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 WONDER if there is any truth in this. New loans from the National Development Bank Wewak branch have been suspended as the province has loan files worth more than K5 million, and most of it was for political expediencies. Loans will resume after these loan files are cleared or reduced. The loans were said to be concentrated on one area of East Sepik. Over to you NDB. 

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SAD to note that PNG rates very high and has reached epidemic levels of violence against women and children. PNG has one of the worst rates of domestic violence in the world. On a fact-finding mission to PNG last March, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women described the problem as a “pervasive phenomenon” and urged authorities to address traditional practices that are harmful to women. 

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ANY plea for justice usually falls on deaf ears because the concept of domestic violence does not exist in a country of more than 800 tribes and languages. Many men hurt women with weapons such as bush knifes and axes, leaving them disfigured. It is also rare for family violence cases to be brought before the court. Most assailants are briefly kept in a police cell and then released.

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THE nation’s police force is ill-equipped and under-skilled to deal with the problem – only three of the nine main stations in Port Moresby have units dedicated to tackling family violence. There are few night patrols and police officers have been known to turn victims of domestic violence away, saying it is a family matter. 

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FED up with the constant brutality, women have set up safe houses and daycare centres with the help of Unicef to try and keep families safe. Social media, radio and innovative community policing projects are being used to tackle the rising rates of violent acts in family homes.

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LAST Sunday was Palm Sunday. It signalled the last week of Lent, which is known as Holy Week. It is when Christians remember the last week of Jesus’ life and is the most important time in the Christian year. There were many church services and processions. 

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IN churches on Palm Sunday, Christians are given small palm crosses made from palm leaves. Left over palm crosses are kept for a special church service on the first day of Lent, the following year, when they are burnt (Ash Wednesday). This ash is put on people’s forehead.

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