Philip Undialu

Undialu calls for calm and restrain

Governor Undialu whilst passing his condolence to the immediate family members and colleagues of the lost officer, said Hela people, especially residents of Tari town are innocent.

 He is concerned that opportunists might capitalise on the existing situations and cause problems for the township.

Undialu said Hela has done well last 12 months in managing law and order except few instances.

“As we approach this Christmas and into the New Year, we plan to launch and commission some key infrastructure in the province. This incident is now a setback for us.”

Lay Down Arms During Election

He made this call after nominating to defend the Hela regional seat today. He nominated alongside Member for Tari-Pori and Prime Minister, James Marape.

Undialu urged the people to assist the Electoral Commission and the police to conduct a fair election. He said Hela would never be the same again, despite critics on social media depicting a bad image of Hela and its people.

Hela Governor Calls For Unity

During his speech at the launch of impact projects in Mendi, Undialu reminded the people of the bond their forefathers had before the two provinces split.

"Hela and Southern Highlands are always together in doing what is right for them.

"We cannot separate the people as we all share the same culture and traditions," he said.

Governor Undialu reminded the people of late Anderson Agiru's vision for the two provinces to be as sisters and not brothers.

Hela to host new PNGDF battalion

The signing took place today at the PNGDF Headquarters at Murray Barracks, Commander Brigadier General Albert Toropo signed on behalf of the force, whilst PNGDF Secretary Hari John Akipe signed on behalf of the Government and the Hela Provincial Administrator William Bando signed representing the Hela Provincial Government. Hela Governor Philip Undialu and Minister for Defence Saki Soloma witnessed the signing.

Governor alleges misapplication of disaster funds

Governor Undialu said it has been a year already and money received to assist those affected in his province has not reached them.

He blamed Treasury, Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office for the alleged misused of disaster funds.

He claimed that the US$50 million (K159.34m) World Bank loan obtained for last year’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake has been misapplied by Government, including K106 million from donations.

Governor Undialu has called on the World Bank to recall its US$50m loan and hold the Government accountable for this.

Emergency funds report yet to be tabled

Governor Undialu said people who have contributed in cash and kind have to be acknowledged.

A massive earthquake of 7.5 magnitude struck some areas in Hela, Southern Highlands, Western and Enga provinces on February 26th, 2018.

The NEC immediately declared a State of Emergency and further approved K450 million for relief operations and to restore services, as well as the formation of an emergency disaster restoration team and the establishment of a restoration authority.

Peace mediation between Hela warring tribes

He recently resolved and concluded a peace deal between two clans at Idawi, where the tribal fight claimed 51 lives and displaced more than eight council wards since 2014.

Undialu’s motto for 2019 is Peace, Unity and Development.

On Thursday, Governor Undialu managed to bring peace between the leaders of Sai Apa and Talira clans, whose confrontations claimed 51 lives since 2014.

Both parties agreed to end the fights and compensate the 51 deceased from both sides. 

Hamiya’s Hela petition dismissed

Justice Ellenas Batari was of the view the grounds presented by Dr Hamiya had no merits.

Dr Hewali Hamiya raised issues in the petition regarding conduct of the election and the lack of scrutiny provided by the Electoral Commission.

He alleged other irregularities of the conduct of the election, like hijacking of ballot boxes, use of excess ballot papers’ errors and omissions; and that the Electoral Commission provided poor scrutiny on the conduct of the election.

EC calls witnesses in Hela petition

Petitioner Francis Potape called a total of 27 witnesses to give evidence in court.

The Electoral Commission opened its case on Friday in the petition trial over the Hela Regional Seat, filed by Francis Potape.

Provincial returning officer for Hela, John Tipa, was called to the stand to give evidence in relation to statements he filed.

Tipa will return to the stand on Monday. The Electoral Commission intends to call two more witnesses before Undialu can call his witnesses.

The petitioner had a total of 59 witnesses, however only 27 were called to the stand.

Governor calls for reopening of Tari airport

Undialu said the Tari airport has made a lot of money for NAC during the PNG LNG Project construction and should not be punished for an incident that they are not responsible for, with respect to the Mendi incident.

Governor Undialu in a statement said for almost three months since the closure of Tari airport, the people of Hela have suffered and have risked their safety by travelling on the highway to Mt Hagen, just to get on a plane.