The Media Council of Papua New Guinea (MCPNG) has condemned an alleged assault on a senior female reporter and called on the police to conduct a full independent investigation into the incident last Friday.

Council president Neville Choi also condemned the attack and threat against one of its own
members, saying reporters in Papua New Guinea must be “respected for the work that they do in informing and educating the public of what is happening around them”.

A statement at the weekend by the MCPNG detailed the circumstances of the attack and although the reporter was not named in the report, she was bylined in her news story about injuries suffered by prisoners in an attempted break-out at the Bomana jail near the capital Port Moresby.

The reporter, Rebecca Kuku, is an experienced reporter of The National daily newspaper.

Her article reported that “more than 50 remandees were injured, and nine hospitalised in what a top official described as a failed jail break” at the Bomana Correctional Service Institution on Monday, 23 February 2026. Photographs of some of the injured remandees were published with the article.

The MCPNG statement said “an attack on one journalist is an attack on the media industry”.

The statement said that the attack happened about 11am on Friday, February 27, as Kuku was about to enter Correctional Service headquarters to attend a Press conference.

‘Confronted by 5 officers’
“She was confronted by five Correctional Service male officers who questioned her about an article that she had reported on in relation to injuries sustained by prisoners at the Bomana Correctional Service facility,” the statement said.

“One of the CS officers punched the female reporter on her left ear, to which she reacted by pushing him away in self-defence, while another officer attempted to slap her across the face.

“Following the incident, the reporter returned to the office and reported the matter to her editor before filing a formal police complaint regarding the attack.”

“The unprovoked attack was in relation to a news article in The National carrying the reporter’s byline entitled “50-plus prisoners injured in ‘failed’ jail break.”

The MCPNG quoted a brief statement by The National newspaper management:

“The National merely reported a serious assault upon prisoners perpetrated, it has been confirmed, by warders.

“The Prime Minister has ordered an investigation. For warders to now assault a journalist is reprehensible and does nothing to improve the image of the service.

“We are fully supporting our journalist in filing a criminal assault case. We are calling on the CS command to look into this and discipline the officers responsible.

“We have lodged a complaint with the CS management. Regardless of this we will continue to report fairly all matters to do with CS including this incident.”

‘Damning evidence’
Since the incident, said the MCPNG, said it had received “damning evidence” which included Whatsapp messages and voice notes which reflected the “very worrying conduct of officers” within the Correctional Services.

The media council reminded the public that “freedom of the press is the fundamental right
of journalists and media organisations to report, publish, and disseminate information, news, and opinions without government censorship, intimidation, or undue restriction”.

President Neville Choi condemned the attack and threat, saying reporters in Papua New Guinea must be respected for the work that they do in informing and educating the public of what is happening around them.

He added that citizens not happy with a news report could raise a formal complaint with the MCPNG Media by writing to the council, or via its website complaints page.

In a comment reported by ABC News, Choi said public servants and authorities needed to understand the importance of journalists.

“We’re not here to point fingers at anybody, we’re here to report the facts and for our citizens to make more informed decisions and even for authorities to pay attention to what may be happening that they don’t know about.”

The National reported that Prime Minister James Marape had ordered a full investigation.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Six hired gunmen in Enga were shot dead by men from the Ambulin tribe on Friday in what Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has described as “jungle justice”.

Police alleged that on Friday around 5am, the six men sneaked into Ambulin tribal territory to ambush them but were caught. The Ambulins surrounded them in a culvert and shot five men.

Security force members intervened and rescued the sixth man, but he died later in hospital.

Police said the gunmen were from the Silin and Kaekin tribes.

Provincial police commander Acting Superintendent George Kakas said one was from Sirunki in Laiagam, one was from Kompiam and four from Wapenamanda.

“According to the Ambulin tribe, these six men were hired to go into their territory and ambush them,” he said.

“They [Ambulins] said the killing of the six men was a warning to other tribes, especially from Kompiam, Laiagam or Wapenamanda not to get involved in their tribal warfare.”

Bodies dragged
Commander Kakas said the bodies of the five men were dragged out of the culvert and had their hands and legs tied to the back of a vehicle.

“Their bodies were then thrown on the road as a message to other tribes sending gunmen not to get involved in another tribe’s warfare.”

He said investigations were underway, with 70 policemen being deployed at the site.

Meanwhile, Commander Kakas warned businessmen, educated elites and other people funding activities to hire gunmen, buy guns and bullets to stop the practice.

He said that operational plans were being drawn up to focus on the “manipulators” of the bloodshed “while we are increasing the number of security force personnel deployed to hotspots to minimise killings and property damage”.

“Through their respective commanders, security force personnel have been instructed to use all means necessary to detain gunmen and to use lethal force when warranted,” he said.

Police Commissioner David Manning has advised Prime Minister Marape and Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili of additional measures being taken to strengthen security in Enga.

Engan hot spots
He said Assistant Commissioner, Operations, Samson Kua would lead the operation.

“It is important that ramping up personnel in hot spots in Enga does not undermine security presence in other areas,” Commissioner Manning said.

“As such, I have appointed Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Jr to focus on enhancing security operations to support the reopening of the Porgera mine, while force strength in areas such as Hela and the Southern Highlands will be maintained.”

Commissioner Manning said the approach being taken in Enga was “a break from the colonial methods of the past”.

“While we bring the full weight of the state to bear on those who perpetrate these heinous acts, we must be honest and acknowledge that security forces cannot arrest or kill our way out of tribal fighting in Enga.

“We have to deal with the cause of these conflicts at the root and stop this senseless violence where it starts.”

Cretilda Alokaka is a reporter with PNG’s National newspaper. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s The National newspaper has welcomed a statement by the Information and Communication Technology Department (DICT) that the government has no wish to control the media to limit freedom of expression.

Editor-in-chief Christine Pakakota said a free media provided oxygen to any country claiming to be democratic, and effectively promoting transparency and accountability.

She was responding to a government statement last week, saying that the proposed national media development policy had “no intention of giving powers to the government to control the media or infringe on the freedom of expression”.

The National submitted its response to the draft policy last Tuesday.

Pakakota said it was obvious that the government’s intention and concern was “to ensure that the people get important and accurate information”.

“We are with any government that wishes to improve the standard of living of the people as well as to develop the country,” she said.

“And when the government says it aims to do so through the promotion of democracy, good governance, human rights and social and economic development, as stated in the covering statement to the draft policy, we will proudly stand beside it.”

‘Long journey’
She regretted that the government had given stakeholders only two weeks “to respond to a matter that would have serious and long-lasting impact on the country’s long journey to becoming a developed nation and take its rightful place in the world”.

“We also believe that the PNG Media Council must be fully independent and adequately funded by the state and/or donors, and run by highly-respected persons,” she said.

“It represents the interests of the media industry in PNG.”

She said the council should also have a complaints committee to judge complaints about press and broadcasting conduct as set out in a Media Code of Ethics and Practice.

“The council should have a chairman and executive secretary selected from the public,” she said.

“Members of the complaints committee (at least five) are also to be picked from the public.”

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape says it is very disappointing that foreign-owned media in the country continue to run “fake news”.

He said this after an editorial in the Malaysian-owned National on Wednesday claimed that former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had “rubbished” Papua New Guinea at the PNG Mining and Petroleum Conference in Sydney this week.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Marape, who attended the Sydney conference on Monday.

“The people of Australia and PNG demand an apology from The National for what seems to be a deliberate attempt to damage good relations between our two countries,” he said.

“Even PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum president Anthony Smaré, who organised the conference, is bewildered at where The National got this information from.

“Such lies, propagated by foreign-owned media in PNG, will only damage the good relations between Australia and PNG that have existed long before they came in.

“The 1000-plus people who packed the Hilton Hotel in Sydney never heard a bad word from Julie Bishop, who even after leaving politics, continues to be a very good friend of PNG.

‘Selling point for PNG’
“Her speech at the conference on Monday was a selling point for PNG.”

Prime Minister Marape was also disappointed that people of PNG believed the National editorial.

“It is also very disappointing that Papua New Guineans, even the well-educated ones, believed The National editorial which spread like wildfire on social media,” he said.

“Those many good Papua New Guineans in Sydney on Monday for the conference will dispel this myth.”

Marape said he had never controlled media in PNG, which is mostly foreign-owned, since becoming Prime Minister in 2019.

“Never once did I budge into newsrooms at late hours or call editors, like my predecessor Peter O’Neill was known for, and demand that news stories be pulled down,” he said.

“These foreign-owned media should be grateful for this and tell the truth, rather than lies, about a country in which you are a guest.

“My government will be encouraging more PNG ownership of mainstream media in 2023 and beyond.”

The editorial in The National, owned by the Malaysian logging company Rimbunan Hijau, said on 7 December 2022:

Stay home and clean up
Perhaps Papua New Guineans can learn a thing or two from the Sydney, Australia, conference last week.

Former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, long used to Papua New Guinea and its talkative politicians, did not mince words.

She fairly told Papua New Guinea: “Stop begging for aid.

“Stop begging for investment.

“You have been independent 47 long years.

“You have sufficient resources.

“About time you did something of your own.”

That would have been sobering.

Lesson one – Stop begging for aid.
At the last review of Australia’s aid to PNG, the aid bill from that direction had reached K28 billion [NZ$12.5 billion].

That amount will easily now be up to K50 billion.

What lasting infrastructure has the aid money built?

What import replacement industry has aid assisted in standing up?

How has aid fared in lowering infant and maternal mortality or reduced poverty or improved living standards.

These are quantifiable and verifiable factors on the human and economic indexes.

If the present indexes are negligible or dropping, then the most important question of all is: Where has all the aid money gone?

Lesson two: Stop begging for investment.
You attract foreign direct investment by the incentives you offer, by the taxation regime you have, by the stable political climate you offer and security for investment and safety of employees that is in place.

Do not go on foreign investment missions until these issues are sorted out at home.

Do not go ask for investors if you have not started up Wafi Golpu, Papua LNG, Pnyang LNG and Porgera gold mine.

Nobody is blind or a fool.

Everybody is well aware what goes on in PNG.

Lesson three: Think trade, not aid or loans.
When you think in that direction you think about what you must grow or produce at home for trade.

You must think markets, volumes, quality and sustainability.

You must think about local manufacturing industries and growth of service industries.

Lesson four: Enough talking, time for action.
Do we need to even need an explanation for this last lesson?

When you look at the lessons proffered here, you can easily see that much of the things that need doing must be done in the country.

Even PNG’s neighbours are tiring of hearing PNG talking about this plan or that plan or whatever other plan without seeing any of the plans bearing fruit.

Since Somare broached the 8-Point Plan in 1973 and the five National goals and Directive Principles have been written into the Preamble of the National Constitution, PNG has been planning forever but never getting up to work the plans.

It has been forever asking others to do the things it itself seems loathe to do.

These others, Australia being a principal partner in this, are now telling us: enough is enough.

It is time the globe-trotting ceased and the trips to expos stopped.

Putting Julie Bishop in the line-up of speakers also means the conference organisers thought the time was ripe for some straight talking.

Stay home and clean up the backyard.

This media report is made up – it does not contain one actual quotation from my speech! The audience – mostly from PNG – can verify that I did not say this. 🤷‍♀️ https://t.co/eKZpBKbJvT

— Julie Bishop (@HonJulieBishop) December 8, 2022

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

National Capital Dictrict (NCD) police have arrested 18 suspects following the slasher attacks on civilians yesterday outside Papua New Guinea’s national elections counting centre at Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise stadium.

NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu said the men were “persons of interest” and police would continue investigating.

“The men [suspects] are in custody with no charges laid until completion of the investigation by our CID,” Superintendent Ikumu said.

He also reassured city residents and the public to remain calm as the police were now out in numbers to carry out patrols and maintain order in the city.

“I hope this doesn’t happen again — our men are now dispatched to areas of concern to monitor and to ensure public safety is guaranteed,” Superintendent Ikumu said.

Superintendent Ikumu said members of the PNG Defence Force were also assisting city police by protecting the counting area at the Sir John Guise Stadium.

“This will now see support units assist regular police to maintain order in Port Moresby,” he said.

The city police chief said opportunists were also taking advantage of the situation. He urged city residents and the general public to be vigilant.

“While police and other security forces are out to ensure order, I call on residents to be mindful when moving around,” said Superintendent Ikumu.

He had also asked the NCD Election Manager to suspend counting until tensions eased in the city.

‘Global shame’
The National’s Rebecca Kuku reports that Papua New Guinea was “shamed internationally … when general election 2022 (GE22) candidates’ supporters turned the streets in the … capital Port Moresby into a battlefield.

“Innocent people ran helter-skelter as political supporters wielding bush knives started chasing and slashing people indiscriminately on the streets in front of City Hall (the National Capital District Commission building) about 2.30pm.

“People were seen running into the compound of the nearby Vision City Mega Mall for refuge as the assailants went about slashing their victims who collapsed on the spot.

“The uncivilised electoral violence started at the nearby Sir John Guise Stadium where counting of GE22 ballots were in progress for the Moresby Northeast electorate.

“Police said the knife-wielding offenders were supporters of two candidates and at least two were wounded.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister James Marape says Papua New Guineans who continue to commit crimes under the pretext of “sorcery” must be arrested and charged by police.

Marape was responding to questions asked by The National in relation to the death of Mary Kopari who was killed by an angry mob over allegations of sorcery in Margarima, Hela.

“People shouldn’t be killing women or girls over sorcery, as far as Papua New Guinea is concerned,” he said.

“Killing someone accused of sorcery is illegal, so police should be doing their job.

“We discourage anyone from killing another over sorcery, if you feel that someone has caused an offence, there are appropriate charges to be laid against that person”

The special Parliamentary Committee on Gender-Based Violence chairman, Charles Abel, has written a letter to Police Commissioner David Manning requesting for information on actions taken over:

• sorcery accusations related killing in Hela; and
• the systematic police response to sorcery accusation-related violence.

Information needed by Monday
Abel said the information must be provided to the committee secretariat no later than Monday.

Hela police have told The National that eight suspects were identified in the horror torture and killing.

Officer-in-charge of Hela CID Sergeant Daniel Olabe said after the killing that there had been a confrontation between the woman’s family and the husband’s family.

“From the video, we have identified eight men who tortured the woman.”

However, no charges have yet been made.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, widely regarded as the founding father of independent Papua New Guinea, was in a critical condition in Port Moresby last night fighting cancer, reports The National today.

The 84-year-old former politician and his wife, Lady Veronica, had been preparing this week to go overseas for treatment, the newspaper said.

A family member said last night: “It is with sadness that I advise, on behalf of the Somare family, the serious illness pancreatic cancer that has befallen our father, Sir Michael, is at a critical stage and we as a family, along with his medical teams, are giving him the utmost care that he deserves.”

The National said that Cardinal Sir John Ribat celebrated a special Eucharist with Sir Michael and Lady Veronica yesterday at his hospital bed at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby.

The ABC correspondent in Port Moresby, Natalie Whiting, posted a twitter message saying Cardinal Ribat had “released a statement on behalf of the family asking the public to pray for Sir Michael and advising he is receiving palliative care in Port Moresby”.

#PNG‘s first Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare is in a critical condition with pancreatic cancer. Cardinal Ribat has released a statement on behalf of the family asking the public to pray for Sir Michael and advising he is receiving palliative care in Port Moresby.

— Natalie Whiting (@Nat_Whiting) February 21, 2021

The family statement continued:

“After comprehensive consultation to ensure all clinical opportunities were exhausted in every jurisdiction with the competencies able to treat the critical stage of this form of cancer, the family, in consultation with the grand chief and Lady Veronica, have settled with offering the best palliative care and nutritional and dietary care in PNG.

“Due to the numerous enquiries, we thought it best to be forthright so the public knows the exact extent of this terrible illness.

“We thank the many Papua New Guineans who have sent in their well wishes and prayers for the health and wellbeing of Sir Michael and Lady Veronica.”

Sir Michael, a former broadcaster, was a key politician in the lead up to independence from Australia in 1975 and he became the country’s first prime minister.

His political career spanned from 1968 until his retirement in 2017 and he has been papua New Guinea’s longest-serving prime minister.

The ABC has reported that Sir Michael Somare, the father of #PNG independence in 1975, is critically ill and in palliative care in a Port Moresby hospital. Sir Michael has pancreatic cancer. pic.twitter.com/QJ89gPJ3Qd

— Keith Jackson AM (@PNGAttitude) February 21, 2021

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

My last article, announcing that I intend to make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the Public Service regulation to no longer require the Commissioner of Police to hold a tertiary degree, prompted a number of readers to suggest this would be an act nepotism, corruption and self-interest.

While I found these claims rather amusing, they are also disturbing as it shows some people are either genuinely ignorant of the issues, or just plain stupid.

What is the regulation that stipulates a person must obtain a tertiary degree to qualify for the appointment of Departmental Head (Secretary of Department)?

In 2003, the NEC approved a regulation called the Public Service (Management) Minimum Person Specification and Competence & Regulations for Selection and Appointment of Departmental Heads and Provincial Administrators.

This regulation provided that any person applying for a position of Departmental Head or Provincial Administrator must meet a number of minimum requirements to be considered for the appointment. These requirements number more than 18 and include everything from minimim tertiary education, over age of 35, management experience and skills to health and fitness.

So there is no confusion, this regulation was proposed by the Department of Personnel Management as the agency responsible for Public Service through the Minister of Public Service for NEC’s approval.

While Acts of Parliament (laws) are subject to approval by Parliament, regulations are approved by NEC.

Regulations like bylaws
Regulations are like bylaws to an Act of Parliament and are intended to provide more detailed processes and procedures when implementing provisions or sections of an Act (law).

When NEC introduced the regulation specifying the minimum requirements for persons to be appointed to be Departmental Head and Provincial Administrators, did it intend the regulation to apply to the Commissioner of Police?

Short answer, in my respectful view, is No.

My evidence to support this view is that NEC appoints the Commissioner of Police and, if it intended the Commissioner of Police to be subject to the regulation, then it would have applied it to every Commissioner of Police appointed since 2003.

The same can be said about the Department of Personnel Management which proposed the regulation in the first place and would have otherwise applied it in the shortlisting of candidates for the position.

Since the introduction of the regulation, how many Commissioners of Police have had a tertiary qualification?

Short answer is none.

Six post-regulation appointments
Since the introduction of the regulation by NEC there have been six appointments to Commissioner of Police. Not one has possessed a tertiary degree.

In fact, since 1945 more than 23 people have served as Commissioner of Police and only one of them possessed a tertiary education – Peter Aigolo, 1997-1999.

It is the role of Members of Parliament to pass legislation, NEC to pass regulation and the court to interpret and uphold law consistent with its intended meaning, purpose and Constitutional law.

The Supreme Court has held in numerous of its judgements over the years that, when interpreting laws passed by Parliament, it is important to understand and consider the intent of the legislature when they introduced the law.

In this case, the question is did the NEC intend the regulation to be applied to the appointment of Commissioner of Police?

Based on the above evidence, my respectful view is No.

I don’t believe this evidence or argument was raised before the National Court to assist the Court in arriving at its decision. Perhaps it was the case of those drafting the regulation failing to make it clear.

The decision of the National Court is not final, as the Commissioner of Police may exercise his right to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court for a three-man bench to review the decision.

NEC may also exercise its Constitutional powers to correct any confusion in the application of the regulation to make it consistent with its intended purpose.

The decision to introduce regulation, rescind, amend or correct it, including in the appointment of the Commissioner of Police, lies with NEC.

Republished from Police Minister Bryan Kramer’s personal blog. The original headline on this article was: “Where did minimum requirements for Chief of Police come from?” Asia Pacific Report often republishes Minister Kramer’s articles.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Sex workers have urged the Papua New Guinea government to pass a law to protect them after one of them was recently gang-raped, beaten and left to die on a roadside in the capital of Port Moresby.

One told The National: “Yes, she is a prostitute. We all are. And we have our reasons why we are in this trade.

“But we are also Papua New Guineans. We are also human.”

The sex workers, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that their identities not be  revealed because they could end up in trouble with the law, said they were forced into the trade not by choice but as a matter of survival.

One said they sold their bodies “for a living out of necessity” knowing there was no law to protect them.

They are afraid to report to police inhumane and cruel acts inflicted on them by men who pay for their services because they can end up in trouble.

“My friend was brutally gang raped. She had to have her [private parts] stitched. She was beaten to the point where she nearly died,” one said.

‘Good Samaritan’ helped victim
She said if not for a “Good Samaritan who found her and rushed her to the hospital”, the co-worker might not be living today to tell her story.

“She can’t even lodge a complaint because prostitution is illegal. We have no rights [protection].

“We can be murdered tomorrow and no one will care because we are prostitutes.

“But [people must remember] that we are also human beings and we are also Papua New Guineans.”

The 24-year-old victim said she was paid to spend an hour with the client.

He took her to a lodge in Port Moresby where eight men raped her. She told of how she called out for help but heard people outside laughing at her.

“No one helped me even though I screamed for help. There were people outside. I could hear them laughing and saying [that I was a prostitute]. Yes, I was paid for one hour with one client only.”

Previous protection bill defeated
“In 2016, a motion to protect sex workers tabled in Parliament by then Sumkar MP Ken Fairweather met strong opposition. It was defeated.

In February this year, Justice Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven said the position of the law on prostitution in PNG was not clear.

He was waiting for the State Solicitor “to give me specific legal support on matters like that”.

Community Development, Religion and Youth Department acting Secretary Pala Yondi earlier said the department was concerned about sex workers who were abused, assaulted and raped because there were no laws to protect them.

Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and Solomon Islands Bishop Rochus Tatamai blamed the increase in sex workers on the current “economic crisis”.

The Pacific Media Centre republishes The National articles with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Hundreds walked the Sir John Guise drive on Thursday calling for justice for the brutal death of 19-year-old mother-of-two – Jenelyn Kennedy last week.

Jenelyn’s battered lifeless body was taken into the Port Moresby General Hospital last Tuesday by four men (one believed to be the father of her two children).

Dr Sam Yockopua, the country’s chief of emergency, took to social media his outburst on what he described as “an inhumane act and work of the devil” after seeing her body.

READ MORE: Background and reports on gender-based violence in PNG

The media went to town with her story the next day and the Friday photograph of her battered body by The National (with permission from her family), we believe is the turning point of enough is enough.

We defied media ethics by publishing that photograph but it had to be done to drive home the message of violence is rampant in our society.

Her story needed to be told.

Though she is not around to tell it, her voice needed to be heard and that picture was used to ensure her voice was loud and clear and to also awaken the authorities and the country to the realities of gender-based violence (GBV).

Due to feelings of isolation, fear, and intimidation, many people do not speak up if they are being abused at home.

They live in fear, and therefore do not get the help that they need to get out of their current situation.

The brutality of her death has shaken the country and has not put authorities on the spot with their lack of pro-activeness in getting the GBV system working efficiently. Her story, we believe, will give victims some hope of reaching out for help and one day to speak about it.

It was a wakeup call for citizens to realise the horrific realities of GBV so they can check on their daughters, sisters or friends and help them get out before it’s too late, and so much more.

The march yesterday, with the many who wore black around the country and the evening vigil is a sign of togetherness to denounce violence against woman and to shine the light on the help system for victims.

A banner portrait showed Jenelyn’s smiling face.

Placards bearing her name and other victims, and slogans to ending violence were displayed.

Far too often, GBV cases covered by the media gradually gets swept away.

Domestic violence does not discriminate. It exists in households of every socio-economic status, and every ethnic and cultural background.

It is often used as a weapon of control and intimidation by a partner, spouse or ex-spouse.

Her death sparked public outcry – justice for her and all victims and to put an end to violence. It shone a light on the failing GBV help system. Institutions are now responding.

Strengths and gaps within the current system are now being identified and we hope those responsible will do what is needed to improve and correct it as we move forward.

All concerned stakeholders have the responsibility now holding each other accountable so we are on the right track.

The PNG National Strategy to Prevent and Response to Gender Based Violence 2016-2025 is there. Let us move forward on a strong course of action that protects and supports victims of domestic violence.

The bottom line is we want to put a stop to domestic violence – before it ever begins.
Everyone – government, police, lawyers, social services, health-care professionals and other community partners – has a role here.

It is our collective responsibility to stop the violence.

This National editorial was published in the weekend edition, 3-5 July 2020.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The battered body of young mother Jenelyn Kennedy lay in a morgue yesterday as relatives told of the repeated beatings she had been receiving in the past five years which had been reported to police.

Grandfather Kennedy Karava said Jenelyn had last week been subjected to another six days of beating.

She finally collapsed at the home she shared with her partner at Korobosea in Port Moresby early Tuesday morning.

Her partner was charged with wilful murder yesterday.

Karava said Jenelyn was only 15 and doing Grade Seven at the Eki Vaki Primary School when her father gave her a house in downtown to live in. She eloped with her partner in late 2015.

“We started looking for her. My son heard that they were living at 6-Mile. He lodged a complaint with the 6-Mile police station as she was under age,” he said.

“But at the police station, the officer told [my son] to come back the next day. He released Jenelyn and the partner. The next day, my son and I went to the police station and waited untill afternoon. The police station commander referred us to the Sexual Offence Unit at the Boroko police station.”

He said they were told to leave their contacts with police and that “they would get back to us”.
Jenelyn and her partner disappeared in 2016.

“We went back a couple of times to the police station but they said the same thing: leave a number and will call you back,” he said.

Last year, Jenelyn managed to run away from her partner and returned to her maternal family at the Murray Barracks – “with her two babies, a broken arm and a black eye”.

Uncle Dickson Karava said the partner came and took her back, and “beat her up”.

“Every time we tried to intervene, she would stop us, saying he had the money and connections and would just make her life worse.”

Her children’s babysitter, Racheal Ipang, said when she returned to her partner in October last year, “he was good to her for a week, then beat her up again”.

Ipang said Jenelyn wasn’t allowed to leave her room.

“Jenelyn sought help, went to the safe house at Ela Beach, at Kaugere, at Erima, but it was no use.”

Ipang told of how last Thursday [June 18] he had assaulted her too before turning to Jenelyn again.

“We were inside the kids’ room when I started hearing Jenelyn’s muffled cries, the noise of chains and banging on the door.

“I was scared too. There were five men in the house too but they didn’t intervene.

“He beat her from last week Thursday to Monday morning when he called for a doctor [named] to treat her at home.”

She said after the doctor left, he beat her again.

“Her screams stopped at around 3am [Tuesday]. I believe that’s when she passed away.”

Journalist Rebecca Kuku has a special Facebook page called Becky’s World where she discusses GBV issues.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

An influential warlord in PNG’s Hela province has handed himself in to security forces in the wake of mass killings last month, reports The National.

Libe Koi of Pujaro village in Tagali surrendered himself and apologised to the people who have been affected by the tribal fighting in the Highlands region.

Last month at least 20 people, including two pregnant woman, were killed in two seperate inter-tribal attacks.

READ MORE: Bryan Kramer: PNG ‘merciless’ payback killings have changed everything

Koi also urged two other warlords still in hiding to come out before he exposed them.

“I appeal to two other warlords in the recent massacre to surrender themselves and weapons because I will disclose their hideouts (if they fail to surrender),” he said

“If I can surrender myself, why don’t you two also come out for us to find an amicable solution to restore peace and harmony in Hela?”

He described his part in the fighting as retaliatory between himself and another warlord known as Okiru over the past six years, and his actions were in defence of his family.

However, during a televised news conference, EMTV reported him saying that after two decades he was tired of the conflict and wanted an end to it.

While he didn’t claim responsibility for last month’s massacre, his translator, Hela Province deputy provincial administrator Eddie Yuwi said that he knew the two warlords involved and was handing himself in as an example.

WATCH: Libe Koi urges other warlords to hand themselves in

He also threatened to reveal the location of the warlord’s arms and ammunition depots, reported the PNG Post-Courier.

Hela police commander chief inspector Teddy Agwi has called on the other fighters to surrender to police, saying that the prolonged fighting had shut down schools, hospitals and disrupted the normal way of life in the region.

The developments in Hela have come in the wake of announcements from both the PNG government, police force and the UN that they will increase presence in the Highlands and take an active role in addressing tribal conflict.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

Some villagers affected by the volcanic eruption on Manam island haven taken out their anger and frustration against four journalists covering the disaster, triggering protests by media freedom groups in the Pacific.

The reporters had entered Baliau village after visiting other affected villages and were questioned on the purpose of their visit, reports The National daily newspaper.

Villager Peter Sukua asked them why they were there and why they arrived one day after Saturday’s volcanic eruption.

He said the villagers would rather see Madang Governor Peter Yama and Bogia MP Robert Naguri.

The National reporter, Dorothy Mark, said she was stopped by Sukua taking pictures and punched in the face and threatened that her camera would be thrown into the sea.

“While I sat face down and spitting blood, they kicked me until some people intervened and stopped them,” she said.

-Partners-

The journalists were rescued by ward councillor for Dugulava village Paul Maburau and walked for one hour through a bush track.

They arrived at the Bieng Catholic station where they arranged for transportation to Bogia.

Sukua and others were later taken away by police.

Pacific groups condemn
The Suva-based Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) condemned the attack in a statement.

President Kora Nou, who is also the managing director of PNG’s National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), said he was “appalled and disappointed” by the attack and called for prosecution of those responsible.

The Auckland-based Pacific Media Centre called for strong action over the assault, saying the reporters were providing critical and important information in the public interest at a time of crisis.

The Rarotonga-based Pacific Freedom Forum also condemned the attack.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

People in earthquake-affected areas of Papua New Guinea’s Highlands have asked international agencies to bypass the national government when providing relief.

The PNG Government has admitted that its response to the earthquake has been slow, hampered by damage to roads and access to funding.

In Koroba in Hela Province, local leader Stanley Hogga Piawi told the ABC’s PNG correspondent Eric Tlozek that more than two weeks after the 7.5 magnitude quake, people were still waiting for help.

LISTEN: Angry Highlanders call on relief agencies to sidestep PNG government

Continuous rain is hampering relief efforts in the earthquake-devastated regions of the Highlands, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

The wet may continue for a few more days as helicopters, the mainstay of the relief efforts, are now limited in the operation.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office has warned of a “high risk” of landslides, flooding and a slight chance of a tropical cyclone. The wet season has finally extended into the Southern and Highlands regions, the NWS said yesterday.

As Papua New Guinea experiences the wet season and unusual natural disasters, the NWS forecasting and warning centre assistant director Jimmy Gomoga is now urging people to listen to the radio stations for weather warnings updates.

Aircraft use restricted
The Australian and New Zealand defence forces said yesterday they had limited the use of their lighter aircraft due to bad weather.

The NWS said the wet season normally set in about December until late May when the dry season begins.

“According to the latest analysis from the weather office, we are in a weak La Nina phase and will mean higher rainfalls across the mainland PNG and mostly over the Southern region with high risk of flooding in the Momase, Highlands and Southern regions, high risk of landslides in the Highlands and deforested areas and 30 to 40 per cent chance of a tropical cyclone forming or passing within PNG,” Gomoga said.

He said the wet season triggered tropical cyclones so people living along coastal waters, particularly along the Solomon Sea and Coral Sea, must listen to weather warnings on the radio and take precautions.

“This weather we are experiencing will continue for the next 24 hours and may continue as the country is still in the wet season,” Gomoga said.

“The peak period has already passed and the month of April and May are the transitional periods and eventually into dry season which kicks into in the month of June.”

In the meantime, the weather office is closely monitoring the ocean currents in possibility of a tropical cyclone.

Water shortage ‘looming disaster’
While relief supplies continue to be delivered to earthquake-affected communities, a lack of water is proving to be a looming disaster, reports EMTV News.

In a briefing, Oil Search Limited managing director Peter Botten said the lack of access to clean water sources for many communities had increased the risk of sickness.

The company is now working with its partners, including state agencies, in an effort to deliver clean water to communities, to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.

Among its relief efforts, Oil Search has deployed a dedicated medical team to reach affected communities – these teams have already noted an increase in water-borne diseases, with several medical evacuations already carried out.

Australian doctors to help
Australian Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has announced Australian doctors would come to Papua New Guinea to help medical teams in earthquake-affected areas, as fear of water-borne diseases emerge, reports The National and as also reported earlier by Asia Pacific Report.

“We know that over the next few days or weeks, most of the water-borne diseases will start affecting some of the population in the area. We have to lift our presence in medical support that we will have to extend to them,” O’Neill said.

“Dr Temu [Health Minister Sir Puka] has already cleared for the Australian doctors to come and help us…They will come and help our own medical specialists which the Health Department is putting together to dispatch to the remotest communities throughout the country.”

Sir Puka said they were mobilising a team from the Port Moresby General Hospital.
“We have formally requested the Australian government [to send doctors] because Australian doctors in emergency situations are well organised,” Sir Puka said.

“So we have asked them for assistance which will complement what we have.”

O’Neill said relief efforts were ongoing, reports The National.

Remote communities
“We are starting to reach many of the remote communities, supplying medicine, food and relief supply to the provinces affected,” he said, adding that the district development authorities in areas being allocated funding were assisting the people “which we are not able to reach”.

“Most of the members of Parliament and the district chief executive officers have been trying to mobilise the supplies and in particular medicine, and getting the injured and the sick out of the areas that have been affected,” he said.

He added that commitments, towards the government’s relief efforts so far had exceeded K100 million.

It included donations from governments – “private sector donations coming through is well over K5 million.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As I look into the face in the photo
Into the eyes of the man I never knew
I see the pain
The hurt

He shows me the cloud-covered Saruwaged
The treetops
I hear the crunch
As the plane hits the branches

I see the hope in his eyes
As he makes an SOS
Hoping against hope
In the freezing cold as the pain sets in

I see the hurt
Of missing Christmas with loved ones
Help is not coming
Darkness is closing in

– To the memory of David Tong
who lost his life in the Saruwaged Range
serving the people of Kabwum, Morobe and Papua New Guinea

On the afternoon of Saturday, December 23, I received a text message from an Australian woman friend of mine asking if I was aware of a plane crash in the vicinity of Nadzab Airport in Papua New Guinea’s second city Lae.

Not being aware of anything, and thinking that this was fake news, I didn’t respond.

It was only overnight that sketchy reports started filtering in from Lae of a North Coast Aviation plane crash somewhere in Kabwum in the mountains of Morobe.

On the evening of Christmas Eve, I called up my good friend of many years in Lae, Simon Elap, who is the chief engineer of NCA.

He confirmed to me that the plane, a Britten Norman Islander owned by NCA, had crashed on the morning of the previous day in bad weather in the mountains of Kabwum when returning to Lae.

Pilot was alive
Elap told me that the pilot, an expatriate, was alive and had made contact.

However, rescue teams couldn’t make it in because of the weather.

Elap said Kabwum locals were walking in while a search and rescue team from Porgera mine would move in on the morning of Christmas Day.

I was concerned as just the previous month, on November 26, a good mate of mine, NCA chief pilot Thomas Keindip, had died in Lae after a short illness.

On Christmas Day, after a barbecue with my kids at home, I again called Elap and the news wasn’t too good: The search and rescue team from Porgera failed to make it into the crash site.

The crash site was 3000m above sea level on Mt Saruwaged in the rugged Saruwaged Range.

Rugged terrain
I have flown over the Saruwaged to Kabwum several times during my younger days as a reporter in Lae and know it as rugged terrain with thick, tropical rain forest.

On Tuesday, December 26, I called Elap in the evening and he told me the sad news: The search-and-rescue team reached the crash site 3000m above sea level on Mt Saruwaged that day but the pilot was dead.

I shed a quiet tear as I tried to imagine what the pilot had gone through.

Mt Saruwaged (Bangeta) in the Saruwaged Range of Morobe, where the fatal plane crash took place, is the fourth highest mountain in the country at 4121m.

The three taller peaks are Mt Wilhelm in Chimbu (4509m), Mt Giluwe in Southern Highlands (4367m), and Mt Boising in the neighbouring Finisterre Range of Madang (4150m).

The pilot was alive when the plane crashed on Mt Saruwaged on Saturday, December 23. However, rescuers did not get in until Tuesday, December 26, when he was already dead.

I can imagine the pain, misery, loneliness and freezing cold on the mountain.

The Saruwaged is not far from Nadzab, as the eagle flies, and I know this from travelling several times.

You fly from Nadzab, over the Erap River, into Nawaeb and across the rugged Saruwaged Range into Kabwum.

Could the pilot have been saved?
The weather had been very bad, however. Could the pilot have been saved if we had put in extra effort?

God only knows.

I then found out that pilot David Tong was not just an ordinary aviator.

He was one of the top pianists in Australia and the world.

He could have chosen to remain in the top music halls of the world but opted to fly in Papua New Guinea.

That fact about Tong’s life became known after his death.

His body, meantime, remains at the funeral home in Lae until arrangements are made this week.

His mother flew in from Australia to see the body of her son and was moved to tears after seeing the display of emotion shown by NCA staff and the people of Morobe.

Frequent guest pianist
According to the Greater Geraldton Regional Library website of Australia:

“Born in Macao in 1983, David Tong migrated to Australia in 1988 and soon began taking piano lessons.

“Following an extensive period of study, he went on to study at the prominent Juilliard School of Music in New York and was awarded the Vladimir Horowitz scholarship.

“In addition to having been a frequent guest artist with all Australian symphony orchestras, David was regularly invited to appear with many of today’s top orchestras, including the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, New York Philharmonic, as well as with the philharmonic orchestras of Rochester, Naples (Florida), and Hong Kong.

“Of significant importance in David’s career was a performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the 2002 Sydney Festival’s Gala Domain Concert, where he performed to an audience of more than 90,000 people.”

Since 2014, Tong had worked as a commercial pilot.

He was based in Geraldton and worked as a line pilot for Geraldton Air Charter before moving to PNG in 2016 to join North Coast Aviation.

Tong, 34, survived the crash and made calls on his mobile but bad weather prevented rescuers from reaching him for three days.

The pianist Zsolt Bognar writes: “It is with great sadness that I learn my old friend David Tong was found dead on Tuesday from injuries sustained in a plane crash.

“I remember first meeting him in Texas in 2001 and being struck by his sunshine-filled spirit, his strong Australian accent, and vivacious temperament.

“He was an incredible pianist with a breathtaking technique – I remember how he burst into my practice room and deployed Chopin Etudes with ease–and as a human being and friend he will be missed.

“What devastating news.”

David Tong, during the short time he spent serving the rural people of Kabwum, Morobe and Papua New Guinea, touched us all like an angel.

Thank you, David Tong, and Thomas Keindip before you, for lifting us all to greater heights.

Malum Nalu is a senior journalist with The National and a celebrated PNG blogger. His National Weekender article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz