Paula DAVID

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

After many complaints from political leaders about the University Of Goroka (UOG) not doing its mandated job to teach, train and produce quality teachers, UOG is now refocusing its strategic directives to focus more on producing quality teachers. Vice Chancellor Dr. Teng Waninga says, operating for 26 years now as a specialized teacher education institution in the country comes with a great responsibility to produce quality teachers so that they bring quality back into the schools they go to and teach. He said, this major restructure model is called 3+1 which means that students will do 3 years of content study and 1 year of education apart from the previous years where students had to do 4 years of content and do a PTD which is 5 years of study which is quite costly for parents. “Apart from UOG’s major restructure which is the 3+1 module, the university will and continue to teach other courses as there is a need for other programs to be taught. Dr Waninga said, the major restructure that they will do is to have all the courses that they run that are taught in primary, secondary and school of excellence will run under the 3+1 module so that all training teachers will go through that process and study, qualify and become teachers. “These will benefit students as they will gain confidence and knowledge from each of the subjects they take and graduate under the new 3+1 module.” The University of Goroka’s Council will now reform the university to concentrate on Teacher Education and these includes; • Conduct academic program audit and recognize existing programs to produce quality teachers • Review all the content degree programs in line with the country’s manpower need and off load all essential programs to online learning • Immediately upgrade, reform and build ICT infrastructure to accommodate online degree programs • Establish UOG study centers in the 22 provinces and link them to the main campus through the online learning infrastructure to cater for the grade b12 push outs with required GPA level. Build UOG along the theme; bringing gowns and degree to your location. • Enhance UOGs existing programs in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and expand to other pacific island countries • Coordinate and plan reform strategic plan by the 2nd quarter of 2023 • Review UOG organizational structure in line with the strategic plan, recruit best and qualified man power to implement the reform strategies • Review existing governance structure and processes and establish a robust governance to enhance accountability, transparency and efficiency • Investigate and identify staff who continuously interfere with the student selection process and take necessary asction against concerned staff. More so, identify weakness in the selection process and rectify them immediately • Make English a compulsory course for all trainee teachers to undertake during the 4 years program • UOG is a state institution and the administration is to make sure the interest of the state is protected and promoted at all times. Investigate and remove all conduits for external influence including the nearby communities. Dr. Waninga said, since the university’s establishment as a college in 1961, has grown in terms of academic program, infrastructure and including staff and students progress. “One of the major transition took place in 1997 when the UOG ACT was passed and it became a fully-fledged University.” Dr. Waninga further stated that, given the current demand from the stakeholder bad the national demand for quality secondary teacher, the council will reform the University to concentrate on producing quality teachers by this year.

Unable to access the much needed learning materials when growing up in Lae, Shane Chinau founder of Chayil Information Technology aims to provide the best E-learning resources for students who have limited access to resourceful materials in schools even in remote areas. According to Director Shane Chinau, Chayil Information Technology is a 100% PNG owned ICT Company established in 2014 that is based in Lae, Morobe province. He said, they are more focused on educational services to better students learning across the country. Currently, they have installed e-library services in 37 locations in the country in different schools. “We have installed the E-Library service from elementary, primary, secondary and all the way to tertiary institutions as well as communities, NGOs and government organizations. The E-Library is a plus because it does not require internet access, students just need to connect to the provided network that we set up, said Chinau.” Mr. Chinau said, they build the customized E-Library service from the client’s requirements and tailor the content that is suitable for them to use and access. “To build an electronic library, it takes us one week to build, according to our clients request and after that, we send down a team to do the set-up which takes about three-to-four days.” Mr. Chinau said the library is offline and not connected to the internet and many individuals and users are still confused. They think that the library is connected to the internet, but it’s not. “The library has an access point which serves a coverage of 300 meters or more. This depends on our client’s requirements we can always extend the boundaries of the Wi-Fi coverage that can go as far as 8, 000 meters.” Mr. Chinau explained that as long as the users are with the Wi-Fi coverage, they can have multiple devices accessing the E-library with a maximum of 3, 000 users. Wi-Fi devices such as mobile phones, tablets, a desktop computer, laptop and any other form of electronic device can connect and access it through a web browser. Chinau also said that the E-Library service has helped a lot of students and teachers across the country by enhancing their knowledge which are some of the feedbacks they have received. Chinau is calling on schools in the remote parts of the country that are finding it very difficult to access learning materials for their students to install the E-Library service because it is a best solution for them as it is accessible and does not require data or an internet connection, all they need is an electronic Wi-Fi device.

The National Aids Council Secretariat (NACS) is preparing to carry out more awareness programs, testing, care and support in the provinces this year as HIV/AIDS prevalence continues to increase in the country. Per statistics provided last year on HIV/AIDS, the total number had increased to over 59, 000 cases last year from the year 2021. Acting Secretariat Mr. Tony Lupiwa, said they will be engaging the Provincial Health Authorities (PHA) nationwide to carry out more educational awareness on HIV/AIDS this month. He said after the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is signed, prevention work will kick off starting with Enga and West New Britain Province and than to other provinces in time. “The public is advised to get tested and know their status before transmitting the virus to others unknowingly.” Lupiwa said, people who are at risk can come out and get tested and if the results are positive, they can be put on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) which can help them live a normal life instead of showing symptoms of the virus living within them. ART treatment is free and is provided by the government. “ART does not cure HIV/AIDs but helps prevent people from dying and allows them to live longer lives and as well as prevents transmission.” He added that, if a person is on ART treatment, they are not able to pass the virus to their partners or in the case of a child, the mother cannot transmit the virus to her newborn child as the ART treatment reduces the amount of HIV virus in the blood stream and hides it in the bone marrow. Mr Lupuiwa said, as HIV/AIDs is gradually increasing, people are urged to stay healthy and take care of themselves. “HIV/AIDS is still here and people must look after themselves by staying healthy and get tested to know their status.” He is urging people to stick to one partner or use a condom if they have multiple partners. He also said that, there is no cure for HIV but you can control it with the widely known HIV treatment, the ART which is free at any of the health centers in PNG.  

The Port Moresby General Hospital’s Emergency Department has just confirmed that they did not receive any reports of a body which was found in a Blue Mazda BT50 vehicle parked outside the gates of PMGH. Port Moresby General Hospital Specialist Emergency Physician and Chief Medical Officer of St John Ambulance Dr. Mangu Kendino said, they have not received any reports of the dead body from their operations last night and this morning. According to by-standers, the vehicle was dropped off last night (11/01/2023) with the body inside the trailer of the vehicle and the person driving the vehicle fled in another awaiting vehicle. Dr Kedino mentioned that, the only major incident they received was the accident that happened last week at 15 mile going towards Sogeri highway. “Apart from that, the only incident we received and was able to treat was a person who got electrocuted. The patient was brought in on Sunday and got admitted at the ED for 3 days and we already discharged the patient.”

Classes for this year’s academic year for students attending the University Of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) will start in February. Acting Registrar Mr. Roboam Kakap said that classes for this year will start on the 13th of February; however, for all first (1st) year students, they will start a bit early on the 29th-30th of January prior to orientation and for the students to settle in and get ready for the new academic year. He also said that apart from the main campus, the UPNG Medical School will also start early, which is on the third (3rd) week of January 2023. Meanwhile, registrations for the UPNG Open Campus is currently on and is done manually for now and not online yet. Mr. Kakap added that all those who wish to apply to the Open College must apply manually. They can download a copy of the application form online, fill it in and submit application forms at the UPNG Open Campus, just outside the main campus. “Only those studying in the internal mode can only apply online. Registrations close at the end of this month.” And for those students who missed out on a placing at UPNG still have a chance to study this year through their Open College. “From the 1st-31st January, students can apply to the Open College for those who missed out on any placing in the internal mode at the main campus. They must have a GPA of 2.5 and above in order to apply.” The lists for 2023 School Leavers, SBPP postgraduate Application 2023 and the 2023 University Fees Structure are available on the UPNG website. The Non School Leavers and Continuing Students List will be available anytime this month, January.

It was a sad scene as unclaimed bodies of both adults and children were being moved to two awaiting vehicles that transported them from the Port Moresby General Hospital Mortuary to 9 mile cemetery this morning to be buried en masse. A total of 79 bodies and 48 amputated body parts were laid to rest today at the 9 mile cemetery. According to the Morgue Attendant Angus Davis, out of the 79 bodies that were buried today, 48 were adults, 31 infants/children and another 48 were amputated (cut off body parts). All 31 infants who were buried where straight from birth from the Labor Ward or from the Special Care Nursery (SCN) Unit who did not survive and were sent to the morgue. “For all infants, they are from birth, a day or a few days and a week old. These ones who spend a few days or at least a week are babies who come from the SCN unit. ” All amputated body parts are from diabetic patients, ulcer or someone who had a major accident and part of their body had to be cut off from the main operating theater and sent down to the morgue.. The duration of a body to stay at the PMGH Mortuary is only 2 months, 2 weeks. “Two months is the maximum time and 2 weeks is the grace period for their families to come and claim them.” A notice is put up and if families do not turn up to claim the bodies, they are then categorized as unclaimed bodies. “We then wait for NCDC to give us the green light to conduct a mass burial and then we do so, other than that, we just wait for NCDC’s approval.” He said, these bodies are from March 1 to July 31st of 2022. This was the second mass burial for 2022. “The delay comes from NCDC. Once they approve everything than we at PMGH go ahead with the mass burial.” “The first one was done in December, but for this one, we have seen a slight increase in the number of bodies buried today.” The main purpose of the mass burial is to create space at the PMGH mortuary. Currently they have limited space and get an average of 4-5 dead people a day and 10-15 dead people are dropped off at the morgue on a weekly basis. “With that, on a weekly basis only 6-7 families come to pick up their loved ones and give them a proper burial while 15-20 dead bodies are brought in to the morgue.” More dead people are brought in to the PMGH Mortuary and a lesser number of them are removed.

A mass burial will be carried out today due to the recent stir of bodies lying at the Port Moresby General Hospital Mortuary lay out. The Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) maintains the mortuary is a function of the National Capital District Commission (NCDC), unfortunately this facility is at PMGH and PMGH is forced to take on the responsibility. Digging of the grave site in preparation for the mass burial was expected to have taken place on Tuesday. Currently there are 295 bodies at the morgue. However. PMGH confirmed that the number of bodies to be buried at the mass burial today is 92. Of the 92 bodies, 52 are adults and 40 are infants/children. The bodies will be transported to the burial site around 8-9am and the mass burial should occur at 10am this morning.

With the current situation faced at Port Moresby General Hospital Mortuary the National Capital District Provincial Health Authority (NCD PHA) plans to take over and assist POM GEN with the mortuary. NCD PHA CEO Dr. Steven Yennie said, currently, it is not the responsibility of the NCD PHA, however, they have sent a letter to the National Capital District Commission to take over the issues surrounding the POM GEN Mortuary as well as the environmental & public health sector in NCD. “We are still waiting on NCDC’s side to release these areas of interest which are currently pressing at this time.” “The video that’s gone viral on social media is an eye opener for all responsible authorities to look into this long time issue and address it.” Dr. Yennie also said, NCDC should also look into expanding the Mortuary by purchasing land somewhere within the NCD radius and build up a new Mortuary to cater for the growing population. Dr. Yennie also stressed the importance of good hygiene and cleanliness as it is important for such cases like this. He said, they are looking to take up the challenge to look after and assist POM GEN with the Mortuary and the environmental & public health sectors in NCD. “We cannot have decaying bodies there lying there while flies are all over them. Relatives and families of the dead must bury their dead loved ones so that the mortuary can have some space for other families to bring in their dead.” Public health is also another issue they are looking forward to this year to address. He added, there are plenty of the Chinese owned Kaibars around the city and nothing is being done to tackle the issue of hygiene and food safety. That is why, they are waiting on NCDC to handover the POMGEN mortuary as well as public & environment health to NCD PHA so that they can assist and address this issues.