Dede Sophie

 The Marape  Government saved K127.6 million from the National General Elections 2022. It only expanded K518.2 million of the funds allocated, according to the latest Treasury IFMIS report of August 18, 2022. According to caretaker treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey, this was 54 per cent more expenditure than the K336 million spent on the 2017 election. “There remains K127.6 million in funds not spent that have been approved and fully warranted. “This was by far the best funded election in PNG’s history. We will have to learn the lessons of what went right in many Provinces, but also what went wrong in many others,” he said. “More is likely to be needed to support the calls for biometric identities and electronic voting.” Deputy Primary Minister John Rosso and Mr Ling-Stuckey received an update on the funding situation for the 2022 election from the Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai, Police Commissioner David Manning, and the Acting Secretary for Treasury. The meeting covered the K645.8 milli...

Bank South Pacific has recently installed 120 automated teller machines (ATMs) as part of its continued efforts in improving its services. Twenty-seven (27) have so far been replaced in the nation’s capital with another ninety-three (93) more to be installed by the end of March in Port Moresby and Lae respectively. BSP Retail Group General Manager, Daniel Faunt says ATM outages are not related to cash availability, as all BSP ATMs carry sufficient levels of cash and there is more than enough liquidity in the banking system.  Although BSP does a significant amount of work to ensure ATM quality cash is available, often times the poor quality of bank notes impacts ATM hardware.  BSP encourages customers to contact its Call Center when encountering issues with a particular ATM machine so its teams can attend to them in a more immediate and possible manner.  NBC News / PNG Today next :  PNG Trade Minister Maru Welcomes Australia’s Support for Special Economic Zones in PNG

Heated seat belts are being claimed as another way to increase the range of electric vehicles, writes Brian Byrne. The issue is being promoted by the automotive components developer ZF, who say that in cold weather their use could add 15pc to an EV’s range. It is well established that heated seats are the best way to stay warm in an electric car, allowing less dependence on the normal heating-ventilation system which is a bigger draw on the battery system. The ZF heated seat belt is marginally thicker than the standard ones in use, with integrated heating elements in the fabric. No changes to the other elements of the seat belt system are required. So far, no car company has been named as a customer — but it’s not so long ago that heated seats were unknown in temperate markets like Ireland, now we almost expect them. So they’ll come, you can bet your winter jacket on it.