A transition back to the old structure of the court system and the increase in the number of judges has been proposed by the Judiciary arm as a means to improve on the delivery of the justice services to the people. The Minister for Justice and Attorney General Pila Niningi, said the issues now with the current system is that it’s not enough to cater for the number of cases going through each day, week and month. He said there is a backlog of 25, 000 cases to be presided over by a judge. And to make matters worse, there…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
The prime minister has put through to parliament proposed amendments to the constitution that would see the term of suspension for a political leader in office extended, and to bring in public enterprises under the radar of the Ombudsman Commission (OC). Prime Minister (PM) James Marape when presenting the proposed amendments to parliament, said the reason for this is to improve the functions of the OC and as a deterrence to any malpractices from people in office. PM Marape said the penalty regime of the OC legislation has been outdated and not reviewed for a long time. and…
There will be no Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday next week Monday as traditionally observed each year. The Chief Secretary to Government, Ivan Pomaleu, announced late Thursday evening that the National Executive Council (NEC) has revoked the declared public holiday for Monday 12th June 2023 and endorsed Friday 16th June 2023 as the day to observe the official King’s Birthday. “Earlier this evening, the NEC made the decision to correct the confusion surrounding the date. This announcement concludes a long and protracted wait on Buckingham Palace to confirm the official birthday for King Charles III.” The Palace confirmed two days ago…
Morobe Governor Luther Wenge has finally presented a petition from the student body of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, to the Prime Minister in Parliament this morning before question time. Governor Wenge said Prime Minister James Marape was made known of the petition when he was in Lae last month on his visit to the province. “I, as a mandated leader, present this petition on behalf of students regarding the defence agreement signed between Papua New Guinea and United States.” In the petition, the student body requested for a review of the Defence Cooperation Agreement by parliament before…
The Minister for Finance and Planning has assured the East Sepik Governor that he will check to find out why there is still a delay in rehabilitation of the portion of the Sepik Highway from Maprik to Nuku in West Sepik province despite funds already made available. Minister Rainbo Paita said that things were sorted with funding three years ago. However, he did say he has not seen the full report, but has assured that he will make it his business to check again. “I don’t know why the delay. I have not seen the details of the of the…
The cost factor for the repair work at the Aropa Airport in Kieta in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) continues to delay the maintenance and improvement work at the airport. This has deprived the people of Central Bougainville to airline services, especially by Air Niugini to the region. The Minister for Civil Aviation Walter Schnaubelt, when responding to the Member for Central Bougainville Simon Dumarinu during question time in parliament, said that the Aropa Airport has cracks on the runway which needed fixing. These cracks were caused tremors and places a safety risk for airplanes and their passengers to…
The Member for Moresby South Justin Tkatchenko will address the Parliament today where he is expected make an apology about his derogatory remarks and explain why he had done it. Prime Minister James Marape, when responding to questions from the Morobe Governor during question time in parliament on Tuesday afternoon, said the member is highly remorseful about the whole matter. “The member apologized to the government caucus and would ask leave of Parliament today to make his address,” said the prime minister. When asked about what he will do as prime minister to deal with the member, Marape simply said…
The number of Pangu Pati members of Parliament has increased further with the recent inclusion of the Member for Pomio Elias Kapavore and now, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge. The governor has shown great interest to work with the Pangu Pati for it progress in many areas of economic development and service delivery, including delivering major economic projects like the Wafi Golpu gold mine in his province. Wenge believes that with the support of Pangu Pati, a lot can be done for his province including plans to establish a railroad system from Morobe linking the coastal provinces of Madang all the…
The 2023 Provincial Governors Conference wrapped up on Monday with the concession that there is a need to review the Organic Law on Provincial Law on Provincial and Local Governments to better deliver to the people. The Minister for Provincial Government and Local Level Government (LLG) Affairs, Soroi Eoe said that in the course of the last two days conference, the governors have discussed and deliberated extensively on a number of important issues related to the theme of the conference, “Continuing Dialogue to Empower Provinces for Improved Service Delivery, Economic Growth and Self-Reliance.” “I am confident that we have had…
Indonesian President H.E. Joko Widodo will be making a State Visit to Papua New Guinea next month, Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. James Marape has announced. Confirmation of the one-day visit on July 6, 2023, was made during a meeting between PM Marape and Indonesian Ambassador to PNG, H.E. Andriana Supandi, in Port Moresby on Friday, June 2, 2023. President Widodo’s State Visit to PNG follows PM Marape’s State Visit to Indonesia in March 2022. Also present at the meeting were Indonesian Embassy officials and PNG Foreign Affairs Secretary Elias Wohengu. “Papua New Guinea will be honored to…