Fuel consumers in the country will have to dig little deeper into their pockets this month after the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) announced that price for all petroleum products will increase on average right across the country, starting on Thursday 08th February. According to the ICCC, these retail price increases are mainly attributed to the average increase in international crude oil prices in the month of January 2024. The average crude oil price increase was mainly attributed to increased demand from China and the United States, and disrupted supply of global crude oil from the Middle East. The…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
Residents and business houses in a large part of Port Moresby city and parts of Central province woke up this morning to water shortage or no water supply at all because vandals decided to destroy the air valve on a water trunk main at Waigani. According to Water PNG Limited, the incident occurred over the weekend along Pitpit Street where the act of vandalism by the community led Water PNG having to shutdown water supply to a large area with these areas continuing to face water disruptions since yesterday, Monday 05th February. The areas affected are Gerehu stages 1 to…
The city of Port Moresby faced another issue with the supply of fuel today when vehicle owners discovered that most of the service stations were low on supply, but the reality is that this fuel crisis situation could prolong. This is because of the current situation faced by Puma Energy PNG with the closure of its accounts with the BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP), limiting further the fuel distributor’s ability to purchase fuel from overseas. The Chairman and Managing Director of Puma Energy PNG Group of Companies, Mr. Hulala Tokome initially indicated that this would happen after it was clear…
About 576 security personnel have been paid out their State of Emergency (SOE) operation allowances already with the remaining 400 officers from the National Capital District (NCD) to be paid theirs this week. That was the confirmation from the Police Commissioner David Manning in a statement which he released this afternoon. Manning said the remaining payments are being processed by the Finance Department and BSP. He explained that the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) Human Resource Division stressed the need to process the allowances in two tranches because of administrative delays by the Zone Commanders in submitting relevant paperwork…
The National Capital District (NCD) Governor Powes Parkop, has welcomed the opening of the new Hilton Hotel Residential Apartment by Star Mountain Plaza, saying that this shows that there is still very much confidence in doing business in the city of Port Moresby, despite recent events. While delivering his speech at the official opening ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Port Moresby last week Thursday 01st February, the governor stressed that this is a time to rebuild and recover when refereeing to the Black Wednesday riots last month that saw the destructions of major supermarkets and warehouses by looters. He…
About 272 public servants nationwide who are retiring will be finally paid out their entitlements under batch one of 2024 after the Deeds of Release (DOR) for these public servant retirees were approved and sent to Treasury for the release of funding, with a date to be set for them to be paid. Department of Personnel Management (DPM) Secretary, Ms. Taies Sansan, said that this is the second batch of retirees for year 2023; however, due to circumstances beyond our control, they will receive their retirement payments this year as the first batch of 2024. The 272 retirees from 21…
The Star Mountain Plaza has officially opened the stage two of the Hilton Hotel project- the Hilton Port Moresby Residence, which is another milestone achievement for the resource project area landowners from Western and Southern Highlands provinces. The Chairman of the Petroleum Resources Kutubu, Mr. John Kapi Natto when speaking at the official opening of the Hilton Residences and the launching of the stage three of the project on Thursday 01st February in Port Moresby, said the opening is a milestone for Star Mountain Plaza. Mr. Kapi Natto when giving a brief on why they started off the project almost…
The Local Level Government (LLG) Election is scheduled to take place this year but it is yet to be approved by parliament that the LLG Presidents will be elected by the elected Ward Councilors and not by the people as previously practiced. Last year the Minister for Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs, Soroi Eoe proposed the change of the voting process from the people to the elected Ward Councilors and following meetings and government caucuses, most of the Members of Parliament agreed for the change in the system and to be applied this year in the LLG elections. However,…
The new Defence Minister, Dr. Billy Joseph is expected to present the Report of the General Board of Inquiry (GBOI) into the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) training accident last year in the Central province, to cabinet soon for further deliberations. The minister, after he was presented with the Report in Port Moresby this week by the Chairman of the GBOI Col. Bruno Malau, said that it is important that this report is cited by the government to see what had happened and how to address it going forward. The training accident, which occurred on the 04th of July…
The Member for Sinasina- Yongamugl, Kerenga Kua is concerned that fuel distributor Puma Energy PNG Limited continues to hold the country to ransom with its tactic of rationing fuel and even shutting down its services when faced with third party issues regarding its access to Forex to purchase fuel. Speaking at the recent press conference in Port Moresby city after his official resignation from the government, the former Petroleum and Energy Minister said while he was an active minister in the Marape- Rosso Government dealing with Puma, he warned the fuel company to refrain from doing that and speak to…