New Ireland Province

The workshop will start this Friday 28^th January and end on Saturday 29^th.

Events organized in the lead up to the Coaching workshop where the Tikana LLG Games at Nanvalus Village. Youths participated in a two day sporting event on the 25^th and 26^th of January.

Sports played on the day included, rugby 7s, rugby 9s, volleyball, athletics, boxing and soccer.

The sporting events in the LLG were viewed as Olympics of the Grassroots.

The woman, who is the mother of a five-year-old girl, was allegedly raped by three police officers at around 2am on Monday.

Yesterday afternoon, the women leaders, including young men and women, handed the petition to the provincial administrator and a representative of the New Ireland governor.

Today, the courthouse and the provincial police commander received their copies of the petition.

The young woman was waiting to be transported to the Kavieng Correctional Institution when the alleged incident happened at around 2am.

Her mother said she was kept in a separate room while the male detainees were in the holding cell.

“They planned it,” the victim’s mother told this newsroom.

“She was the only female locked away in what looked like a store room.

“It’s got brick walls around so when she shouted and struggled, no one could hear from the other side.

Those in the Tigak Islands, just outside of Kavieng reported ankle and shin-deep water flooding their homes and shelters.

The term king tide is commonly used to describe an especially high spring tide that occur a few times every year, when the gravitational pull of the sun and moon upon the earth is strongest.

Joanna Peter, from Leon in Djaul Island said the villages of Leon and Sununa in ward 17, Tikana LLG, the water has reached up to the shins of locals with at least one house destroyed by the rising sea.

Baslogo Silaunara, a local on Meteselen, is trying to help his people overcome some of these challenges through agriculture.

Silaubara undertook specialized agriculture training in East New Britain where he learned how to cultivate rice and downstream commodities like Cococa, Coffee and Cassava.

After returning home, he has been teaching the locals how to cultivate rice and process Cocoa, Coffee and Cassava.

“Now my people don’t have to travel long distances to look for rice, milo or coffee, we can make it ourselves now,” said Silaubara.

This comes about due to the increasing threats including rapid population growth, climate change and better incentives lucrative fish species that have had an effect on demand for coastal fisheries. By 2030, it is estimated that the demand for coastal fisheries will double, causing a decline in fish stocks.

The Fisheries Management Act 1998 (amended 2015) does not empower provinces, districts and LLGs to manage coastal fisheries and marine resources. It only demarcates the roles and responsibility of the NFA in terms of managing and regulating the fisheries industry.

He said this following the recent hike in law and order issues in the province.

For many years now, the people of the once peaceful Kavieng town have demanded for the removal of illegal settlers causing serious crimes in the province.

Sir Julius said the provincial government would work with the people and police to make New Ireland safe again.

Nebanat made this call following the murder of a 24-year-old New Ireland woman on Sunday 24 October. The woman allegedly died at the hands of her partner.

According to the police report, the incident occurred in a public area in Kavieng town in the presence of many bystanders.

“The bystanders could have saved the life of the deceased had they intervened,” said PPC Nebanat. 

Since taking office in May this year, Nebanat has been analysing the trend of law and order issues and is calling on civilians to take ownership by being aware of their rights as citizens of this country.

“We all play a major role in contributing towards the maintenance of peace and good order in the community,” he said.

He stressed that the slogan of “securing a safer community in partnership” tagged on police vehicles speaks volumes as indication to this approach.

The New Ireland Government led by Governor Sir Julius Chan, Deputy Sammy Missen, PEC members and Education CEO Apelis Benson set foot on the Island to attend the official opening of five impact projects yesterday.

The impact projects included two student dormitories allowing students from the nearby Islands to be accommodated on the school grounds, a school hall and two teachers’ houses.