Business endorses new Police Commissioner, Kumul Flyover opens, and Oil Search chief says low prices are here to stay. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

The Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the ‘door has opened for radical change’ in the police force with Gari Baki’s appointment as Police Commissioner.

The Chamber has commended Baki for his comprehensive and detailed statement on how he wishes to bring over-arching change, discipline and accountability to the force.

In a statement, POMCCI said: ‘It is a sad reality that many of our city residents are more intimidated by the very police officers who have sworn an oath to protect them, than the criminals.’

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Night vision of the new Kumul Flyover. Credit: Skerah/Hawkins

PNG’s first flyover has officially opened. Formerly known as the Kookaburra Flyover, the four-lane Kumul Flyover links downtown Port Moresby to Jacksons Airport. Stretching 600 metres, the K160 million flyover was built on time by NZ contractor, Hawkins.

Opening the flyover, Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill also said the road from the city to 9-Mile will be named the Kumul Highway.

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Oil Search boss Peter Botten says oil prices are likely to stay low for the next five years, putting up to A$5.5 trillion worth of projects around the world at risk. He blames the rise of US shale producers, combined with OPEC countries’ determination to preserve their market share. ‘If you think $55 a barrel is their breakeven price today, next year it’s likely to be US$45 a barrel,’ he told the Annual Stockbrokers Conference in Sydney.

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Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato.

A travel ban on Australian citizens visiting Bougainville has been lifted. In a statement, Foreign Minister Pato said PM O’Neill had told Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, ‘the Government does not approve of the establishment of an Australian diplomatic mission on Bougainville,’ and ‘ there was a serious lapse in communication’.

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Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has revealed more than US$2.9 billion went missing from various trust funds during the term of the previous government, between 2002 and 2010.

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Provincial authorities in the New Guinea Islands region say high interest rates being charged by commercial banks are a deterrent to developing small and medium enterprises. Manus provincial commerce officer Bernard Jones says many SME owners are using  the National Development Bank because their rates are lower, compared to the other banks. Jones says fishing, poultry farming and PMV operators are mostly affected.

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East New Britain Plantation Group will develop a housing scheme at a cost of more than K15 million for its staff and its oil palm project landowners.

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Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Sime Darby from A to A minus, as it expects delays in Sime Darby’s plan to deleverage will be slower than anticipated, ‘that could offset the impact of higher debt from the company’s acquisition of New Britain Palm Oil‘.

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Highlands Pacific will work with Chinese miner Guangdong Rising Assets Management (GRAM) to develop the Frieda River gold and copper project in West Sepik, says chairman Ken MacDonald. He says GRAM’s offer to buy all PanAust shares would have no effect on the progress of the project.

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Barrick Gold Corp Chairman John Thornton says the company’s partnership with China’s Zijin Mining Group, which involves the recently announced Porgera mine joint venture in Papua New Guinea, has fulfilled one of his key goals to establish a stronger relationship with Asian nation.

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The chairman of Kula Gold, David Frecker, has told the AGM the company is investigating various options to advance Woodlark Island, including joint-venture partnerships in exploration. He said the company will close its Sydney office and relocate to shared premises in Perth, terminate externally-provided corporate services and reduce directors’ fees by 50% in an effort to reduce cost.

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Sir John Guise Stadium. Credit: David Conn

The Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby will host the SP PNG Hunters match against South’s Logan Magpies on June 13, in what will be a test event for the July Pacific Games.

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The World Bank says PNG has one of the top ten smoking rates in the world and ‘disproportionately harms poor households’. It has called for advertising bans, smoke free zones, public education, graphic messaging, and enforcement of rules against selling tobacco to minors.

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France’s Total SA, which was recently appointed as operator of the Elk-Antelope gas venture in PNG, plans to raise production and trading of LNG by 2020, while pulling out of the coal industry.

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Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has launched a new national sustainability plan, known as the Green Growth Framework. He says no new projects will go ahead in Fiji unless they pass the sustainability test and are in the best interests of the country.

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The Climbing Perch fish. Credit: ABC

And finally, Australian scientists believe the Climbing Perch fish could make its way to Australia and kill native species as it has done in Papua New Guinea. Discovered in 2005, the Climbing Perch can live out of water for up to six days.  The travel plans of the Climbing Perch have included Java and it has now made its way to the Torres Strait, killing barramundi and catfish.