Elias Nanau Scribes

Friday 10 March 2023

Millions of kina are in Agriculture

This is no bullshit for Papua New Guineans when we are reminded of this adage 'money is on the land'.

We own 97 percent of the land and so have unlimited power on how we develop it sustainably and consciously considering climate change.

I see millions are in Agriculture and I am confident the government sees it too but we need to support this sector to develop and money is put back into people's pockets.

The farmers must also not struggle to make money.

A farmer in Rigo District must not leave his village by 12 midnight to travel six hours to Gordons in Port Moresby to sell his coconuts.

Rigo coconuts selling at K3.00

I was just amazed counting the number of people selling their produce at Gordon's market in Port Moresby.

In a day the value of the produce being on the market and straight from the land is worth hundreds and thousands of kina.

I counted a number of bunch of bananas selling at K3.00 each for a woman, she had about 8 which once sold would fetch about K24.00.

Her five kina bunch were about nine so definitely K45.00 would be earned.

Seriously and no doubt the value of produce from our land is very high and owners or holders are therefore rich.

Our challenge is farmers need to have access to markets and enabling infrastructure and reliable transport that they can use to transport produce to markets.

A female in the Siassi area in Morobe this week told NBC Morobe they have many agriculture produce to sell but there is no market.

This is not limited to Siassi or Morobe only.

The government needs to put in so much effort to bail citizens out of this challenge that is as old as the country itself.

How I learnt about affordable solar lighting

It was dark as we sailed into the ox bow lake at Tipas village, Namea LLG in West Sepik.

We had travelled in from Magleri down a tributary of the Sepik River called Wanipe.

It meanders and reaches the mighty Sepik River around the border of East Sepik and West Sepik at May River.

We then travelled westward to Tipas and the skipper realising bits of log floating down and the froth also on the water meant there was rain and thus a minimal flood.

Before we reached Ellimolie logpond it was pitch dark already but rowing on the Sepik powered by an outboard motor engine is safe and fun.

The skipper only had to watch for huge logs that may be floating down stream.

We didn't encounter any.

As we emerged into the lake at Tipas then approaching the village I could see the village so lit up along the banks that are about three metres high.

My first impression was they had a village electricity.

But as we anchored and settled into one of the homes, I learnt it was solar powered lights.

Depending on a villagers set up, it can be at the lounge room or the the front and back yards.

These very high post homes, sago thatched roofs and "pangal" wallings look just magnificent at night lit by the solar energy.

I felt embarrassed living in the city and knowing little about these lights.

They have different power ratings and connect straight to solar placed at the sago thatched roof top and with sufficient tropical sunshine all day the battery stored at the back of the light is charged adequately everyday.

And using a remote the owner sets the light to come on and light the place for three, five, eight or twelve hours of LED lighting.

It's just bright and beautiful and one can enjoying reading a book very clearly.

So after learning about that and with Port Moresby frequently encountering long black outs I have invested in that solar lighting.

The light now comes on automatically at 6.40pm and goes off at 6.08am.

If PNG Power goes off I still have light to dine or read in the evening.

It costs about K199 for the solar and the 40W light with inbuilt battery.

You can check the shops at Erimart in Port Moresby.

Wednesday 8 March 2023

Port Moresby based comic magazine- Lover Boy

Congratulations to the guys behind the development, design and production of Lover Boy.

Disclaimer: This is not a design from the magazine

Graham Ainui Jnr is the guy behind the storyboard, illustration and he is the writer.

Michael Arifeai of Tribe FM at the NBC interviewed the guys about how it all started.

But essentially their comic magazine which has a few stars is now on sale at K35.00 a copy.

Among the characters is a female named Linda.

Mr Ainui told Tribe FM it was a project that started two years ago and while they were working to find a platform to monetise their content online, this idea to print was suggested to them and now it is on sale.

Here below is the interview the producers had with the NBC and it starts with the producer outlining the characters in the comic.

The story theme is about everyday life of students and the struggles they go through.

The story is about school life, mental health and self appreciation, Anui said.

He pointed out some of the expressions are stuff that high school students face but they hardly bring home to their parents.

"There are some things you can't bring home to your parents," Ainui told Tribe FM.

He has been looking at several comics to grasp how to design and already visualises a long story board so we are looking for a lasting content that is locally produced.

Check Lover Boy on social media and reach out to them for a copy.

Sunday 5 March 2023

NCD honors its obligation to pay Central Province share of GST

PORT MORESBY, WEDNESDAY 01ST, MARCH 2023:

The National Capital District Commission (NCDC) authority has honoured its legal and financial obligation to the Central Provincial Government with over K3.1 million.

The payments are from the NCD Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected for January and February this year (2023).

It has not been easy for Central Province going through much legal battles and an amendment to NCDC Act was successfully passed in Parliament.

This was led by former Central Governor Robert Agarobe.

The payment made on Tuesday was a double celebration for the Central Governor, Hon. Rufina Peter after having won her election petition, NCDC media release says.

Witnessed by City Manager Ravu Frank, her NCD counterpart, Governor, Hon. Powes Parkop presented the dummy cheque to her at the City Hall.

Speaking during the presentation, Governor Parkop assured fellow Governor Peter that NCDC is willing to give whatever that is due to the Central Government under the Law.

Governor Parkop said despite the court cases and other issues with the Law, they will continue delivering to the people what is required.

After the successful amendment to the NCDC Act 2001, Governor Parkop had gone to court to challenge the passing of the bill.

Despite this he said that both NCD and Central Provincial Governments could share their development road maps and find a middle ground on how they can share resources and ideas for the betterment of Central and NCD.

“Court and legal issues can continue, but nothing will stop our working relationship and understanding. We can still work together; we don’t want to have bad relationships,” Parkop said.

Governor Parkop thanked his fellow Central Governor for making time available to receive the payment on behalf of her Government.

Central Governor Peter thanked Governor Parkop and the City Manager for the funding.

She said she was looking forward to working in partnership with NCD for the good of the people.

Watch video below former Cental Province Governor Robert Agarobe explaining how and why he had fought to acquire Central Province share of GST from NCD