EU-STREIT Programme in Papua New Guinea, further to its mission to encourage more youth to take part in agriculture as a profession, pulled together 626 lead farmers, including 335 inspired youths, from different locations in the Greater Sepik Region, who were also made aware of crucial roles women play in different nodes of the agri-food value chain. Wewak, ESP – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the EU Funded UN Joint STREIT Programme in Papua New Guinea recently conducted 6 capacity building trainings for cocoa and vanilla farmers in different remote parts of the Greater Sepik Region. The interests shown by the youths were the highlights in all training venues who made up 54% of total 626 trainees. Conducted in collaboration with Cocoa Board and Provincial Division of Agriculture and Livestock, 4 out of 6 trainings were focused on imparting knowledge, techniques and skills on cocoa bud grafting (propagation) that were held in Fatima, Lumi District Sandaun Province, and in Passam Village, Wewak Rural District, East Sepik Province. The two other trainings were organised in close collaboration with the DAL/Spice Board to build the capacity of rural farmers in Mioseng Village, Drekikier, and Aupik Village, Maprik District, East Sepik Province on ‘Vanilla, Husbandry and Processing. It was the first for many enthusiastic girls and boys to attend a formal, tailored training on advanced, efficient agricultural practices. The participants are expected to pass on the new skills to at least 10 other people in their clusters. “I know how to look after my plants, but I now know my mistakes to improve,” said Wilson Kuma, 23, a participant farmer from Mioseng Village in Drekikier. Many rural farmers live on cocoa gardens and cocoa cultivation that have been affected by cocoa pod borer (CPB) pests’ infestation, which destroyed the lifeline of almost the entire cocoa-dependant rural population in the Greater Sepik Region. Hence, the desire for new knowledge and support to revive these CPB infested trees resulted in an additional 75 participants who attended as observers in the 3 cocoa block management trainings in Sandaun Province. “EU-STREIT PNG Programme encourage the equal participation of women and youth as they play important role on the development of cocoa value chain. The technical skill gained from the budding training enables participants to replace old cocoa trees with new clone seedlings to increase production and improve livelihood.” explained Dr Rabi Rasaily, the Programme’s Senior Agricultural Officer (Cocoa, Vanilla and Energy) who led the mission to Sandaun Province. The trainings, which include practical sessions, also covered Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) that will enable farmers to apply appropriate pruning and shade control practices on their blocks as per eco-friendly methods and practices with zero tolerance on use of pesticides. The Cocoa farmers were also presented with shade clothes and 15,000 poly bags to raise their CPB tolerant seedlings in new nursery set-ups supported by EU-STREIT PNG Programme. Meanwhile, rural dwellers who attended the vanilla sessions were also trained on how to pollinate the vanilla flowers efficiently by using a simple but viable technique to lift the rostellum, which acts as a shield between the stamen and stigma, and press the stamen with the thumb gently down to the stigma for a successful pollination. “The advantage of this method is the speed and accuracy to pollinate flowers in the morning between 6.30 am and 10.30 am,” explained Mr Nanda Siri, the Programme’s National Vanilla Production Officer to farmers in Moiseng Village, Drekikier. As an integral part of sustainable agri-food value chains development, awareness was also conducted among the participants to recognise, appreciate and further promote women’s vital roles and contribution to households and communities and how they can be engaged as equal partners along all nodes of agri-food value chains, including but not limited to decision-making, financial management and establishing new and running existing ventures to increase sustainably the household- and community-level economic returns and wellbeing.   During the training in Passam Village, Mrs Patu Shang, the Gender and Youth Inclusion Specialist of the Programme said: “So many things have been done in the past without women who actually contribute more than 50% of work from household chores to farming and it is a pity that we do not know their position in the agri-food value chain,”, said Mrs Shang. “Imagine your big sister, small sister or mother, you are doing development, and she is not there, so we must not put women behind because without women, there are no men,” added Mrs Shang. The EU-STREIT PNG, being implemented as a UN Joint Programme (FAO as the leading agency/administrative agent, and ILO, ITU, UNCDF and UNDP as implementing partners), is the largest grant-funded Programme of the European Union in the country and the Pacific region, which focuses on increasing sustainable and inclusive economic development of rural areas through Increasing the economic returns and opportunities from cocoa, vanilla and fishery value chains and strengthening and improving the efficiency of value chain enablers including the business environment and supporting sustainable, climate-resilient transport and energy infrastructure development.

Police operation to apprehend a criminal gang responsible for a spate of serious crimes in the Raikos District of Madang Province is currently underway after their deployment into the area yesterday by helicopter. The operation consists of 21 police officers including 10 members of the Northern Mobile Group and 11 members of Madang Police. Assistant Commissioner of Operations for Northern Command Peter Guinness told this newsroom that the planned operation will be carried out for two weeks where they will go into the areas where the suspects are believed to be in and possibly make arrests. “People in the area came forward yesterday with information when police officers touched down and we have good leads at the moment,” Mr Guinness said. “The Newtribe Mission who had an establishment in the area has also assisted with information on the suspects’ location.” “This “Hetwara Gang” has been causing terror to the villagers for some time now and police have been handicapped with logistics capacity as the area is very remote and only accessible by air.” “But we have prepared a plan and are now executing that. Until it is accomplished, I won’t say anything further on that,” Mr Guinness said. Meanwhile the Assistant Commissioner of Operations said the Madang Provincial Government and Raikos District Administration are squarely responsible to address this issue however have not made any commitments to date. Image Source: Manolos Aviation

He is the fourth F1 driver to be knighted, following Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart - but the first to get the honour while still competing. Sir Lewis Hamilton has been knighted at Windsor Castle, just days after missing out on a record eighth title. He was joined by his mother, Carmen Lockhart, as Prince Charles performed the ceremony. They later posed in the castle's quadrangle for pictures but Sir Lewis, 36, did not talk to reporters. He is the fourth F1 driver to be knighted, following Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jackie Stewart - and the first to be awarded the honour while still competing. Sir Lewis was included in the New Year Honours list after a record-breaking year in which he beat Michael Schumacher's number of race wins and equalled the German's seventh world title. On Sunday, his latest season came to a disappointing conclusion, however, when he lost a controversial one-lap shoot-out in Abu Dhabi to Max Verstappen. Sir Lewis told Sky Sports at the time: "Congratulations to Max and his team. I think we did an amazing job this year. Everyone back at the factory and here worked so hard in this most difficult of seasons." SOURCE: SKY NEWS

Out of the 26,544 grade 12 students that sat for this year’s National Examination, only 9852 students made it through and they were selected to higher learning institutions around the country. This was revealed today following the official launching of the Grade 12 online Selection, officiated by the Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science (DHERST) and Technology, Mr Wesley Raminai. Out of the 16,600 students  that missed out, about 5319 students are likely to secure a space at any of the DHERST institutions given the admission quota that still needs to be filled up. The Acting Secretary for DHERST Dr Francis Hualupmomi explained that the institutions will need to check their respective schools for spaces that are still available and then go back to the Admission pool to select from the 16,600 remaining students who may have met the requirements. Dr Hualupmomi said it is unfortunate that not everyone has been selected, however there are other opportunities out there and students must not look at this as the end of the world but strive to do better. “For those of you that did not secure a placing, please do not be disheartened and limit yourselves.” “NOAS is one of many options you have and there are also other options you can tap into to get yourselves into your desired institutions.” “If your grades are very low, we strongly encourage you to upgrade your marks and apply as a non-school leaver next year,” Dr Hualupmomi said. The Department currently has 57 registered Higher Education Institutions in the country offering a total of 237 various programmes and the Department is prioritising in creating more spaces in the Tertiary institutions, hoping to increase the numbers by next year. Meanwhile Minister Wesley Raminai was impressed with an almost equal number of girls to boys sitting for this year’s National Examination. “Among the total number of students that sat for the exam, 41% of them are females and 59% are males.” He said it is good to see that the gap is almost closing up with more girls striving in education. Grade 12 students throughout the country have been advised to log onto their NOAS accounts to check their results as of today.

More than 800 teachers in West New Britain have taken part in professional development and are better able to support their students to improve their reading and writing. Kapore Elementary in Talasea District is one of 353 schools in the province participating in the Pikinini Kisim Save (PKS) project. The project is supported through the Papua New Guinea - Australia Partnership and delivered by CARE International and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. Among those trained was Kapore Elementary head teacher Philomina who said there have been great changes in student learning since the trainings were delivered. “Our preparatory classes can read and identify words through sounding,” she said. “Teachers use different teaching strategies to teach their students reading and writing, and students are now more confident to sound out and blend words to form sentences. “Such a result in students learning is the outcome of teachers using their scripted lessons and applying literacy teaching strategies.” The PKS project strengthens teacher skills and encourages community leaders, education stakeholders and service providers to promote quality early grade education. It includes professional development for teachers, teaching and learning resources for schools, school leadership training and adult literacy programs. “The training was beneficial to the teachers and to the students,” Philomina continued. “We have improved our ways of setting up our classrooms for teaching and learning and using our Standards Based Curriculum (SBC) daily lessons and programs.” Since 2019, more than 5,200 teachers have received training through the PKS project, benefitting more than 82,000 children across in targeted provinces.

Papua New Guinea was among the rest of the world in joining the UAE Minister of Health and Prevention, His Excellency Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Al Owais and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization in a walk to commemorate the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day. Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldier who is working as PNG’s Lead Logistics Officer in the world expo, Major Elizah Selan, carried the PNG flag and walked with the global health leaders, frontline healthcare workers and their families with the rest of the international participants in the event which was celebrated for the first time in the Middle East. The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a calendar event of the WHO and is celebrated annually on the 12th of December. The date is the anniversary of the first United Nation Resolution calling all Nations to provide for their citizens’ affordable and quality health care. This year’s campaign was “Leave No One’s Health Behind: Invest in the Health System for All”. It focused on promoting physical activity and health for all gender, age and abilities. The 3.5 km route passed through all three of Expo 2020 Dubai’s thematic districts.

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, has tweeted he will pay $11bn (£8.3bn) in tax for this year. Mr Musk has been embroiled in a public debate on social media over how much tax he pays. Earlier this week, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Mr Musk should stop "freeloading off everyone else". "For those wondering, I will pay over $11bn in taxes this year," the billionaire responded. Mr Musk, founder of electric car maker Tesla and aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, became the world's richest person earlier this year. Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts his wealth at $243bn, while Tesla is worth around $1tn and SpaceX is worth $100bn. Last week, Mr Musk was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. That prompted Senator Warren to tweet: "Let's change the rigged tax code so 'The Person of the Year' will actually pay taxes and stop freeloading off everyone else." US President Joe Biden is keen to increase taxes on the ultra-rich, although legislative plans have so far stalled in Congress. Some senators, including Ms Warren, have backed the idea of taxing not only the income of America's richest citizens, but also the rising value of the assets they hold, like shares. Many of America's wealthiest citizens don't take a directly taxable salary. Instead, they hold their wealth in shares and other investments, then take out loans using those assets as collateral. Mr Musk responded to Senator Warren's tweet, saying he would be paying "more taxes than any American in history this year". 'Mind-boggling' Columbia University professor and tax expert, Robert Willens, said that was likely to be a fair comment from Mr Musk, who had made himself liable for "mind-boggling amounts of taxable income" in 2020, through exercising stock options that would otherwise have expired and been worthless. Stock options are agreements that the holder can purchase a stock at a set price in the future. The current value of Tesla shares is significantly higher than when Mr Musk was granted the original stock options, so the value he gains by exercising those options would be considerable and would count as taxable income, added Mr Willens. "[Mr Musk] probably felt it would be prudent to generate as much taxable income in 2021 as possible, on the theory that income in 2022 might be taxed at higher rates," he explained. If some of Congress' more radical measures were enacted, that would have had a big impact on Mr Musk's tax liabilities, Mr Willens added. The bulk of Mr Musk's tax payment, to be made next year, will go to federal tax authorities, but the state of California, where Tesla and Mr Musk have been based until recently, will also claim a portion. Earlier this month, Tesla announced in a US Securities Exchange Corporation (SEC) filing that it was moving its corporate headquarters to Texas - a plan Mr Musk had hinted at in media interviews for several months, citing unhappiness with the Californian state government laws and criticising the high cost of living in Silicon Valley. Texas has more lenient tax rules - it does not collect income tax, in contrast to California, which has the highest income tax rates among US states, according to thinktank the Tax Foundation. Over the last few weeks, Mr Musk has sold around $14bn of Tesla shares, which Mr Willens said was likely to be in part in order to generate cash to satisfy his tax liabilities. While the numbers involved in the case of Mr Musk were exceptional, this was a standard approach for a corporate executive to take to expiring stock options, he added. SOURCE: BBC NEWS

Milne Bay Province is once again set to come alive this festive season with the traditional staging of the two-day Huhu War Canoe Festival starting Wednesday (tomorrow) 22nd December until Thursday 23rd December, kicking off the Christmas festivities in the province. And what better way to welcome the Christmas activities with BSP Alotau Branch coming on board for the first year as a Bronze sponsor, with K10,000 towards the Canoe Festival. “People and culture play an integral part in strengthening community and business relationships,” said BSP Alotau Branch Manager Martin Gilo, when presenting the K10,000 cheque to the Huhu War Canoe Festival Committee (HWCF) for the upcoming canoe festival. “As the only home-grown bank in the South Pacific, we like to grow with our community, and investing in events like this enhances our community relationships,” said Mr Gilo. “While we acknowledged Milne Bay Province as a prominent tourism hub in the country and a key contributor to PNG’s economy, we believe supporting this event will encourage tourism and expose local and traditional products,” added Gilo. Chairman of the Huhu War Canoe Festival Committee, Kaimuyoni Kila, thanked BSP saying, “We are thrilled that BSP continues to support our events. The cultural events are a powerful expression of creativity and an integral part of the local community and we are fortunate to have BSP as a community partner.” This year is the first year BSP has stepped in to support the Huhu War Canoe Festival as Bronze sponsors, and hope that the support will continue to develop the close relationship with the Milne Bay community. Over the years, BSP remains committed to building strong partnerships with communities through supporting cultural events, including the Kenu & Kundu Festival, Goroka Show, Morobe Agricultural Show, Sepik Crocodile Festival, Wawagira & Mask Festival, Bulolo Show and Rabaul Frangipani Show. This year, the bank has invested over a million Kina in sponsorship in supporting Charities and Organizations, Conferences and Sports. BSP takes great pride in supporting the people and causes that are important to our customers throughout Papua New Guinea and across the South Pacific. The two days festival will be held in Milne Bay Province starting on Wednesday 22nd December, 2021, and Thursday 23th December, 2021. Picture courtesy: papuanewguinea.travel

Canada has provided a welcome boost to support a range of COVID-19 prevention activities delivered by the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) across rural Oro (Northern) Province. The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives has committed to KTF’s COVID-19 response, Project Airborne, with funds supporting the most recent delivery of hygiene supplies to Oro Province, as well as KTF’s first round of vaccination patrols across the region. With the Delta variant present across the country and the looming risk of Omicron, maintaining supply of sanitation, hygiene and personal protective equipment to remote regions is more critical than ever to keep communities safe by implementing Niupela Pasin measures; regular hand washing, mask wearing, distancing, and the final line of defence against the virus, vaccination. High Commissioner-designate to Papua New Guinea, His Excellency Mr Mark Glauser, says “The COVID 19 pandemic is a global threat that does not recognise borders. It will only be overcome through coordinated global action. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting equitable access to sanitation supplies, vaccines and education, in order to prevent further devastating health, social, economic and security impacts on people around the world. We’re proud to be supporting the great work of the Kokoda Track Foundation to keep the Oro Province in Papua New Guinea safe”. Supplies and virus and vaccination awareness materials have been distributed across the province, delivered by any means possible; boat, helicopter and by foot to villages across the Kokoda Track. Working in conjunction with the Northern (Oro) Provincial Health Authority, KTF undertook their inaugural vaccination patrols in two locations – the Northern Beaches and the Kokoda Rural LLG. Led by Florence Tumbari, Health Extension Officer at Kokoda Memorial Hospital, the team included suitably qualified KTF Archer Leaders Program alumni trained to administer vaccinations: Peter Mabin (Medicine) and Michelle Miana (Pharmacy). Over a fortnight, the team moved from village to village across the Kokoda region, raising community awareness and addressing any concerns about the virus and vaccination. Communities were also offered the opportunity to have the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered. The team noticed a slow but steady growth in the number of people choosing to protect themselves, their families and communities by getting vaccinated. Michelle Miana noted that even in rural areas, the main source of vaccination information was via social media channels, particularly Facebook and WhatsApp; much of which is not accurate. The team rose to the challenge of correcting misinformation through the awareness activities, as Michelle observed, “Many of the villagers showed interest to find out more on the COVID-19 vaccines. Frequently asked questions were based on the contents of the vaccine and the type of side effects/expected effects to be aware of. Generally, most people reacted positively by receiving credible information through the awareness programs. “An example was a 65-year-old woman who was against vaccination earlier this year when health teams visited her village, finally made up her mind to get vaccinated after attending the awareness and asking questions concerning the vaccines.” This combination of hygiene supplies, factual information about the virus and the vaccine, and the vaccine itself is the pathway to halting the spread of COVID-19 across PNG, one arm at a time. With this support from Canada, alongside the PNG Australia Partnership and corporate donations, to date KTF’s Project Airborne has delivered over 135,000 water, sanitation and hygiene products, 212,000 items of personal protective equipment to aid posts, schools and colleges, and delivered awareness in excess of 336,000 people across Oro, Central, Western and New Ireland Provinces.

The National Capital District Commission (NCDC) has registered with BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) as a Mobile Banking Merchant to offer digital mobile payment for NCDC Services in Port Moresby. National Capital District Commission (NCDC) is a Corporate and Municipal Authority established pursuant to Section 4 of the Constitution governed by the NCDC Chairman, who is the Governor of NCD and the Chief Executive, who is the NCDC City Manager. As part of Port Moresby’s modernisation and transformation strategy, NCDC City Management endeavours to optimize revenue collection and therefore ensuring service users have the opportunity to pay their bills on time with the introduction of mobile digital payments for NCDC municipal service is well received by the NCDC. NCDC City Manager Bernard Kipit said, “By becoming a Mobile Merchant on the BSP Mobile Banking service, this enables alternative payments options for residents to pay for municipal services using their mobile phone 24/7 for services like NCDC Land Tax, Garbage Rates, Dump Fees, Burial Fees and Market Vendor Fees, in an efficient, accountable and faster process.” [caption id="attachment_17790" align="alignnone" width="433"] NCD Governor Powes Parkop[/caption] “Significantly, this accomplishment provides all our customers mobile payments without needing to come our office which effectively means they can remain up to date on their bills, and avoid penalties for late fees. It will definitely increase the efficiency and ease of reconciliation, with the reduced hassles associated with handling cash and more secure way to receive payments means my staff do not have to visit the bank regularly. The challenges of COVID situation in Port Moresby has impacted many service providers, and this mode of payment reduces direct customer-contact with our staff and equally important is all NCDC services’ clients can pay immediately to access our services” said Bernard Kipit. When paying your NCDC Service, payment steps are: Dial *131# for BSP MB Customers and enter your Mobile PIN to access the service Select Payments and choose “NCDC Services” Enter invoice number Enter payment amount Choose receipt recipient Enter recipient number Confirm payment Payment e-receipt is generated as an instant SMS notification as soon as the customer confirms payment and sent to both the paying customer and NCDC as the Merchant. Businesses interested in registering as Mobile Merchants can contact BSP through email servicebsp@bsp.com.pg or call BSP 3201212 or 70301212.

Family and sexual violence (FSV) services in Hela Province have been given a major boost with the opening of the Tari Family and Sexual Violence Unit (FSVU). The purpose-built unit significantly enhances the ability of police to investigate and prosecute family and sexual violence, child abuse and similar crimes and provide vital support to survivors and their families. The K1.6 million unit, which includes private interview and counselling rooms, a children’s play area and disability access, was built with support from the Australian Government through the PNG-Australia Partnership. It is the 27th FSVU to be established with Australian Government support and is part of a network of 47 FSVUs now operating across PNG. [caption id="attachment_17784" align="alignnone" width="623"] Hela Governor Phillip Undiallu giving a speech during the opening of the new facility.[/caption] Australian High Commissioner Jon Philp, who joined Hela Governor Phillip Undiallu and RPNGC Deputy Commissioner Anton Billie in officially opening the Tari FSVU, said the facility was the culmination of more than five years of effort by many including the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, the Hela Provincial Administration, women advocates and community organisations. “PNG has robust laws against family and sexual violence, but it is often down to units like the one we formally open today to help translate these laws into actions that protect survivors and their dependents, hold perpetrators to account and make communities safer,” Mr Philp said. “Gender based violence is a significant challenge globally, including in PNG and Australia. It destroys families, communities, and economies. Tackling it requires coordinated community and government action to change mindsets and improve responses." Sergeant Alice Arigo, who founded the RPNGC’s Family and Sexual Violence Desk at the Tari Police Station in 2014, is the Tari FSVU’s inaugural Officer in Charge. [caption id="attachment_17785" align="aligncenter" width="644"] Australian High Commissioner Jon Philp (Centre), Hela Governor Phillip Undiallu (right) and RPNGC Deputy Commissioner Anton Billie officially open the new facility.[/caption] Sergeant Arigo said demand for the FSVU, and related services was expanding rapidly in Hela as awareness of laws against FSV grew. In 2019 alone, the province’s three Family Support Centres helped more than 1500 survivors of rape, sexual assault and family and intimate partner violence, many of them children. The PNG-Australia Partnership is also funding national media and SMS campaigns to promote the 1-Tok Kaunselin free helpline 7150 8000; providing trainings to Village Court and District Magistrates on the Family Protection Act, protection orders and sorcery accusation related violence; and training to RPNGC and Public Prosecutors to improve the investigation and prosecution of FSV cases.

Thirty-three pilot whales have died after being stranded in the Far North. The Department of Conservation (DOC) were informed on Saturday of the stranding of 49 whales in Parengarenga Harbour on the east coast south of Cape Reinga. Fourteen had already died. Along with iwi Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kuri and Ngāi Takoto, tried to refloat the remainder. Only 16 survived, and the other 33 were blessed, measured, had samples taken and buried. DOC's website states despite their name, pilot whales are in fact one of the largest members of the dolphin family. DOC said pilot whales were prolific stranders, and this behaviour was not well understood. There are recordings of individual strandings all over New Zealand. SOURCE: RNZ NEWS