Micah’s wife to contest election
MARYANNE Millie, wife of the late former Kavieng MP Ben Micah, was nominated to contest the seat on an independent ticket on Thursday for general election.
Micah failed to defend his seat in 2017 general election.
Maryanne said her late husband always stood for economic empowerment and human resources development when he was MP and before his passing in March.
“Micah was planning to recontest the seat. But my husband’s dream will live as I am ready to step in,” she added.
“Men have been dominating in Kavieng and New Ireland for 45 years but I feel we need to change. This is a good opportunity for me,” she added.
“My late husband did his best when he was an MP. Other MPs have done their bit as well but I still think we have not done enough and there is a need for leadership change.
“The economy in Kavieng is dead. We need to revive tourism which is the key. We call New Ireland “bilas peles” a place that can attract more tourists every year but that is not happening to a level we all expect,” she said.
Maryanne said human resources development and good governance were still lacking and change was needed.
Maryanne hails from Tikana and Micah from Murat.
“I am happy that the traditional leaders of those two LLGs have thrown in their support. It will be a very tough contest for me against the men but I am ready,” she said.
You can trust me to look after your future: Bird
TRANSPARENCY, honesty and a public service aimed at empowering East Sepik were what he stood for in the last general election, incumbent Governor Allan Bird says.
Bird, who filed his nomination in Wewak on Thursday to contest the regional seat, urged the East Sepik people to show support through the ballot so he could complete what he had started.
He won the regional seat in 2017 under the National Alliance (NA) banner.
Speaking during a joint National Alliance and Pangu Party rally in Maprik on Friday, Bird said he had always wanted to achieve development for the Greater Sepik region (East and West Sepik) and not just his province.
“My only interest is in moving the Sepik region forward by supporting the hard working rural people so that every citizen has an equal opportunity. Sepik should be for all of us, not just the privileged few,” he said.
“You can trust me to look after your future. Let me finish what I started in 2018.”
Bird also remarked about how he was too lenient on those who allegedly misappropriated public funds in the province over time.
Bird also announced the party’s candidate for the Wewak open seat, Adrian Kum, on Saturday.
AFP assists police with body-worn cameras
By JAMIE HARO
POLICE interaction with the public can be recorded following the presentation of body-worn cameras from the Australian Federal Police on Friday.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Jamie Strauss presented six camera kits to Police Commissioner David Manning in the presence of police personnel through the PNG-Australian Policing Partnership initiative.
“This tech provides accountability to police officers and their interactions with the public and record accurate events which can be used as evidence, it can also be used during elections and post-election period,” Asst Comm Strauss said.
He said each kit consists of two pall-tin cases and contains, 16 body-worn cameras, two docking stations, one dock controller, one solid-state drive (SSD) laptop and a data storage technology (DST) Storage capability that can be used anywhere.
In addition, Asst Comm Strauss said: “The body-worn cameras can be operated through the wider network using mobile technology, it can operate as a soft contained packages, transportable over rough terrain and used independently from communication networks in remote areas as well.”
Commissioner of Police David Manning said: “These body-worn cameras will now allow us to be more accountable and help improve our operations when it comes to dealing with public.”