Wednesday 10th of January or ‘Black Wednesday’ was perhaps one of the darkest times in the country’s history when police protested over pay- cuts by standing down from performing their constitutional duties, which then led to riots and lootings of shops in Port Moresby city and parts of the country. On that unfortunate day, a lot of business houses ranging from small shops to major supermarkets and warehouses were damaged, some of them even burnt down to the ground by the looters. On that day, one local entrepreneur was also hit when looters ransacked and destroyed shops. Mr. Jive Smaré, who owns the Jive Market online platform was hit and lost a considerable amount of money on Black Wednesday, but all that could change for him and his company JYVX Limited, with the recent support from the National Government in the form of over K98, 000 from the business relief package meant for supporting business houses affected by riots and looting. Speaking to PNG HAUSBUNG, Mr. Smaré shared his story with us on what had happened and where he is now. “I am a software developer and one of the software we developed was Jive Market and we put into a lot of stores and people sell easipay and credits through this system,” said Mr. Smaré. However, on the days leading to Wednesday 10th January, most of the shops were yet to pay them for the use of their system and when the lootings started, they lost all the payments as well during that time. “So, we got wiped out, not just here (Pot Moresby) but other places at the same time, and then it spiralled as well. Everyday we try to keep it going, it was suddenly falling behind and then it just went out.” He said the funding assistance will specifically go towards wage and salaries support for his staff members which he said start off at fifteen to sixteen members, but now down to just six staff members. “So, we basically closed our operations temporarily while we try to figure out how to get back on our feet, but this will really help,” Mr. Smaré said when appreciating the funding support from the National Government. Mr. Smaré was on hand to receive the government cheque along with the CPL Group yesterday, Sunday 04th August at the newly opened Stop & Shop retail outlet at Rainbow, Port Moresby. The cheque was presented by the Chief Secretary to the Government, Mr. Ivan Pomaleu. One cheque of funding support was presented to the CPL Group and the other to Mr. Smaré.