East Sepik Governor Allan Bird wants the government to make it known to parliament in the future just exactly how much the state owes in arrears for utilities and rentals to service providers. Governor Bird, when giving his response to the 2023 Mid- Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update presented by the Treasurer recently in parliament, said the disclosure of such information for consideration for future government expenses in budgets, is important. “I’m not sure how far back a lot of these arrears have been carried by the government, whether these things have happened over the last couple of…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will continue to put in funding support to improve the country’s health sector in providing health services to the people. The USAID Administrator Her Excellency (H.E) Samantha Power said that health is another priority area for Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the partnership with the United States (US) is driving meaningful successes. She said for 22 years of working together, both countries have been collaborating to combat HIV/AIDS and other forms of illnesses. “Over 96, 000 people in the capital district alone have been tested, over 7, 000 people have been receiving…
Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey has assured Papua New Guineans that the country’s economy is performing so much better than the world economy, because of the government’s efforts in put together measures to protect the economy during a period of tough economic times experienced globally. Mr. Ling-Stuckey, when presenting the 2023 Mid- Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update in parliament this week, said that the good performance reflects the Take Back PNG stance by the Prime Minister, whereby the government putting together policies and strategies, that have protected the people from the economic downturns facing the rest of the word. According…
Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey has announced that the Kina is not depreciating or losing its value, to put to rest the doubts in Papua New Guinea’s currency in the world market. The Treasurer when presenting the 2023 Mid- year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) update, said the facts presented in the MYEFO clearly indicated that the Kina is in fact appreciating. “Over the first 6 months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, the Kina has appreciated against the Australian Dollar by 4%, the Kina has also appreciated against the Japanese Yan by 9.3%, the Kina has also appreciated…
The National Capital District (NCD), Governor Powers Parkop has suggested a more critical decision to be made on the issues with PNG Power Limited (PPL) and it’s poor performance in providing energy service to the people. Governor Parkop, who commented on the parliamentary statement on the performance of the power company, indicated that his faith in the country’s only State owned power company, has been reduced over time due to its poor performance and management. This has prompted him to say that it’s time to consider the final option, which is to sell. He said this cannot continue any longer;…
The State owned power company- PNG Power Limited (PPL), is on the verge of insolvency, prompting the government to put together another rescue plan to pull it out of its dilemma. The Minister for State owned Enterprise William Duma made this known in parliament today when presenting his Parliamentary Statement on the Rescue and Reform Plan Framework on PNG Power Limited, 2023. Minister Duma said late 2022 the government, through trustee shareholder Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH), with the assistance and cooperation of PPL and other agencies, began preparing the foundations of the first phase of a rescue plan for consideration…
The topic of law and order has been the dominant topic for questions and responses in this sitting of parliament, where the question now put forth is whether there will be a real working plan put together to address it going forward. The Minister for Internal Security, Peter Tsiamalili Junior, gave a simple response to this on the floor parliament today during question time when he said the matter falls back to all Members of Parliament and what they do in there provinces and districts. “There is a need for us to be working collaboratively to address law and order,”…
The shared values in development and economic progress being held with the state and the private sector, is the one thing that must be further strengthened to bring about the desired outcome for Papua New Guinea (PNG) its people. This is the driving force behind the various collaborations between the government and businesses and companies over the recent past through partnerships and forums held between the state and the private sector. President of the Business Council of Papua New Guinea (BCPNG), Nuni Kulu, who opened the National Content Conference at the parliament house today, said that in a time of…
The Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) is reminding organizations of their responsibility to comply with tax laws and regulations to ensure a fair and transparent tax system after it was revealed that some employers are not accurately deducting salary and wages tax from employees under Section 299D of the Income Tax Act 1959. IRC Commissioner General Mr. Sam Koim said that employers must ensure that all benefits paid to their employees are appropriately accounted for and tax appropriately deducted. Failing to do so may result in serious consequences, including penalties and potential legal action. Recently, one mining company has been found…
Business owners have been warned to immediately renew their Business Names that have expired and re-register companies or risk an automatic cancellation by the automated compliance system. The Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) through the Office of the Registrar of Companies, issued the final warning and urged them to come forward and renew Business Names by August 31st. This means that any owner who wishes to maintain or restore the same business name after its cancellation, will be required to pay a penalty of K250 plus a renewal of K150. Similarly, the Office is warning directors of both local and overseas…