Post Courier, Thursday January 8, 2015

SOE is a wakeup call for free-riders

THEdeclaration of a state of emergency by the National Executive Council (NEC) targeting debtors who owe PNG Power Limited millions of Kina will surprise the public.

Some members of the public would not think that it was necessary for the cabinet to declare an SOE to fix a problem that is administrative in nature and should really be the responsibility of the PPL management.

But the revelation by the Minister for Public Enterprises and State Investments, Ben Micah, of the loss of K7 million a month to non-paying electricity users warrants intervention by the Government. That figure, which equates to 7 megawatts of power, when calculated for the 2014 calendar year totals K84 million in revenue that could have gone into the public purse but is lost to illegal users. We applaud the decision by the Government to tackle the problem once and for all. Individuals and organisations that are in arrears to the PPL should be held to account and forced to settle their bills or face the consequences.

There are areas in Port Moresby, Lae, Mt Hagen and other major centres where the illegal consumption of electricity is accepted and encouraged. These areas, a lot of them settlements on the outskirts of cities and towns, should be at the top of the hit list that the PPL draws up for its debt collectors. A lot of the electricity consumption in these areas is often done using illegal connections that are unsafe for the users.

Nevertheless it is assuring to see the NEC and the Government swing into action just a week into the New Year, hopefully the country’s most powerful council will display the same decisiveness and vigour when confronting other challenges that remain outstanding from last year and previous years. Another area of revenue collection which the Government should also include in this exercise is income and corporate tax collection.

The Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) continues to face capacity issues, consequently inhibiting its ability to collect taxes and ensure compliance with their audits.

Most of the tax collection exercises target the big firms and overlook thousands of small to medium sized enterprises. A paper published last year by the National Research Institute titled “Taxation Policies and Practices Affecting Businesses and Individuals in Papua New Guinea: Options for Reforms” expressed concern at the high levels of tax evasion in this country.

“PNG has higher levels of tax evasion than the average for Asia and the Pacific, as many high-income corporate taxpayers pay relatively little tax, which has a big impact on tax revenue,” stated the NRI publication.

If the NEC and the Government is serious in addressing the revenue shortfalls that it is anticipated to experience then tax evasion should also come under its radar. Individuals and organisations that refuse to pay taxes are just as culpable as electricity consumers who refuse to settle their bills. With the 40th independence anniversary celebrations just eight months away, this move by the Government should be a good wakeup call for those Papua New Guineans who continue to piggyback on the sweat and sacrifice of others and compel them to give back to the nation.

The

Index

Asia news ........................28-29

Bougainville Today ..............18

Business ..........................19-21

Classifieds .......................34-35

Comics..................................33

Highlands Post.....................15

Home news.............2,4-9,12-13

Islands Post .........................17

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Urready for new role

BY ISAAC NICHOLAS

STATE of emergency controller Colonel Tom Ur has welcomed his appointment as SOE controller saying the main task was to plug the leakages within the power system.

“I accept this challenge for me to now save and streamline the power generation system and I have acquired a sinking ship that is leaking. My task

is to identify this leak, block it, save it, correct it and we move on,” Mr Ur said. He said there were many challenges ahead and those who were doing the right thing should not fear.

“I want to assure the public that power will continue to flow. PNG Power will be still there and we will continue to sail on.”

“Those of you who are not doing the correct thing, who

are using power without proper approvals, that is you who have broken the law and that is very clear and you will face me.

“We have got very good intelligence, we have set up the command control centre, there will be a telephone line 24-hours and we ask the public to continue to report on people who are mis-using power, it is unfair to others who are paying,” Mr Ur said.

“My job is not punitive and not to make your life difficult, power is an essential service, we would like everybody to have access to it, so let’s do it legally, correctly and under the regulations and PNG Power is the regulator.”

“I’m a fair man, hospitals and schools will be exceptions but the private sector, I know you want to minimise cost for maximum gain but also do the right thing.”

State of emergency to fix PNG Power woes

FROM PAGE 1

IT invoked the state of emergency provisions on all electricity services nationwide to address the electricity issues and bring in reforms which would include a major overhaul of PNG Power.

Public Enterprises and State Investment Minister Ben Micah said Cabinet had invoked the Essential Services Act, giving him control of all powers in relation to electricity services and power regulation and related services from the PNG Power board and management and IPBC under the SOE regulations.

He has appointed former Defence Force chief of staff Colonel Tom Ur as controller and Teika Tefetau as

deputy and an advisory committee led by IPBC acting Secretary Clement Waine. Using the emergency powers, Mr Micah, among other things, had:

Halted all travel and expenditure by PNG Power until approved by him;

Directed that services of all consultants and advisers be terminated forthwith;

Given illegal power and producers and users 48 hours to report to PNG Power or have their power disconnected. Those generating, supplying and using illegal power will be arrested and charged;

Instructed advisory committee to review the electricity tariff structure;

Instructed that all IPP arrangements be halted

except those that have been effected and that all new IPP projects be tendered; and

Instructed the advisory committee to look into appropriate measures for the payment of electricity bills and collection of outstanding bills from governments departments, SOEs and agencies, private companies and individual consumers.

Mr Micah said he has consulted widely, including the Police Commissioner and PNG Defence Force commander and will work with the advisory group appointed by Cabinet.

“The Government has taken into serious consideration the concerns and outcry of our people and the business and corporate com-

munity and the image of our country and has made this decision,” Mr Micah said. He warned that any person, groups or bodies that is a barrier or intends to disrupt the exercise of this emergency or disobeys lawful directives will face the full force of the emergency laws.

Hospitals and schools and institutions that are deemed to be of strategic and security interest of the State would be given due consideration under the emergency law. He said the police and military will be used where and when necessary to exercise their duties under the emergency law and urged all to cooperate with relevant authorities and work together.

The male seahorse carries the eggs until they hatch instead of the female.

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PMV

Decision on O’Neill tribunal today

BY ADRIAN MATHIAS

THE National Court will rule today whether the leadership tribunal set up to inquire into alleged misconduct in office against Prime Minister Peter O’Neill will be temporary stayed and constitutional questions referred to the Supreme Court be determined first.

This followed lengthy submissions yesterday by parties including plaintiff Mr O’Neill and defendants Public Prosecutor Pondros Kaluwin and the leadership tribunal comprising retired New Zealand judge Sir Peter Blanchard (chairman) and members retired Australian judge John von Boussa and Justice

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Salatiel Lenalia. Mr O’Neill, who was represented by Mal Varitimos, QC, and Philip Tabuchi of Young & Williams Lawyers, instituted the court proceeding in an amended notice of motion that rises constitutional questions arising out of his referral in relation to Oil Search shares through a UBS loan for the Supreme Court’s interpretation.

Mr Varitimos had submitted that the Supreme Court is the “only court” mandated to deal with matters relating to application and interpretation of constitutional laws and that the tribunal does not have the constitutional mandate to interpret questions relating to constitutional laws.

At the outset, Mr O’Neill

challenged the exercise of constitutional powers by the Public Prosecutor and the jurisdiction of the tribunal to inquire into his alleged misconduct in office, arguing that his referral to the tribunal was improper and unconstitutional by relying on grounds of error in law and misapplication of law by the Public Prosecutor.

Mr O’Neill also argued that the Supreme Court should deal with the constitutionality of his referral and make interpretation first, saying that allegations labelled against him had been flawed.

But Norbert and Getrude Kubak of Kubak Lawyers for Public Prosecutor opposed Mr O’Neill’s contentions,

saying that his notice of motion was brought before the wrong forum (court) which should be dismissed for abuse of process.

Mr Kubak told Justice David Cannings that the tribunal had already been established to inquire into the alleged misconduct in office against Mr O’Neill, and that it should be left to go ahead as scheduled.

Mr Kubak said the constitutional questions could be raised during hearing in the tribunal to consider whether it should refer them to the Supreme Court.

After hearing submissions from all parties Justice Cannings set the ruling for today at 3pm.

7 MONTHS

IT IS a New Year so hopefully banks and fi nancial institutions pull up their socks. One customer still can’t get over the fact that it took the country’s oldest bank seven months to process a request for a 50-page cheque book.

THE HOUR “ON THE hour every hour” is a popular line often used by broadcasters. But one avid radio listener reckons two local stations can’t put their hands up for that gong.

Legend FM and NBC were 2 and 3 minutes behind the hour last year, he says.

INVOICE

ENP COPS asked a villager recently if he called a community leader. The villager replied in Tok Pisin, “Yes mi ring tasol invoice tasol!” This confused the police so they asked, “Na em tok wonem?”

The villager replied, “Invoice tasol”. An of fi cer realised the dilemma the villager was in and said, “Ino invoice, em voicemail yah!”

HOTSPOTS

THE Drum yesterday on the lack of mobile phone coverage in some parts of Milne Bay’s Rossel Island caught the eye of a seafarer. He says frequent travellers know Digicel “hotspots” between the mainland, Misima, Sudest and Rossel Islands where they can make

and receive calls.

ADVENTURE

THE hunt for the mobile phone signal can also be adventurous. Morpa villagers on Rossel can only get it while out at sea so when they go fi shing, a mobile phone is part of the fi shing gear. Bipi Islanders in the west coast of Manus wait for low tide so they can walk out to the reef to make and receive calls.

POWER SOE

THIS has to be a fi rst in PNG: declaring a state of emergency (SOE) to force electricity defaulters to pay up! Have you paid your power bills? Might want to get that settled to avoid the police and the army paying you a visit!

K7 MILLION

THE declaration of the SOE is surprising and has caught people off guard. But if it is true that the State loses K7 million a month to individuals and organisations that don’t pay their power bills then the heavy-handedness is perhaps justi fi ed.

DON’T DELAY

HOPE the SOE-commitment doesn’t delay police investigations into the tragic shooting of Lae resident Moanna Pisimi. In Australia, the crime scene is cordon off and investigators set up camp close-by looking for potential leads.

PENGEE: thedrum@spp.com.pg

Supreme Court is the only authority to determine issues relating to application and interpretation of constitutional laws.

A DRUM last November revealed Jackson airport guards’ addiction to mobile phones at the expense of public security. A static guard in the PX sales office appears to be under the same spell.

MOBILE WOES

A ROUTE one PMV bus got stuck when it was trying to cross this muddy road section at Raluana along the KokopoRabaul Road yesterday. Heavy rain washed down debris and soil onto the road, making it quite hard for motorists to pass through. Picture: BRADLEY WOO

IN STICKY MUD

Bank: Paper notes of no value

BY ROSALYN ALBANIEL

ALL paper bank notes are no longer legal tender and are valueless, Bank of Papua New Guinea Governor Loi Bakani advised yesterday.

This means they can no longer be used as money to buy goods and services or as a medium of exchange.

Mr Bakani was responding to questions put to him in relation to a newspaper public notice that the central bank had issued in relation to the withdrawal of all paper notes.

The bank released a statement on Monday saying it would no longer accept any more paper notes in exchange for polymer (plastic) bank notes.

Venues will be ready for games: Tkatchenko

THE countdown is on to this year’s Pacific Games in Port Moresby, which will begin in just 177 days as Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko play down speculations that some of the venues may not be ready on time.

“Everything is on target, on plan and ready for July 4,” he told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat programme yesterday amid reports in the Post-Courier that some facilities would not be ready in time for the two-week event.

A report prepared for a Games Committee recently highlighted some concerns about the progress at several

venues – including the Sir John Guise Games Stadium which would host the opening ceremony.

Minister Tkatchenko was confident that everything would be ready; and he de-

scribed it all as “a miracle” because at one stage, construction was two years behind schedule.

“We have inherited these setbacks from the previous government for the two years

behind,” he told presenter Catherine Graue.

Mr Tkatchenko said he met with the Sir John Guise Stadium committee yesterday and was assured that both indoor and outdoor facilities would be ready in time for the Games opening on July 4. Other facilities were 80 to 90 per cent complete and project contracts were working three shifts seven days a week to complete all facilities on time. Work now concentrated on interior fittings and finishing touches.

“Yes, there was a six weeks delay,” he admitted, caused

by issues on procurement of building materials due to lack of foreign currency in PNG.

But he was adamant that the “Games will proceed – it would be the biggest Pacific Games that the Pacific and PNG had ever seen with the inclusion of regional teams from Australia and New Zealand.

“Every day is gold for us, with six months to go,” Mr Tkatchenko said, adding that when the Games are over PNG would boast “some unbelievable internationalaccredited facilities” which would be used for the next 20 to 30 years.

Mr Bakani advised that the paper bank notes had stopped being a legal tender since 2012 when the central bank advised the public to bring them in to be exchanged for the plastic notes.

The bank said last Wednesday, December 31, was the deadline for the exchange of paper notes for polymer notes.

“As I clarified, these paper bank notes cannot be used any more as they are valueless.

“Those who prefer to keep them and not exchange them for plastic bank notes can do so, but only as souvenirs or for commemorative purposes.

“From now on, Bank of Papua New Guinea and all commercial banks will no longer accept any more paper bank notes from the public,” Mr Bakani said. Asked how much of the paper notes had been returned to the bank, He said about 95 per cent, adding just a small amount to still be in the hands of members of the public.

Mr Bakani said the public had been given adequate time of notice since 2012 to hand in the expiring bank notes.

Notorious criminal slashed to death in Lae

BY FRANKY KAPIN

A WELL known criminal in Lae who attacked two people early in the day yesterday got a taste of his own medicine when he was counter-attacked and slashed to death.

Soti Mob, of Morobe and Sepik heritage, got more than he bargained for when he held up a lone security guard at about 8am at the second dump, along back road. In the process he wounded his victim in the head.

When confronted by the victim’s tribesmen from

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Menyamya, Soti Mob slashed his second victim whereby the angry tribesmen set upon him, hacking him to death as well as cutting off both his hands.

Police sources said Soti Mob is notorious as an instigator of several ethnic clashes in the Back Road suburb over the past years, including the Kabwum-Menyamya clash last year.

Lae Metropolitant Superintendent Iven Lakatani said yesterday he had not received a briefing about the killing.

Real diamonds have a ‘radio-lucent molecular’, which means they don’t appear in X-ray images.

THE Sir John Guise Indoor Stadium’s construction.

THE wanted criminal known as Soti Mob wrapped in a blanket after he was slashed to death at the roadside along backroad in Lae yesterday.

JUSTIN TKATCHENKO: He is the Minister for Sports, Pacific Games 2015, National Events and MP for Moresby South Open.

MORE DAYS: The Pacific Games will commence on the 4th of July this year. SPECULATIONS: Most gaming facilities might not be ready before the 4th of July.

OPENING CEREMONY: The Sir John Guise Games Stadium will host the opening ceremony.

Tangit: Involve us on planning

PNG Power CEO John Tangit has called for key service providers like PNG Power Ltd, Water PNG and Eda Ranu to be made members of the physical planning and building boards to assist with compliance issues.

Mr Tangit also said PNG Power should not be blamed for blow-outs in white goods because of the inferior products bought by customers.

He was explaining the term “dirty power” which some illegal power suppliers were providing which affected the quality of power generation.

“The quality of power that we have in our systems come in two folds, when we generate power we produce an ideal power that goes into the system and there is a reactive power that is fed back into the system and that increases or decreases the excitation voltages in the generator.”

“That is what we call dirty

power or reactive power,” he said.

Mr Tangit said PNG Power representation on physical planning board was vital to approve what types of electricity equipment are installed in buildings for approval. “We would like to get onto the board, so that we can verify and collectively address electro-mechanical aspects of buildings,” he added.

He said people who were bringing in white goods were also regulated by PNG Power which conducted random checks but a lot of people were importing white goods which were sub-standard.

“Most of your white goods will blow off and you claim that it is PNG Power that blew the white goods but if you look at the back of the white goods, they don’t meet and comply to the specifications and as a result you are losing money.

Southern Highlands embraces development

THE Imbongu and Nipa Kutubu districts are leading in improved roads infrastructure, Chairman of Southern Highlands Works Robert Dobo said.

Mr Dobo told members of the Southern Highlands provincial assembly during a recent provincial assembly meeting in Mendi that the Imbongu district was the leading district in the province with 56 of its district feeder roads being

funded, followed closely by Nipa Kutubu with 40.

He said behind Nipa Kutubu is the Kagua Erave district with 28 of its roads funded and maintained, followed by Ialibu Pangia and Mendi districts.

He said of the 157 feeder district roads in the province, about 1500 kilometers of the roads have been covered by the respective joint district planning and budget priority committees.

THOUGH most of these street sellers may not have the formal education to back them up they are well versed in business smarts. When its raining they sell umbrellas, when its Independence they sell flags and when its hot they sell fans. Always meeting the needs of their customers.

Simbu police hunt for child deserter

BY MICHAEL KOMA

CHIMBU police are in pursuit of a middle-aged mother who allegedly gave her baby daughter away for adoption without the father’s consent.

The woman has supposedly gone into hiding.

Police identified the suspect as Catherine Sine, pictured, of Urilmilkul village near Gu-

mine government station. Police said without the husband’s permission, the suspect gave her 28-month-old daughter to another man five weeks ago and left for Mt Hagen. The husband, whom police declined to identify, believed the suspect could be living with her step-sister or a new husband in Warakum in Mt Hagen.

Police have registered the case as child abuse under the Lukautim Pikinini Act. Meanwhile, police are appealing to Mrs Sine to surrender.

Police said she could also be charged for adultery after interrogation. Anyone sighting the suspect may call Kundiawa police station on 113 3535, 7079 2723, 7264 9666 or 7268 5193.

Accident in Buka claims two lives

A PMV truck that failed and reversed back while climbing up the Malasang road in Buka overloaded with passengers from Koheno village in the Peit Constituency in Buka has claimed two lives on Wednesday.

The truck was carrying mostly mothers and young children who travelled to Buka town to shop for their New Year celebrations and on returning back to the village in the afternoon, they faced disaster.

According to a passenger who lost his brother said the driver of the vehicle changed the gears halfway up the hill resulting in the vehicle losing power to further itself up which resulted in it starting to reversing backwards hitting the side of the earth wall twice and throwing passengers onto the middle of the road.

All injured passengers numbering to over 20, were rushed to Buka Hospital by passing vehicles with some in critical condition while the two dead were a female and a male youth.

Fuel prices will drop further this month

FUEL prices will drop further starting today in Port Moresby, the consumer watchdog Independent Consumer and Competition Commission announced yesterday.

ICCC CEO Billy Manoka said following advice from fuel supplier Puma Energy the lower prices will apply to petrol, diesel and kerosene. From today petrol will sell at K2.92 a litre, diesel K2.44 a litre and kerosene K2.38 a litre.

Last month they were sell-

FUEL PRICES: Fuel prices in the country will further drop as petrol will sell at K2.92 a litre, diesel K2.44 a litre and kerosene K2.38 a litre.

ICCC: Stands for Idependent Consumer and Competition.

REASON: The decrease in the fuel prices at the IPP level is mainly attributed to the continuous decrease in international crude oil prices.

ing at K3.24, K2.73 and K2.69 respectively.

“Again for this month, the decrease in the fuel prices at the IPP level is mainly

attributed to the continuous decrease in international crude oil prices.

“The decrease in international crude oil prices is

mainly due to oversupply in the international crude oil market. “This oversupply has been caused by the US increasing its production of shale oil and thus demanding less from the OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cartel.

“The drop in international crude oil prices is mainly attributed to the oil glut in the international crude oil market,” he said.

Puma Energy is a mid- and downstream oil company, a

subsidiary of the commodity trading multinational Trafigura Beheer BV. Its operations span 40 countries across five continents and encompass the supply, storage, refining, distribution, and retail of a range of petroleum products.

The firm was founded in Central America in 1997 as an oil storage and distribution network, and is now active in Latin America, Africa, the Baltics, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.

The vehicle is owner did not sustain any injuries and has been locked up at the Buka Police station while his wife also sustained chest injuries.

Police who rushed to the scene said it was a horrific accident with mostly mothers and young children who were casualties and it will be a bad year ending for this year for those that have lost their loved ones.

Investigations will soon be carried out on the accident and once completed the driver will be charged accordingly.

It was a horrific accident with mostly mothers and children

Kairuku MP supports Catholic Womens Association

BY MEROLYN TEN

DEVELOPING a good partnership between churches and the government is a huge sign of Papua New Guinea prosperity.

This statement was made by Kairuku-Hiri MP Peter Isoaimo last week, after presenting K20,000 to the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Women’s Association in his electorate through the DSIP funds.

The money was given purposely to assist the association to host a National Pilgrimage program which

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will be held at Yule Island in Central Province at the end of this month.

He said the Catholic Church has been the pioneer church in KairukuHiri district that has taken the forefront in providing spiritual, education and health services and for that reason, the fund is a token of appreciation.

“Overall, I am very happy to work with all Christian Churches and assist them in whatever they need to carry out the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Mr Isoaimop said.

OLSH Association

President Catherine Miria said it was a privilege for them to host the National pilgrimage program and with the assistance from their MP will help them a lot.

“Women in all Catholic churches in Papua new guinea will be attending the program, and it is believed that the gathering will be a successful one,” Mrs Miria said.

Yule Island is where the first Catholic Missionaries arrived in the Southern Region of Papua New Guinea in July 4, 1885.

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

A PUMA Energy fuel attendant serving customers at its Konedobu outlet in the nation’s capital. Picture: TARAMI LEGEI

PETER Isoaimo, left, handing the K20,000 over to members of the association.

POLICE Buka

Kavo: I am still Governor for Gulf

JAILED Gulf Governor

Havila Kavo says he is still in charge of the province until the court rules otherwise.

Kavo has been on bail since last month pending his appeal in the Supreme Court against his conviction and jailing for misappropriation.

“I was allowed by the Supreme court which still recognises me as the Governor. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in contempt of court and can be penalised,” Kavo said yesterday.

Kavo was responding to Kerema MP Richard Mendani’s comments that he had lost the confidence and trust of the Gulf people when he was convicted.

“That is not public opinion but a mere view of one man. He should be more worried about his Kerema people who are beginning to lose confidence in him as he misses provincial assembly sittings,” Kavo said.

Mr Mendani said in a media conference on Monday that Kavo had tried to convene a Provincial Executive Council meeting which was unsuccessful as quorum was not met.

“The non-attendance of the leaders to the meeting is in response to the demands of the people,” Mr Mendani said.

The Gulf Governor believes that he still has the support of the people who had elected him.

He said however, that the Kerema people may have lost confidence of their MP who had missed three consecutive meetings of the provincial assembly and Mr Mendani could be removed under standing orders of the provincial assembly.

Kavo said that he had been in the province for the assem-

Barrick to provide traning for women

GOLD miner Barrick (Niugini) Limited has committed to provide technical training and support to Porgera Women in Business (WIB) group.

Executive general manager (PNG) Greg Walker made the commitment during the launch in November last year at the Porgera station.

Mr Walker described the launch as a tremendous occasion for the women of Porgera and the special mining lease (SML) affected areas.

At a glance

HAVILA KAVO: Says he is still in charge of Gulf Province until and when the court rules otherwise. Mr Kavo made these comments in response to Kerema MP Richard Mendani who says that the people of the province have lost confidence and trust in Kavo’s leadership after his conviction.

CHALLENGE: Kavo has challenged Mendani to a public debate on Gulf issues at the IPA next month.

bly sitting, which Mr Mendani did not attend, to pass the Gulf budget for 2015.

He said as Governor he had achieved and delivered more to the people than leaders like Mr Mendani.

Kavo challenged Mr Mendani to face him in a public debate on Gulf issues at the Institute of Public Administration next month.

Gulf Province is located on the southern coast. The provincial capital is Kerema.

The province has the second-smallest population of all the provinces with 106,898 inhabitants (2000 census).

HEADS UP

ELECTRICITY is a basic necessity not only for private consumers but also businesses. And just like cars need servicing, Telo Nikua of BJ Electrical is changing the lights of the carpark at the Jackson’s Airport in Port Moresby. Picture: TARAMI LEGEI

He said he had met with the leadership of Porgera WIB (PWIB) prior to the launch and was very impressed with the leadership of the group.

“How you have presented yourselves is an example of how a person can succeed in business. You need to be organised, structured and well led. With what I have seen, I believe that this association will be extremely successful.

“Barrick is committed to providing technical support and working closely to help the Porgera Women in Business is successful in business,” Mr Walker said.

PWIB president Elizabeth Iarume acknowledged that Barrick was doing all it could to provide relevant training opportunities to women in the valley but bulk of the women were missing out on these opportunities.

“We are very thankful to Barrick for committing to help us with our training needs and for recognising the objectives of the Porgera WIB,” she said.

“We see the mine as our only service provider and anticipate that we will be given opportuni¬ties to take up projects to support the purpose and vision of our group.”

The PWIB is a newly registered women’s group established within the valley (Porgera-Paiela) comprising of 1157 registered financial members, a bulk of which are through its affiliated group - Immediate Affected SML Women Association (IASMLWA) which involved women from the SML villages.

Kuman: Education reforms set for next year

BY NELLIE SETEPANO

EDUCATION Minister Nick Kuman says K267 million is available under the Public Investment Program (PIP) to implement the new 2-6-6 educational structure.

Mr Kuman said on Tuesday that the new structure would be implemented next year instead of this year to allow infrastructure for schools to begin in anticipation of the new school structure.

He said districts will receive K3 million each for infrastructure development, including double classrooms and teachers’ houses.

The 2-6-6 structure means two years of elementary education, that is, kindergarten and prep or early childhood; six years of primary school education from grade one to six and six years of high school and secondary high education from grade seven to grade 12.

There would also be more training for teachers.

“The O’Neill Government is serious about this country’s future. The Government is serious about quality education. In the future, oil, gas and copper will go but the human resource will remain, that is why we want quality education to be delivered in PNG schools,” Mr Kuman said.

The minister said the government wanted the country to excel in education and

If you mouth the word ‘colourful’ to someone, it will look like you’re saying ‘ I love you’.

be able to compete globally that was why this education reform was happening for schools and students.

Mr Kuman said there had not been any awareness to explain the new structure to educators and how it would be implemented.

He hoped that this year the Education Department would continue to provide more public awareness on the Government’s educational reforms.

NICK KUMAN

Port Moresby

NICK Kuman

HAVILA Kavo

In the future oil, gas and copper will go but the human resource will remain, that is why we want quality education ...

NIP in space port talks

THE New Ireland Provincial Government is in advanced discussions with an international consortium to bring a satellite launch facility to New Ireland Province “within a couple of years”.

“This is a momentous project for New Ireland and Papua New Guinea,” Governor Sir Julius Chan said yesterday in a media statement when announcing the deal.

“We have been talking with a very well respected and intentionally experi-

enced company about creating a major space port in New Ireland.

“Discussions are now at an advanced state, and with the support of the National

Government we will, within just a couple of years, have such a facility operation in New Ireland,” he said.

Before the fall of the USSR in the late 1980s, Moscow had also explored possibilities of setting up a launch facility in PNG and chose Emirau Island, north of Kavieng.

Sir Julius said that he was not in a position yet to release the name of the company with whom the New Ireland government was in discussion. “These are very

delicate discussions,” he added. “We do not want to pre-empt the work the consortium is doing to bring in international support for the project.

“However, I can tell you that talks are quite advanced, and that the managing company has already come to agreements with several international satellite launch companies who are actively searching for new sites from which to launch,” he said.

The Governor said discus-

sions had been going on for several years, but that they have accelerated in the past year. “The bottom line is New Ireland is in an ideal location for a satellite launch facility.

“First, we are within a degree or two of the equator, and satellite launches from the northern or southern hemispheres.

“Because the earth is actually moving faster at the equator than at any other point, it reduces the amount of fuel necessary. So if you

Gold miner continues to help local communities

BARRICK (Niugini) Limited

is committed to ongoing community development efforts for the local communities in which it operates.

Of the many projects and training programs delivered over the years, the most recent and a significant initiative since the inception of the Porgera gold mine has been the delivery of the personal viability (PV) training.

A first for Enga Province, PV is a home grown concept that aims to empower the rural communities

to identify and implement income generation opportunities through the transfer of appropriate skills and knowledge. There had been two PV training sessions conducted in 2014. The 10-day sessions covered topics such as mathematic for grassroots, identifying needs and wants, personal stock-take, tangible and intangible resources and productivity discipline.

A total of 120 participants from areas within the special mining lease (SML) and

lease for mining purpose (LMP) and the communities within Porgera Valley attended the sessions in February, July and August last year.

Many participants had described the training as an eye-opener and had initiated self-reliant projects.

Barrick community relations department is tasked with the role to ensure community development and community enhancement aimed at generating self-reliance and sustainability for the local communities.

Ruth Paraia is a single mother of six and resides at the Porgera station. Prior to the PV training she relied on rentals from 15 tenants at her semi-permanent house that she leased at K100 per fortnight.

Without basic knowledge to expand her small business, she attended the second PV training session and gained valuable skills and knowledge especially on how to manage money, set business goals and starting up small projects using available resources, and

have to lift less fuel you can lift more equipment and materials, which makes it much more cost effective.”

Sir Julius said he was liasing with the Government of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to finalise the details of the project.

“Once we have done that and consulted with the Consortium we will make an announcement with full details. With the cooperation to the National Government this project will become a reality,” he said.

Remote School seeks assistance

A REMOTE school in the Menyamya district of Morobe Province is seeking assistance to help with its school infrastructure before school starts on February.

Tawa Primary School serves the people of Gulf and Morobe and is located in an area where it is isolated from any economic development. However, it serves more than 15,000 people.

Head master Peter Hiyatai told the Post-Courier that each year they enrol 300 students to do grade three and there is a great need for more classrooms and staff houses.

Last year, a total of 800 students were enrolled while there were only 19 teachers and for this year, they will increase the number to 900 students who will be taught by 23 teachers. In addition to that, the number of students is increasing every year, which creates another need for the school to build more classrooms, the head master said.

“The school now has insufficient funds to complete the new classrooms we are building as school will commence in a short period of time and the increase number of students may lead to students being over crowded in one space which will not be conducive for their learning,” Mr Hiyatai said.

how to successfully make more money. She is now planning to venture into providing a laundry service – a first for Porgera. She has also erected a poultry shelter to start up a poultry project and also plans on renovating an-other run-down house that she aims to put up for rent.

Veronica Yopale attended the second PV training session and since then started off by selling ice blocks and is now well on her way towards setting up a duck farm.

Performance for the students passing out of the school is very high in the district, he said.

Last year Tawa Primary School scored the highest amongst the 34 primary schools and 60 students for their examinations and 50 of them were selected to continue into high school.

Such is the desparate situation of the school that Mr Hiyatai has given out the school’s account number for any interested people or groups to help. The school account number is 1001705923 at BSP in Lae.

“Your assistance in cash or kind will be highly appreciated,” he said.

Most children who get migraines have at least one close family member who suffers from migraines, too.

THESE vehicles are lining up not because there is a police road block but because of huge potholes in the old bitumen starting from the Kakamuga Airport into the heart of Hagen town. People driving on this road between the Kiminiga SDA headquarters and Wara Kala ward one settlement are wondering who will get this potholes patched up. Picture: SIBA MESA

HAGEN ROADS NEED URGENT MAINTENANCE

“This is a momentous project for New Ireland and PNG...

JULIUS CHAN Port Moresby

NEW

LIGHTS FOR THE AIRPORT

IMMANUEL Gono setting the new 150watt floodlight to replace the old, yellow and dim lights at Jackson International Airport in Port Moresby. Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights. They can also be used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage lighting instrument in live performances such as concerts and plays.

Slow response to boat mishaps persist

BY ROSALYN ALBANIEL

EFFORTS by disaster officials in Madang Province to respond promptly to boating mishaps continue to be hampered, with the office still without a boat for search and rescue.

Early this week, an SOS was sent to disaster officials in the province and in what has seemingly become the norm, the disaster officials were forced to scramble around for a boat to respond to this emergency.

Madang’s acting director for Disaster and Emergency, Rudolf Mongalee, could not be reached for comment.

However, reports state that an incident occurred on December 29 where 11 people, including three children, had left Baluan Island, Manus Province and were headed for Pana. The last trace of them was a missed call from one of the passengers to a relative.

Reports are that the disaster office was notified of the incident last Friday and search and rescue was organised.

With the office without its own boat, it is understood that help was sought from Ramu NiCo Limited – a catamaran used by the company to ferry its

Road safety boss commends staff for good work

THE impounding of unroadworthy vehicles may have helped minimise road accidents in the city.

Acting chief executive officer of the National Road Safety Council Nelson Terema (pictured) said this when commending his officers, the Mother Vehicle Insurance Limited, the Department of Transport and members of the police force who worked tirelessly during the festive period to stop such vehicles running on the road.

Mr Terema said the carelessness of some motor vehicle owners would pose a threat to others and his men were there to make sure all traffic rules were followed.

“This resulted in the impounding of many vehicles with various defaults,” he said.

“Papua New Guineans also seem to forget that accidents and fatality caused by faulty vehicles or unlicensed drivers would not be eligible for compensation.

“People’s lives are at stake, so our role as an institution is to prevent accidents by making sure all traf-

At a glance

NELSON TEREMA: He is the acting chief executive officer of the Road Traffic Authority.

PUBLIC MUST: Report corrupt officers who receive bribery and do not follow set procedures.

implicated will be investigated and necessary actions taken.

fic laws are followed,” Mr Terema said.

He said his officers, with the help of policemen, worked around the clock to ensure that citizens enjoyed the festive period without threats from drunken, unlicensed drivers or faulty vehicles.

He also condemned the alleged actions of his officers who may have not followed set procedures.

Mr Terema said he will not tolerate any such behaviour and officers

The acting CEO said road safety inspectors have a duty and that is to help vehicle owners and drivers follow traffic laws and regulations and charge offenders accordingly using all the protocols in the Motor Traffic Act.

He called on the public to front up at the office and report corrupt officers who receive bribery and do not follow set procedures so that action can be taken against them. He made this comment following a letter to the two dailies on an brivery allegations made against road safety officers.

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE

workers to the Basamuk Refinery site. However, officials were told by the management to wait as permission had to first be sought from the vice-president who was out of town.

It is understood that approval was granted yesterday, not for the use of the MV Carrie but one of their motorised dinghies, allowing officers to commence their search and rescue efforts.

Provincial authorities had confirmed that the office had previously been equipped with a vessel but its whereabouts is no longer known.

Recently, concerns had been raised by the provincial chairman, who is also the president of the Iabu local level government, Martin Ururu, of the sad state of affairs of the office.

He told the Post-Courier that funding is an on-going problem impeding the ability of the office and its staff to function effectively and efficiently.

Provincial administrator Daniel Aloi confirmed with reporters on the ground that the provincial government had in its recent budget increased the funding to K200,000 from its internal revenue, while from its recurrent budget the level has been maintained at K100,000.

The Board, Management and staff of National Superannuation Fund Limited wish to convey their deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the family of the late JOHN GORDON JEFFERY who passed away on the 1st of January 2015.

John Jeffery was the inaugural Chairman of the NASFUND Board having been appointed on 9 May 2002 until his resignation on 31 December 2011.

His service as a Board Director and Chairman were integral in the transition under the new Superannuation Legislation from the former National Provident Fund Board of Trustees to the National Superannuation Fund Limited as it is known today.

His humour and professional candour will be sadly missed.

May he rest in eternal peace.

QUERY ON SHOOTING

WITH regard to the shoot-out that happened over the New Year in Lae, I commend the Police Commissioner for sending investigators from Port Moresby to get to the bottom of this incident, which is becoming too frequent. What baf fl es me the most, is that if it was a high speed chase, how come the vehicle, the deceased was travelling in did not overturn when she was shot in the back of the head?

Surely this should have happened if that was the case. Why were the t yres not shot at in the fi rst place?

A s in the paper there was only one shot lodged in the rim.

For Ivan Lakatani to say that it was premature for the family and the public to blame his of fi cers from the shooting is a farce. No wonder we don’t get scared of the rascals nowadays but fear a few trigger happy hoods in police uniforms, who shoot fi rst before asking. These are the ones who continue to tarnish the good name of the force.

TKATCHENKO HELP!

I WISH to air my concern on behalf of the people of Taurama (ValleyNambis) in the South Eastern district of NCD. The Local MP Justin Tkatchenko should allocate a portion of the DSIP funds to bring water into the suburb this year. The surburb consist of more than 7000 people and the MP should be very conscious of this project as water is vital for survival. As a resident of Taurama, It's been normal for us to go back into the city to fetch water in plastic containers enough to sust ain us before we go back and fetch again. For the unfortunate ones, who do not have any vehicles, they have no choice but to buy water for K4 for a 20 litre container from local retailers operating in the suburb. Can the local MP help us?

Wilz Snydz Rofundo Lunx, Proud Taurama Citizen

If someone knows her whereabout please call me on mobile phone #72649666.

NATIONAL covernments both in the past and current, do not realise what Chinese businessmen are doing to Papua New Guinea’s currency.

Both big and small business owners are taking PNG Kina and Toea out of the country in big sums and taking it home to China and no one in Government is raising a finger against them.

Money in any country is meant to circulate within so that people of that country can use it. One deposits, the other withdraws or borrows and it goes round and round.

But today in Papua New Guinea, our money goes into Chinese stores, never to come out again.

To prove this point, you go to any bank branch in Papua New Guinea and stand in the long cue. You will hardly see a Chinese businessmen in the bank doing banking.

Why, they keep the money in their houses and when they go home for breaks every three months, they go with our money.

I support Opposition Leader Don Polye who said the Government has no money. The National Government has no money because it has been taken out of our country. However, Mr Polye was indirect. He should get to the point. He should also say some people are taking money out and there is not

out

enough money in the country and therefore the Government is facing problems.

He has been in the Government for some years and also held the treasury ministry and knows exactly what happens to our money. But why didn’t he say something or do something to prevent Chinese taking money out of PNG?

I am a simple person on the street but to tell the truth, there is not enough money in the PNG Reserve Bank, that is why the Government is short of money.

Zomaga Ve Lae.

Tedz

AM looking for a middle-aged woman from Urimilkul village near Gumine district of fi ce. Her name is Catherine Sine. She should be in Warakum or somewhere in Mt Hagen.

PNG needs to turn around

Letter of the day

I WAS 18 months old when PNG became independent. I have always tried to be a law-abiding, honest hard-working citizen.

In my career working with people, I have tried my best to improve community livelihoods and contribute to nation building.

I have always believed that in PNG, if one can put in the sweat and effort, one can improve ones chances to have a better future. I also believe that most citizens of this great country are hardworking and believe in this idea as well. This has held true for the last 30 odd years.

In recent times, I have become disillusioned. I have worked in rural and urban areas and in the year of our 40th independence anniversary, I can honestly say we, as a country have regressed.

The services and infrastructure our forefathers left us have deteriorated to shocking levels and they did not have the kind of budgets we so flippantly access.

Our roads, buildings, airports, schools, universities, hospitals,

aidposts, wharves, water supplies, power supplies and associated services are all limping, if not in the last throes of going belly up.

Coupled with that is the general disillusionment that has clouded the public service machinery.

Years of neglect to the needs of this sector has created an environment where mediocre performance is the norm.

This neglect has also enabled the onset of corruption, which is now widely entrenched at all levels — ask anybody.

What is seemingly propping up the economy is the private sector but on very wobbly legs.

Why are we so rich and yet are suffering? I have only one word: leadership. PNG lacks real leaders at all levels: the home, the tribe, the district, the province and the country.

Selfless leaders who put honesty first; who respect their fellow man; who respect the rule of law and are willing to subject themselves to it; who listen to the cries of their people; who are not afraid to stand for what is right; who demand excellence of themselves first and then others; and who

Text us on 208

refuse to compromise with weak corrupting values. I believe if we can get a group of real leaders in our individual families first and then our villages, towns, districts, provinces and country we can turn the corner. In our 40th year, everyone of us needs to look in the proverbial mirror to see if they measure up.

Having said that, most of our people see first before doing and for many, the focus is on our politicians.

As our elected representatives, it would be most fitting if we could start seeing some real leadership coming from Waigani to motivate the nation.

The behaviour we have witnessed and continue to see leaves a bad taste in the mouth. This reckless, uncaring, selfish, arrogant and self-preserving attitude that has become so prevalent in Parliament is unsurprisingly reflected throughout the public service and society at large.

We need a turn around; PNG is begging for its leaders to stand-up please.

Havini Vira

Saraga road at Six-Mile falling apart

I AM compelled to comment on the quality of the recent and existing road resealed at Saraga road leading towards Magi Highway off SixMile. I commute on this road on a daily basis and I see the new road is eroding and falling apart. It was only constructed about less than 12 months ago.

All commuters or road users on this section of the highway will confirm what I’m referring to. Despite so much emphasis from the Government on repairing

roads, some contractors take it for granted or opportunity to make fast money but display poor quality of work. It’s very frustrating to see the road breaking up. Don’t tell me it’s another trial of some sort.

I have sound judgment based on the surface and surroundings including the drainage/road edges. The basement of the road is sinking causing the surface to shrink and fold. It looks smooth from far but very bumpy and rough.

UNCALLED ACTION

FOR Lae Police Superintendent, Iven Lakatani to give reasons for his men for shooting to death the late young mother Moana Pisimi is totally unacceptable.

How can the police shoot an unidenti fi ed person for speeding in a vehicle? Did she really pose a risk for pedestrians especially in the night as said by Mr Lakatani? The reasons given by Mr Lakatani were very shallow and unacceptable. Better still they could have just shot at the tyres to make the vehicle come to a stop and simply charge her for reckless driving. But in this case they shot with intention to kill her as if they were absolutely sure that she was a notorious or wanted criminal. She doesn’t deserve a death sentence for driving recklessly. This is cold blood murder by policemen.

I urge the relatives of late Moana Pisimi to pursue this matter head on and sue all those policemen including Mr Lakatani for defending his rogue men in blue. These policemen deserve severe punishment. Our hearts are with the families of Late Pisimi.

Broken Heart Southern Highlander

MENDANI NOT CLEAR

preme Court recognised Kavo as the governor of Gulf Province

THE Electoral Commission of PNG via the Commissioner Andrew Trawen in a recent Media conference clari fi ed Kavo’s position as the Governor

THE State through Chief Secretary, Manasupe Zurenoc in a recent newspaper article acknowledged and upheld those provisions in the Constitution allowing Kavo to be Governor.

Mr Mendani also stated that; “Elected leaders and people of Gulf have lost trust in Kavo”. This cannot be true and relied on as it is just a generalisation by the Kerema Open MP. I believe that statement can only be proven in an election. What grounds does Mr Mendani base his opinion. I see the statement by the Kerema Open MP to be baseless and politically motivated.

Paul Kairi, Kerema, Gulf

BLAME SECRETARY

Compare this road with Nine- Mile roads and you’ll agree.

It’s unbecoming of some contractor walking away with millions of taxpayers money. How long will it take responsible authorities to rectify this problem?

Over to road engineers and inspectors and NCDC authorities.

Rigo Melo Magi Highway

I READ with interest the comments made by Richard Mendani in an article titled “Kerema PM rejects Kavo” on Wednesday’s 07/01/2015 edition. Being a follower of the Havila Kavo case, has prompted me to respond to Mr Mendani’s comments. He commented that he does not recognise Havila Kavo as the Governor of Gulf Province. He based his opinion outside of the provisions in the Constitution. There were, however, various responsible state entities that clarifi ed the position of Havila Kavo as the Governor for Gulf.

THE Judiciary through the Su-

THE current end of year leave entitlements chaos faced by teachers around the country should be blamed on the Education Secretary. What was the Secretary doing for the whole of 2014 that he could not even check and con fi rm if all Provincial Education Departments got their teachers leave entitlements and airfares ready before 2014 school year ends? It doesn’t make good sense when he referred outside provinces teachers to their respective Provincial Education Departments.

As the head of the department he should make it his business to make sure everything fl ows smoothly in the entire department to avoid such delays. The same thing happened in 2013. I am sorry to those hardworking teachers with their families.

Concern Reader Via Email

THE Government’s Green Revolution policy will soon come to life with the approval of K58 million for the Rural Development Bank. Agriculture Minister Mathew Siune said. Dec 31, 2004 10 years ago

THE department does not keep monies THE does not monies for leave fares and leave entitlements. The Education Department cannot be blamed for Education cannot be blamed for not paying teachers leave fares. not teachers leave fares.

EDUCATION Minister Nick Kuman blaming mismanagement of the EDUCATION Minister Nick Kuman of the provinces concerned which is affecting the teachers concerned which is the teachers.

Contractors urged to do professional work on highway

BY MELISHA YAFOI

THE PNG Road Transport Association is calling on all contractors engaged to fix the Highlands Highway to do a professional job.

The call echoed that of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill who said contractors who demonstrate incompetence in fixing and maintaining sections of the Highway should be formally warned and have their contracts terminated.

The president for PNG Road Transport Association (PNGRTA) Jacob Luke agreed with the PM’s statement, saying the Highlands Highway remains an increasingly important economic lifeline for trade and commerce between Lae city and the Highlands region.

He said any maintenance and rehabilitation undertaken on the highway should be done to professional and acceptable standards.

Mr Luke commended Mr O’Neill for being the first prime minister to travel from Mendi to Lae to see for himself the deteriorating road condition and the difficulties trucking companies faced each day.

Highlands Highway remains an important economic lifeline for trade and commerce....

JACOB

The country is seeing significant infrastructure development and the restoring and renewal of key state institutions and assets such as the Highlands Highway.

The association believes that under Mr O’Neill’s government, the Highlands Highway will continue to be funded and restored to a level and state that it has not seen before, Mr Luke said.

He said optimistically that with the expansion and development of the Lae tidal basin to cater for bigger foreign vessels and increased shipping fleet, and with Lae city to see greater exponential growth, there will be more cargo moved between Lae and the Highlands region, which will see the Highlands Highway continue to play an increasingly vital role as a strategically key economic link.

Selfie

DESERTED MARKET

PNG Ports takes care of workers

BY TUMBE SAM JR UPNG Journalism Student

PNG Ports Corporation Limited (PNGPCL) continues to look after its staff, this time in the form of a mass vaccination for Port Moresby-based employees.

More than 300 PNGPCL headquarters and Port Moresby port workers received vaccinations against typhoid, cholera, measles, mumps, and rubella.

PNGPCL, as a responsible employer, has taken this initiative to ensure that its employees are healthy, engaging a medical team from the Pacific International Hospital to administer the vaccinations.

PNGPCL wanted to see its staff productive and therefore includes annual medical checks and regular visits by medical practitioners so that staff know their health statuses.

Other staff benefits include training or up-skilling, total remuneration packages which gives employees the flexibility to use their income in the way which best suits their priorities, CPI increases, flexible leave options and discretionary annual bonuses. The company also provides for medical and life insurance for all staff fully paid for by PNGPCL, professional and club memberships, graduate development program, and financial literacy

At a glance

STAFF CARE: The Port Moresby-based staff of PNG Ports Corporation Limited which includes staff at the headquarters and port received vaccinations recently as part of it’s employee care initiative.

VACCINATION: The massive vaccination that was administered to the staff was to guard against typhoid, cholera, measles, mumps and rubella.

PNGPCL: Is a state-owned entity, that aims to be the leading trade facilitator and seaport keeper among several other activities.

training. There is also the employee assistance program for employees who need professional counselling to deal with work and social issues, and the grievance and dispute resolution policy. For those who have been employed before 2002, there is the loyalty recognition policy.

PNGPCL is a state-owned entity whose ownership is vested with the Independent Public Business Corporation, on behalf of the PNG Government. It aims to be the leading: TRADE facilitator; TERMINAL operator; SEAPORT developer, and, SEAPORT administrator.

THE once crowded and busy market at Nine-Mile remains rather quiet and almost desolate now following the stabbing death of a policeman in the area. Picture: TARAMI LEGEI

LUKE PNG Road Transport Authority President

Farmers learn self-reliance

BY ANNA OMBA

THE Mul Baiyer Lumusa Farmers Corporative Society (MBLFCS) is a selfreliant group with 41 members and engages in doing piggery, poultry, duck farming, rice farming, vegetable farming and fish farming.

“The community contributed and we started the farm; we practise self-reliance on such community contribution to build our work. We engage in farm

activities to get money to support ourselves and our family and community,” said Peter Tungi, chairman for MBLFCS.

“We provide training to rural farmers on how to do vegetable farming and how to create fish farming to make money.”

He said young people are engaged to attend trainings to improve their living standards.

“Our vision is to train young people in the com-

ENB roads hit by heavy rain

BY GRACE TIDEN

CONTINUOUS heavy rain in East New Britain has affected a number of vital roads in the province.

The unsealed road between Utmei Secondary School and Lassul in the Inland Baining area of Gazelle district is a problematic road, according to Inland Baining LLG president John Sambi.

Mr Sambi said every time there was continuous heavy rain, small streams and rivers along the road flood their banks damaging culvert bridges and making it difficult for vehicles to cross.

He said the road was a very vital infrastructure for his people and especially cocoa farmers and people who supply the main markets with garden produce.

“It is an economical road,” he said. “About 5000 people in seven wards in the LLG rely on this road.”

He said this was an ongoing problem.

Mr Sambi said heavy rain started last week and caused rivers and streams to overflow. He said the road was still accessible but was in bad condition and people were taking the risk when crossing these flooded streams and rivers to get to and from the urban centres. The nearest town is Kerevat.

Mr Sambi said emergency repairs works were needed to rebuild the culvert bridges.

munity, district and province to learn the skills on how to do farming to earn income and benefit from the income,” Mr Tungi said.

He said members of MBLFCS are well trained; they are trained with all necessary farming skills.

“We teach them with theory skills and then we take them to the field to put into practice on what they were taught. We teach them on how to plant and harvest crops, plant rice, feed the

animals, feed the fish and how to make fish ponds, and how to sell and make money,” he said. He said that MBLFCS will soon reach out to other districts in the province to encourage more rural people to engage in farming to earn their income and become self-reliant.

Aquaculture is still a developing industry in the country, even though freshwater fish farming began in PNG in the 1960s.

Condolence Message

The Board, Management and Staff of Bank South Pacific would like to convey our sincere condolences to the family of the late John Jeffery who passed away on the 1st of January 2015.

John was a member of the Board of Directors of BSP from 2002 to 2013.

He contributed immensely over the years to the successful growth and development of BSP both as a Director and in his role as Chairman of the Board Audit & Risk Compliance Committee.

May his soul rest in eternal peace

A PMV truck crossing a flooded river in East New Britain.

MULBAIYERLUMUSA Farmers Corporative Society trainees at work on the new fish pond at Balg village.

If you have a story to tell, call us on 309 1042, or email cgware@spp.com.pg

NCD Governor warns betelnut smugglers

By ROSALYN ALBANIEL

PMV and motorised dingy operators have been warned their assets will be seized by authorities if caught smuggling betelnut into the city.

The warning has been issued by National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop and in light of the continued smuggling of the banned nut into the city.

Mr Parkop said police assistance would be sought again as the ban continues into the New Year.

He said authorities had compiled intelligence of dinghy and PMV owners involved in this illicit trade, adding that once extra manpower is sought from police that they will begin impounding these assets.

Barrick Gold introduces brighter future training

BARRICK Gold Corporation subsidiary Barrick Niugini Limited, in efforts to prepare its employees for life after the Porgera gold mine, recently introduced the brighter future training (BFT).

A pilot project targeting the local community relations officers, the training was facilitated by Jessica Geveken of the Port Moresbybased Entrepreneurial Development Training Centre (EDTC). At least 26 officers and other employ-

ees attended the session in December at the Porgera mine site.

Ms Geveken said BFT was aimed at equipping employees with skills and knowledge while they were still energetic and employed so they could utilise their resources to develop projects that would benefit them in the future particularly after their retirement.

(BFT is a one-day 10 hour session that promotes holistic human development to equip employees

with skills and knowledge to identify and efficiently utilise available resources to encourage physical, mental, emotional, and financial independence. She said as employees, the most important resource they had was salary, which could help start small and grow their businesses. “Change comes slowly. It takes patience and discipline”, she told the participants. BFT uses the ‘Project Me for Bright Future Training’ package to help employees: plan for

future; use tangible and intangible resources; learn for their bright future; perform for their bright future; and save for their future. Senior officer based in Tari, Hela Province Buka Minabe and his team travelled to Porgera mine site for the training.

“We have gained good knowledge and skills on how we can prepare for our future. We will also go back and pass on this knowledge to people back in our communities”, he said. Barrick

human resource recruitment supervisor Tum Erasi described BFT as an eye opener. “I gained a lot of insight on how I can realise my own talents and skills, to develop them and using available resources to achieve my goals. The training helped me to take stock of myself and the re-sources I have around me and to prepare well and plan for my future goals”, he said.

Senior Porgera officer Sam Angai described the training as a blessing to him.

African animals to be flown into PNG soon

By DENYSE KALAU

ABOUT 24 African endangered animals are expected to arrive in the country by the end of the year, says Minister for Events and Sports Justin Tkatchenko.

Mr Tkatchenko said the expected arrival of the African animals by the end of the year is part of the PNG-China conservation and preservation program, in which the Chinese

Government will be sending giraffes, zebras, tigers and other animals to PNG.

“These African animals will be kept at the 14-Mile Adventure Park just outside of Port Moresby until the government builds a new zoo that can cater for all the animal species which includes the different species of bird of paradise, crocodile, tigers, zebras, horses and many others” he said.

“The African endangered species were chosen because these animals can tolerate the hot weather conditions of PNG.”

These animals before arriving in PNG will undergo a proper quarantine process to ensure that the animals are healthy, with no diseases that can easily infect the other native animals, he said.

Meanwhile, in regards to the other endangered

animals species that were flown earlier to China , the minister said the 10 Birds of Paradise and four pairs of tree kangaroos have arrived safely and are settling well in the new breeding home in Chimelong zoo in Guangdong, China, which is one of the largest and most recognized zoos in the world.

“Papua New Guineans must be reminded that the endangered animals flown

to China still remain the sovereign property of PNG Government and its people.”

“This simply means that whenever the country needs these animals we can acquire them from the Chinese government without any hassle,” Mr Tkatchenko said.

The PNG-China conservation and preservation program is the first of its kind to be conducted in the country with success, he said.

“We have set up intelligence network along the coast and highway resulting in the compilation of data with names of all the dinghy owners in the motuan villages starting from Fisherman Island all the way to the Kairiku villages who are allegedly involved in smuggling,” Mr Parkop said.

“I am warning them we are beefing up our capacity. A special unit will be put in place and once done we will begin impounding outboard motors.

“Similarly we have names of all PMV’s and motor vehicles that have also allegedly been involved in the smuggling especially along the Hiritano Highway and I am warning owners not to take the risk. “We have been monitoring them over the past three months and will be taking action soon.”

Mr Parkop said the Ruburogo market outside the National Capital District had been set up for the purpose of enabling sellers to sell their betelnut.

He said that the National Capital District Commission had engaged a contractor, Askopina Limited, which had not only established a depot but is also issuing licences to betelnut vendors, and he urged vendors to make use of this opportunity.

“This is a window of opportunity which will achieve an outcome which will be a win-win for all. If they continue to smuggling betelnut vending and the chewing problem gets out of hand, we will not hesitate to impose the ban again.

“Our people will only have themselves to blame if this happens,” he said.

In the womb tiny zebra embryos are in fact brown, their white stripes develop a little later and their brown stripes turn black as they born.

The bottom line

MS Geveken with some of the Barrick employees during the brighter future training at Porgera mine site.

If you have a story to tell, call us on 542 2602, or email posthagen@spp.com.pg

Aust helps WHP group

BY DAVID MURI

A COMMUNITY outside Mt Hagen has received agricultural products courtesy of an aid grant.

The Jika Mugmana tribe, through its registered community based-organisation called Pit Potato Farmers Group, received agricultural products worth K88,000 to venture into potato farming.

The funding was from Australian aid under the auspices of Strongim Pipol Strongim Nesen (SPSN) program. Project chairman

Steven Karapus said farming tools, seedlings and pesticides were distributed to 63 households in the community at Pit village on New Years eve.

Prior to the distribution,

Mr Karapus said the recipients underwent a week of intense training on crop husbandry conducted by Fresh Produce Development

Company. After planting, he said they will undergo two more trainings on financial management and post harvest management.

Mr Karapus thanked the Australian taxpayers for their efforts in alleviating poverty in his community.

He said they aim to form a community development association to facilitate development objectives of the community.

He said 186 potato seedling bags, knack sap sprayers, wheelbarrows, spades, knives, insecticides and pesticides were distributed.

“This is a step in the right direction because when youths are settled in the communities, law and order and other social problems will be minimised,” Mr Karapus said.

“I also urged Australia to maintain this program because it is helping grassroots in our communities.”

District launches projects

BY JOHNNY POIYA

THE people of Mendi Munhiu began the new year with the launching and opening of several projects yesterday.

Mendi MP De Kewanu launched nine foot bridges costing K700,000, presented four new vehicles to the LLGs, a tractor and potato seeds to farmers and

announced plans for more developments in 2015. A water supply project from Hum Gap to Topa costing K200,000 and four footbridges will be opened today.

The MP, through his DSIP funds, prioritised the foot bridges after all existing bridges in the district were swept away by floods in 2013.

Jiwaka college flourishes

AS the dry plant flourishes when given water and sunlight, so too has the Melanesia Nazarene Teachers College (MNTC) in Jiwaka Province.

The newly-built infrastructures for this year have given the college reason to smile.

With a new administration in place, led by the new principal Peter Kelaki and deputy Michael Miamel, a new direction is taking over at the college. More priority is being given to developments for the college.

Four bridges in the Mendi district were completed while work on five in Lai Valley and two in Upper Mendi are yet to be begin.

During the event at the district headquarters in Tente, Mr Kewanu said all road projects in the electorate progressed well and his focus was now on helping his people to venture into agricultural activities.

A total of seven projects were completed last year. The extension of the student mess, the student’s gowns, the extension to the administration building including two vehicles a truck and ten seater land cruiser were bought.

All these were made possible using the operational funds from the college. The other developments include the principal’s house and classrooms.

MR Kewanu cutting the ribbon to launch the vehicles. Picture: JOHNNY POIYA

Stationery on demand in Lae

BY ABRAHAM AVEDIBA

IT’S that period of the year where parents are starting to flood large and small shops to buy stationery and school uniforms for their children, a business owner in Lae says.

Lae Food Mart general manager Bernie Dela Vega told the Post-Courier that there has been a huge increase in customers going into their shop to purchase school supplies.

“It’s not only our shop, but all other shops in Lae city and the country. This shopping spree has created space in their shop to cater for the huge demand of stationery from customers.

“In Food Mart, we’ve created three areas to have all back-to-school items on display,” Mr Dela Vega said.

He also made reference to last year’s experience where they had run out of quality school items and there were still a large number of customers enquiring when

the shipment was going to be done. “Because of these experiences, we’ve not only increased the variety and quantity of our back-toschool items, but we’ve also arranged for these goods to be put at affordable prices,” he added.

Other retail shops such as Papindo, Morobe Stationary, Super Value Store (SVS) and many others are starting to create promotions and discounts on various school items for city residents and others outside the province to purchase.

Local resident and shopper, Jenny Genesis, said despite many of the school items being put out on display, customers often want to purchase things that are not only affordable, but of good quality as well.

“We don’t just walk into any shop and buy the first thing we see. As customers, we would rather purchase things that are strong and of good quality and not cheaply made,” Ms Genesis said.

ROTARIANS AGAINST MALARIA SALE OF MOSQUITO NETS AND MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) is the leading supplier of Long Las ng Insec cide Treated Mosquito Nets (LLINs) in Papua New Guinea. We have been involved with the distribu on of mosquito nets in PNG since 1997 and are now launching a new ini a ve to make LLINs available for purchase throughout the country.

RAM currently has two core programmes: One is the supply of LLIN mosquito nets to households in PNG. For this RAM is funded by the Global Fund and works together with the Na onal Department of Health (NDOH) and provincial health offices to ensure that every village in PNG receives mosquito nets every three years. To date we have coordinated the distribu on of over 5.0 million LLINs to household level throughout PNG. Together with the household distribu on, we have also supplied a further 700,000 nets to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, , boarding schools and correc onal centres.

The other is the sale of LLINs to the public and organisa ons in PNG both directly and through distributors. Since the free distribu on of nets, sales of nets have dropped off as most people are now receiving free nets.

Whilst we are proud of our involvement in the distribu on of free LLINs, the sale of nets is s ll very important to us. Free distribu on is ul mately not a sustainable model on the scale we have achieved over the previous five years and as Malaria infec on rates fall so will the availability of funding to fight the disease. Therefore if we want to eradicate the disease here we need to con nue to make nets available so that people can protect themselves, par cular those who have received a free net but wish to replace it due to factors such as loss or damage due to wear and tear.

In order to achieve this we have now decided to try to persuade traders to sell LLINs throughout PNG by offering nets for sale at a low wholesale price to retailers and wholesalers. We are also offering to supply these nets to the nearest airport anywhere in the country at the same fixed transport price. To further encourage retailers and wholesalers to go with this, we are offering a money back guarantee on all nets which they cannot sell within six months. To get this refund these nets would have to be returned to the RAM offices in Port Moresby with original packaging completely intact and original receipt of payment.

With this programme, we hope to supply nets in stores and on the streets for a maximum price of 20 to 35 Kina depending of the size of the net.

The LLIN mosquito net that we distribute is called PermaNet. It is the only WHO (World Health Organisa on) approved LLIN which can be found in PNG at this moment. Any other net which is being sold in PNG at present does not have this quality assurance and will not be as effec ve in protec ng you from malaria.

We also have treated curtains and conical nets for sale and a new insect repellent known as Mosbar. It is like a bar of soap which you wet with water and then wipe on your body. One applica on of Mosbar can repel mosquitoes for up to eight hours and one bar can last a family of four for one month and costs less that 10 Kina. Repellents are very important to use when people are not sleeping under an LLIN and together they can protect people from day to night. Remember Long Insec cidal Las ng Nets give you peaceful sleep while protec ng you from malaria.

If you want to buy Permanet for your family go to Brian Bell, City Pharmacy or Tango. City Pharmacy is also selling Mosbar.

If you would like to sell PermaNet or other products or need further details, please contact the RAM sales contact person Cain Lave on 70918059 or by email - ramse@leasemaster.com.pg.

Business partner slams story

BY FRANKIY KAPIN

A BUSINESS associate of an expatriate found dead at his home in Lae at the weekend has called on the media to report correctly from official police sources.

Eyewitness accounts were often unreliable and could offend family members of the deceased, says Bumayong Secondary School executive officer Ricky Mutingkec.

He was commenting on a newspaper (not the Post-Courier) report on the death of Singapore owner of Morobe Stationery Tan Tiam Teng at his Eriku residence.

The body was discovered by police last Sunday and Mr Mutingkec said he was present when the body was removed.

He said yesterday he was disappointed with the newspaper report on Tuesday, describing it as misleading and not true.

Mr Mutingkec said Teng was not stabbed in the back of the head as reported. This suggestion was based on hearsay, he added.

He said there were no signs of stab wounds on the victim’s head.

Mutingkec said upon examination, in the presence of police, a cloth wrapped around the victim’s neck was removed, revealing stab wounds to his collar bone area.

He said a post-mortem would verify the object used and the cause

At a glance

UPSET: Ricky Mutingkec was disappointed with the newspaper report on Tuesday, describing it as misleading and not true. He urges journalists to be sensitive when reporting such stories.

of death.

He urged journalists to be sensitive of grieving relatives and friends when reporting suspected murder stories, not jump to conclusions with eyewitness accounts.

Mr Mutingkec said he was disappointed with the performance of the security firm manning the premises.

He claimed there were no routine checks of the premises and of vehicles movements in and out of the premises.

Asila Security Limited manager Rubi Kolin said yesterday two of his night guards on duty reported no disturbances on Saturday and the body was found the next day.

Kolin said the two guards had been questioned by police and said Teng had several visitors on Saturday night.

He said his firm and the guards were cooperating with police investigations and had provided descriptions of vehicles and people who had visited Teng.

FOOD Mart employee Rael Dennis, with children at the shop to purchase their school stationery.

1940s church building to get renovation

BY MICHAEL WARTOVO

THE 54-year-old Birar Catholic Church building in the Bitapaka area of Kokopo will soon be replaced.

The new building once completed is expected to cater for the increase in church membership.

The current church building which was built in 1940, is in a rundown state and the church building committee has been working hard over the years to secure enough funding to renovate it.

Just recently, Kokopo MP and Governor of ENB Ereman ToBaining Jr handed over building materials worth K50,000.

Building committee chairman Marcus Waninara said church members come from the four wards of Korai, Kamakamara, Menebonbon and Birar. Plans are that the new church building should hold up to 1000 people.

Leader praises NIP budget

A LEADER in New Ireland Province has described the 2015 New Ireland provincial budget as a budget of partnership.

Former deputy premier Silas Sabagas also commended the chairman and Governor Sir Julius Chan for the well presented provincial appropriation bill at the recent final assembly.

Mr Sabagas was also critical of the national Government’s unilateral reduction on the Local Level Government Service Improvement Programme fund (LLGSIP) from K500,000 funded last year to just K100,000 per LLG this year. For New Ireland this is a total reduction of K4 million.

However, he applauded Sir Julius that regardless of the reduction, the New Ireland Provincial Government has pumped in K5 million into ward allocation projects and public administration monitoring, increasing ward level projects funding from K3.6 million to K5 million.

Out of the 10 LLGs, the three remote LLGs of Murat, Konoagil and Tanir will each receive K40,000 while the other seven LLGs will get K30,000 each.

Mr Sabagas also commended the provincial government for the new initiative of K2.2 million allocated

Health awareness program ends

BY MICHAEL WARTOVO

A RECENT health awareness program was conducted in the Duke of York Islands of Kokopo District in East New Britain Province.

The program involved a two-week awareness which was facilitated by Seventh Day Adventist specialist Surgeon Dr Oswald Harrison.

Duke of York local level government president Henry Libai said during the program, a total of 70 patients from within the LLG with different types of illnesses were treated.

The health program was held during the festive season and was part of the SDA outreach program.

Meanwhile, Mr Libai said the recent Christmas and New Year celebrations in the island communities involved various activities. Sporting activities also took place at Mioko, Mualim, Watara, Waire and Kabilomo wards.

At a glance

PARTNERSHIP: The New Ireland 2015 provincial budget is being described as a budget of partnership.

CRITIC: A critic was made concerning the massive LLGSIP fund cut.

LOSS: The cut in the fund would mean a massive reduction of K4 million for the New Ireland Province.

COMMENDATION: Sir Julius Chan however is being commended for the tremendous effort his team has put into the 2015 provincial budget, regardless of the cut, and specifically for the budget appropriation bill.

ALLOCATIONS: The budget included an increase from K3.6 to K5 million allocation for Ward projects and public administration monitoring.

EXTRA: Of the ten existing LLG wards of NIP the three most remote have been allocated an addition K10,000 this year.

CHURCH: The church has also been allocated a comfy K2.2 million slice.

to the churches.

“Thank you for having faith in the churches, the private sector and in the people to work together to break new ground for New Ireland. This is truly a partnership of government, churches, business and ultimately the people of New Ireland,” he said.

THIS old Catholic church building at Birar ward will soon be replaced.

Farmer: Cocoa not getting attention

BY ISHMAEL PALIPAL

COCOA was introduced in Papua New Guinea even before coffee was introduced to the Highlands of PNG but it did not get the help and attention it deserves, a Bougainvillean cocoa grower says.

Simeon Karena, once a subsistence farmer of Doreinang area in the South Nasioi Constituency of Kieta District, expressed his concern that cocoa had not made the locals become wealthy as opposed to coffee in the Highlands.

“Coffee has downstream processing centres at the local level but for cocoa, I’m still waiting for that quality chocolate to be processed here in the region but no such improvements have been made to help local cocoa farmers process cocoa right at home,” Mr Karena said.

Mr Karena said farmers in the New Guinea islands must improve their cocoa beans and produce chocolate or other products in the region.

“Since the cocoa had been introduced to Bougainville, there is no millionaire in the cocoa industry, the local farmers are just sweating their guts making money for other big companies like Agmark, Monpi and others,” said Mr Karena.

“We have been working for our bread and butter with no such improvements to date.

“I want to challenge lead-

ers to put in some strategic plans to revive that quality of cocoa Bougainville had seen and produced before the conflict and make it possible for processing to happen in the region rather than selling our dried cocoa beans.”

He called for the revival of that Bougainville flavour which was once one of the top cocoa flavours in the world market.

Mr Karena said the government is so concerned about the mineral sector and has relegated agriculture to the back burnder.

Mr Karena said the blame must be squarely labeled at the government’s failure because since the end of the Bougainville crisis, the government had no resource people such as the agriculture extension officers working with local farmers.

“In the past the government had such officers who helped the local farmers to produce high quality cocoa beans and farming products.

“Now we have a drop in prices of cocoa. Doesn’t the Government have control over that?” asked Mr Karena.

He said the government is here for such downfalls but it is not doing what it should to help farmers. Increase in price will motivate the local farmers and that’s what I have seen, he said.

He said mineral wealth will not be the future of PNG and called once again for a shift in government policy.

FIRST HARVEST OF THE YEAR

ARAWA is a town but the land beneath it can produce large yams as this one in the picture. This mother was so happy to see her yam harvested at the back of the house in the town yesterday, which she said was the first harvest of the year 2015. Picture: ISHMAEL PALIPAL

ABG leader passes on

BY SEBASTIAN HAKALITS

A MEMBER of the Bougainville House of representatives, Lawrence Wakai, died in the early hours on Tuesday this week.

Mr Wakai was the ABG member for Bolave Constituency in the Bana district of South Bougainville.

Autonomous Bougainville Government Acting Clerk of Parliament Edwin Kenehata

confirmed his death.

Mr Wakai died at his Sikorewa village of suspected heart failure as he was due to travel to Philippine this week for further medical checks.

He has been working with President John Momis on the issue of reopening the Panguna copper mine and has been calling on the Panguna landowners to support the ABG reopen the mine to compensate

BY ROMULUS MASIU

A MIRACLE happened at a small hamlet called Mekori in the Manetai village of Kieta District, Central Bougainville over the weekend.

The scapular of Our Lady of Mt Carmel (pictured below) was not burnt when it was thrown into a fire with the belongings of a dead person – a customary ritual practiced in Bougainville to complete the mourning period.

George Namis came with the picture of Our Lady of Mt Carmel scapular after it was recovered from the fire ashes – not burnt.

“We burnt the belongings including clothes of my late father Mathew Tsiare signifying the end of the mourning period,” he explained.

“Amongst the belongings we did not know that the scapular of Our Lady of Mt Carmel was in the pocket of one his shirts.

“Surprisingly, the scapular did not burn with the rest of the clothes and other belongings of my late father.”

He said he had placed the scapular around his father’s neck while he was sick and waiting for his death.

According to Mr Namis, his late father had removed the scapular from his neck and put it in his shirt pocket when he was about to die.

On one end of the scapular was written: “Whoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire – Our Lady’s Scapular Promise”.

On the other end has a picture and the words “Our Lady of Mt Carmel”.

Mr Namis has consulted Our Lady of Mercy parish priest Fr James Soli and ssought permission from him before making the story public.

the people throughout the island who died fighting for Bougainville during the 10 year conflict. His body will be brought to Buka for a state funeral before burial at Bana.

Arrangements are currently being organised for the funeral for the members of the house, colleagues, friends, relatives and the public to pay their last respects. He is survived by his wife and four children.

taken out of the fire.

ONCE a farmer, Mr Karena now works in a tyre service in Arawa town.

THE scapular after it was

The scapular did not burn with the rest of my father’s clothes

GEORGE NAMIS Bougainville

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Report: Global demand for energy will increase

BY PATRICK.T.WUNDAI

SIGNIFICANT growth in the global middle class, expansion of emerging economies and an additional 2 billion people in the world will contribute to a 35 percent increase in energy demand by 2040, according to a new report released in September 2014 by Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil).

The world’s largest global energy company with its subsidiary ExxonMobil PNG Limited which now operates the PNG LNG Project, projected that as demand increases, the world will continue to become more efficient in its energy use.

When the Post-Courier sought comments and its views on the much debated global oil/LNG price downturn, and concerns since ExxonMobil PNG Limited’s PNG LNG Project’s revenue for the Government equity is accommodated in the 2015 National Budget; the company declined to comments.

“ExxonMobil PNG does not have any comment on price predictions made by others. Any matters relating to the budget should be directed to the PNG Government.

“For ExxonMobil’s view on demand and supply press release, please refer to our Outlook for Energy, available at www.ExxonMobil. com,” a spokesperson emailed.

According to the 2015 Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040 which the energy giant released, it states, “Without efficiency gains across economies worldwide, energy demand from 2010 to 2040 would be headed toward a 140% increase instead of the 35 per cent forecast in the report.”

ExxonMobil’s Outlook for Energy projects that carbon-based fuels will continue to meet about three quarters of global energy needs through 2040, which is consistent with all credible projections, including those made by the International Energy Agency. The outlook shows a shift toward lower-carbon fuels in the coming decades that, in combination with efficiency gains, will lead to a gradual decline in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Wind, solar and biofuels are expected to be the fastest-growing

energy sources, increasing about 6% a year on average through 2040, when they will be approaching 4% of global energy demand. Renewables in total will account for about 15% of energy demand in 2040. Nuclear energy, one of the fastest-growing energy sources, is expected to nearly double from 2010 to 2040, with growth in the Asia Pacific region, led by China, accounting for about 75% of the increase.

“This research offers important perspectives about the factors that will drive the world’s energy needs in the coming decades,” said Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

“Helping individuals, businesses and governments to better understand the elements that shape future energy supply and demand around the world is essential to aid investments and create effective energy policy.”

“Natural gas is expected to be the fastest-growing major fuel source during the outlook period as demand increases by about 65 per cent. Half of that increase will come from the Asia Pacific region, led by China,” the report states.

Utilities and industrial operations are expected to account for about 80% of the demand increase worldwide, as operators increasingly choose natural gas because of

its lower emissions and versatility as a fuel and feedstock.

ExxonMobil projects that by 2040; natural gas is expected to account for more than a quarter of global energy use, surpassing coal in the overall mix.

Demand for coal is expected to rise through 2025 and then decline as China’s economic growth gradually slows and it follows the shift seen in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries toward cleaner fuels. Still, over time, global coal demand is expected to remain most prominent in Asia Pacific, primarily to support growing power-generation requirements.

Miner achieves milestone on Rima prospect

THE recent completion of financing and commenced exploration at the new Rima prospect is a milestone achievement for the Marengo Mining Limited as it continues to advance its Yandera Copper project in the Madang Province.

Marengo has completed four drill holes and is awaiting assay results from this campaign. However, with unfavourable weather the site activities have been severely restricted by rain during the period of January to March.

Marengo will be assessing the results from the new drill holes against the current defined resource and geological model in order to finalise the 2015 exploration program and staffing of the project.

The company has acknowledged the current chief operating officer, Mr John Mears, for effectively balancing his consulting role with other commitments.

Mr Mears will continue to act as technical advisor in relation to the

Project, as well as a mentor to the PNG geology team.

Marengo is grateful for his leadership and expresses its thanks for the contributions he has made during 2014.

The Board of Directors has appointed Alex Dann as interim Corporate Secretary of Marengo effective since yesterday.

Marengo Mining will update the market with drilling results, further changes to staffing, and exploration plans, as appropriate.

Market Snapshot

At a glance

MARENGO MINING LIMITED: resource company focused on the discovery, exploration and development of copper, gold and molybdenum opportunities within its large tenement package in PNG.

RIMA: Marengo recently completed financing and exploration at the new Rima prospect has begun and will advance its Yandera Copper project.

$A falls on weaker global economy outlook

SYDNEY: The Australian dollar has stayed below 81 US cents for a second day in a row, as traders fret about the prospect of a weaker global economy. At 1700 AEDT on Wednesday, the local unit was trading at 80.73 US cents, down from 81.43 cents on Tuesday.

Easy Forex senior dealer Francisco Solar said the Australian dollar is falling because oil prices have dropped to new five-and-a-half year lows which won’t be good for the global economy.

He added that “it’s a question of “when, not if” the Australian dollar falls below 80 US cents this week.

“It’s pretty indicative of the mindset of the market at the moment that there is a questioning of growth prospects, especially in the euro zone and China,” he said.

“Coupled with that, the oil price has continued sliding as well and that doesn’t fare too well for a commodity centric currency like the Aussie.”

Mr Solar said that weaker markets and global growth will overshadow the building approvals data and retail spending figures that are due out on Thursday and Friday respectively.

At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was at 95.95 Japanese yen, down from Tuesday’s close of 96.86 yen, and at 67.96 euro cents, down from 68.09 euro cents. Meanwhile, bond futures prices have reached new record highs as oil prices plunge to fresh five and a half year lows.

UBS interest rate strategist Andrew Lilley said the fall in oil prices will weigh on nominal global economic growth, which is gross domestic product (GDP) that has not been adjusted for inflation.

“At the moment bond markets are really following the oil prices, even though it’s true that lower oil prices present some benefit to consumers, the fact that it’s gone so low means that nominal global GDP growth this year will probably disappoint expectations,” he said.

“Bonds don’t live in a world of profit, so when the nominal growth rates are falling then bond yield rates fall (prices rise) in tandem because central banks have to do less tightening.”

The mining sector is pivotal to the world’s economy.

GRAPH showing the steady increase projected in the demand for oil.

Barrick sets up Trust Fund for LOs

BARRICK Gold Corporation subsidiary Barrick (Niugini) Limited (Barrick) has achieved a milestone for PNG landowner investments setting up the first-ever resource-based trust fund that is available to all PNG companies in the Mining and Petroleum Industry (Trust Fund).

Aimed at providing a more sustainable future for landowner investments beyond the life of the Porgera Gold Mine, Barrick has invited other resource companies in the mining and petroleum sector to come on board to invest in the Trust Fund on behalf of the landowners.

Barrick’s commercial services manager Christopher Trainor; the person behind the concept and its establishment made the call at the recent 13th PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Australia.

“The Trust Fund will accept contributions on behalf of all landowners receiving compensation from both mining and petroleum projects”, Mr Trainor said.

The Trust Fund paid its first quarterly returns to landowners in October for the quarter ending September 30, 2014.

The Porgera landowners currently had approximately K16 million of their compensation payments invested in the Trust Fund.

Barrick, in its capacity as manager of the Porgera Joint Venture, incorporated the Mining and Petroleum Industries Investment Fund Limited (MPIIFL) to act as the trust company and engaged Port Moresby-based investment specialist PacWealth Capital Limited for the day to day administration of the Trust Fund.

In November last year during a presentation at the Porgera Mine Site, 180 landowners from the Anawe North Lease for Mining Purpose (LMP) area, Anawe South LMP and other eligible landowners received their investment certificates and fund identification cards from the management of MPIIFL and

PhaseTwo of Lae Tidal Basin project to cost govt K400m

BY ROSALYN ALBANIEL

MINISTER for Public Enterprise and State Investment

At a glance

TRUST FUND: A resourcebased trust fund that has been set up by Barrick and available to all PNG companies in the Mining and Petroleum industry. The first of its kind in PNG. AIM: To provide a more sustainable future for landowner investments beyond the life of mine.

PacWealth.

Mr Trainor said one of Barrick’s main focuses in setting up the fund was mine closure and the need to ensure landowner investments were secured following the cessation of mining operations.

“Closure issues require landowners’ funds to be managed offsite by a reputable entity and in such a way that Barrick can progressively remove itself from the management of the landowners’ funds knowing they are being managed properly”.

Barrick senior manager operations Damian Shaw said it was pleasing to see a product that was finally working.

“This model is something that can be rolled out to the rest of the country and provides a sustainable solution to life after mine closure”.

PacWealth’s chief executive officer Adam Hill said PacWealth was a National company looking after some K4 billion in funds for clients including the funds held by MPIIFL.

“We are investing on your behalf so there is capital. We have structured it so you get payments every quarter”, Mr Hill told landowners during the presentation.

Barrick the world’s largest gold mining company acquired the Porgera Gold mine in 2006. The miner owns 95% of the operation. The remaining 5% is owned by Mineral Resources Enga (MRE), which is owned by the Enga Provincial Government, the Papua New Guinea National Government and Porgera Landowners.

Ben Micah has confirmed work on Phase-Two of the Lae Tidal Basin to be progressing in Lae.

Mr Micah said Phase-Two of the Lae Port is expected to cost the government K400 million. He told the Post-Courier that there to have been a savings of about K170 million from Phase-One of the project which cabinet had approved last month for China Harbour to continue work.

He said additional funds would be sourced from other sources to ensure project completion.

“Work has already commenced on Phase-Two and when finished will enable the port in the industrial hub of Lae to accommodate two panamax sized vessels, the largest containerised vessels in the world, each of them takes up to 5000 40 foot containers.

“It will mean that Lae will become the major turnaround hub in the pacific region.

“At the moment the vessels are going to Australia and New Zealand and goods are being transshipped and that is why goods are expensive,” he said.

With regards to local participation in Phase-Two, Mr Micah assured that locals are going to participate under a new policy that he announced during the port opening, for landowners and provincial governments to become part owners of all state assets, SOEs.

With regards to Dataco Limited, the minister briefly said the entity is now in the process of taking over all assets of Telikom and PNG Power Limited.

This is so that it can become the back bone company of the state.

Airline projects 2015 to be exciting year

BY ROSALYN ALBANIEL

AIRLINES PNG says 2015 will be an exciting year for the airline and its customers with all focus on its rebranding and introduction of new aircrafts to its fleet.

Despite the ongoing challenges in the Aviation Industry in the past years, the company had been able to make some notable achievements.

The most significant being

the recapitalisation exercise resulting in the change of shareholding in the company with Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) and Nasfund now the major shareholders.

Other gains in 2014 as stated by the chief commercial officer-Commercial Paul Abott is the commencement of new services to the New Guinea Islands including Lihir while the company was also able to

finalise its agreement to refleet using ATR 72 aircrafts.

Chairman Murray Woo said the airline successfully changed its focus to the growing but competitive and lower regular passenger transport (RPT) market, that will lower its operating costs.

Mr Woo stated that refleeting would give the airline the capacity to service growth in the market flying more routes at lower costs.

He said after thorough evaluation the board and management had identified the ART 72-600 the right one for the company and it would be looking at acquiring a total of six over a three year period.

“The ART’s will decrease ongoing maintenance costs, fly more and improve on-time performance-at similar per sector operating costs than its existing Dash-8 Fleet.

“The company sees the re-

newal of its fleet as an opportunity to undertake a rebranding exercise to refresh the company’s presentation and breathe new life into the brand, thereby generating passenger loyalty and demand,” Mr Woo stressed.

Meanwhile, the airlines yesterday announced the appointment of Norman Carl May as an additional Director of the Company.

Mr May is the managing di-

rector and major shareholder of May Fuels Distribution Limited in Daru, having previously been terminal manager for ExxonMobil PNG Limited in Port Moresby (Idubada).

Mr May holds a Diploma in Business Management and has experience of the airline industry through the provision of ground and ticket agency services by his company.

The first ATMs were installed in NYC in 1977 at Citibank branches.

MR AMOS Takayu displaying his investment certificate and ID card from the management of the Mining and Petroleum Investment Fund Limited.

Additional funds will be sourced to ensure project completion ...

BEN MICAH

Port Moresby

real estate

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Dream homes for 2015

SAFE and Secure with Robert Smith AFR Founder wants to Build YOUR DREAM HOME in Cairns. 4 Air-conditioned bedrooms, master bedroom with ensuite& walk in wardrobe, media/theatre room& fully landscaped - built in less than 4 months by our Builder.

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The Founder - Money While You Sleep

PROPERTIES FOR LEASE

Getting Into Real Estate Market

YOU have probably heard that getting into the real estate business is a great way to make money.

Thousands of people have turned to the real estate game in order to make money.

And a lot of these people have turned themselves into self made millionaires. Wouldn’t you like to be next in line? The good thing is that making money in this industry is more than possible. If you know how to get started, and make the right decisions, you can make tons of money.

Before you get too involved in the real estate business you need to ask yourself what you want to do.

There are many ways to make money with real estate, and you will need to plan your route early on.

Real estate investing can be

done in two ways. First off, you can buy a property, fix it up, and then resell it for a profit. This is a great way to make money if you know how to manage what you are doing. Also, you can buy a property and then rent it out.

The advantage to do this is that you will have a monthly income coming in from each property that you own.

If you have enough real estate making you money each month you will never have to work again, and the only thing you will have to do is make sure each property is kept up to part.

Unfortunately, getting started is not quite as easy as it may sound. Sure, all you need to do is buy a property, but after that things can get a bit tricky.

After you have a piece of real estate in your name the real fun starts.

You will need to get it up to par,

and then make a decision on what you want to do with it.

Either way, the property will have to be in good enough shape to sell or rent out.

For this reason you will probably have to do some repairs.

Are you handy enough to make these repairs on your own? If so, you can save yourself a lot of money.

But if you are not, you will have to hire somebody to help you out.

This is not a problem, but it can cut into your overall profits.

Getting into the real estate business is one of the best ways to make money in today’s market.

Many people have turned to this industry as a full-time job. And a lot of these people have made millions of dollars.

If you want to be next, jump into the real estate business today.

You never know what could happen.

Now Available for Lease

A SPACIOUS, fully furnished, and newly renovated semi-detached unit is available for lease in Gordons 5, Port Moresby.

It is located in the corner of Ugava and Kitogara Street, just five minutes drive away from shopping malls, POM airport, and city restaurants.

This three bedrooms unit has split level with three toilets and two shower rooms including an En-suite in the masters’ bedroom.

It has ample and partly covered vehicle parking spaces.

Gate is electric operated.

We provide 24 hours security, back-up water & power. Furniture are new.

A 42” LCD TV and microwave are included.

Rate is K2,800 + GST per week.

Please contact CHM Group on 3010500 and look for Joselito (mobile: 72493404) or Ham (mobile: 70903033). Or email joselito@chm.com. pg or chi@chm.com.pg.

300 3246

GORDONS 5 71111674 sales@monier.com.pg

Stand-alone

RAINBOW – Stand alone house for rent.

This recently refurbished three (3) bedrooms stand alone house located at Rainbow Estate is now available for immediate lease. It is ideally located close to all amenities (Market, shopping centers, bus stop, schools, etc..) The house is neatly furnished with white & brown goods. The house is now leasing at K1,000 per week. For inspections & for full listings, call Homeland Realty on 326 1652 or Elijah on 7233 5703 or Dickson Dobo on 7094 7109

RAINBOW - GEREHU BOROKO

Advantages of Using Real Estate

IN this time of debatable recession, you need to still do some things conservatively, like selling your home. Although there has been a lot of advertising about selling a home yourself through web site listings, it is still the safest bet to use the services of real estate companies in order to sell your home.

It is estimated that 80% of homes listed for sale by the owner are never sold. One of the big advantages of using real estate com-

panies to sell your home is that their job is to know your local real estate market and that they know how to do this job.

Brokers who work for real estate companies know how to best negotiate a good price for your home.

They know how much your home is worth and what homes in your neighborhood are going for and will work with both you and the potential buyers to get a decent price.

You might wind up getting

Peacefully enjoy

more than you thought, which will more than pay for the broker’s commission.

The name of a nationally or locally known real estate company will instill confidence in any potential buyer, because they know the company will be more financially stable than an individual.

They can also quickly and quietly Google how the real estate company is doing to see if they will follow through.

NOW available for lease on Ororo Crescent, Boroko is a three bedroom unit. Recently renovated, this property is dual level spacious unit.

The general compound itself is warm with lush tropical gardens and a very quiet and secluded courtyard, a place to relax and unwind with a cuppa and a book after a long day of hard work.

Asking K 2,500.00 per week

For Inspections contact, Mutien Mays of Strickland Real Estate on Phone: 320 0944, Mobile: 7005 3289 or email: mmays@sre.com.pg

Hopes rise of halting Adelaide bush fire

FIREFIGHTERS tackling a large bushfire in South Australia say they are growing more confident they can contain it.

The fire has been raging across some 12,500 hectares (30,888 acres) of the Adelaide Hills since last Friday.

More than 100 people have needed hospital treatment, while at least 38 homes and 125 outhouses have been destroyed and livestock has died.

Extra fire crews have been brought in ahead of forecast high winds and temperatures above 38C. But temperatures are expected to fall later in the week, with an increased chance of rain at the weekend.

The South Australian County Fire Service (CFS) said the fire - at Sampson Flat in the Mount Lofty Ranges, outside of the city of Adelaide - still had “hot spots with the potential to ignite unburnt ground”.

CFS incident controller Scott Turner said it was now 85% contained, and that though conditions remained severe, they were not as bad as when the fire first broke out. –www.bbc.com.uk

Trapped teen drowns

A TEENAGE paddle boarder is dead after becoming trapped underneath a boat at the Whangamata wharf.

Area response manager for Thames-Coromandel police, Senior Sergeant Graham Shields said emergency services were called to the wharf off Beach Rd about 2pm.

“At this stage we can’t confirm the exact circumstances but it appears that the boat was moored at the time and a teenage girl on the paddle board was swept underneath by a combination of wind and a strong current.

“People at the scene rescued her and commenced CPR which was continued by arriving medical and ambulance staff. Sadly these efforts were not successful in reviving her.

“A lot of people worked really hard to keep her alive and our thoughts are with them and her family.”

Shields said the priorities for police now were establishing what happened and ensuring the victim’s family, some of whom who are at the scene, get the support they need. www.stuff.co.nz

Aust warns of India terror risk

THE Australian government has urged citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” in India because of the risk of terror attacks.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the warning applied to all parts of India.

It also said that militants may be planning attacks against upmarket hotels in Mumbai in particular.

It comes a day after the government issued similar advice for Australians travelling to Indonesia. The warnings were issued on the government’s Smart Traveller website on Tuesday.

“We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks in India and assess that attacks could occur anywhere at any time with little or no warning, including in locations frequented by Australians” the warning said.

This information was still under investigation, the advice said.

The advice warned against all travel to large parts of the State of Jammu and Kashmir “due to the danger of armed clashes, terrorist activities and violent demonstrations, particularly in rural areas and areas close to the border with Pakistan”.

The government’s “exercise a high degree of caution” warning is a step up from its “exercise normal

At a glance

AUST GOVT URGES HIGH CAUTION:

The Australian government has urged citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” in India because of the risk of terror attacks.

safety precautions” warning but not as strong as “reconsider your need to travel” or “do not travel” warnings.

In November 2008, militants attacked high-profile targets in Mumbai, killing 165 people. The advice follows a warning from the US government on 3 January of a potential threat against US-associated hotels and banks in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city.

Australia also urged citizens to “exercise caution” in Indonesia in new advice issued on Monday. The government stopped short of warning people not to travel to Indonesia. However attacks there “could take place at any time”, the government said. Two bombs ripped through the Kuta area of the tourist island of Bali on 12 October 2002, leaving 202 people dead. –www.bbc.com.uk

OFFICIALS said firefighters, many of them volunteers, were exhausted after a week of tackling the blaze. Picture: BBC

Bushfire claims already pass $13 million

ADELAIDE: Insurance losses from a bushfire burning on the outskirts of Adelaide have already passed $13 million, with more claims expected to be lodged over the coming days and weeks.

The fire, which began at Sampson Flat on Friday, has burnt through 12,500 hectares and destroyed or badly damaged 38 homes, as well as 125 other structures such as farm sheds and outhouses.

Four businesses have also been destroyed or badly damaged.

The town of Kersbrook in the Adelaide Hills was the worst hit after 12 homes were razed by the fire.

The Insurance Council of Australia on Wednesday said that 350 claims had already been lodged, with insured losses of $13 million.

ICA chief Rob Whelan said the bushfire situation in South Australia remained uncertain with emergency services preparing for deteriorating weather conditions.

Skydivers jump to safety before plane crashes

THIRTEEN people on board

a skydiving plane that encountered engine trouble have parachuted to safety on New Zealand’s North Island moments before the aircraft plunged into a lake.

Skydive Taupo chief executive Roy Clements said the plane, which was heading for a tandem skydive over Lake Taupo, experienced an engine problem shortly after take-off about 12:00pm local time (10:00am AEDT).

“All parachutists including the pilot exited the plane and landed safely. It was nothing short of a miracle,” Mr

Clements said. Witness Sue Stubbs said she saw the engine stop and the plane glide “for a while”.

“Within [what] must have just been seconds I thought maybe half a dozen skydivers jumped out, parachutes open,” she said.

“With that the plane glided on a little bit further and did a big loop around land area and then nose dived into the lake.” One witness told TVNZ One News she watched as the plane plummeted towards the water.

“I saw the pink plane coming across and smoke coming

out of it, then saw the plane [and] the parachutists jumping out of it,” she said.

“And then I heard a big bang ... it blew up before it hit the water.” She said the pilot landed in prickle bushes and had to wait for the fire brigade to arrive before they could be “cut” out.

Bevan Johnhill told New Zealand’s TV3 network he thought the pilot “must have been the last one to get out”.

Another witness told TVNZ people on nearby boats scrambled within minutes to pick up the skydivers.

“People just rushed out to

them, even if they had to launch their boats from their holiday homes,” she said.

Ambulance staff checked over the 13 people.

New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Mike Richards said an investigation was under way.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission said it had opened an inquiry into the accident.

It said three investigators had travelled to Taupo to commence inquiries focussing firstly on securing evidence including the wreckage, aircraft and flight information,

and gathering initial accounts from those involved as well as from witnesses.

A fourth investigator will work from Wellington.

Police divers will assist the commission’s investigators with an underwater inspection and photography of the wreckage before it is lifted from Lake Taupo by commercial salvage experts.

The inquiry is expected to take 18 months, but the Commission said it had the ability to issue interim reports or safety recommendations before the completion of the inquiry if necessary. -ABC

“More properties may be potentially vulnerable at this time, and it is critical for residents in bushfire-affected areas to ensure they follow the advice of emergency services,” Mr Whelan said.

The ICA was liaising with the state government, emergency services and local governments to provide support and help resolve issues.

People affected by the bushfires have been advised by the ICA to take a number of steps to help with their claims, including taking pictures of damage to property and possessions as evidence for assessors.

An inventory of damaged possessions should be compiled to help insurers process claims.

The ICA said policy holders should not be concerned if insurance documents are not readily at hand as insurance companies keep records electronically and require only the policy holders’ name and address to find a policy.

-AAp news

Solomon Islands to establish anti-graft body

THE prime minister of Solomon Islands says an independent commission will be set up to investigate corruption allegations against politicians and government officials.

Manesseh Sogavare made the announcement in his New Year’s message to the nation.

Mr Sogavare said the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) would also introduce anti-corruption legislation and subsidi-

ary regulations. Anticorruption watchdog Transparency Solomon Islands has welcomed the government’s decision.

“An ICAC will put a stop to the corrupters, whether its an offering or receiving of a bribe to do a dishonest practice,” executive officer Daniel Fenua told Pacific Beat. “It will also ensure that resources are harvested sustainably and services are delivered.”

Mr Fenua wanted to see more details about the

government’s plan for an independent commission and hoped it would also be retrospective.

“One of the steps the government really needs to look at is to reactivate cases, there are a lot of allegations in the past that have not yet surfaced, that have not been investigated.”

Solomon Islands opposition leader Jeremiah Manele said it fully supported the establishment of an ICAC.

Speaking to Solomon

Corruption is driven by greed.

Star Newspaper, Mr Manele said corruption in the public sector had gone undetected and unchecked for many years, causing serious damage to the nation.

The announcement comes after recent comments by outgoing high court judge, Australian Justice Stephen Pallaras that an ICAC was required in Solomon Islands more than “any other country on the planet”.

-ABC news

THE downed skydiving plane in Lake Taupo. Picture: ABC/3NEWS

MANASSEH Sogavare announced an ICAC will be established in Solomon Islands during his New Year message to the nation. Picture: ABC

Pakistan: India hampering terror fight

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has accused India of hampering its military operation against militants by escalating tensions along the Kashmir border.

Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire along their tense border on Monday, killing four civilians including a teenage boy and a soldier, the latest in a series of deadly clashes.

“The People of Pakistan

see the escalation of tension by India on the Line of Control and Working Boundary, through continuous unprovoked firing and targeting of civilians, as an attempt to distract our armed forces from its valiant mission against all terrorists,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in a statement on Tuesday. The Pakistani military

launched a major offensive against militant hideouts in the northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in June and says it has killed more than 1700 militants so far, while 126 soldiers have lost their lives.

Aslam said that India was also trying to create a wedge between Pakistan and Afghanistan by creating “misunderstanding”, echoing a

commonly traded accusation that each other is using proxy forces to try to gain influence in that country.

Tensions between South Asia’s arch rivals escalated last week when an Indian border guard and two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed during exchanges of heavy fire. Recent exchanges of fire across the de facto border,

known as the Line of Control (LoC) have killed more than two dozen civilians and forced thousands to flee their homes on both sides.

Pakistan and India, who have fought two wars over Muslim-majority Kashmir, have traded blame for the upsurge in firing and shelling which started on October 6 last year.

-AAP news

Aussie trekker dies hiking in Nepal

KATHMANDU: The department of foreign affairs is providing assistance to the family of a man who died while hiking in Nepal’s notorious “Death Valley”.

The 64-year-old died of suspected altitude sickness while trekking at Gokyo Lakes in the Everest region, local police say.

The man, his niece and their guide were returning from the scenic region, which lies at an altitude of 4700-5000 metres, when he became sick on Sunday evening.

“He became unconscious as they were walking down. The guide then contacted us for help,” said Ranjit Lama of Himaland Adventure Treks which had organised the expedition.

Local police official Khagendra Khadka said the trekker’s body was airlifted to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu for a postmortem examination to confirm the cause of death.

“We suspect that altitude sickness probably caused his death,” Khadka told AFP.

Tail of AirAsia found

THE tail of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been found in the Java Sea, the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue has said.

The tail is where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located which would give investigators clues as to what caused the crash.

The aircraft was en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore on 28 December with 162 people on board when it disappeared from radar. No survivors have been

found. “We have found the tail that has been our main target today,” Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in the capital, Jakarta.

He said teams involving divers and unmanned underwater vehicles spotted the tail, which is the first significant piece of wreckage from the crash to be identified.

Forty bodies have been recovered so far but authorities believe most of the passengers could still be inside the main body of the plan.

AirAsia chief executive

Tony Fernandes said on Twitter: “I am led to believe the tail section has been found.

“If right part of tail section, then the black box should be there... We need to find all parts soon so we can find all our guests to ease the pain of our families. That still is our priority.” On Tuesday the search area was expanded as search officials suspected that strong underwater currents could be pushing the debris away from the last point of contact with the plane.

The BBC’s Karishma Vas-

wani in Jakarta says the tail was not found in the area that search teams have previously been focussed on but in the expanded search area. This could add weight to that theory, she adds.

A huge international operation with aerial searches and more than 30 ships involved has been repeatedly hampered by poor weather. Some wreckage, including seats and a door, were found floating on the sea.

At the weekend search officials said sonar had detected

what they thought were five large parts of the plane, but strong currents and rough seas would not allow divers to confirm they were from the AirAsia flight.

The cause of the crash is not know, but the plane was flying through stormy weather at the time and had requested permission to change course.

Indonesian aviation officials have said that AirAsia did not have permission to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on the day of the crash.

-BBC news

Locals refer to the Gokyo region, dotted with turquoise lakes and stunning views of Mount Everest, as “Death Valley” since the relatively easy terrain prompts hikers to ascend too quickly, creating conditions ripe for altitude sickness as atmospheric pressure drops fast.

Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, was hit by tragedy in October when 43 hikers, guides and porters lost their lives in a massive snowstorm on the popular Annapurna circuit.

Hundreds of climbers also abandoned plans to ascend Mount Everest last April after an avalanche struck the world’s highest mountain, killing 16 Nepalese guides in the deadliest ever accident to hit the 8848-metre peak.

Pakistan votes for insurgents to face army trials

PAKISTAN is set to try terror suspects in military courts as part of plans to tackle insurgents after last month’s school massacre in Peshawar.

Most parties backed the constitutional amendment in parliament’s lower house, which needed a two-thirds majority.

It is the latest in a raft of anti-terror moves after the attack. Critics oppose handing the army more power and say suspects’ rights are at risk.

The 16 December Taliban attack left 152 people dead, including 133 children.

On Monday, Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah released a video vowing more attacks on children.

It’s only a matter of time before the military courts plan becomes law. The move is clearly in response to public demands for swift justice, and stems from a feeling that the judiciary has failed to convict militants.

But have the reasons that led to the judicial failure been addressed?

Experts point out that the main failure of the system lies at the investigation stage. No legislation was ever attempted to enhance police powers to investigate terrorism-related offences. In scores of cases the police were forced to either release known militants they had arrested or just ignore their

movements because they were thought to be allies of the security establishment.

Also, no witness protection programme was ever developed, and eyewitnesses hardly ever appeared in terror cases. Judges and prosecutors faced threats to their lives, too, making successful trials well nigh impossible even if evidence was available.

Civil activists say nothing has been done to fix any of these problems and they are yet to see conclusive proof that the state has actually decided to eliminate the nonstate actors it is accused of nurturing. This is creating fears that the military courts may become an instrument of

selective justice, and may further empower the military.

It received the votes of all 242 lawmakers present, 14 more than the two-thirds majority required. Members of two religious parties and the opposition PTI party of former cricketer Imran Khan abstained.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in late December that establishing military trials would help ensure “terrorists pay the price” for their “heinous acts”.

The military and government have said the trials are a response to extraordinary circumstances and will only remain in place for two years.

-BBC news

MANY Pakistanis hope the attack marks a watershed in the country’s war with militants. Picture: BBC

SEARCHERS have been scanning the sea from helicopters and ships. Picture: BBC

South Korea: North Korea boosts cyber army ranks

THE North Korean military’s cyber warfare cell has boosted its numbers to 6,000 troops and is working to cause “physical and psychological paralysis” to its southern neighbour, the South Korean defence ministry says.

The ministry offered no evidence for the claim but said it was double Seoul’s 2013 estimate of the force.

The figure was disclosed in a ministry white paper and comes after the United States, South Korea’s key ally, imposed new sanctions on North Korea for a cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Pyongyang has denied involvement in the attack.

For years, North Korea poured resources into a sophisticated cyber warfare cell called Bureau 121, run by the military’s spy agency and staffed by some of the most talented computer experts in the country.

Its long-term target may be telecoms and energy grids in rival nations, defectors from the isolated state said.

“North Korea is currently running its 6,000 [member] workforce for cyber warfare and performing cyber attacks for physical and psychological paralysis inside South Korea such as causing troubles for military operations and national infrastructures,” the South Korean defence ministry said.

North Korea denied involvement in the recent hack into Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed a comedy film featuring an assassination plot against its leader Kim Jong Un and slammed the fresh US sanctions, calling them hostile and repressive policies by Washington.

The reclusive country is also suspected to have carried out a series of other cyber attacks against South Korea, which it is technically at war with.

In 2013, South Korea blamed the north for crippling cyber attacks that froze the computer systems of its banks and broadcasters for days.

The two Koreas have remained technically at war for more than six decades as the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

-ABC news

McDonald’s sold fries with human tooth

TOKYO: A human tooth was reportedly served with french fries at a McDonald’s in Japan last year - the latest in a series of woes involving contaminated nuggets and a chip shortage.

A customer complained to the Japanese arm of the fast food giant after finding a foreign object in a serving of potatoes from an outlet in Osaka, television networks said.

The bottom line

Japanese gang rape ID parade on way

KOLKATA: Six men arrested for the gang rape of a Japanese tourist held hostage in India for nearly a month will appear in an identity parade later this week, a court says. The six men detained for allegedly extorting more than $US1000 ($A1081) from the 22-year-old tourist and then keeping her as a sex slave for several weeks appeared before magistrates in Kolkata, said police and prosecutors. Five of the men were arrested at the weekend on charges including rape and kidnap while a sixth person was detained on Tuesday.

The court “ordered an identification parade of all six accused who have been arrested until now” to be held Friday, public prosecutor Dipnarayan Pakrasi said after the hearing in the capital of West Bengal state.

The suspects will all remain in custody until the parade. Police have previously said the victim will fly home to Japan after taking part in the line up.

The victim’s ordeal began in Kolkata shortly after she arrived on November 20. Police say a group of men, one of whom spoke Japanese, persuaded her to withdraw around $US1200 in cash before travelling with her to the Buddhist shrine of Bodh Gaya in neighbouring Bihar state.

There she was handed over to two brothers who allegedly locked her in a secluded basement and repeatedly raped her before she finally managed to escape towards the end of December.

The case is the latest in a string of high-profile sex attacks that have highlighted the frightening levels of violence against women in the world’s second most populous country.

India has faced intense scrutiny over its efforts to curb violence against women following the fatal gang rape of a medical student in New Delhi in December 2012, which sparked a global outcry.

5.4 size quake rocks Taiwan

AIPEI: A 5.4-magnitude earthquake has jolted eastern Taiwan but there are no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The item had apparently been deep-fried.

Independent investigations ordered by McDonald’s determined it was a tooth, broadcasters said. A statement from McDonald’s given to the woman, obtained by a TV station, said the object was “believed to be a tooth”.

“I received an apology only when the store manager came over,” the customer, whose name was not revealed, told

the JNN network. “The manager didn’t really talk about how it got in and what action they will take in the future.”

The Asahi network said it was not known how a tooth could have been mixed with the fries.

McDonald’s said there were no employees missing a tooth at the outlet and it believed there was a very low possibility of contamination at the US factory that had shipped

the chips. The company was expected to hold a media conference later on Wednesday.

The incident is the latest public relations setback for the firm, which has seen its reputation suffer in Japan.

McDonald’s has previously confirmed a customer found a piece of vinyl inside a chicken nugget sold by an outlet in the northern city of Misawa, and there was a similar case of contamination at

build is one of the factors that contributed in sparking the World War One.

a Tokyo branch. Reports also said a tiny piece of plastic was found in a sundae in the northeastern city of Koriyama in December.

Late last year, the company had to airlift an emergency supply of french fries from the US after a chip shortage had resulted in rationing at its 3000 restaurants across the country.

-AAP news

The quake struck at 0448 GMT (1548 AEDT) northeast of Hualien, a coastal city in the east, Taiwan’s Seismology Center said.

It was 22km deep and an earthquake report showed it was felt islandwide, including in Taipei which lies 120km to the north.

It came after a 5.5-magnitude undersea quake struck the north of Taiwan on last Wednesday with no damage reported.

SONY Pictures Entertainment was the target of a cyber attack in the lead up to its eventual release of a comedy movie about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Picture: ABC/REUTERS

Hamas man jailed for Israeli murders

AN Israeli military court has sentenced a Palestinian man to three life terms for the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.

Hussam Qawasmeh, a member of Hamas, must also pay $63,000 (£41,000) in compensation to the victims’ families.

Two other suspects were shot dead by Israeli forces in Hebron in September.

The teenagers’ murders in June set off an escalating cycle of violence and led to a 50-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.

The leader of Hamas, the Islamist group dominant in Gaza, said in an interview in August that a Hamas cell had killed the teenagers but had not acted on instructions from above.

Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, both aged 16, and 19year-old Eyal Yifrach went missing at a road junction between Jerusalem and Hebron as they hitchhiked home on 12 June.

Their bodies were found almost three weeks later in a nearby valley.

The Israeli authorities launched a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank following the abduction and quickly identified two of the group’s operatives, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, as suspects. They managed to evade capture for several months before being killed.

Hussam Qawasmeh, a 40year-old Hebron resident arrested in July while attempting to cross into Jordan,

Deal close for journo

OTTAWA’S top diplomat says he is close to reaching a deal with Egypt on deporting to Canada one of three imprisoned Al Jazeera journalists.

Canadian foreign affairs minister John Baird said he was working to free EgyptianCanadian Mohamed Fahmy. “We’ve been working closely at senior levels of the Egyptian government,” he said.

was not initially named as a suspect. However, in August documents were submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court by the Israeli government that alleged he had confessed during interrogation to organising the abduction of the teenagers by obtaining $50,500 (£33,200) in funding from Hamas and purchasing weapons.

He had also admitted to helping bury the teenagers’ bodies on a plot of land he owned and destroying evidence, the documents said.

On Wednesday, he was convicted by an Israeli military court of three counts of accessory to murder, membership of a group that committed murder, two counts of bringing enemy funds into the country, one count of carrying out activities for Hamas, one count of arms dealing, two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of sheltering wanted individuals.

At his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, the Israeli military prosecutor alleged that Hussam Qawasmeh had not seen the teenagers as humans and killed them because they were Jews, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Avraham Frenkel, the father of Naftali Frenkel, said he deserved to be punished in accordance with the full severity of the law.

The court agreed, saying he was guilty of “the coldblooded and terrible murder of three young people who were going home to their families”.

-BBC news

This Week’s Question.

Blast kills dozens in Yemen capital

AT least 30 people have been killed and many injured in a blast outside a police college in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, security sources say. The bomb went off as people queued for a police recruitment drive, police officials said.

Witnesses said the blast was heard across the city and a large plume of smoke was seen.

Yemen has been unstable since protests in 2011 forced then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office.

Photographs at the scene of the blast showed the wreckage of a vehicle. Bodies were seen lying in the

Do you think alcohol be banned in PNG during this Christmas period?

Last Week’s Poll Question & Results as of Friday 12.12.2014.

Do you think the 6th BSP PNG Games was best ever?

street, witnesses said. No group has so far said it carried out the attack in Sanaa on Wednesday. However, Islamic militants belonging to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have staged an increasing number of bombings and shootings across the country. Yemen has been plagued by instability since the start of anti-government protests in 2011, which resulted in President Saleh standing down in 2012 after 33 years in power.

Since then ministers have battled a growing al-Qaeda presence, often with the help of US drone strikes.

In November a new cabinet was formed in an effort to defuse mounting political tensions.

The 24-strong administration, headed by Prime Minister-Designate Khalid Bahah, includes Shia Houthi rebels who seized the capital Sanaa in September.

The security forces meanwhile have been fighting AQAP, in November killing one of its senior commanders in what correspondents said was a significant blow for the organisation.

AQAP has vowed to confront Houthi rebels after they overran Sanaa.

-BBC news

Mr Baird, who is scheduled to make an official visit to Egypt later this month, said the diplomacy was at a “critical phase”.

Fahmy and two other Al Jazeera journalists - Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed - were detained in December 2013 accused of spreading false information and aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

Fahmy’s brother said a request had been submitted to have him deported from Egypt under a new law signed by president Abdel Fattah alSisi. Greste’s lawyer said he submitted a similar request, while Mohamed’s wife said she also was looking at ways to get her husband out of Egypt.

Posts on Greste’s official Twitter account said negotiations were set to begin.

“The Presidential Decree has been invoked. We are now waiting for respective governments to meet, discuss and negotiate possible deportation,” one tweet said.

That information was later clarified with further posts saying the earlier tweet was “poorly worded” and “we are just saying that all the paperwork has been submitted and we are hoping that negotiations can now begin to try to seek deportation”.

At trial, Greste and Fahmy each got seven years, while Mohamed was jailed for 10 years.

Their supporters said the charges were politically motivated.

Egypt’s top court ordered a retrial in the case last Thursday. -ABC news

Ebola drug trial starts in Liberia

A TRIAL of a potential drug to treat Ebola has started at a Medecins Sans Frontieres centre in Liberia.

The antiviral - brincidofovir - is being tested on Ebola patients on a voluntary basis. People who do not consent to it receive standard care.

Oxford University scientists leading the research say initial results are expected in the next few months.

A study involving a similar drug - favipiravir - began in Guinea in More than 8,000 people have died from Ebola during this outbreak, the majority in the worst-affected countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

While a handful of experimental drugs, including brincidofovir and favipiravir, have been given on an ad hoc, compassionate basis in the last year, none has yet been proven to work against the virus

in scientific human trials.

A huge international effort - involving the World Health Organization, MSF, drug companies, the Wellcome Trust, and other global health organisations - aims to fasttrack treatments that have been identified as potential options.

Prof Peter Horby, one of the chief investigators at Oxford University, said: “Conducting clinical trials of investigational drugs in the midst of a humanitarian crisis is a new experience for us all, but we are determined not to fail the people of West Africa.

“We are trying a number of different approaches simultaneously as there is only a short window of opportunity to tackle this virus during the outbreak.”

Scientists at Oxford say brincidofovir was chosen because it is effective against Ebola-infected cells in laboratories, has been deemed safe in more than 1,000

patients in trials against other viruses and can be given conveniently as a tablet.

Researchers aim to recruit more than 100 people and will compare death rates at the centre before and after the trial.

The other antiviral drug, favipiravir, being tested by the French National Institute of Health, is already used to treat influenza.

It is offered to all patients who receive care at the MSF treatment centre in Gueckedou, Guinea, and early results are expected in a few months’ time.

Scientists are testing other drugs and treatments.

Oxford University and the company Tekmira hope to establish a further study of a potential treatment which aims to interrupt the genetic code of the virus called TKM-Ebola.

-BBC news

THE force of the blast could be heard across the city. Picture: BBC

Female suicide bomber attacks Turkey capital

A FEMALE suicide bomber blew herself up inside a police station in Istanbul, killing one officer and wounding another, the city’s governor and Turkish media says.

The woman went into the police station in the historic Sultanahmet district and told police in English she had lost her wallet before setting off her charge, governor Vasip Sahin said.

Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said one of the officers died from his wounds.

Anti-Islam protest denounced

BERLIN: German political leaders, entertainers and sports stars have thrown their weight into the growing backlash against a new anti-immigration movement, leading calls to defend the country’s hard-won image for tolerance.

A day after tens of thousands again took to the streets in several cities to rally for and against a new group which opposes what it claims is the Islamisation of Europe, 50 prominent figures issued statements in a twopage spread in the Bild daily to push back.

In its latest show of strength, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident, or PEGIDA, drew some 18,000 people to a demonstration Monday in its hub city of Dresden in the former communist east.

Its sudden emergence over just a few weeks and the regular staging of marches have sparked offshoot protests elsewhere, but also a countermovement accusing PEGIDA of whipping up xenophobia.

Nazi cows culled

A BRITISH farmer has been forced to put down most of his herd of so-called “Nazi cows” because they proved to be too aggressive and he feared they would kill someone.

“She approached the police at around 5:00pm, saying in English: ‘I have lost my wallet’,” Mr Sahin said.

“That’s all I can say. We are trying to identify the attacker.”

Police sealed off the street where the attack happened, across the square from the Aya Sofya museum and the Blue Mosque and near the Basilica Cistern, among the top tourist destinations in one of the world’s most visited cities.

Public transport resumed

after being briefly shut down and some tourists were still walking around the historic Sultanahmet square.

Officials said there was so far no indication of the nationality or identity of the female suicide bomber.

Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was not immediately clear whether the bomber had links to a particular group.

“The authorities are investigating whether there is a link to any group... we have given instructions for the most com-

prehensive investigations,” Mr Davutoglu said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the bombing comes less than a week after far-left group DHKP-C said it was behind a grenade attack on police near the prime minister’s office in Istanbul.

The group was also behind a suicide bombing at the US embassy last year as well as attacks on Turkish police stations. Turkey also faces other security threats with some of the thousands of foreign fight-

Sun may determine lifespan at birth

PARIS: Could the Sun be your lucky - or unlucky - star?

In an unusual study published on Wednesday, Norwegian scientists said people born during periods of solar calm may live longer, as much as five years on average, than those who enter the world when the Sun is feisty.

The team overlaid demographic data of Norwegians born between 1676 and 1878 with observations of the Sun.

The life span of those born in periods of solar maximum - interludes marked by powerful flares and geomagnetic storms - was “5.2 years shorter” on average than those born during a solar minimum, they found.

“Solar activity at birth decreased the probability of survival to adulthood,” thus truncating average life span, according to the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society

B. There was a stronger effect on girls than boys, it said.

The Sun has cycles that last 11 years, give or take, from one period of greatest activity or solar maximum, to the next.

Solar maxima are marked by an increase in sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections that can disrupt radio communications and electrical power on Earth, damage satellites and disturb navigational equipment.

Solar activity is also linked to levels of ultraviolet radiation - an environmental stressor known to affect survival and reproductive performance, possibly by causing cell and DNA damage, according to the study authors.

The team, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, based their study on demographic data from church records of some 8600 individuals from two different mid-Norwe-

gian populations, one poor and one wealthy. This was matched to maps of historical solar cycles. On top of life span, being born in a solar maximum period also “significantly reduced” fertility for women born into the poor category, but not for wealthier women or for men, said the authors.

“We show for the first time that not only infant survival and thus life span but also fertility is statistically associated with solar activity at birth,” they wrote.

It was not clear whether the same would necessarily hold true for people born in the modern era.

One explanation could be ultraviolet-induced degradation of the B vitamin folate, a shortage of which before birth has been linked to higher rates of illness and death, the team theorised.

ers who have joined the ranks of Islamic State militants in neighbouring Syria and Iraq entering via Turkey.

It has raised concern that they could return and strike on Turkish soil.

There have also been clashes in predominantly Kurdish south-eastern Turkey in recent weeks between members of the Kurdish Islamist party and youths linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has also carried out urban attacks in the past.

-ABC news

The Heck cattle were originally bred in pre-war Germany as part of a Nazi plan to replicate the aurochs, an extinct species of giant cow that once roamed the forests of northern Europe. But the beasts, bred for their long horns, shaggy coat and muscular appearance, turned on their keepers on Derek Gow’s quiet Devon farm. Mr Gow has worked with many different breeds, but none as nasty as this.

“If I was standing here and some of the aggressive ones were in this field and they could see me, then they would come right across now and try and kill me,” he said. -ABC

A BULGARIAN man breaks the ice as he wades through the Tundzha River during a celebration to mark Epiphany Day in the town of K alofer. The ritual is believed to bring good health to the participants throughout the new year. Picture: BBC

GOOD HEALTH SEEKER

Republican survives US House rebellion

JOHN Boehner has won another term as Speaker of the US House of Representatives, as Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in eight years.

Mr Boehner survived a challenge from the party’s more conservative wing, with 25 Republicans voting against him. At the top of the Republican agenda is approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was the first bill introduced. The party won a majority in the Senate during November’s mid-term election.

Republicans already controlled the House of Representatives.

They have been angered by recent unilateral actions by Mr Obama including an executive action on immigration policy and a major shift in US policy on Cuba.

Both chambers convened at midday, as required by the US constitution, after an early morning storm that left the capital city covered in snow.

The US Capitol was buzzing with the excitement of the “first day of school.”

Inside the Senate chamber, there was an air of camaraderie - a rare feeling in polarised, partisan Washington.

Eight new twins for Earth

NASA is closer than ever to finding a twin for the Earth, astronomers say, announcing the discovery of eight new planets that circle in the habitable zones of their stars.

Two of the eight are the most Earth-like of any known planets found so far outside our solar system, astronomers told the 225th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, Washington.

The pair are likely to have hard, rocky surfaces in addition to being an orbiting distance from their stars that is neither too hot nor too cold for water - and possibly lifeto exist, astronomers said.

The discovery doubles the number of known planets that are close in size to the Earth and believed to be in the so-called “Goldilocks zone” of the stars they orbit.

“We are now closer than we have ever been to finding a twin for the Earth around another star,” said Fergal Mullally of the Kepler Science Office.

“These candidates represent the closest analogues to the Earth’s own system found to date.”

The worlds were found with the help of NASA’s planethunting Kepler mission, a space telescope that has scoured more than 150,000

stars for planets beyond our solar system since its launch in 2009.

The latest trove of candidate planets found by Kepler was 554, bringing the total potential planets to 4,175.

Scientists have recently verified the existence of the 1,000th planet found by Kepler.

“Three of the newly validated planets are located in their distant suns’ habitable zone, the range of distances from the host star where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet,” NASA said in a statement.

“Of the three, two are likely made of rock, like Earth.”

Since the planets were all too small to be confirmed by measuring their masses, scientists used a computer program called BLENDER to determine they were statistically likely to be planets. While it is intriguing to consider the possibility of life existing on another planet like ours, the two best candidates are so far away that learning more about them presents a big challenge.

The first, Kepler-438b, is 470 light-years from Earth. It circles its star once every 35 days.

Kepler-438b has a diameter that is 12 per cent bigger than Earth, and maintains a 70 per

cent chance of being rocky, researchers said.

The other, Kepler-442b, is 1,100 light-years away, and orbits its star once every 112 days.

Kepler-442b is about a third larger than Earth, and experts said there was a threein-five chance it was a rocky planet.

“We don’t know for sure whether any of the planets in our sample are truly habitable,” said second author David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.

“All we can say is that they’re promising candidates.”

-ABC news

“Enjoy the ceremonies,” Mitch McConnell said in his first speech as Senate Majority leader. “Tomorrow we get to work.”

At the mock swearing-in and photo-op with the vice-president and senators’ families in the old chamber - the original home of upper house legislation and debate until the late 1800s - Vice-President Joe Biden was his usual joking self. When it was the turn of Lindsey Graham, a staunch Obama critic, Mr Biden quipped: “I’m not doing the next one.”

“Hard work awaits,” said the new Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. “I’m really optimistic about what we can accomplish.”

During prepared remarks on Tuesday, Mr Boehner said he wanted Mr Obama to work with Republicans on bills that have stalled in recent years.

-BBC news

Cuba frees political prisoners on United States list

THE Cuban government has released some of the 53 political prisoners on a US list, the state department has said.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington hoped to see all those on the list released soon but did not specify who was now free.

Signalling a historic shift, last month US President Barack Obama ordered his administration to start reestablishing normal relations with Cuba.

This month Cuban and US officials will meet in Havana.

“They have already released

some prisoners... Obviously we would like to see this completed in the near future,” Ms Psaki said.

“This list is not to be seen as the end of our discussion on human rights with the government of Cuba.”

Critics of President Obama have raised concerns about human rights abuses in Cuba.

Senator Marco Rubio, a leading critic of the president on the Cuba question, called for the postponement of this month’s talks until political prisoners in Cuba are released.

Senator Rubio and other Cuban-Americans members of Congress have argued that Mr Obama’s change of policy could provide legitimacy and money for Havana while it still continues to violate human rights.

He said he and others would seek to slow or block moves towards normalising ties with Cuba.

The Congress is expected to hold hearings on President Obama’s Cuba policy in the first weeks of the new Congress, which was sworn in on Tuesday.

-BBC news

Eight new Earth-like planets have joined Kepler-62f on a list of potentially life-bearing planets. Picture: ABC/NASA

CUBA and the US announced in December that the two countries would resume diplomatic relations for the first time since 1961. Picture: BBC

bottom line

Solution to puzzle SL0825

stars

ARIES

March 20 - April 19

Everybody dreams of having good luck, you included. But you also rather enjoy a challenge, which means f things come too easy, you could get involved, then lose interest. However, with bountiful Jupiter accenting your creative and romantic life, you owe it to yourself to explore absolutely every dea or offer

TAURUS

April 20 - May 19

For ages you’ve been hoping you could sidestep certain potentially contentious issues. But not only can you not avoid them, what you learn when talking things over will put your mind to rest and, more important, encourage an informative exchange of ideas. The sooner you begin, the better.

May 21 - June 20

Tempting as it is to give one particularly irritating individual a piece of your mind, it would achieve nothing. If your only objective is to air your views, speak up now. However, because you want your words to have an impact, you’re better off waiting until mid-January’s more congenial planetary setup

June 21 - July 21

You’ve had to make a lot of decisions recently. While in most cases there’s been little question what to do, you’re still debating about several. Pressing as these seem, you’re better off waiting until the 15th, when the potent alliance between Mars and practical Saturn makes it abundantly clear what’s best.

July 22 - August 22

Living with uncertainty is agonising. Yet the more questions you ask about certain potentia changes, the less sure you are what’s ideal. Actually, it’s better if you take your time. In fact, your feelings about the matter in question may not be clear unti the Leo Full Moon in early February

August 23 - September 22

Tempting as it is to question one particular individual on the wisdom of the decisions they’re makk ing, you’re better off saying nothing. True, what they have in mind could lead to problems. Even then, make suggestions only if asked to. Some people welcome advice, others don’t. The individual in question doesn’t.

September 23 - October 22

While certain individuals have been delighted with the idea of changes, even in longstanding arrangements, others won’t even discuss it. That being the case, instead of mentioning what you have in mind, slowly and discreetly undertake those changes. There’s every possibi ity those who so objected won’t even notice.

October 23 - November 22

Those who are indecisive annoy you. Now that you’re having problems making crucial decisions, you’ve a better understanding what the individua s in question are wrest ing with Wh le ordinarily you’d never make halfway plans, as you consider it a compromise, it’s worth considering. In fact, at the moment, it’s the best option.

November 23 - December 22

One particularly tricky situation has been so comp icated, and so time-consuming, that you’re determined to take a stand. This might be wise in the short term. But you’re lacking vital facts. Do some serious investigation now and by midmonth youÕll be adequately equipped, enough to deal with issues wisely

December 21 - January 19

In late December, your ruling planet Saturn moved into the sign of Sagittarius and the most strategic portion of your chart. This ends one cycle and begins another, one that leads to new experiences and powerful insights. Knowing this, you’ll understand why certain elements of your life are changing, often rapidly.

January 20 - February 17

Disruptive as the often sudden changes of the past weeks have been, things are calmer. Yet it’s clear what took place was just part of a more far reaching cycle of growth. That’s not only true, questions about your work or lifestyle are preparation and a vital part of this process.

February 18 - March 19

It was only two weeks ago that an event took place that will have a lasting influence on your life. That was the stern Saturn’s arrival in the crucial midheaven angle of your chart. This brings a new focus and, better yet, ability to be tough with those who’ve been trouble-makers in the past.

INVESTMENT

Papua New Guinea Associations Incorporation Act

Reg.,Sec.2. Form 1

Notice of Intention to Apply for the Incorporation of an Association

I, Robert RASAKA, of Port Moresby, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea person authorized by the committee of the association known as

KWIA FELLOWSHIP UNITY INC.

5-101293

give notice that I intend to apply for the incorporation of the association under the Associations Incorporation Act.

The following are the details of the prescribed qualifications for incorporation as specified in Section 2 of the Act:

Refer to the objectives on form 1 for more details.

This Notice has been approved by the Registrar of Companies. Dated 29/12/2014.

The validation code for this Notice is ASSOCIATION-8723440.

To check the validity of this Notice enter http://www.ipa.gov.pg//pngassocitions/verify/ 5-101293/ASSOCITION-87234449.html in your browser.

Notice generated 29 December 2014 09:48 AM PGT

Note: A person may within one month after the publication of this notice, lodge with the registrar an objection to the incorporation of the proposed association in accordance with Section 4 of the Act.

FOR HIRE

McRaah Hire Car,Sedans @ K250/ day.Mob: 71299984.

FOR RENT

3 b/rm standalone unit in a safe & convenient location @ Henao Drv, Main b/rm has own toilet/ Shower. K6,500 per mth neg. Call 7686 2703.

Budget Real Estate

ASSISTANT CREDIT CONTROLLER

A Self-starter is required to continue with the management of Property Rental Billing and collections along with the control of the Trust account.

The person must be well versed in Console Real Estate Software, understand the Real Estate Industry.

Previous experience is a must for this Position.

Terms and conditions will be discussed with the right candidate.

If you are interested and feel that you are the candidate, forward your full Curriculum Vitae in a sealed envelope - covering your experience, qualifications and References “by mail or hand deliver ” to:

INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA Mining Act 1992 Mining Regulation 1992 Act, Sec. 24, 36, 46, 55, FORM 8 73 & 88 Reg. Sec.8 APPLICATION FOR A TENEMENT

Application for: EXPLORATION LICENSE

Tenement No: 2351

Name of Applicant: TUNDAKA RESOURCES LIMITED

Address for Notices: PO Box 1978, BOROKO NCD

Period Sought: Two (2) Years

Nearest town or landmark (from published map): Titip Station

Date of Application lodged: 07/11/2014

DEATH NOTICE FOR SALE MISSING PERSON

Late Peter Ulup consultant and V/ President of PNG Projects Association 2nd yr project Management @ DWU DOB

01/02/1969- DOD

01/01/2015

Notice to friends family and colleagues and general public of the sudden death of late Peter Ulup on 4am on Thursday. Funeral service will be a@ Kondwil fri, 9th Jan 2015 Enquiries: contact; Boby Tawi # 79316434

Human Resource Manager Budget Real Estate Box 678 Port Moresby [Position : Rental Management Officer ]

Office Location: Section 34 Lot 19 – Lawes Road Terrace - Konedobu NO PHONE CALLS WILL BE ENTERTAINED “Only short listed Applicants will be contacted & interviewed”

Schedule The land over which the tenement has been applied for is bounded by:a line commencing at: 05° 28’S 143° 15’ E then to 05° 33’S 143° 15’E then to 05° 33’S 143° 20’E then to 05° 40’S 143° 20’E then to 05° 40’S 143° 23’E then to 05°45’S 143°23’ E then to 05° 45’S 143°30’E then to 05°57’S 143°30’ E then to 05°57’S 143°05’ E then to 05°39’S 143°05’E then to 05°39’S 143°03’E then to 05°38’ S 143°03’E then to 05°38’S 143°04’E then to 05°37’S 143°04’E then to 05°37’S 143°05’E then to 05°36’S 143°05’E then to 05°36’S 143°06’ E then to 05°33’S 143°06’E then to 05°33’S 143°07’E then to 05°31’S 143°07’E then to 05°31’S 143°08’E then to 05°30’S 143°08’E then to 05°30’S 143°09’E then to 05°28’S 143°09’E then to 05°28’S 143°15’E

Being the point of commencement comprising a total area of 1811 sq km (530 Sub block)

I certify that I have examined this application as required under section 101 of the Act, that I am satisfied that the requirements of this section have been met and that I have complied with the requirements of sections 103(a) of the Act.

Hilux D/Cab 5th Element, K75,000 ONO, Mileage: 67000km, EXCELLENT CONDITION, 1 owner, Bought Brand new - Feb 2013, Enquiries to 71098911 or 3232236 or email karaitt/@gmail.com

Name Maryanne Tamalge

Age 34 years

Date missing 10TH September 2014

Believed being kidnapped or abducted

Any person seen this person, please contact Robert – 72956996

Clement – 71870920

Sgt Paul Saboko- 71116522 Or nearest police station.

The last date on which objections may be lodged with the Registrar under section 107(1) is 04/02/2015.

the

commencement

a total area of 1254.88 sq km (368 sub blocks).

I certify that I have examined this application as required under section 101 of the Act, that I am satisfied that the requirements of this section have been met and that I have complied with the requirements of sections 103(a) of the Act. The last date on which objections may be lodged with the Registrar under section 107(1) is 12/02/2015.

INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA Mining Act 1992 Mining Regulation 1992

Act, Sec. 24,

PUBLIC NOTICE

INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA Mining Act 1992 Mining Regulation 1992

Act, Sec. 24, 36,46, 55,73 & 88 FORM 9

Reg. Sec.8

APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TERM OF A TENEMENT

Application for: EXPLORATION LICENCE

Tenement No: EL1172

Name of Applicant: WOODLARK MINING LTD

Address for Notices: C/- O, Brien’s Lawyers, Level 5 Defens Haus, Port Moresby, NCD, 121 Period Sought: Two (2) Years

Nearest town or landmark (from published map): Kulumadau, Milne Bay Province Date of Application lodged: 23/08/2013

Schedule

The sea floor over which the tenement has been applied for is bounded by:a line

INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Mining Act 1992

Mining Regulation 1992

Act, Sec. 24, 36,46,55,73 & 88 FORM 9

Reg. Sec.7

APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF TERM OF A TENEMENT

Schedule The sea floor over which the tenement has been applied for is bounded by:-

area

I certify that I have examined this application as required under section 101 of the Act, that I am satisfied that the requirements of this section have been met and that I have complied with the requirements of sections 103(a) of the Act. The last date on which objections may be lodged with the Registrar under section 107(1) is 22/01/2015

Warden's hearing:Time Date Venue 11:00 am 11/02/2015 Kulumadau Village

Dated at Konedobu this day 05th of January 2015

STAN NEKITEL Registrar

POSITION VACANCY

Medecins Sans Frontieres ANESTHETIC TECHNICAL OFFICER (ATO)

For Operating Theatre Department & NURSES at Tari Hospital.

Starting date: As soon as possible

General presentation of MSF:

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural or man-made disasters. In PNG, MSF works in the communities of Tari, Buin and Port Moresby, providing health care to vulnerable populations affected by violence.

Requirements: ATO

Essential:

and professional body

multi-disciplinary team

stimulating and diplomatic out of work hours

multi-disciplinary team

Requirements: NURSES

Essential:

registration of work hours

multi-disciplinary team.

I certify that I have examined this application as required under section 101 of the Act, that I am satisfied that the requirements of this section have been met and that I have complied with the requirements of sections 103(a) of the Act. The last date on which objections may be lodged with the Registrar under section 107(1) is 22/01/2015

I certify that I have examined this application as required under section 101 of the Act, that I am satisfied that the requirements of this section have been met and that I have complied with the requirements of sections 103(a) of the Act. The last date on which objections may be lodged with the Registrar under section 107(1) is 22/01/2015

hearing:-

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE

I certify that I have examined this application as required under section 101 of the Act, that I am satisfied that the requirements of this section have been met and that I have complied with the requirements of sections 103(a) of the Act. The last date on which objections may be lodged with the Registrar under section 107(1) is 22/01/2015 Warden's

Desirable:

registration, reference contact details and a contact phone Donald Kazungu, Medical Team Leader or Allan De la Rosa, via email to tari-mtl@oca.msf.org or tari-log@oca.msf.org

We will only contact short listed candidates.

Please send in your photocopies as no documents will be returned.

l

Track and field squad in good shape

ATHLETICS

THE national track and field athletics squad is in good shape with six months to go to the Pacific Games.

Athletics PNG (APNG) president Tony Green said the team is on track to improve on its best ever haul of 15 gold in Noumea 2011.

“This is an achievable target and one which athletics PNG has been working towards over the last three years,” Green said.

“It is not going to be easy because we know other teams are preparing seriously too but we are just focusing on developing a strong all round team whilst at the same time ensuring that our elite athletes continue to receive the support they need,” Green said. APNG now has a training squad of 85 athletes (50 male and 35 female).

The squad was reviewed after the PNG Games with some

promising newcomers such as Timothy Maggie (javelin), Martin Orovo (1500m) and Rama Kumilgo (steeplechase) being added.

Green predicted that the final team would be between 65 and 70 athletes.

PNG has dominated the womens sprints hurdles and relays in recent Pacific Games with Toea Wisil , Betty Burua and Sharon Kwarula leading the way.

“With Donna Koniel and rising star Miriam Peni also showing good form in 2014, our females will be expected to retain their number one ranking,” he said.

The middle and long distance group now has much more depth than four years ago and despite the retirement of Salome Dell…PNG can expect several minor medals at least.

“Whether they can win gold will depend on whether the competition for places in

the team and the program in place for the females will result in them reaching a high enough standard to head off the challenge of French Polynesia and New Caledonia,” he said.

Green said there are also other Pacific Islanders based in the USA who are running good times in events from 1500m to 5000m that include Astrid Montuclard from Tahiti and Christina Wicker of Palau.

He said the women’s jumps and heptathlon group is now much stronger than it has been for a long time and the home nation seems certain to be able to select three athletes in each event.

“Nellie Leslie and Delilah Kami clearly have the potential to match Rellie Kaputin in the high jump but will need blocks of training in Australia where all the necessary equipment and coaching is available,” he said.

PNG is also looking good in the triple jump with Rellie Kaputin and Betty Burua both capable of breaking Angela Way’s national record. There are signs that new Caledonia’s dominance of the throws may be on the decline and Sharon Toako tops the Pacific Island rankings in 2014 in the Javelin. “However things are often very different in a Pacific Games year when more athletes come into the picture,” he added.

The mens 400m and 400m hurdles remain PNG’s strongest two events which augers well for the 4x400m relay as well.

“Competition for the three available places in the mens 400m will be fierce with national record holder Nelson Stone determined to retain his Pacific Games title on home soil and a host of younger athletes out to prove themselves including Theo Piniau, Kaminiel Matlaun,

John Rivan and Kevin Kapmatana,” he said.

Fiji’s Banuve Tabacaucoro will be the strong favourite for the 100m and 200m and Fiji as always will be strong in the men’s relays.

“However it’s hard to look past the PNG men’s team for the 4x400m and there is a good chance the national record set at the 1991 Games may well fall this year,” Green said.

As with the women, PNG now has a much larger mens squad of middle and long distance runners than for many years and it is hoped that a good programme over the next six months combined with competition for places in the team will see a marked improvement in their times.

Green predicted that the mens 1500m national record will fall this year as George Yamak, Andipas Georasi, Veherney Babob, Skene Kiage, Simbai Kaspar and newcomer Martin Orovo are all pushing

for place in the team. The distance squad is currently at NSI preparing for competitions in Australia next month.

PNG is still very weak in the mens horizontal jumps but appears set to be very competitive in the high jump and will be hopeful of a medal in the decathlon and the pole vault.

“Hopes in the mens throws will rest on Debono Paraka (discus and shot-put), Albert Karo (shot-put) and Timothy Maggie (javelin),” he added. Details of the athlete’s schedules for this year will be released when they have been confirmed by the PNG Olympic Committee, hopefully sometime next week, Green said.

The program will include large teams attending the Queensland Championships (March 5-8 in Brisbane) and the Oceania Championships in Cairns (May 8-10).

Committee calls for medical suppliers to assist

PACIFIC GAMES

THE Pacific Games organising committee are asking for interested suppliers of medical equipment and pharmaceutical drug suppliers to assist them.

Games Organising Committee (GOC) CEO Peter Stewart

The bottom line

said to ensure a high standard of medical service is provided to the athletes, we are calling on interested and competent suppliers to supply the Games with medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs.

“’In the event that athletes injure themselves, we as the

host country, would like to ensure that they receive the best medical assistance so that they can get back on the field to perform,” Stewart said.

During the Games, athletes will require immediate first aid medical attention in the event that they sustain inju-

ries.

“Therefore, the Games medical team that will be attending to the athletes will need proper and high quality medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs to carryout their duty as required,” Stewart added.

The 2015 Pacific Games will

be one of the largest sporting event in the country that will have more than 3000 athletes from 24 nations competing from July 4-18 in Port Moresby.

Interested suppliers can visit the 2015 games website www.portmoresby.com for more information.

Track and field athletics in the United States had multiple origins in the early-to mid-nineteenth century.

100m sprint finals - NCD Nazie - Lee Marai took out the gold, Jiwaka`s Kapun Wisil (black) silver, and ENB`s Joe Matmat bronze.

OFC delegates visit venues

BY MIRIAM ZARRIGA

TONGA Football Association President Lord Ve’ehala raised concerns on the bunking of athletes at the Games village.

Ve’ehala who is in Port Moresby for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) 23rd Congress, had a chance opportunity to tour the Pacific Games venues including the Games village with other member

association delegates. The Tongan said he is worried that his big athletes would have space issues as they said athletes would be sharing five to six a room,

“The room is only enough for three people,” he added.

He was assured though that the rooms would be able to cater for all the visiting athletes.

Each country depending on the size of the athletes participating would be allocated a level or even

a block. Thus this would regulate the number of people in each room.

Other delegates were skeptical on the venues being ready on time and raised questions on this to the Games Organizing Committee CEO Peter Stewart.

When answering questions on the venues, Stewart was adamant that all requirements and venues would be ready in time.

“There are a lot of things involved around the games, schedule for

transport, catering and medical facilities have been going on for the last two and a half years. I am 100% certain all venues will be completed on time,” he added.

Meanwhile GOC official announced that by January 16, all countries must confirm the number of athletes they are sending, so that draws and schedules for all sports can be finalised.

“45 days out from the opening ceremony, all countries will have

to submit all names of all athletes for accreditation purposes,” said Stewart. Reassuring the OFC delegates, Minister for Sport and Pacific Games Justin Tkatchenko echoed the sentiments of Stewart and said that soccer in the country is not as popular as rugby league but it was making a name for itself.

“It can only grow when we have representation of all of you here as well as FIFA coming on board to take soccer to the next level,” he added.

Chung geared for next four years as president of OFC

SPILL FROM BACK PAGE

ALSO voted in by secret ballot were eight members of the OFC executive committee.

They are Barnabas Anga (Solomon Islands – 11 votes), Faiivae Alex Godinet (American Samoa – nine votes), Lee Harmon (Cook Islands – 10 votes), Lambert Maltock (Vanuatu – 10 votes), Rajesh Patel (Fiji – 11 votes), Laupama Solomona (Samoa – nine votes), Lord Veehala (Tonga – 10 votes).

Following his re-appointment for second term, Chung said he is humbled by the endorsement and support by the member associations.

“I would like to thank those members elected to OFC executive committee and I look forward to working with you in this next term and rely on your expertise and experience to guide OFC in the right direction,” he said.

Although some member associations are not repre-

sented officially on the executive committee, he said he hopes to run a transparent organisation and will invite those member associations not elected as executive committee members to attend the meetings as observers.

“We need to be united, transparent and make collective decisions for the good of OFC,” he said.

“You must know that the OFC is not an independent organisation, it belongs to you the members and our vision for the next four years is for the benefit for the members and you our stakeholders, your clubs, players, coaches, referees and administrators,” he said.

He said the first four years he has concentrated on providing the foundation to put the OFC in the right direction.

Chung said the focus for the next four years is to:

Continue to grow the game through development

programmes and to popularise football in the region through television, radio and new competitions

Continue to create pathways for our elite players and teams Strive to create revenue and become financial sustainable so we can reinvest in growing the game and creating pathways for our elite players and teams.

“We face many obstacles to develop football in the region such as competing with sports like rugby and netball, lack of support from sponsors and governments and the small size of our federations which are financially poor,” he said.

“As you know with your support I am keen to continue this vision with you for the next four years and we need to remain united and supportive to each other,” he added.

He said the next four years will not be easy for the OFC as they must continue to invest

in developing and growing and popularising football in the region.

“Like any business we need to continue to provide capitalisation and investment in our commercial activities and our home of football and only after the next four years will we see results on the international stage and the cash flow from our commercial entities,” he added.

He said the OFC is indebted to the FIFA President and FIFA Secretariat in helping their achievements through the various FIFA development initiatives.

“In addition FIFA has announced the FIFA FAP bonus to all members of USD 1 million in addition to increased support in FIFA Goal Projects, FIFA Performance, FIFA Less Privileged, FIFA Income Generation and FIFA Development Programmes in the next four year cycle under the leadership the FIFA President Blatter,” he added.

He further urged member associations to spend this USD 1 million bonus wisely.

Chung suggested they invest the money in national team preparation, in developing your national league (men, women and youth), in developing their elite academies and players and creating pathways for them.

In the words of the FIFA President, a strong national league develops strong national teams, he added.

Chung told the member associations that he is working closely with the FIFA president to hopefully give the OFC: Possible direct entry at the World Cup

That our OFC League Champions regains direct entry in the FIFA World Club Cup

A second seat on the FIFA Executive Committee

That OFC be considered to host FIFA major events such the FIFA Women’s

World Cup in 2016, FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2020, FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019 and a FIFA Congress in 2020

More financial help and programmes from FIFA to assist our members in supporting elite academies, centres of excellences, mentoring of coaches, youth tournaments and the costs for participating in the OFC qualifying tournaments for U17 and U20 FIFA events.

He lastly told the congress that the next four years will be an exciting period for the OFC.

“I will need your support to lead our Confederation with me to enable us to grow the game, create pathways for our elite and generate income to make us financially sustainable and create wealth to distribute to your member association to reinvest back in football in country,” he added.

Chung retains his OFC president’s seat.

OFC delegates at Games villages, association delegates from New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands during the elective congress at the Grand Papua hotel yesterday

Soccer Association (WUSA) made its debut in 2001.

SOUTH PACIFIC GAMES

PNG U17 prepares for OFC

SOCCER BY JOSEPH DAWAI

THE Papua New Guinea U17 soccer squad is preparing to participate in a forthcoming Ocean Football Confederation (OFC) tournament in Samoa.

The squad will be leaving tomorrow to participate in the tournament, which will also serve as a qualifier for the FIFA World Cup.

PNG has been pooled with Fiji, New Zealand, Cook Islands Samoa and New Caledonia. PNG play Cook Islands in their first match.

U17 squad mentor Milan Miric said because they boys just returned from the Christmas and New Year break for the last twelve days, they looking to sharpen them up with a lead up matches with local Lae clubs NLS and Lae City Dwellers.

Miric said they have given all the players all the chances to prove themselves and the lead-up matches will reaffirm who they are looking at to start.

SP Brewery launches 2015 sports awards

SP Brewery has come onboard for the 23rd consecutive year as the official sponsor for the annually staged Sports Awards.

Due to the Pacific Games to be staged in July, the occasion which recognizes the excellence of PNG’s elite sporting personalities and those who make their amazing achievements possible will now be held March 28 at the Crowne Plaza.

This was confirmed during the official launch of the Sports Awards yesterday in Port Moresby.

PNG Olympic Committee (PNGOC) secretary general

Auvita Rapilla said: “The gold standard commitment SP Brewery has shown to the awards is the type of commitment that our sporting stars have shown to reach the level of success they enjoy.”

“SP’s commitment to the SP Sports Awards and to PNG sport through its many other sponsorships validates their position as an organisation that is behind PNG’s finest,” she said.

With that I would like to take this opportunity to thank SP Brewery for its long-standing partnership since the inception of the awards, she added. The theme for this year’s awards is “Our Year”.

2014 was a fantastic year for sport in PNG with many great performances worthy of nomination for the awards, she said.

“We saw Team PNG win two gold medals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games through Steven Kari and Dika Toua. The SP Hunters had a groundbreaking first year of competition in the Queensland Cup. The PNG

Games in Lae showcased the amazing sporting talent that can be found throughout the nation,” she said.

The 2015 SP Sports Awards will see a slight variation to the awards on offer.

There will be 12 awards in the following categories:

Male Athlete of the Year –International Performance

Female Athlete of the Year – International Performance Team of the Year – International Performance National Performance of the Year – This award is to recognize the efforts of either individual male or female athletes, or teams who have performed outstandingly on the domestic front.

People’s Choice of the Year – This award will see the public given the opportunity to vote on which finalist of the above 4 categories

they feel deserve to win this award.

Community Sports Initiative – This is an award recognizing the best use of sport to help address social development at a community level.

Junior Male Athlete of the Year

Junior Female Athlete of the Year Best Sportsperson with a Disability Sports Official of the Year – this category will be open to those playing the role of coach, technical official such as referees and umpires, or administrator.

Sports Photo of the Year

Sports Media Award

A great part of the SP Sports Awards is the involvement of the public through the nomination process.

“One of the new awards this year is the People’s Choice

Coca Cola Ipatas Cup kicks off

RUGBY LAEGUE MAL TAIME

THE famous Coca Cola Ipatas Cup for Northern leg and Eastern Highlands challenge kicks off this weekend.

This year’s competition was scheduled to be kick off last weekend but due to team delay for not submitting in the necessary forms, forced the competition executives to deferred the game this weekend.

The Northern and Eastern Highlands leg will kick this weekend and played for four weekends

under the new format the competition has structured. Next weekend will see Simbu challenge kick off with premier Sine Sine Yongo Brother will come out in force to defend its title.

On January 24th-25th the Western Highlands and Jiwaka challenge will be played at Baning, January 31st February 1st SHP/ Enga and Hela challenges, NCD/ Central challenge will be played at Sorgeri Rugby League Ground on 7th-8th and West New Britian will win up all the regional challenge for the country at Kimbe Rugby League on 14-15th. The

grand final will be played at Aipos Rugby League Ground in Wabag, Enga Province.

For more information Match Commissioner Mal Taime can be contacted of 72854454 and Admin Officer Mona Clyde on 73292673. The executives of the competition thanked the major sponsors Enga Provincial Government, Coca Cola Amatil (PNG), National Gaming Control Board, Barrick Porgera, PNGRFL, Global Media, NAU FM, Yumi FM, Morobe Mining, SVS and DA Edge to support the local teams in this time of financial constraints.

Award which will see even greater involvement of the public with the SP Sports Awards,” she added.

“I would like to encourage everyone out there to nominate now, nominate the sporting personalities you think deserve to win one of the 12 awards on offer in this year’s SP Sports Awards,” she said.

Nominations close on February 25..

She further acknowledged the Government of PNG through Minister Justin Tkatchenko the unprecedented support to athletes and teams through the Go for Gold program.

“Government support together with our corporate sponsors has enabled our sportsmen and women to excel, train and compete in competitions nationally and abroad,” she said.

BENCHTOP OVEN

19Lt EO19LW 235943

In the first hit-out against the Dwellers club, the boys did well to hold out the latter to a scoreless first half, but faded away with four goals being scored against them after the break.

“Despite the loss the boys are keeping their heads high and are looking positive towards the tournament ahead,” said Miric.

He further said they do have some injury concerns to several key players who may have to be dropped. “We will work that out prior to heading to Port Moresby,” he added. After the trial match, City Dwellers coach Peter Gunemba said the junior team are in good shape but needs a bit of discipline if they are to carry themselves with confidence at the next level.

PNGOC Secretary general Auvita Rapilla, Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko and SP brewery representative Reg Monagi during the launch.

PNG U17 squad in a trial match at the PNGFA Academy yesterday.

Chung returns returns

Football

SOCCER BY JOHN PANGKATANA

DAVID Chung has retained his seat as the head of Oceania

Confederation (OFC) for another four years. Chung was voted in un-apposed during the OFC 23rd elective congress staged at

the Grand Papua Hotel in Port Moresby yesterday. Chung was nominated by American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia,

Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

MORE ON PAGE 38

A SMILING David Chung retains his OFC president’s seat and retains the FIFA vice-president title that will be officially presented to the congress of FIFA on June 1. Insert: OFC member associations from New Caledonia and Fiji during the congress.