Dede Sophie

A lot of reforms aimed at stopping unsustainable logging and corruption which was exposed by the Barnett Commission of Inquiry have not been implemented after more than 30 years. Community Advocacy Organisation ‘ACT NOW PNG’ campaign Manager, Eddie Tanago, says that these are some of the important issues, for the new Forest Minister, Salio Waipo, to address. Mr. Tanago in a statement, says that it is shameful that nothing much has happened to stop the rampant illegal and unsustainable logging, despite the reforms to the Forestry Act in 1991. He says that the Forestry Act was supposed to mark the end of the Colonial era Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) Agreements, which were found to be full of abuses, the majority of log exports are still from TRP areas.  Mr. Tanago says, another permit that has been abused is the Forest Clearance Authority (FCA’s), which sees logging companies harvesting large forest areas, and not small and discreet areas for agricultural crops or roads.  He adds that go

 Papua New Guinea’s Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey has presented a whopping K24.5 billion budget for 2023 in Parliament this afternoon. Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey  The 2023 money plan is the largest in the country’s history. Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey when presenting the 2023 Budget in Parliament today said the money plan is the largest investment in the history of the country. Total revenues will be another record estimate of K19.5b, a 20.9 percent increase from 2022. Mr Ling-Stuckey said the 2023 budget also delivers a billion-kina reduction in the size of deficit down from K5.9b in 2022 to K4.9b in 2023. Next :  PNG Government provides K590 Million Cost of Living Relief for Citizens

 Autumn is upon us and winter is now just around the corner. However while the overnight temperatures are still mild it won’t be long before we will need to look at putting in some preparation for over-wintering the tortoises. They can’t really be left outside in the freezing conditions so Lorna will now be making arrangements to have everything in place to hibernate her tortoises so that can do so in the safest possible way before it gets to cold. With that in mind we thought it would be a great idea to have a chat with Lorna to find out what she has in mind and the reasons behind it.  If you would like to see more content like this the why not consider supporting our YouTube channel ‘Walking Talking Gardeners’. It is absolutely free and you can be notified whenever we publish a new video.