Polling materials ready: Sinai

PAPUA New Guinea Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says all election materials have been shipped to the provinces to prepare for polling.
He said his office had started sending materials last week and all provinces should have them ready for polling to begin on July 4.
In a statement yesterday, Sinai said nearly 6,000 polling teams would be deployed throughout the country.
In releasing the final polling schedule report yesterday, Sinai said polling would start on July 4 and be conducted in 6,396 wards covering 346 local level government council areas across the country.
Sinai said around 47,704 temporary election workers (TEWs) would be engaged to work with the 5,963 polling teams to conduct polling throughout the country.
He said the polling teams have been further broken up into single and multi-day polling with 4,119 teams deployed for one-day polling and the other 1,844 teams to conduct multi-day polling.
The commissioner said the number of polling teams had been increased to ensure polling was conducted at all scheduled polling sites and results delivered within the required time.
According to the schedule report, the Highlands has the highest with 3,343 polling teams, followed by Southern with 1,144 poll teams and Momase with 966 and New Guinea Islands with 510 teams.
He said one-day polling would be mainly conducted in the Highlands and in National Capital District, while there would be one-day polling in parts of West Sepik, Madang, Morobe, New Ireland, West New Britain, Bougainville, Western, Central and Milne Bay.
“Polling will commence on July 4 and around 11,022 polling booths will open starting at 8am in 9,625 different polling locations.”

Northern aims to generate K25mil per annum, says governor

NORTHERN will start generating about K25 million per annum following the development of major infrastructures in the province, Governor Gary Juffa says.
Juffa, who is on the south coast leg of his campaign in the Afore local level government area, said Northern was growing and experiencing more developments.
He said from an annual revenue of K900,000 a year in 2012, the province will now be able to generate K25 million.
“Revenue for Oro was K900,000 when I took office today. It’s K7 million and with the Divune Hydro Power project it will increase to about K25 million.”
Juffa said the provincial government will now be able to generate about K10 million to K15 million through the K70 million Divune Hydro Power project.
“If you think about 2012, Popondetta was called Cowboy town and Northern was known for law and order issues.
“That is now a thing of the past and it’s about leadership, we took ownership of our province,” he said.
Juffa said from 2007 to 2012, after Cyclone Guba hit Northern, the Australian government pledged funding to help rebuild the province but no one did anything.
“When we took office I spent six months going through the processes and we were able to attend to all the issues that prevented the development from taking place in Northern.
“Finally, we completed our task, cleared the way and the bridges were built and the airport was built,” he said. Juffa said the Divune Hydro project was dormant for 35 years until 2014 when an agreement was signed between the Asian Development Bank (ADB), PNG Power Ltd and the national and provincial governments.

Pangu Pati will not run against Juffa, says Marape

By HELEN TARAWA
PRIME Minister James Marape says he will support likeminded young leaders who are committed to taking back the country from corruption, greed, complacency and foreign interests.
Marape said this in response to questions about why his Papua New Guinea Union (Pangu) Pati did not endorse a candidate for the Northern regional seat.
He told The National that he would not challenge a leader who had a similar mindset.
He made reference to Northern Governor Gary Juffa whom he said was a foundation member of his coalition and a loyal supporter.
“Governor Juffa is a foundation member of my coalition of likeminded young leaders committed to taking back our country from corruption, greed, complacency and foreign interests,” Marape said.
“Why will I challenge someone who has the same mindset and remained one of my government’s loyal supporters?”
Juffa, leader of the People’s Movement for Change party, has served two terms (2012-2017 and 2017-2022) and is now contesting the regional seat for the third time.
He is up against 46 candidates – 41 men and five women.
Currently in his south coastal leg of the campaign trail in Afore, Juffa said Northern had experienced change under his administration and would continue to develop.

Candidates not allowed to use health facilities: CEO

By MICHAEL PHILIP
THE East New Britain (ENB) Health Authority has banned General Election 2022 (GE22) candidates from campaigning in health facilities, its chief executive officer Dr Ako Yap says.
“The ban was decided by the authority board to avoid the destruction of health facilities as experienced in past general elections,” he added.
“ENB is a good province in terms of law and order. Let us maintain this, especially during GE22. We do not want law and order issues to break out in our facilities,” Yap said.
He said apart from avoiding destruction ofd health facilities, “our main concern is the possible impact of a Coronavirus (Covid-19) spike after GE22”.
“We are predicting a spike in Covid-19 positive cases during GE22. From observation, people no longer adhere to the Niupela Pasin (New Normal) public health guidelines at election rallies.
“For now, the GE22 activities had not affected health services.”