VERY LONG QEUES AND EXTRA FUEL CONTAINERS The mad rush for fuel in the nations capital, Port Moresby, is reaching new heights with motor vehicle owners especially public transport qeueing up with extra drums and containers at service stations. Taxis and PMV buses were seen filling up their fuel tanks as well as two or more containers to avoid the risk of running out of fuel to continue providing transportation services to the people of NCD. A local bus crew that runs the Gordon's to 9 mile route confirmed that his bus refilled two extra 20 litre containers of fuel to keep his bus going until or whenever the fuel crisis returns is restored. As of this morning, an update on NCD Fuel Stations: OPEN: Total Boroko, Total Badili,Puma Kone CLOSED: Mobil Lahara,Puma Badili, Puma Hohola ESSENTIAL SERVICES AT RISK The fuel crisis continues, and it’s bound to affect power supply and flights, both international and domestic. Some of the main organizations to be affected by this issue are PNG Power Limited and the national flag carrier, Air Niugini. Both organizations are expected to make a response on this today as we await updates from outer centres on the fuel situation at hand. For more information on the fuel situation, listen to Legend FM PNG, NAUFM and 93FM Yumi FM news or read more on pnghausbung . PETROLEUM COMPANIES WORKING WITH GOVERNMENT TO FIND SOLUTION TO FUEL CRISIS The Government is now in serious discussions with Kumul Petroleum Limited (KPL) and three multi-national petroleum companies to find solutions for the fuel shortage in the country, with a major announcement expected soon, Prime Minister James Marape has said. The Prime Minister said the Government has been holding talks with ExxonMobil, Total Energies and Santos, together with Mineral Resources Development Authority and State-owned company KPL, to look into the immediate import of fuel and a long-term solution in the construction of a locally-based refinery for downstream processing to secure the domestic market. Prime Minister Marape said today (19.02.23) Papua New Guinea, under his government, was heading in the direction of downstream processing of its resources but Puma Energy's actions of recent months have forced the Government to act now rather than later in this area. "Our fuel insecurity due to reliance on one or two suppliers is forcing the Government to urgently call on its State-own Enterprises and major oil companies operating in the country to finding solutions," said PM Marape. “The Government is now collaborating with Kumul Petroleum, MRDC, ExxonMobil, Total Energies and Santos to explore solutions that can ensure the country's fuel security, including aviation fuel and general fuel. "We are leaving no stone unturned. What has happened under Puma must not be repeated. For far too long, this country has been victimised when, in fact, Papua New Guinea continues to export petroleum and gas to the world year after year. The irony is staggering. "I am, therefore, pleased to note the progress the Government is making with our national development partners - ExxonMobil, Total Energies and Santos. "I am also looking forward to the moment when we can make the announcement on the immediate solutions we have worked out to resolve this relatively long-standing issue." Papua New Guinea was plunged into an acute shortage of fuel at the end of last year 2022 when Puma Energy PNG Ltd announced it could no longer source crude oil and finished products because of unresolved foreign currency issues. This affected its supply of fuel to PNG, especially to the aviation industry where Air Niugini was forced to ground its flights and left the travelling public stranded for days as a result. The matter raised huge concerns on supply monopoly and the country's fuel security both for short and long term. FUEL CRISIS HITS THE COUNTRY  Fuel crisis hits PNG as the nation's capital Port Moresby starts to see service stations closing and some overwhelmed by a long queu motorists desperately trying to fuel up their vehicles. Some service stations belonging to Mobil, Total and Puma have had to send away vehicles because fuel is down. Some had only diesel and no petrol. However, the diesel could run out by Monday or Tuesday. Motorists are finding it tough now and many want to government to do something about this fuel crisis immediately to address it. [video width="640" height="640" mp4="https://pnghausbung.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/331231741_5966722576720711_7625677072010796605_n.mp4"][/video]

The planned meeting today between the police and its stakeholders with the public transport service providers in Port Moresby city did not eventuate as expected due to the poor turnout of the transport owners and operators.    The National Capital District (NCD) Metropolitan Superintendent, Mr. Silva Sika said it was unfortunate because he wanted the taxi and Public Motor Vehicle (PMV) operators to know what the police and its stakeholders have in store to ensure the safety of the pedestrians, commuters and transport operators.   “My priority is to make sure safety is number one, we want to make sure safety and security is guaranteed for our city,” he said.   He said the reason for the strategies in place is simply due to the fact that most of the PMVs and taxis break traffic rules on a daily basis and in the process, putting the safety of the public in danger.   “We cannot allow this to go on like no one is caring about this behaviour and attitude.”   Mr. Sika said they have already carried out some of the plans, like the monitoring of school crossings by the enforcement compliance unit from the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) at the start of the school year, which is just part of other strategies police and its stakeholders have planned to carryout.   “The meeting we are trying to hold here is about telling them about what mechanism or strategies we are going to use to control the behaviour of the taxi drivers and PMVs because they are the main offenders.”   “We have laws here, time and time again we deal with people when they are committing offences, but they never change, they continue to do that every day. It’s a daily routine violation of traffic laws in NCD and we can’t allow this to happen.”   Nevertheless, Mr. Sika still wants to hold this meeting with the public transport owners and operators; therefore, he told those few that were present at the Unagi Park this afternoon that this meeting is now moved to next week Sunday 26th February, at the same place.   He also urged them to pass the word along to their colleagues so that most of them can be present next week Sunday for this important meeting with them.   Meanwhile, the stakeholders that are also assisting police enforcing the traffic laws are the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited (MVIL), Road Traffic Authority (RTA), Central Province Transport Authority, Pacific Corporate Security (PCS) Limited which provides the Bus Stop Wardens service, and the PMV Association.    Most of their representatives were also present at the planned meeting this afternoon.   

The Government is now in serious discussions with Kumul Petroleum Limited (KPL) and three multi-national petroleum companies to find solutions for the fuel shortage in the country, with a major announcement expected soon, Prime Minister James Marape has said. The Prime Minister said the Government has been holding talks with ExxonMobil, Total Energies and Santos, together with Mineral Resources Development Authority and State-owned company KPL, to look into the immediate import of fuel and a long-term solution in the construction of a locally-based refinery for downstream processing to secure the domestic market. Prime Minister Marape said today (19.02.23) Papua New Guinea, under his government, was heading in the direction of downstream processing of its resources but Puma Energy's actions of recent months have forced the Government to act now rather than later in this area. "Our fuel insecurity due to reliance on one or two suppliers is forcing the Government to urgently call on its State-own Enterprises and major oil companies operating in the country to finding solutions," said PM Marape. “The Government is now collaborating with Kumul Petroleum, MRDC, ExxonMobil, Total Energies and Santos to explore solutions that can ensure the country's fuel security, including aviation fuel and general fuel. "We are leaving no stone unturned. What has happened under Puma must not be repeated. For far too long, this country has been victimised when, in fact, Papua New Guinea continues to export petroleum and gas to the world year after year. The irony is staggering. "I am, therefore, pleased to note the progress the Government is making with our national development partners - ExxonMobil, Total Energies and Santos. "I am also looking forward to the moment when we can make the announcement on the immediate solutions we have worked out to resolve this relatively long-standing issue." Papua New Guinea was plunged into an acute shortage of fuel at the end of last year 2022 when Puma Energy PNG Ltd announced it could no longer source crude oil and finished products because of unresolved foreign currency issues. This affected its supply of fuel to PNG, especially to the aviation industry where Air Niugini was forced to ground its flights and left the travelling public stranded for days as a result. The matter raised huge concerns on supply monopoly and the country's fuel security both for short and long term.

The government ratification of three International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions will pave way for the improvement of labour laws and all matters relating to the workforce in the country, both in the private and public sectors.    The three conventions are the Labour Inspection Convention No. 81, Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention No. 144, and Violence and Harassment Convention No. 190.     Secretary of the Department of Labour and Industry Mr. George Taunakeke, explained that the governance of priority conventions are the Labour Inspection Convention and Tripartite Consultation Convention.    “They are categorised as priority of governance under ILO and those conventions become legally binding when ratified by parliament,” said the secretary.     “The other one, the violence and harassment convention, is only a technical convention and it also  becomes legally binding when ratified.”    The ratification of the conventions will be conveyed to the ILO in due course after the department completes its consultations with the Department of Foreign Affairs.    Meanwhile, the secretary further stated that the review of the country’s labour laws will coincide with the ratification of these ILO conventions.    “It means going forward now is the immediate review of our labour laws that are currently in the process of being updated by the ministry and the department.”    “Reviewing and updating them, so they are compliant or consistent with these international conventions.”    He explained that the intention is to create a robust mechanism to establish effective labour inspections in the country, step up the tripartite consultations and strengthen the laws to protect everyone at the workplace in support of the government's overall objectives.    “Our labour laws many of them are colonial laws and we have prioritized some of these labour laws for review this year. We are trying to modernize the labour laws so that they reflect the current social and economic climate.”    He added that the department will make sure that those reviewed laws are consistent with international standards as communicated through those three ILO conventions.    “In the ministry and the department, we will be doing that as part of our work this year and moving forward in terms of institutionalizing some of these conventions that have been ratified.”  

The Australian Football League (AFL) International Cup (IC) is marked for 2024 and AFL Papua New Guinea (PNG) is not wasting any time to make preparation for the selection of the national teams to participate in the challenge. Following the success of the 2022 season for most of the centers where ALF was played in, the country’s main AFL body is now looking forward to hosting the national championships once again after the COVID pandemic disrupted things from 2020 to 2021. AFL PNG Senior Football Operations Manager Mr. Rex Leka said the national championships is one avenue from which the selections for the national teams for both males and females are done through; therefore, the national championships is on the cards for this year. He further explained that the national championship will enable the selectors to select potential players to form the train on squad for both the PNG Mosquitoes and PNG Flames national teams. The last International Cup was played back in 2017 (IC17) in Australia where the PNG Mosquitoes men’s team took home the title for the second time and are currently still holding on to it. However, 2017 was long ago and it is now time for some new young bloods to represent the country in the national teams for the upcoming IC24. “Most of the players in the team then played in 2017 and many of them have moved on. Now it’s time to find new ones,” said Mr. Leka. Mr. Leka said that the championships and the selection for the national teams will be among the main agendas to be discussed during the upcoming AFL PNG start of the year meeting with the executives and management. Meanwhile, the PNG Mosquitoes will be defending the IC title for the third time next year in IC24. The Mosquitoes initially snatched the title in 2014 and successfully defended it in 2017. The International Cup, which started in 2002, is staged every two years. Since 2002, it has been held in 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014 and the last one was in 2017 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, which then led to the cancellation of the scheduled 2020 IC. The IC is the biggest worldwide tournament in the sport of AFL and is open to all nations except for Australia. This is mainly due to the presence of the professional AFL competition and an abundance of semi-professional leagues in the country.

The Port Moresby Australian Football League (AFL) Association is currently in the process of seeking sponsorship before the start of the 2023 season. Association President Mr. Douglas Lai, said they will be requesting sponsorship from Moni Plus once again for the 2023 season, which is seen as appropriate because the financial institution has been sponsoring the nations capital AFL competitions for some time. We are looking at requesting about K30, 000, sponsorship for this years competition for all the divisions. The official request letter has been signed already by the AFL Commissioner Mr. Loi Bakani and once I get it back, I will send it over, said the president. Mr. Lai explained that the sponsorship and funding must be secured first before they can move on to the planning and organizing of the new season, which includes the drawing up of the match draws and the 2023 competition calendar. The Port Moresby AFL competition had a full on season last year with no disruptions compared to two years back when the COVID pandemic really put a strain on the competition, which saw the association having to cancel matches as a result of strict COVID measures. However, since 2022 the association is once again looking forward to running a smooth competition in 2023 as they also prepare for the upcoming International Cup, which is scheduled for next year.

The Headquarters of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) at Murray Barracks for 50 years through its administration, has greatly delivered and supported government and civic programs in Papua New Guinea (PNG) since its establishment in 1973. Speaking at the recent 50th Anniversary celebration at the Headquarters in Port Moresby city, Commander of Defence Force (CDF) Major General Mark Goina, highlighted the major achievements and operations that were executed by the PNGDF Headquarters. They included the success of the Vanuatu campaign in 1980 to restore stability and peace on Vanuatu, the restoration of peace and stability on Bougainville, contributing to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), contributing to the United Nation (UN) peace keeping and monitoring mission in Sudan and South Sudan, delivering infrastructure and supporting the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) on internal security operations in the highlands and other parts of the country. “I am proud of our headquarters to deliver many of these key events, these also include continued deployment of our forces along our land and maritime borders, delivering of infrastructure capabilities, exercise, operations and trainings in partnership with our defence partners, signing of status of force agreements, and defence cooperation agreements with our defence partners.” Other activities performed by the PNGDF in the last 50 years include supporting the delivery of national events such the APEC meeting in 2018 and the national general elections. Supporting and coordinating disaster relief operations and contributing to nation building through civic action programs. “As your chief of defence force, I will work closely with the minister for defence and the secretary for defence to ensure that the defence council supports the PNGDF to continue to perform these tasks in support of our government and our people,” said the CDF. Goina added that through this relationship between the PNGDF and the defence council, the defence force saw many achievements and successes, and faced and addressed many challenges over the years. He went on to say that these events that have occurred have shaped the size and structure of the headquarters of the PNGDF, as well as the defence force itself.

The Headquarters of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) at Murray Barracks for 50 years through its administration, has greatly delivered and supported government and civic programs in Papua New Guinea (PNG) since its establishment in 1973. Speaking at the recent 50th Anniversary celebration at the Headquarters in Port Moresby city, Commander of Defence Force (CDF) Major General Mark Goina, highlighted the major achievements and operations that were executed by the PNGDF Headquarters. They include the success of the Vanuatu campaign in 1980 to restore stability and peace on Vanuatu, the restoration of peace and stability on Bougainville, contributing to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), contributing to the United Nation (UN) peace keeping and monitoring mission in Sudan and South Sudan, delivering infrastructure and supporting the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) on internal security operations in the highlands and other parts of the country. “I am proud of our headquarters to deliver many of these key events, these also include continued deployment of our forces along our land and maritime borders, delivering of infrastructure capabilities, exercise, operations and trainings in partnership with our defence partners, signing of status of force agreements, and defence cooperation agreements with our defence partners.” Other activities performed by the PNGDF in the last 50 years include supporting the delivery of national events such the APEC meeting in 2018 and the national general elections. Supporting and coordinating disaster relief operations and contributing to nation building through civic action programs. “As your chief of defence force, I will work closely with the minister for defence and the secretary for defence to ensure that the defence council supports the PNGDF to continue to perform these tasks in support of our government and our people,” said the CDF. Goina added that through this relationship between the PNGDF and the defence council, the defence force saw many achievements and successes, and faced and addressed many challenges over the years. He went on to say that these events that have occurred have shaped the size and structure of the headquarters of the PNGDF, as well as the defence force itself.

The Headquarters of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF) at the Murray Barracks in Port Moresby marked its 50th Anniversary today where the Commander of Defense Force (CDF)stressed to his troops that it’s time for implementation of defence plans going forward into the next 50 years. CDF Major General Mark Goina told his troops at the 50th Anniversary parade this morning that 2023 is the year where the Headquarters carryout implementations of objectives to ensure personnel and their welfare and infrastructure are improved going forward under the CDF five-year plan from 2022 to 2026. “This year 2023 is the year of implementation where the following work must start, automation of personnel records and services, logistics systems from Force Support Battalion (FSB) to all PNGDF establishments, ICT connectivity to all PNGDF establishment and correspondence with inbuilt decisions and approval processes.” He added that all policies and accountable documents like the Defence White Paper, must be reviewed and rewritten, of which most will be contracted to the former members of the PNGDF. “The council (defence council) strongly believes that this is the only way we can set a strong foundation that we can ensure good governance, accountability, transparency and compliance to support future acquisition of capabilities such as uniforms, weapons, vehicles, ships and plans including construction of infrastructure and recruitment of personnel into the force.” “If you a tasked to deliver part or all our plans, do it professionally and within the time given. We all need to do our part to deliver on our plans from 2023 and onwards,” he added. On the operational front, the CDF said the PNGDF must continue to maintain its presence on the country’s land and maritime borders. “We will continue to maintain our presence in the highlands as our responsibility to assist the police maintaining good order, peace and security.” On discipline, the CDF stressed that it’s important that discipline is maintained to ensure command and control at all PNGDF establishments. “As we start the year, I want basic military routines to be enforced to install military culture, physical fitness and wellbeing, adherence of barracks standing orders and discipline. This is fundamental to any military organization, and it will start from Headquarters Papua New Guinea Defence Force at Murray Barracks.” Meanwhile, the celebrations today saw members of all unities of the PNGDF take part in the parade, and a new plague unveiled at the headquarters next to the first one that was put up back in 1973 when the headquarters was handed over to the PNGDF by the ADF. The event also saw a fly over conducted by the PNGDF Air Transport Wing (ATW) with two helicopters and a plan, and two F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) that flew in all the way from their base in Brisbane.

The Port Moresby Australian Football League (AFL) Association and all the clubs registered under it are looking forward to the day when work starts on the proposed new AFL stadium at the current Colts Oval at the Bisini Sports precinct. The Association President Mr. Douglas Lai confirmed as well that K10 million was allocated by the government towards the construction of this proposed new stadium. “At the moment we are waiting for formalities to take place before the actual construction starts at the oval,” said the president. The president said that so far, the team from AFL PNG and the team from the Sports Foundation and the ministry of sports visited the Colts oval, inspected it, and did some initial surveys before going away. At present there is no word yet on the official groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of the construction phase of the new stadium, but it is hoped that work will take place this year. The current status of the Colts oval is pretty much a plain area with no proper stands for fans to view matches and it does not even have a proper match officials box. However, with the new stadium the president said it should have all the proper facilities to host matches, something which they are looking forward to. Meanwhile, Sports Minister Don Polye said that the K10 million funding for the construction of the new stadium, was made available by the National Government through Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited, Papua New Guinea’s petroleum company.

Papua New Guineans wishing to work in Australia under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme now can have that chance to do so because the Australian government is now supporting an increased number of workers from the country to work down south. This was made possible following the recent 4th Annual Bilateral Leaders Dialogue in Port Moresby city between the Australian Prime Minister (PM) Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister, James Marape. The recent talks between the two leaders and their delegates saw a lot of progress and consensus reached, and one such progress was the skilled labour from PNG under the scheme. Australia PM Albanese said they support PM Marape’s intention to increase the number of skilled workers from PNG to 8, 000 compared to current 1, 000 plus workers in Australia. Albanese added that this time they will be looking at including PNG skilled labour in other sectors as well instead of just in the agriculture sector. “We spoke about that being not just in agriculture, but in the care sector as well. That is something that brings benefit to Australia by providing skilled labour and non- skilled labour in areas of need,” said Albanese. Meanwhile, the PALM scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from 9 Pacific Island countries and Timor- Leste and with the agreement reached, this would be an opportunity for many Papua New Guineans now to work in Australia in the various sectors offered.

Sir Bob Dadae was re-elected as the Governor General of Papua New Guinea through as secret ballot at parliament today, making this now his second term in office. Initially, three candidates had stood for the election, they were Sir Bob Dadae, female candidate Winnie Anna Kiap and Steven Pokawin. Mr. Pokawin later fell out of the race when he was voted out in the elimination after receiving only 3 votes to Sir Dadae 69 votes and Kiap with 31 votes. The two remaining candidates were then taken through the last step of the voting process for the viceregal position. The final vote was conducted through secret ballot on the floor of parliament. The Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, then read the final vote where he announced that Sir Dadae received 69 votes to 31 votes for female candidate, Kiap. The Speaker then made the official announcement that Sir Bob Dadae from the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea, was now elected as Governor General by parliament, making it official.