Daru

According to Daru Town Mayor, Samuel Wingu, more than 50 percent of people in Daru, are facing water problems.

He said only 38 percent of the population on the island are connected to Water PNG while the other 62 percent collect water from through rain water or bore water.

Like many other basic service lacking, water is one of the main source of life, which is difficult to fetch in Daru.

Men, women and children carry empty containers each day, waking from one end of the town to another in search of water.

The Western Provincial Health authorities had condemned the facility after many detainees in the prison had suffered from serious illnesses.

Since 2019, little to no support has come has come forth when the facility will be improved and maintained.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the CS institute struggles to keep in line with the measures, which jail authorities believe will be hard to manage, unless government support comes home soon.

Daru Acting Jail Commander, Lena Apuri says they are still waiting for funding from South Fly and Western Provincial Administration.

After more than a decade, the community has taken the initiative to provide and support each other.

Solomon Community is a small community in Daru, Western Province that has always struggled to make ends meet for its individual families.

Community leaders, Alex Doie said it took him at least 10 years to change the attitudes of the youth in the area. He said it wasn’t easy but he managed to change the behaviour of the people especially the youth.

A team of officials from Western Province accompanied by an officer from PNG’s Village Court and Land Mediation Secretariat met with village court officials and community members from the Tamate, Iaru, Cawo’o, Darowaro, and Central Kiwai Village Courts.

The meetings were an opportunity to share information and ideas about court and mediation services and how best they can support the community.

The officials inspected village court records, reviewed the conduct of court officials, observed court procedures and held information sessions for the communities.

Led by Patron, Robin Chauka, the Kazens club conducted the clean up this morning.

Chauka says the cleanup is to show togetherness within the club.

Meanwhile, the club has been training hard and doing various fundraisings since January in preparations for the Sports Tok 7’s tournament to be held in Port Moresby this April.

Kazens club is no stranger to the tournament.

The other teams from Daru that will be participating in the Sports Tok 7’s tournament include, GG Daru, Amaroa and Vikings.

Those intending to travel, holding onto a valid ticket and have queries are encouraged to visit a PNG Air sales office or an agent to be served.

Acting Chief Commercial Officer, Nancy Nakikus said "PNG Air is looking forward to operate flights and continue to connect people".

"We are looking forward to getting normalcy back into PNG and giving our people a quality service they deserve,"

The team was on Sturt Island on Monday morning to conduct tests.

The decision to conduct a medical outreach came about after Community Health Workers in Sturt, Upati and Emerti Islands noticed locals reporting to the aid posts with skin conditions.

Community Health Worker at the Sturt aid post, Kawani Bulia, said he treats up to 60 suspected cases per day.

Bulia said some of his patients have reported that they contracted the skin condition after getting in contact with water.

The Daru accelerated response for TB sites has recorded positive response from patients.

The sites treat multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and drug sensitive cases which have gained significant improvement, noted Dr Sonia Madjus, technical leader of Western and NCD provinces’ TB response.

Dr Madjus said the loss in follow-up rate was previously 30 percent but this has seen an enormous reduction to less than 1 percent.

A newly-procured tuberculosis (TB) van with digital x-ray and computer aided diagnostic with the slogan, ‘Let’s kick TB out of PNG – ACT now’, will be inaugurated today (February 5).

This is in response to the emergency TB and multidrug-resistant TB situation in Daru, Western Province.

High level delegates of development partners will observe today’s event, which will be officiated by Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS, Sir Puka Temu.

The ceremony will be hosted at the Daru oval.

Bank South Pacific (BSP) staff in Daru decided to refurbish the small container office after seeing that the old facility was in dire need of repair.
BSP Daru branch manager, Ivy David, when handing over the key to the Daru police, said: “In respect to women and children in the community, BSP is pleased to support the cause in providing a safe and secure environment for the people.

 “Building a cop shop in the heart of Daru town will mean that services will be closer to the community. It will be beneficial to residents in terms of laying complaints,” she added.