The Department of Personnel Management has issued a Circular Instruction (31/2021) advising all heads of Departments, Provincial Administrations and heads of statutory bodies informing them of the festive season shutdown period. Department of Personnel Management Secretary Ms Taies Sansan said, all line agencies are to take note of the shutdown period to determine the applicability of the arrangements within their organizations. “Through the Circular Instruction we are notifying respective agencies to take heed of the dates to ensure those that provide essential and emergency services are maintained throughout this period”. Secretary Sansan said, the Government has determined the arrangement for…
Author: PNG Haus Bung
Thailand’s start-up scene is giving birth to a new breed of tech entrepreneur — such as Aukrit Unahalekhaka, who came up with the idea of creating an app that helps small farmers boost yields using artificial intelligence and machine learning. After returning from the United States, Unahalekhaka and Usman Javaid, whom he met at MIT, co-founded Ricult in 2016. The start-up aims to improve the livelihoods of farmers in Thailand and Pakistan. His partner handles the business in Pakistan, while Unahalekhaka oversees Thailand, where he is focusing on the central provinces of Lopburi, Saraburi and Korat, working with corn and cassava farmers in particular.…
Commissioner of Police and Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response Mr David Manning said a total of 37 Police personnel were deployed to the Solomon Island under a Police-to-Police arrangement to assist in light of the country’s civil unrest. Commissioner Manning, when returning from the Solomon Islands on Friday evening, said 37 Public Order Management personnel including 14 Correctional Service officers are on a mission to assist contain the situation and to ensure normalcy is restore at the earliest in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Mr Manning said, “We acted swiftly at the urgent request from the Solomon Island Prime…
Nations in southern Africa protested bitterly today as more of the world’s wealthiest countries cut them off from travel, renewing a debate over border closures from the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic and compounding the problems facing poorly vaccinated countries. The New York Times reports a new coronavirus variant called Omicron, first detected in Botswana, put governments on edge after South Africa announced a surge of cases this week, plunging countries into the most uncertain moment of the pandemic since the highly contagious Delta variant took hold this spring. As in the early days of Delta, political alarm spread…
With no plans to evacuate their citizens from Honiara, the international community is closely monitoring the situation in the Solomon Islands following a week of political unrest. There’s an air of calm across Honiara this weekend. Resident Claire Percel puts it down to the arrival of Australian and Papua New Guinea defence forces to help the local police. She said the reinforcements have “really helped the situation but we’re still nervous”. “Roadblocks now set up in key locations and I’ve seen them check vehicles. Local businesses have started cleaning up the streets and removing the burnt vehicles. “I managed to…
Face coverings will become mandatory again in shops and on public transport in England from next week under a raft of measures to target the new Covid variant, Omicron, the PM has said. PCR tests for everyone entering the UK will be introduced and all contacts of new variant cases will have to self-isolate, even if fully jabbed. But Boris Johnson said Christmas would be “considerably better” than in 2020. The measures were “temporary and precautionary”, he added. Mr Johnson announced the restrictions at a Downing Street news conference after it was confirmed that two Omicron cases had been detected in…
Papua New Guinea, has been politically independent for 45 years and has gone through experiences like the Bougainville Crisis, the closing of the Panguna Mine, the closing and opening of Porgera Mine, changes in government leadership through votes of no confidence, natural disasters like the Rabaul Twin volcanic eruption of 1994 and now Covid 19 pandemic. Worse of all is the K7.3 billion dept incurred by the previous government in 2020. Our inflation rate was predicted by Asian Development Bank (ADB)through its report to increase by 4.2% in 2021 and 4.4 percent in 2022. This report also predicts slow economic…
Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett has finally landed his first NRL player, with Storm veteran Felise Kaufusi signing from the 2023 season on a three-year deal. It’s the first splash the Dolphins have made since the expansion side hit the open market on November 1. Since that date, NRL players coming off contract at the end of next season have been allowed to negotiate with rival clubs. The Dolphins have been linked to a host of stars but missed out on all of them, until now. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Patrick Carrigan, Reed Mahoney, Christian Welch, Isaiah Papali’i, Harry Grant, Reegan Campbell Gillard…
Ian Ling-Stuckey, Minister for Treasury, announced the introduction of a “Dominant Industry Player Levy” when handing down PNG’s 2022 budget which comes into effect on 1 January 2022. The levy applies to any bank in PNG that has total assets that exceed 40% of total assets as published by the Bank of PNG. “BSP Financial Group (BSP) is the only PNG commercial bank that will be required to pay the levy,” said Mary Johns, Company Secretary of BSP Financial Group Limited. As reported in PNG’s 2022 budget the levy is a flat tax, calculation of which is not linked to…
With the increase in budget allocation for public servants’ salaries, the Treasury Department have been asked on what is being done in addressing the issue of ghost names on the payroll. Executive Director of Institute of National Affairs Paul Barker during the budget lockup yesterday said while there is certainly the need to get more teachers and health workers, there are areas around the expenditures where there is justification for right sizing rather than downsizing. “I know there was an exercise recently with the Justice Department, especially courts where they found quite a number of ghosts in the system,” Mr…