Since the start of its establishment in 2011, the PNG Life Education Institute (PNGLEI) has been filling the gap for many PNG youths in the nation’s capital and the central province by providing a second chance at education and not only that, but to up skill the youths with certifications and job offers on hand after completion of training. Principal and Managing Director of the PNGLEI Mr. Rai Gini said, over 4000+ under privileged youths have graduated through this. He said, out of the 164 students who passed out last year, 75% of them have secured jobs and 25% are yet to find job placements. “We at PNGEI have created employment opportunities for more than 3800 unemployed youths and provided up skilling training for more than 350 reputable organizations and Government firms throughout PNG.” “Our SME program has also resulted in more than 1,200 entrepreneurs given the opportunity to start and operate their successful businesses.” He said their training is mostly in the business area and the institute has been set up to give them another chance after school and at life. PNG Life Education Institute is specialized in Education and Skills Training to School Leavers/Non School Leavers, Unemployed Youths, and employees of the private and government sectors in: • Life Skills Education • Improving Education through English connect 1, 2 & 3 • MSME Training, Development & Implementation • Self-Reliance Education • Job Placement • Spiritual Education • Leadership Training • Management Training • Training of Trainers • Agriculture • Business Management Training • Project Management & Proposal Writing • Further Education Pathway Connect “PNGLEI’s paramount aim or goal for the institute is to promote education through Self –Reliance & Spiritual Education, provide Life Skills Training and others related educational services in the National Capital District, Central, Motu Koitabu and expand to other provinces in PNG.” Mr. Gini further stated that, registrations are now open, and classes will commence next week.

While others celebrated the beginning of a new year, the Port Moresby General Hospital welcomed 25 babies, from 12midnighr to 12noon on the 1st of January 2024. All the dedicated nurses, doctors and allied staff of the labour and post-natal wards welcomed the safe delivery of 16 females and 9 males of babies and the care of their mothers. Most of the mothers had their babies delivered normal accept one mother underwent caesarean while the other mother was assisted with the vacuum and delivered her baby girl safely and still under close observation. Thus, her baby was the heaviest with the weight of 4.5 kg. Another young mother, Gino Wahe was very happy to have her first baby boy born on the New Year. The 19-year-old Gino comes from Gulf but resides in Port Moresby. Gino gladly thanked doctors and nurses for the safe delivery of her first child. Among the mothers was also a 15-year-old girl who gave birth to a baby boy on New Year.

Giving blood saves lives! Tis the season for giving. Staff across ExxonMobil rallied together this Christmas, to give the gift of life, by donating 185 bags of blood to the Port Moresby General Hospital blood bank, totalling more than 4 times the daily average currently being collected. Donations were collected at ExxonMobil Haus, in Port Moresby, and at the PNG LNG Plant site, at Caution Bay. This marks the second blood drive campaign conducted across ExxonMobil sites this year through a collaboration between ExxonMobil’s Medicine and Occupational Health Department, Port Moresby General Hospital Blood Bank, and the Sir Brian Bell Foundation. ExxonMobil PNG’s staff contributions to the blood bank totalled 311 bags this year: saving approximately 933 lives.

Success such as the Broncos' rise to the 2023 grand final often means letting go of several stars, with Herbie Farnworth, Thomas Flegler, Kurt Capewell and Keenan Palasia all heading out the door ahead of the start of the 2024 campaign. The Broncos signed Roosters forward Fletcher Baker in a bid to fill the void left by the Dolphins-bound Flegler but the club has placed a big focus on retaining the nucleus of their squad, with coach Kevin Walters pinning his faith on the next generation of talent with just two new signings for 2024. Capewell’s experience and leadership will be missed after his switch to the Warriors, with 21-year-old Brendan Piakura likely to get first shot at the vacant back-row position after stringing 13 games together last season. Young gun Xavier Willison will be eager to nail Titans-bound Palasia's spot on the bench. As for Farnworth, 25-year-old Jesse Arthars is likely to be challenged with the task of filling the star Englishman's shoes after extending his contract through to 2026 earlier in the year. Deine Mariner is also an option to shift to the centres with veteran winger Corey Oates extending his contract for 2024. Losing three star forwards and a Dally M Centre of the Year will certainly take some adjusting but with star fullback Reece Walsh locked in until the end of 2025 and grand final hat-trick hero Ezra Mam looking set to remain at Red Hill, the Broncos' top 17 stacks up alongside the best in the NRL. Predicted Round 1 team Reece Walsh Deine Mariner Jesse Arthars Kotoni Staggs Selwyn Cobbo Ezra Mam Adam Reynolds Payne Haas Billy Walters Fletcher Baker Brendan Piakura Jordan Riki Patrick Carrigan Cory Paix Kobe Hetherington Xavier Willison Corey Jensen Full Broncos squad and signings here. Key Changes Ins: Fletcher Baker (Roosters), Jaiyden Hunt (Dragons) Outs: Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Keenan Palasia (Titans), Tom Flegler (Dolphins), Kurt Capewell (Warriors), Logan Bayliss (unsigned) Health Watch No major injury concerns heading into 2024. Positional battle to watch As England star Herbie Farnworth begins his new chapter with the Dolphins, Jesse Arthars will be in the mix for the first shot at nailing down the vacant centre position. Arthars played just one game in the centres when Farnworth was rested in Round 27 but appeared 12 times in the position for the Warriors in 2022 before featuring also at centre for the Māori All Stars in February. Exciting rookie Deine Mariner looks set to ignite some healthy competition for the position after starring in four appearances on the wing last season. If handed first opportunity in the position, Arthars will need to be firing with Mariner expected to work hard to earn a spot on the side after his impressive performances for the Broncos last year.   Source: NRL.com

During the month of December, Trukai Industries donated 4200kg of rice during its charity drive to hospitals, correctional establishments and non-government organizations. Under its Tru Care Brand, the purpose of this donation drive was to give back to members of the community who were unable to be a part of the Christmas festivities. This program has been an annual activity that Trukai Industries had been carrying out for 8 years. The company donated 1.3 tonnes of Trukai Rice to 13 Correctional Service establishments nationwide with Trukai Industries staff visiting the Buimo and Bomana female detainees. The female detainees were given care items consisting of towels, blankets, sanitary pads and soaps while plush toys were presented to their babies. Bomana Correctional Service Female Division’s Sergeant, Sarah Tamoko was grateful for the visit thanking the company for bringing the spirit of Christmas to the female inmates. “Thank you to Trukai for remembering our sisters serving time here." " Even though their families are celebrating Christmas without them, Trukai has brought the joy of Christmas to us here at the female division of Bomana.” While Buimo Correctional Services’ Senior Inspector, Elias Tulo, expressed the same sentiments. “This is one of firsts for Trukai to visit us here at Buimo’s Female Division and it is nothing short of a blessing to receive these gifts." "Many of our females here hardly have their families visit and we thank Trukai for opening their hearts to us and for remembering our women this festive season,” said Senior Inspector Tulo. Correctional Service Commissioner Stephen Pokanis was grateful for the support stating that itwas not the first time for them to receive such a generous support from Trukai Industries. “Similar donations of rice were done some years back, and including 2022 to some of our Correctional Institutions. On behalf of all my Officers, our families and on behalf of all our Detainees and their families throughout Papua New Guinea, we thank Trukai Industries for your kind and generous support to our Detainees in all our Correctional Institutions.” Trukai Industries also donated a total of 900 kilograms rice to main hospitals across the country. These included Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), ANGAU Memorial Hospital, Mt Hagen General Hospital, Goroka Base Hospital and Nonga Base Hospital. Trukai Industries’ staff also visited the children’s wards at PMGH and ANGAU Memorial Hospital where both patient and caregiver were given Christmas gifts. Trukai Industries’ CEO Alan Preston said, “Since this is the season for giving, we would like to extend this kind gesture to give back to members of the community who have been forgotten by their families or are less fortunate to participate in the festivities of this season." “We would like to extend our gratitude to our partners who had assisted in making our December Charity Drive a success and to the establishments that were willing to have us visit during this time,” said Preston. Trukai Industries also donated two tonnes of rice to the 12 charities it supports each month with rice donations. These include City Missions in Port Moresby, Lae and Madang, Links of Hope in Port Moresby and Mt Hagen, Lae Cancer Foundation, Welkam na Bel Isi Centre, St John Ambulance, Life PNG Care, Cheshire Disability Services, Samaritan Aviation and Mt Sion Centre for the Blind.

Students nationwide will by now know if they have made it to a Higher Education Institution (HEI) after the launch of the 7th National Online Selections by the Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology (DHERST) was launched yesterday. Out of the 29, 742 students who sat for the Grade 12 National Examinations this year, only 10, 007 grade 12 students have been selected to enter tertiary level for the 2024 academic year. According to DHERST Acting Secretary Fr Jan Czuba, since the development of the national online selections system in 2017 and the online Application in 2018, more than 4, 000 good applications were always missed during the time of manual selections. But with the online selections, applicants will be selected properly. He said that students and parents can have easy access to this information by simply using their mobile phones and internet access instead of waiting for the selectors to print and put out the list of students who passed. “The power of digitalization is tremendous.” “We overlooked the public’s opinion about not many people having access to mobile phones and the internet which but that was wrong.” “Many young people have phones that have access to the internet.” He also stated that, before the systems were launched, the department had to pay thousands of kina to fly selectors from various institutions just to select students by going through all the forms and stressed that that was a lot of work both financially and physically. Now a days, students are given the upper hand by having 5 choices to choose which institution they wanted to study at via the application and the programs they want to take. Fr Czuba further stated that, they will develop additional modules which will have information of students in grade 11 will already have a file on the system once they reach grade 12. “We will also make sure that, the system or modules were developing will incorporate virtual classrooms with additional links like Zoom, create a one-in-Cloud Library which will contain all teaching and learning resources to support our universities and specialized college.”

Lots of smiles and happy faces were seen at the Port Moresby General Hospital Labour ward and Paediatric ward as the staff of Nasfund visited the mothers and children to spread the joy of Christmas by donating more than 100 gift bags to them. Each gift bag for the mothers contained sanitary pads, skin-care products, baby blankets, diapers, wipes, and napkins whilst the children’s pack contained colouring books and pencils, including toys and snacks. The team also presented cakes and gift bags to the nurses on duty whilst second-hand bales of clothes were passed on to the Friends of POMGEN to coordinate the distribution at a later time this year. The Operations and Communications Lead for the Friends of POMGEN, Ms. Grace Roland who was on the ground to coordinate the team’s visit stated that the Friends of POMGEN works in collaboration with the Board and Management of the Port Moresby General Hospital to sustain the hospital with other operational needs and the support of corporate organizations like Nasfund was greatly appreciated. Talent & Culture General Manager Vincent Lialu said that this initiative was part of the Fund’s annual Christmas gesture and social responsibility program to spread love and joy by visiting hospitals or shelters during the festive season. ‘We have been visiting the Port Moresby General Hospital since 2018 and we are happy to be visiting again this year as this is the biggest donation made by the Nasfund team compared to the previous years hence we thanked all staff including the Nasfund Board and management for supporting this worthy cause.’’ General Manager for Member Employer Services (MES), Anne Wilson also expressed that the visit was timely as Christmas is a time for giving and sharing.

While family and friends gather to celebrate the festive holidays, the green angels ‘St John Ambulance’ are preparing and is anticipating a surge in emergency calls over the festive season. Additional emergency ambulance crews will be rostered on duty to ensure the service can meet demand and get care to people in need. SJA’s Commissioner, Matt Cannon said that during the festive season there is always an unpredictable rise in calls for help. “Unfortunately, many of these incidents are the tragic outcomes of violence and trauma related to excessive alcohol consumption." To effectively manage the anticipated increase in demand, the ambulance service will deploy extra ambulance crews from Friday 22nd December until Christmas Day, as well as on the New Year’s Eve. These crews will be rostered for 12 hour shifts between 11:00 AM – 11:30 PM and will be a boost to regular ambulance crewing. "In both Lae and Kokopo, we will have one or two extra ambulance crews on duty depending on the need." "In the National Capital District (NCD) and Central Province, we'll bolster our response with three extra crews." This enhancement means a total of 17 emergency ambulance crews will be on duty during these peak periods. These crews are further supported by emergency medical rapid response units and SJA doctors and paramedics. Adding more ambulance crews during the holidays is expensive, but it's important so we can help everyone who needs it. It's not just about monetary costs, though. "We also have to think about things like extra radios, pagers, emergency kits, and defibrillators." "Plus, we need to make sure we have enough medicines, medical supplies, and oxygen cylinders ready to go." “Thankfully, we've got a growing group of volunteer first responders in each province who are trained to support the ambulance service and can help with emergency responses during peak periods like this.” Cannon also expressed gratitude towards the broader community for their ongoing support. "Our priority is always the safety of citizens and our ambulance team." "On behalf of the ambulance service, we thank residents for taking care of our ambulance officers throughout the year." "Despite some serious incidents affecting their safety and security, the support from communities in Lae, Kokopo, Bereina, Kuriva, Kwikila, Kupiano, Port Moresby, and Gulf has been great." Looking ahead, the ambulance service is excited to commence emergency ambulance operations in Gulf, Eastern Highlands, and Western Highlands provinces in 2024, and be working as service partners of the respective provincial health authorities. "We are committed to providing the best possible emergency medical services to our communities," said Cannon. "We urge everyone to celebrate responsibly and wish everyone a safe and joyous festive season."

The PNG Open Government Partnership (OGP) Secretariat recently unveiled its 2nd National Action Plan (NAP) 2022-2024 and launched its official website at the Grand Papua Hotel on Thursday 14th, December. The new NAP outlines 16 concrete commitments across six key areas: public participation, freedom of information, fiscal transparency, extractive resource transparency, government integrity, and data portal development. Each commitment boasts clear milestones, empowering citizens to track the government's progress towards improved governance. Department of National Planning & Monitoring Deputy Secretary Michael Kumug said, the documents stand as a testament to the collective commitment to building an open and inclusive government. "The NAP and its accompanying website will serve as powerful tools for public engagement and accountability, enabling citizens to actively shape their future." The event, sponsored by the Department of National Planning and Monitoring (DNPM), brought together representatives from across government, civil society, and the international community to celebrate this crucial step towards enhanced transparency and accountability. "The success of the OGP process hinges on strong collaboration and shared ownership," remarked Arrianne Kassman, CEO of Transparency International PNG. "This website provides a valuable platform for stakeholders to stay informed, share feedback, and hold the government accountable for its commitments." Flierl Shongol, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), acknowledged the Co-Chairs' vital role in driving the OGP forward. He emphasized the importance of the partnership with the European Union and conveyed the department's unwavering support for the initiative. "We see digital transformation and technology as crucial tools to support the objectives and goals of the Open Government Partnership," said Shongol. "Our policies aim to make information readily available to the people, promoting both transparency and accountability." Moving forward, the OGP Secretariat intends to leverage the new website for regular updates on NAP implementation progress, ensuring transparency and citizen engagement throughout the two-year action plan period.

The Education Department has announced the theme for the 2024 academic year “Transform Teaching and Learning to achieve Quality Education for All”. It is focused on the National Education Plan 2020-2029 Focus Area #5 which states that in order for quality education to be achieved the curriculum to be used must be current and appropriate, sufficient textbooks must be produced, procured and distributed to all schools in order to achieve the one textbook per child policy; a sustainable national examination and assessment system has been established for use in all schools and schools will be able to access teaching and learning materials electronically utilizing appropriate technology. It also considers the PNG Education Transformation Vision 2075 which should develop a system of education that produces quality graduates who can adapt to the changing world. Changes in technology, improvements in social and economic wellbeing and the use of resources from the physical environments will impose on societies to adapt. Improvements in the relevance, quality, and access to education lie at the core of the vision for the future. This is a vision that senses the future as we operate in the present. Hence, the PNG ETV 2075 is conceived to formulate a philosophy of education that galvanises the PNG education system to focus on the future of education based on current realities and trends. Dr. Kombra is calling on all continuing students, teachers and the good parents and guardians to observe the term dates especially the dates for the start of the 2024 school year. “I thank all our students, teachers, head teachers, principals and managers for their hard work and commitment in 2023 and wish them and their families a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2024.”

Kokoda Track Foundation’s (KTF) 2023 Archer Gathering saw 13 years of Archer alumni gathered for a 2 day event that’s focused on start-up social organizations and programs, collaboration and leadership. The event saw a total of 41 participants. The theme, "Ideas to Implementation," focused on practical knowledge to inspire and motivate participants to turn ideas into action, fostering tangible and sustainable change. The amazing young leaders worked on developing 4 organizations with an aim to improve social outcomes in PNG, including: 1. LITE (Learning IT education): improving digital literacy in rural PNG. 2. Elevate Equality Foundation: aimed at improving lives and outcomes for people living with a disability in PNG and influence disability policy change. 3. Art Activism PNG: using creative arts, theatre, dance and music to ignite minds, stir souls and paint a masterpiece of change to come. 4. Coastline Care: addressing climate change through the large-scale planting of mangroves to protect and conserve coastal areas, restoring reefs and food supplies. On the last day of the gathering, groups presented to a panel of experts to pitch for prizes to help establish and formalize these organizations. Prizes included a MacBook Air, consulting from Terri the Managing Director at Conversus Leaders, graphic design of a suite of logos, the build of a website, business books and Digicel credit. 2023 Archer Leader Getta Kamber said, it was a privilege to stand amongst great minds and people working together to bring about change within our community. “Change begins with us and it starts with where we are and what we do." "Thank you KTF for a push to help us build such great ideas for implementation.” She further stated that they were thrilled to be joined by special guests who inspired them over the gathering including Dame Carol Kidu (former Minister for Community Development and Founder and Patron of Ginigoada) John Wylie (CEO of PNGSDP), Roppe Uyassi (CEO, PNG Kina Bank) and Dan Baulch (Deputy Commissioner PNG ICAC). The Archer Gathering is generously supported by Mundago Abroad; and the yearlong Archer program is generously supported by Newmont PNG, Kina Bank and the Fred P Archer trust managed by Perpetual Trustees.

Puma Energy Papua New Guinea has once again reiterated its commitment to the country by participating in the 17th Resources and Energy Investment Conference, in Australia, as a Gold Sponsor. As a major +fuel distributor in the country, Puma Energy’s attendance is an important opportunity to highlight the company’s important role in enabling the mining sector, and to also restate its commitment to PNG. Puma Energy’s PNG Chairman and Managing Director Hulala Tokome emphasized the company’s long-term presence and investment in the country, acknowledged current short-term challenges and called for collaboration between industry and governments to secure a positive future for PNG. “Puma Energy has been a dedicated partner in the development of PNG for close to ten years.” “Our commitment to PNG is steadfast, and we have embarked on a forward-thinking $150 million investment program, which includes supporting rural retail development and the deployment of solar energy.” “We recognize that certain short-term issues pose challenges that must be solved in order for Puma Energy to continue to contribute meaningfully to PNG's growth.” He also stated that some of the challenges the company is facing is in relation to its banking services. “Despite these challenges, we remain enthusiastic about the future of PNG.” Puma Energy continues to work closely with the Bank of PNG (BPNG) to maintain its banking services with BSP. Following the Government’s Taskforce, Puma Energy believes it has resolved previous issues with BPNG on documentation requirements and now is looking forward to working with BSP to maintain critical banking services. “As a responsible investor in PNG, Puma Energy will continue to provide the highest of standards and quality products.” “The company will continue to drive its purpose to Energize communities and bring long term sustainable prosperity.” Furthermore, Mr. Tokome said, Puma Energy has invested over $650 million in its PNG operations since 2014, which includes airports, terminals, retail sites, convenience stores and the storage, logistics and distribution network that supplies fuel nationwide and currently employs 500 people in the country.