Until now, ministers have relied on Chinese suppliers for the rapid tests sent to households and the first British company to get involved said it took six months to get approved. Sky News has been given exclusive access to a warehouse where millions of lateral flow tests are being stored ready for distribution. The pictures of the warehouse full of rapid tests are likely to frustrate those who have been unable to get hold of lateral flow devices over recent weeks. The storage site in Nottinghamshire is part of a giant manufacturing facility run by SureScreen Diagnostics, the first British company to have its lateral flow tests approved for self-use in the UK. Until now, the government has relied on Chinese suppliers for the rapid tests it provides to households. One of SureScreen's directors, David Campbell, explained it has taken around six months to secure approval for their tests. Mr Campbell said approval was given in November which meant the company could begin packaging up the test kits with official NHS Track and Trace instruction leaflets and prepare them to be sent to pharmacies across the country. They say that for several weeks now they've been dispatching lorries full of tests to national distribution centres, but have been waiting for the official announcement that they have been approved for use. They've only started to appear on pharmacy shelves in the last few days. SOURCE: SKY NEWS

Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) has signed a PGK50 million project agreement to commence the upgrading and sealing of the Kiunga-Tabubil Highway. The agreement was signed today (11th January 2022) in Port Moresby between OTML and contractor, China Railway Construction Engineering Group Co. Limited for Phase One of project. Funded under the Government’s Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme (ITCS) program, the project will be undertaken in three phases, with Phase One to commence in February which will see the upgrading and sealing of the highway commencing at Kilometre-3 near Kiunga town. Phases 2 and 3 will follow suit once further funding is available through the ITCS. OTML Deputy CEO and General Manager Community and Operations Support, Kedi Ilimbit, said the 135-kilometre highway provides a vital link for the people of North Fly and having it upgraded and sealed will significantly help the people, local farmers and small-to-medium enterprises. Since 1997 OTML has spent over PGK300 million on ITCS projects in Western Province and Telefomin District in Sandaun Province. These include high impact priority projects in Health, Education, Law and Justice and Transport Infrastructure and Utilities. OTML recently thanked the National Government for increasing the Tax Credit Scheme (TCS) ceiling from 0.75% to 2% as announced in the 2022 National Budget. The increased tax credit ceiling along with improved performance by OTML in the near term, mine performance is expected to see a significant increase in annual tax credits from approximately K25 million per annum to more than K100 million per annum over the life of the mine. Other major projects being considered include the upgrading and sealing of the Daru Town Roads and airport extension, construction of a new District Court House in Kiunga, refurbishment of the Aiambak Secondary High School, road link to Vanimo and Hela Province, construction of Atemkit/Kavorabip road and construction of the road from Alice Pit to the border.

ExxonMobil PNG (EMPNG) recently donated GeneXpert testing cartridges to help boost local COVID-19 testing capabilities across Hela Province. The testing kits will help medical authorities at Tari Hospital test and diagnose COVID-19 cases locally, supporting the Hela Provincial Health Authority’s (HPHA) efforts to reduce the spread of the virus. HPHA Director Corporate Services and Acting Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Tipi and Director Curator Services, Dr. Sylvester Tati were on site to receive the donation from EMPNG at the Tari Hospital. ExxonMobil PNG’s Executive Director – Production, Scott Sandlin said ExxonMobil PNG and the PNG LNG Project remain committed to doing its part to support the PNG government’s COVID- 19 emergency response both at the national level as well on the ground in its area of operation. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, ExxonMobil PNG has supported the Port Moresby General Hospital and health authorities in Hela and Central provinces with much needed medical supplies and equipment. Last year, EMPNG through the PNG LNG project assisted HPHA with oxygen and hospital beds for the isolation wards together with its local partners on the ground. EMPNG is also continuing to carry out vaccination awareness amongst the communities. Later this year, ExxonMobil PNG will deliver laboratory equipment and vehicles to HPHA as further support for the Covid-19 emergency response operations in the Hela Province. EMPNG has also donated office equipment and supplies to support operations of the National Covid-19 Control Centre, while PNG LNG staff have assisted the National Department of Health with the distribution of COVID-19 awareness materials as well as food donations to medical facilities and remote-area frontline health workers.

The Office of the Governor General is seeking Court eviction orders to remove illegal settlers that have settled on land belonging to the State on which the Governor General’s Office and Government House is located. Acting Official Secretary Mr. Bill Toraso said, the illegal settlers have been given advance notices and time to remove their structures and move out, however, to date they have not done so. Mr. Toraso said, on instructions from the Governor General, he has held talks and meetings with the concerned parties since 2020 as well as on three separate occasions in 2021, but so far the illegal settlers have refused to move. “Out of compassion, we have notified them (illegal settlers) to move out of the land surrounding the perimeters of Government House as it is State land. We gave them an additional 31 days as of 2nd December 2021, which has since lapsed, but they have refused to leave. We are seeking legal advice, and in addition, Court eviction orders to remove these illegal settlers,” Mr. Toraso said. Mr. Toraso said, he has also had discussions with traditional landowners of this land and this matter is before the Department of Lands to pursue with the genuine landowners. Mr. Toraso said, the traditional landowners have also confirmed these settlers were not traditional landowners but squatters settling on State land. “We have sought to find an amicable solution with the illegal settlers but so far they have not been cooperating. The national Government has allocated funding for expansion of Government House to include staff housing and the completion of the perimeter fencing for the entire boundary of Government House. We have yet to undertake and complete these projects because State land is been illegally settled on by this settlers,” Mr. Toraso said. The land area, on which the Office of the Governor General and Government House is located, is located at Granville area of Port Moresby accessed via D’Albertis Street from Champion Parade, Lot 6. Sect. 47, and has a total land area of 4.503 hectares.

Minister for Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Timothy Masiu is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the invitation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Soroi Eoe and will deliver the Keynote Address at the World Expo 2020 PNG Investment Forum themed “Eco-Tourism and Connectivity – Living in Balance with Nature” to be held at the PNG pavilion on 14 January 2022. Minister Masiu arrived on Saturday 7th January 2022 and is accompanied by the Department of ICT Secretary Steven Matainaho, NICTA CEO Kila Gulo-Vui, and technical officers from the ICT ministerial sector, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade. On the invitation of Tuvalu pavilion organising committee, Minister Masiu and the government delegation attended the Tuvalu National Day event on 9th January 2022 at Al Wasl, Expo Site Dubai, and later met with the PNG Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium based in Brussels H.E Joshua Kalinoe at the PNG pavilion for a ministerial briefing. After the ministerial briefing, Secretary Matainaho visited the Romanian pavilion and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Cluj IT Cluster, which was represented by Vice President Daniel Homorodean. Mr Matainaho was accompanied by his Deputy Secretary Russell Woruba, Principal Legal Counsel Oala Moi, and Janet Raula-Ila from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The MOU will enable further development of ICT Cluster and ICT Incubation Centre development in Papua New Guinea. Secretary Matainaho also toured the digitally progressive Estonian pavilion where he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Estonian technology company Cybernetica. Cybernetica was represented by its Head of Business Development, Kevin Tammearu. The MOU will enable further development of secured digital government programs driven by the government. On 10th January 2022, Minister Masiu and Secretary Matainaho and the government delegation will visit the Al Yalais Government Transactions Centre at the Dubai Investment Park, for a guided tour. This will be followed by a private meeting between Minister Masiu and a representative from the UAE Chamber of Commerce. On 11th January 2022, Minister Masiu will depart Dubai for Abu Dhabi, where he will pay a courtesy call on His Excellency Abmed Ali Al Sayegh, the Minister for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. While in Abu Dhabi, Minister Masiu will also pay a courtesy call on his counterpart minister, His Excellency Omar bin Sultan, the Minister for State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. The final stop for Minister Masiu’s engagement while he is in Abu Dhabi, will be at the Telecommunication & Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). The TDRA is the ICT regulator in the UAE. For this meeting, Minister Masiu will be accompanied by Ambassador Kalinoe, Secretary Steven Matainaho, and NICTA CEO Kila Gulo-Vui. On 12th January 2022, Minister Masiu will meet with a private investor. Later in the day, PNG officials will meet  with a blockchain consultant, to be followed by a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of the Jaheen Group of Companies. In the afternoon, Secretary Matainaho will sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with a representative from Cisco Systems at the Cisco Grove located at the 2020 Expo site. He will end the day by attending a meeting with the Etisalat UAE Director. On 13th January 2022, Minister Masiu is scheduled to meet with Her Excellency Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, the Minister of State for International Cooperation. Her Excellency is also the DirectorGeneral of the Dubai Expo 2020. Minister Masiu will then take a tour of the UAE pavilion. Later in the morning, PNG officials will meet with officials from the Asian Broadcast Satellite. In the afternoon, Minister Masiu is scheduled to visit and take a tour of the Israel pavilion. On 14th January 2022, Minister Masiu will be at the Business Connect Centre at the Expo site, where he is scheduled to attend the PNG Investment Forum themed “Eco-Tourism and Connectivity” and give his Keynote Address.

Tonga's Parliament has been opened by the King Tupou VI. The King addressed the newly elected parliament, via livestream, with a brief speech from his residence on 'Eua Island, an hour south of Tongatapu. Members of Parliament and invited guests gathered at the parliamentary chambers to receive the opening address. He congratulated the incoming Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, as well as all Parliamentarians on the successful completion, and peaceful transition of power leading to the opening of Parliament this year. [caption id="attachment_18298" align="alignnone" width="639"] Tonga's parliamentary chamber Photo: Tonga parliament[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_18299" align="aligncenter" width="635"] Tonga MPs wait for the King to open parliament Photo: Tonga parliament[/caption] In his speech he said Covid-19 is still a serious and immediate risk to all citizens just as illegal drugs are still an ongoing risk to the population but especially to our children. "Our population must be both healthy and educated for the country to advance towards our development goals," he said. "The challenge for the duration of this next election period is clear. How are we to answer those challenges should be formulated and led by this government, but they must be discussed and accountable in how they are implemented here in Parliament," King Tupou VI said. First parliamentary session Clerk of Tonga's Parliament Gloria Pole'o said the first parliamentary session will be on Thursday. "At this meeting the newly elected members will take their respective oathes of office as Members of Parliament and as ministers of the Cabinet and these oaths will be taken in the presence of the Assembly," she said. Gloria Pole'o said Thursday's meeting will include the election of chairman of the House Committee. The reply to the Speech from the Throne is also expected to be tabled at Thursday's meeting and needs to be approved by the House before it is submitted to the King. [caption id="attachment_18300" align="aligncenter" width="636"] King Tupou VI receives Tonga's new Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni, after presenting the Royal Warrant of Appointment for the PM at the Royal Palace in Nuku'alofa on Tuesday 28 December 2021. Sovaleni was elected as PM by the new parliament, following Tonga's November 18 general election. Photo: Pesi Fonua / Matangi Tonga Online[/caption] Last month, King Tupou has presented Tonga's newly elected Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni with a Royal Warrant of Appointment in Nuku'alofa. Mr Sovaleni was elected as Designate Prime Minister by 16 members of the 26-members parliament in a secret ballot earlier this month. He will hold the office of Prime Minister for four years. SOURCE: RNZ NEWS

The government's announcement to re-introduce the Tuition Fee Free Education Policy for the 2022 academic year comes as a relief for many parents nationwide - but it won't be the same for schools in Morobe Province. Parents and students attending Morobe Schools will again dig deeper into their pockets so their kids can get an education after the Provincial Education Board made a decision for all schools in the province to continue charging the parental component for school fees in the 2022 academic. The announcement comes just weeks before the resumption of the 2022 academic year and after the National Government’s announcement to re-introduce the free-education policy for schools nationwide. Provincial Education Advisor Keith Tangui said a decision was reached by the Provincial Education Board despite the government’s intervention to look after fees for this year for elementary to secondary schools. “The fees paid in by students will cater for outstanding bills and debts incurred by the schools over the years.” The new parental component fees for this year are K200.00 per student for elementary education, K350.00 per student for primary schools, K700.00 for day students in secondary schools and K900.00 for boarding students. Technical and vocational schools will be charging K600.00 per student for day students and K800.00 for boarding. Mr. Tangui said the boards decision is binding and for the welfare of the students to keep school operations going. “Schools also need to deliver projects and charging of fees will greatly assist in this area.” Mr. Tangui also emphasised the urgent need to address student over-crowding and the way to do it was to build more infrastructure like classrooms and dormitories.

The St John Ambulance have temporarily suspended their services in Kundiawa, Chimbu Province following an attack on one of their Ambulances. CEO of St John Matt Cannon said the incident happened last week Thursday at the Sipagkul village in the Gumine District while it was responding to a severely injured individual in the area. “As the ambulance approached Sipagkul village, they had people throwing stones and wielding offensive weapons.” “We don’t understand why they were acting hostile towards an ambulance.” “A rock made contact with one of the side windows of the ambulance, smashing the window and causing damage to the side of the vehicle.” “The matter has been reported to the Kundiawa Police.” A very disappointed Mr Cannon said, this is the second such incident in two months where rocks have been thrown at ambulances. He said the poor actions of one individual affects the services to the whole population. “We are disappointed that when events like this happen, ambulances should have free passage.” “We support all sides, we support all people, we don’t discriminate.” “If someone’s in need of help, our job is to get to them and provide that help and get them that emergency medical treatment they need.” Meanwhile, there will be no services available as the vehicle is currently being repaired in Goroka. Matt Cannon said this incident occurred at a time when the secondary ambulance for Kundiawa is currently having a routine maintenance, and it cannot immediately step-in to assist.

A magistrate at the Waigani Committal Court this morning summoned the Administration Superintendent at Boroko Police Station to appear in court on January 12, 2022 to explain the circumstances in the granting of bail to a defendant accused of robbing using offensive weapons. Magistrate Paul Nii made the summons after hearing the case of the NCD Governor’s son’s wife who was slapped with four charges including armed robbery. He said granting of bail for armed robbery cases is not within the jurisdiction of police or the committal court to make but must be sought at the relevant courts which is the National and Supreme court. The defendant was released on a K1000 police bail after being arrested and charged with one count each of deprivation of liberty, armed robbery, threaten to kill and unlawful assault on another woman on November 30, 2021. Police prosecutor Joseph Sangam took note of the summons and the matter will return this Wednesday, January 12, 2020.

The wife of NCD Governor’s son, Sengol Parkop appeared at the Waigani Committal Court this morning after she was slapped with four charges in relation to an attack on another woman in November last year. Quinnie Mick, 24 years of age from Kupin Kem village in Ambum, Enga Province was charged with one count each of deprivation of liberty, armed robbery, threaten to kill and unlawful assault. The court heard that on November 30, 2021 between 9am and 1pm, Quinnie used her husband’s phone and pretending to be him, sent several text messages to the victim to meet up at Shangri La Motel at Waigani in NCD. The victim was part of Sengol’s Campaign team in the recent Moresby North West By Election and Quinnie had suspected her of been involved in a sexual relationship with her husband. The victim thinking it was him, made her way to the said location after receiving the messages. While she was there, the accused with a group of men rushed up on the victim and attacked her by kicking and punching her before forcing her into a vehicle and drove off to several locations around the city before she was rescued by a police unit at Hohola. Quinnie repeatedly questioned the victim if she had any secret sexual relationship with her husband but the victim denied any sexual involvement. The victim was repeatedly attacked while being held inside the vehicle and the mob further attempted to remove her clothes during the ordeal. Magistrate Paul Nii read the charges to Quinnie and adjourned the matter to February 23, 2021 for the matter to return to court. Quinnie is currently out on a K1000 police bail.

‘Around 10 years old, my favourite sport was volleyball. I hated playing cricket. My father who is a former Barramundis player would always encourage me to play cricket, but I never listened. When I reached 13, I started playing cricket in the Hanuabada village competition. I really liked cricket from then on.’ PIH U19 Cricket PNG all-rounder from Hanuabada tells his story of how he got into the game of cricket. By age 15 he had joined the local cricket club and things just evolved from there. Now at 17 and enthusiastically training for his debut on the international stage, he says the game has taught him so much. ‘I learnt a lot of things through cricket beyond like batting and fielding techniques, like respect the coaches and our parents.’ ‘Training has been good. I still need to work on my running and batting skills, as we’ve only had a few months of training. But I’m very excited to be playing in the World Cup and a bit nervous of travelling.’ Sharing the same sentiments as most of his other teammates, John says he just wants to learn as much as he can from the other participating countries that will be at the World Cup. ‘I like retired Australian cricketer, Mitchel Johnson. He bowls a lot of trick balls and I’ve never seen a bowler bowl like that before. Especially for him as a left-handed bowler and me being one too.’ Before the U19 team’s first game in the World Cup, he has a few words of encouragement for his teammates. ‘Mi laik tok tasol long ol mangi olsem, mipla go long nem blong kantri. And I want to encourage them to think big. [I’d like to remind the boys that we’re doing this for our country.] John would like to thank his family for always encouraging him to join the sport since he was a boy. He also extends his gratitude towards Cricket PNG for the opportunity to make the team – a truly unforgettable experience for him.

The PNG National Power Grid Backbone Infrastructure Project involving 6 provinces, was originally developed to meet the growing energy requirements of major populations, enterprise, and industrial resource concerns in the region. This is a project of substantial national importance, affecting the livelihoods of millions of Papua New Guineans. The project is in line with government’s desire to improve access by PNG households to reliable power supply. The project was originally approved 6 years ago, based on transmission feasibility reports published in 2014. After an exhaustive international tender selection process, Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co., Ltd (TBEA) were contracted to deliver phase 1 and later, phase 2 of the project. TBEA has a 75-year history of transformer manufacturing and 60 years of wire and cable fabricating. It is a leading enterprise in the power transmission and distribution industry, with one of the largest Research & Development export bases in the world. This is a critical project delivered by a world class contractor. The NEC approved the project variation to add the Tari to Hides 132kV transmission and substation project in its Decision No. 138/2021, with contracts executed in July 2021 at a widely publicized event attended by the Prime Minister Hon James Marape, Minister for State Enterprises Hon William Duma, the PNG Power Chairman Moses Maladina and Board member Chey Scovell, and the former Managing Director of Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH) Isikeli Taureka. This critical addition will strengthen and diversify the power supply to the network, by connecting gas generation assets in Hides to homes and businesses. This project makes absolute commercial sense to PNG Power. The aim of the main project is to build the transmission network necessary to access cheap gas power from Hides to improve generation availability and reliability at the western end of the Highlands region to support generation from Pauanda and Yonki. The outcome of the project will reduce generation cost and power disruption caused by generation shortfall for the upper Highlands centres including Mt. Hagen. Tari will no longer rely on expensive diesel generation, with a move to cleaner cheaper locally extracted gas-powered generation. Ramu1 and Yonki hydro assets will have more available capacity to supply lower highlands centres, Lae and Madang. KCH is funding the K71million project variation, through a shareholder lending arrangement to PNG Power. This adds to over a billion kina in total project funding for this vital infrastructure. This project is part of PNG Power’s 15-year power development plan and supports the company’s move to accessing cheaper energy production, whilst increasing transmission capacity and reliability.