Prime Minister James Marape to launch major international wharf project in Vanimo

BY CLIFFORD FAIPARIK in Vanimo

Vanimo town is preparing to receive Prime Minister James Marape on Monday (6th of December) to launch the Vanimo international wharf project in West Sepik according to Provincial Administrator Conrad Tilau. 

PM Marape is also expected to open the new office complex for the Provincial Education Division and the new Provincial Assembly; and inspect the new terminal of the airport.

Mr Tilau said that the international wharf will include a naval base for maritime surveillances to monitor the movement of people and vessels travelling at sea between Jayapura in Indonesia and Vanimo. 

In June 14, 2018 then National Planning Minister Richard Maru when announcing the commencement of the feasibility studies said the wharf would cost about K15million and will be co-funded by the PNG Government and the Asian Development Bank.

 “Frieda gold mine and the Bewani Oil Palm project will start soon and there needs to be security along the waters of the PNG-Indonesian border”.

Mr Maru said plantation managers have pleaded with the government to build a wharf to assist them get the oil palm out.

“Bewani Oil Palm said it needed another 10 hectares for their storages facilities for the wharf.

“The proposed new Vanimo wharf is part of the overall development strategy for the province.”

“Vanimo international wharf will be strategically located as PNG’s closest wharf to the Asian market and will transform West Sepik into a dynamic economic hub for the country, Mr Maru said then.

Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Roy Mumu said the current port was only 28 metres long and the water depth is 6m.

“Our challenge is to extend the wharf to cater for large ships and to have the depth to be 15 metres,"Mr Mumu said.

PNG can produce 19 GW of power says Prime Minister

Papua New Guinea has “the potential of becoming a huge producer of green products for the world” with 19 gigawatts of power already estimated out of the Purari , Kikori and Stricken hydro potentials and the West New Britain geothermal projects, Prime Minister James Marape has been told.

Chief Executive Officer of green energy developer Fortescue Future Industries Julie Suttleworth said this on Friday (03.12.21) in her brief to the Prime Minister when the CEO was on her way to visit project sites in Gulf and West New Britain.

She also appraised the geothermal sites of West New Britain as being “one of the top three areas in the world” for Fortescue projects.

The CEO was responding to the Prime Minister’s query on whether PNG green energy potential would meet the projection as set by FFI owner and environmentalist, Dr. Andrew Forrest, who said PNG could provide up to 25 gigawatts of power from its renewable energy sources.

Suttleworth said: “We have currently indicated that there was about 15 gigawatts of hydropower that is in the Master Development Agreement that we could access. So we are starting at 15 gigawatts of hydropower; there is approximately 4.3 gigawatts of geothermal also that we have identified at this stage.

“This is early days; there may be more. So that totals to about 19 gigawatts that our study team has already identified. Not quite 25 gigawatts yet, but we hope that over time, we will get to that number. But round now, we know that there is 19 gigawatts of potential.

“If all these projects of about 19 gigawatts of power are developed, they can make over 10 million tonnes per year of green hydrogen, or about 13 million tonnes of green ammonia, or a combination of both, because ammonia is heavier than hydrogen.

“So there is the potential to be a huge producer of green products for the world.

“It is a very important part of our portfolio. We have made a commitment globally to make 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year, much of that will come from Australia, but over 2 million tonnes of this will come from PNG which is a huge percentage of our target.

“So the overall vision is to make over 2 million tonnes of green hydrogen from PNG, develop over 19 gigawatts of geothermal and hydropower across the various projects, as well as decarbonise PNG, and have excess for export which is a huge amount to export, because PNG won’t need all. 

“We will be doing the studies on the hydropower system to optimise the design of the hydropower dams phase process. So the first Purari sites will be 3 gigawatts. And then there will be stage by stage development – upper Purari, Strickland and others to get to the total of 15 gigawatts. So that does not all happen at once. Start off lower Purari and then others up to 15 gigawatts.

“And at the same time, we need to do more investigative work on the geothermal potential. Geothermal exploration is very expensive. So you need to do a lot of fieldwork first to determine where is the drill bit is going to go down to determine the geothermal potential. This is not done in many places around the world because it is so expensive. Tens of millions of dollars per one hole. It is very expensive drilling. We think there’s at least 4 gigawatts of geothermal potential that needs to be explored and determined to the best way to develop.

“So part of studies is working out the best way to develop the hydropower resource and the geothermal resource. Once we got that renewable power, we need to put the transmission lines to the industrial hub. So of course, in the hydropower, you are linking Strickland, Upper Purari, Lower Purari altogether, so then take the transmission line to the coast where there is a port location.

“We are optimising, right now, the best location for the port. We got two or three options.

“And then we need to optimise the hydrogen production facility. How many electrolysis do we need to make the best use of power, and that electrolyser will take the renewable power, electrolysis of water - so we need to determine where we getting the water from. Is it going to be seawater, or from the river. And then we have to clean that water up to use for electrolysis.

“Electrolysis will make hydrogen with zero emissions. That hydrogen can be used or exported or made into ammonia. This first project that we do, we’ll probably make ammonia because it is easy to transport ammonia.”

Prime Minister Marape encouraged Suttleworth to explain the process of making green hydrogen and green ammonia because of the lack of knowledge and understanding of how the process worked.

These projects are similar to the magnitude of a large LNG projects in exploration, construction, operation and income generation to the country which has seen Government full support to progress them.

NCD Governor welcomes construction of new Central Province Hospital

Putting politics aside, Governor Powes Parkop attended the launch of the new 300 bed hospital arriving early with other politicians.

His media unit says he was elated about the invitation and therefore attended the ceremony at Bautama along the Magi Highway.

Governor Powes Parkop has welcomed and expressed his full support and that of NCD towards the establishment of the hospital for the Central people outside Port Moresby. 

His media unit reports that by rubbing shoulders with his Central Province counterpart Robert Agarobe it was maturity in political leadership.

A picture of their golden handshake has been shared and acknowledged widely on social media.

Parkop and Agarobe have had quite a sour relationship based on their stance and issues regarding land demarcation, GST shares, markets and provincial capital.

Endorsing the hospital Parkop said with the increased population of Port Moresby the , it was totally inadequate to cater for the health needs for its increasing population as well as that of Central and Gulf Provinces.. 

Governor Parkop said the launch was a momentous event for Central Province in that for the first they will have a major facility of their own available in the first instance to Central Province and subsequently to our people of NCD and the rest of the country. 

“ I look forward to more such facilities both public and private can be built so eventually the concept of two great cities co-existing side by side can become a reality . 

When completed, he said, the new hospital will help to shoulder the skies of the provinces together, adding it will relieve the stress on medical workers and end relatives  camping outside Port Moresby General Hospital awaiting for the sick relatives. 

“This initiative has ushered in a new era for NCD, Central Province and the Country and on behalf of all our people in NCD, I commend Prime Minister Honourable James Marape and Governor Robert Agarobe for their leadership in getting this project started. It is I hope a start of a new journey in the right direction and I call on everyone to support this initiative and journey.”

NCD is expected to build a five star hospital at Gerehu (Tete) and this should relieve the strain on Port Moresby General Hospital as well so it can concentrate as a teaching and specialist referral hospital.

Security planning conference for 2022 National General Elections underway

Police Minister William Onglo on Monday officially launched the 2022 National General Election security planning conference at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby on Monday November 29.

The five-day conference is being attended by Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary’s senior management, and representatives from the PNG Electoral Commission, the PNG Defence Force and the Correctional Services.

The opening was also witnessed by the acting Electoral Commissioner Mr Simon Sinai and his team.

The five-day conference ends on Friday December 3, 2021.

Internal Revenue Commission staff fined for producing fraudulent document in exchange for money

Two individuals had been fined by the Waigani District Court last Thursday (25 November 2021) for producing, issuing, and possessing a fraudulent Certificate of Compliance (COC).

The fake COC was produced by an employee of the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), Anthony Mayoli, in exchange for a K3,000 bribe he received from a taxpayer, one Evaristo Masiu, in January 2021.

Mr. Mayoli was terminated, followed by the commencement of the prosecution proceedings at the District Court. The proceedings were instituted under section 354 (T) (a) (b) of the Income Tax Act 1959.

In a precedent-setting decision, the District Court fined Mr. Mayoli and Mr. Masiu, K15,000 and K7,500, respectively. Failure to pay these amounts within two months will result in six months imprisonment.

The Court’s decision does not preclude the Commissioner-General from pursuing this matter criminally under section 462 and 463 of the Criminal Code Act 1974 for forgery and uttering.

This decision is now the precedent and will be the starting point in the sentencing guidelines for future COC fraud and TIN Certificate-related offences. At the same time, lengthy incarceration terms and hefty fines will be considered as deterrence for this ongoing issue in the IRC.

The Commissioner-General, Mr. Sam Koim, whilst acknowledging the Court's decision, warned officers of the IRC and Taxpayers not to ignore the tax laws but to comply with the processes already in place.

“These services are free, and taxpayers should not be paying any fees to IRC Officers to bypass the processes. Any IRC officer or taxpayer caught will be jailed, and appropriate penalties will be imposed”, Mr. Koim said.

Narrowing the revenue leakages has been at the forefront of CG Koim’s agendas when taking office in 2019. Mr. Koim assured the public that prosecution of individuals and entities involved in the tax-related offences would speed up in 2022.

“We have been doing internal clean-up work at IRC, although some of these efforts had been constrained by the Coronavirus pandemic. Within the minimal space given by the Government, we have improved some of the staff terms and conditions on the one hand, and on the other, established robust internal integrity and control systems to detect corruption. We encourage taxpayers and the public to continue to report corruption.

Source: Press Release

Tari to Port Moresby marijuana identified by police dog

Port Moresby police say five packages of compressed marijuana were recovered at the Jacksons Airport terminal by police and security personnel yesterday.

The drugs were contained in a bag transported by plane from Tari to Port Moresby but left unclaimed on the cargo conveyor belt inside the terminal.

The Constabulary's highly adored furred member Astro, starred again in this special operation by sniffing out the drugs.

The Dog's Handler and colleague Constable Edward Baimba said, Astro sniffed at the bag and sat next to it.

"And then, we cut it open and recovered the cannabis." Constable Baimba said.

Astro and his team are involved in a special festive season operations aimed at detecting criminal activities around the Jacksons Airport.

Central Province launches new provincial hospital for its people

 November 29, 2021 should be a date registered in the development history books for the Central Province as it launched a 300 bed hospital to be built at Bautama-along the Magi Highway.

Prime Minister James Marape, Central Governor Robert Agarobe, Health Minister Jelta Wong, National Planning Minister Rainbo Paita and NCD Governor Powes Parkop were all among dignitaries and invitees at the grand launch.

It would cost K500 million to build the health facility and costs would inflate when other related infrastructure works are done.

Prime Minister James  said costs of roads, houses, electricity and other infrastructure in the new Central City at Bautama – adjoining the hospital - would take costs up to K700 million.

Central Health Authority Chairman Isikeli Taureka says the province has poor health performance compared to other provinces.

The National reports Taureka said building of the provincial hospital will allow them through the health authority to better manage and operate services for their people.

The people of Central have been using the Port Moresby General Hospital and the Gerehu Hospital as their referral hospitals for emergencies and cases needing specialist care.

" When you drive past Port Moresby General Hospital, one sees tent shelters at nearby roadside," Taureka said.

"This is a sign that families are temporarily residing there are from outside of Port Moresby and a relatives of people who have been admitted to the hospital."

This should now be eased with the construction of the new provincial hospital.

Central has a workforce of only 138 that serves 360,000 people.

There are three doctors, 20 health extension officers, 30 nurses and 80 community health workers.

The establishment of the provincial hospital will require more manpower as the facility will require more doctors and other health workers.

Marape said: “Health is receiving over K2.6 billion of the K22 billion Budget, in fact, 11.2 per cent total allocation.

“This is possibly the first time in the last 46 years we’ve been a nation, for Health Sector to receive the biggest allocation - ahead of Education and many other sectors in our country.

“This is a case in point that we are serious about our people’s health issues.

“Health comes first, we cannot compromise lives and livelihood of our people.”

He said Central featured prominently in the 2022 Budget allocation to the Health Sector and this would continue next year onwards.

“The story will continue, the journey will continue, until, hopefully in 2025, we will be able to come here again on this ground when a brand-new 300-bed hospital is delivered not just for Central Province but for the country.”