POST COURIER – Telikom PNG Limited and Bmobile will roll out a $US100 million 3G/4G next generation mobile phone network from April next year. Telikom PNG CEO Michael Donnelly said the strategic partnership between Bmobile and the Vodafone UK Group would be beneficial to Telikom and Bmobile. The two SOEs are currently building a new…
RNZI – There are observations other nations, such as China, are filling the vacuum caused by cuts to Australian broadcasting services in the Pacific. The ABC is now implementing massive cuts to services provided by Radio Australia and the Australia Network, after its budget was cut by the federal government. The ABC’s international arm has…
THE NATIONAL – Papua New Guinea’s beche-de-mer stock is improving but not at the stage of harvesting, a senior National Fisheries Authority (NFA) official says. Sedentary fishery manager Luanah Yaman said the impact of the beche-de-mer ban in the past three years did not see a significant difference in the stock. She said the size…
POST COURIER – The Papua New Guinea Defence Force has secured a K1.9 billion (US$772 million) loan from overseas to improve its facilities. Defence Minister and North Wahgi MP Fabian Pok announced the National Executive Council (NEC) had approved the loan and once the loan agreement was signed the department would secure the loan from…
A NEW newly released stock assessment that shows bigeye tuna is being over-fished underlines why the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) must take decisive action at its December annual meeting to reduce further reductions in bigeye mortality. “PNA said that measures adopted last year by the WCPFC to protect bigeye were inadequate, and…
SCIENTISTS have released new assessments of tuna populations in the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the results include several troubling developments for the world’s largest tuna fishing grounds. According to figures released by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Scientific Committee in late July, the total tuna catch in 2013 was estimated…
PEW, Greenpeace and World Wide Fund (WWF) have congratulated the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) for their increased commitments to the sustainable management of their tuna fisheries. Amanda Nickson, Director Global Tuna Conservation campaign Pew Environment Group; Alfred Schuman, director Smart Fishing Initiative World Wide Fund for Nature; Sari Tolvanen, Project Leader Global Tuna…
THE head of one of the region’s key fishing agencies, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), says he has witnessed clashes at sea over fishing but nothing as tragic as the killing of several men on the high seas, portrayed in a Youtube video Monday. The Fiji police are investigating the video which shows…
Members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) are meeting this week at the South Pacific Community Headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia to discuss trade and economic issues and initiatives that will boost trade relations between Melanesian countries under the newly revised MSG Trade Agreement to be finalized in 2015. The MSG series of meetings started…
FIJI SUN: Australian investment in Fiji in 2013 increased by a whopping 559 per cent when compared with 2012. The Permanent Secretary for Industry and Trade, Shaheen Ali, revealed this, saying this increase followed a period of decline. Australian investment in Fiji in 2013 was $340 million (US$183 million), up by $288.4 million (US$155.5 million).…