Let's live a 'New Normal'

COMMENTARY

BY ELIAS NANAU

Thirty-nine weeks into toughening rules on border security and the eventual implementation of the State of Emergency (SoE), there has been subtle if not rapid change in how we have been doing things.

From household and food hygiene, to social meetings, shopping, movement and the list is quite lengthy.

Cleanliness tops the practice that we pay much attention to like it is second nature.

Hand sanitisers have become increasingly popular and when we enter a building, shop or at our homes, we respond to ensuring our hands are sanitized or washed thoroughly with soap for 20 seconds.

In the development space, reality strikes and thrusts itself in our face when Covid-19 response teams in far flung areas encounter the brutal truth that there are damaged essential roads and other infrastructure hindering officials to travel past and raise awareness about Covid-19.

A damaged bridge in the Nuku district in West Sepik for example; or a boggy road passage between Vanimo and Aitape where Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldiers and provincial Covid-19 officials maneuver themselves out of it.

People are sharing on social and mainstream media about the challenges encountered. They are getting into discourse, monitoring and evaluating their enabling components of development that should make their life and living meaningful.

In the Western Province, communities do not know there is a pandemic grappling the world.

They have no access to whatever communication in telecommunication or radio broadcast.

North Fly Provincial Police Commander Chief Inspector Silva Sika says people only became aware when security personnel arrived at their remote communities and began educating them about Covid-19 and the health and hygiene measures they should follow to avoid getting the deadly virus.

Mr Sika described Western as flat with vast wetlands that can only be accessible by or on a boat through rivers and fords.

In the West Sepik province, the local radio station NBC Sandaun is off air and there is communication breakdown between the provincial Covid-19 team and the population who are sparsely spread across the lowlands and the highlands in the Telefomin-Oksapmin areas.

A public servant in Aitape, West Sepik, Jajuar Wasa has raised concern majority of the people of West Sepik are missing out on vital information about Covid-19 because the local radio station is off air.

They desire that it must be back on air soonest.

These are sticking examples of setbacks and the challenges in high cost and difficulty in bringing services to people in Papua New Guinea’s remote communities are real.

But the government and people must work zealously smart and honestly to counter the challenges and deliver services.

Forest Minister and Telefomin MP Solan Mirisim has spoken out this month when he, during a small but grand occasion during his parliamentary tenure reactivated the Telefomin District Development Agreement (TDDA).

He said working to bring development to his people is very costly.

From his K10 million annual District Services Improvement Program (DSIP) funding, at least 40 per cent is spent on logistics with only 60 per cent is spent on actual infrastructure work.

Mirisim said he needed more money and the K20 million per annum TDDA grant from Ok Tedi’s mining royalties would supplement his DSIP funds.

His district made available K300,000 to the West Sepik Province Covid-19 response.

So much has happened within the 39 weeks with criticisms and endorsements.

We note health and hygiene as biggest up beat lesson that has stuck out during the SoE.

The SoE controller has relaxed a few regulations as we transition to the ‘New Normal’.

Let us adopt those health and hygienic culture but must also endeavor to fix the dilapidated infrastructure and communication challenges exposed during the Covid-19 response work.

It is no time to blame anyone but politicians, bureaucrats and people must collaborate and address them.

Let’s live a “New Normal” with improved health and hygiene practices, fix our dilapidated infrastructure and make communication in telecommunication or radio and TV broadcast widely accessible.

PNG citizens and residents stranded abroad to be quarantined at hotels when they return home

Papua New Guineans and residents stranded overseas can return home but will be quarantined at hotels for 14 days upon arrival in Port Moresby.

State of Emergency Controller David Manning

The state of emergency controller and Police Commissioner David Manning issued a notice last weekend.

The quarantine is to ensure they are carefully managing returning persons against the threat of Covid-19 being brought to the country.

“As such the government is considering paying for returning citizens to be quarantined at hotels around Port Moresby,” Manning said in the statement.

“I am contacting hotels that have previously expressed interest, regarding whether they are prepared to be part of this scheme.’

Hotels have been asked to put a proposal forward as to how they would manage and quarantine foreign persons coming to the country.

Manning has set out conditions for hotels willing to house PNG citizens and permanent residents returning to PNG.

Among the conditions, cost per person to be K340 per night inclusive of meal and water with the government to pay for the costs.

The government shall indemnify the hotel for any damage caused by the guests however with conditions that evidence of the state of the room before the guest took occupancy and damage caused shall be produced before any payment is made.

Manning said if someone develops Covid-19 symptoms the person is to be kept in the room and should not leave unless authorised in writing by himself or an exception would be if there is an emergency.

All quarantine persons should have access to TV and WiFi to be provided included in the cost of the room.

The remaining conditions were that hotels spot inspections shall be conducted to ensure there is compliance and failure to adhere to directions issued shall result in prosecution of an individual staff and if the hotel has not taken reasonable steps, then the hotel group shall be prosecuted.

The hotels were to be responsible for the guests quarantine and have a guard at each floor.

Manning said the floors were to be locked off with only authorised persons to access the floor.

For hotels that are unable to be locked off by floor, a security proposal must be submitted.

Three Members of Parliament are among 600 Papua New Guineans stranded abroad.

Dr Paison Dakula provides update on Covid-19 in Papua New Guinea

Contact tracing of NCD confirmed case
7,125 samples taken of NCD case, including workmates, relatives, close family members and neigbours have returned negative. The workmates include the National Operations Centre staff. Contacts have also been quarantined.

Acting Health Secretary Dr Paison Dakulala addressing media

Contact tracing of ENB Province 2nd confirmed case
A total of 584 samples have been taken so far from 2 confirmed cases in ENB. These include samples from family members in five locked down villages of ENB. Out of this figure, 152 have been tested and had returned negative. The remaining 432 were sent to Brisbane yesterday after arriving at CPHL on April 22.

Contact tracing of 3 confirmed cases in Western Province
The three confirmed cases in Western Province are still in isolation in their house.
In the last 24 hours, 18 more people have been identified in the contact tracing for tests. This now makes 246 samples taken from the contacts of the three confirmed cases. In addition, samples were also collected from 293 others from the targeted border surveillance.

Eastern Highlands
The 45 year-old woman confirmed with COVID-19 is now isolated in Asaro. The Asaro District Hospital is now locked down. She is reported to have got sick after travelling back from Lae after staying with her brother. This brother has been identified and his sample was to have been collected for test this morning.

Message
Together we can get through this. Majority (95 %) of people who get sick with COVID-19 recover without complications and only a small percentage may require care in the hospital.
Also, not all those who go for test have the virus. This is contract tracing that is done to find out whether other people who have been exposed to the virus have it. During this time they are also quarantined as a precautionary measure to prevent any further transmission.
People with fever, cough and have difficulty in breathing can call the hotline 1800200 for medical attention.

For the rest of us, let us not stop taking preventive measures:
· Cover your cough or cough into your elbow;
· Practice social or physical distancing by keeping 1.5 to 2 meters apart;
· Disinfect your work benches and personal things such as phone or laptop;

· Avoid crowds and stay home if there is no reason for you to go out

Papua New Guinea to take control of Porgera Mine

Papua New Guinea is set to take control of Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) Porgera mine after refusing to extend the company’s lease on environmental and social grounds, Prime Minister James Marape said on Friday.

Prime Minister James Marape

“In the best interests of the state, especially in lieu of the environmental damages, claims and resettlements issues, the Special Mining Lease will not be renewed,” Marape said.
BARRICK PLANNED TO BOOST THE GOLD MINE TO ITS TOP-TIER ASSETS, DESPITE LANDOWNER AND GOVERNMENT DEMANDS TO CEDE A LARGER STAKE 
The decision comes nine months after the mining lease expired. During that time, the world’s second largest gold miner has faced backlash from landowners and residents over what they claim are negative social, environmental and economic impacts from the mine.
Negotiations with Porgera’s operators were complicated further by a split among the landowners.
The manager of Porgera, Barrick Niugini Limited, applied for a permit extension in June 2017 that would have renewed its rights for 20 years and had been engaging with the government on the matter since then, Barrick said in the statement.
In response to a request from Marape, the company proposed in 2019 a benefit-sharing arrangement. The deal would have delivered more than half the economic benefits to PNG stakeholders, including the government, for 20 years, according to Barrick.

Tier One Potential

Barrick’s president and chief executive officer, Mark Bristow, had said last month that Porgera had “tier one potential” but faced many challenges in the form of “legacy issues and an unruly neighbourhood.”
The gold mine, located in PNG’s northern highlands region, is a joint venture between Barrick and Zijin Mining. Each own 47.5% of the mine, with the remaining 5% held by landowner group Mineral Resources Enga.
The government has said it plans to give a portion of Barrick and Zijin’s stakes to the national and provincial governments and to landowners.
“Once the transition phase has been completed, then the state will enter into owning and operating the mine after transition arrangements,” Marape said in a televised speech from the capital Port Moresby.
PORGERA MINE CONTRIBUTES TO ABOUT 10% OF THE NATION’S EXPORTS AND EMPLOYS OVER 3,300 PAPUA NEW GUINEA NATIONALS
Porgera contributes to about 10% of the nation’s exports and employs over 3,300 Papua New Guinea nationals.
The open pit and underground gold mine sits at an altitude of 2,200-2,600 metres in Enga province, and is about 600 km northwest of Port Moresby.
“We don’t have many details on the implications of this decision yet, including the timing of transition,” Jackie Przybylowski of BMO Capital Markets said in a research note.
“Barrick has warned that it will pursue all legal avenues to challenge the government’s decision and to recover any damages. We expect that discretionary spending, such as development capex, will be minimized through the current period of uncertainty,” Przybylowski noted.
The mining analyst also said that “while removing Porgera from Barrick’s portfolio would have a negative financial impact, it would improve the ESG performance of the company’s portfolio going forward.”
“On its website, Barrick reports allegations of human rights violations in the region,” she pointed out, “including allegations of ‘extreme’ violence linked to local police forces or private security forces acting on behalf of the joint venture.”
Several other mining companies are waiting on government approval for new projects, including Australia’s Newcrest (ASX: NCM) for its Wafi Golpu gold and copper asset.

Communication challenges disadvantage Western people knowing about Covid-19

North Fly Provincial Police Commander Chief Inspector Silva Sika says lack of access to information about the coronavirus has been a reason why many people in the far flung areas of the province knew little about the coronavirus pandemic.

 He said people became aware of it when security personnel and government officials visited their remote communities.

Sika said the province has vast wetlands that can be traversed only by boat or by air and access to communication and information were very limited.

“It was quite a difficult task to get message across to people,” he said.

“People were not aware of the reports and information about the disease.”

“So when our members going to the communities, some of them it was a surprise to them and they hear and begin to get the message and understand why our presence are there..and the officers carry out awareness,” Sika said.

He said though he had about 86 police personnel spread between Tabubil, Kiunga and Ningerum, the policing area need would require additional personnel.

He has meanwhile praised his police officers for their efforts at the frontline without protective equipment.

“I told them to come up with whatever they can to cover themselves.”

“But we always have faith in our good Lord.”

“That is something I am humbled and I commend my officers,” Sika said.

The challenges of running an SME: Allan Bird

Have any of you started a SME?

Allan Bird in the middle with traditionally attired dancers 

Do you have any experience or done any studies in this area?

I started a SME with K10,000. It took me 15 years of making many mistakes before I learnt to do business well.

Today I can run any business and do it well. I believe that if you can run a tucker box well, you can run anything. The principle is the same.

When I went into vanilla, I was the first exporter in PNG. I knew more about it than anyone else in PNG. These peculiar things contributed to my success.

During the time I started my business, I never stayed in a hotel unless absolutely necessary and I never spent money on anything but the business.

After my vanilla export license, some 5,000 licences were issued to other operators. 99% of all those new businesses failed.

So I will make a prediction that 90% of all these new SMEs will fail.

They will fail because they are competing in a small space, or they don't understand the business they are in, they don't know where the markets are and finally they will simply not have the discipline to make it work.

When I speak to aspiring business people I always tell them, don't get into business in an area you know nothing about, don't go into a business that you have no passion for, don't go into a business that everyone is doing unless you can do it better and finally, don't go into business if you have no discipline.

Finally, if you're not prepared to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Then keep your day job.

When you start an SME, you are the manager, the driver, the HR officer, the counselor and the accountant. You have to be all these things.

If you don't do these things, you will fail.

The Kina and Toea 45 years on

Forty-five years ago, today, a just-about-to-be-born Papua New Guinea marked its official economic entry into the World when it officially launched its own currency, the Kina and Toea.

Amidst skepticism from Foreigners and Papua New Guineans alike, a young Sir Julius Chan, recently appointed as the Minister for Internal Finance, worked with an expert team to prepare the National Currency Ship for a successful launch, which occurred on schedule on the 19th of April 1975 in Port Moresby.

Sir Julius has always said that the launching of the currency was a team effort, and that he had the best team he could ever hope for.

He established a Currency Committee which included the founding Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, the late Sir Henry ToRobert, as chairman, PNG's first Secretary for Finance Sir Mekere Morauta, Professor Ross Garnaut and other public and private sector officials who worked tirelessly in organizing the currency change-over from the Australian dollar to PNG's very own Kina and Toea.

When the kina was first issued, PNG had not reached full political Independence as yet.  However, the existence of the nation's own money, together with the other measures the self-governing administration took to establish control of the economic life, gave the country-to-be a real measure of practical independence.

Even after Independence, though, many still did not seem to accept the kina as “real money.”  Sir Julius recognized this, and shortly after Independence he took another bold step by raising the value of the kina by five percent against the Australian Dollar.

When people saw that they could buy more goods with the Kina than with the Dollar, all the dollars they had been hoarding came out of hiding and were changed into kina.

The Kina had arrived.

Today, as current Governor of New Ireland and the last Founding Father standing on the floor of Parliament, Sir Julius Chan says, "We have come a long way, we have overcome many challenges.  Never lose hope, Papua New Guinea will make it through whatever challenge is thrown at us.  As, Dr Marian Luther King once said “We shall overcome”.

For Sir Julius the launch of the Kina on 19th April 1975 was linked with a deeply personal moment for him and his family,  as his fourth and youngest child was born that very day.

And Sir Julius, sensing the history of the moment, named his son Toea to bless the occasion.

As we reflect back on the birth of our beloved Kina and Toea, perhaps it is time for the architects of PNG’s financial and other institutions to re-group and work on new strategies to deal with today’s economic problems.

We are facing serious challenges today, but we have met serious challenges before and come up with answers.

We are Papua New Guinea.  No matter what challenges the world throws at us, “We Shall Overcome”.

Press Release from Sir Julius Chan


   

West Sepik community leader wants PNGDF call out to curtail Covid-19 span the hinterland border region

A community leader from Amanab in West Sepik says there is increased number of illegal border crossings and other illegal activities taking place between the Dera Constituency people and their counterparts in Indonesia’s West Papua.

Timothy Vima is the former local level government president for Amanab and is from the Kembratoro Catholic Mission area, west of Amanab government station.

He is speaking out in light of the Corona virus security concern and deployment of security personnel to the border regions.

A total of 68 PNGDF personnel arrived in Vanimo early this week to boost manpower responding to the Corona virus pandemic.

Six medical officers from the 1^st Battalion Royal Pacific Islands Regiment were among 48 others from the 2^nd Battalion Royal Pacific Islands Regiment.

Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldiers meet with Sandaun Provincial Administrator Conrad Tilau

Mr Vima said the State of Emergency and the awareness on Corona virus should be carried out in the hinterland areas of the Vanimo Green River District where there are illegal border crossings frequently happening.

“To be stationed in Wutung, Bewani, and Green River is not enough,” he said.

“Deployment of security personnel must also be to areas where there is more chances of the disease coming from the other side of the border.”

“Dera should have military personnel stationed at Kembratoro Catholic Mission as there is currently frequent movement within the three wards and other villages at Amanab local level government.”

In 1990 Operasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) rebels kidnapped a Papua New Guinean, three Filipinos, an American and New Zealand missionaries and held them captive just past Kembratoro before they were released in December.

Mr Vima said the villagers at his area are crossing the border to access basic needs and services from the nearby Indonesian government stations of  Ubruf, Yuruf, Yabanda and Sengi.

“Dera is remote with no road connections to Vanimo and no form of communication like mobile transmission of HF radio for reporting any suspected cases or illegal migration of people across the border,” Mr Vima outlines their concern.

‘There is also no proper health facility to do checkups if there is any suspected case.”

Mr Vima said Dera Constituency has three wards and 284 citizens have illegally crossed into Indonesia to work in Oil Palm Plantations at Arso and Lere, Jayapura Regency of Papua-Indonesia.

They have warned people not to cross back into PNG and ward members are in fear of the corona virus.

The want the national and provincial governments to assist them as people are returning secretly one at a time.