Melbourne Storm's Justin Olam a humble role model for PNG kids

nrl.co | May 7, 2018

Storm centre Justin Olam says he is humbled to be the first graduate from the successful PNG Hunters Intrust Super Cup side to play NRL and honoured to be able to show young kids back in Papua New Guinea that it is not impossible for them to make it to the NRL.

Storm centre Justin Olam.

©Robb Cox/NRL Photo

While the PNG Kumuls Test side has generally been bolstered by a few NRL stars alongside local players - such as David Mead, James Segeyaro and Nene Macdonald in recent years - Olam is the first domestic player to graduate from the Hunters team to the NRL.

Olam's chance came when Curtis Scott failed to pull up from an ankle injury suffered in round eight and Young Tonumaipea suffered a hamstring strain at training, resulting in a late call-up.

He had some impressive moments in his team's 34-14 loss to the Dragons at Kogarah, pulling off some big tackles and helping outside man Josh Addo-Carr into space on more than one occasion.

"It's not the result we wanted but it's good for me to have a game and go out there and play. I loved it," the softly-spoken 24-year-old told NRL.com after the game.

"I'm the first to come through the Hunter system to play NRL so I'm really humbled. It's a good pathway. I came through thanks to the Storm giving me the opportunity to play.

"It's great for the pathways, that's the main reason why the Hunters have been established as a club, to make a pathway for young Papua New Guineans to come and make their NRL dream.

"I'm happy to be the first one. For me to be the first one is a message to the young kids in Papua New Guinea that it's not impossible to play NRL.

"I'm really humbled I can be an example."

Olam acquitted himself well in his top-grade debut, putting outside man Josh Addo-Carr away for a try and putting on a few shots in his 10 tackles while also accruing 97 run metres. However he said he was far from satisfied with his own performance.

"It's my first game, I just need to get my body up to the pace and understand the game as well," he said.

"It's different from [Intrust] obviously. I'm not really confident at the moment but if I play a second or third game I know what to do next. I know I'll be very confident my next game."

Olam wasn't sure how long teammates Scott and Tonumaipea would be sidelined. Coach Craig Bellamy also has the option of a fit-again Cheyse Blair, who recently returned from injury as well.

"All I need to do is go back and train well and improve on my mistakes," Olam said.

"Hopefully I get a second call-up."

Anzac Day 2018 at Bomana War Cemetery

All pictures@Malum Nalu

Change of CEO of PNG Air Ltd

PNG Air Ltd

The Board of Directors of PNG Air Ltd (POMSOX: CGA) announced on Wednesday that the company’s chief executive officer, Muralee Siva, has resigned from his role as CEO.
Siva was appointed to the CEO position in November 2012, and has overseen the
implementation of the company’s strategy to focus more on regular passenger transport services, introduce majority ownership by major PNG institutions, re-fleet with new ATR 72-600 aircraft andr ebrand the company as PNG Air.
Chairman of the company’s board, Murray Woo, said: “Muralee believes that after more than five years in the role and with rebranding and the initial stage of the re-fleeting programme successfully completed, it is time for him to move on, and to allow someone with a new perspective and a
different set of ideas to come in and take the company through the next stage of its
development.
“The board has been speaking for some time to Muralee about a transition, and agrees that this is the right time for it.
"On behalf of the board, the company and its major shareholders, I want to express to Muralee our appreciation of his outstanding efforts and contribution.
"I sincerely thank him for his dedication to the company, and for the skills, experience and acumen he has brought to it."
Pending appointment of a permanent CEO, the company’s chief commercial officer, Paul Abbot, will be the acting CEO.
Abbot joined the company as manager sales & distribution in January 2011, and became the chief commercial officer in October 2013.

Fresh Produce Development Agency commended for its work

Fresh Produce Development Agency

Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) will continue to promote its programmes in the country backed by an excellent corporate governance and best management practices, National Planning Minister Richard Maru said on Tuesday.

National Planning Minister Richard Maru (right) with Fresh Produce Development Agency management including CEO Mark Worinu (third from left).

The minister met with FPDA’s top management to discuss on issues relating to fresh produce development in the country and the way forward.
A presentation made by FPDA chief executive officer Mark Worinu touchedon the successes and prospects for the organisation.
Maru said he was impressed with the work of FPDA so far and assured them that he would ensure funding was secured to carry out to their activities.
Worinu said FPDA had been around for 30 years now and had been working in the back stage promoting and developing food crops for farmers and assisting with the market chain so farmers could get their produce to the markets.
He said some of the major crops that were commercially-viable included bulb onion, sweet potato and English potato, among others which they have been promoting in the country.
FPDA has developed seed-multiplication for distribution and assisted local farmers to grow and supply seedlings where and when required.
Potato and bulb onions are commercially-viable and can be grown in quantity to replace the import market and even export to other countries if emphasis and skills were transferred to local farmers.
Other crops such as citrus and pineapple had the potential to develop into large-scale with the potential for downstream processing only if there was concrete Government intervention with funding and technical support.
Worinu said FPDA was only a regulatory body assisting with skills and knowledge,  but given the need and interest shown by the small farmers, it had gone out of its way to assist with farming skills transfer, supply chain and securing markets.
Maru said while he was impressed with the work of FPDA, he also challenged them to provide their plans and objectives so the government could assist wherever they could.
“I want us to look at the bigger picture and take our food crop production and development to the next level," he said.
"We have to be innovative and learn the new skills and technology in farming.
"We need downstream processing and look at supplying our markets adequately and even exporting our crops to other markets around the world."
Maru is determined to see agriculture,  especially horticulture industry, adequately funded and driven to the next level.
“Our farmers must work in cooperatives and be owners of the market chain," he said.
"They should own the processing plants and continue to work on their farms to supply the market.
"We cannot sit back and allow outsiders to take over our agriculture industry."
Maru also commended FPDA for building a four-storey office complex in Goroka which is scheduled to be opened later this year.
He said with the best corporate governance and sound financing system, his office would not hesitate to assist FPDA with funding in their projects and programmes.
While thanking minister Maru for having confidence in FPDA Worinu said his office would be ever-ready to deliver what was required by the Government to fulfil the  Vision 2050 policy and the medium-term development plans.
Ends…

Boluminski Highway sealing in New Ireland underway

Australian High Commission

Works are well underway in New Ireland on a major project to reconstruct 32.4km section of the Boluminski Highway between Pinatgin and Loloba.

The K39.4 million project is being delivered
through the Papua New Guinea - Australia Partnership, with the support of the New Ireland Provincial Government.

Australia is committed to supporting a prosperous Papua New Guinea.
Works along the Boluminski Highway will help business, help local communities access markets and services and boost the tourism industry in New Ireland Province.
Department of Works Secretary, David Wereh, is pleased to see the project progressing well.

“This is an important project on an essential economic corridor for
Papua New Guinea," he said.
"The project will finally link the centres of
Namatanai and Kavieng with 265km of sealed maintainable road.
"This will be a significant achievement made possible through a long term
commitment by the Papua New Guinean and Australian governments”.
More than 140 local residents are employed on the project and worksare expected to be completed by the end of December 2018. The project is being delivered through the Papua New Guinea – Australia Transport
Sector Support Program.

ExxonMobil PNG reopens Komo Airfield

*Flights resume into Komo airfield, APNG:WLN-donated humanitarian supplies on board
*ExxonMobil PNG assistance to rebuild infrastructure and key roads

Flights have resumed into the Komo airfield, operated by ExxonMobil PNG on behalf of PNG LNG, following the Feb 26  earthquake.
The first flight with staff on board arrived at Komo airfield on April 26, 2018.
A cargo plane delivering earthquake relief landed shortly after.

Jukuli Kapiako of APNG;WLN and ExxonMobil PNG staff arriving on the first flight that landed at Komo airfield

Relief items included household goods such as clothes, shoes, kitchen items, bedding and toys collected by the Advancing PNG: Women’s Leaders Network (APNG:WLN) and the Salvation Army from public relief drives and ExxonMobil PNG staff donations. APNG:WLN representatives were also on the first flight to coordinate distribution of the items within communities.

Cargo flight arriving at Komo airfield with APNG;WLN humanitarian relief supplies

ExxonMobil PNG managing-director Andrew Barry said the reinstatement of Komo airfield in such a short timeframe is a testament to the hard work and dedication of those involved.
“The Komo airfield is an integral piece of infrastructure, its reopening is a significant step forward and restores important transport and logistics infrastructure to assist with our operations and delivery of relief and recovery support for communities," he said.

Cargo flight unloading APNG;WLN humanitarian relief supplies at Komo airfiel

“We’d like to thank the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for accommodating timely inspections of the repaired runway to ensure we could resume flights into the airfield as quickly as possible.”
In consultation with aircraft operators and design contractors, ExxonMobil PNG repaired cracks and depressions to the runway, re-marked the entire airstrip and repaired fencing in line with the highest safety standards.
Local landowner company, Hides Gas Development Company assisted with the repairs along with teams from Wood Group and Aurecon.

ExxonMobil PNG Hides Gas Conditioning Plant Community Affairs team and Advancing PN; Women’s Leader’s Network representatives with the humanitarian relief supplies that arrived on a cargo plane at the Komo airfield

Non-critical repairs to various Komo airfield facilities will be finalised in subsequent phases.
ExxonMobil PNG is also assisting the government to build infrastructure and key roads and bridges for Hela and Southern Highlands orovinces that were destroyed during the disaster.
Humanitarian support provided by ExxonMobil PNG includes 50 tonnes of food and drinking water, 600 tarpaulins, 1,020 solar lights and other essential items such as purification tablets, cooking aids and hygiene kits.
 Exxon Mobil Corporation has also provided nearly K3.5 million towards humanitarian relief.
Longer term support is being provided for the restoration of health care facilities, education services and community food gardens. 

Protecting women and girls after the earthquake in Papua New Guinea

unfpa.org | April 26, 2018

MENDI, Papua New Guinea – When a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the remote Southern Highlands Province on 26 February, 18-year-old Julian Ako was heavily pregnant with her third child.

In earthquake-affected Tamande, Mendi, local emergency responders meet with UNFPA staff. © UNFPA

She and her family emerged unscathed, but their home, like many others near the earthquake’s epicentre, was severely damaged.
A landslide contaminated their sole nearby source of safe drinking water. The earthquake’s aftermath brought strong aftershocks, while newly impassable roads and disruption of vital services made it hard for Julian to provide for her two young children.
February’s earthquake, perhaps one of the most under-reported natural catastrophes so far this year, has affected over half a million people, with over 270,000 still in need of vital aid as of April 2018.
Even in the best of times, inadequate infrastructure makes many parts of this impoverished country hard to access, and the number of health facilities is insufficient to meet the population’s needs.
Since the earthquake, landslides and sporadic unrest in some areas have made delivering aid even harder. Meanwhile, many critical health stations are out of commission.

Birth and death in the aftermath

For Julian, the effects of the earthquake and its aftermath compounded the challenges of a difficult birth.
“When my contractions started,” she recalls, “the local nurse told me she couldn’t help, and sent me off to Pimaga hospital to give birth.” This larger facility had already received safe birthing kits from UNFPA.
Early the next morning, after Julian had laboured for hours, midwives discovered that her baby had hydrocephalus. The baby died, and Julian’s life was in serious jeopardy.

Julian (left) with her mother (centre) and UNFPA officer Debbie Kupesan (right) after Julian's life-saving surgery. © UNFPA

But thanks to a swift referral made by a midwife from Papua New Guinea’s Family Health Association and a reproductive health officer from UNFPA, Julian was quickly airlifted to the larger, better-equipped Mendi provincial hospital, where her life was saved.
Julian was one of approximately 3,200 pregnant women caught up in the disaster who, along with an estimated 35,000 earthquake-affected women of reproductive age, were targeted by UNFPA as part of the government-led joint international and United Nations emergency response.
With support from Australia, the government has distributed around 700 of UNFPA’s dignity kits – containing vital health, hygiene and safety products to meet the needs of women and girls – in the worst-hit areas. Many kits were dispatched quickly through a joint Asia-Pacific pre-positioning initiative between the government of Australia and UNFPA. Another 500 kits are now pre-positioned in the hard-hit province of Hela.
In some of the worst-affected areas, UNFPA has distributed reproductive health kits containing supplies related to clean delivery, sexually transmitted infections and post-rape care.
Other UNFPA efforts target violence against women, which often spikes in emergencies.
Working with government and partners, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation, UN Women and UNICEF, UNFPA is working to establish five women-friendly spaces in earthquake-affected areas, where women and girls can seek services for gender-based violence and receive counseling, awareness and support for referral services.
UNFPA staff have trained humanitarian aid workers in hard-hit communities on stress management, psychological first aid, and the Minimum Initial Service Package for sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in emergencies.
Julian, meanwhile, is now safe, recovering and looking to the future.
“I’m happy to be alive,” she says. “I’m looking forward to getting back to my husband and children at home so we can get on with rebuilding our house and our gardens.”