Latest news with #Post-Courier
Scoop
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific News In Brief For 24 July
Bougainville - prisoners Reports out of the Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville say prison warders are illegally freeing offenders from jail. The Post-Courier reports the warders are bypassing legal procedures and allowing dangerous individuals to roam communities unchecked. Bougainville's head of Correctional Institute Services, Vincent Kundi, says inmates are walking out of Bekut Correctional Facility on unauthorised release - for weeks or months and sometimes even years. He said legally that makes them escapees. Calls are ongoing for a maximum-security prison to house Bougainville's high-risk offenders. Papua New Guinea - water Police Commissioner David Manning is warning that there is zero tolerance for threats to essential services. Landowners are threatening to shut off the water supply through the Rouna 2 Hydro Station in Central Province, which feeds Port Moresby. Manning said police will not tolerate attempted extortion. The Post-Courier reports Manning saying there are appropriate, lawful mechanisms for resolving disputes. He has directed police to arrest the landowner group's leader. Solomon Islands - immigration The Solomon Islands is modernising its immigration services with a new Digital Border Management System. Immigration Minister Trevor Manemahanga has hailed it as a major step towards more modern, efficient, and secure border management. He said digital visas will enhance service delivery and national security. The digital platform is supported by Australia. Fiji - sacking Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will not rule out sacking his Chief Justice Salesi Temo. This comes as the government works through the Commission of Inquiry report into the appointment of sacked anti-corruption commissioner Barbara Malimali. Some have accused the government of double standards. Rabuka said no decisions will be made until Temo has explained his involvement. Fiji/New Zealand - agriculture A $3.2 million funding boost from New Zealand should help Fiji support cleaner and greener agriculture under the Pacific Climate Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Land Management Partnership. Longer-term, Aotearoa has committed nearly $14m over four years to Fiji, Niue, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. Pacific Peoples Minister Dr Shane Reti said the funding will provide scientific and technical support in climate-resilient crop trials and also help in soil monitoring and landscape planning. Fiji - HIV Fiji's fight against HIV has received a boost of $5.4 million from the New Zealand government. Pacific People's Minister Dr Shane Reti met with Fijian Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu over the weekend, to hear firsthand about the country's nationwide HIV outbreak, and Fiji's response plan. Reti said the funding reflects Aotearoa's ongoing commitment to Pacific health security. He hopes it will help ease pressures on Fiji's public health system.
Scoop
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Bougainville And Papua New Guinea Struggle To Find Common Ground
The Bougainville Attorney-General says the autonomous region and the Papua New Guinea government may sign an agreement on the way ahead in their push for independence next week. A week of talks at Burnham Camp in New Zealand last week failed to produce a political agreement on implementing implement the outcome of the 2019 Bougainville Referendum. However, further talks, again mediated by former New Zealand Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, are scheduled to go ahead next week. Ezekiel Masatt told the Post-Courier that Bougainville "firmly rejected" PNG's renewed proposals for "free association" and "confederation". He added that the talks cannot progress constructively until the PNG government is willing to openly pronounce the word "independence." Bougainville put forward what it called a "Melanesian Solution" with the autonomous region being granted some sovereign powers immediately. Former Papua New Guinea MP, Sir John Kaputin, has called for the leaders of PNG to listen to Bougainville, and for the leaders of Bougainville to be serious about their duties on behalf of their people. Sir John was closely involved in the cease fire in Bougainville in 1998, after being appointed the special State negotiator by Sir Rabbie Namaliu. He has told the Post Courier this week that "It's a two-way thing that leaders of Bougainville must be serious about their leadership among our people and it's up for the National Government to listen to what they are proposing." he said. Former PNG chief secretary Isaac Lupari has called for caution on Bougainville's push for independence. He pointed out that the national constitution does not allow for any part of the country to secede. Lupari is quoted in the Post-Courier saying "the pathway for determining Bougainville's future is enshrined in our National Constitution which makes it clear that the decision-making authority in relation to the Bougainville referendum results rests with the National Parliament."
Scoop
14-05-2025
- Scoop
Can PNG Police Win Back The Public's Respect?
, RNZ Pacific Senior Journalist A police commander in Papua New Guinea's National Capital District is concerned that the public no longer respects the police. Assistant Commissioner Benjamin Turi points to nine cases of resisting and assaulting police officers that appeared before the Boroko District Court this past week alone. The Post-Courier reported him saying that when he joined the police force, such disrespect was unheard of: "Respect was given and it showed in the way the public responded when a police officer issued a command." He said now that the person in a blue uniform is not safe is a sad day for the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and for the country. In PNG, assaulting a police officer is a serious offence under the Summary Offences Act 1977 and carries a hefty fine. Our correspondent in PNG Scott Waide has been looking at police deaths dating back to 2017. (This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.) SCOTT WAIDE: I compiled a few figures about three months ago, just trying to understand how bad it was, and I counted at least 24 police officers who had been killed in the line of duty, and these are people who have either been shot, stabbed or just killed in various different ways, plane crashes and all that, but just attacks on police officers. A lot of those attacks have been in the Highlands. There are others as well, in Alotau, West New Britain, East New Britain, attacked in the line of duty whilst performing an arrest or just driving through locations that are dangerous. So yes, it is a big problem. Families of police officers have come out and stated, off the record of course, that their husbands, their wives, are not adequately protected while they're out in the field. A lot of police officers, policemen that I've spoken to, have expressed that a lot of times, when they go into trouble spots, they are ill equipped, like they don't have the body armour or the helmets that are needed. So there is a big problem. DON WISEMAN: I guess one of the big problems as well, the numbers [of police] not big enough are they? SW: One of the big concerns is that the officers who are being deployed are just overworked, and they're stressed. For example, Governor Alan Bird was talking about a mobile squad unit from Wewak that has been on permanent deployment in the Highlands for months and months. That means they're away from their families for several months, you know, upwards of half a year, and there's really no rest and recreation for them to regenerate and go back on duty. The numbers are too small to deal with a country like Papua New Guinea. DW: Now an assistant commissioner in the National Capital District, has pointed out that in the past week there have been nine cases of resisting and assaulting police just in the Boroko District Court alone. Benjamin Turi is saying in the past, well, when he began as a policeman, such incidents were very, very rare, and he wonders why people seem to have lost their respect for police. SW: There are several contributing factors, and one of them has been police attitudes towards the public, and police brutality towards the public. That has also been a contributing factor, and the general loss of trust over time, that's also another major contributing factor. The public has in many places, lost respect for police. There are also good commanders out there who have tried to restore order, restore the respect for police. The situation in Lae, especially where I live, is vastly different from other places, where you have a lot of respect for police, and it took a long time to get there. Took at least a decade to get there. DW: What happened in Lae to get there? SW: Well, firstly, there was a reorganisation of the Police Public Relations, going out and talking to communities, getting community involvement. There's a law and order committee set up for Lae and there's an active Whatsapp group that they use where police officers are available, and the numbers of policemen who have committed offences and [whose actions] have been reported have been acted on by their commanders. It's restored that trust in in the public. So that needs to happen, in my opinion, that needs to happen in every other town and city as well. But it's a slow, slow process. I mean, if Lae took 10 years, then it will take just about the same time in other places as well. DW: Well, a critical issue, of course, for Papua New Guinea is election time, and it's been a pretty bad time for police. Hasn't it going back over the last several elections. So the new election coming up in two years time, one would be hoping that things are going to be a lot better. Are there any signs that the government is putting greater resources toward police to improve things. SW: There are efforts being put in by the government. There's new vehicles being bought, additional manpower being trained, the middle management of the police being up skilled and new people recruited. But the numbers are just too small to deal with the population. Like Papua New Guinea talking about the elections, there's a large number of guns in the Highlands. And generally, if you talk to members of the disciplinary forces - the PNG Defence Force, the police - they will tell you that when they go into the villages, they're largely outnumbered and outgunned by tribesmen who are very heavily armed during elections.
RNZ News
23-04-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Filipino pilot dies after crash-landing plane in PNG
The pilot was seriously injured and rushed to the hospital but passed away on the way. 23 April 2025 Photo: Facebook / PNG CURRENT HAPPENINGS A male Filipino pilot died after crashing a single-engine plane while crop-dusting a sugarcane plantation in the remote Ramu District of Morobe Province, in the Papua New Guinea highlands, on Wednesday. Photos and videos of the incident shared in PNG Facebook groups showed villagers trying to put out the fire and remove the pilot out of the plane. The Post-Courier reports that the 40-year-old pilot was rushed to a health clinic and put on life support while waiting to be medivacced, but died shortly afterward. Medical officers said the deceased had inhaled a considerable amount of fumes during the crash, which contributed to his deteriorating condition. An investigation into the crash is underway, according to Post-Courier .
