Bougainville

In his newly released autobiography, Sir Julius has revealed details about his harsh words with then prime minister John Howard over the hiring of Sandline mercenaries, and how he blamed the Australian media for inflaming opinion in PNG.

"I attended a private lunch with prime minister John Howard at Kirribilli House in Sydney shortly after the engagement of Sandline was revealed," wrote Sir Julius in the book, Playing the Game: Life and Politics in PNG.

"His attitude was 'Just get rid of these people. They should not be there.' He did not give me any reason for it.

Local boys who pan and dig for gold were in Buka town searching for buyers, some with up to 20 kilograms of gold in their possession.

But according to locals, the sad news is the market has been corrupted by crooks that are going around lying to people that the gold price is at around K150, K200 to K300 per gram.

The highest price right now for PNG is K116 per gram, but a lot of gold diggers are still reluctant to come out with their merchandise because of the bogus prices being imposed by individuals.

Powi said there is no space for tribal fights in his province and called on the people to embrace change.

He was responding to new reports of killings and the possible eruption of tribal fights in the province.

He is calling on the people of Upper Mendi, Nipa and Nembi Plateau local level Governments areas led by the community, church leaders and the presidents to take control of the situation.

Agricultural consultant David Anderson has conducted an Australian-Aid funded “diagnosis” of Bougainville’s cocoa industry, together with the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) Department of Primary Industries, which seeks to boost output and lift quality at every stage of production.

He’s been in Bougainville talking to hundreds of cocoa industry stakeholders - from farmers, to nurserymen, fermenters, buyers, exporters and ABG ministers.

A research has been carried out in the region and has revealed that diseases like diabetes is very common amongst the population.

The lack of exercise to keep physically fit, the consumption of sweets, especially soft drinks and a lot of sugar is now a common habit.

Underage smoking and drinking of alcohol is rampant all over the region and this has now led to obesity and diabetes.

Dr Patrick Diou of the Bougainville division of health told PNG Loop it has now  become worse over the years despite awareness campaigns by the health division.

Former Buka Police Station Commander Cletus Tsien speaking at a crusade in Buka town on Sunday night told the gathering that Bougainville needs to put safety first and not to be blinded by other less important stuff.

“As a former police commander I know facts about security here, guns we have here now are more than the guns we had during the crisis,” Tsien said.

 “Our sources in the atolls of this region tell us they have sighted ships, up to three and four sightings per day what they do we don’t know, illegal fishing  or drug trafficking?    

Program to empower youth

http://www.looppng.com/content/program-empower-youth

A local Bougainvillean NGO, Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency, has focused its efforts to empower youths in Bougainville to be aware of the region’s current socio-political climate and to make informed decisions on its future.

Be change agents – Youths

The incident happened on Thursday morning where passengers from Torokina in South Bougainville, who were travelling to Arawa Town, were involved in yet another nasty accident while travelling through the section of the Panguna to Arawa main highway.

Eleven male, two females and two children, were rushed to the Arawa Health Centre where one died and two were gravely injured with fractured skulls.

The late Kamma  was the Minister assisting the Prime Minister when he passed on.

He was Member for South Bougainville and a staunch member of the United Resource Party.

He was Bougainville Affairs Minister in the 2011-12 O’Neill-Namah Government and retained the ministry after winning the 2012 National Election.

11 escapees shot dead in Lae in major prison break

http://www.looppng.com/content/11-escapees-shot-dead-lae-major-prison-break

There was a mass break out at Buimo jail between 1.30pm to 2pm this afternoon.

Bville a potential tourism hub

http://www.looppng.com/content/bville-potential-tourism-hub