The youths from Raulai in Matupit Island, East New Britain Province are into their third week of the Christmas tournament after it started two weeks ago. Committee for Raulai Youths Dickson Darius said, the competition consists of four teams which are playing round robin matches and finals to be in the new year. Mr. Darius further stated, there are games organized for little children and they will be awarded as well apart from the men’s rugby touch 7’s and women’s volley ball. A combined fellowship will be held at the end of the festive tournament and they are looking forward to bring youths and families together in spiritual worship and celebrate with food. “Due to many of the sponsors not responding in time, we are planning to present awards according to capital we have raised at the moment and that will be K200 cash prize and trophy cups”. A combined fellowship will be held at the end of the festive tournament which is to bring youths and families together in spiritual worship and celebrate with food. “Our motive for this tournament is, helping the youths to abstain from alcohol and involving themselves in other  unlawful activities during this festive season”. “Christmas is a time where youths and everyone in the community can reflect on their personal lives and also see what Christ has done for them, therefore we should celebrate with peace and harmony”.

The Lihir Union of Students Association, which is comprised of both university and college students, is prepared and all geared up to conduct their major career expo next year January 12th 2023 on Lihir. The major carrier expo is the second part of the program which will specifically look at students from secondary schools. The first part of the carrier expo was carried out to students in primary schools and with the delivery of basic educational counsel and encouragement alongside the dissemination of secondary school requirements done by members of the association. According to team leader for the association, John Geon mentioned that the first career expo was a success and for the major expo next year, they will be inviting stakeholders within the Island along with scholarship sponsors. The three major academic scholarship donors, Nimamar LLG Scholarship Program, Mineral Resource Limited Scholarship Program and the Lihir Mining Landowners Association will also be invited to provide more information regarding Human resource management and workforce requirements to students. “The association will act as a link between students on Lihir and organizations or companies, so that when students graduate from tertiary institutions, they will be competent and know what is required from them by the workforce," said Mr. Geon. The association was financially assisted by business houses on the island namely Anitua Group of Companies, and Lihir Business Services to conduct the first part of the program. Mr. Geon made known that a financial assistance of K6,000 was donated by authorities on the island and will be for use for the upcoming major career expo. The association is expecting more support from other business houses to roll out the expo. He stated that there was no form of political support from the existing government and it was challenging to see students going to school without no proper aim or goal to achieve, that’s where they step in. Mr. Geon said that they had disseminated invitation letters to secondary schools around the Island to attend the major career expo, which will be held at Lihir Meri Development Senta. The theme for the expo is “Accelerate The Journey Towards Lihir Destiny Through the Development of Human Resource Capital” and will be featuring Business courses, Social Science courses, Science Courses, Scholarships and Training Development Program.

Health Centres in the Kokopo district of East New Britain province are all geared up and ready for the festive season operations. Kokopo District Health Manager Mrs. Anastasia Tio, confirmed that there will be no shutdown for the health centers in Kokopo district during the festive period. Mrs. Tio elaborated that staff have scheduled a rooster with a group of ten staff members to work during the Christmas and New Year’s Day and at the same time, hold Christmas celebrations together with patients at the hospital. “We have hospitals like St. Mary’s hospital and other hospitals that usually have patients. These hospitals have programs for Christmas and New Year which the staffs on duty are going to be with them (Patients).” She said staff members are also advised to work full hours and make sure to attend to patients when they’re on duty. “We have allocated K500 to K1, 000 from the user fee component and this is purposely for Christmas and New Year celebrations in these hospitals”. In the meantime, Mrs. Tio reported that they have not encountered any major accidents or incidents so for this festive period.

As Christmas approaches, many of us  are planning to celebrate Christmas with kaikai, carols by candle light, and exchanging of gifts with friends and families this weekend. Let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas in the midst of our merry making though as highlighted by Seventh Day Adventist Minister Leeroy Yamahaune. Minister Leeroy Yamahune's Christmas Message [audio mp3="https://pnghausbung.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/audio_converter_1671677152.mp3"][/audio]

The church governing council is just implementing what the synod has resolved. The highest structure within the church is the synod, the synod is the general assembly which comprised of 50 members who are from 17 districts in Papua New Guinea. This was a statement from Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea's General Secretary Bernard Kaisom as clarification for the eviction exercise at the Malahang in Lae. He said the decision to carry out the eviction was not done by individuals within the administration. "The last synod has resolved to take back the land thus I as the General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the church administration acted on the highest command of control to implement eviction," "Legal processes of implementing eviction exercise started in 2011. A court order to vacate land portion 354 was given to occupants in April this year." "Four months period was given to the occupants to appeal and voluntarily vacate the area however the occupants have failed to respond." He made this statement to clarify widespread rumors from settlers that the move has some connections to business deals with church individuals running the church administration. Kaisom said the church has plans to develop the area for commercial purposes and only genuine people or businesses will be invited to lease once the project is completed. Eviction exercise commenced on Saturday. Already two shops situated at the area have been evicted and the exercise continues on this week.

The annual Lae Football Association (LFA) off season tournament is on again this year. Wawens Cup Soccer Tournament is going on again this year and is expected to attract a good number of participants. The tournament is set to go on 28th December and expected to end on 01st of January, 2023. Tournament Coordinator Alex Toki said registration is now open form senior men's, women's, and under-17 boys teams. K700 for senior men, K500 for senior women, and K300 for under 17 boys division. Registration closes on 28th of December. Toki said with the alarming reports of law and order issues in the city, this 9th off-season tournament would be the best avenue to occupy students and youths to stay busy and productive. This off-season tournament has contributed a lot towards the sporting code and community security in Lae over the years and is gaining more interest from the public. Already teams outside of the city area have expressed interest to register and participate.

The newly established Ministry of International Trade and Investment is looking at prioritizing Special Economic Zone (SEZ) activities to stabilize the country's economy. Minister Richard Maru said under his leadership, he is looking at offering best incentives to attract investors who can drive SEZ activities. Maru said he is also focusing on involve important stakeholders like landowners, districts and provincial administrations who would work together to ensure SEZs run smoothly. He said first time foreign investors will be given best incentives and anchored at the SEZ to spearhead developments to operate their industries. Maru stated that this will help boost the economy of this country. He said SEZ should lead other sectors like mining, logging and fisheries to help address the weak currency and unemployment issues hitting the country. He further stated that the country has been over relaying on mining and extractive industries for years which are not sustainable for the longer run. PNG's unemployment rate is reported to be at 85 percent and growing. Minister Maru has affirmed that with SEZ activities, PNG would be able to address some of these issues.

Oro Provincial Government is supporting the festive operations in Oro Province with K750 000 to make sure law and order is maintained in the districts and villages. Provincial Police Commander Ewai Segi said, the Christmas operation in Oro province was launched during the weekend and police are stationed at certain hotspots areas of Popondetta. Mr. Segi confirmed, a group of 25 police men will be deployed to Popondetta from Port Moresby to complement the man power in the province. “Currently we have 76 police man on ground and with the inclusion of the reserve police, we should have a total of 150 police altogether” “The duration of operation in Oro province will continue for two to three months until we see that situation is calm and people are safe to move around” At the moment, police man in Oro province are doing foot patrols along the entrance of Kokoda trail as well as within the Popondetta town area. Mr. Segi also stated, he is encountering challenges with intergroup fighting in the villages. “There are reports of suspects armed with weapons walking around the town which we already arrested one over the days” Apart from that, Mr. Segi and his team are also carrying out investigations into an alleged rape incident of an elderly woman in the Manau Mangupipil village. Relatives of the victim retaliated and killed two others escalating the situation which is now at tense. PPC Segi appealed to the people of Oro to refrain from involving themselves in illegal activities as police will come down hard on perpetrators during the festive season police operation. He further added, that students and children are to remain in their homes and not wonder around during this time until the situation is arrested.

Lae City Authority will mark the festive period with Christmas Carols under the stars night at Sir Ignatuis Kilage outdoor stadium on the 22nd-23rd of December, 2022. The program starts at 6 pm and finishes at 9 pm. It will be a night of peace, joy, and celebration of life, the spirit of Christmas, and the city. Members of communities and visitors who wish to attend the events are to bring with them their own mats, soft drinks, bottles of water, and food. Strictly no street vending, table markets, and stalls will be allowed around or inside the event venue during those nights. A fee of K2.00 will be payable at the entrance. The fees collected will go towards the children's ward at Angau Memorial General Hospital. Most of the activities in the item presentations and be led by churches in Lae.

A group of 17 students from the Morobe Tertiary Students Association are looking forward to roll out their awareness program starting this weekend in the 10 districts of Morobe Province. The awareness program will be based on the importance of education, constitutions, law and order and economy. Luther Kising who is the incoming UPNG SRC President for 2023 said, this program is an initiative by the UPNG Tertiary Student Association in collaboration with 2023 UPNG SRC President. This initiative has been supported by the provincial government of Morobe with funding of K200 000 to help the Association. Mr. Kising explained that most of the topics that will be covering during the awareness program are topics that students study at UPNG. “There will also students from University of technology joining the team for the awareness program”. “At the moment the team is spearhead by Jack Hombi and myself and we are currently doing scouting in villages”. "Those villages which I’m not familiar to, we will need the assistance of community representatives and my other colleagues to organize". The awareness program is set to go for a period of more than three weeks and should be completed by January before academic year kicks off.

“Take ownership of Law and Order during this festive season”, were the words of the Provincial Police Commander for New Ireland Province Felix Nebanat. The annual festive season police operations within New Ireland has already begun to ensure individuals and communities celebrate the festive season accordingly, free from trouble and public nuisance. According to Mr. Nebanat, the police operations within the province has two phases to it and is progressing smoothly as planned. The first phase which is the public awareness (pre-ops) conducted by police officers and personnel will end this Friday 23rd December. Police will move directly into phase two which is the patrol and providing security in the province. Phase one saw police officers carrying out awareness in public places including beachfronts and boat stops emphasizing on the consequences of illegal doings, if they are apprehended by police. Police boss Nebanat stated that there will be a briefing this Friday before police conduct the phase two operations. He added that this operation has been carried out for the past festive seasons and for this season police will not tolerate any immorality and criminal activities by individuals as well as general public. [caption id="attachment_32734" align="aligncenter" width="770"] New Ireland Provincial Police Commander Felix Nebanat[/caption] The police in New Ireland is awaiting approval from the New Ireland Provincial Government as well as financial assistance to commence phase two operation this Friday. Currently, there is shortage of police personnel as well as transport for police to use but according to Mr. Nebanat, this will not interfere with the work of the police to enforce law and order during this festive season. The New Ireland PPC made a call to fellow New Irelanders especially drivers and boat skippers to take extra precaution whilst travelling and alcohol consumption is of no tolerance. He made this call regarding a car accident which occurred in Namatanai District last Friday. According to Mr. Felix, a taxi driver had consumed alcohol prior to transporting three passengers to the hospital where they went off road. The driver fled before police arrived at the scene and the passengers survived with minor injuries.

The casket of former Nawaeb MP late Wesley Zurenuoc will be transported from the Angau Memorial General Hospital tomorrow morning to Boana Station for final respects to be accorded to the late former MP by the district administration and the people of Nawaeb. District Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Buds Botike said the administration and the current Nawaeb MP Theo Pelgen recognised the former MP and his efforts towards service delivery over the past years during his tenure as a leader of the district . He said the administration and the MPs office have contributed towards late Wesley's "Haus krai" and will be transporting the body from Angau Memorial General Hospital morgue to Boana Station where District Head Quarter office is to pay final respect before proceeding to Erap at the mourning House. The body will overnight at his private residence and the burial will done on Thursday morning. MP Theo Pelgen on behalf of his family, District and the people passed their deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to late Wesley's immediate family, his people of Saut village in Erap and everyone mourning at this time of sorrow. Late Wesley is survived by his son Emmanuel and wife Rope Zurenuoc. He passed away on the 10th of December at his home after a short illness.