Dual citizenship almost a reality, Wereh outlines the impact of climate change on road design and funding,  and the cost to business of family violence revealed. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Rimbink Pato, has announced that dual citizenship will become a reality by March. He said: “Dual citizenship is a new concept for Papua New Guinea and creates great opportunities for our people at home and around the world.”

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Works Secretary David Wereh says the impact of climate change is the new challenge facing the Government and its Department of Works. Werah says changes in river and flow patterns have been ‘very unpredictable’, adding Markham Valley ‘has become a major flood plain and it is threatening sections of the Okuk Highway. Most sections of the highway have never been designed to withstand the impacts of climatic, flooding and major landslide issues we are facing today.’

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Edevu River. Credit: ABC

A K630 million hydro power project has been launched in Central Province. The Edevu Hydro Power Project is expected to generate 50 megawatts (MW) power to boost electricity supply to the Port Moresby and villages in the local area. 

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The Business Coalition for Women says its research over the last 12 months of its 60 member companies, shows one company spent K300,000, while another company spent K3 million in assisting female employees who were victims of family violence.

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The Director of the National Research Institute, Dr Charles Yala, has outlined the high cost of refurbishing the NRI’s building, saying mark-ups on locally supplied materials had ranged between 100-150 per cent. ‘Refurbishments under difficult economic times had enabled NRI to experience first-hand the frustrations faced by the private sector on a daily basis, he told the Post Courier.

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Import tariffs should be introduced on refined fuel products to encourage local manufacturing investment, Puma Energy says. General Manager Hulala Tokome said this would provide additional Government revenue without impacting the fuel price for consumers. He added fuel importers do not contribute to the country’s infrastructure and manufacturing sector.

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Australia’s defence and diplomatic community have told the ABC they are uneasy about China’s growing influence in PNG. The ABC claims budget documents show the cost of servicing and repaying PNG’s debts to China has risen more than tenfold, from $2.46 million to $26.2 million annually, in the past five years.

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Work on the major redevelopment of the K100 million Momote Airport in Manus Province should be completed by end of this year, reports the Post Courier. The airport project is being developed by China Harbour Engineering Co.

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Kina Securities has been appointed to administer K9.6 billion of funds for the National Superannuation Fund Limited (NASFUND) to administer members’ funds. (Read our interview this week with Kina CEO Syd Yates here.)

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Tax Commissioner Betty Palaso.

The Commissioner-General of the Internal Revenue Commission Betty Palaso says only salary or wage earners who are provided with accommodation or an allowance by their employer of more than K5000 per week will be affected by the changes to the Housing Benefits Tax.

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Bank South Pacific says it has approved and funded 318 loans, at a value of K131 million, under its First Home Owners Housing Scheme. The bank says also that it has approved a further 148 loans, valued at K73 million, which are awaiting the completion of various land conveyance and other tasks prior to the loans being funded.

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Geopacific Resources has announced the discovery of visible gold at 53 metres at its Woodlark Gold Project, in Milne Bay Province.

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More than K124 million demonetised K100 bank notes sold to a company in Germany in 2013 are being illegally circulated publicly in Taiwan and Indonesia. Bank of PNG Governor Loi Bakani said they were old K100 paper bank notes, now without any value, which may have allegedly been ‘hijacked’ somewhere in Asia while en route to Europe for destruction and circulated widely, even sold by some people online.

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A robotic bee. Credit: New Scientist

And finally, a drone that can pollinate flowers may one day work side by side with bees to improve crop yields, say researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. They have used the principle of cross-pollination in bees to make a drone that transports pollen between flowers. When the drone flies onto a flower, pollen grains stick lightly to the gel, then rub off on the next flower visited.