Philippines, PNG governments welcome Air Niugini flights to Cebu

By MALUM NALU

Business relations between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea can only take a turn for the better with the establishment of twice weekly Air Niugini flights between Port Moresby and Cebu, according to the governments of both countries.

Philippines ambassador to PNG Bien V Tejano and PNG ambassador to Philippines Chris Vihruri concurred on this when speaking with The National after the arrival of Air Niugini’s inaugural Boeing 737 flight to Cebu on Monday night.

“I would say that the entry of Papua New Guinea’s Air Niugini into Cebu is a big boost for the two countries,” he said.

“This new aircraft coming in will add to a good relationship between the two countries.

“I would assume that there would be an improvement to both countries’ economies (because of the flights).

“I’m looking at an improvement in tourism in both countries.

“The business people here are so happy about this development.

“Many of these big players in the Philippines’ economy are here to witness this development.”

Filipino heavyweights in Cebu on Monday night included president of RD Tuna Group Ritchie Rivera, managing director of Frabelle Fishing Francisco Tiulaurel Jr, president of Frabelle PNG Ltd Augusto Natividad, owner of Kenmore Group of Companies Lucio Tan, chairman of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority Manuel Roxas, Cebu City mayor Michael Rama, Lapu Lapu City mayor Paz Radaza. Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortest,and members of the House of Representatives.

From right are VIPs including Independent Public Business Corporation managing director Thomas Abe, Lapu Lapu city mayor Paz Radaza, IPBC chairman Dr Thomas Webster, Cebu governor Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia, and Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri.

Vihruri described the commencement of regular Air Niugini flights from Port Moresby to Cebu as “corporate history”.

“The commencement of flights to Cebu is a very historic and important commercial decision,” he said.

“For Air Niugini flights to come to Cebu, in addition to Manila, opens us (PNG) up to Asean (Association of South East National Nations) countries.

“We (PNG) have opened up this part of the Asean market, which is very competitive.

“By coming here, Air Niugini is part of that competition.

“The (PNG) embassy, which I am custodian of as ambassador, is very proud.”

Vihruri said a lot of manpower for fisheries and LNG projects in PNG was provided by the Phillipines.

“The main relationship (between the two countries) is in fishing,” he said.

“A lot of recruitment is done here.

“A lot of the recruitment for the LNG project is also done in the Phillipines.

“Many of the recruits will be passed through the Cebu airport.

“Air Niugini will be doing good business, which is good for all PNG stakeholders.”

Air Niugini begins flights to Cebu, Phillipines

From MALUM NALU in Cebu

Business between the Philippines and Papua New Guinea is likely to increase with the introduction of the twice-weekly Air Niugini Boeing 737-700 flights between Cebu and Port Moresby, according to Air Niugini deputy chairman Sir Fredrick Reiher.

He said this at Jackson Airport in Port Moresby yesterday (Monday) when launching Air Niugini’s inaugural flight to Cebu, which included senior government officials, private sector officials, and senior management and board members of the airline.

The four-hour flight left Port Moresby at 3pm PNG time and arrived in Cebu to a grand welcome at after 7pm (5pm Cebu time).

The Air Niugini Boeing 737 being welcomed to Cebu at 7.30pm PNG time last night (5.30pm Cebu time).-Pictures by MALUM NALU

VIPs included Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) chairman Dr Thomas Webster, IPBC managing director Thomas Webster, chief migration officer Mataio Rabura, major Air Niugini corporate client representatives, representatives from travel agencies, and history-making commercial passengers.

Heavyweights in Cebu last night included president of RD Tuna Group Ritchie Rivera, managing director of Frabelle Fishing Francisco Tiulaurel Jr, Frabelle PNG Ltd Augusto Natividad, owner of Kenmore Group of Companies Lucio Tan, chairman of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority Manuel Roxas, Cebu City mayor Michael Rama, Lapu Lapu City mayor Paz Radaza. Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortest, members of the House of Representatives, and PNG Ambasador to Philippines Chris Vihruri Jr.

Phillipines and PNG VIPs at last nights welcome reception in Cebu

“I understand that that due to passénger demand, Air Niugini has now added Cebu and such expansion is commendable,” Sir Fredrick said.

“Instead of travelling via Manila, the Cebu service now makes it easier for the Filipinos involved in the LNG project, those in the fisheries sector and other businesses to fly direct to Cebu.

“Once the scheduled operations commence, I am told Air Niugini will have two direct flights from Port Moresby to Cebu every Tuesday and Friday.

“The flight on Tuesday leaves Port Moresby at 5.50pm and arrives in Cebu at 8.20pm.

“The flight on Thursday also has the same departure and arrival times.”

Reiher said this was the first Air Niugini flight to Cebu and also the first for its newly-acquired Boeing 737-700 series aircraft.

“It did its first operations on Sunday to Sydney and today will be the second, although it is the aircraft’s first operation to Cebu,” he said.

“The commencement of this flight now brings to 10 international destinations, Air Niugini now operates to whilst it also marks Air Niugini’s second destination in the Philippines after the capital, Manila.

The Air Niugini Boeing 737 after arrival at Cebu last night.

“Other international destinations include Cairns, Brisbane and Sydney in Australia, Honiara in Solomon Islands, Nadi in Fiji, Tokyo in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.”

Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasi said in Cebu last night that the regular flights would boost business opportunities between the two countries.

Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasi speaks in Cebu last night.

“The Cebu route ensures convenience for the hundreds of Filipinos involved in the multi-billion dollar LNG project in Papua New Guinea, as well as those Filipinos in the fisheries sector and other industries,” he said.

“I am happy to see the president of RD Tuna Group, president of Frabelle PNG Ltd, and owner of Kenmore Group of Companies this evening.”

Petromin unveils new discovery at Ipi River

By GYNNIE KERO

PAPUA New Guinea’s national oil, gas and minerals company Petromin yesterday announced a new discovery at its Ipi River prospect in Central province, The National reports.
 The company said in a statement that the second drill hole PDH002 in its 100%-owned Ipi River prospect had intersected porphyry mineralisation from 10m to end of hole at 461m east of hole PDH001.

Petromin’s diamond driller, Donald Kiap (left) and the drill crew preparing the SC11 drilling rig for drilling on the second exploration hole (PDH002).

“Preliminary assay results from its first drill hole PDH001 are currently being received and compiled for analysis and reporting,” Petromin said.
“Best gold, copper and molybdenum assay in the hole was 0.558 grammes per tonne (g/t), 0.47% and 0.11% respectively.
“Copper and molybdenum assays from 276m to end of hole depth of 427m are not yet available.
“Petromin’s exploration team is expecting better copper grades in the deeper parts of the hole close to the potassic core or centre of the mineralisation.
“The initial assays for PDH001 and more than 450m of mineralisation observed in PDH002 continue to confirm the geochemical sampling and 3D IP geophysical survey and interpretation carried out by Petromin exploration team last year, identifying the porphyry target zone area of 1.63km by 1.27km and a depth of 0.6km.
“A third hole, PDH003 is being designed to further test the centre of the porphyry system as hole PDH001 stopped 200m short of reaching the modelled centre of the mineralisation to the west.”
The company plans to announce all the results of drill hole PDH001 and PDH002 over the coming months as final assay results are received.
The Ipi River prospect at EL-1352 is about 50km north-west of the company’s current Tolukuma gold mine, on the foot hills of the Owen Stanley Range, not far from Bereina on the coast.
Petromin managing director and chief executive officer Joshua Kalinoe said the accelerated exploration and drilling programme at the Ipi River prospect was part of Petromin’s overall growth strategy, consistent with its mandate of meaningfully participating in the mining and petroleum industry for the collective gain of all Papua New Guineans.
He said the initial assay results from drill hole PDH001 were very encouraging and confirmed “our geological and geophysical modelling that the Ipi River prospect is a genuine porphyry target”.
He said the PDH002 had now confirmed that the mineralisation in the porphyry system extends and was still open to the east for more than 230m.
Core samples for PDH002 are being processed for assay.
The exploration programme is being undertaken by Petromin’s wholly-owned upstream exploration and production company Eda Minerals Ltd and is led by Petromin’s chief exploration geologist Dr Wilfred Lus and a national team of geologists and drilling personnel.

Seven new MPs declared

A TOTAL of 10 members of parliament have been declared, seven of them since last Friday, after voting in the elections officially ended on July 6, The National reports.
 But, as counting continues, the People’s National Congress of caretaker Prime Minister Peter O’Neill remains the party with the most votes.
As at 6pm yesterday, according to the Electoral Commission’s website and The National’s own data collected after the declaration of winners, PNC leads in 17 seats, eight more than the next best-placed PNG Party which leads in nine electorates.
The Triumph Heritage Empowerment (T.H.E) Party of Don Polye is next with eight.
The  National Alliance party of deposed prime minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare is next with seven followed by the United Resources Party and People’s Party who each have four leaders and then the People’s Progress Party and People’s United Assembly who each have candidate leading in their respective electorates.
Independent candidates form a strong bloc, leading in 12 electorates. If the trend continues and they win a fair number of seats, they could dictate the shape of the next government.
However, although independents form the highest number of people contesting the elections, none has been declared a winner as yet.
The party which wins the most seats in the 111-member parliament is given the first opportunity by the governor-general, following the return of writs on or before July 27, to form the new government.
Of the men jostling to lead the country after the elections, O’Neill had retained his seat and was joined last Friday by Polye who served O’Neill as treasury minister.
The others declared are Paul Isikiel (PNC), Douglas Tomuriesa (T.H.E Party), Patrick Pruaitch and John Simon (NA), Byron Chan (People’s Progress Party), Ronnie Knight (New Generation Party) and Paul Tiensten (People’s United Party).
The focus this week will undoubtedly switch to the fortunes of some of the other leading players such as O’Neill’s deputy and PNG Party leader Belden Namah, who had not led at any stage of the progressive count in his Vanimo-Green electorate.
However, PNG Party secretary Pat Kassman expected Namah to be returned on the first count and was confident the leader’s declaration would get the party’s momentum going.
Further declarations this week would certainly give an indication on the groups with the potential to coalesce and form government by the end of this month

CPL celebrates 25th year with staff bonus

CPL Press Release

CPL Group celebrated the company’s silver jubilee as it completed 25 years of operations since the enterprise’s founding in 1987. 

City Pharmacy and Hardware Haus staff from Hagen leading the cake-cutting ceremony

 CPL Group chairman, Mahesh Patel, to add more flavor to the celebration, rewarded all the employees with bonus across the organisation irrespective of number of days spent in the organisation.

 This moment was cherished and deeply appreciated by all the employees, whom Mahesh proudly refers to as his “CPL family.”

 “I can think of no better way to acknowledge the contribution made by our employees, without whom we wouldn’t have achieved this milestone,”   Patel says.

Staff from City Pharmacy, Stop N Shop, Homemaker and Boncafe partaking the anniversary cake

 “Employees' welfare is not just core to our business – it is core to our values.”

 This landmark achievement of 25 years operation was celebrated with all CPL employees  by cutting anniversary cake to all CPL stores nationwide as well as head office. 

Free lunch was also provided to all employees nationwide.  

The anniversary cake-cutting was done by long serving Papua New Guinean employees who have been loyal and served towards the growth of the company over the years.

Patel specially thanked his customers who had the trust in CPL management and operations and have been loyal to all businesses that CPL operates.

The company’s commitment to innovation, customer loyalty, bringing international standards has been and will always be their key focus.

The company's commitment to innovation, customers and giving back has been key to CPL Group's success over the years—and it will drive the company's ongoing mission to shape the future of the Internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for customers, employees and shareholders.

CPL Group is PNG’s biggest retailing work. 

To its credit, CPL Group has now established six strong retail brands namely City Pharmacy, Stop N Shop, Hardware Haus, Boncafe, Homemaker and Paradise Cinema.  

As of year 2011, the CPL Group has a combined retail operations of 56 stores nationwide and employs over 2,000 staff of which 95% are Papua New Guineans.

 Its retail network spans health and beauty chains, grocery, hardware stores, coffee shops and cinema.

BSP introduces Mobile Internet Banking

BSP Press Release

BSP has introduced Mobile Internet Banking and its personal customers registered on internet banking can now conduct internet banking on a mobile phone anywhere, anytime. 

BSP's Gabriel Nangile (left) signs up a new customer,  a member of the media who attend the media launch yesterday.

 Mobile Internet Banking is an Internet based service that provides customers access to their accounts using their mobile phone 24 hours, seven days a week. 

Customers no longer have to perform personal banking transactions only on a PC at the home or office and can now conveniently do banking on the go.

 This service is for a customer with active BSP personal accounts who owns a mobile phone device that has web access and meets requirements.  

Mobile Internet Banking allows customers to do the following using a mobile phone device:

• View your account balances
  
•  View your recent transactions
• Transfer between your own accounts
• Transfer funds to other PNG account
•    Pay your bills; and
•  View your future transactions

The bank’s group chief executive officer Ian B Clyne,  when launching its Mobile Internet Banking during a media conference yesterday said: “BSP is the one bank that is truly committed to making banking a convenient and easy part of life. 

"We are one bank that has a real understanding that there’s an increasing need to save time and money.”

 BSP has committed to the largest expansion and roll out of new banking services – more than any other bank, emphasising BSP's commitment to deliver real banking solutions. 

 “We’re committed to improving our product offers, service levels and access to banking services for our customers by continuing to introduce new services and technology,” Clyne added.

 Customers who wish to sign up or require more information regarding BSP Mobile Internet Banking, can visit the BSP website www.bsp.com.pg  or contact Customer Service Centre on phone number: 320 1212.

PNG flag flies high in the Himalayas

Is this the highest place on earth that the Papua New Guinea flag has flown? 

On June 18, 2012 Granger Narara, a PNG pilot based in Abu Dhabi, UAE with Etihad Airways, carried the PNG flag on a motorbike to the highest motorable road in the world.  

Narara flies the PNG flag high in the Himalayas

At 18,380 feet, the Khardung La or Khardung Pass in the Ladakh region of northern India and part of the great Himalayan mountain range sits over 3, 500 feet above Mt. Wilhelm.  

The team of nine bike riders and two guides with a support vehicle, driver and two mechanics, rode 1,550km in nine days from New Delhi to Khardung La over some of the most scenic and inhospitable terrain in the world. 

These roads are only open for civilian use for four months of the year from June to September due to the heavy snow. 

They are,  however,  used most of the year by the military to supply their forward bases in Sachun Glacier, which is the scene of an ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India.

"We slept most nights between 10,000ft and 12,000ft and we rode during the day over passes ranging from 14,000ft to 18,000ft, this helped in keeping our bodies acclimatised and prevented high altitude sickness," Narara says.

"Temperatures were +10  to + 15 during the day and went well below freezing at night. 

"The motorbikes used were Indian manufactured Royal Enfield 500’s, with fuel injected single cylinder engines.

" These rugged built motorcycles handled the altitude and off road conditions with ease, much better than the riders did. 

This team is planning more motorbike rides to other parts of the world in the near future with hopefully more Papua New Guinean riders on board and we should see the PNG flag flying in some more exotic places on the planet."