Emmanuel MAIPE

PNG Power Limited (PPL) has confirmed that power supply has been restored to the Highlands Region after a fault along the transmission line from Ramu Hydro Power Station was fixed just recently. Previously, PNG Power workmen could not enter the area where the fault was located to carry out this urgent maintenance work last week because they faced some strong resistance from local landowners of the area, putting workmen’s lives at risk. According to PNG Power, arrangements had to be made with the police and military personnel on the ground to find an approach to the local landowners in order to allow PPL workmen to enter the area and carry out this urgent maintenance work. Fortunately, an understanding was reached and work started. It took more than a day to fix the fault along the line and once that was resolved, electricity was fully restored to Western Highlands, Jiwaka, Southern Highland and Enga provinces. Previously, these provinces had to undergo very heavy power load shedding from the 27th of September up to the start of the month of October.

PNG Power Limited (PPL) has been able to restore power supply to most parts of Madang that were affected by the massive 6.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked the province and neighboring provinces over the weekend. According to the State-owned power company, the focus was to restored power to the main areas like the hospitals, schools, police stations, provincial administration facilities and the local businesses. PNG Power also confirmed that there are still some areas that have no power yet like the areas along the main highways, but the company has assured that engineers are working on fixing that to ensure they too are restored with full electricity. PNG Power teams are now on the ground going round to inspect, identify damages and work on fixing them. There have been reports of fallen power lines and power poles that would require equipment and some time to fix them. The power company teams on ground will be supported by Port Moresby city and Lae city operational teams, whenever there is a need for specific equipment or parts, the Lae office should be able to send it over to the Madang team as soon as possible to use to restore full electricity to the earthquake affected communities. Meanwhile, PNG Power is advising the people to report any downed power poles or transmission lines immediately so to prevent any danger, and PPL teams can attend to it quickly. The public is urged to report these damages to PNG Power by contacting the National Call Centre on Toll- Free number 116, Email to callcentre@pngpower.com.pg or WhatsApp on 70001009.

Due to the damages caused to the airport runway at the Madang Airport from the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked the province and its neighboring provinces over the weekend, airline services into Madang will be limited. For the national flag carrier Air Niugini, it has now temporarily downgraded its services to Madang to Dash 8 operations due to damage caused to part of the runway by the earthquake on Saturday October 7th. The airport authority, the National Airports Corporation (NAC) is currently working on a plan to fix the damages caused to the runway. Similarly, all Fokker and Boeing 737 flights to Mount Hagen have been downgraded to Dash8 aircraft due to maintenance works on the runway at Kagamuga airport. The airport runway is shortened to allow NAC to carry out maintenance and repair works on the runway. Air Niugini management will advise when jet operations into both Madang and Mt Hagen will resume. Air Niugini regrets the inconvenience caused to its customers, however the situation is beyond the airline’s control. Safety is always of paramount importance in the airline’s operations.

The OK Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) has thrown support behind the hosting of the big World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) coming up later this month with a K100, 000 sponsorship, recently presented to Department of International Trade and Investment. The OTML Manager Corporate Affairs, Mr. Dexter Wagambie said OTML was thankful for the opportunity to be part of WIBF. “OTML is a 100 per cent Papua New Guinea (PNG) owned entity with 67 per cent direct shareholding by the Independent State of PNG and the people of Western Province holding a 33 per cent interest." "This is a testament that we are a Papua New Guinean mine. We are having some challenges at the mine, but we still need to support our people, so we are coming on board as a bronze sponsor,” said Mr. Wagambie. “It is through hosting such an event that we will be able to give our SMEs and entrepreneurs the opportunity to participate in a global market." "We are privileged to participate in this event and to be part of the history." "If we did not come on board to participate then it would be an opportunity lost,” added Mr. Wagambie. Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru said he was extremely grateful for OK Tedi’s support. “OTML is the only mining company that we can say is ours. We need to build and own the next one; we cannot stop at one." "We are really hoping that one day OK Tedi will make a giant leap and 100 per cent own another mine; that will be really great for our country,” said Minister Maru. “OTML will have a booth and will nominate two delegates to attend the forum." "These are the benefits of being a sponsor to this event- you get to promote your company and you also get to attend the forum as delegates."

On- field spectator violence at the Moni Plus Port Moresby AFL 2023 Cup’s Senior Men's grand final match over the weekend resulted in the match being called off when things got really out of hand with police called in disperse the rowdy crowd. It was after the half time when the incident started, the match went on as normal with some intensity shown by the Gereka Bombers and the Gordons Kokofas. The match was going well, and the fans were all into it supporting their clubs but whenever the Kokofas boys ended up on the end of the field where the Bombers supporters were sitting, a hail of abusive comments were being hurled at them. From time-to-time small exchanges were made between the fans and the players on the field of play but nothing major at first. It was almost to the end of the third quarter when a few Gordons players were at the sideline next to the Bombers fans, some of whom were under the influence of alcohol. Some exchanges were made between some fans and even with some Bombers players that led to some push and shove. This then led to the Kokofas fans rushing onto the field from across the other side where they were at. Armed with sticks, plastic water bottles and other objects in hand, ran right to the center of the clash, putting everything into chaos. The fight broke out and some fans had to run for their lives, either by foot or in their vehicles. Others started attacking each other, running onto the field of play and across to the Gordons side to attack the fans on the other side. Things escalated quickly and despite the calls from the match officials to stop the madness, the fans and even some of the players on both sides joined in. Police had to intervene to stop it. A patrol vehicle with flashing lights and siren rushed onto the field from where it as parked at earlier to provide security during the match. However, with just one police vehicle and a smaller number of officers on board, they were even unable to disperse the crowd as fighting broke out to different parts of the Colts Oval. Police officers had to open fire into the air multiple times just to disperse the people. By then, the Gereka supporters were cased by all the Gordons supporters. Rocks, bottles, sticks and any object that can be held in hand and thrown were hurled at the poor retreating families on foot or in vehicles. Things cooled down afterwards when police reinforcement arrived. President of the Port Moresby AFL Association Mr. Douglas Lai, who was there in the middle of all the madness, said he was very disappointed with what had happed. “What we’ll do now is to have a meeting in the coming days to decide on what actions and steps to take. It’s very unfortunate what had happened towards the end of the quarter,” a disappointed Mr. Lai stated. Meanwhile, whatever the outcome of that meeting, will be made know hopefully by this week so fans can know whether to have a rematch or a tougher decision made to settle the match and a mutual agreement reached by everyone involved.

Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has condemned the attack on Israel, saying war-related violence is out of place in this modern day and age. He said: “In this day and age, we condemn attacks on each other to resolve disputes." “In a world where the modern family of nations are coming together under the United Nations charter and rules on human rights, any issues we may have with each other must be resolved through peaceful means." “Papua New Guinea has shown this since 2001 when we came together to sit at the table in the Bougainville Peace Process." "We settled on a Peace Agreement and we are now working through this process to resolve our issues peacefully." “So we want to encourage Hamas and others who feel aggrieved in matters in relation to the Nation of Israel to resolve these issues through negotiations that can lead to a peaceful outcome." “If you engage in war and acts of terrorism, it has a response equal to the violence that you have perpetrated." "War begets war; conflict leads to conflict." Prime Minister Marape also cautioned Israel on its response, saying it must be one which should not lead to more loss of lives.

More than 200 Israelis died in a surprise large-scale attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday, the army said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to reduce the group’s Gaza hideouts to “rubble”. Intense air strikes on the coastal enclave brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 232, Gaza officials said, following Hamas’s massive rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive, in the conflict’s bloodiest escalation in decades. Gun battles raged into the night between Israeli forces and hundreds of Hamas fighters in at least 22 Israel locations, including at least two where gunmen were holding hostages, the army said. “Terrorists rampaged and broke into homes, massacring civilians,” the army said, adding that more than 1,000 people in Israel were wounded by gunshots or the more than 3,000 incoming rockets. “We are at war,” Netanyahu told the stunned nation in the morning after Hamas had launched its multipronged attack at dawn, half a century after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. “I’m telling the people of Gaza: get out of there now because we’re about to act everywhere with all our force,” the premier said later. “We’ll strike them to the bitter end and avenge with force this black day they brought on Israel and its people.” He warned that “all the places in which Hamas is based, in this city of evil, all the places Hamas is hiding in, acting from — we’ll turn them into rubble.” “What happened today is unprecedented in Israel and I will see to it that it does not happen again.” As the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting for Sunday, President Joe Biden voiced “rock solid and unwavering” support for the US ally and warned “against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation”. ‘So many bodies’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke to Egypt, a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas about the “urgency in achieving an immediate halt” to the fighting, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. As night fell, the Israeli army said its forces were still engaged in live gun battles in a string of Israel locations, in an operation labelled “Swords of Iron”, as reservists were being called up. “There are still 22 locations where we are engaging with terrorists that came into Israel, from the sea, from the land and from the air,” said army spokesman Richard Hecht on what he labelled a “robust ground invasion”. Israeli army launched air strikes into Gaza later in the night while militants fired rockets, an AFP journalist reported. Hamas earlier released images of several Israelis taken captive, and another army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, confirmed that “there are kidnapped soldiers and civilians. “I can’t give figures about them at the moment. It’s a war crime committed by Hamas and they will pay the price.” Hecht said there was also a “severe hostage situation” in the Negev desert communities of Beeri and Ofakim east of Gaza. The Islamist group started the multi-pronged attack around 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) with thousands of rockets aimed as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some bypassing the Iron Dome defence system and hitting buildings. Hamas fighters — travelling in ground vehicles, motorised paragliders and boats — breached Gaza’s security barrier and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on residents and passersby. “Send help, please!” one Israeli woman sheltering with her two-year-old child pleaded as militants outside opened fire and tried to break into their safe room, Israeli media reported. Bodies were strewn on the streets of the Israeli town of Sderot near Gaza and inside cars, the windscreens shattered by hails of bullets. SOURCE: The Daily Tribune

Two former rugby union representative footballers and current political leaders have come out to call upon the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union (PNGRFU) to be transparent in its operations by providing a progressive report on the performance of the current Chief Executive Officer, and where rugby is now since the election of the new board and management. The two political leaders, the Member for Popondetta Open and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Mr. Richard Masere and the Member for Bougainville Regional and Internal Security Minister Mr. Peter Tsiamalili Jr, have come out to make this call following recent media reports regarding the Provincial Union’s petition to the PNGRFU. Both political leaders felt that there were lack of accountability and absence of leadership directions from PNGRFU to the provinces and this could potentially defeat any future development of rugby in Papua New Guinea. “Since the announcement of the K10 million three- year deal between Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited and PNGRFU in March 2022, there have been very little information and no tangible progress with the development of rugby in Papua New Guinea and we are very concern. If anything, we believe rugby has regressed and this is not good news for rugby enthusiasts and supporters in Papua New Guinea,” said the MP. The two MPs also said that the PNGRFU must provide a detailed acquittal of the K10 million through a reputable audit firm and similarly, must provide an immediate response to the 11- point petition delivered to them by the Provincial Rugby Unions. “We make a further call to Kumul Petroleum to institute and independent audit as sign of good governance to provide accountability and transparency in the use of the K10 million.” “For the good of rugby in Papua New Guinea, we appeal to the PNGRFU to work closely with the Provincial Rugby Unions to progress and develop rugby at schools and at the grass-root levels.”

The National Government has the resource to stand ready to assist places that will be hit by the El Nino. That's the assurance given by Prime Minister James Marape when responding to questions from the Member for Alotau on the government's capacity of respond to natural disasters. Marape said the government is aware of the National Weather Service forecast for the next couple of months and has asked the finance department to enable flexible access for provincial and districts to access funds to help the people affected when hit by El Nino. Marape said the government will be overlooking all the disaster assistance. "National Government will overlay support, that's our duty and responsibility," said the PM. "I want to give full assurance, the National Government will be standing by to assist." Meanwhile, the Member for Alotau stated that the National Weather Service indicated that the long dry spell has started for parts of Papua New Guinea and his district is also listed on the drought alert; hence the concern for disaster relief supply.

After operating for 123 years in the country, the Westpac Bank has said that it will not be packing up and leaving as previously considered but continue to stay for as long as it can and providing much needed banking services to the people of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Westpac Group announced this week that the bank will retain its Pacific business (comprised of Westpac Fiji and Westpac PNG), continuing to grow alongside its customers and the economies in both countries. Westpac believes it has a great role to play in this very important region with its ability to be a strong, stable and trusted financial partner in the Pacific. Westpac Pacific Managing Director, Damien MacRae, said “Westpac has proudly supported Fiji’s and PNGs economic growth and development for more than a century and we are well placed to continue this support.” The decision means Westpac will continue to support the local economies and local businesses, improve digital and service capabilities for customers and deliver important community programs in financial literacy and education. “Westpac has been a part of PNG’s history for more than a century and will proudly continue supporting customers and businesses to grow and succeed into the future,” said Westpac PNG Chief Executive, Brett Hooker. “Westpac Group’s decision to retain the business is a vote of confidence in the future of PNG.” Meanwhile, Westpac Bank’s humble beginnings in PNG starting on May 10,th 1910 when two young men established PNG’s first commercial bank, setting up shop as the Bank of New South Wales on Douglas Street, Port Moresby. From that time onwards, the bank grew and expended to become the now Westpac Bank.

A cash amount of K5million has been wired from the Treasury to pay off the remaining royalties owed to the Sirinumu landowners as initial payment for the K15million outstanding royalty being demanded. That was the assurance given by Prime Minister (PM) James Marape in parliament this afternoon when responding to questions from Member (MP) for Hiri Koiari, Keith Iduhu on the issue this morning up at the Rauna power stations. "The landowners at Sirinumu dam have taken over the Sirinumu Power Station and water supply. This has now affected power and water supply to Port Moresby city residents," said Mr. Iduhu. The MP had asked what has been done so far today to resolve this matter. PM Marape in response said the three ministers for Commerce and Trade, Finance, and State Enterprises will be meeting with the MP and Governor for Central after the parliament sitting to discuss and move forward with this matter. At this stage, the PM said the K5million should be given to landowners first while the ministers and parties involved, work on releasing the remaining K10million. The K15million outstanding demanded for by the landowners is the remaining amount of a K25million total, of which K10million of that amount was paid some years back. Since then, the landowners claimed that the remaining K15million has not been paid, leading to the blockade put up by the landowners this morning. It is hoped that the K5million would appease the landowners for the time being so that the blockade can be removed and power and water resume normal supply to Port Moresby. Currently, the city is going through power load- shedding and water rationing since this morning.

The American Chamber of Commerce Coral Sea (AmCham Coral Sea) is linking the United States Department of Commerce with businesses in Papua New Guinea (PNG). At a September 14th business event hosted by AmCham at the Grand Papua Hotel, U.S. Department of Commerce visiting representatives spoke with businesses about promoting commercial engagement and exploring new opportunities in the region. Visiting Regional Senior Commercial Officer, Mr. Steve Knode said the ultimate goal of the U.S. Commercial Service is fostering commercial partnerships that boost economic growth and engagement between the United States and PNG. The entity offers services such as the Advocacy Center, which helps identify commercial partnerships within the U.S. market and the SelectUSA program, which supports the attendance of delegations of businesspeople interested in entering or investing in the U.S. market at trade shows. The annual SelectUSA Investment Summit promotes foreign direct investment in the United States for those interested in entering the U.S. market. The U.S. Commercial Service has one representative in Port Moresby, with additional staff around the region.