The United States Embassy has expressed thanks to the Government of Papua New Guinea for its support regarding an unscheduled diversion of four aircraft to Port Moresby’s Jacksons International Airport. On June 21, four American military jets were traveling through international airspace when they were forced to make an unscheduled diversion to their planned flight path. “ With permission from Papua New Guinea’s Department of Transport, the aircraft landed at Jacksons International Airport for about one hour and were able to continue their flight. Thanks to the quick work of the Department of Transport and Jacksons Airport staff, the American aircraft were able to continue safely to their intended destination and will fondly remember Papua New Guinea’s hospitality. U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joseph Zadrozny said, “This is a great example of the partnership between the United States and Papua New Guinea.” “We know that when we ask for help as a friend, Papua New Guinea will be there to assist. Thank you to all those who aided our pilots in getting safely on their way.” A flight diversion happens when an aircraft is unable to arrive directly at its final destination due to unforeseen circumstances, such as mechanical issues or bad weather. Unscheduled diversions are a frequent occurrence worldwide in the aviation industry, including military and commercial flights.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supported over 115 women from mining impacted communities in Ramu District Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, to access financial literacy training. From February to April 2023, Erusta Bill, a certified local trainer under the USAID’s partnership with the Center for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (CEFI), conducted training mostly for women in the basics of financial literacy. Participants now have a better understanding on savings and budgeting; foundational skills for creating new enterprises and increasing household and personal financial security, particularly for women. The training will also promote a savings culture and help improve management of household finances to sustain livelihoods both during and after the life of the mining project. One of the greatest challenges for many communities in PNG, especially those based in rural and remote areas, is the poor access to services such as banking. Banking provides an option to save money in a secure place for future use or to access financial credit to grow small-scale businesses and expand livelihood option. On June 2, 2023 participants for the training were awarded with certificates. The certificates will enable participants to meet banking requirements, to opening new bank accounts and to apply for SME loans. The participants will now utilize their certificates to obtain loans under the Mineral Resources Authority Credit Scheme for mining impacted communities with emphases on women participation. Doras Paul, a graduate of the financial literacy training thanked USAID stating, “I can now open a bank account with Mibank and access my credit scheme.” Erusta Bill, the Chairlady of Maigari Women’s Association, reiterated this sentiment saying, “Our mothers have been spending their royalty payments without saving any for their children and family.” “Now, thanks to USAID PNG LGP, they understand the importance of saving and budgeting their money.” The training is part of USAID’s commitment through the PNG Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) to deliver financial literacy for Papua New Guineans and focuses on the economic empowerment of people from areas of high biodiversity or resource rich areas, particularly women. USAID’s PNG LGP works in partnership with the PNG Government, local communities, and a range of implementing partners from the private sector, faith-based organizations and civil society organizations to empower traditional landowners to sustainably manage their resources and empower women to be full participants in PNG’s economy. Improving people’s livelihood prospects helps communities to reduce pressure on forest resources and contribute to protecting PNG’s rich biodiversity for future generations.

In the early hours of Monday morning, June 19, Dirio Central Province Power Station was the target of a security incident. Dirio and its contractors are cooperating fully with police enquiries. As there is an open investigation into this, no further details can be provided at this time. Dirio notes that during the security event, supply from its power station to the Port Moresby grid was disrupted, however Dirio was able to return to its normal dispatch levels from late Monday morning.

Barrick (Niugini) Limited (BNL) and the Internal Revenue Commission of Papua New Guinea (IRC) are pleased to announce that BNL, Barrick Gold Corporation, and the IRC have settled all disputes and issues relating to old Porgera tax matters on terms satisfactory to the parties. Although BNL and Barrick had the option of appealing the objection assessment, the parties resolved to settle the matter amicably in the interest of reopening the Porgera mine. The settlement enables BNL and the State to reopen Porgera as soon as other pending matters are finalized. BNL would like to express its appreciation to the IRC for their cooperation and professionalism throughout the resolution process. The company remains committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate integrity and ethical conduct.

The Highlands Regional Youth Games (HRYG) is set to be hosted in the month of September and already things are moving forward in preparation for the event. District sports officers from the Highlands region gathered in Mt Hagen during the weekend for a consultative meeting to host HRYGs in September. The Regional Youth Games (RYG) or Grassroots Sports is a new sporting concept, which was devised under a tripartite arrangement with the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA), Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation (PNGSF) and Department of Community Development, tailored to bring sporting opportunities down to the Local Level Government (LLG) level. The concept allows for LLGs & District officers to run sporting tournaments annually with the support from this partnership arrangement. The best thing about this concept is that it now allows rural talents to be exposed at the regional level and eventually the national level. It is seen as a sporting value chain that clearly articulates the pathway for young people who wish take up sports as a career. The inaugural Southern RYG was held in Alotau last year, this year will be Momase and Highlands RYGs.

The Member for Rai Coast Open wants the government bodies responsible for mining and environment to investigate what had happened at Ramu Nico’s Basamuk Refinery in Madang, which she claimed is now affecting the people in the area using the sea for their food source. Member Kessy Sawang said that acidic slurry from a burst pipe due to an accident at the refinery, has leaked into the sea and is damaging the marine life in the environment. She said that accident occurred in mid- May. There have been reports as well of people becoming ill after eating fish that were caught in the bay area and already there have been deaths reported as well. The member said that it was reported that a mother and her daughter have died this month after eating fish caught in the waters. “After the eating the fish, the mother and the eleven-year-old girl had bleeding from the nose and died instantly, while nine others have been admitted at the Modilon General Hospital,” said the member. Meanwhile, the Mining Minister, Sir Ano Pala, has given his assurance that necessary responses have been taken and the mining department along with the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) are in the process of investigating this very serious matter. A report on this incident will also be put out, once the investigation is concluded and the findings made public.

BSP Financial Group (BSP) Chairman Robert Bradshaw paid tribute to Sir Kostas Constantinou, who recently passed away. “Sir Kostas Constantinou passing is a huge loss for the business community in PNG and across the Pacific region,” Mr Bradshaw said. “As Chairman of BSP for 12 years, many of us at BSP were able to personally witness Sir Kostas’s drive and warmth and benefit from the wisdom he so kindly shared with others.” Sir Kostas joined the BSP Board in 2009 and was BSP’s Chairman from 2011 to his recent retirement in February 2023. During Sir Kostas’s time as Chairman BSP achieved many milestones including an expansion across the Pacific and listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. “The health and firm foundation that BSP has today is due to the strong thoughtful leadership by Sir Kostas during his time as Chairman,” Mr Bradshaw said. “There are now more than 4,000 BSP employees proudly serving our banking clients across seven countries who reflect Sir Kostas’s incredible legacy at BSP.”

The recently conducted Taxpayer Mapping exercise by the Internal Revenue Commissioner (IRC) in Port Moresby, was not just targeting the businesses owned and operated by Papua New Guineans as claimed by many in the public. The IRC Commissioner Mr. Sam Koim, who had to come out clear on this in a statement to concerns from the public on this exercise, said that some have expressed concerns that the exercise is unfairly targeting locally owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or should be targeting businesses owned by foreigners. “We would like to clarify that the Taxpayer Mapping exercise is not intended to single out any particular sector, nationality, or business size,” said the Commissioner. The exercise is to update the IRC taxpayer register, as more than half of the Tax Identification Number (TIN) holders in NCD could not be identified for tax compliance purposes. “Be assured that we are not in the business of putting anyone out of business,” he stated. “On the contrary, it is in our best interest to ensure that businesses remain operational and continue to contribute their fair share of taxes to the government. Mr. Koim then went on to urge all parties to cooperate with IRC to ensure a smooth and successful completion of this exercise.

The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru is backing the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) signed between the United States (US) and Papua New Guinea (PNG), citing its benefits for trade and investment between the two countries. “Papua New Guinea’s commercial interest is not being compromised by the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and it will not affect trade and investment of our country as far as I am concerned,” said the minister. Minister Maru said this in his statement in parliament this week during the debating of DCA between PNG and the US. “There is no need to talk about unnecessary fear about DCA stopping PNG from trading with other countries like China because the biggest trading partners of China are two of America’s strongest allies- Australia and New Zealand. China is their biggest trading partner whilst knowing that they are the strongest allies to the US,” he said. “There is no need for fear as DCA will not affect trade and investment of our country; it will elevate the USA-PNG bilateral relations to one of confidence and trust in all aspects of our relationship including our bilateral trade and investment relationships,” said Minister Maru. Minister Maru also clarified that what was signed was only a framework agreement and there were no details in terms of the cooperation. “We are making so much fuss over a framework agreement. The details of the agreement are yet to come. Once we have the details that is when we should really talk,” said Minister Maru. Minister Maru also stated that apart from the DCA, the two countries should also enter into a Bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to further PNG-US bilateral trade and investment relations. “US at the moment is a big investor in our oil and gas industry through the Exxon Mobil and will soon invest in a big mining project in PNG- the Wafi-Golpu Mine. Through the Bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the US can consider investing in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that our government is championing,” said Minister Maru. “This is the sort of discussions we need to have at the same time as we are negotiating the details of the future DCA which will be enhanced after the signing of the agreement.” Minister Maru commended the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, and the team behind the DCA.

The Government is looking into strengthening the Office of the Public Solicitor to assist aggrieved students and members of the public take to court new government decisions they feel have contravened the Constitution or the laws of the country. Prime Minister Hon. James Marape revealed in Parliament on Thursday his government was looking at this avenue to help students file their complaints and seek legal interpretation on new government decisions they felt were against national interest. PM Marape was responding to a question raised by Member for Nipa-Kutubu Dr. Billy Joseph who asked if there were any measures available to help students raise their points to prevent them from resorting to civil unrest and destruction of property. “The Judiciary remains in the country as our place of dispute resolution, while the Office of the Public Solicitor has the constitutional role to attend to civil matters." “We are looking into a policy to empower this office to continue to become a conduit to the public, including the student body." “If students feel the National Government has made a decision that is contrary to the laws, the Constitution, or not in the interest of the country, this legal avenue is available for them to turn to the Courts to seek address." “WhatsApp, Facebook, or public protest will not truly resolve any of your issues." "The court is the place where you can go to, to amicably settle your grievances, and we are looking at making this available soon,” said PM Marape.

Work on the Ramu 2 Hydro power project will still commence to supply the much needed energy supply to both Morobe and the Eastern Highlands provinces, and parts of the Highlands region. Prime Minister (PM) James Marape gave the assurance to this in Parliament this morning during question time. PM Marape said the government is in full support because of the huge benefits the project will unlock for the people in the two provinces. "The project will unbundle clean and hopefully, cheap power to the most populated areas on the grid, " said the PM. "We'll have close to 4 to 5 million Papua New Guineans within reach of this project. However, the PM said that the delay to the start of the hydro project was on the part of the Treasury department because the department wants to ensure that the agreement signed for the project, will benefit the people, the landowners and the provincial governments. Both provincial governments will receive 20% each from the project as per the arrangements. The funding from that will also cover the project impacted landowners. Marape then said that he will request for the Treasury, Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH), PNG Power and the project developer to look into this matter right away, so to start the work on the development of the Ramu 2 Hydro power project.

Work on the Kimbe provincial hospital to improve it's status will take place as planned, but the proper financial planning has to be done first. Treasurer Ian Ling Stuckey said in parliament today that the delay to the start of the project was due to funding matters. The Treasurer said the Kimbe provincial hospital will be a level five hospital along with four other provincial hospitals earmarked for upgrading, and the funding that will go into it will be big. "The Kimbe provincial hospital will cost K300million, that's a very large project, so that requires a lot of assessment," said the Treasurer. "We have to make sure that funding falls between the framework for this year." Moving forward, the Treasurer said that he has finilised the NEC decision for this particular project, which should see some progress for the Kimbe provincial hospital project. The Treasurer said this in response to questions from West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel during question time in parliament this morning.