participate to ensure that a free, fair, and safe 2022 National General Elections is delivered across all provinces,” said Mr. Haihuie. TIPNG hosted a one-day election awareness workshop on Wednesday 16th February 2022, in Banz, Jiwaka, where members of the Jiwaka PESC presented on elections plans and preparations to the Civil Society Organizations that included; Callan Services, Meri Kirap Sapotim, PNG Tribal Foundation, Caritas PNG, Kosem Coffee, Voice for Change, Post Courier and NBC Western Highlands. In addition to the workshop, TIPNG spoke on NBC Radio and conducted awareness with the following organizations in Jiwaka Province; Meri Kirap Sapotim, Christian Leaders Training College, Fr. Peter Fatima Secondary School, Seventh Day Adventist Mission Church – Banz, Kudjip Hospital, and the Nazerene Nursing College.

Transparency International Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) conducted a week long civic awareness outreach in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province as part of its Building Elections Integrity through Partnership (BEIP) Project. A key part of the awareness in Goroka was a Civic Awareness Information Workshop that brought together key provincial election stakeholders, namely the Eastern Highlands Electoral Commission Office, Provincial Administration and the Goroka Police to provide updates on their preparations for the 2022 National Elections in Eastern Highlands Province. Participants at the workshop included members of various civil society organizations in Goroka: YWCA Goroka, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Helping Hand Youth Honey Producers, Tribal Foundation (Soundhouse Consulting), Caraitas PNG and the NBC EHP. TIPNG’s other voter awareness meetings with youth, churches and citizens in Eastern Highlands Province heard the audience express serious concerns for a truly free, fair and safe elections come July 2022, while women expressed that feeling insecure at a polling station was their biggest challenge. “TIPNG is calling on all sectors in the Eastern Highlands Province to work in partnership with the Eastern Highlands Electoral Commission Office and the Provincial Election Steering Committee to ensure that the right information goes out to the people of the province and that there is real partnership in implementing peaceful elections in the province, said TIPNG CEO, Ms Arianne Kassman.” As part of TIPNG’s civic awareness on voters’ rights and responsibilities, TIPNG conducted two school visits to the Goroka Grammar, Highlands School of Nursing and Goroka Secondary school and community outreach with the Goroka YWCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Bible Mission. The BEIP Project is funded under the PNG-Australia Partnership for Development.

BSP Financial Group Chief Operating Officer, Robin Fleming, has raised concerns over additional EFTPoS fees charged to BSP and other bank Cardholders by BSP EFTPoS Merchants for purchases, cash out and balance checking. Mr Fleming said this when responding to a query raised by a disappointing customer who was charged extra fees when trying to cash out K50 after his purchase using the EFTPoS terminal at Hot Rooster Shop in Buka. “BSP regularly informs customers that they should not pay additional fees to any merchant who tries to apply their own surcharge for use of a BSP EFTPoS terminal,” said Fleming. “Under the terms and conditions accepted by the bank’s merchants, they are not permitted to charge additional fees on customers. If we become aware of a merchant applying a fee for transactions, we will caution them and remind them of the terms and conditions they accepted. If the merchant continues to apply fees, the bank will remove the terminal from the merchant and discontinue the merchant relationship,” Fleming said. BSP Retail General Manager Daniel Faunt also reaffirmed this saying, “The availability of EFTPoS at any business increases the volume of sales as customers find electronic payments safe and convenient to do business with.” “In 2020 BSP removed the minimum fee of K0.50 per transaction for merchants and the fee is now 1% of the purchase amount which for small transactions of say K20 reduces the merchant fee from K0.50 to K0.20. Since May 2021, we have also waived EFTPoS fees for Kundu Standard customers who transact below K26. This means that all transactions below K26 are free whilst transactions above K26 will attract a K0.25 fee to the customer,” said Faunt. “This enables customer’s convenience in paying for goods at stores and withdrawing cash at the checkout using the EFTPoS terminal without BSP charges, rather than withdrawing cash from ATMs. We encourage customers to continue utilising this payment method for cheaper, faster, safer and convenient way to purchase goods and services,” Faunt added. BSP will continue to make banking more accessible, cheaper and safer for its customers through its products, electronic banking channels and extensive network of branches and sub branches across PNG.

BSP Financial Group Chief Operating Officer, Robin Fleming, has raised concerns over additional EFTPoS fees charged to BSP and other bank Cardholders by BSP EFTPoS Merchants for purchases, cash out and balance checking. Mr Fleming said this when responding to a query raised by a disappointing customer who was charged extra fees when trying to cash out K50 after his purchase using the EFTPoS terminal at Hot Rooster Shop in Buka. “BSP regularly informs customers that they should not pay additional fees to any merchant who tries to apply their own surcharge for use of a BSP EFTPoS terminal,” said Fleming. “Under the terms and conditions accepted by the bank’s merchants, they are not permitted to charge additional fees on customers. If we become aware of a merchant applying a fee for transactions, we will caution them and remind them of the terms and conditions they accepted. If the merchant continues to apply fees, the bank will remove the terminal from the merchant and discontinue the merchant relationship,” Fleming said. BSP Retail General Manager Daniel Faunt also reaffirmed this saying, “The availability of EFTPoS at any business increases the volume of sales as customers find electronic payments safe and convenient to do business with.” “In 2020 BSP removed the minimum fee of K0.50 per transaction for merchants and the fee is now 1% of the purchase amount which for small transactions of say K20 reduces the merchant fee from K0.50 to K0.20. Since May 2021, we have also waived EFTPoS fees for Kundu Standard customers who transact below K26. This means that all transactions below K26 are free whilst transactions above K26 will attract a K0.25 fee to the customer,” said Faunt. “This enables customer’s convenience in paying for goods at stores and withdrawing cash at the checkout using the EFTPoS terminal without BSP charges, rather than withdrawing cash from ATMs. We encourage customers to continue utilising this payment method for cheaper, faster, safer and convenient way to purchase goods and services,” Faunt added. BSP will continue to make banking more accessible, cheaper and safer for its customers through its products, electronic banking channels and extensive network of branches and sub branches across PNG.