Briefs

12 persons of interest
NEW Ireland Covid-19 taskforce chairman Lamiller Pawut says based on surveillance conducted on the ground, the province has 12 persons of interest for Covid-19 of which, two are under investigation. Police have been setting up road checks, controlling the movement of vehicles and people and also patrolling the Eastern and Western coastlines for suspected intruders into New Ireland.

Abide by restrictions: Sir J
NEW Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan, who has been monitoring the situation from Port Moresby, re-emphasised the need for his people to adhere to the health and safety regulations and to practice physical distancing. Sir Julius said: “Prevention is better than cure that is why I urge you all to abide by the restrictions we have put in place in line with the SOE.”

Envoy in Jayapura impressed
JAYAPURA-based PNG consular general Geoffrey Wiri is impressed with the Covid-19 task force’s preparations in the border provinces in monitoring the PNG-Indonesian and Australian borders. Due to the geographical location of these provinces, they had swung quickly to organise their respective Covid-19 Task Force to be placed in illegal border crossing hotspots in their respective provinces.

Soldiers doing awareness
SOUTH Fly development authority chief executive officer Tawa Gebia said that 16 PNG defence force soldiers had arrived in Daru Island last Monday. “They will conduct awareness on the island and then go to the mainland,” he said.

Call to set tough measures
THREE local level government (LLG) presidents in Huon-Gulf have urged state of emergency deputy controller Peter Guinness to set tough measures in public mobility to make up for a general lack of adherence during the Covid-19 period. The trio were vocal during a recent Huon-Gulf Covid-19 stakeholders meeting to budget K71,000 for awareness in three LLGs.

Koki markets closed
MORESBY South MP Justin Tkatchenko recently closed the main Koki market and betel nut market until further notice after people there failed to practice safe social distancing and health practices in the wake of the coronavirus threat in Port Moresby. He posted on Facebook: “The health of my people is more important than anything else at the moment.”

Lesson for us to prepare: Goi
THE 14-day lockdown period has given the people of PNG the courage to stand against future disasters and learn something that is new, Minister for Community Development Youth and Religion Wake Goi says. “The movement of the people has come to a stop but this is also a lesson for us to learn from it and prepare for the future,” he said.