Troops sent to PNG regions

By Eoin Blackwell
AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has formally announced a troop call-out to the resource rich Hela region of Papua New Guinea amid ongoing disruptions to mining activity.
Troops will be sent to both Enga and Southern Highlands provinces on Monday to bolster a police presence amid ongoing law and order issues.
On Thursday, hundreds of illegal miners reportedly converged on the Polgera gold mine in Enga, threatening and injuring staff and destroying equipment.
Road blocks in the Southern Highland town of Tari have disrupted parts of the massive Exxon-Mobil lead PNG Liquefied Natural Gas project.
The road blocks were set up in the weeks after up to 29 settlers were killed in a landslide at the Tumbi quarry, which Exxon has said it closed months before the accident.
"As a responsible government, we cannot sit back and allow hooligans in our community to threaten and disrupt normalcy, and place vital economic projects at risk," Mr O'Neill said in a statement.
"We must bring these situations under control quickly and reassure our citizen and investment partners of our ability and commitment to addressing law and order issues decisively."
He said Defence Force head, Brigadier General Francis Agwi and senior defence staff left Port Moresby for the Southern Highlands capital of Mendi on Thursday to make a formal assessment of the situation.
No details were provided on the size of the call-out.
Polgera mine manager Greg Walker called on the government to intervene after a pit in the mine was raided by illegal miners - people who break into the mine site and independently mine its gold ore.
"We are calling on them to act swiftly to restore law and order to Porgera," he said on Thursday.
The raiders reportedly captured three staffers, seriously injuring one, and later freed them.

Modern funeral service opens in city

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE

A state-of-the-art funeral service was opened in Port Moresby yesterday by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, The National reports.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill seems to be in a dilemma deciding which coffin he likes best!-Nationalpics by EKAR KEAPU

 Dove Funeral Services Ltd, located at Taurama is the second funeral service in the city after the pioneer Funeral Home.

 Prime Minister Peter O'Neill checks out coffins with funeral home workers.

Dove Funeral Services is part of the L&A Group of Companies and is run by a team of professionals aimed at providing affordable services to the people of PNG.
Kevin Bender, general manager of Dove Funeral Services, said the new funeral service would stand by its mission to provide affordable funeral service to the people of PNG so that they could give their relatives and loved once a dignified send off.
The new funeral service featured a showroom with various coffin and headstone sizes, a mortuary, two chillers and a chapel.
Later,  a crematory will be set up.
Bender was previously with the Funeral Home for many years and was not new to the business.
Bender is a professional in the business and has  studied embalming in Australia and in the United Kingdom.
He also has another experience staff member Keroto Alepa, who has  an embalming certificate from Australia.
Bender said Dove currently has nine staff  member and they are anticipating the number to increase to at least 15 in the near future.
He said they would have training for staff and from time to time have an expert from Australia to keep them abreast with mortuary processes.
Bender said they are also looking at branching to outstations later on.
The overnight cost of a corpse at their facility is K100 but he said they would like to minimise the stay of the dead there unless the bodies needed to go to faraway places.
 O’Neill had congratulated the management and staff of L&A Group of Companies for the launch of their new business.
He said the new facility “will provide absolute service” to the people of PNG

Mob raids Enga mine

ONE of the country’s biggest gold mines was yesterday raided by an unruly mob who went on a rampage injuring employees and damaging equipment, The National reports.
Porgera mine general manager Greg Walker and Enga province Governor Pater Ipatas have sent an urgent message to the government, police and the defence force in Port Moresby to provide security and address the deteriorating law and order problem in the area.
Mine workers were injured and three were taken hostage as scores of illegal miners went on a rampage through the open pit early yesterday morning. The three workers were later freed, with one sustaining serious injuries.
Substantial damage was done to mine equipment although no estimated cost has been released.
The Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) mining operations in the open pit had been halted until the safety of workers could be guaranteed.
Walker said: “We have reported this serious incident to the government and to police.
“We are calling on them to act swiftly to restore law and order in Porgera.”
“There is no excuse for the illegal and violent behaviour of these trespassers – they place our employees and themselves in grave danger when they act outside of the law in their attempts to steal gold from the mine,” Walter said.
“The behaviour of these illegal miners, virtually all of whom have migrated in from outside of Porgera, has also contributed to the steep decline of law and order in the Porgera valley, affecting the community at large.
“This simply has to be stopped and I call on the government to undertake its responsibility to protect our legal right to peacefully conduct our business.”
Ipatas condemned the actions of the illegal miners, which the mine management said numbered over a thousand, saying many of them were from outside Porgera.
He has asked the police and soldiers in Port Moresby to come to Enga and help restore law and order.
Ipatas said illegal miners in the area continued to be stubborn despite the number of them killed or maimed by mining explosions. The most recent case was on March 3 in which five men who had illegally entered the mine were killed during a routine blast underground.
“They have not learned from the recent incident in which five people died, that they should not be in there,” he said.
“They should know by know that the PJV has been given the lease to do the mining and exploration. They have the legal right.
“The actions of these illegal miners have an impact on Porgera, Enga and PNG. We can’t allow criminasl to take control of the area.
“I call on police to strengthen their presence in the Porgera Valley so that the interests of the country can be protected.
“I wouldn’t mind a call-out of the PNGDF soldiers to help police in the area. These are not locals doing this illegal mining. They are people from other areas.
“I’m also mindful that there are people living on the special mining lease area. It’s time that they are resettled so that the area is free from local people and illegal miners.”

Business women’s website up

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE

PAPUA New Guinea women in business can now have access to updated business and trade information, thanks to a new website that was launched on Tuesday night, The National reports.
 The website was launched by Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Sir Puka Temu at the Crowne Plaza in Port Moresby.
It features information on different sectors of the economy and would be accessible by members of the National Development Bank’s Women in Business Club.
Sir Puka commended the board of NDB led by chairman William Lamur and managing director Richard Maru for their foresight in organising the summit to empower, inspire and add value to local women entrepreneurs.
“The fact that more than 1,000 applicants applied to attend the summit – which could only accommodate 300 women - is a testimony of the sheer determination and struggle of our women entrepreneurs for recognition, support and empowerment to be equal partners in the development of our nation,” he said.
“In PNG, we should talk about a new ‘PNG Dream’ and this summit is the staging point of our new shared dream, which should  aim to grow our formal women in business sector to half or more of the companies registered and operating in PNG,  especially in the SME sector.
“Even in emerging and developed nations, women own and manage half of the companies in the formal sector, including the United States of America, where the women-owned businesses were the fastest growing sector in the US business community.
“If the women in America can do it, our women in PNG can do it.”
Sir Puka said small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) contributed meaningfully to the country’s economy, adding that he would make sure that as minister responsible, NDB would be properly funded to empower SME development.
Meanwhile, Sir Puka assured NDB that it would get its K130 million budget funding at the earliest possible time.
“As the minister for NDB, I am committed to ensuring NDB receives adequate funding like the K130 million we have provided in 2012 budget,” he said.
“I will be working closely with my other colleague ministers to ensure the funding is released to NDB as soon as possible.

Women get new lending plans

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE

THE NATIONAL Development Bank has launched two new loan products for women in business, The National reports.
NDB managing director Richard Maru launched the products on Tuesday evening at the close of the inaugural NDB Women in Business Summit in Port Moresby.

NDB managing director Richard Maru addressing an enthusiastic crowd of women at the Women in Business Summit at Holiday Inn on Monday.-Nationalpic by EKAR KEAPU

The women applauded the good news and praised Maru, his staff and the NDB board for the tremendous job done.
Both loan products have very low interest rates with terms of up to 20 years.
Maru said NDB research on women entrepreneurs found that high equity rates and short-term loans were some of the major challenges for women and the new products were aimed at mitigating these.
The first loan product is called “Start up NDB WIB Package” and the second one is known as “Grower NDB WIB Loan Package”.
Under the first loan package, women could get between K5,000 and K100,000 with 10% fixed interest rate and terms of two to 15 years.
The equity rate is now at 20% with security and 30% without security, where previously NDB required 40% equity requirement.
The “Grower NDB WIB Loan Package” has no limit on loan amount, with 20% equity required.
Maru said women without security should not worry because NDB would provide guarantee up to K100,000 through its guarantee scheme.
“Security will be a thing of the past, so ladies, there are no more excuses”, he said.
Maru said to qualify for the loan, women must show that they were sole owners of the business and not their husbands.
He said the new products catered for those who wanted to start new businesses, and those who were already into business and wished to expand.
Maru said research globally had shown that men gave 30% of their income to their families while women gave 80%, so it was appropriate to support women knowing that they would support their families.
Three women got their loans from NDB on Tuesday night under the new loan package.
Angela Korowa, a business woman from Western Highlands, was lost for words when her name was announced as a successful applicant for a loan of K56,000.
“Doing business is tough but now I know I can face the challenge with help from NDB,” she said.

IPBC inks deal on Lae port development

INDEPENDENT Public Business Corporation (IPBC) has signed the contract recently approved by National Executive Council for the development of a new port facility for Lae, The National reports.
The contract with China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd was signed by chairman Thomas Webster and managing director Thomas Abe.
It was counter-signed by representatives of China Harbor Engineering and Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio.
The signing at Government House on Monday paved the way for work on the K700-million-plus contract to start.

IPBC chairman Thomas Webster and managing director Thomas Abe (seated left) watch as China Harbor Engineering representatives sign the contract

“A preconstruction meeting is to be held in two weeks, after which commencement no­tices will be issued to the contractors,” Abe said.
“China Harbor Engineering is already on the ground in Lae and Port Moresby doing preliminary work, and is keen to start work immediately.
“This is a very important step forward for the nation’s most important port.
“The port is unable to meet current demand and is in urgent need of expansion if it is not to remain a very serious obstacle to the economic development of the Momase-Highlands region.
“There is very significant development occurring throughout the region, in particular the LNG project.
“Reconstruction and expansion of Lae Port is essential if all planned developments are to go ahead smoothly and efficiently.”
Abe said the Lae Port project would itself spur economic activity and jobs growth, and that once completed, it would play a big role in other development, such as agriculture, forestry and mining and petroleum.
It would also help to lower the cost of taking goods to local and international markets and reduce input transport costs..
The main element of the project is the construction of new port facilities including a tidal basin, a berth and a terminal.
Work is expected to start in the middle of this year and finish towards the end of 2015.
It is being funded 70% by the ADB and 30% by the national government through IPBC

Hydroponic lettuce is on sale in Port Moresby

Stop N Shop supermarkets in Port Moresby have fresh supplies of home-grown lettuce straight from the hydroponics farm of their mother company, CPL, at Gerehu Stage 6, The National reports.
Lettuce seeds are placed in propagation tubes, put in a germination room until they sprout, and then brought into the open where they are fed nutrients through the hydroponics process until harvested.
The entire process from seed to harvest takes about two months.
Hydroponics supervisor Morea Gau, told The National that the lettuce was then placed in plastic containers and taken to Rainbow, Town, Badili, and Waigani Central Stop N Shop shops.

CPL hydroponics supervisor Morea Gau at the farm at Gerehu Stage 6.-Nationalpic by MALUM NALU

“We started this project in late 2010,” he said.
“We currently only grow lettuce.
“We currently only supply to Stop N Shop shops, however, are thinking of supplying hotels and resource projects as well.
“Hydroponics is the same as normal agriculture, the only difference being that nutrients and acid/alkaline levels are controlled in the tank room using a computer.