Minister for Health, HIV and AIDS Dr. Lino Tom, has spoken out on his plan that he has outlined for his ministry for the first 100 days in office. Speaking at the parliament yesterday, he thanked the Marape-Rosso government for giving him the opportunity to take up the ministerial role as it is an integral part of the social sector and contributes to the greater aspect of human development. While giving his ministerial statement he acknowledged his predecessors who had once been custodians of the ministry. “As the population of Papua New Guinea continues to grow at a rate of 2.7%, according to the National Census 2011, with an estimated 9.1 million in 2020 and 12 million by 2030, we may have already surpassed these figures,” the minister said. Therefore, the minister has stated that he now has set for himself 5 priorities he intends to achieve for the following 18 months. These include establishing mechanisms to achieve the World Health Organizations (WHO) required ratio of health workforce to population of 4:1000, improve drug procurement in the country, increase infrastructure capacity to improve access to health services, improve governance and systems and making sure to review and audit all Provincial Health Authorities. “The health of our people is the wealth of our nation. Loss of productivity through illness is a global issue and we must acknowledge it for what it is. It’s not only cash crops that bring much needed forex, it’s the people that make it happen.” the minister stated. Dr. Lino believes that only 30% of the health challenges can be solved by the health sector through medical procedures; however, 70% are outside their capacity such as financing, accessibility, power supply, communication, law and order, Nutrition, literacy and accessibility to water supply for the community. All these play a critical role in improving the health of our people.

This December will be very eventful for the home grown fashion designers and entrepreneurs who will be taking part in the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority Fashion Festival. The Festival will feature a gathering of cultural and creative intellect, a fusion of indigenous cultures, traditions and modernization. In an emotional address, Founder and Chairperson of the PNGFDW Mrs. Janet Sios stated that they have gone through to a lot of changes since they first stated in 2016 and seeing the support this week at the launch was a dream come true. “Thank you so much to all the sponsors' representatives that are here. I am actually a little bit emotional because we’ve been doing this for 7 years. We started at The Stanley Hotel with 7 designers and an unknown industry, we’ve gone through a lot,” Sios stated. She said this year the PNG TPA Fashion Festival will be working closely with creators and entrepreneurs to develop and grow the clothing and apparel sector to empower creative MSME’s to flourish in business. This will all culminate on the 3rd of next month with the National Gaming Control Board Runway22. Meanwhile, the PNGFDW signed an MoU with the Women’s Micro Bank to enable partnership with them to roll out a Credit Guarantee Scheme. This is the first of its kind, not just in Papua New Guinea but also the Pacific. This will enable aspiring fashion designers with financial assistance to grow their SME in the Fashion Design industry. Special Guest at the launching, Minister for Tourism Arts & Culture Isi Henry Leonard, in his speech also highlighted that fashion is not a new concept as it has always been part of our culture, whether it be tattoo on the face or on the body or a tie they put on the body, whether it be an armband or a tapa cloth. He said PNG is so richly diverse that people do not need to go anywhere else to find inspiration.

Santa came early this year for the children at the Port Moresby General Hospital Paediatric Ward when they received a surprise visit from the Miss Alibi 2021, Writer Collin. Ms Colin was there to deliver presents to mark of International Children’s Day, with the donations coming from both her sponsor, Alibi Bar and Grill in partnership with Jmart. Writer will be contesting the Miss Pacific Islands Pageant 2022 as the first ever Miss Alibi and has stated that she is very humbled to have visited the hospital to commemorate ICD. “I am very humbled to be here with you all during this visit as we commemorate International Children’s Day. Port Moresby General Hospital is very special to me as I spent a few months in the children’s cancer ward taking care of a dear relative a few years ago." She added that children are the backbone of society and are what adults strive to work for. She added that when people strive to build a better future, they do it for our children as they bring so much joy and love into the lives of their family. Collin commended the hard work that the staff at the hospital do for the children, stating that they're healing the next generation of the country. “Thank you Friends of PomGen for your initiative to create smiles on this special day. I am honored to work closely with you." "To MPIP, thank you for giving me this platform. May we use it to uplift our children, I also acknowledge my sponsor Alibi Bar & Grill and JMart for their donation to this cause. Thank you for always supporting me and my charity of choice the Friends of PomGen."

As investigations into the death of the Correctional Services (CS) officer continues with no new leads, CS Commissioner Mr. Steven Pokanis has come to call on the general public to come forward and work alongside Police in Kavieng to identify and apprehend those responsible for the officer’s death. Almost 3 weeks ago late Officer John Hungi was found just outside the Kavieng CS Facility after being beheaded by unknown assailants. “People were there, they must have seen something, how can there be no witnesses? So, I am calling on the people to please come forward and assist in the investigations if they have seen anything,” the commissioners stated. Pokanis said that they need to find out the exact accounts of what had happened, so they can bring closure to the family of the late officer. He added that police in the New Ireland province have yet to establish any leads pertaining to the officer’s demise, but are working closely to establish facts surrounding the death. Meanwhile, Commissioner Pokanis also stated that the death of the officer is concerning as this is the first time in almost ten years since an incident such as this occurred. “I believe that this is concerning us, I mean we’ve had instances in the past where we’ve lost officers, but to lose one in this way while off duty and intoxicated is a big concern for the CS,” Pokanis said. Right now, their main concern is for them to work with their sister force to repatriate the body of the late officer back to his family and home province.

An expert in constitutional law has stated that people wanting to make themselves wealthy through the state could be able to do so if they get control of the state. This observation statement was made by Mr. Anthony Regan, a Constitutional Lawyer attached to the Australian National University (ANU), specializing in constitutional development and conflict resolution. According to Mr. Regan, some people see it difficult to get wealthy unless through the state. He said that in some cases entrepreneurs made big themselves through hard work, but a lot of people think that the best way to get rich is through the state and getting hold of bits of the state. “People try everything possible to get into power and then to avoid scrutiny once they’re in power,” Regen stated. Mr. Regan said that there are a number of reasons that contribute to the deterioration of Good Governance and Integrity in the political system of the country, and the underlying issue that stands at the moment is Political Economy. “Political Economy is really about how does politics follow money; money determines how politics works. There were forks along the road, where getting control of bits of the state became very important,” Regan said. This in turn gave politicians greater reach into the public pocket, as now they would be in control of the development funds of the districts or provinces as they would be directly responsible for them. Regan made these statements based on his experience studying in PNG, while speaking at the last panel session during day 2 of the 2nd National Integrity Summit held in Port Moresby this week.

Initially targeting one community, the Sepik Social Youth Movement is creating the domino effect seen in Wewak and this can be attributed to the hard work and efforts of vibrant youth and community leaders. President, Mr. Xavier Wablasu states that he is equally surprised and content with the outcome of the awareness that is carried out in the Province. Wablasu added that this is evident from the amount of weapons and homebrew making materials surrendered by the communities. “For us its ten times positive. It started with 1 community and now it’s grown an arm and a leg of its own. It stated with Meni, then moved on to Boram, Boram Junction to the Army Barracks side and now to Nuigo, the heart of the town, one of the notorious communities have given up arms now." Over a dozen communities have now surrendered arms over the past month since the movement started and Wablasu says this is all thanks to the youths from the Wewak Chapter that have put in the hard yards to make this possible. “It’s the leadership in Wewak that’s been doing the hard yards, the Wewak chapter led by Gilbert Sari and the youths alongside the community leaders."  He further added that the eradication of these dangerous weapons is a good sign moving forward, stating the if they do not take actions to keep the town safe, no one knows what the future might hold if they let people run around with these weapons in hand. Wablasu thanked the East Sepik Province Governor, Allan Bird for his active involvement in campaigning against the Wire Catapult and engaging it as a National Agenda. He then added that they have already engaged a lawyer to look at tools in which they can look at to utilize to run changes to legislation granting harsher penalties to offenders thus acting as a deterrent to future offenders.

The Evangelical Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG) in Port Moresby yesterday launched the project for the construction of a new Pastors house worth K67,000 raised by the church members and from donations from the Eliseo Group of Companies and the Member for Koroba Lake Kopiago, William Bando and a representative from the Ministry of Community Development and Religion. Chairman of the ECP Church Gerehu, Kayama Sinba stated that if it were not for the prayers and assistance of these stakeholders, this ground- breaking ceremony would not have eventuated. Sinba said since the church was built and established in 1986, there had been no developments made on the church grounds up until now due to funding. “I want to thank all that have gathered together today to support us and hope that God will bless us more to complete all projects,” Sinba said. He added that they are planning on expanding more into the vacant Church land by building more facilities to cater for their Christian Education classes that they host for the children. ELCPNG National President, Hengebe Himugu thanked all stakeholders including the Ministry of Community Development and Religion for their support in their assistance to the construction of the Pastor’s house and look forward to working alongside the Ministry for future projects.

Very unfortunate news has come out of Jiwaka Province over the past days, as police in the province are now trying to ascertain the facts surrounding the killing of one of their own. Highlands Eastern Command, Chief Superintendent Rigga Neggi has confirmed that on the 11th of this month [Friday] they had received news in Mt. Hagen City that a police officer was killed in the Jiwaka. “At the moment we are trying to establish facts surrounding the officers death and I have instructed men on the ground to do a preliminary investigation into the killing with support from Mt. Hagen,” Neggi said. A Mobile squad unit from Mt. Hagen was dispatched to assist with the investigations on ground as in cases such as this, CSP Neggi stated the situation may be volatile. On Saturday (12/11/22), the Chief Superintendent travelled to the Province to oversee the investigations. At this point in time, Police are keeping a tight-lip on the situation.

Policemen and women attached to the Special Services Division Mobile Squad 02 and several other police officers from Hela province, attached to the NCD/Central Division came together in a solemn group to show solidarity in the face of utmost pain. Members of the police force, and men from Hela who served in their home province, came together to show respect for their fallen comrade. Represented by senior officers, SSD First Constable Thomas Andale and Peterson Haguai from Police Headquarters, the men and women from Hela banded together in respect to the traditions of their ancestors, to contribute money and other store goods to offer to the family of late Senior Constable Nelson Kalimda who died in the line of duty two weeks ago in Hela. K3000 cash and K2000 worth of store goods were raised to go towards the wife and family of late Kalimda. In hopes to bring closure to the family, First constable Thomas Andale in his address stated that as fellow police officer and Hela man, what had transpired in the few weeks that had gone by was unacceptable and for them to come together like this was to show respect to the family of their fallen comrade. “We are here to show the family that as police officers, want them to know that we are also saddened by the loss of our comrade in arms and this is how we want to pay our respects to a fellow policeman who wore this uniform,” Andale said. Andale added that since discovery of Late Kalimda’s body in his home province, the whole of Hela is bearing the consequence of being ostracized by the general public due to the actions of one person and hopes that this gesture will help to restore the good name of the people of Hela.

After heavy fighting over the weekend between loaders from the Gordons Market and Youths from the Gordons Youth Association, Gordons Police are now looking to come up with plans to implement for urban public safety. Gordons Acting Police Station Commander, Grayson Sivoro has revealed that he has plans to improve policing in the area to minimize law and order issues such as the one experienced over the weekend. Insp. Sivoro stated that now that they have cleared out most of the bus stops and reorganized them in an orderly manner, he now intends to have his officers man each station. “Gordons is the biggest transit hub here in the capital compared to 4mile and Gerehu so public safety is a top priority for us at the moment especially after the incident over the weekend,” he said. Meanwhile, reconciliation talks with both the GYA and the loaders of the Gordons Market have been pushed to the 10th of this month after word made by the GYA leaders to have reconciliation talks with the loaders and community leaders was broken when none of their leaders showed up at the police station. Inspector Sivoro said he had asked both parties to reschedule their talks after being informed that the youths had not shown up in fear of their lives. “They said they would come today, so we said to have a talk here at the station but they are scared that something might happen to them,” Sivoro added.

It was a sad sight to behold this morning as family and friends gathered to receive the body of the late Senior Constable Nelson Kalimda, who arrived at Cargo Terminal at the Jacksons Airport in Port Moresby city from Tari, Hela province. Scores of loved ones arrived as early as they could to the terminal to catch a glimpse of the late police officers before his body would be taken to the Funeral Home where the body will temporarily stay until investigations are completed before repatriation back to his home province of East Sepik. Late Kalimda’s casket arrived at 11:40am, to which was received by Deputy Commissioner of Police [Operations] Donald Yamasombi and members of both the Special Services Division and the Correctional Services who were present to pay their respects. The body of late Kalimda was then greeted with a guard of honour from both disciplinary forces, has he was escorted out of the terminal back to his home at the Redsea Barracks at Bomana before being taken over to the Funeral Home at Erima. The late Senior Constable was kidnaped in Tari in the Hela province by criminals and was missing for over a week before his body was found in a river by locals. Meanwhile, DCP Yamasombi stated that they have not come up with funeral arrangements as yet.

The President of the National Doctors Association (NDA) Dr. James Naipao has spoken out on the inhumane behaviour carried out by criminals after a senior doctor at the Enga Provincial Hospital was attacked at the early hours of the morning while at his home. In the early hours of Thursday, 3rd November at around 1am Dr. Kanandru Pondros, the Deputy Director Medical Services at the Enga Provincial Hospital & Acting Director Curative Health Services of the Enga Provincial Health Authority, was attacked in front of the gate to his house by criminals. He was attacked and sustained wounds to his head, face and other parts of his body and was rushed to the hospital. According to Dr. Naipao, Dr. Pondros was rushed to the hospital and immediately attended to by the two senior surgeons at the hospital. "The health workers on the ground, including doctors who are members of the National Doctors Association, condemned the manner in which this senior defenseless doctor was attacked,” Naipao said in his statement. He is now calling upon the general public, communities and tribes along with the security forces to collaborate and arrest those involved in this outrageous crime. At present Police in Enga, the PNG Defense force personnel, and the neighbouring tribes are providing security at the hospital and the Wabag Township, while the family of Dr. Pondros has been safely relocated. NDA is closely monitoring the situation and Dr. Naipao has sent a stern warning to the general public that should there be no justice, serious measures will be taken by the NDA. “Police should not let go the six culprits until the rule of law reaches its full course of justice. If this does not happen, the newly built level 5/6 provincial or stand-alone tertiary hospital may not attract Non-Engan health workers to this hospital,” he said. He further stated that once a friendly, receiving and caring province to visitors is slowly losing this great asset and he is urging the Provincial Government to come out and explain how they intend on addressing these issues. “Recently government security personnel, government workers, private sector workers and citizens of this country have been victims of violence. Law and Order is one of the main denominator of prosperity and economic development. Government at the LLG, District, Province and nationally must aggressively address this,” Naipao reiterated in his statement. "The country has lost 40 doctors through the 2022 National General Election, and the undemocratic and dictatorial law passed to make public servant return after five years will widened the doctor to population ratio, and the ratio greatly widened by the passing of 35 doctors who have died in the last three years alone."