papua new guinea

The index, published every year by Reporters without Borders, assesses the level of freedom available to journalists.

“Journalists hold people in power to account. They equip us with the knowledge to make decisions affecting our lives. They share stories that offer hope for our future; exposing truths we may otherwise never hear.

“Journalists make great sacrifices to bring us the truth,” said Gianluca Rampolla, UN Resident Coordinator in Papua New Guinea.

McLoughlin, when presenting his Letter of Appointment to the Secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Barbara Age, reassured the Government of UNICEF’s commitment to continue serving the children, especially those who are most vulnerable, to ensure they become healthy, well-educated adolescents to proactively contribute to society and country.

“It is important for us to be here supporting our mandate through our programs in health,

And few academics like John Kasaipwalova are of the view that riding on technology would greatly address this need.

Paradise Publishing House is going digital with its Paradise digital books.

With hardcopies, the challenge is the accumulated cost when it reaches shelves of bookshops throughout the country.

Kasaipwalova says sending hardcopies to 11 thousand schools throughout the country is very difficult.

But if these books are reduced into a digital format, the outcome is the big reduction in price and the ease of transportation. 

Chairman of FGE, Dr. Fereidun Fesharaki, says this is expected in the short term while the medium to long term looks promising with global prices expected to stabilise.

In his Global Energy Industry overview during the 2nd Petroleum and Energy Summit on Monday (March 19), Dr.  Fesharaki said the recent earthquake in the highlands affected the potential revenue to be made from the increase in LNG prices currently experienced.

He, however, had further bad news, saying the estimated resumption of the PNG LNG Project could come at a time when sport prices were also falling.

The earthquake, which has a depth of 53km, occurred as a result of interaction between the Pacific and South Bismarck Plates.

Location: 4.4 degrees S, 153.2 degrees E

Place: About 25km SE of Lasu

Furthermore, an official from the Rabaul Volcanological Observatory (RVO) advised Loop PNG that PMGO’s report is more accurate as their recording station is closer to the epicenter than other foreign observatories, especially in terms of triangulation.

The magnitude 6.7 quake hit just after midnight local time in the mountainous region around the border of Western and Hela provinces.

It's the same region where the epicentre of last week's powerful 7.5 quake was located.

Aid workers are still struggling to reach remote parts of this area where there is widespread damage.

Up to 150,000 people are believed to be in urgent need of emergency supplies.

Local media is reporting the death toll has grown to 75, after government officials previously said 55 people had been killed.

The small island just north of PNG's mainland began erupting last month, prompting the evacuation of over 600 residents to the East Sepik capital Wewak.

According to the Rabaul Volcano Observatory, Kadovar's eruption continues at a low-level with mild steaming at the summit, and gentle emission of lava.

But Governor Allan Bird said he has had to tell the resettled Kadovar community that a return was not viable.

He said they had accepted the sad news.

The report was launched today in Port Moresby.

It includes both the PNG and global report, together with the Open Budget Index, by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) with the PNG Institute of National Affair (INA).

The survey also looks at the level of engagement with the public and respective people's oversight bodies, including the National Parliament, and watchdogs, notably the Auditor General, during the entire Budget process.

691 islanders were evacuated over the weekend after a volcanic eruption began on Friday and progressively intensified.

The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory's Steve Saunders said the surprise eruption on Kadovar had covered the island in ash but no lava had yet reached the surface.

Mr Saunders said it would either peter out or develop into a full blown eruption where magma and explosive gases escaped.

He said with the islanders successfully evacuated, the main concern now was whether a tsunami would be triggered and aviation disrupted.

The U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby confirmed this, stating that the hyperbaric decompression chamber located in Port Moresby is currently closed and disabled, with no timeline for when it will be reactivated.

In its simplest form, the hyperbaric chamber is a cylindrical metal or acrylic tube large enough to hold one or more persons and equipped with an access hatch that retains its seal under high pressure. Air, another breathing mixture, or oxygen is pumped in by a compressor or allowed to enter from pressurised tanks.