Madang

Fish Mill to be built in Madang

NFA managing director Justin Ilakini said, they are the implementing arm of the government, and part of the income generated from their opera

Madang youths surrender illegal items

Ward 10 of Madang Urban is one of the notorious areas known for crimes. However, during the Christmas police operations, youths built a CPU centre as a crime prevention measure. This was also to end the ongoing life of being on the run as well as to avoid being victims of eviction. After the operations ended, the CPU’s continued as they saw positive outcomes within the community.

Power restored in Madang

The total outage was due to a collapsed power pylon near a river at Omea, along the Ramu/Madang Highway. The situation had caused so much distress to residents, business houses, government entities, schools and institutions as the situation was coupled with water outage as well.

PPL in Madang handled the situation well with constant communication and updates with residents and the general public through the Neighborhood Watch – Madang Crime and Alert WhatsApp group which kept citizens calm whilst waiting for power to be restored.

Madang residents urged to be conscious of movements

“We are in the red now but will try our best to provide as much service as possible to our people until fuel is made available,” he stated.

Acting Superintendent Baim acknowledged that the Royal PNG Constabulary headquarters are paying for fuel but the low supply in Madang’s fuel stations are only making matters worse.

Apart from fuel scarcity, Madang is also experiencing water and power shortages.

“Fuel, power and water are the main basic sources of life every human being is entitled to,” he emphasised.

Madang remains calm

There was trouble brewing in the early hours of the morning by opportunists trying to cause mayhem but were dismissed by police officers.

Provincial Police Commander Acting Superintendent Robert Baim gave strict orders for all business houses within the town to close operations by 12 midday today, including all PMV operations. This was to maintain order and monitor the movement of people in and out of town, in case of an uprising.

Plantation to boost local economy

This was announced recently by Member for Bogia Robert Naguri when delivery trucks and machinery to help with the start of operations.

According to Neguri, funding of K1m is being allocated to start the nursery of cocoa and coconut and pay for fuel for the machinery and hire of labour. The next K1m is set aside for operational expenses that will be released in February.

A final K2m payment will be released by the Government after the full acquittal of the first K3m is provided with the report on the plantation’s resumption.

Eviction way forward

In a recent incident on Monday 28 November, a first-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student from the Divine Word University, was attacked at the Laiwaden Oval at around 10am.

According to the student, Darren Ivarami, he was on his way to visit his uncle, who is the Headmaster of Kusbau Primary School. On his way, he decided to take a breather at the Laiwaden grand stand before proceeding on, it would be a less than 2 minute walk.

College wants deaths to end

He plans to petition the provincial government on a number of issues which has affected  not just Madang Technical College but other institutions like Divine Word and Maritime College over the years.

This is not the first time students have died at the hands of thugs residing in the nearby settlements. Mr. Weimeia would like to see that this is the last time a student loses his life in this manner. He says this issue also affected nearby institutions and is something that needs to be addressed urgently.

Awareness conducted for locals

Executive Officer Ricky Mombi and Project Coordinator Sam Uyagaum visited the people of Iabu of Manam Island who now reside in the Potzdam Care Centre and Mambuan village in Yawar LLG, Bogia District.

The issues of the provincial government and administration highlighted and discussed to the people were;

  • Madang Governor’s election petitions
  • Administrative matters
  • Eviction and related risks to indigenous Madang people

Project awareness conducted by Mr Uyagaum were about SME and scholarship opportunities.

Madang comes to a standstill

Relatives and disgruntled citizens gathered to march up to N7 which resulted in numerous riots and clashes in town. This resulted in properties being damaged, stores looted, residential areas broken into and vehicles stoned.

Police investigations have commenced and suspects are voluntarily giving themselves up according to Provincial Police Commander Superintendent David Seine Jnr. As yet police are unable to release any information regarding the brutal killing of the CID officer.