Late Ali Mase's funeral gathering

Late Ali Hebou Mase's funeral was held at his home village of Vabukori on a clear skied Saturday. Village activities were suspended in respect for the passing of Skipper as he is well known by his peers and family at large. click here for more pictures

Bustling town of Alotau

The wharf down in Alotau, Sanderson Bay has been completed and is in use now. Also in use is the newly opened Transit Hotel where islanders come in and overnight whilst selling their market produce. Currently the hotel doesn't charge any fee. Whilst down there there are strong sentiments that the lodge should charge a little fee for the up keeping. This was aired by one of the worker at the hotel. Another feather was the improvement of the town main bus stop. This has been extended and now caters for passengers towards Gurney,East Cape and the North Coast

Cabinet in the 9th Parliament

See the latest Cabinet Ministers and Political Party updates after the National General Elections in 2012 click here

National Institution continue to scrap through

The election observation during the month of July 2012 saw our team visiting a number of areas on our trip. One such place was the Igam Military barracks in Lae, Morobe Province. As with many governmental institutions many have seen the deterioration of infrastructure around it. The once pride of our country lie in bush covered vegetation almost a meter high. There was however some areas neatly cut but the place itself looked like a ghost town. The only post manned was the front entrance as we came in but the guard was not like the ones I knew before in the 1980s were very smart and on guard. It’s a pity an iconic institution that was once rated as one of the finest in jungle warfare had been neglected over the past years.

Smooth Pollings for Lae and Madang

Polling on the ground for two the centres went smoothly. Most were in an orderly manner with little security issues. We visited the three electorates in the Morobe Provinces which include Lae Open, Nawae Open and Huon Gulf electorates respectively before heading for Madang Province. By the time we arrived most of Madang electorate had polled. Sumkar on the outskirts of Madang was our next stop. From the surveyed questioned asked in regards to political parties, nearly 90% did not support a particular party. The sentiment received was that people tend to go with the candidate based on his merit, status or influence on the community or society. When asked about the women's opinion the general answer that women gave was that they voted according to the husbands support. Most people that went to vote found that they didn't have their names on the roll and were denied the right to vote. Overall the atmosphere was calm and collective in most polling stations. For the latest results on the national general elections 2012, click here or visit www.ippcc.gov.pg

Madang Morobe Highway

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The highway from Morobe to Madang is pretty much good though bumpy at times. The section in the Usino Bundi electorate is the part that is unsealed. PMV Buses frequent the highway as well as travelers who would rather save some bucks using this mode than on air. Another group of people are the buai buyers who mostly come from the highlands to get their stock. At times they hire the entire bus to transport their valuable green gold back to the highlands.

Observation Mission

Whilst the country went into polling, little did they know that a team from the Registry of Political Parties and Candidates Commission were doing their survey and observation throughout this period. A total of three teams covered the four regions. The observation would give an indication on how parties fair on the LLG level provincial level.The survey also included candidates, women and how the polling was conducted. Our team covered two centres which include Lae and Madang.