Rebuilding health infrastructure in Hela

Australian High Commission

The Government of Papua New Guinea, Australian Government and Oil Search Foundation are working together to support provincial health Authorities to deliver improved health outcomes in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces.

Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis (left) during one of his visits to Hela with the Member for Koroba-Lake Kopiago and Minister for Immigration  Border Security Petrus Thomas.

Member for Koroba-Lake Kopiago and Minister for Immigration and Border Security Petrus Thomas presented a cheque of K200,000 of district funding to support rehabilitation works at the Koroba District Hospital, at an event on Friday Sept 7 in Port Moresby, also attended by Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis and Oil Search Foundation executive-director Stephanie Copus-Campbell.

The rehabilitation is part of a boarder partnership initiative, Wok Bung Wantaim, that is funded by the Australian Government and the Oil Search Foundation. Its isolation and remoteness, combined with damage sustained in the February earthquake in the Highlands, had seen the facility deteriorate significantly.

Koroba Kopiago’s district development funds will add to previous commitments from OSF to ensure the facility is returned to full function as soon as possible. 

Australia has also provided K1.2 million for a new X-ray and pathology facility to give patients access to a more comprehensive range of services at the hospital.

“Each one of us – government, donors, churches, NGOs and the private sector can do a lot to support improved health services," Thomas said.

"But when we coordinate funding, skills and experience through partnership we can together drive real change.”

Davis said that Australia was pleased with the expanding partnership that would deliver better health outcomes in Hela.

“I am delighted that Australia, working with OSF, churches and NGOs, can support the Hela Provincial Health Authority, local "Members of Parliament and their District Development Authorities," he said. 

"This partnership will improve health services for the people of Koroba-Lake Kopigao and beyond.

“Australia is working with all its partners in Koroba-Lake Kopiago to deliver not only on the restoration of services post-earthquake but improving those services to meet the growing needs of the district. 

"This partnership is a unique way of working together and we are delighted to be part of such a great initiative.”

OSF is working closely with the Hela Provincial Health Authority to manage the project on behalf of the Koroba-Lake Kopiago District Development Authority, in partnership with Australia and others.

Commending commitments made so far, Copus-Campbell said the partnership and rehabilitation work was a step forward to improving health services to people of the district.

“District hospitals are an important part of Government’s health service delivery framework," she said.

"OSF is fully committed to working with the Hela Provincial Health Authority, the Australian Government and the Koroba-Lake Kopiago District Development Authority to ensure the people of Koroba-Lake Kopiago access health care.”

A fully functional district hospital, such as the Koroba District Hospital, brings essential health care services closer to communities, especially as they operate closer to the communities they serve compared to larger provincial hospitals.

Australia is separately funding the reconstruction or refurbishment of other social infrastructure in Koroba-Kopiago District, collectively worth around K8 million. 

This infrastructure will include Kopiago Health Centre, Fugwa Primary School, Fugwa Health Centre, and Koroba Police Barracks.

Zero tolerance on lawlessness in Lae: Butibam leader

By Butibam leader HOLMES KISSING

Assistant Commissioner Peter Guiness and Acting Metropolitan Superintendent Fred Kaiwa received our petition onMonday for the immediate capture of the people involved in the killing of youngButibam villager Moses Walo at the weekend.

Holmes Kissing

We will support our men and women in law enforcement to uphold the law, and we will work with the Police and our systems of Government to rid the city of criminals who prey on the innocent.
We will pursue justice relentlessly.
We will no longer accept lawlessness and disorder in our city from anyone.
When someone's actions harm any of our people, we will remove them from our land.
If anyone supports, assists, aids or promotes any agenda against our people we will remove them, and their interests from our land. 
Any business involved in any agenda against any Morobeans will be removed from our land  and we will make sure they never set up in Lae again. 
Large scale, small scale, PMV,  hire car, retail shop, security, anyone who assists, supports, or contributes to the oppression of any Morobean will be removed from our city and land.
Anyone who leaves their province or homeland to come and live in Lae must do so in a lawful and orderly manner.
We will indiscriminately remove anyone from our land who fails to live in accordance within the confines of good law-and-order.
What people do or how they live in their province is their affair.
 When anyone comes to Morobe Province, they have to live in a peaceful, lawful, and orderly manner. 
Understand this: If anyone touches our people, there will be consequences. 
Especially our women and children.
Touch them or harm them and we will rise up.
Our committee has collectively decided against the protest march because there were too many considerations. 
Crowd control, opportunists inciting riots, and the safety of people and business houses and Government property.
There were a large number of people willing to participate in the protest who came from the six Ahi villages: Butibam, Hengali Kamkumung, Yalu, Wagang and Yanga.
Our brothers from Bumbu and Biwat, Talair and Asu, Back Road,  Menyamya, Finschafen,  Kabwum, Markham and other Morobeen ethnic groups. 
Many people wanted the march to happen, but we had to consider the safety of the city first.
I thank my tribesmen from the six Ahi villages, our business people, our fellow Morobeans for their support.
We will continue to work together to promote a good, safe and harmonious society.
 We will not rest until justice is done.

Kassam Pass works improve safety of Highlands Highway

 Australian High Commission

The Department of Works is in the final stages of completing Australian funded works to improve the safety and reliability of the Highlands Highway at Kassam Pass. 

Road works on Kassam Pass.-Pictures courtesy of AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION

The project in the Eastern Highlands is supported through the Papua New Guinea – Australia transport sector partnership.

Importantly, the project is being delivered through local contractors, ensuring local communities benefit through increased employment and income generation opportunities.

An earlier landslip at Kassam Pass had made the road more hazardous. 

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The project has shifted the road further into the mountain, improved drainage, and repaired and resealed the road surface.

Secretary of the Department, David Wereh, underlines the significance of this for road users along the national road network.

“This project is critical to keeping traffic safe along the Highlands Highway.

" The road passes through some challenging and unstable terrain and these works will ensure that this essential economic lifeline remains open.

“Despite difficult geological conditions, local contractors have achieved impressive results. 

"Road users will notice a smoother road surface, improved drainage, gabion baskets, and new guard rails. 

"This is all designed to keep the travelling public moving safely and connect businesses and communities.”

Smith Yauwe, working for one of the local contractors engaged in this project is pleased to see the changes to the highway.

“This project has provided a boost to the local economy and delivers a safer road for all. 

"I am proud to be able to contribute to maintaining our country’s national priority road network with funding support from Australia.”

In 2017 the Papua New Guinea – Australia Transport Sector Support Program and Department of Works delivered road maintenance works worth K60 million through more than 70 local contractors

Daru runs dry as all attention on Apec

By HANS MESSEA of NBC in Daru

Daru town residents are continuing to be  badly hit by the ongoing water crises.
Last week,  the raw water mains on the island terminal were vandalised,  causing a disruption to the water supply to Daru .

The piping has gone rusty,  and was easily unbolted,  resulting in water shooting upwards and causing the closure of the water supply.
It is the beginning of the dry spell and most of the dugout water wells and the tanks have gone dry.
People are now resorting to paying for  water from the wells owned by a few residents for K1 or K2 per container.
Other people are fetching water
for cooking and drinking from bore water.
There are health risks again because the
bore and well water is not treated.
The Water PNG office in Daru has made a public appeal to those tampering
with the pipes to stop vandalising such vital assets that serve the community.
Currently workmen are attending to the  damages which is into the
deeper part of the sea.
Work has to be carried out when the tide is
low.
Water will be restored as soon as the job is completed. 

Two policemen arrested for armed robbery and attempted murder in Port Moresby

POLICE MEDIA

Two policemen have been arrested and charged for armed robbery, attempted murder, unlawful wounding and conspiring to commit other crimes in Port Moresby over the weekend.

  NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Perou N’Dranou said the pair were identified as Constable Gabi Gal of Minj, Jiwaka, a male adult attached with Gerehu Police Station and Constable Albert Robert, a male adult from Upper Mendi attached to Boroko Police Station.

Thet were arrested and detained by members of the Gordon Minor Crimes Unit.

N’Dranou said Gal and Robert and a third policeman who remains unidentified at this stage allegedly used an unmarked vehicle to rob, assault and injure four civilians on April 19 this year.

  He said the three policemen allegedly removed the registration number plates of their vehicle to conceal their identities before holding up a PMV truck at 9-Mile. They allegedly assaulted the driver, a female occupant and commandeered the vehicle towards the back road leading towards Morata and Gerehu where it is alleged betelnut and mobile phones belonging to the victims were stolen.

  That same day, the policemen allegedly whilst under the influence of liquor shot and wounded a man at Gerehu and later placed a firearm near another man’s ear and fired, leaving the victim, a lawyer by profession, heavily traumatised.

  The Metropolitan Commander issued instructions for their immediate supervisors to bring them in to face investigations and charges but no action were taken by concerned authorities.

This was until the matter was referred to members of the Gordon Minor Crimes Unit which kept the suspects under surveillance and arrested them at a night club within the city on Saturday night. 

Gal fought with the arresting officers and attempted to escape but was subdued, arrested, charged and locked up in the police cell.

N’Dranou said additional charges of escaping from lawful custody would be prepared and served on Gal in the course of the investigations.

  The two men were charged for conspiring to commit other crimes under Section515 of the Criminal Code, armed robbery under Sect 386 of the Criminal Code, two counts of attempted murder under Section 304 of the Criminal code and unlawful wounding under Section 322 of the Criminal Code.

The Metropolitan Commander said the arrest, detention and charging of these two policemen showed the Constabulary’s commitment in the fight against police abuses and corruption, which remains a concern to the Government and citizens of Papua New Guinea.

  He said, the corrective action taken by members of Gordon Minor Crimes unit, directly conformed to Police Commissioner Gari Baki’s intention to reduce police abuses and corruption within the constabulary.

New school facilities will promote quality teaching and learning in Bougainville

Australian High Commission

Current and future students in Bougainville’s Peit Constituency are set to benefit from new school facilities which will promote improved education opportunities for the community.

Gagan Primary School on Buka Island has received a new double classroom and teachers’ housing, which were officially opened yesterday as part of the Papua New Guinea – Australia Partnership.

The school has played a role in the education of some of Bougainville’s most prominent individuals, including Josephine Getsi, Bougainville’s Minister for Community Development and Member for Peit, and the late Dr Alexis Sarei, former Papua New Guinean High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and North Solomons Premier.

Evangelyn Ratsi and Ferdinand Rohen (pictured below) are the head students at Gagan Primary and are certain that their studies will benefit from the new classrooms.

The two students are working hard to achieve their own goals, continuing the school’s tradition of education and aspiration - Evangelyn wants to be a doctor one day and Ferdinand aims to become a pilot.

They are confident they will progress to high school and said the lighting in the new classrooms will enable students to participate in evening classes and studies as they prepare for their final exams.

Gagan Primary is one of 18 schools across Bougainville, including in remote atoll communities, which will benefit from the construction of new learning infrastructure. More than 1,200 new primary school places will be created when the works are completed.

At the ceremony, Minister Getsi commented, “I am so pleased to be here today to see my old primary school upgraded with these new facilities, we have a long history of education at this school going back to 1950s missionary school origins.”

Andrew Egan, Minister Counsellor at the Australian High Commission, said education is vital for poverty reduction, economic growth and social stability.

“Papua New Guinea and Australia have a shared commitment to education,” he said. “Access to education for all children - especially girls - is critical to the future of Papua New Guinea.”

“We are focused on reducing barriers and encouraging girls and boys to attend and stay at school. These new facilities create an environment conducive to quality teaching and learning, which will benefit staff and students, now and in to the future.”

The new facilities also include solar panels and water tanks, which improve the sustainability of the buildings for the school and the local community.

The construction of new school infrastructure is part of Australia’s commitment to quality education for children across Papua New Guinea.

Utilities reform needed for better service delivery in the Pacific — ADB

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (18 July 2017) — Investments in basic services must be complemented by policy and regulatory reforms as well as capacity development to support a shift towards more commercially viable utilities in the Pacific, says the latest issue of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Pacific Economic Monitor (PEM) launched today.

“It is commendable that Pacific governments are stepping up their infrastructure investments, for example, in renewable energy to help reduce electricity costs and progress towards ambitious international climate change commitments,” said ADB Director General for the Pacific Ms Carmela Locsin.

“These efforts must be complemented by critical reforms to improve the efficiency and performance of utilities responsible for providing basic services in Pacific economies, including the promotion of further private sector participation.”   

Economic prospects for the Pacific remain positive, but growth will remain slow compared to other subregions, according to the report.

For 2018, growth in the Pacific is expected to remain flat at 2.2%.

 This is partly due to the impacts of disasters including an earthquake in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Cyclone Gita in Tonga last February.

Economic recovery in PNG and rising investment in Timor-Leste are expected to push growth in the Pacific to 3.0% in 2019.

The monitor, the flagship economic publication of ADB’s Pacific Department, focuses on country issues and current policy themes.

The latest issue focuses on the developments in the utilities sector, particularly electricity.

Access to electricity is low in the Pacific, particularly in the more remote and less developed parts of the subregion.

This is due to the countries’ dependence on expensive fossil fuels for power generation, inadequate investment in infrastructure, and electricity services costs that can be beyond the means of rural households.

About 20% of PNG’s population, for instance, has access to electricity and that number falls to 13% in rural areas, according to the report.

 Without access to electricity, public services cannot be properly delivered, and business activity is constrained—resulting in unfulfilled economic growth potential.

Although PNG has enviable potential to produce power, significant investment in the sector is needed to reach the country’s goal of 70% electrification by 2030.

The Monitor looks at how diversifying energy sources can help to lower costs by reducing dependency on expensive diesel, and how improved regulation can help attract much-needed investment and expand consumer access to electricity.

The monitor includes a series of short articles on efforts to improve electricity access in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; initiatives to bring innovation and international best practice to Fiji’s electricity sector; renewable energy initiatives in the Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga; and strategies for improving energy access in Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu.

 The report also includes a cautionary piece on cryptocurrencies in the North Pacific, as well as an article discussing measures for increasing competitiveness in Timor-Leste.

Topical policy briefs featured in the monitor, meanwhile, include the state of access to basic utilities and services in the Pacific; a strategy for truly sustainable energy in the Pacific based on efficient and financially viable utility operations; and the importance of institutional reform to improve waters services in Timor-Leste.

ADB is working with development partners to provide greater support to help Pacific utilities modernise their business systems and eventually become financially self-sustaining, and effect change in utility sector policies and governance arrangements.

 The report noted that long-term partnerships with utilities beyond project implementation is vital to bring about genuine, transformational change.

PEM is a bi-annual review of economic developments and policy issues in ADB’s 14 developing member countries in the Pacific and includes policy briefs on key policy issues and interests.

 In combination with the Asian Development Outlook series, ADB provides quarterly reports on economic trends and policy developments in the Pacific.

The Monitor welcomes contributions of policy briefs from external authors and institutions.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

 Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.

In 2017, ADB operations totaled $32.2 billion, including $11.9 billion in cofinancing.