Taking the long road to remote areas to help crop production; slashed car duty blamed for Port Moresby congestion; and ANZ Bank pulls out.
Help for farmers in remote parts of PNG
A development project is underway in Papua New Guinea to facilitate cash crop production in remote parts of the country.
Development teams are training locals on how to grow and process cash crops such as vanilla, coco and coffee.
The majority of PNG's commercial crops are grown in areas with access issues.
Vanilla pods Photo: Supplied V-Lab
Mission leader Nanda Siri says that crops such as coffee and vanilla are ideal, as they are easier carry.
"They are in the remotest area where there is no road access to them, so they have to choose which cash crop to cultivate or produce, because we have cocoa, and we have vanilla, and we have coffee...what we try to get to them is to understand these crops.
"The main challenges for the agriculture sector in Papua New Guinea is road access. The lack of roads in the country is very challenging for our farmers who are in the remotest areas. Most of the agriculture crops from Papua New Guinea comes from the remotest areas."
The project is an initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Slashed duty blamed for congestion
The Road Traffic Authority in Papua New Guinea says slashed duty on car imports is part of the reason for traffic congestion in the capital, Port Moresby.
The Authority's chief executive, Nelson Terema, told The National newspaper they don't know how many vehicles are imported every year.
But he said the cuts in customs charges from 80 percent to 40 percent are behind the surge in vehicle numbers.
Mr Terema also said the city's long traffic queues are due to the increase in vehicles and the lack of roads to accommodate them.
He said the relevant authorities need to come together to address the issue.
Mr Terema said there has been talk about building railways or parking areas in suburbs to make it easier for people to reach the city.
ANZ Bank departs
ANZ Bank has announced it will leave American Samoa and Guam.
ANZ instead will focus on a digital banking hub for the Pacific outside of Papaua New Guinea.
The bank will wind down its business in American Samoa over the next six months while in discussions with other parties about the future ownership options for its business in Guam.
The departure of ANZ will leave just the government of American Samoa owned Territorial Bank of American Samoa.
A group of local business people is believed to have made an offer to buy the ANZ branch in American Samoa.
Two dozen arrested crossing border
Solomon Islands police say their Bougainville counterparts arrested 23 people last weekend for illegally crossing the border into Papua New Guinea.
The Western Province police commander, Mathias Lenialu, says a number of the offenders have since been returned to Solomon Islands and will face charges.
The offenders have been swabbed for coronavirus, with two testing positive.
One of the alleged border crossers, a pregnant woman close to giving birth, has been hospitalised.