A research undertaken by the Australian National University (ANU) on the establishment of undersea internet cables or submarine cables in the Pacific has shown that internet prices in PNG have not dropped despite numerous promising announcements by government heads. In a session with local media representatives yesterday, Research Fellow with the Department of Pacific Affairs at ANU, Dr Amanda Watson explained about submarine cables in the Pacific and made mention of the areas concerning cybersecurity, geopolitics and reliability. In recent years, PNG has seen a couple of undersea internet cables established with grand announcements of reduced internet rates and faster…
Author: PNG Haus Bung
The Chinese Government has donated up to 1800 of its Chinese made Sinopharm Covid 19 vaccine to the New Ireland Provincial Health Authority. A small handover ceremony took place at the Kavieng General Hospital on Sunday 15th August which was attended by a team of Chinese medical doctors, Staff of the New Ireland Health Authority and the New Ireland Government. The Chinese medical team consisting of Dr ZhenQui Liu and Sister Yang Jing assured the local medical team and Provincial Government that the Sinopharm Covid 19 vaccine is safe with 10,000 doses already administered in the country. 2000 of these…
PNG has now 12 confirmed cases of Delta Variant of COVID-19, the latest are 3 males from Western Province. National Control Centre will be sending a team to Western Province as they did with Madang last week to help with contact tracing and give technical advice and guidance on how to respond on the ground. *Testing in PNG has reduced since March it is difficult to know how widespread is the transmission of Delta Variant. Dr Daoni says an instruction has been given for all health facilities to test cases of Influenza-like illnesses (ILI), Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses (SARI) and…
Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton says it is not yet clear when it will be safe for Australian troops to begin evacuating citizens and local staff from Afghanistan. Australia is deploying 250 troops and several aircraft as part of a mission to rescue Australians, as well as Afghans who served alongside the ADF. Chaotic scenes unfolded at Kabul airport overnight, with Afghans who were trying to flee the Taliban clinging onto US military planes, and some apparently falling to their deaths after take-off. One image showed hundreds of people crammed into the hold of a US transport plane. Dutton described…
An initiative aimed at improving triage practice and data collection at the Emergency Department of Port Moresby General Hospital was launched today by members of the Australian College of Emergency Medicine and staff of the hospital’s emergency department. The Inter-agency Integrated Triage Tool is a revitalized practice to manage the admission of emergency patients into the hospital according to their degree of injury so as to provide an efficient and effective patient care. Emergency Acting Coordinator Dr Duncan Sengiromo at the launch says POM Gen receives 120 emergency patients on average daily and attending to that number has been a…
Papua New Guinea has recorded six new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday August 10 and Thursday 12, increasing the total number of cases to 17,812. On Tuesday one new positive case was reported while on Thursday another 5 new cases were reported. A 47-year-old male from Hela province is the latest positive case reported on Tuesday bringing the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Hela to 189 and two deaths. The known COVID-19 death toll for PNG remains at 192 as there were no new deaths reported. The five new cases on Thursday were reported in the National Capita District…
Member for Moresby South Mr Justin Tkatchenko yesterday presented new sets of rugby jerseys to the Moresby South Blacks ‘A’ Grade team as well as the Senior Women’s team at the Moresby South Stadium in Kaugere. The jerseys were presented ahead of the Southern Super League tournament which is set to commence in a few weeks’ time. Minister Tkatchenko highlighted that his office is placing emphasis on rugby league because it is a national sport that is loved by everyone from the villages, to the settlements as well as the urban areas. “Rugby league plays a huge role in the…
Cronulla Sharks forward Andrew Fifita is in an induced coma after sustaining a throat injury in his side’s defeat to Newcastle Knights on Sunday. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the 32-year-old has been placed in an induced coma after being rushed to hospital at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. Fifita is reportedly in a stable condition but has been placed in the induced coma to assist with breathing due to severe swelling of his larynx. The Tonga and former Australia international is expected to need surgery, which will almost certainly end his 2021 season. On Sunday, Fifita lasted just 13…
Kina Securities Limited presented a vigorous strategy to PNG’s competition commission on Wednesday in support of its acquisition of Westpac PNG. Represented by Chairman, Isikeli Taureka, and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Greg Pawson, Kina outlined a powerful vision for more competition in the banking sector, more innovation and more customer choice for Papua New Guinea if the acquisition is approved by the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”). “Our mission is to constantly improve the prosperity of the people, communities and markets that we serve,” said Mr. Taureka in his opening statement. “We strongly believe that this transaction…
Officials in Haiti have confirmed at least 1,297 people are dead after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean nation on Saturday. Rescuers are picking through rubble in a desperate search for any survivors. Homes, churches and schools were among buildings flattened in the quake. Some hospitals were left overwhelmed and in need of supplies. An unknown number of people are missing and about 5,700 have been injured, officials say. The disaster compounds problems facing the impoverished nation, which is already reeling from a political crisis following the assassination of its president last month. The south-west of Haiti appears to…