This news just in! All NCD schools are suspended for the rest of this week, to resume classes next Monday 1st August 2022. That’s from Education Secretary Dr Uke Kombra. Grade 12 exams dates have been changed. The Written Expression exam scheduled for Monday 1st August is now deferred to Monday 15th August 2022. Keep listening to the news on NAU FM, Yumi FM & Legend FM & follow our news website pnghausbung.com for more on this story.

The new Kairuku Open seat has started counting after midday yesterday after resolving the matter of scrutineers per candidate to be present in the counting venue during counting time. The Returning Officer (RO) Mr. Henry Oa said they agreed on having scrutineers inside the counting venue, but one at a time. “Two come in, one sits outside while the other goes in. When the one inside wants to take a break, then he comes out and other takes his place,” explained Mr. Oa. Mr. Oa said about 50 ballot boxes; 25 for the Kairuku Open seat and 25 for Central Regional seat will be counted. “We just got two boxes in, and we start with the boxes from the Kuni LLG (Local Level Government). So, we brought Kuni’s boxes in, open them up and do the counting.” Meanwhile, earlier during the day the counting officials and scrutineers were briefed on the basic procedures and rules observed during counting. The RO also told them to perform professionally and set a good example for other counting venues to follow. All the counting will take place at the Murray Barracks gymnasium in Port Moresby city.

The 2022 UPNG Oro Students Association are set to host their major end of the year fundraiser which is the “Oro Night” that’s set for the 19th August at the Cosmopolitan. According to Micah Betute the Association President, all funds raised will go towards their end of year Educational awareness programs back in the province. “All funds raised during the night will go towards their end of year educational awareness program and other programs for the association, says Betuet.” He added that, they are doing this because the number of students passing to tertiary institutions has significantly dropped with approximately 10 students making it to UPNG since 2019 and only 3 students making it to UPNG for this year alone. “We want to go back to the province and help motivate the young student’s especially the ones in high school and those that have completed Grd12 about what comes after high school and to better themselves in their academic work to reach greater heights, says Betuet.” Tickets will be available on the 21st of this month and will be going for K50. The night will also see the province’s finest artist Mr Allen Lee Herove aka Saugas blasts his oldie numbers along with a couple of new hits.

Kerema Provincial Hospital in Gulf Province is facing critical state with most of its medical services shut down since COVID-19 landed in the country. Most of the services closed since the pandemic, and doctors and all the cardiac health workers at the Kerema Provincial Hospital who are on Gulf PHA pay-roll are currently working at the Port Moresby General Hospital. According to Gulf Provincial Deputy Director Public Health Mr Ben Bal, since the appointment of the new Acting CEO for the Kerema Provincial Hospital in the Gulf Province, the situation at the Hospital has worsened and services dropping dropped significantly. “No changes have been made and the situation has gone from bad to worse. The wards are currently closed, the laboratory services are closed, the X-Ray services are closed, and doctor’s consultation services are also closed, as well as the In-patient services," said Mr. Bal. He said, this is because the hospital does not have any “Health Plan” and a “Board Committee” and a few of the workers in the province go to work whenever they want to. The Kerema Provincial Referral Hospital has lost its stage from being in that level to a day-like-clinic now. The situation and issues faced at the hospital is very critical and no one is doing anything about it. “There is no control and command in place at the Kerema Provincial Hospital, said Bal.” In-patient treatment at the Kerema Provincial Hospital are all sent into the city to seek proper medical attention at the Port Moresby General Hospital. Mr Bal said, everyday they have ambulances running to Port Moresby due to no in-patient services because all the wards are closed and they are no longer admitting patients. “Those that need admissions are kept at the out-patient ward for a day or two and taken to Port Moresby, said Bal.” Mr Bal added that, the Gulf PHA is aware of the current issue but is not doing anything to address this issue. He said the hospital is totally run-down and has dropped in its standards from being a “Level 5 Hospital” to more of a “Day-Clinic” now. Meanwhile, patients seeking medical treatment only receive basic medical treatment at the out-patient ward and are sent home. Mr Bal said, this is because the hospital faces a lot of basic medical drug shortages all the time and there’s not enough workers to tend to all patients at once. “Most of them are sent home without proper medical consultation and treatment which is very unethical, said Mr Bal.”  

"Friends of POMGEN” (FOPG) is a registered charitable entity, ratified by the Board of POMGEN to support the Port Moresby General Hospital’s mission to become a self-sustainable model for public health facilities in PNG. According to the FOPG’s Operations Coordinator Grace Roland, the recent appeal that was sent out is a call out from one of the social worker that worked in the pediatric ward to FOPG to help assist with the appeal on the FOPG’s Facebook page to get the support from individuals, communities and business houses, basically to help the children. “The assistance needed is basically to help children from newborns to 13 year olds who need basic things that parents are financially unable at the moment to provide for their children", says Roland. ” Some of the items listed below are what these children need for those who are interested to donate. All donations can be delivered at the POMGEN children’s pediatric ward or FOPG’s office near SUSU’s area. • Diapers • Water Bottles • Fruits • Infant Milk (S26) • New Clothes (new and used) • Bath & Laundry Soap • Washing Detergent • Toilet papers   She added that, sometimes the staff, nurses or doctors go out of their personal ways to make ends-meet by providing at least something for this patients. “We are doing what we can to help despite whatever circumstances we go through, says Roland. ” In cases where POMGEN really needs support from FOPG in such cases like this or others like the “Children’s Cancer Ward” refurbishment, FOPG basically extends another hand of support for the hospital to do their job.

The NCD Schools Rugby League competition for Round 4 last Weekend have been suspended indefinitely. According to NCD Schools Rugby League Association President Arnold Gende, this is due to non-school affiliation by a good number of schools and also player registrations. He added that, they have informed respective school teachers/coaches and team Managers to submit the four documents required to the Association for players to be able to take part but this has not happened yet. This has caused the President to suspend the competition for an indefinite period of time. “All schools taking part in the competition must provide four documentations to the Association heads in order for their schools to continue to take part, says Gende.” The four required documents includes the school affiliation, two is the player registration of K30.00 attached with the term 1 report, three is the players profile (“My Sideline”) and forth is the player’s summary for each division. Mr Gende says, they will continue its competitions only when the first six schools send in their documentations. “Gende says, 27 schools have partly affiliated but have not met the full requirements. Player registrations which includes parents’ consent, medical report and K30 registration receipts that should be attached with the registration form and “My Sideline” report.” Meanwhile, the competition has seen a rise in the female teams taking part. Gende says, so far the competition has been good since round 1 of the completion with an influx of students especially girls joining the competition. He is calling on the school sports teachers/coaches and team managers to continue to assist these students as it is one way of disciplining them through this platform. He further emphasized on the school Term1 report as it is really important. “This is really important because we want to ensure that every student taking part in the NCD schools rugby league competition must also perform highly in their academic studies. If not, they will be cut out until they improve academically.” Mr Gende also thanked all the parents for assisting their kids by taking them for their games, especially the girls who are participating now which is really encouraging to see females taking part in a male dominant sport.

Condom awareness programs in PNG continue to remain a public health concern. Majority of the country’s population live below the poverty line with low literacy levels. Lack of knowledge of condom use and availability is worrisome especially for the sexually active population. Three districts in Central have already begun distribution of condoms for the 2022 National General Elections. According to Central HIV/AIDS Provincial Coordinator Mr Gairo Kapana, out of the 5 districts in the province, Rigo, Abau and Kairuku districts have already received their boxes of condoms to be distributed at the polling areas. “A total of 15 boxes of condoms (10 boxes of Male condoms and 5 boxes of Female condoms) were given to be distributed accordingly by all district coordinators to the 5 districts in the province. Each district will receive 2 male boxes of condoms and 1 female box of condom each, says Mr Kapana.” Since the month of January, Central province has seen 133 new cases of HIV/AIDS from their 24 sites in the 5 districts in the province. “He says, awareness is on-going and messages are given to the people but it’s always up to them to take it or live it.” He is also urging his people to be very careful during this peak period as they are expecting to see an increase in the number of cases.

Florence Matagede from Salamaua in the Huon Gulf District of Morobe and husband Christopher Napoleon from Alotau are in desperate need for financial assistance to go towards their 5 year old daughter’s medical appeal. According to Florence, Joana currently has a swollen lump from what used to be a blood clot that formed above her right eye. “When Joana was born, the village mid-wife who helped deliver Joana accidently dropped her which caused the swelling on her right eye that stayed with her after birth until now, says Florence.” They were advised by doctors from Angau Hospital in Lae to wait until Joana turns 7 or 8 years old before they could clean out the blood clot but due to her eye getting swollen each day, they are seeking any form of assistance now to quickly help out their child. Florence is currently in Port Moresby while Joana is in Alotau with her father waiting for financial assistance to seek medical attention. According to Florence, she came to Port Moresby last month to seek financial assistance from the general public to go back and help her daughter out, but she is also facing financial problems to make her way back to her family to help little Joana out. With her the swelling getting bigger each day, her mother is appealing to the general public to help assist in any way to seek medical attention as soon as possible. She added that, they have not opened any medical appeal account yet, but those who wish to donate can call her up on 71970986 for more information.

The 20 female students from the PNG University of Technology (PNGUOT) who were caught in a recent raid attack by thefts have been moved to a safer location. According to PNGUOT Vice Chancellor Dr Ora Renagi, the incident happened last Thursday night at the Rainforest Guest House. Dr Renagi said, the 20 female students were accommodated by the institute to stay there because the Institute’s female dormitories were full. “We provided accommodation for the 20 female students at the Rain Forest Guest House because all the female dorms were full. The guest house is near the school staff houses and we also provided full-on security service for the girls," Dr Renagi said. He said, the thieves stormed through the doors and stole mobile phones and laptops belonging to the female students. “One female student sustained a head injury after she refused to hand over her phone and computer to the thieves. She was sent to the hospital to get treated for the injury and is recovering back at school,” Mr Renagi advised. The police were alerted and attended to the incident after the alarm was raised. VC Dr Renagi said, they are yet to receive a report from the University security. Meanwhile, the girls presented a petition last Friday that was received by the VC to address the relocation of accommodation and also a list of items stolen. Dr Renagi stated that they have already relocated two girls each to vacant staff houses along with two security guards posted at each house.

With the proposed infrastructure plans to NDOH to address some of the issues faced at the Western Highlands Provincial health centres and clinics, the provincial CEO says they are waiting on funds to come in before they commence ground works. Western Highlands PHA CEO Ms Jane Holden says they have sent a K10million proposal to NDOH and are still waiting for a response from them to open up new operating theatres for Mt Hagen General Hospital. Meanwhile, since the start of nominations last week Thursday the 19th of May 2022, there were no major accidents or violence related incidents reported at the health centres or clinics. Ms Holden said, there were only minor incidents but nothing serious. She also stated that they have received a few covid cases but have recovered and since the month of January, they have only recorded 1 Covid related death, which brings the tally up to 16 deaths in total for the province now.

Saturday the 21st of May 2022 saw the first ever World Cultural Diversity Day been celebrated at the Moresby Arts Theatre. National Cultural Commission (NCC) Marketing Manager Mr David Taim said, since the acceptance in 2001 through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNSECO), NCC hosted the country’s first ever World Cultural Diversity Day under the theme: “Celebrating the World’s Cultural Diversity in Unity”. He said, "given the fact that PNG is so culturally diverse, we want to use this day as a platform to promote peace through culture, art through creative business industry, entrepreneurship and eliminate poverty.” On Saturday, they saw performances from a total of six cultural groups and one global contemporary music group from Weimog Rock- Jazz & Blues. Mr Taim said, through NCC they see this day as a very important day for PNG given our cultural diversity. “This is the first and we intend to promote and make this event bigger and better by next year by including all their stakeholders and the global community leaving in Port Moresby to come and celebrate our differences as one," said Mr Taim. Furthermore, Mr Taim said, this will become an annual event for NCC in the years to come to promote cultural diversity in Port Moresby and across to the other provinces as well.

The UPNG Student Representative Council held its projects fundraising dinner on Friday night at the Dynasty Seafood Restaurant for its 6 major projects to be carried out later this year. UPNG SRC President Melvin Tinol said, for this year they have embarked on 6 projects. In honour of the Late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare a monument will be constructed within the campus, along with the 5 other projects as follows: • Research Incentive program • UPNG Journal Publication • Generator for the Medical faculty • Female Dorm Sanitary Bins & • Reserve Water Tanks Tinol acknowledged the sponsors for their support toward the University SRC’s incentives toward their 6 projects and hopes to see the UPNG Administration coming on board to help assist with the projects. UPNG Vice Chancellor Pro. Frank Griffin also acknowledged everyone for participating in the projects fundraiser, especially the public, family and friends for supporting the student’s incentives toward their projects. The Vice Chancellor said since 2016 the SRC was inactive and was re-established last year. He added that, “they (the SRC) did not have a full team but in the space of 2months, the SRC was able to come up with this idea of fundraising to help fund their projects”. “They have gone out of their way to put together this event in a space of two months. I commend the leadership and the energy put in to get the right sponsorship and support to make it happen and so hats off to each and every one of you for being the drive for what has happened now,” Tinol said. Pro. Griffin has reassured the members of the SRC that his administration stands ready to partner with the students to accomplish their objectives no matter what. "The University of Papua New Guinea does not receive any form of funding when it comes to goods and services." "Funding received from the government goes into paying for salaries." According to Pro. Griffin, when budget is handed down there are 2 components, one is the Recurring Budget and the other is the PIP’s. Though they receive little funding, the university makes sure that buildings within the campus are looked after. He further stated that, much of the resources they receive for their goods and services come from the fees they collect from the students at the beginning of the year. “We have to prioritize in how we structure our expenditure plan to last the full 12 months of the academic year because majority of the resources that we receive for our goods and services comes from the student fees that we collect at the beginning of every semester," said Pro. Griffin.