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Council commends EHP govt
THE chairman of the Eastern Highlands Provincial AIDS Council Dr
Thomas Koimbu has commended the Eastern Highlands provincial
administration for acknowledging HIV/AIDS as a major development
issue. Dr Koimbu, who is the chief medical officer at the
Kainantu rural hospital, commended the provincial government
during the presentation of a brand new Toyota 10-seater
Landcruiser to the EHP provincial AIDS council recently. He said
the vehicle was presented at a right time, especially when the
secretariat was fully staffed for them to support their
stakeholders in the province. “Mobility is important for
coordination and monitoring of HIV/AIDS response programme in
the province,” he said. Dr Koimbu thanked the leaders for the
increased budget support, including HIV/AIDS in the EHPG
corporate plan, mainstreaming HIV/AIDS into other sectors and
the endorsing of the new PAC membership and the district
strategic and provincial annual activity plans.
Group backs Wenge
THE Melanesian Good Governance Organisation has supported
comments made by Morobe Governor Luther Wenge to have laws in
place on naturalised
citizens intending to stand for elections in future. National
president Peter Kerengagugl said Mr Wenge’s comments might be
racist but there was some wisdom in it in the sense that it
would be a threat to the indigenous people to lose their
political rights. Mr Kerengagugl claimed that there was
corruption within the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Immigration that foreigners bribe to get citizenship in the
country. He said once they were given the citizenship they set
up businesses here and also gain political rights to stand for
elections. He described this as a threat that in 30-40 years
time, all 109 members of Parliament would be naturalised
citizens.
Awesa warns colleagues
NEWLY-elected leader for Imbongu Francis Awesa has called on his
colleagues to be wary of the intentions of political parties and
their leaders when discussing the issues involving the gas and
oil resources of the province. Mr Awesa claimed these leaders
and their parties would rather see division among the leadership
of the province in their quest to exploit the resources on
behalf of their foreign cronies. He appealed to other MPs not to
be tricked into supporting political groupings whose hidden
agenda was to enrich themselves through the province natural
wealth. “The development agenda for the resources must be set up
by the people of the province through their elected leaders ...
all negotiations and deals on the gas must take place in Mendi.”
Give women a go: Semoso
THE Deputy Speaker of the Autonomous Bougainville House of
Representatives Francisca Semoso has urged the new Government to
consider women’s participation at the national political level
in the 2012 election. Ms Semoso made the call after only one
woman representative was elected again into Parliament in this
year’s national election. She added in the 2007 elections, about
17 women contested. “I am disappointed with the outcome,
therefore, I humbly call on young elite MPs to recognise women’s
contribution in the development of this country and create seats
for them.” She revealed that about half of Papua New Guinea’s
population is made up of women and in having only one
representative at the Parliament did not make any sense.
 
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