The New Porgera Limited (NPL) saw its first gold production yesterday, marking the start of productions under the new Special Mining Lease (SML) 13 agreement that should see better benefits received especially for the local beneficiaries, in the next 20 years of mine- life. Prime Minister (PM) James Marape was there to witness the first doré bar come out of the production room with the name New Porgera Limited sealed on it and numbered NPL 0001. Marape, in a press conference after his visit to the mine in Porgera, said it was a long road to finally get to this…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
A number of proposals and recommendations were put forth by Members of Parliament this afternoon in the debate to find better ways to addressing the deteriorating law and order situation in the country. The Provincial Member for East Sepik, Allen Bird said a quick response by the government to send security forces to attend to tribal conflicts and surges in crime should be considered by the government going forward. He said the response to the recent killings in Wapenamanda in Enga should have been done sooner to capture the killers and prevent further clashes and also give humanitarian assistance to…
Voting through formal identification of voters through biometric system before 2027, is the government’s target to achieve before the next National General Election. That’s from Prime Minister (PM) James Marape when responding to questions from the Member for Talasea on the improvements to the election process going forward. Marape said the first step is to complete the National Census this year, where from it an updated common roll can be established and from there, a proper identification for the people through the National Identification (NID) program, can take place. He said only then a biometric voting system can be established…
The Opposition has made an urgent plea to the Prime Minister to seriously take drastic measures to address the deteriorating law and order situation in the country following the recent murder of a large number of men by their rival tribal group over the weekend in the Enga province. In a press conference held after the parliament sitting, the Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa said that Prime Minister (PM) James Marape must not turn a blind eye to this extremely violent incident and other pressing law and order issues currently experienced in the country. “We today have made a call very…
Prime Minister (PM) James Marape in Parliament this morning assured the house that his government continues to work towards improving law enforcement to address the law and order and tribal fighting situation in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The prime minister in his response to a series of questions from the Member for Vanimo Green Belden Namah, said one of the actions taken was to ensure consistency in the office of the Police Commissioner. He said in the past 8 years there have been 4 police commissioners, stating that there is no consistency in the office, hence police needs to have…
The assurance given by the president of the National Capital District (NCD) PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) Association to work with police to get justice for the bus driver shot by police over the weekend, although appreciated, was met with some resentments from the bus drivers. This is because the PMV drivers claim that their association has not been effective enough in bringing forth their issues and concerns raised over the years to the authorities, like it should have. A PMV drivers’ spokesperson, Mr. Linsten Kera, said matters like the building of newer bus stops to cater for the growing number…
The Governor for Oro province wants the government to take a tougher approach in law enforcement to address what he says is the alarming increase in the activities of manufacturing and distribution of hard drugs in the country. Governor Gary Juffa during grievance debate in parliament last Friday 16th February, told parliament that Papua New Guinea (PNG) used to be a transit point, but today it has become a production point for these illegal hard drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. These he says are very addictive drugs and cheap to sell on streets. “This is frightening, in the past…
The Opposition remains steadfast to move a Vote of No Confidence (VONC) motion against the incumbent prime minister, despite a show of strength by the government this week with a Vote of Confidence on the floor of parliament, showing support for Prime Minister (PM) James Marape. The Opposition Leader and Member for Kiriwina- Goodenough Open, Douglas Tomuriesa, described the government’s move for a motion for the Vote of Confidence on Thursday 15th February as a gimmick as the Constitution is superior to the parliamentary standing orders. He also went on to say that the motion of a Vote of Confidence…
The prime minister has assured Parliament that a long term solution is being looked at in the form of an alternate fuel supplier, now that the current situation being faced with Puma Energy PNG is about to get worse. However, Prime Minister James Marape said he was disappointed that despite a K2million put into funding a consultation, which included the Bank of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to look into what was the illegality of Puma’s existence in PNG, a final report has not been presented on the findings yet. He said BPNG has yet to come forth with the reasons…
The topic of Christianity was hotly debated in parliament yesterday afternoon after the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Pila Niningi, presented a bill to amend the Constitution to declare Papua New Guinea (PNG) a Christian Country. The Minister said that this proposed amendment to the Constitution should not be a surprise to anyone because the 2011 Censors showed that 96% of Papua New Guineans align themselves to the Christian Faith and therefore, it is imperative that this fact be anchored in the Constitution. It is for this reason that in 2020, the National Executive Council (NEC) in its…