PNG Government Pumping K15 Million to Upgrade Venues for World Events

Papua New Guinea Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko says the PNG Government will pump K15 million into upgrading all facilities to be used during the 2016 FIFA Under-20 women’s World Cup in Port Moresby. Tkatchenko made the comments while welcoming the news of FIFA’s approval of Papua New Guinea’s hosting rights at an extraordinary meeting in Zurich. The meeting was attended by PNG Football Association President David Chung.

He said aside from some changes to the major venues in the city such as the Sir John Guise Stadium and the Bisini soccer field, the money would be spent on upgrading the fields and training facilities at schools in the National Capital District.

“We’re going to put money into upgrading ovals and fields at 10 to 15 schools in Port Moresby to be used as training venues for the visiting teams.

“That means things like improving playing surfaces, irrigating fields, building change rooms and basically modernizing existing facilities,” Tkatchenko said.

He said primary schools and secondary schools would be sought for the upgrading exercise. The Sir Hubert Murray and National Football stadiums once completed by their respective developers - Curtain Brothers (SHMS) and Leighton PNG (NFS) - will be brought in line with FIFA requirements for staging international matches.

The seating capacity at the Bisini venue would be upgraded with a significant increase from its initial plan. He made it clear that the Government, PNGFA and FIFA would work in tandem to run the tournament.

“FIFA will run the show in terms of the actual event because it is their tournament.

“They will handle media, teams, matches and technical matters while we (the Government) will help facilitate the tournament with ensuring the venues are up to FIFA standards, take care of team accommodation, security, crowd management and things like that.”

 The tournament, which will be staged in the capital Port Moresby next November, will fascinate 15 nations, along with hosts PNG and be played in four pools. Nine teams, including PNG, have been confirmed with the remaining seven places to be decided in qualifiers being staged at present. Europe has four teams in the tournament including defending champions Germany. The others are France, Spain and Sweden. Asia has three qualifiers in Japan, North Korea and South Korea.

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Making PNG Air Unique

“The introduction of the new ATR 72-600 aircraft not only gave the airline a huge boost in the quality of product it offers the people of PNG – it also offered the opportunity to make other changes to the airline, and prompted us to look closely at what we were doing now and what we needed to do in future,” said Muralee Siva, CEO of PNG Air.

“We recognize that to keep pace with the growing size and sophistication of the aviation market in PNG, we can’t just introduce a new aircraft and rely on that to do everything for us – we need to keep reinforcing the airline’s service culture through staff training and we also need to keep improving the product we offer the public,” said Mr. Siva.

“Once we commit to that sort of change, it made sense for us to also introduce a new brand. A new brand provides a fresh beginning for a company undergoing significant change. For us, it represents the company’s bold plan for the future of regional aviation in PNG – to be the first choice regional airline for the people of Papua New Guinea. It also symbolizes that we are not just doing the same old thing with the same old tools.”

Research in the market showed that the airline’s customers were looking for something more vibrant, bright and in keeping with the culture and people of PNG.

“The new name highlights our connection to PNG, and that we put PNG first. It also reflects that, through the majority shareholding of NasFund and MRDC, we are owned by a great many of the people of PNG,” said Mr. Siva.

“The livery we’ve chosen acknowledges tradition, while positioning us as bold, fresh and next generation PNG. It creates a dynamic new look, fitting for a positive, confident PNG airline. An airline’s name is one of its most important and recognizable assets. The new name and livery make PNG Air unique, and differentiate us from other airlines,” Mr. Siva added.

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The First Ever APEC Meeting in PNG

The Prime Minister, who is also the Minister Responsible for APEC, has applauded the Forest Minister for efficaciously hosting the first APEC meeting ever held in Papua New Guinea. In releasing the ‘Eda Statement’ in Port Moresby, the Third APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry settled on a range of measures that will reinforce the forestry sector in Papua New Guinea and around the Asia-Pacific.

"Ministers committed to work to increase forest cover in the region by at least 20 million hectares of all types of forests by 2020,” PM O’Neill said following the meeting.

“To reach this target will require ongoing cooperation between APEC member economies, as well as capacity building and efforts to prevent the sale of illegally harvested timber.

“Papua New Guinea and other APEC economies will work with the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation to strengthen regional trade in sustainable forestry products.

“I congratulate Papua New Guinea’s Forest Minister Douglas Tomuriesa for his guidance of the Ministerial meeting and delivering positive outcomes for the region.”

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Planning For 2017 Elections

A memorandum of Agreement was signed between PNG Electoral Commission and the provincial administrators of the East and West Sepik and the Madang province to cooperate and partner for the planning and conducting of the 2017 general elections.

While signing the MOA, provincial administrator for Madang province, Mr Daniel Loi said, election is a collective responsibility and every provincial government must support the electoral commission to see a smooth flow of election come 2017.

“We can’t say it is the Electoral Commission’s responsibility to conduct the elections, the electoral commission is there to facilitate but it comes down to each provincial administration to provide man power and logistics support in our respective provinces” said Mr Loi.

In the meantime, electoral commissioner Sir Andrew Trawen says the MOA is a recommendation between the electoral commission and provincial administration in delegating task in terms of logistics and men power during the election.

“We have always been faced with issue of men power, logistics and security come every election and with the signing of this MOA, there is a common understanding between the Electoral Commission and the Provincial Administration on what each of these two parties will do during the election so we don’t have to bother ourselves with these issues” said Sir Trawen. 

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“I believe we can and must be confident about our future” says PM Peter O’Neill

The people of Papua New Guinea should be confident and optimistic about the nation's future, despite the current difficulties, the Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill said. Mr O'Neill said the 2016 budget is a responsible, fair and balanced response by the government to difficult times that would address short term problems while laying the foundations for strong economic and social growth in the future.

"Just last week the independent Bank of Papua New Guinea outlined changes to economic and business conditions that were largely beyond the influence or control of the national government," the Prime Minister said.

"In the June quarter the weighted average kina price for the nation's exports declined by 13.7 per cent when compared with the corresponding quarter of 2014. The price for mineral exports declined by 13.3 per cent, while agricultural exports were 16.8 per cent lower. We are a mining and agricultural export nation - dependent on world prices and world demand.

"When export prices decline by around 14 per cent in a quarter, the economic and social impact is massive.”

“But it is largely beyond our control - the more we export, the more international factors have an impact on our domestic economy, on government revenues, and on the income of our farmers and the community generally.”

PM O'Neill said the budget would make sound, balanced and fair adjustments to government spending in particular, and it would also impact on revenue projections.

The Prime Minister said inflation had declined, lending to the private sector had grown, and employment had risen even though there had been significant job losses resulting from the end of the construction phase of the nation's first LNG project.

"We are resource rich - and the prices of the minerals, oil and gas, and agricultural and forestry exports while generally low now will improve."

Mr O'Neill said Papua New Guinea is very well placed to take advantage first when commodity prices rise - and even better placed to meet the rising demand for energy and food from the nations of Asia with whom Papua New Guinea enjoys outstanding relations.

"I believe we can and must be confident about our future. The basics of our economy are strong - and we will benefit when commodity prices recover and the export environment grows," Mr O'Neill said.

"The national budget is aimed fairly and squarely at addressing current challenges - and laying the foundations for a stronger future in which the whole nation will enjoy the benefits," the Prime Minister said.

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A Life Changing Experience with Tree kangaroo

A conservation program intended to help save an endangered tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea has completed - benefiting the lives of hundreds of local people. The Tenkile Conservation Alliance was established to save the endangered species in a remote part of Sepik province many years ago. Their numbers were down to only 100. Jean Thomas and her husband went to the area to run the program, and she says it turned out to be a life changing experience for her family and for local villagers.

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Congratulations to Niugini Nickel

Niugini Nickel Ltd (100% subsidiary of Resource Mining Corporation Ltd) has recently received guidance from the Registrar of the Mineral Resources Authority of Papua New Guinea that the Mining Minister has granted an exploration licence for the new tenement EL 2337 for a 2 year term ending November 1, 2017. RMI welcomes the news of the grant of this exploration licence which provides faith of tenure for the immediate future and provides a level of assurance for the continuation of their development of proposed work program

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