Visits Industries Limited, one of the local food and beverage manufacturers in the crosshair of the government in its move to curb the high alcohol percentage level and control the manufacturing of alcohol and its sale, has come out to say that its operations are not in breach of any laws and regulations governing alcohol in the country. Vitis Industries Managing Director Mrs. Vikki Mosinne, asked why the government is singling them out in this matter when all the company was doing is manufacturing alcohol and other products in line with all the regulations, including in accordance with the food and sanitation guidelines. She said recent media reports stating the claims made by the government that the company’s products are cheap and consumed mostly by youths and are responsible for social issues in the community, is hurting their operation. “These negative reports are discriminating and damaging our company’s reputation and affecting our business,” she said. [caption id="attachment_18844" align="aligncenter" width="485"] Vitis Industries Managing Director Mrs. Vikki Mosinne addressing the media in Port Moresby. Picture by Emmanuel MAIPE[/caption] In a press conference at the Vitis Industries head office in Port Moresby yesterday, Mrs. Mossine said all their products are developed and produced in the factory laboratory, certified, and approved by relevant government authorities then go for test at the National Analysis Laboratory (NAL) in Lae city. “This is to confirm the content of the alcohol strength on our product level packaging are correct in terms of standards before we sell them on the market, meaning that our food and beverages production factory is qualified and guaranteed to safely manufacture products,” said Managing Director. She added that they don’t sell their products on the market prior to approval and certification from relevant government authorities, which include the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC), PNG Customs and the National Department of Health through the accredited laboratory, the NAL. “The products we manufacture are safe for consumers and consumption because our company employs experts, both expatriates and qualified Papua New Guineans to test and manufacture our products if you are questioning the integrity of our company,” she said. “We are only a manufacture or producer; we distribute and supply our products through licensed distributors, wholesalers and trade stores on the factory prices that are recommended. The store owners and managers then sell on the recommended prices. [caption id="attachment_18843" align="alignnone" width="619"] Picture by Emmanuel MAIPE[/caption] “All our alcohol products are priced as per our production cost per bottle after the government tax base rate imposed on the alcohol.” But she said the high tax imposed by the government on alcohol, has also seen increased prices of the products. Meanwhile, a Special Parliamentary Committee on Alcohol- related Violence led by the Member for Goroka Aiye Tambua as Chairman, has announced yesterday its planning to push to make some changes to the laws and regulations governing alcohol manufacturing and sales in the country to deter the abuse of alcohol in the community and have some control over alcohol production by producers. The Committee will be having consultations with manufacturers, groups, stakeholders, and government departments on the matter and will be sending out invitations for it. The consultations are aimed at getting opinions and suggestions to come up with recommendations for the government to consider and possibly make changes legislations to control alcohol manufacturing and sales in the country going forward. The Committee is looking at holding these planned consultations and wrap them up before the start of the 2022 National Elections starts.

Organisations that have made timely remittance of members contributions to the National Superannuation Fund Limited (Nasfund) for their employees, were recognized for their efforts at the Nasfund Awards Night for 2021, which was held in Port Moresby city on Thursday 27th January. Nasfund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Ian Tarutia said the awards is a way of saying thank you and acknowledging the role the employers play in the discharge of their obligation under the Superannuation Act of 2000. Since the inaugural awards in 2018, Nasfund has recognized a total of 63 employers out of its employer base of 2, 700 establishments. “A number of our employers have featured consistently in the awards each year; this is a positive trend and reflects the governance culture of that organization. With a good governance culture, strong leadership, a clear vision, and staff who know they are looked after, good outcomes are achieved. Business is good, customers are satisfied, profits are made, taxes are paid, and superannuation is also paid,” said Mr. Tarutia. The winners were selected out of 37 employers that made the final list for consideration. “In case you’re wondering how the winners are selected, it is a system generated process based of fields or parameters according to the category under which our employers are assessed under.” The winners were categorized into three categories; Category A – Employers contributing more than K100,000 per month, Category B – Employers contributing between K50,000 and K100,000 per month, and Category C – Employers who contribute less than K50,000 per month. The winners in the respective awards were as follows: 1. Most Compliant Employer - Category A: Ramu Agri Industries - Category B: Hargy Oil Palms Limited - Category C: Seeto Kui (Holdings) Limited 2. Best Employer Voluntary Contributions - Category A: Ok Ted Mining Limited - Category B: Starwest Construction Limited - Category C: National Agriculture Research Institute 3. Best Employer Member Voluntary Contributions - Category A: BSP Financial Group - Category B: Paradise Foods Limited - Category C: National Agriculture Research Institute 4. Most Compliant Account Maintenance - Category A: Laga Industries - Category B: Rural Airstrip Agency of PNG Limited - Category C: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahais of PNG Inc 5. Most Compliant Benefit Payments - Category A: Barrick (Niugini) Limited - Category B: Guard Dog Security Services - Category C: Associated Mills Limited 6. Best Eda Supa Employer - Hargy Oil Palms Limited (Smallholder Affairs) 7. COVID-19 Vaccine Champion - Brian Bell Group 8. Nasfund Chairman’s Awards - Category A: Ok Tedi Mining Limited Mr. Tarutia concluded by thanking the sponsors that made it possible to host the awards night at the Hilton Hotel. The proud sponsors included the Brian Bell group of companies, City Pharmacy, PNG Air, NSCL, SP Brewery, Telekom, Loloata Island Resort, Steamships, Pagini Clothing, Paradise Cinemas, Trukai Industries and Nasfund Brand Ambassador, Justin Olam.  

The Hiri Moale festival in Port Moresby is back after missing out last year due to the implications brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and major sponsor- Steamship Trading Company Ltd, has pitched in once again to support this annual cultural event. Steamships Managing Director Mr. Rupert Bray on Wednesday announced the sponsorship committed to hosting the festival. “We’re committing a hundred thousand Kina particularly to supporting the Hanenamo pavilion, the cultural performers, the musicians and the food and beverage at the festival,” said the managing director. “Steamships is proud to sponsor the Hiri Moale festive 2021/ 2022. It’s been something we have been doing for a long time and it’s something very close to our hearts. “The preservation of the culture and traditions of our people is important, particularly in the regions where steamships work, and we work here more than anywhere else. The NCD (National Capital District) and the Motu- Koita region is our home. This is where we started, and we are very proud to be sponsoring this again.” Meanwhile, the festival itself will kick start towards the end this week with the first judging of the female participants set to take place this Friday 28th of January. Chairman of the Motu- Koita Assembly and Deputy NCD Governor Dadi Toka Junior, said it starts this Friday and on the 11th of February will the sponsor night, the 12th will be the Vanagi Race (canoe race) at Era Kone (Ela Beach) and the Lakatoi arrival in the afternoon of the same day, and on the 13th of February will be the crowing of the Hiri Hanonamo at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium. This year there are ten female participants each representing their respective villages in the Motu- Koita region and contesting for the crown.

The Australian Football League (AFL) code in Papua New Guinea (PNG), like the other national federations in the country, will have to go through yet another process of getting approval from the National Pandemic Controller to hold its competitions and programs for this year. AFL PNG Senior Football Operations Manager Mr. Rex Leka said the PNG AFL Commission and the Junior Development program will be submitting a formal request again that will contain how the national federation will be running the 2022 season in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols. This will mean how the federation will be controlling the number of spectators and teams on the field at one time and the measures in place to prevent the potential spread of the virus, like hand sanitizers and temperature checks being conducted. Mr. Leka added that this submission will be sent to the Controller’s office by the end of this week, and he is hoping to get a response soon. This is because the earlier the competitions and programs start the better, after the federation had to cancel the last season due to COVID-19 implications. “We hope to a response soon because with the 2022 academic year about to start, it would be great if we could start right away with the junior development programs like the Niu Kick program and the annual schools’ competition.” Meanwhile, the last season had to be cancelled early for the senior competition due to the COVID-19 measures and the delay in response from the authorities, including the Controller’s office, on the resumption dates for some of the sporting codes, including AFL.

The recent inaugural Dadi Toka Pesi 9s rugby league cup challenge held in Port Moresby, could expend next year to include other divisions going forward. According to the Tournament Director Mr. Vaieke Vani, that is the step that they will be trying to take to include the women’s open division and the under 20s in the tournament in 2023. “There were a lot of young boys playing in the matches amongst the seniors, so it’s good to have the different grades introduced for them to play in like the under 20s going forward,” he said. Mr. Vani added that the recent 9s tournament in Port Moresby city is very new and there is room for expansions in the future, especially with the major sponsor Pepsi on board. As such the tournament director said they are expecting a bigger tournament next year and given the interest shown through the number of teams that participated in this year’s tournament, he said there will be more to enjoy for rugby league fans in the city. Meanwhile, the Dadi Toka Pepsi 9s finals were held over the weekend and saw the winners in each of the divisions received their prizes. For the winners, the TI Viking was crowned the winner of the Cup Division, Hetoa Steelers the winner of the Plate Division and Harbour City Tornadoes the winner of the Bowl Division.  

The morning rain surely did not stop all the rugby league faithfuls to gather around the Konedobu field in the city of Port Moresby to catch the start of the inaugural Dadi Toka Pepsi 9s rugby league cup challenge yesterday. The field was packed since 9am in the morning with fans, teams, and even the vendors.The Tournament Director Mr. Vaeke Vani, said we can expect more of this in the days to come. [caption id="attachment_18521" align="alignnone" width="600"] Dadi Toka Pepsi 9s rugby league cup challenge underway at the Konedobu field, Port Moresby. Picture by Emmanuel MAIPE[/caption] The tournament itself is massive with a total of 32 teams fitted into 48 pools. Yesterday saw 24 pools play while the other 24 will take the field today. As such Mr. Vani said this tournament could carry on past the three days as initially planned. “This game possibly might drag into the fourth day, which is this Sunday. But that depends on how the pool games will go,” he said. [caption id="attachment_18522" align="aligncenter" width="616"] Dadi Toka Pepsi 9's Cup Tournament Director Vaeke Vani at the inaugural tournament yesterday. Pic by Emmanuel MAIPE[/caption] Mr. Vani earlier this week said the finals were planned to take place on Saturday 22nd January following two days of pool games; however, all that could change. The teams currently participating in the tournament have come from as far as Kairuku in the Kairuku Hiri District, Papa and Lealea in the Hiri west and the rest from the Motu Koita villages and some from the suburban league competitions.

The long awaited inaugural Dadi Toka Pepsi 9s Rugby League Cup Challenge is set for a big start with a total of 28 teams already registered for the three days of matches that will take place next week in Port Moresby city. The Tournament Director, Mr. Vaeke Vani, said the teams come as far as Kairuku in the Kairuku Hiri District, Papa and Lealea in the Hiri west and the rest from the Motu Koita villages and some from the suburban. “We anticipate some good quality football from the teams that will be participating. We got some teams fresh out of the Moresby South tournament, teams from Hanuabada and even some players that have played in the Digicel Cup are expected to be playing in some of the teams,” he said. For the winning prizes, the Tournament Director said the Cup winner will walk away with K10, 000 and the runner up will go home with K4, 000. The Plate winner will take K5, 000 while the runner up to take K2, 000 and for the Bowl, the winner will take home K2, 500 and the runner up to take K1,000. There will be 8 pools with the pool games to be held on Thursday 20th and Friday 21st and the finals on Saturday 22nd. Unfortunately, Mr. Vani confirmed that this inaugural cup challenge will only see the men’s teams take part. Hopefully, next year should see the women’s division be included as well. The major sponsor of the rugby 9s challenge is Pacific Industries through the Pepsi brand. All the matches will take place at the Konedobu field adjacent to the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium.

The country’s consumer watch dog, the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC), has made it crystal clear that no PMV or taxi operator is to charge extra above the approved fares for 2022 announced by the Commission just recently. According to the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Paulus Ain, the ICCC can only determine the maximum fares from one end to another, and operators are allowed to compete by charging at or below the maximum fares set, but they cannot charge above these fares, and any operator charging above is in breach of the Prices Regulation Act. “Furthermore, it is impractical and inconvenient for the ICCC to determine the fares for every bus stop along a specific route, within an urban area. In the case of urban PMVs, should a passenger decide to get off somewhere in the middle of a particular route, then the PMV operator should charge at or below the maximum approved fare.” He added that by charging below, the PMV operator encourages healthy competition, which is good for both PMVs and commuters. He made this statement after the ICCC learnt that some PMV operators, particularly in Lae, went on strike after being confronted by commuters because of the increase in fares. He said adult commuters should pay the applicable and approved fare, while students pay the applicable fares as well as specified in National Gazette No. G888 of 2021. The applicable concessions are, half of the maximum fare for students up to and including those in Grade 10, three-quarters of the maximum fare for students in Grades 11 and 12, and those in technical and tertiary institutions. Meanwhile, the ICCC is aware of these recent complaints and concerns raised by the public regarding this and is therefore advising the public to report any instances of overcharging by contacting the Commission. The ICCC is working alongside the Road Traffic Authority and respective provincial administrations to continue monitoring the fares in the country. The adjusted PMV and taxi fares for 2022 commenced on 1st January 2022 after the new fares were determined by adjusting the 2021 fares in line with the changes in the monthly fuel prices for the respective centres, and the movements in the quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The public will soon know if the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) will be giving any awareness to the public regarding the recent increases of the Public Motor Vehicle (PMV) and taxi fares in the country. According to the Commission, the CEO and Commissioner Mr. Paulus Ain, is expected to put out a notice on ICCC’s plans to disseminate information on the reasons behind the changes to the public. “The ICCC will be issuing a statement either by this afternoon or tomorrow on the step we will be taking in response to the queries.” This need to respond came about after the Commission was inundated with complaints and questions from consumers throughout the country on the recent hike in fares. The ICCC earlier announced that the maximum PMV and taxi fares for 2022 will increase on average due to the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and the subsequent increase in fuel prices in 2022. The PMV and taxi fares are only applicable to the urban and non-urban routes approved by the Road Traffic Authority (RTA).

It is the New Year and the Port Moresby Australian Football League (AFL) Association is not wasting any time to get things rolling for the 2022 season after it had to cancel its' last season (2021) due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Association President Mr. Douglas Lai said his officials and club executives will meet early next week to put together a plan for the season. He is anticipating an early start to the games, and he is suggesting having a format of competition like the current Australian AFL format. “We should have the women’s competition first and later followed by the men’s competition instead of running the two together like the previous years.” He said one of the reasons for choosing this format was the fact that there is only one Colts Oval and with the COVID-19 situation, organizing the games with both divisions on at the same time, could be a handful. Meanwhile, the 2022 Season for the Port Moresby AFL competition should have enough funding to see it run at least toward the end of this year. According to the president, the remaining 2021 funds from sponsor Moni Plus, is still available. An amount between K11, 000 and K15, 000 is available but an addition amount could be sourced towards the end of the year for the finals.

The Bina Primary and Elementary School has joined the rest of the rural dwellings and institutions in Central province to connect to the Port Moresby power grid after PNG Power Ltd made the connection with the support of the New Zealand government. This will now for the first time see the continuing and new students that will be attending the school in Galoma village next year, be learning in a school that has full electricity supply instead of using the old school generator from time to time whenever it is needed. The Principal, Mr. Baena Tau, said the electricity service provided by PNG Power Ltd through its Rural on Grid Extension Project (ROGEP), will boost the school’s performance in a big way going forward. “The children will learn new things, especially with the changes taking place in education, they should be updated more through the use of new technology,” he said. He added that the access to electricity will also enable the school administration to run copies of tests and assignment papers, and other documents for the school in time using printers and copiers. Not only that, it will enable teachers to also work during nights to mark papers and prepare lessons for students. Now that the school has received electricity, the principal also indicated that its time the school administration and board look at the plans to elevate the school’s status to a day high school in the near future. Mr. Tau later thanked PNG Power for making all this possible for his school and the village. Meanwhile, the ROGEP already covered three areas in Central province with Hula being the final area to cover under the project. More than 5, 600 rural dwellings, including Aid posts, schools, churches, businesses, and homes in the province are planned for connection and of that total, 2, 688 have already been connected while about 3, 207 more are yet to be connected between Galomarupu and Hula. According to PNG Power, the other areas covered already are Kwikila, Sabusa/ Brown River, and Owers’ Corner. The project’s goal is to provide economic and social benefits to rural areas of the Central province through the supply of electricity with increased access to clean, efficient, and affordable energy. The ROGEP is supported by the New Zealand government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade with a 20milllion New Zealand dollars funding to enable PNG Power to deliver the project in Central province in supporting the National Government as well deliver its aim to achieve 70% electricity coverage by 2030.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) will continue to be a strategic location for investment in the resource sector given that the Asian markets are expected to increase their demands in energy and raw materials into the future. That was the assurance given by Prime Minister (PM) James Marape to stakeholders, investors, and potential resource sector investors at the very recent 2021 Mining and Petroleum Conference & Exhibition. Marape said PNG’s location is strategic that world class resource companies like ExxonMobil and Total have invested in the resource sector here, but probably the most important is the expected expansion of the Asian markets in the next 10 to 20 years and on ward into the future, where demand will increase for resources. “Papua New Guinea, with close proximity to the Asian marketplace, is a very exciting place for investment,” said PM Marape. He said PNG with its good relationship with countries like China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines can supply oil and gas and raw minerals to their markets to meet their demands. As such, this poses a good opportunity for investors in the resource sector. Therefore, he added that by investing in PNG, they can expect good returns on their investments going into the future. The PNG Mining and Petroleum Conference & Exhibition provides comprehensive technical updates and offers an excellent opportunity to meet all the players in the PNG resource industry, including the government, and for joint venture discussions, networking, and promotions. The event also informs delegates on current activities in the PNG resource industry and highlights new developments, advanced prospects, new discoveries, and exploration as well as economic and social achievements. This year’s event, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and certain travel restrictions, was virtually staged from Brisbane, Australia with speakers and participants connecting in from different locations to join and participate in the Conference. PM Marape participated from Port Moresby on the 01st of December.