Dede Sophie

The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Governor General has finally accepted a request by the PNG Electoral Commissioner, to extend the date for the Return of Writs, from the 29th of July to the 12th of August 2022. Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae in a statement, says that he has agreed for the extension, because the electoral commission will not be able to complete all counting by this Friday. Sir Bob also says that an extension is necessary, because it will save time and resources, if it is declared a failed election, and new elections are called again in the near future. He also adds that the PNG Electoral Commission must look at what it had done wrong leading into the 2022 election, and start planning as early as 2023 for the 2027 elections. The Governor General has also called for the introduction of the biometric voting system, which he says will avoid all the problems the country has gone through in the 2022 election. Meanwhile, the Governor General  has also appealed to all Papua New Guinean’s t

Papua New Guinea’s Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru is hopeful a major rice project in Kairuku in Central Province will get off the ground this year. He says the project though will have to get the blessing from the Central Provincial Government, Kairuku District Development Authority, Hiri-Koiari DDA, impact communities, and the National Government, who own the Manumanu land at Gabadi. Rice investors from the Philippines, who visited the project site at Gabadi recently, say millions of Kina will be needed to finance the growing of rice on a commercial scale. Former Philippines Department of Agriculture Secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Pinol, who leads the investor team, says they will need 1, 200 hectares to start this investment.  The availability of state land and close proximity to the Hiritano Highway and electricity grid are some of the deciding factors.   This decision was reached by a group of Filipino Rice Investors, after the conclusion of a two-day field t