Prime Minister James Marape has assured the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea that they will get his full support as long as they can prove to him by getting their management organized.He made his commitment known during the launching of the CRCEG Cup - PNG Amateur Basketball League and the ExxonMobil Cup - Port Moresby Elite Basketball League last evening at the Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor complex in the nation’s capital.The Theme for the launching was: "Uniting Hearts through Basketball, Transcending Mountains and Seas, Together for a New Journey".The prime minister highlighted that sport does not evolve around the PNG Chiefs and rugby league or even soccer. Basketball is just another sport and his ready to give his full support."Give me good management like rugby league has done. Organized yourself properly and ensure you have a team playing in the Queensland Basketball competition and I will take it from there, and make it happen for us," said Marape.This is a new transition taken by the Basketball Federation for the development of the sport, in creating pathways and programs for the growth of Basketball in the country.The main aim of Basketball Federation is to upgrade the standard and level of the sport to a semi- professional competition, with an established Junior pathway system for Basketball to progress into a professional sport."If we can start off with rugby league and now by 2028, we will have our own team taking part in the National Rugby league, what's stopping Basketball players to also go that mile. That's why I would like to encourage you that your government is ready to give you its full support," added the Prime Minister.The other guest speakers at the launching were representatives from ExxonMobil, General Manager of CRCEG - Sam Jia and representing the Chinese Ambassador was His Excellency Minister Councellor Pang Henzaho.ExxonMobil has been the major sponsor for the Men's Basketball competition since 2024, which will now be known as the Port Moresby Elite Basketball League. CRCEG is the major sponsor for the PNG Amateur Basketball League.

A Total of K500,000.00 was presented today to the Minister for Youth, Religion and Community Development from the Kerowagi District Development Authority, by the Minister for Public Service and Kerowagi MP, Francis Siune.The funding comes just two weeks after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Signing between the Kerowagi District Development Authority (DDA) and the Department for the construction of a new Community Development Centre in the Kerowagi District. Before receiving the funding component from the DDA, Minister for Youth, Religion and Community Development, Jason Peters, thanked the leadership of the Member for Kerowagi and its DDA for showing their commitment and ensuring the MoU signing becomes a reality with their share of the funding component. “On behalf of the Ministry, I would like to acknowledge the Marape -Rosso government, for this flagship program which they continue to support in this space. We would like to follow it up with more districts as well,” said Minister Peters. He added that a few Districts have signed their MoU, but they are still waiting for the funding component from the DDA’s to commence the next phase of the process. When responding, Minister Siune, thanked Minister Peters and the Department for the flagship program that will be rolled out in his District, which will help with the service delivery efforts for the district. The total cost for the construction of this District Community Development Centre is K2million with K1million from the DDA and the other K1million from the Department for Community Development and Religion through its Ministry. Also present to witness the presentation was Mr. Jerry Ubase – Secretary for the Department for Community Development and Religion, Jim Abani – Chief Censor of the Office of Censorship, senior management team from the Department and a team from Kerowagi DDA.

Ward Members from the 18 Local Level Governments (LLG’s) across the four districts in East New Britain (ENB) province are still waiting to be paid their salaries since the Return of Writs in November 2025.David ToDes Tommy, the Ward 19 Member in Balanataman LLG, and the spokesperson for the disgruntled Ward Members, is appealing to the responsible authorities to do something about their salaries, as soon as possible. “We hit the ground running performing our mandated duties straight after we were sworn in and we still have not received our pay yet. It’s been 6 months since the completion of LLG elections in November last year and this is frustrating,” said Mr. Tommy. The ward members have taken their concern to the ENB Provincial Government in January this year and are still waiting. After two trips to Port Moresby city by the ENB provincial government representatives, they have not received any positive response, causing more frustration for them and their families. When PNG Haus Bung reached out to ENB Governor Michael Marum, he said, he had been informed by a few ward members and spoke to the Provincial Administrator last week to look into this matter and address it because this is not fair. “These are our very first contact on the ground when I travel into the Districts and LLG’s. Especially during the disaster period, the ward members have been very helpful and active in their leadership roles. They are actually doing their work on the ground,” the good governor said. The governor is still waiting for his Provincial Administrator for his response because he does not want to go barking at them and giving instructions, breaking protocols. “As the governor, I want to sincerely extend my apologies to all the ward members and their family. These people are actually doing their work and have committed their time and support during the disaster period,” he said. Meanwhile, attempts by PNG Haus Bung to seek more information from the Department of Local Level Government and the Minister regarding the unpaid salaries for the ward members have been unsuccessful.

The Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea has officially announced the National Women’s 3x3 Team selected to participate in the Final Oceania Development Camp. The event is scheduled to take place from May 22nd to 28th in Gold Coast, Australia. PNG Basketball President, Mr. David Peter announced the names of the four players who will be accompanied by two coaching officials and one technical officer. 1. Jacky Asiba 2. Philomena Isei 3. Normalisa Dobunaba 4. Lynnette Tongia Head Coach - Garvin Dela Cruz Assistant Coach - Fenimore Salilum Technical Officer - Betty Angula Mr. Peter stated this is the team that are preparing to participate in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this July, and these matches are vital in their preparations. “Based on the performance of the team, if we are happy that this team has done well then we will retain this team as it is.” The President further clarified that the door remains open for changes depending on the results of the camp, adding: “But if we are to do a bit of adjustment, we will do so. Its performance based.” In addition, he stated that this is the best team they have at the moment. The selection process was based on their performance and most importantly have international experiences in 3x3 games. Furthermore, he hopes that the women can do well in this preparations games to bolster their confidents to participate at the world stage, especially the Glasgow, Commonwealth Games in July this year.

The Barramundis are all set and ready for the T20 World Cup East-Asia Pacific Qualifier in Japan from the 8th-18th of May, following the announcement of their 14-member team yesterday, Wednesday 29th April.Head Coach, Tim MCaskill is very impressed with how things are going with the boys, especially the players that made it into the final squad. He says, their on-field and off-the-field behaviour is so impressive with everyone staying composed and focused on their performances and obviously making the country proud. “Everything that I’ve seen to date has been really positive. We’ve got these young guys that are curious to learn and obviously driven for success and then the other thing that we’ve got is a group of the older players that have come into the squad, and sort of energized the young guys,” said the Coach. With four new faces in the team and with the mixture of experienced and young players, it really shows the depth the team is continuing to build through their programs and competitions. “I’m confident that what we’ve being putting together and what we’ve been building around our team at the moment is setting us up for success. We saw it in Mackay, and we knew that it worked there, and we’re confident that it’s going to work well,” adds McCaskill. The team is well balanced and fortunate, having the likes of Tony Ura, Sese Bau, and the ever-reliable Assadollah Vala as captain of the team. It’s a big bonus for the team, especially the younger players and McCaskill as the coach. He says with Assad, he knows the game well and is well respected in the team. With his leadership on the field, the coach is confident that they have a chance of winning their games.

Secretary for the Department of ICT, Mr. Steven Matainaho has praised the Department of Education for transitioning to be digitally focused with their education systems following the launching of 5 new digital apps in Port Moresby on Tuesday.The Department of Education has set long term goals and digital transformation plays a huge role for the education sector, creating a more efficient and effective workable systems. The Department of ICT has the Digital Government Act which mandates and provides a legal framework for digital transformation across the Public Service, while the Digital Policy of 2020 and the Digital Plan 2023-2027 set that mark which the department of education is embarking on. “For the Education Sector, they play an important role because that’s where everything starts. And if we can adopt technology right from the beginning of early childhood and all the way up, then we will see a good ethical adoption that will drive innovation within the industry,” said Secretary Matainaho. Meanwhile, the recent court decision win for the country’s ICT Regulator, NICTA has now moved on with completing licensing and issuing of Starlink. This is welcoming for the Department of ICT as it enables them to rollout ICT infrastructure to boost government policies and government service delivery. Mr. Matainaho explained from the ICT perspective that because Starlink is the only Leo-satellite solution in town and it is direct to consumer consumption. Meaning there is no need to go to a Portal Operator and pay for installation and other services. “It is not about us; we are just here to serve the purpose of educating our future. And so, technology is just an enabler. We use technology to achieve our goals and our objectives,” concluded Secretary Matainaho.

The Education Sector in the country is undergoing a major reform through the Digital platform with the aim to achieve a more efficient and transparent educational system.Acting Education Minister and Minister for DHERST, Kinoka Feo today launched five (5) New Digital Applications , a milestone achievement for the Department of Education. These apps mark the Department’s transition into a more digitally focused future. The 5 Applications are Electronic Resumption of Duty Summary Sheet (eRODSS), Teacher Pay Query System, Government Free Education Policy (GFEP) Acquittal System, Student Admission System and Where’s My School. In his speech, Feo congratulated the Secretary and the department for their tireless effort in creating such useful apps that will help the department to perform their mandated responsibilities more effectively and efficiently. He said these applications took years of careful designing, programming, development and testing to ensure it is workable. “Today, we’re not just launching a software, we are witnessing the demonstration of a broader national mandate. These applications are designed to fix real problems that we have faced in our education sector for many years,” said Minister Feo. He stressed the importance of digital applications in systems that are not working, while adding that the Prime Minister has already announced that 2026 will serve as the landmark year for PNG’s transition into utilizing Digital and ICT as fundamental tools to strengthen governance and transparency across the entire Public Service.

Tony Ura, one of Papua New Guinea’s senior and experienced Cricket player is back with the Men’s National Cricket Train on Squad and has lived up to the expectations of Cricket PNG. A top order batsman, he is considered as one of the most dangerous and powerful hitters of a cricket ball when he gets focused and settled on the cricket turf. Ura recently starred for the PNG Indigenous Invitational team in Mackay, Australia at the National Indigenous Cricket Championships, hosted by Cricket Australia. The PNG side played 6 matches, winning 5 and losing 1 match. Ura starred for the PNG Team with 2 Player of the match award in two matches and was also named the Player of the Tournament. The humbled and soft spoken man said although he is happy and pleased with himself for achieving what he did in Mackay, he still has to work hard in training to impress the selectors and team officials to hopefully make the final Team for the T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers in Japan from 8th to the 18th of May. Ura spent his time playing with a few teams in Australia, taking part in championships and other competitions just to stay in shape and work on his game, when Cricket PNG reached out to him. “It’s good to be back with the Barramundis team. I’ve been watching the team struggling, especially with the young players. My role will be to motivate the younger players with my experience and help them to do well in big matches,” says Ura. The Barramundis top order batsman was grateful to Cricket PNG for giving him another opportunity to be back in the team. However, he has only made it back onto the Train on Squad and his aim is to make the final team for the T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers in Japan. The team is currently in an intensive two-week training under the watchful eyes of High Performance and Head Coach, Tim McCaskill. The final team will be announced by the end of this month (April) and will leave for Japan on the 5th of May.

A hit and run incident along the Hiritano Highway, Central province has claimed the life of a middle-aged man from a small village in Mekeo.Friday’s incident near Doa rubber plantation has prompted the Central Provincial Police Commander Joseph Salle, to ask the people living in the surrounding communities and villages along the highway to be responsible and aware of their movement along the highway. “The people in these communities should be very mindful that the main highway is not for them to be sitting on the side or doing whatever business they want to. It’s a government road and road were vehicles travel on. When they do that, they are just putting their lives at risk and this incident is very unfortunate,” says PPC Salle. He also mentioned a nasty vehicle accident involving a truck and a Nissan Navara along the same highway. He is unable to give further details on this incident as he is still waiting for a full report from his officers on this accident. Furthermore, the Central Police boss commended his officers for working tirelessly and for their commitment in ensuring the safety of the communities and villages in Central Province. “Central province has a vast land mass, and the geographical setting of the province does not make it any easier for the few numbers of officers we have. But I thank them for maintaining their normal policing work and with the support of the community leaders and the people in the province remain safe with no major incidents or crimes for that matter,” says PPC Salle. Meanwhile, the PPC is also still waiting on the Central Provincial Government (CPG) for the recruitment of 100 cadets to increase and strengthen the number of police officers in the province. At the moment talks of recruitment from CPG have not yet happened.

High Performance and Head Coach of the PNG Barramundis, Tim McCaskill is very pleased with the team’s recent performance at the National Indigenous Cricket Championship held in Mackay in North Queensland, Australia last week.Hosted by Cricket Australia, the tournament was use as part of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Men’s National team’s preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers in Japan from May 8th to 18th. The Barramundis played 6 matches throughout the tournament, winning 5 matches and losing one match to Western Australia Indigenous team. When interviewed by PNG HAUSBUNG, the Head Coach said the tournament helped in terms of what they needed as a team and how they were being able to put that into match play. It was a really good opportunity for the team, and he was really pleased with the outcome. “That was my first tournament, and I was really impressed in what I saw; in the way we applied ourselves in games and how we were looking to introduce a different game plan to what was in place and the players adapted to it very well. We showed a high level of skill while we were there and it was really pleasing,” said McCaskill. He also gave credit to the senior men in the team for their individual stand out performances and how they led the younger players in the team to put up good performances for the team. According to the Head Coach, the teams’ focus now moving forward is to make sure they play well in any tournament and win, especially the up-coming T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers in Japan. “Our plan is to go to Japan and win, that’s our plan right now. The aim is to win every tournament we play and to push ourselves into the next series. Whether that’s at the regional level or in bigger ICC Tournaments,” concludes McCaskill.

Despite their victory being celebrated, the PNG U16 Women’s Football Head Coach, Susan Steven has some discrepancies with the performance of the team in their OFC Qualifying match against America Samoa yesterday.Even though the PNG girls recorded a crushing win over the American Samoans with an 8 goals to 2 victory, the coach described their overall match performance as poor and not to her expectation. “The game plan that I put out for the girls to play did not happen. They did not stick to the plan and follow the simple instructions I gave out; however, I am happy with the girls for winning this game, but their general performance in this game did not turn out the way I wanted it played,” said Susan. She said that they will return to training and improve on those areas lacking from their recent match and hopefully do better in their next match against the Cook Islands U16 Women’s team, who are currently the top team to beat. The Cook Islands are currently leading the competition and certainly a much tougher opponent for the PNG girls, according to the coach. “The next match is a very important match for us. Cook Islands are a much better and stronger side, which they showed in their first match against American Samoa. We will get the girls to work hard and improve on areas they lacked in the game for the next two days in training and hope they do well against the Cook Islands,” added the Coach. The current PNG U16 Women’s team had only 2 weeks of preparation leading up to their OFC Qualifying games and they are still working on putting together combinations and other areas of their game, as most of these young girls in the team are from the district. According to Susan, this current PNG U16 women’s football squad is made up of players from Port Moresby, Lae and Madang. Based on the performances of the U16 Women’s team, it clearly shows that PNG has a lot of raw and potential talent that needs the right support to help them build their pathway and grow into better players to represent the country. She emphasized that the PNG Football Academy program is the way forward to help nurture and develop young raw talents into making a name for themselves in Football. The Coach concluded by saying that the result shown in match by our U16 Girls’ team yesterday, clearly shows that the Women Football National Teams from the Juniors to the Bilums (Senior Women) are by far doing the country proud by putting on winning performances in any competition they take part in. This is evidence of good support leading to success and as such, she is calling on the Government, Corporate Bodies and Sporting stakeholders to step in and help support Women Football in the country.

A great start for the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Under 16 (U16) Women's team in the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship Qualifying Tournament played at the PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby city yesterday.The PNG U16 Women’s Football team ran riot over American Samoa U16 Women’s team in the first half of their qualifying match with a 6-Nil effort. A first half treble of goals to Chriszanne Sifas, a double to Oscalyn Gunemba while Joyleen Lise scored a goal to complete their first half with the 6-Nil lead. The much smaller and faster PNG girls outpaced their much heavier opponents all throughout the half spending most part of the game camped deep in their opponent’s territory. The second half of their football match was a bit competitive as both teams defended well. However, it was American Samoa that came back strong scoring 2 of their goals in the early stages of the second half to trail by 2-6. Both teams were guilty of many mistakes with forced passes and passes not finding their marks, with missed goal scoring opportunities. However, the PNG girls finished the match strongly by scoring two late goals to finish the match with an 8-2 victory. PNG will face-off with Cook Islands this Friday with the winner to qualify for the OFC Championships. Cook Islands are currently leading with 10 goals, 2 goals ahead of PNG. The PNG girls will need to keep the Cook Islands scoreless in their game and score at least 3 or more goals to finish at the top and qualify for the OFC U16 Championships.