Gulf Provincial Leaders have renewed their oaths to serve the people of Gulf with more emphasis placed on "going rural." The provincial leaders from Kikori District MP Soroi Eoe, Kerema MP Thomas Opa and Governor Chris Haiveta made their oaths during a small but significant event witnessed by the provincial Asembly members recently in Kerema town. With the focus of the leaders themed “going rural”, the leaders swore oath to ensure that there is unity in their term of leadership with the focus been captured in their plans. Member for Kikori and Minister for the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs (DPLGA) Hon Soroi Eoe affirmed to the members of the assembly that as elected leaders they will work together. “As members of PANGU PATI and elected leaders of the Gulf Provincial Government it has been our mandate to work together to ensure that our communities are properly assisted and developed”. Minister Eoe cautioned members of the assembly that the rule of law must be followed. “In this term we must follow the rule of law, administrators and advisers must be stationed in their respective LLG’s where our people require service delivery”. Supporting the sentiments from his open member, Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta also challenged members of the assembly to collaborate with all three leaders respectively. “We have made the decision to work together, we have our plans, we have our projects and the challenge now is for the members of the assembly to help us achieve these plans and projects we have set for our people”. Governor Haiveta reaffirmed to the members of the assembly that with the current leadership, people’s voices will be heard.

The member for Kikori Soroi Eoe has taken up the role as acting minister for the Department of Commerce and Industry (DCI) while continuing his mandated duties in the Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs Department as Minister responsible. The National Executive Council (NEC) made the announcement in light of a court decision that declared incumbent Minister Henry Amuli's elections as member of parliament null and void. The NEC directive is solely for stability whilst the Amuli continues to contest a National Court decision. Minister Eoe met with divisional heads of DCI over the weekend for a briefing to discuss the departments current work status. Minister Eoe encouraged his new departmental heads to focus on its mandated task in creating a sustainable socio-economic growth for the country. “DCI plays a vital role in the growth of our country’s economy on a global scale and we must maximise on both our natural and human resources to achieve this”. Minister Eoe commended DCI Secretary David Ganai and senior staff for each providing their respective briefs and pledged his support to ensure issues are identified and addressed in his term as Acting Minister.

Divine Word University’s (DWU) President Father (Fr.) Philip Gibbs challenged 837 graduates to contribute to nation building in PNG through thoughtful decision-making and committed service during the universities 41st graduation ceremony last Friday. He stressed the importance of “pasin diwai”- the duty of care shared by the university and its alum within the workforce and community - and referenced a quote from a farmworker Caesar Chavez which ties it into this notion: “The end of all knowledge is service to all.” Fr. Gibbs stated that graduations is a celebration of not only their achievements but also who they are as individuals and what they want to become during their time of study at the University. The DWU Community is now sending its students to positively contribute and be off service throughout the country and beyond. He reassured the Minister for Higher Education Research Science and Technology, Don Polye that DWU is prepared to work with the ministry for integral human development through higher education. He highlighted saying that “DWU’s commitment as a faith based university which gives added value to the university graduates contribution.” However, he asserted that greater stability in partnership with the government would greatly help in contributing to national objectives. Meanwhile, Minister Polye stressed the need for universities in the country to move towards digitalization in order to meet international standards offered by esteemed universities across the globe.

The SP PNG Hunters have opened their 2023 account with a 20-10 victory over the Western Clydesdales in dull conditions at Clive Berghofer Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The SP PNG Hunters opened the score board by putting the first try and a conversion followed it. Two more tries by the Hunters, but with no conversion. This saw the PNG boys lead 14 to 0. However, just before half- time, the Western Clydesdales score one try to make it a 10 points deference. Both teams went into half- time with 14- 4. The second half was toughly fought out, but the SP PNG Hunters boys had the upper hand, closing the their season opener match with a win. SP PNG Hunters Head Coach Stanley Tepend was delighted with his side’s effort in the trying conditions. “The way we defended our line early on was pleasing,” said Tepend. “They had a few chances to attack our line early with back-to-back sets, but we adjusted to the conditions well and managed to withstand their attacking raids early and get off to a good start.” “To go down the other end and score with our first opportunity in attack was big for us. It was our first game with a number of debutants, but a good start helped to settle the nerves. That was an important win.” Meanwhile, SP PNG Hunters debutant Morea Morea took the Hastings Deering Player of the Match.

Member for Moresby South and Minister for Foreign Affairs Justin Tkatchenko has made it clear that health service is among the top priority areas catered for in his electorate’s new 5 Year District Development Plan. Tkatchenko said health is a big issue in the country and for Moresby South as well. He said the electorate was classed as having the highest TB rates in a district, but thanks to a lot of work and coordination the statistics have gone down. “That is why we are just about to open the new Moresby South District Hospital, which will be a good example for all districts.” The new district hospital will have an equipped eight-bed maternity ward, ten-bed in-patient, X-ray unity, pharmacy, housing for two doctors, housing for nurses on site with ambulance service as well on twenty-four-hour call. “We have Moresby South ambulances. We paid for the ambulances and Saint John Ambulance is with us and were making it happen.” This will ease the load on Port Moresby General Hospital and shorten the distance for many, especially villagers coming from the areas near to the PNG LNG plant site in the Central province seeking medical treatment. Tkatchenko is urging all residents living in and around Moresby South to look after the facility and use it with care as it comes at a great cost.

Mr. Houston Nen from the Southern Highlands province, who is one of the eleven students selected as the new generation of the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) Archers Leadership Development program, hopes to maximize its benefits and absorb as much as he can on leadership skills. Nen is a final year student studying to get his bachelor’s degree in Building & Construction at the Papua New Guinea (PNG) University of Technology (UoT). He said, he found out about the program from a couple of his friends who were part of the program and was keen to be part of it, but had to wait to be a final year student in order to be eligible to apply. “I’ve seen how life changing it is for them in terms of building their network, being mentored by professionals that are already in the industry, develop leadership skills that could help then someday and build contacts for job opportunities after school. I mean, that’s pretty exciting and I want that too. I’m very happy that I’m part of this year’s 2023 batch.” Nen hopes to create new pathways, build new contacts and learn as much as he can through KTF’s Archer Leadership Development Program. “I want to expand my network and get to know people from different walks of life. Being at UniTech, I only know students studying in the engineering stream and being here, I’m happy to get to know students from UPNG as well.” Nen also said that through KTF’s mentorship programs for young leaders, he hopes to get the much needed leadership skills and learn as much as he can.

The Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) in partnership with the PNG Sustainable Development Program (SDP) recently graduated 192 talented and motivated Grade 12 students from Western province who completed studies at their respective Flexible Open and Distance Education (FODE) centres in Balimo, Morehead and St Gabriel’s in North Fly district. This exceptional group of students persevered and succeeded despite numerous setbacks and challenges like the COVID pandemic, the 2022 National General Election and a range of other issues. They resumed their studies as a pathway to new opportunities including further studies at tertiary level, which can open exciting career opportunities for students, like becoming health workers and teachers. The FODE centres aimed to train people from Western province for employment in the province and seeks to complement the efforts by the government on delivering education in Western. It all started in 2019 with 105 students enrolled in Balimo. This year, a total of 775 students enrolled in Balimo, Morehead, Kiunga, and Lake Murray. In 2022 KTF in partnership with PNG SDP opened the Balimo College, an initiative of SDP implemented in partnership with KTF, which offered teacher training and in due course, a school of nursing and other disciplines such as agriculture. The FODE program provides a pathway to Balimo College, which enrolled an initial intake of 37 teacher trainees at the beginning of last year, making it Western Province’s first-ever Teachers College. 36 of those students passed their exams and continued as second-year trainee teachers this year, along with a second intake of 40 first-year trainees. “The growth of Balimo Teachers College has been a great motivator for our FODE students who aspire to become primary teachers,” said SDP’s Director of Education Programs, Dr. Brad Shaw. “We are very pleased to be working with KTF and seeing the successful expansion of our FODE program both in terms of student numbers and geographic coverage.” Meanwhile, the students themselves that graduated had a lot of experiences and stories to share about how they came to be in the FODE centres and eventually making it to the next level. Miss Kelesa Gebone, a graduating student from Balimo FODE centre, shared her experiences and excitement. “Initially, I completed my studies in the village; however, I did not get the required GPA (Grade Point Average) needed to pass and so I enrolled in Balimo FODE to upgrade my marks. Now I have reached my goal and finally will be graduating. I had to paddle one day to reach Balimo just to get to school,” said said. “There were lots of struggles and challenges, but I did not give up. I had lots of restless nights because I want to be somebody in the future. I am also happy that I have been selected to attend the Balimo Teachers College. I am very happy and thankful to SDP.” Another student, Kelakiyato Gogo from Wasua village, has a compelling story. She enrolled in the FODE program in 2020 but had to withdraw due to illness. In 2021, she re-enrolled, only to fall sick again and had to leave school the second time. Last year, when she re-enrolled, she told herself that she can do it and with the support from her husband and the FODE teachers who continued to encourage her journey, she completed her studies and was so delighted to receive the ‘Most Improved’ award for Grade 12. She is currently enrolled as a first-year teacher trainee at Balimo College and said when she completes her studies, she hopes to teach at her husband’s village in Waliama. “I want to encourage those who are starting their FODE journey, if you want to achieve something be committed and make the sacrifice. You will get there,” she said. Grade 12 Dux awardee Maxine Dabema added, “Hard work pays off. Work hard and you will achieve your dreams. Education is precious – we don’t realise it but when you are given a second chance, grab it and make the most out of it.”

Our very own SP PNG Hunters will take on the Kaiviti Silktails in the PacificAus Sports Melanesian Bowl challenge this afternoon at 4:30pm (PNG time) at the Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka in Fiji. The game this afternoon forms part of the Hunters' Queensland Hostplus Cup preparations for round 1 which will kick off on March 11th. The Silktails play in the New South Wales (NSW) Rugby League's Ron Massey Cup, which kicks off on March 18. The Hunters Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Scott Barker said the coming together of both teams was extremely important after last year's inaugural game at the Gold Coast was cancelled due to severe weather. “This game will help show the pathway available to Melanesian players to play elite and semi-elite football,” Barker said. "It was a great disappointment to everyone when last year's game got cancelled.” But, Barker said having the teams come together to celebrate their cultures and share their experiences was invaluable. "Both were based in Australia last year and both doing it pretty tough, so it was great to have the players come together in a room to share their experience. For many, they had come from villages to living here to play," Barker said. The SP PNG Hunters squad list for match this afternoon: Morea Morea Solo Wane Ben Kelly Rodrick Tai Brandon Nima Judah Rimbu Jamie Mavako Junior Rop Wesser Tenza Epel Kapinias Sherwin Tanabi Julius Yakopa Sakias Komati Trevor Solu Siki Konden Tom Moide Joshua Mire Matthew Jesse Sanny Wabo.

The University of Goroka will soon expand its centers to Manus, East New Britain, Gulf and Western province with the aim to produce quality teachers for better and quality education to be taught in the country. Vice Chancellor Dr Teng Waninga said, they currently have 18 centers within the country and one of the main focus of the UOG Council and top management is to observe the remaining students who cannot make it into the system and provide a way forward for them to continue their studies in their own provinces. This comes after the UOG Council announced that it was refocussing its strategic directives which included establishing UOG centers in the 22 provinces and linking them to the main campus through the online learning infrastructure to cater for the grade 12 push outs with required GPA levels. “The University of Goroka does not have enough classrooms and infrastructure that’s why we want to observe all the 29, 000 students each year so they can just stay in their own provinces and enroll and we can offer some of the courses online.” Dr. Waninga said, they are already offering bachelor programs, management programs, diploma in tourism and hospitality, diploma in business studies and accounting and are looking to move up to degree programs that will be available in the provinces as well. The challenge is there and it is all about looking at a better network. “All the Vice Chancellors, we met together with the DHERST Minister and talked and made presentations to look for a common network that can be provided for all higher education institutions to provide online programs.” He said, this can be accomplished if we have a network, a satellite which can solve all our online problems.

 The NCD Governor Powes Parkop has given his assurance the issue of ethnic clashes in the city will be addressed today . This follows an ethnic clash at Kennedy Estate some 15 minutes outside of the Port Moresby city earlier this week. Governor Parkop in his first public engagement since his hospitalization and recovery said, it’s important to find a mechanism to overcome all these ethnic clashes because we are in the capital city and these sort of things should not be witnessed in the heart of the country. “This will be my key message today when we will commemorate the journey of our nation tomorrow as we mark the death anniversary of our late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare.” Governor Parkop added this as it was late Grand Chief Somare’s dream as a land of a thousand tribes to be one nation. "That will be my key message to the people of NCD today." “These should not be a responsibility of the National Capital District alone but the responsibility too for the Nation as well." Parkop further stated, "All the provinces and districts in the country should be promoting national unity and not tribalism which is killing our nation." "We have to acknowledge, recognize the tension and come back with a mechanism for that and that’s what I want to do from here on wards." “On our part, our people of Motu Koita for example have sacrificed a lot for our country in the past and even up to now." "And the greatest gift that we can give them is to overcome all this ethnic tensions and tribal differences.”

Its business as usual for St. John Ambulance operations in the city. The ambulance service continued daily operational runs as normal throughout the nation-wide fuel crisis that reached its peak on Monday. SJA Director of Operations Support, Monni Cross said they are monitoring fuel supply closely and will adjust operations as and when needed. Mr. Cross said they will continue to operate and will always be on the road attending to emergencies amidst the fuel situation with backup fuel still available for their operations.  “We have reviewed the fuel levels and are managing our supply.  We are rationing our emergency fuel backup to maintain operations, he added.” "Please save 111 for emergencies and call if you have a geniune emergency." If the fuel shortage had to continue longer than expected, St John may need to decrease the ambulance service response to those with non-emergency and transfer cases.

The mad rush for fuel in the nations capital, Port Moresby, is reaching new heights with motor vehicle owners especially public transport qeueing up with extra drums and containers at service stations. Taxis and PMV buses were seen filling up their fuel tanks as well as two or more containers to avoid the risk of running out of fuel to continue providing transportation services to the people of NCD. A local bus crew that runs the Gordon's to 9 mile route confirmed that his bus refilled two extra 20 litre containers of fuel to keep his bus going until or whenever the fuel crisis returns is restored. As of this morning, an update on NCD Fuel Stations: OPEN: Total Boroko, Total Badili,Puma Kone CLOSED: Mobil Lahara,Puma Badili, Puma Hohola