Ken Dumudi used to work for the Works Department, and in 2012, he left the public service after years of feeling disillusioned and underutilized in the government department. Funding difficulties and the lack of operational funds to do work meant he spent his time doing very little as a Works Department employee. “I didn’t have enough work to do. I felt like I was stealing,” he said. “So I resigned.” Ken started a small construction company, hoping he would get small contracts. But the environment was tough, and he had to sell off his equipment. That’s when he and his…
Author: Scott WAIDE
Prominent business leaders have challenged PNG’s youth to get back to basics and build from the ground up as the Youth Resource Week got underway yesterday. TWL Group Managing Director, Larry Andagali, told a small crowd that the basics are important as they set the foundations for growth in any venture. “Get the basics right…waking up early, spending the right time, managing your resources, respecting the elders.” Larry Andagali has been instrumental in the development of a strategic vision that is seeing TWL grow into a corporate powerhouse in Papua New Guinea. In the early days, he developed a shareholder…
Brian Waffi’s journey from courtrooms to cultivated swamplands is more than just a career pivot – it’s a mission to reshape how Papua New Guinea’s youth view agriculture. “When I was a young boy, I always looked at farmers and saw them as potential billionaires,” Waffi recalls, his lights up with the same passion that drove him to purchase a seemingly worthless swamp area that others dismissed. What began as a personal agricultural experiment has now blossomed into a comprehensive youth empowerment program that currently supports nearly 400 young people. Waffi’s farm is not just about growing crops; it’s about…
Port Moresby is set to host one of the largest youth-focused events in Papua New Guinea as more than 20,000 young people, who previously registered, are expected to gather at Sir John Guise Stadium for the highly anticipated Youth Resource Week (YRW). Scheduled to take place from March 24 to 28, this transformative event is a collaborative effort between the private sector and the government, aimed at empowering the nation’s youth and fostering meaningful connections. Youth Resource Week is a self-funded initiative that seeks to influence mindsets and provide young people with opportunities to engage directly with key stakeholders, including…
In the last four weeks, Doomsvein, a heavy metal band from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea, has drawn quite a bit of attention from the US underground heavy metal scene. Two radio stations have played their YouTube released track, Excommunicado. They’ve also received a request for the song to be added to a compilation album with other overseas heavy metal groups. Guitarist, Freddy Maneo, 51, is band’s most senior member and a veteran of Papua New Guinea’s heavy metal underground. He said Doomsvein started when he reached out to bassist, Nigel Tabinaman, asking if he wanted…
Relatives of a policeman killed in Mendi several weeks ago have blocked off the Highlands Highway outside of Goroka, preventing the free flow of traffic. Constable Harry Gorano was injured during an ambush in Mendi. He was in a coma for three weeks and died in intensive care. Relatives are demanding the arrest of the killers. The ambush occurred in January. His colleagues were escorting a casket to Hela Province. His collegue, Constable Noah Biape was killed during the attack.
A Catholic nutrition officer working in the Hela Province has highlighted high rates of severe malnutrition within communities of people displaced by ongoing tribal conflicts. Sylvester Walanduo, who has worked in over 40 communities in four districts of Hela, said food shortages and the lack of understanding about nutrition put very young children at risk. “Over the last two years, I’ve screened 31,463 children…this is from data I have personally collected,” Walanduo said. “Eleven thousand and ninety-five children suffer from mild to severe cases of malnutrition.” Sylvester Walanduo is employed by the Catholic Diocese of Mendi through its Caritas office,…
A gathering in Goroka, attended by over 30 community-based anti-violence advocates, has brought to light the harrowing reality of young girls being used as “comfort women” by gunmen hired to fight in tribal conflicts. This UN-sponsored training on gender-based violence (GBV) and sorcery accusation-related violence has exposed the severe trauma these girls endure. A senior community member from Mendi, who remains anonymous due to security concerns, revealed that it has become a common practice for these armed “hire men” to demand young girls for sex as part of their payment. “This has been happening, but communities don’t talk about it.…