Northern Province

Amuli won the Sohe seat from Delilah Gore in the 2017 general elections.

Gore filed the petition disputing his win and was successful after a trial was conducted in Popondetta, Northern Province.

Justice Iova Geita ordered a recount to take place from May 21 with results to be presented to the Popondetta National Court.

Amuli is now seeking leave of the Supreme Court to review the decision of 23 March.

The application will be moved on 7 May.

Meantime, Gore’s lawyers intend to file an application to dismiss the leave application.

The landowners are demanding the National Government to pay K15 million in outstanding land compensation or they will shut the airport permanently.

Spokesperson Barthimias Kaipa said for so long, their land compensation requests have been falling on deaf ears since 2006, when they lodged their claim.

He said their claims had been processed by government agencies and were paid to illegitimate landowners.

They have presented their petition to Girua Airport manager Eki Wally on behalf of Minister for Civil Aviation Alfred Manasseh last Friday.

She had given birth in the village and died the following day due to complications.

Maternal deaths continue to be the biggest challenge in rural and remote areas where access to basic health services are impossible and the nearest health centre at Itokama is a three hour walk.

This is evident in Barai, a geographically remote area sharing the mountain ranges bordering with Central Province where road access is often inaccessible.

The Barai Plateau covers ten wards, 35 villages and has a population of 8,555 people.

Information from the Police Headquarters in Port Moresby state that the PPC was said to have apprehended two men from his home village upon the belief that they were behind a sorcery-related act in relation to a swollen feet.

The two men were taken from the village and were reported to have been beaten up along the way.

Police say one was pronounced dead while the other is now in hospital in critical condition.

Deputy Police Commissioner-Operations, Jim Andrews, says such acts, especially by a senior police officer, are uncalled for in the force.

Yesterday, detectives from the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate (NFACD) arrested managing director for First National Real Estate Ltd, Martin Piason, aged 39 of Tsak village, Wapenamanda.

He was charged with one count of misappropriation of more than K1.3 million under the criminal code act and one count of money laundering under proceeds of crime act.

In a statement, fraud director Matthew Damaru said it is alleged K3 million was paid by the Ijivitari District Treasury to two companies for purported mobile health programs.

It was alleged that the accused, Sam Vegego, has been misappropriating money from the Oro Provincial Administration office.

Police report that this incident has been taking place since January of this year.

In total, Vegego has misappropriated K168,785 from the Provincial Administration Office and diverted it to his own personal use.

The matter has been referred to Criminal Investigation Division for further investigation to take place.

Juffa said this in response to a petition signed by rival candidates contesting the Northern Regional Seat to re-check all ballot papers and locate the whereabouts of eight thousand unused ballot papers, which they claim may have been used in the count.

Their claims stem from the fact that Juffa has mustered a commanding lead in the Northern Regional race, adding it is unrealistic.

Incumbent Ijivitari MP and Regional candidate, David Arore, was reported on TVWAN news saying this was the biggest political fraud in the Province.

All three seats in the province completed count 9 as of 4pm today.

Pushing this agenda with the inaugural Oro Music Festival is a recently formed foundation called the Birdwing Foundation.

The foundation is a community initiative aimed at supporting individuals and groups from Oro Province.

In collaboration with the Cosmopolitan Club, the Oro Music Fest will be staged this weekend, May 19, at the super club.

The Music Fest is an initiative aimed at promoting and empowering musicians from its homeland.

There are some famous bands from Oro that have graced PNG’s music industry, including a new breed of emerging musicians.