On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Prime Minister and Pangu Pati leader, James Marape, received the Lufa District Five-Year Development Plan 2023-2027 amidst a poignant gathering in rural Lufa Station. The event witnessed an emotionally charged moment as three-year-old Thabbel Adolf, symbolising the daily challenges faced by the people of Unavi in remote Lufa, presented the plan to PM Marape in the presence of thousands of attendees, set against the backdrop of the majestic Mt Michael. Renowned for its coffee production, Lufa District, located in Eastern Highlands, has long struggled with the transportation of coffee to market due to the absence of adequate road infrastructure. Notably, Crater Mountain in Unavi is famed for its coffee, which is manually transported to market or shipped by air. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Eastern Highlands Governor, Simon Sia; State Enterprises Minister and United Resources Party Leader, William Duma; Goroka MP and Agriculture Minister, Aiye Tambua; Finance and Planning Minister, Rainbo Paita; Coffee Minister Joe Kuli; Obura-Wonenara MP, John Boito; Kainantu MP, William Hagahuno; Unggai-Bena MP, Kinoka Feo; Daulo MP, Ekime Gorosahu; and the host Lufa MP and Minister for Environment Conservation and Climate Change, Simo Kilepa. Thousands of individuals, including who had walked in for two to three days from the farthest corners of Lufa, bordering Chimbu, Gulf, and Southern Highlands, gathered to witness this significant occasion, with many moved to tears as the Prime Minister cradled the child in his arms and received the plan. Assuring the people of Lufa, Prime Minister Marape pledged his government's commitment to address the challenges faced by the region, particularly in regard to road connectivity. This includes the construction of a road from Lufa Station to Unavi, reaching remote Karamui in Chimbu, as well as the rehabilitation of the deteriorating road connecting Lufa Station to the main Highlands Highway. To kickstart the plan's implementation, Prime Minister Marape allocated K5 million to the Lufa District Development Authority, while Minister Duma presented K2 million for the Lufa rural electrification programme. Marape told the jubilant crowd, "Your government will take the responsibility of building the road from Lufa to Karamui, relieving the burden from the district and provincial governments, as part of our 'Connect PNG' programme." "This road will serve as an alternate route on the southern side of our country, connecting Lufa to Karamui in Chimbu, Kambia in Jiwaka, and Pangia in Southern Highlands." "We will commence work as soon as the Works and Highways Department provides accurate cost estimates.” “While there is no allocation in this year's budget, it will undoubtedly be included in next year's budget, along with other key roads such as Marawaka to Menyamya in Morobe, Okapa to Kimi, Henganofi to Ramu in Madang, Upper Asaro to Gembogl in Chimbu, and, of course, Lufa Station to Unavi." Expressing his gratitude to the people of Lufa for their resilience in the face of the road accessibility challenges, the Prime Minister affirmed, "The onus of building this road rests upon us as the government.” “Your responsibility is to safeguard the area, maintain law and order, prioritise education and the church, and enhance coffee cultivation." The Prime Minister also officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lufa District office complex and staff houses.

Even though the Papua New Guinea electricity sector operates a single buyer model, it does have shortfalls, with the inability to fulfil commitments and rigidity of the contractual arrangements in the Power Purchase Agreement under the current model has raised concerns. This is according to findings of the National Research Institute Discussion Paper No. 203: Independent power Producers and deregulation in an island-based small electricity system. The case of Papua New Guinea by Associate Professor Rabindra Nepalv and Research Fellow Ronald Sofe gives an insight into prospects of electricity sector reform and the Development of IPPs. According to a statement released today by Dr. Osborne Sanida and the NRI, its noted that PNG power sector is in transition of growth in terms of power size. Policymakers should consider improving the planning of sector regulation and the structure of the industry. “Vast electricity shortages in PNG imply that the country should focus more on developing a framework for adequate supply of power to meet demand without imposing supply constraints.” “The need for adequate supply is greater in PNG’s power system.” “This is because the market is not interconnected, and hydroelectricity generation is prone to seasonal fluctuations.” “To this end, it is important for PNG Power Limited to remain solvent and improve bill collections while minimising the financial losses.” The report recommends that strong “political will” and the strengthening of institutional arrangements are the urgent reform measures needed in the PNG power sector to attract private sector investments in power generation.

East Sepik Governor and Chair of the Special Parliamentary Committee on the 2022 National General Elections, Allan Bird has called on the state to exercise its powers to ensure the progressive and stable growth of the nation. Governor Bird, made this comment while speaking to the panel called forth witnesses from the National Intelligence Organization and the Electoral Commission to give accounts during the 5th SPC22NGE. “I am a very big believer that the state needs to exercise its power and I can say that we haven’t." "The State has been like a puppy dog and that’s unacceptable.” Governor Bird added that the state needs to have more input into building a strong country, one that can respond and protect it’s citizens and that for a long time that has not been the case. Bird further stated that it’s a sad situation but now you’ve got members of parliament who are not going to accept what has happened in the past. “We need to do better and our people demand that we should also.”

Tempers were tested this morning between police and the vendors at the Gordon’s market, following social media reports of a police officer striking and killing a market vendor, prompting mass outrage and the destruction of a police community watch Post. NCD Metropolitan Superintendent, Silva Sika who was on ground to address members of the Gordons Precinct, told PNG HAUSBUNG that all reports on social media about the woman being harassed by police were fabricated. He added that the woman alleged to have been struck by police officers was taken to the Port Moresby General Hospital by police given her own underlying health issues. “The woman is not dead as the social media reports have stated, she was taken to the hospital by a few of our members.” “The reports of policemen assaulting her are NOT true.” It was reported by the Superintendent that as police were doing their morning motorized patrol routine, the woman whilst going about her normal daily routine started having complications breathing and collapsed. It was later when she gained consciousness, in a disturbed state of mind, accused police officer of assaulting her, which led to the public destroy the community watch post. Met Supt Sika added, “We are going to conduct an investigation into this.” “We will ask the shops around the area to provide CCTV footage of the alleged incident and hold those responsible for causing mass panic to the public.” Meanwhile, the Gordons Police Station Commander, Inspector Gabriel Kini stated that this is a ploy by certain opportunists in the area set up to tarnish the reputation of the police force. “We are aware of the person’s responsible for spreading misinformation and they will be dealt with by the full brunt of the law.”

A tense but civil interaction between the Chair of the Special Parliamentary Committee on the National General Elections, East Sepik Governor Allan Bird and National Intelligence Organization (NIO) Director General Terence Frawley, has led to the NIO boss calling for resilience when intelligence regarding matters of National Security, are presented to the National Security Council. Director General Frawley made the call when queried about the scale of response from the National Security Council when the NIO tables reports. “A lot of our reports go to our heads, our leaders, and our agencies. We discuss all these matters but when we walk out the door, it’s a different matter.” Frawley stated that the leaders need a resilient approach to things pertaining to National Security, and with the way things have been going, especially with the last election being very troublesome. This has become a serious concern. On a scale of 1-10, the National Intelligence Organization has given their rating of 3 out of 10 as to how the top brass responds to threat assessments made by the NIO.

The Director General of the National Intelligence Organization Terence Frawley has spoken out about a leak of a National Report that was released to media recently. Frawley said this during the morning session of the 5th Special Parliamentary Committee Hearing and added that the document was only circulated to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the Chief Secretary. The Director General stated that the article in one of the newspapers that was circulated on the 16th of June was very shocking, implying that no one outside of the NIO could have had any access to those documents. According to Frawley, local media had reported the NIO had discovered over K300million being squandered by MP’s, a claim to which the Intelligence Director denounced. “That report was a misled statement. It was completely incorrect. Our report says unconfirmed!” “Unconfirmed report does not mean it’s confirmed for the public to know about.” Once discovering the leak of information, the director stated that they had to move hastily to ascertain information on the person responsible for the leak of that information. At present, it is not determined yet as to which office the information was leaked from, but Frawley stated strongly that it did not come out of his office. “That information did not come out from my office.” Frawley stated that no one apart from the Director General of the NIO is allowed to release any information out to the public and will instigate an investigation to find the mole. Any persons found to have released documents pertaining to National Security apart from the Director General will be charged for Breach of security Under Part 9 of the National Intelligence Organization Act of 1984, Sect. 49 Sub-sect. 1 clause (a) and (b).

Police in the city of Port Moresby continue to make good use of social media to help them effectively police the communities in the nation’s capital. National Capital District (NCD) Metropolitan Superintendent, Silva Sika said the reason that police have been able to effectively attend to incidents in the past few months, was due to successfully use of social media to their advantage. Although working with limited resources, Sika said social media has been a very good tool for police as they work to curb crime in the city. “It comes back to our network and our communication,” said the Met. Supt. “Currently we have this technology, and all of us are in WhatsApp groups. So it’s spot on, whatever that is happening right now, we just take a snapshot of the incident. So you will see all the units responding at the same time.” He stated that this has been a very effective and useful tool, in terms of conveying information for police officers to act on.

Police in the Moresby South electorate of the National Capital District (NCD) now have no excuse to not attend to incidents, thanks to the huge boost to their logistical capability with 7 brand new vehicles, procured by the Moresby South District Development Authority (DDA) and co-funded by the National Capital District Commission (NCDC). All vehicles were purchased at a total cost of K1million and were officially received by the NCD Metropolitan Superintendent, Silva Sika at the Moresby South Stadium yesterday, Saturday 17th June. The Met. Supt. stated that it was a very significant occasion for the people of Moresby South and extended his sincere heartfelt thank you to the Moresby South DDA and the office of the governor for their support towards the NCD Command. Sika stated that it has become a challenge to deal with crime in the city, especially when resources are limited. Now with the new vehicles, Sika expressed that this will be pivotal to increased police presence in the district and visibility of police in the community as a deterrence to crime. “To maximize your performance, I want to see visibility and it’s going to be 24 hours non-stop. That’s the kind of police force and the mindset I want to see.” He stressed that police must be disciplined and use these resources wisely, as they were brought forth from public funds to cater for the public’s need for effective policing.

The Enga Provincial Police Commander (PPC), Superintendent George Kakas has spoken up about the recent media coverage of the Wapanamanda Area, stating that the reports that were circulated on media on Tuesday raised concerns about how the incident was reported. PPC Kakas stated that although he appreciated the media’s effort to report and disseminate information for wider consumption and criticism by the general public, he stressed that information that goes out must be facts. “I’m a bit concerned. On Wednesday, there was a newspaper front page article that came out quoting me and stating that I was undermanned, I needed more manpower, I needed more support. I would like to dispute that. I never said those words. He stated that yes, it is a struggle that police is facing to contain the issue but maintained that he never stated that the police in Enga Province needed men and support. Kakas mentioned that they are getting a lot of support from the Provincial Government, in terms of fuel and rations and support from troops from the 1st Pacific Islands Regiment from the Bravo Company of PNG Defense Force with 120 men and two mobile squads on the Ground.

It was the multi-award winning Daniel Bilip who capped off an eventful 18th YUMIFM PNG MUSIC AWARDS night with hits from the past two years that kept the crowd at the Lamana Gold Club on their feet for the whole night. Performing his hits it seemed as if no one wanted to go home. The Awards night, proudly brought to the Lamana Gold club by platinum sponsor, Coca Cola and Gold Sponsor, Vodafone, brought the Gold club to life, with spectacular performances from the likes of Kronos, Jahran, Jnr Viginuts and others. Kicking of the awards and paying homage to Late Justin Kili, it was both Richard Mogu and Ben Hakalitz both recognized for their contribution to the development of music in the country. Believe it or not, over the past two years, the country has seen new artists lift the standard of local music, and it was not surprising that Jnr Viginuts and Alfie Du were both who scored those titles respectively. Meanwhile, touching hearts through masterful lyrics, both Mal Meninga Kuri and Daniel Bilip were named Artists of the year for 2021/2022. In terms of songs that took the country by storm, Stagajah's Go Back and Bilips Sina were both songs that were strong enough to take the silverware. With the recent surge of female artists breaking the music scene, the new kids on the block, Danielle and Sheii inked their names to female artists of the year. For both years, Danielle dedicating her award to her father in a touching speech. The plot twist in the Listeners choice song of the year 2021 was Mal Meninga Kuri's Life ino easy no more. All in all the 18th YUMIFM PNG MUSIC AWARDS was a success.

Sheii and Danielle have both walked away with Awards this evening on the 18th Yumi FM PNG Music Awards with being female artists of the year 2021 & 2022 respectively. Danielle fought back tears when she took the stage to receive her award for female artist of 2021. She said she was proud of her achievement but gave all credit to her father and her people. Speaking fondly of her father, the young lady stated that although they may have had their differences, she was proud of how far she has come and hoped that this would make her father proud. Meanwhile, SHEII managed to score the 2022 award, beating Danielle, Ree and others to be crowned female artist of the year 2022.

Taking out the Justin Kili Awards for 2021, Richard Mogu was overwhelmed by the support received when his name was called to received the award. In his speech, Mogu thanked the people that voted him to take the award, and also paid homage to his predecessors, namely members of the infamous Sanguma Band and also the tambaran culture. He said he is grateful to be recognized and hopes that PNG will do more to contribute to the development and sustainability of the music industry. Meanwhile, Justin Kili award for 2022 went to Ben Hakalitz for his contribution to the music industry.