The National Government continues its assistance to the affected business houses from the Black Wednesday riots and looting in the city of Port Moresby, this time with the release of its third batch of financial assistance. The cheque presentation of the financial assistance was carried out by the Chief Secretary to Government, Mr. Ivan Pomaleu on Monday 06th May, who also expressed regret for the unfortunate incidents that occurred on Wednesday 10th January. He shared his sentiments for those business houses, who were affected during the chaos saying, “The government values the contributions of business houses, that apart from collecting taxes from you, you continue to generate community activities throughout various locations, particularly providing services and employment and therefore, our job as Government, is to provide an operating environment for you to operate safely and securely as service providers." Mr. Pomaleu said when the 10th of January events occurred, there was a commitment by the government to ensure support for the affected business houses to continue to carry their employees through salary payments; to restore and rebuild their businesses, and in turn continue to provide services to the communities. “I reside in a community where most of our shops were affected or destroyed by the January 10th events, and I understand how hard it is to be affected by those losses." “I may have the means to travel comfortably elsewhere to get the services that I need, but the bulk of our people are doing it tough,” he said. Meanwhile, the three business houses who received the third batch of financial assistance included SYZ Investment Ltd with K156, 000.00, Eliseo Limited with K583, 439.40 and Big Rooster (PNG) Limited with K576, 000.00.