COVID-19

This was announced by Board Chairman, Kepas Wali, when declaring the unaudited annual financial results for 2019.

Chairman Wali said the outstanding performance recorded in 2019 is a result of the collaborated effort by the Board and Management in ensuring sound business decisions and prudent cost control.

Highlights of the 2019 financial year include:

Newcrest’s K20 million Community Support Fund will initially be directed towards increasing the availability of medical care and equipment to cope with the crisis, as well as assisting in the provision of other essential goods and services in communities that host the Company’s activities.

Newcrest Managing Director and CEO, Sandeep Biswas, said Newcrest has always taken its responsibilities as a corporate leader in Papua New Guinea seriously and the Company was committed to supporting the government and the community in managing this crisis.

In a statement, BAT says if the testing by bio-tech subsidiary, Kentucky BioProcessing (KBP) goes well, between 1 and 3 million doses of the vaccine could be manufactured per week, beginning in June.

The multinational company said while KBP remains a commercial operation, the intention is that its work around the Covid-19 vaccine project will be carried out on a not for profit basis.

The vaccine in development uses BAT’s proprietary, fast-growing tobacco plant technology which has several advantages over conventional vaccine production technology:

He said people in the province need to begin growing their own food and raise livestock for self-sustenance as well as to potentially supply Port Moresby or other centers.

Agarobe made the call in an update on COVID-19 measures undertaken by the Provincial Government.

Governor Agarobe said the current State of Emergency has shown how a crisis lockdown can affect food supply chains to and from the Province.

He said with the current wet weather, locals need to toil the land in anticipation of a shortage of food stocks both processed and local produce.

The PNGDF engineers were in the province under the Government’s sanctioned project, the Madang-Baiyer road.

They operate out of Iome in Middle Ramu and Songaram in the Madang district.

Governor Yama clarified that the involvement of PNGDF engineers in the COVID-19 with the Response Team is not illegal as claimed.

He said it is the same arrangement in which the PNGDF element have in the last rotation where they were used for the natural disaster during the Manam Island volcano relief effort.

Dr. Garry Nou, Incident Manager from the NCD Provincial Health Authority warned the public that the medicine is currently on trial in the US and only be used if successful trials are done.

The announcement came after the media raised questions during a press conference earlier this week that people have been buying chloroquine for self-medication at home.

Central Governor, Robert Agarobe, said color coded passes will be issued by the Provincial Police Commander with his signature.

Governor Agarobe said under the current lockdown only trade store owners with licenses and permits to operate will be issued passes to travel into Port Moresby and back.

“Passes to be issued by Provincial Police Commanders with colour coding which is orange, and the PPC’s original signature. Without the PPC’s signature, you cannot travel.

He arrived in Port Moresby on March 21^st to commence his appointment.

The High Commissioner is engaging with the PNG Government and PNG leaders via phone for his first two weeks in PNG and has reinforced Australia’s continued commitment to PNG’s long-term development priorities to Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Patrick Pruaitch, and Treasurer, Ian Ling Stuckey.

Central Governor, Robert Agarobe, said a Rapid Response team was dispatched on March 31^st to a logging site where the ‘Persons of Interest’ were located.

Governor Agarobe said the ‘Person of Interest’ were tracked to Bam,  Abau District.

It is understood they are expatriates working at a logging site in the Cloudy Bay area.

The Defence Force Personnel will be deployed over the weekend increasing the current manpower on the ground.

Police Minister Bryan Kramer announced this today in an update on the Governments COVID-219 Response.