Emmanuel MAIPE

Four people including a nine-year-old girl, are now safe and sound after being rescued from their recent ordeal on the waters of Morobe province all thanks to the swift response by PNG Ports Corporation Limited (PNG Ports). According to a statement from PNG Ports, the group was en route to Lae city from the Morobe Patrol Post when their boat capsized at around 6pm in the evening on Tuesday 23rd July. On board were the skipper of the boat, a young man, and a mother with her daughter. When the boat overturned, three clung to the floating vessel while the young man swam for four hours, against tides, to reach an anchored ship, Western Queen, to call for help. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PNG Ports, Mr. Neil Papenfus, said the Pilotage team, who was on standby for vessel movements that night, picked up the SOS call via radio communication from MV Western Queen at 10:50pm and immediately responded. “By 11:00pm, our Coxswain, John Suki; Marine Pilot, Capt. Joseph Wakam; Marine Engineer, Eliphaz Waninumbo; and Seaman, Clark Narara; were on their way on board our new Pilot Boat Morobe, while Marine Pilot, Charles Kendo remained to coordinate the search and rescue from land with the Operations team,” said Mr. Papenfus “With the aid of the pilot boats’ state-of-the-art navigational equipment and search lights, the survivors were located within 10 minutes and rescued using the modern man-overboard system.” “Upon receiving confirmation of the successful rescue, Japhet, an Executive Security Systems guard called the National St Johns Ambulance Service via the toll-free 111 number, reporting the incident at 11:30pm. An ambulance crew was dispatched to Lae Port to await the survivors' arrival.” “The Pilot Boat arrived at Lae Port at 12:24am to drop off the first three and then returned to Western Queen at anchorage, to pick up the other survivor,” he said. According to the ambulance officers, Othniel Ezra Wohuifia and Gai Amini, the four survivors were alert, conscious, and in stable condition, though they were suffering from hypothermia due to prolonged exposure to cold water. The ambulance officers monitored the survivors until their body temperatures normalised and then handed them over to PNG Ports for further care and drop-off arrangements. Mr. Papenfus commended PNG Ports’ Lae team, as well as the Master and crew of Western Queen, St Johns Ambulance, and port workers present that night, whose collective roles ensured that the lives were saved.

Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has commended New Porgera Ltd (NPL) for remaining on track with production at Porgera Gold Mine and meeting its initial targets, despite the operational challenges presented by the recent Mulitaka landslide in Enga province. He made this statement while welcoming the announcement that Porgera Gold Mine has met or exceeded its targets since resuming mining in December last year, with gold production for the first half of the year above guidance and all-in sustaining costs trending lower. Marape also highlighted his privilege of meeting Barrick President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Mark Bristow, who was in the country to review NPL’s second-quarter results, alongside Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas and Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka. “I commend New Porgera Ltd, and especially operator Barrick, for the work it has done since mine resumption last December,” Prime Minister Marape said. “I am happy that the mine is near almost 100 percent production now after overcoming so many obstacles.” “New Porgera Ltd is a good model for Papua New Guinea's partnership with overseas investors on large projects like Porgera.” “We look forward to ramping up security at the mine and improving road access, in partnership with New Porgera Ltd.” Mr. Bristow said keeping Porgera open in the wake of the landslide allowed for a swift response by the mine to the collective recovery effort while sustaining the mine’s contribution to the provincial and national economies. “Reacting rapidly to the disaster, our teams put into operation an air bridge and a temporary pipe across the slip to be able to supply fuel and essential goods not only to the mine but to local businesses serving the tens of thousands of residents of the Porgera valley.” “The cooperation of the Mulitaka community is essential to keeping these lifelines open until the permanent bypass road can be completed,” Bristow said, expressing his deepest sympathies to the families and friends of victims of the landslide and reaffirming NPL’s commitment to impacted communities. He said Porgera employees have been on the ground in Mulitaka daily and are embedded at the Enga Provincial Government’s disaster relief center in Wabag to assist with all aspects of the rehabilitation effort. These include the delivery of essential goods and fuel while contributing geotechnical expertise to assist with ground stabilization and the design of the new bypass road. Barrick and JV-partner Zijin also jointly contributed US$1 million towards relief efforts, approximately half of which has already been deployed. Meantime, Mr. Bristo made it clear that NPL stands ready to pay benefits directly to landowner households, without going through middlemen, once the CDA is executed, adding that the mine would make additional infrastructure contributions to the project footprint area through effective use of the tax credit scheme in collaboration with local and provincial authorities. NPL currently employs 2, 500 people, of whom 57% are from Porgera and Enga, 40% from the rest of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and 3% expatriates. The first gold, following the resumption of operations at the mine, was poured in January, electricity from the Hides power plant in Hela Province was restored in April and a throughput performance test agreed to with PNG was achieved in June, four months ahead of schedule. Bristow also singled out the lack of law and order as the greatest threat to the continued operation and profitability of the mine, requiring the active support of all stakeholders to ensure that Porgera could continue to deliver benefits in line with its potential as a Tier One1 asset.

Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Walter Schnaubelt says there has not been any changes nor increase in airport levies and fees, charged by the National Airports Corporation, since 2013, despite inflation and the increased cost of doing business since then. “For the past 11 years, despite the high costs of operations due to inflation and other economic factors, National Airports Corporation (NAC) has not increased airport levies and charges as it should.” The Minister was responding to calls made by Member for Bulolo, Sam Basil Jnr, to review and reduce all unnecessary airport levies and charges. “While we understand the current plight of our people in relation to the rising cost of living, it is also important to understand that airports are complex businesses with massive infrastructure – runways, terminals and security systems – that require constant upkeep and upgrades,” Schnaubelt said. He explained that the collection of airport charges helps in funding essential services such as baggage handling, airport terminal facilities and services and passenger screening and security, which are important factors in ensuring safety and security for all airport users. “People should have researched relevant information pertaining to NAC and its responsibility before commenting unnecessarily raising baseless points in the mainstream and social media.” He noted there’s constant confusion on who is NAC compared to airline companies. “We have no jurisdictions over airline companies’ operations and fee structures they impose on passengers.” “The Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Papua New Guinea (CASA PNG), the regulator monitors all compliance issues focusing on safety and security of their operations.” “Under licenses, NAC is also monitored by CASA PNG on safety and security matters and for the usage of airport facilities.” “Our levies as of the date of this article sit only at K68 per ticket per passenger,” Schnaubelt clarified. Minister Schnaubelt further revealed that airline operators owe NAC K150m for usage of airport facilities and debt recovery is ongoing. “Debt recovery only commenced when I became Minister.” “At this juncture I thank the Minister for State Enterprises Hon. William Duma and Air Niugini Limited management for their weekly debt reduction instalment and simultaneously, meeting current rental and aeronautical obligations.” “It’s still a long road ahead for NAC to be financially sustainable.” Schnaubelt stated that despite the challenges, NAC has remained committed to providing safe and secure operations while maintaining the collection of existing charges for 11 years since 2013.

The landowners from upstream Petroleum Development License (PDL) areas, must really organise themselves properly so to benefit from the funds from the PNG LNG project, which are still sitting idle in trust accounts for several years now. Prime Minister (PM) James Marape stressed this recently when stating that only by doing so, the concerned landowners can access the over K1 billion worth of royalties and equities that are still sitting in trust accounts. He said landowner direct royalty and equity entitlements from what was signed in the Umbrella Benefits Sharing Agreement (UBSA) at Kokopo and split by percentage at all the Landowners Based Benefits Sharing Agreements (LBBSAs), need their help to be released for their use. “This fund is now over K1 billion that is sitting in accounts held by both Government and Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) at Bank South Pacific and Central Bank,” Prime Minister Marape said. “I encourage landowners to assist the Department of Petroleum in resolving all outstanding issues. This will allow for their rightful entitlements to flow through like what the landowners of Papa-Lealea in Central Province are presently receiving.” PM Marape also informed landowners that whatever else was owed, as per UBSA and LBBSAs, would be verified and settled.

The 1st Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (1RPIR) marked the 43rd Remembrance Day this morning with the annual Dawn Service at the Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby city attended by the soldiers, their families and some members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The Service is to remember the soldiers that served and their sacrifices during the Second World War, including the Papua New Guinean soldiers of the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the Niugini Infantry Battalion who fought alongside the Allied troops, which marked a significant part in the country’s history. 1RPIR’s Commanding Officer (CO) and Area Commander, Lt Col (Leftenant Colonel) Ezron Dakaetavara, said today is a time to remember the service and sacrifices of these brave men, and those that have served in other conflicts that PNG was involved in like the Bougainville crisis from 1990 to 1997 and the Vanuatu Campaign in 1980. “On this day we remember with pride their courage, their compassion and their comradeship.” “We also remember allies that fought alongside them for our freedom during the campaign in Papua New Guinea during World War Two.” “We also remember and honour those who died or were wounded or missing in action in the tragedy of war." “We remember and honour them for what they have accomplished for our nation and have left us a splendid heritage,” said the CO. Lt Col Ezron Dakaetavara further said that the marking of the 43rd Remembrance Day was also significant because it also marks 82 years on since the first shots were fired by the Papuan Infantry Battalion in action against the Japanese in World War Two (WW2). The Dawn Service this morning saw the Guard Mounting done by members of Bravo Company, who proceeded to the parade grounds at 5am to commence the service witnessed by families and the service men and women of the 1RPIR. The service started off with a history of the members of the Papuan Infantry Battalion and their campaign in WW2, a hymn performed by students, a requiem, bible readings by two service men and the sermon delivered the Army Chaplin. This was later followed by the Tribute to Remembrance Day, Dedication to the Fallen, the Ode, the playing of the Last Post, the laying of wreaths, a minute of silence for the fallen, Lament, Reveille, and the National Anthem performed by students and the Final Blessing.

The Tongan government has granted a provisional temporary permit to Starlink to operate in the Kingdom for a six-month period. Almost a third of Tonga's population was cut off from the internet for more than a fortnight after a suspected quake on late last month disrupted the service to two outlying islands popular with tourists. The government had also deactivated Starlink, saying it did not have a licence to operate in the country. Tongans had started a petition, calling on the government to allow access to Starlink internet services. Tongans, especially in the outer islands, are seeking to use the Starlink global satellite network service, mostly via roaming subscriptions registered in other countries, as a lifeline during ongoing cable outage, according to a Matangi Tonga report. In a statement on Saturday, Tonga's Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change & Communications (MEIDECC) said the decision was in response to a "significant amount" of public concern. The ministry said the temporary permit includes several conditions to ensure compliance with government regulations, as well as aid the disruption of the domestic fibre optic cable to Vava'u and Ha'apai islands. One of the conditions of the permit is that Starlink Pacific Islands LLC is required to facilitate local payment methods for businesses in Tonga and to provide details of the terminals used in Tonga. The company must also ensure it satisfies all tax obligations and is expected to facilitate local payment methods for businesses in Tonga. "This temporary permit follows recent events where the government instructed Starlink to cease its services in Tonga due to illegal use of satellite terminals and disruptions caused by the undersea fibre cable outage to Vava'u and Ha'apai Islands since June 29th," the MEIDECC's chief executive Sione Pulotu 'Akau'ola said in a statement on Saturday. "The issuance of this permit aims to address public concerns while ensuring that operations are conducted in accordance with regulatory requirements, resorting to the connectivity outages in the outer islands, while the application for a full license is finalising." rnz.co.nz

The Minister for International Trade and Investment will be heading back to Indonesia in three week’s time along with a delegation including the Deputy Prime Minister, to talk investments in downstream processing. Minister Richard Maru in an interview with PNG HAUSBUNG revealed that this next trip will include the heads of State own Enterprises like PNG Power Limited, Kumul Mineral Holdings Limited and Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited, to gain insight into Indonesian companies engaged in downstream processing in their own country and secure their investments in Papua New Guinea (PNG), so to establish downstream processing facilities in the country. “We will return (to Indonesia) in three weeks’ time to look at possible business opportunities between Indonesia State owned companies in the mining and petroleum sector who are particularly involved in downstream processing of all their raw materials from gold to nickel,” said Minister Maru. Minister Maru said the recent trip to Indonesia was a successful one as it exposed the Papua New Guinea delegation to the successes of the Indonesian companies in downstream processing. “That’s the part they’ve already gone, and we can learn a lot from them, and we want to make sure we go back in three weeks time and visit the mines, visit the operations of those companies and see how we can invite them to come in, secure licenses in PNG and become joint venture partners with us.” Minister Maru added that although PNG’s partners like Australia have investments in the country, full scale downstream processing in both the resource sector and agriculture sector is not one of those investments they engage in, instead its all about extracting raw materials and sending them away overseas. “We no longer want to do that, its not only in the mining and petroleum space, but also in other sectors including agriculture and fisheries, forestry. We need to go down this path.” “It's a whole of government approach, we are going to downstream processing, creating industries and jobs for our citizens. We have a lot of unemployed youths; we need to find employment for them,” he stated. Maru said PNG needs to learn a lot from Indonesia and he is excited about their keenness to assist PNG to go the path Indonesia follows, which has helped to build a strong economy for them. “Right now, there is no big Indonesian company who is an investor in Papua New Guinea. We are hoping that before the end of the year, we will have some decisions to have major joint ventures between Indonesian companies, not only in mining and petroleum space, but in fisheries and agriculture.” “We need to now work on that by going back to Indonesia and look at some arrangements so that in discussion with them, we make sure to have these agreements and announcements by September this year.

Air Niugini has announced that it will recommence its jet services to Port Vila, Vanuatu on the 03rd of August 2024. It’s a weekly service that departs Port Moresby every Saturday to Port Vila via Honiara, Solomon Islands. These flights will be operated by Air Niugini’s Boeing 737 aircraft. Air Niugini’s Acting Chief Executive Office, Mr. Gary Seddon said the Port Moresby/Port Vila flights provide an opportunity to reconnect businesses in the two Melanesian countries and introduces seamless flight to Vanuatu and Asia and Vanuatu and Cairns via the Port Moresby gateway. He said this flight between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Vanuatu, and the various sectors promotes understanding, partnership and ideals of the Melanesian countries. “In addition, the flight also provides excellent connections between Vanuatu/Manila, Vanuatu/Hong Kong and Vanuatu/Cairns, Australia.” Air Niugini previously operated to Port Vila until 2020 when operations were suspended due to the COVID pandemic. Vanuatu and PNG form part of the Melanesian countries, the others include Fiji and Solomon Islands. Air Niugini also operates a weekly flight to Fiji and five flights per week to Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister (PM) James Marape and his entourage arrived back in country this morning, touching down in Port Moresby satisfied with the outcomes of his visits to both Indonesia and Japan. At a press conference shortly after landing, Marape said the trips to both countries was a successful one, having signed agreements and strengthening trade, investments and political ties. He said Papua New Guinea’s relations with Indonesia is now at its highest-level following talks of trade and the signing of four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), two for the transport sector between the two countries, one for education and another for health. Marape said the MoU for the transportation sector should enable ease of vehicles, vessels and aircrafts to move between the two countries, while the MoU for health should boost assistance to improve PNG’s health sector. He further stated that the MoU for Education should see some great assistance from it, with Indonesia offering 2, 000 spaces for PNG students on scholarships to study in universities and colleges in Indonesia. He said Indonesia is a big importer of PNG goods and is also big on downstream processing, something which PNG can learn from their various models and apply in the country. “They have advised us to pick up their business model. They have 51 to 49 percent equity arrangements in most of their large-scale investments in Indonesia,” said Marape. “Indonesia market is ready for our produce, like wise Indonesian businesses have offered to come for a shared partnership with us in business.” Meanwhile, for the Japan visit on the back of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM), further trade talks where hosted which PNG further strengthened its trade ties with Japan. “Conversation for PNG context, we talked around how Japan as a partner nation, can partner small island nations to ensure their resources are harvested properly and benefits go back to the countries concern.” He said this covers all resources, including fisheries like tuna which PNG is one of the big exporting countries in the pacific. Climate change mitigation was also on the agenda where Japan assured the pacific leaders that it is taking measures to prevent further impacts, including the release of the Fukushima Niuclear Wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, of which the Japan PM Fumio Kishida assured the pacific leaders that the discharge was being conducted in compliance with international safety standards and practices. Meantime, PM Marape said that PNG is now looking forward to the 2025 Osaka Expo in Japan where PNG aims to further market itself to the Asian markets.

Empowering provincial centers to improve tax collection and compliance efforts was the objective of the Internal Revenue Commission Annual Provincial Managers meet in Lae this week. Commissioner General, Mr. Sam Koim emphasized the need to treat provincial centers as effective operational centers, separate from headquarters in the city of Port Moresby. "The goal is to make provincial centers more active in terms of ensuring tax compliance and, in doing so, improve tax collection efforts and ultimately increase tax revenue," he said. "The meeting is designed to help us understand the challenges faced by provincial managers and allocate resources to address those challenges to boost compliance efforts in the provinces," Koim added. Meanwhile, Commissioner of Tax, Mr. Samuel Loi highlighted the success of the taxpayer mapping initiative, which has already led to a 60% increase in active taxpayers. "The IRC expects GST tax revenue to grow substantially, potentially allowing for reductions as part of the overall fiscal reforms in other taxes such as Salaries Wages Tax or even Corporate Income Tax to attract foreign direct investment and address issues affecting businesses, contributing to overall economic growth," Loi stated. The IRC is committed to improving its operations at the provincial level and reducing non-compliance through better taxpayer data and targeted compliance efforts. That is why this annual meeting is crucial for aligning the IRC's strategy across its nationwide network.

The country’s consumer watchdog, the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) has stated that Air Niugini increasing its domestic airfares is a bad idea that will only lead to more pain on the already struggling airline company. The ICCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Commissioner, Mr. Paulus Ain in a statement said that the decision by Air Niugini to increase domestic airfares to cover cost and sustain its operations, is a misleading one and will see the airline losing more loyal clients and customers, resulting in the airline continuing to experience low revenue to sustain its operations. Air Niugini on Monday 15th July advised its valued customers that it was adjusting its domestic airfares effective on the day due to significant increase in the cost of fuel incurred in the last twelve months, and the substantial increased cost of airline supply chains both within the country and globally. According to the Air Niugini statement on Monday, passengers travelling on mid- range and full fare economic tickets will see increases between 15% and 25% with Business Class airfares also increasing. Mr. Ain said that under the current challenging economic environment, most people would not be travelling if the airfare is increased, which will see reduced volumes and revenues for the airline and decline in the operations of the airline. “Currently, our people do not have the purchasing power or disposable income to meet increase costs and they do not have the luxury of travelling unlike before,” said Mr. Ain. The ICCC is advising Air Niugini to reconsider its decision to increase the domestic airfares and look internally and identify cost- effective alternatives where it can utilize so to avoid losing customers.

The bilateral relationship between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Indonesia has diversified from border relations to broader areas since the inception of the Annual Leaders’ Dialogue in 2022. Prime Minister (PM) James Marape made this known at the two leaders' joint press conference after the 3rd Papua New Guinea - Indonesia Leaders' Dialogue held at Bogor Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia before jointly signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further expend that relationship. He said the PNG-Indonesia relations have diversified over the last three years since the inception of the Annual Leaders’ Dialogue, which has shifted the focus from just border relations to business, trade, investment, agriculture, economic infrastructure development, information communication and technology and energy, which has increased the opportunity for PNG in benefiting more from this bilateral relationship. He added that business-to-business cooperation has also intensified between the countries' chambers of business, synergizing efforts to increase trade, while adding that it was under President Widodo's leadership that the first PNG-Indonesia Leaders' Dialogue was initiated in 2022 in Jakarta. The PM said the Annual Leaders’ Dialogue has been an effective mechanism to coordinate and measure progress of the existing bilateral relations that continues to foster business, trade and commerce, and socioeconomic development, riding on Indonesia’s positive economic growth and PNG’s potential to harness and trade its vast renewable and non-renewable resources. Marape said as a part of policy reforms in both countries to grow the business-to-business and people-to-people relations, both governments have officially signed four Memorandum of Understanding to progress these areas further. Those four MoUs which were formalized are, • MoU on Cross Border Movement for Commercial Buses and Coaches, • MoU on Cross Border Transport of Goods by Motor Vehicles, • MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Education, and • Renewed MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Health. PM Marape later thanked President Widodo for continuing to foster relations with PNG even while preparing to hand over the reign of the presidency of the Republic of Indonesia to his successor, H.E Prabowo Subianto. Marape also thanked President Widodo for the bilateral relations he has fostered with the people and the government of Papua New Guinea during his tenure as the President of the Republic of Indonesia.