A need to review our policies

The following article, written by young Madang-based businessman Allan Bird, appeared in the letters page of The National newspaper on Tuesday, December 30, 2008, and reflects on the various problems affecting Papua New Guinea. Allan Bird, for those who came in late, stood against Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare for the East Sepik Regional Seat in 2002 and was seemingly poised for a big upset, leading Sir Michael, before Sir Michael made a comeback to win.

By ALLAN BIRD

LAST month, I was privileged to speak at a business and Government leaders summit at the Pacific Adventist University where I highlighted some of the issues that are alienating our people, hence producing citizens like those who killed Sir George Constantinou.

I wondered what it was that kept Sir George here when many of our well-off nationals, including politicians, were buying homes in Australia.

A man of few words; his great deeds and achievements will outlive him.

Will our Government ever deal with the root cause of this problem?

Are we going to forget this after we laid this great man to rest?

After all, this is what we do in PNG, isn’t it?

We all have very short memories: we are masters of the art of knee-jerk reactions.

Sadly, many lawyers are already rubbing their hands with glee, knowing full well the cash cow is waiting to be milked at Tete now that our well meaning, hard working police officers have razed it.

I sympathise with the police commissioner and his men whose job was to remove a viper’s nest.

To begin with, our laws were written to protect criminals, not the innocent.

Criminals know this; that is why they are emboldened and, to some extent, empowered to do what they do. There is no doubt most settlements are the perfect breeding ground for criminals.

I know as I grew up in a settlement 30 years ago. It was only through divine intervention that I did not choose a life of crime like the many friends I grew up with.

Illegal settlements full of young men with little or no education, no skills and little chance of getting a job are going to turn on the rest of us eventually unless we do something about their situation.

Razing the settlements will only move the criminals to another location.

In addition, the police action has given those animals one more reason to make our lives more terrifying; we have destroyed their homes and put their families on the streets.

Quite simply, they will be back to kill some other poor soul in the same manner in some other location.

Today, it was Tete. Tomorrow it could be Morata, Nuigo, Sisiak, Bumbu or Papua compound.

There are many more places with young men who have no jobs, no life, no hope and no future.

To them their life has little value, so why should your life or that of our loved ones be worth anything?

They have nothing to lose while we have everything to lose.

It is my hope that what happened to Sir George will end there but I am not confident because, in this country, we have a poor record of solving problems.

For starters, we need to plan resettlement areas for people in settlements. Such areas need to be properly zoned, have services like schools, health centres and so on.

These places need to be located in areas where the population density is low. These people need to be engaged productively so that they can pay for the land they have been given over a period of time.

This will give them meaning and a chance at a future, better than no future at all.

We need to make drastic changes to our education system. We have to decide how to train our young people. Should we train all of them for a life in urban areas or rural areas? For as long as I can remember, we have been training people for life in towns. But we have not been able to generate employment opportunities.

When that fails, we try to solve the problem by relocating our half-educated, non-skilled young citizens to the villages and expect them to become farmers.

They have no rural skills, having just spent eight to 10 years in a classroom. They don’t know the meaning of hard work, sweat and toil and we expect them to become farmers?

We need to change the way we educate our children and be more honest about their chances of getting jobs in towns and cities.

We should take a hard look at how we distribute wealth in this country.

Since independence, we continue to spend 80% of PNG’s wealth in the National Capital District and, to a lesser extent, Lae city. I am not aware of plans to change this anytime soon.

How are we to provide opportunities for our people, direct them away from crime and make them useful citizens when we lack the will to move a fair share of the nation’s wealth outside NCD and Lae?

I have not seen coffee or cocoa plantation, a mine or even an oil well anywhere in NCD, yet the best part of the PNG cake is consumed there.

How do our policy makers expect to make even the tiniest amount of difference in this country when they lack the courage to move sufficient resources elsewhere?

We have 20 provinces in this country, not two.

The riches of Bougainville, Ok Tedi, Misima, Porgera, Lihir and Kutubu are miles from NCD. This situation needs to change.

We need to toughen our laws so that murderers and rapists are summarily put to death.

Just because other nations say it does not work is a lame excuse not to exercise this punishment here.

My people used to put murderers and rapists to death in the past; it was part of our culture and we accepted it.

Such crimes were unheard of in the past but now they are common.

We are not Europeans. We are Melanesians; we should act like one and hold onto those facets of our culture that served us well in the past.

Even the least educated of our people understand this.

Lastly, the leaders of this land need to lead by example.

How can we expect our people to live life away from crime when our leaders live lives that leave little to the imagination?

Every nation on Earth succeeds or fails as a direct result of leadership or lack thereof.

It is ironical that Sir George, a man who strived to create work for so many less fortunate, it was those very people he tried to provide opportunities for who took his life.

The nation owes him a great debt. PNG is now a poorer nation because one of our giants was cruelly taken from us.

Allan Bird

Madang

Condolence for death of Tim Hauji, Air Nigini pilot

Fellow citizens,

Sad beginning of the year 2009 where the country is deprived of a young professional through a very unnecessary and tragic situation (see story below).

Everyone in PNG citizens need to have a drastic change of mind set.

Planti ol jealous pasin istap namel long ol "professionals" na ol lain olsem policeman na soldiers, which we all have seen and experienced one way or another.

Another is the general "mi tasol no care attitude" to our other fellow citizens and visitors. One just needs to travel to Melanesian countries like Solomons, Fiji and Vanuatu to see the difference.

We are all Melanesians, and God has made us all the same with same intelligence etc, but we in PNG still have this very bad attitude and of course the result is the generally bad image of PNG citizens.

May God Bless his soul and give courage to his wife and other family members

Regards

Max Kuduk

* E-mail: max.kuduk@gmail.com

Stop Think Plan Act and always stay safe

Post Courier, Thursday 02 Jan. 2009

Bloody New Year

By TODAGIA KELOLA

THE killing of an Air Niugini pilot and the murder of a father trying to rescue his daughter from criminals were among five New Year deaths reported by police in Port Moresby.
NCD operations superintendent Chief Inspector Andy Bawa said the pilot was stabbed to death as he was leaving a major hotel in Port Moresby.
According to the police brief, there was an argument inside the hotel between the pilot and some others guys gathered there to celebrate New Year.
After witnessing the New Year, he left and was walking to his vehicle when he was allegedly stabbed. The man, whose parents were from Manus and East Sepik, died on the spot.
Another wilful murder occurred at the Erima Wildlife settlement when a man from Enga was attacked after 15 men went to his house and tried to abduct his daughter.
He went to rescue his daughter but the mob turned on him and bashed him to death.
Two other people who tried to help him were also attacked.
Both are in a critical condition at the Port Moresby General Hospital. Ten suspects have been detained by police.
The third murder was reported at Vanapa along the Hiritano Highway where a man returning from a function was stabbed to death.
The other two deaths are a result of two separate motor vehicle accidents in NCD and Central Province. One was reported to have occurred at Gaire along the Magi Highway and the other one was at the city’s Waigani traffic lights.
Police say the one at Waigani was allegedly caused by drink driving. The driver of the vehicle did not stop for the red light, police say, and ran into another vehicle.
One person died instantly and three others were admitted to the Port Moresby General Hospital.
A police officer, who declined to be named, said most of these deaths could have been avoided if there had been a total ban on alcohol during this festive period because most of these deaths were linked to alcohol consumption.
Meanwhile, Port Moresby residents kicked off New Year celebrations at Ela Beach when they witnessed fireworks at 7pm and were entertained by various musicians before going back to their homes to wait for the New Year.
Many flocked to nightclubs in the city and partied all night with friends and relatives while some treated it as just another night of the year and slept through the noise and revelry of the New Year celebrations.

Antelope-1 gas strike

InterOil has struck gas at its Antelope-1 well in the Gulf Province.
The top of the subterranean reservoir was intersected at 1,748 metres with gas being encountered at the same depth.
It’s the third gas strike made by InterOil during drilling at its Elk-Antelope prospecting site.
Previous test results from the Elk-1 and Elk-4 sites have shown the existence of a major gas reservoir of “potentially substantial deliverability”.
Rates of up to fifteen million cubic feet per day have been achieved while circulating out gas kicks during drilling operations in the upper section of the structure.
Further testing will be required before the exact size and potential capacity of the Antelope-1 find can be fully assessed and determined.
InterOil President Bill Jasper said the company is “most encouraged” by the initial test results.
“I am extremely pleased with the confirmation of gas and the associated gas flow”.
“It bodes well for the potential of Antelope-1”.
Mr. Jasper said Antelope-1 is currently being evaluated by independent experts.
“Based on what we’ve seen to date, we are hopeful that Antelope-1 (an appraisal well) will eventually go on to become a significant gas discovery”.
“This recent find is in line with our initial expectations of this field”.
It is expected that gas from the Elk-Antelope structures would feed the proposed Liquid Niugini Gas project (of which InterOil is a foundation partner) should it proceed.

For further in formation please contact

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation

Ph: 321 7040

Mobile: + (675) 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com

Sepik Blu Longpela Muruk

I was please to receive an electronic version (e-book) of the novel Sepik Blu Longpela Muruk, written by Australian David Hall (pictured), a former resident of the East Sepik province, recently.
I’m currently going through the e-book and will do a book review as soon as I complete reading it.
Below are details of the book and the author:
In the seclusion of pre-independent and post-independent Papua New Guinea, we find a group of expatriates, from an eclectic yet progressive Dutch priest to the money
grabbing John Pietro.
Among them is James Ward, an Australian Malaria Control Officer in the East Sepik District where this story begins.
James Ward, in confronting his own values and those of the New Guineans, is on a humorous path of life, at once real and imagined.
Tortured by religious scruples and sexual desires, James’s life becomes a trajectory of impulses and aspirations without lasting resolutions.
In this novel, the many personalities are scrutinised, as it were, in a fishbowl, exposing the traits and attributes that distinguish them in their frontier society.
Some cope and endure, while others simply enjoy life.
They are at times like the haughty and elusive cassowary or muruk of the jungle; at other times, they are attractive and tender like the Sepik Blue orchid or Sepik Blu.
In the colonial Sepik District, many expatriates had an adventurous lifestyle in their personal relationships, and in implementing administration policies of justice, political education, health and
commerce.
The expatriate legacy, for better or worse, is part of the history of Papua New Guinea.
The characters of Sepik Blu Longpela Muruk are portraits of people formed by the time and place they lived in.
There are no easy answers to the complex question of the morality of colonial rule in the lives of many of the expatriates.
For James Ward, he embarks on a quixotic adventure in early independent Papua New Guinea that spells out his kismet.
About the Author
David Andrew de Bérigny Wall was born in Melbourne in 1936 and educated in Sydney at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview.
After leaving school, he worked in Papua New Guinea on plantations and for the Department of Health for 18 years.
In the 1970s he returned to Sydney and qualified as a teacher librarian, subsequently working in high schools for the New South Wales Department of Education.
He resides in Newtown, Sydney with his wife, Deborah.
They have two grown-up children, Andrei and David Augustus.
The years he lived in Papua New Guinea have left him with an abiding interest in the country and its people. Contact Wall on email mahal362000@yahoo.com.au if you want to buy a copy of the book.

Malum, thanks for the piece on my novel. I would be happy to send an online copy to anyone; just email me: mahal362000@yahoo.com.au or there is a version available on my blog: http://deberigny.wordpress.com/I read your blog with interest. Kind regards, Dave

A Happy and Prosperous New Year

A Happy and Prosperous New Year to the many readers and followers of this blog from all corners of the world.

I spent Christmas Eve with my four children at home.

We all stayed until midnight to watch the fireworks explode all around us.

On New Year’s Day I took them for a spin in a taxi, bought some food, and brought it home to cook.

I’m back at work with The National newspaper where I am supplements editor.

It looks like it’s going to be a very busy year for me.

Malum

Poker machines: luck or computer programmes?

By PANU KASAR

 

The human brain is still by far the most advanced phenomena in the whole universe. Most people deny that fact. That is why many couldn't learn about computers. They are afraid to learn. Always remember that humans created computers. That's why when I teach my technicians on repairs I make sure they have confidence in themselves. Human also using their brains created computers to even trick other humans. Poker machines are standardised systems used to make profit. Computer games such as pokies are simply custom built computers made for generating profit. To think of it a poker machine is calibrated to make money for its owner. Even though how hard you try you can never win. Of course you will win but that will be after the machine gets what it wants. It is designed to let you get only a small percentage of what it collects. Say it collects 95% and you get 5% of its takings. You don't realise that because players who came before you already gave the 95% that it wants and you came in time to collect the 5%. Why would pub owners' waste money on equipment that uses electricity all night making a lot of noise? Simply because it helps them by making you give them your money. They know it and will never tell you.  Most of the time you are so drunk to figure that out.

 

The poker machine runs on a microchip integrated with a computer program written by programmers. Usually it's what programmers call a loop. A loop is a string of codes that run in a repeating sequence to execute its code. The poker machine is a computer program designed to make you contribute to the gaming industry. The machine simply executes how its code is written. The loop executes sequence of its code in many ways some times in random order. The codes are long and can last for months before it repeats making it hard for people to study the winning pattern. Of course the programmers know that nobody will work out the code because usually most players will be drunk. Now you know why the pub is close by the poker and they serve you jugs while you play.

 

Some follow random codes where they pay out on a spree then start collecting to make up their program percentage. Therefore poker players may notice that some machines don't pay for some time even longer periods. Simply because they are executing the program loops where the takings are being collected.

 

In large casinos the owners knows exactly how much a single poker machine will make in a year. Whether you win or lose it doesn't matter a machine will still give its owner how much it is programmed to make. Just like you buying a new radio and realizing that it will produce 200 Watts of sound power output. Poker machines are like that it just give its owner according to how it is designed. Some generate up to K500, 000 per year. When a buyer wants a machine he can choose to buy according to the output. You shocked? Yeah and some of that money comes from you. So if say you own five poker machines in your water hole that keeps spinning the whole year you are a millionaire.

 

The music from the poker machines also plays a part. Of every invention there is psychology involved. The music teases the mind and the color from the display develops an inviting lust for the drunken victims. Therefore as for the victims it's a matter of winning a game getting hooked and even losing sometimes but managing to win back. The winning then suddenly stops but the memory of the wins keeps the gambling going. The losses are not remembered by the way. As one gambler said "In all the time I've spent in the proximity of poker machines, I've never seen one taking anything from anyone who didn't willingly give it. I have never seen a poker machine preventing someone from doing what they want to do, or imposing its own personal will or preference on a single inhabitant of planet Earth".

 

Usually the maximum payouts are a fraction of the annual profit generated by the machine. A machine having a maximum payout of K5, 000 may have an annual profit of K500 000 but when it makes the payout the music and the lights celebrate with you making the small payout a grand event. These figures are just an illustration of the revenue concept of poker machines they real figures may never be known. Well kept secret of the industry.

 

Game programming is a lucrative trade; the industry employs the best computer programmers to design the best profit making machines. That is why poker machines are perfectly designed to lure money. The new designs do not have gears or matching slots like you see on the screen. They are just visual representations. When you open a machine you only see a main board with an integrated micro chip.   

 

The gaming sector is simply the cash cows of the entertainment industry. That is why the government cannot get rid of it. To them it is simply a way of making people willingly pay their taxes. A person will criticise huge tax cuts in salary then retire to the pub to play poker.

 

On our path we help you realise that as far as computers are involved there is no such thing as luck. Computers work on a chip programmed to execute code and just that. In pokies your wins are set ups. You get so hooked that you forgot how many times you lost. In fact the losses were more than the couple of wins. What a sad story, being fooled by a machine which was designed to exploit hard earned salaries.

 

In Australia about 90% of clients who attends Wesley Gambling Counseling services are addicted to poker machines. ''Most of the people we counsel have hit rock bottom and about 10 per cent have thought about suicide,'' said Wesley Mission, Sydney superintendent, Reverend Keith Garner. These counseling services fortunately are funded by the gaming industry. Just like the warnings on cigarette packs.  

 

In Papua New Guinea most people in the working class who frequent pubs are hooked into poker machines. It is the main cause of domestic financial strains. I think by now you all should know how mean these machines are. This article is my New Year gift to the citizens of this country, hope it helps those resolutions you have in mind. Happy New Year 2009. Keep those emails coming: pkasar@mail.com

King tides force fuel rationing in Wewak

Fuel rationing has been introduced in Wewak because of a "critical shortage" at InterOil's regional terminal.

 The situation follows recent king tides that caused widespread disruption to northern coastal areas and damaged port facilities at Wewak.

 On two occasions, InterOil's supply vessel has been unable to berth.

 The company is now low on all fuels including gasoline and diesel.

 InterOil Products Limited General Manager Peter Diezmann said, despite the current situation, the company intended to provide all its customers with limited supplies of fuel until regular deliveries can resume.

 "We will do our best to keep our customers operational, at least to some degree, during this difficult period".

 Mr. Diezmann said he believed that "careful management of fuel stocks" was the most responsible course of action.

 "It will help ensure that everyone receives some fuel until the next scheduled delivery midway through January".

 Regular deliveries, into the area, were disrupted prior to Christmas when sea swells damaged wharf and unloading facilities.

 "The damage was quickly repaired but continued swells made the berthing of the fuel tanker extremely hazardous".

A pre-Christmas delivery voyage was diverted away from Wewak, by the master of the vessel, on the grounds of safety.

 "Since then, only a single shipment of fuel has been received", Mr. Diezmann said.

 "It came via a tanker vessel that was able to come alongside during a break in the unfavourable conditions".

 Because the seas had temporarily abated, the vessel was able to discharge its cargo of fuel.

 However a second planned berthing, over the Christmas weekend, had to be aborted because of conditions.

 Mr. Diezmann said the next scheduled cargo vessel is not due to arrive in Wewak until January 14^th.

 "Until then, we will have to make the fuel we have go as far as possible", he said.

 

 For further information

 

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations - InterOil Corporation

Ph: 321 7040

Mobile: 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com

A Happy New Year

A Happy New Year 2009 to all readers and followers of this blog from all corners of the world.

Thank you for your support in 2008 and I look forward to that continuing in 2009.

I would like to have more feedback from you readers so that I can make this blog even bigger and better in promoting Papua New Guinea.

Thank you and God Bless You All Real Good!

 

Malum Nalu

Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea

 

PS: That’s me in the red shirt and the bushy beard which I’ve been growing since Easter Sunday this year, when my wife Hula passed away so suddenly and tragically, leaving me and the four young children all alone. On my shoulder is my eldest son Malum, aged eight,   and to the right in the background is my only daughter Moasing, aged four. The other two children Gedi, six, and Keith, one, are not in the picture.

The year of Barrack Obama while in PNG, the Chief celebrates 40 years in politics

Brrack Obama on Capitol Hill...the first black man in history to be elected UP President

Sir Michael Somare and two 10-year-old Manus twins watch the first screening of National Television Service on Independence Day - September 16, 2008, in Wewak - East Sepik province.

By DANIEL KORIMBAO
Editor In Chief
The National newspaper

A number of political events make the 2008 political calendar worth another peek before we turn our back on the year that has been, and look to the promises 2009 hold for each of us.
2008 had its ups and downs, and its share of forgettable and most memorable moments.
At home Prime Minister Sir Michael celebrated his 40 years in politics, an achievement unrivaled in the Commonwealth. The nation celebrated this milestone achievement by the chief, culminating in the launch of a local TV station Kundu, a gift from the Chief to his beloved people.
The year also saw Australian Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visit PNG. Relationships between PNG and Australia had reached new lows with the Howard Government before Rudd took over at Kiribili house in a landslide election victory.
Embracing Somare in Parliament House during his visit in March, Rudd announced his new deal for the Pacific, and presented the Chief a Brisbane Broncos Rugby league jersey to mark the start of a new era in relationship. The Howard and Downer ways were gone.
The man at the centre of the soured relationship between the two countries, Julian Moti, is now answering sex charges in Australia.
The findings of a PNG Defence Force Board of Inquiry into how Moti escaped from Port Moresby to Honiara in a PNGDF plane on Oct 10, 2006, and who gave the orders at the political level has been released.
But it cannot be published or its recommendations implemented because of a judicial challenge by Sir Michael which is pending in the Supreme Court. Somare has reportedly been implicated in the Inquiry’s final report, but many believe those he trusted and appointed to senior positions within government betrayed him and did not tell the truth about the whole affair.
Another issue that will stick with the PM heading into the New Year will be his referral by the Ombudsman Commission for alleged misconduct in office, which is being challenged by his lawyers in the Supreme Court. The alleged misconduct relates to his annual returns dating back some 15 years. This case is expected to be resolved this year.
The grand old man of politics leaves public life in 2012, and the question being asked is who takes over. There have been a lot of speculations in the media, but as the year draws to a close the chief has not appointed a successor.
Within his National Alliance party, there are four deputy leaders who include Patrick Pruaitch, Don Polye, Puka Temu, and Paul Tiensten. One of them could take over, and whoever it is, the NA convention will decide when it meets to deal with this agenda.
There has been talk the Chief could hand over the baton to his son Arthur, the Public Enterprises Minister, but this scribe is reliably informed Mr Somare is not interested in the job at this stage of his political career.
Then there is Peter O’Neill, the leader of PNC, who has forged a close working relationship with Sir Michael even as Opposition leader in the last Parliament. He has a close relationship with a good number of NA members, including Pruaitch.
United Resources Party leader William Duma and party founder Anderson Agiru are also on the radar. It would be foolish to rule anyone out in PNG politics, so Bart Philemon and Sir Mekere Morauta, who are in the Opposition, must also come into contention.
The 18-months grace period protecting the Prime Minister from a vote of no confidence expires at the end of February next year. That’s the time even the most protected specie constantly look over his shoulder in case someone, even from within the camp, is lurking in the dark with that dagger.
With 85 MPs in Government, its unlikely Somare five-year term will be interrupted, unless his seemingly impregnable coalition implodes from within.
When he walks away into the sunset, he leaves behind huge shoes to be filled.
But let there be no doubt 2008 belongs to Barrack Obama.
Americans turned to Obama with a sweeping mandate at a time when the global financial crisis spurred by the sub prime mortgage crisis in the US is crippling economies around the world.
Who would ever forget that evening of Nov 4, when Obama stepped onto the podium in a stadium in Chicago to deliver a powerful speech, accepting the calling of the American people to serve them as their first ever black President?
Obama has a huge task on hand. The US and other major global economies are in recession, and his job is to turn that around. He has work to do to improve US relations with a lot of countries around the world, especially countries that resent Bush foreign policies, and his administration’s attitude to the two wars and global warming.
Papua New Guinea stands to gain a lot from the Obama Administration. We believe the government can capitalise on the Clinton influence in the White House to expand existing bilateral relationship, gain access to resources available in the US to fight the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, and tackle global warming, an issue Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has spoken keenly about on various regional and global forums.
As 2008 pass, let’s look to build on the promises we know are abound in this beautiful country PNG.

Armed robberies and Sir George murder leave an infamous scar

William Kapis' accomplices at the Boroko Police Station Cell.

William Kapis in custody at the Boroko Police Station cell after being caught and shot on July 18 this year.

Sir George Constantinou (left) with his young family before his brutal murder, which shocked Papua New Guinea and the world.

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
Armed robberies of Bank South Pacific branches in Kerema, Madang and Kimbe and the killing of Sir George Constantinou has made an infamous scar for this year.
Papua New Guineans will never forget these incidents, just like the Americans will never forget the assassination of their President John F Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
These separated incidents were done by intelligence criminals (for BSP robberies) and just petty criminals (for the late Constantinou’s murder)
The robberies of the BSP branches have woken Papua New Guineans up to face the latest trend of violent crime involving armed robbery.
This trend involves kidnapping and demanding ransom.
The trend is also made easier by the use of the latest communication technology to mobilise manpower, resources, and logistics to execute shrewd tactics –that is the use of the mobile phone.
Currently, the main suspect William Kapis Nanua and his associates are facing various charges in connection with the robberies before the court, and are being remanded at Bomana prison outside Port Moresby.
This review will not detail the robberies of Madang and Kimbe but only for Kerema as it was the first branch to be hit.
Also similar tactics were used to organise the other BSP branch robberies.
Gulf police suspect that the former Kerema branch manager, who has now been charged, was involved in robbing K830, 498.45 last May 17 from the bank.
Noah Karo, 49, from Hula village, Central province was accused of the robbery by organising with Kapis, Jack Frost Kivare and Ivan Kaini for his daughter, grandson, son-in-law and three sons to be picked up at Five-Mile and to be kept as hostage in an undisclosed place in Port Moresby last May 15.
Police alleged that Nanua, Kivare and Kaini then flew to Kerema on May 16 and were picked up at the airport by Karo.Karo, threatened at gunpoint, then proceeded to give in to the demands of the accused and his accomplices or else they would “kill his children”.Police said that on Saturday, May 17, between 7am and 9am, Nanua and an accomplice got into a branch vehicle and went to meet loans officer Gabriel Ori inside the bank premises.A short briefing was held among them including Mr Karo.Mr Karo was instructed to go and get the safe combination numbers from his deputy’s house.The deputy, against her will, was taken to the bank and used the combination numbers to open the safe, with Nanua and his accomplices allegedly helping themselves to K825, 714 in cash.Nanua and his accomplices then escaped by boat to Sapeaharo Bridge where they got on a vehicle and came to Port Moresby to proceed on to rob Madang BSP on June 5, 2008, using similar tactics.
He was later recaptured by police along the Magi Highway enroute to Aroma in the Central province at about 2.30am last July 18 and allegedly shot in both feet’s.
In another infamous incident, one of the nation’s leading citizen and businessmen Sir George Constantinou was killed by just petty criminals outside the notorious Tete settlement at Gerehu on December 16 after inspecting his timber yard.
These opportunity criminals just made up their mind to rob and kill the 78-year-old knight only at that moment by just seeing a Whiteman coming their way in a vehicle.
They commit this incident using the old crime trend by using homemade gun and lethal hard objects.
Police have now detained and charged seven suspects.
The late knight came to PNG in 1954 and ventured into building and road construction and hotel industries.
These industries provided employment for thousands of locals to contribute to the national economy for almost 55 years. And it will still be doing so for years to come through the Constantinou group of companies.
In retaliation, police went in and demolished the settlement to fulfil what the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare had warned about in November 2003.
Sir Michael had warned that one more killing would have this settlement removed.
Sir Michael issued this warning after 15 people were killed in the settlement .It was after the killing of his fellow knight that his warning was fulfilled.

Quotation of The Day

Faith is the force of life.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

Wet, wet, wet Christmas 2008 as waves strike

Giant waves hit Vanimo, West Sepik (Sandaun) province

Refugees in Wewak flee their homes in Wewak, East Sepik province

Damaged house in Wewak, East Sepik province

Vehicle drives through seawater-covered road in Wewak, East Sepik province

It was a wet, wet, wet 2008 Christmas for over 30, 000 struck by severe sea swells in the maritime provinces of Papua New Guinea.
Severe sea swells were reported in New Ireland, East Sepik, Manus, Bougainville, West Sepik, Morobe and isolated parts of Madang.
A majority of the affected populations were found in Manus, East Sepik, New Ireland and Bougainville.
New Ireland reported 118 internally-displaced persons when the population on Tench Island had to be evacuated to neighboring Emirau Island with some Tench islanders, especially students, taken back to Kavieng.
New Ireland also reported the most number of houses damaged or destroyed.
This year will be the second year in two years when disaster struck at about the same time.
In November 2007, Tropical Cyclone Guba devastated Oro province, leaving thousands homeless with major infrastructure including roads and bridges washed away.
The maritime provinces are not an isolated case as parts of the Highlands region also had their fair share with landslides along the Simbu section of the Okuk Highway, which cut off supply routes to Western Highlands, Enga and the Southern Highlands.
Unlike the Oro experience, no state of emergency was declared in the maritime provinces.
In fact, this event and its aftermath were managed as a national disaster under the auspices of the Disaster Management Act.
The Government of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) coordinated disaster response activities through the National Disaster Centre in Port Moresby and the respective provincial disaster centres.
Minister responsible for disasters Job Pomat MP, chairman of the national disaster committee Manasupe Zurenuoc, and acting director of the National Disaster Centre Martin Mose were instrumental in coordinating GoPNG, donor, and both NGO and INGO assistance.
Provinces coordinated disaster response activities in partnership with the National Disaster Centre and through their provincial disaster centres, and under the leadership of their provincial administrators.
A majority of the response agencies worked through the provincial disaster centres.
Disaster response activities were supported by UN agencies, AusAID, USAID, NZAID, and JICA. Response agencies included provincial administrations and provincial disaster centres, the PNG Red Cross, and national and international NGOs such as CARE, WVI, SC, Oxfam, ADRA, and Caritas PNG.
All agencies were also involved in undertaking damage and needs assessments.
On December 17, 2008, Mr Zurenuoc expressed confidence in the way provinces had managed their response activities and hinted to the media cease of the response phase sooner than expected.
At a small ceremony on December 22 to receive emergency relief items from the Japanese Ambassador H.E. Hajime Hishiyama, Mr Zurenuoc announced the end of disaster response and encouraged partners to shift to early recovery.
Although this year’s sea swell disaster was short lived, its effects were extensive as can be seen by the demand for rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in New Ireland and Manus.
As soon as sea swells hit, the National Disaster Centre received firsthand reports on December 9, 2008, from witnesses in Kavieng, Buka, and Bogia in the Madang province.
Each province has a provincial disaster committee with the provincial administrator as chairperson.
In some provinces, this committee went to work immediately and operated out of its provincial disaster centre.
The National Executive Council met on December 11, 2008, and approved up to K50 million, with which K20m was to be made available for disaster relief, response, and recovery purposes.
The K20m was released to the Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs on December 14, 2008.
This amount was later transferred to the National Disaster General Trust Account after scheduled closure of all government accounts on December 16.
Affected provinces have now begun drawing down on this funding, and in close consultation with the National Disaster Centre.
Provinces have done so after providing extensive damage and needs assessment reports together with an expenditure budget.

Quotation of The Day

It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it.

Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC)

The Year in Pictures - The Burning Down of Best Buy (Burns Philip) Lae

Best Buy Shop in Lae, one of the city’s landmarks, went up in flames at about 12am on Monday, December 8, 208,  and the fire was finally put out by 4am.
This was the site of the historical Burns Philip store which was an icon of Lae for many years.
By about 1am looters were already drunk and looking for more liquor till daybreak.
Before the fire reached the rear where the liquor shop is, looters were already breaking down the windows and doors and helping themselves to anything they could lay their hands on.
They included street people to security guards.
Lae town streets were chock-a-block with people that particular morning.
Many of them were drunk from the cold and boiled beer.

An eventful year for Papua New Guinea

And this blog helps to bring the news – good or bad – to you

Whether you spent 2008 with your nose buried in the politics or business section of your favorite newspaper, there were some major headlines on the front page that no one missed.

From the series of BSP bank robberies around the country to the atrocious murder of businessman Sir George Constantinou at the notorious Tete Settlement, Gerehu, it’s been hard to tear our eyes away from the life-changing events unfolding before us.

This is particularly in relation to the development of the massive gas, petroleum and mineral deposits of this country.

Are we going to be the ‘Arabs’ of the Pacific?

It is, however, a paradox that we are a rich country and yet are so poor, and our women and children continue to die for want of better health services as well as education.

I hope all of you, the many thousands of readers of this blog from all corners of Papua New Guinea and the world through the wonders of the Internet, have had a wonderful Christmas with your families and all the best for New Year 2009.

I had a quite Christmas period with my four children, watched VCDs, and read a lot of literature classics by Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities and Hard Times – to refresh my mind for 2009.

I am an avid reader of the classic works of literature, which I read over and over again, because it helps in a lot in my work as a journalist and editor.

 The year had a little something to offer everyone.

Maybe you were reading about the stock market's rocky trajectory and a massively flailing global economy - or that of Oshen’s career.

Perhaps you scanned the news for the latest updates on the LNG project, or you might've been focused on the US presidential elections.

The 2008 Paralympics event marked a significant new era for PNG as disabled athlete Francis Kompaon won the country’s first-ever silver medal at such an event and a K250, 000 bonus from the government.

The country’s first ever medal in an Olympic event was like setting foot on the moon – “one small step for a man but a giant step for PNG”.

Ryan Pini he made PNG proud with a brilliant performance in the 100m butterfly finals by splashing stroke for stroke alongside a  host of super stars including probably the world’s greatest-ever swimmer and record-breaking American Michael Phelps.

Pini was the flag bearer for Papua New Guinea at the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Pini ranked first in the third heat of the men's 100m freestyle, but did not make a qualifying time for the semi finals.

He also competed in heats for the 200m freestyle.

Pini competed in the 100m butterfly, where he was Papua New Guinea's most-widely anticipated chance at attaining a first Olympic medal.

He competed in the finals, and finished eighth overall, in a tough line-up which included American big fish Michael Phelps, who took gold.

Pini was the first Papua New Guinean ever to swim an Olympic final.

Remember how the Kumuls raised our pulses by leading Great Britain at one stage of their World Cup rugby league game in Australia but gave it away?

They continued to win hearts with commendable performances against eventual winners New Zealand and Australia.

Every year has its share of memorable news stories, but in 2008, many events transpired that'll have history textbook editors scrambling.

And if you haven't been keeping news clippings for your scrapbook, you might've forgotten what happened earlier this year.

That's where this blog comes in.

We're not just daily ‘bad news’ stories about rapes, murders, bank robberies, so on and so forth about.

We're ‘good news’ harbingers too – about the many positive developments in the country.

From Asia to Europe, North America to Africa, and even the land down under, the world was humming with activity.

And Papua New Guinea was no exception.

So pour a cup of coffee, settle into your most comfortable chair and read about some of the many memorable moments from 2008 that'll be recorded in the annals of history.

 

An eventful year for Lae

Captions: 1. Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG Head Bishop Dr Wesley Kigasung...his death brought together a fragmented church, city, province and country.2. Dr Kigasung's body is hoisted by six PNG Defence Force pall-bearers at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium.3. The sad remains of Best Buy, formerly Burns Philip, store in Lae. It was burned down earlier this month, bringing an end to a part of Lae history.
By conservative estimates, half of its residents would not be able to recall the garden city that was Lae.
This was a city, and before that a town, that was lined with flower beds running along its residential, business and industrial zones’ streets. The beauty of the streets gave Lae the glamour and serenity of a metropolitan city by the harbour of a sprawling valley that retreated for miles into the Madang and Eastern Highlands mountains, a feeling unlike any other.
Now an incongruent mosaic of industrial establishments, potholed streets, bushy over growths, and semi-permanent houses, clustered around concrete edifices, and colonial architecture, Lae has become a huge urban settlement of more than 300, 000 people.
In a nutshell Lae is a city of contrasts.
Throughout the year, the events that have happened in the city have shown the attitude of a people who are living in the computer age and practicing Stone Age beliefs.
To start the year off, the indigenous Ahi tribe’s local level government area was gripped with fear of a man-eating alien. The Komodo dragon, native to the Indonesian island of Komodo, could never have left its home except for the imaginations of several old women and the marketing skills of journalists.
There was much consternation and fear fuelled by newspaper images downloaded from the internet that irrelevantly, the military was called in with much media hype. Furtively, scientists from the Department of Environment and Conservation slipped into the bushes of Kamkumung, Butibam and Yanga and declared: “Nothing.”
The entire episode was a hoax. It showed the frightening scale a rumour could gain.
Perhaps because of the high level of ethnic mix of blue collar workers for its many factories, most of whom are at best semi-literate and ill-informed, what is more but not relevant is read into a situation.
Only last year, immediately after April 1, the entire population of Lae panicked when rumours spread that the sea at the end of the old Lae airport had retreated. Its return would flatten Lae – and Top Town, nearly 100 metres above sea level!
Thousands of school children ran away from classes. Several primary school teachers hopped on PMVs and headed for the Highlands.
Years before, in 2000, a similar incident sent people packing their belongings and heading for the mountains in droves.
No contrast was more obvious than in the attitudes of people. It was disconcerting to see the medieval practice of burning witches at the stake being carried out when a woman was burnt at the stake and her tortured body left for police to remove to the Angau Memorial Hospital morgue after it was claimed that she had kept the tongue of a youth salted in a banana leaf near her bedside fireplace at Tent City on the outskirts of the city.
To contrast that heathen ritual, the people showed a sign of religious fervour unlike any ever displayed in Lae when Dr Wesley Kigasung, head bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, died in May. Symphathisers lined the 50km from Nadzab airport to the church headquarters at Ampo.
That unity in religion had come off the back of an ethnic clash that clearly showed the fracture in the neighbourhoods. Eastern Highlanders had fought with Engans at Kamkumung and Morobeans fought with Sepiks at Malahang.
All throughout the year there were sporadic unrelated clashes and towards Christmas, the Western Highlanders and Eastern Highlanders closed the violent aspect of the year.
The ethnic and cultural melting pot that is Lae, coupled with the level of education and the economic status of each individual, has given the city its peculiar problems.
In town, the graduate engineers, doctors and accountants, the cream of university graduates catch a rickety old PMV bus to work. They can’t afford to buy a vehicle because of the high cost of fuel and the even higher cost of overhead charges on vehicle parts that are rendered by the potholes.
While waiting for the K50 million road works to be completed, the educated and the uneducated masses have to live in settlements at Hunter, Malahang, Bumayong, Kamkumung and the Miles areas. There virtually is not enough affordable housing in Lae.
The professionals, according to the PMV bus conductors, can not read. So they shout in their faces: “Eriku, Boundary, 1, 2, 3, 4.”
In the meantime, local Ahi landowners, have to fight for claims to the Lae land. It is a bitter dispute that divides clans and families.
One of the major disputes is over the land at the old Lae airport which has been divided into urban development leases.
Another development, that of the US$100 million Lae port, awaits start.
Here settlers are still waiting to be reestablished in other areas in Lae or be repatriated to their villages, particularly in the East Sepik and the Highlands provinces.
Economic developments in Lae and Morobe province in general have been enhanced by the rebuilding of the old Bulolo airport to cater for flights to the former gold town that would be the hub for the operation of the mine at Hidden Valley in Wau and the exploration at Wafi in Mumeng.
The Bulolo district is now rising to its old heights with the election of a young Member of Parliament who is showing the way for leaders throughout the country.
Exceptionally young and very inexperienced politician, businessman Sam Basil clicked into action barely a week after taking his oath of office as a Parliamentarian in Sept 2007.
 Now, he is the toast of the entire Bulolo district, and the envy of all Morobeans, after putting water supplies in his rural villages, linking them by road and telecommunications, building police house, and then demanding and being given 50% of the provincial government’s cut from the Hidden Valley Gold mine.
He was aiming to improve the lot of his people.
The economic survival of the worker was touted by students at the country’s premier technological institute. Students at the University of Technology through their representative council and its umbrella organisation the National Union of Students boycotted classes to push the government into establishing the Minimum Wages board hearings, whose report will be tabled to the government in the second week of next year.
While the students did well for their parents and working relatives, and their future, they could not help but get back into the ages old practice of ethnic rivalry. It seemed an end-of-year routine when the fight between Sepiks and Highlanders disrupted classes and left one dead and many unable to sit for their final examinations.
As the year raced to the end, nature took its toll, as a tidal surge left 5000 Siassi islanders and Sialum villagers without homes, food and water. Their lives are slowly being rebuilt.
What can not be rebuilt though is the epitome of trade and all things good and European, and a hallmark to the legacy of the colonial era, the former Burns Philp department store, which lay in ruins.

Yellow Poincianas light up Port Moresby

It's that time of the year again and all over Port Moresby, Yellow Poincianas are lighting the city and showering them with petals.It’s a beautiful sight, and at Gerehu where I live, even more so when I take my children to the playground.Yellow Poincianas come into bloom around November and last into the early New Year.

Information below from http://www.floridata.com/ref/P/pelt_pte.cfm.

Description

Yellow poinciana is a very showy flowering tree up to 50' tall, with wide-spreading branches that form an umbrella-like crown up to 25' across. The stems and twigs are rusty-red tomentose (fuzzy). The leaves are bipinnate (twice compound), about 2' long with 8-20 pairs of 3/4"-long oblong leaflets. The fragrant flowers are clustered on upright stalks (racemes, actually) about 18" long. Each flower is about an inch and a half across with translucent yellow, strangely-crinkled petals. The flowers have conspicuous orange stamens and each petal has a reddish brown mark in the center. They are followed by purplish brown, flattened, oblong seed pods, 3-4" long, which remain on the tree until the next flowering season.

Location

Yellow poinciana is native to coastal areas from Sri Lanka through the Malay archipelago and Indonesia to northern Australia. It has escaped from cultivation and established itself in disturbed areas in southern Florida and Hawaii.

Culture

Light: Does well in semi-shade, but can tolerate full sun if well-watered.

Moisture: Needs moist, but well-drained soil.

Hardiness: USDA Zones 10 - 11.

Propagation: Propagation of yellow poinciana is by seeds that must be treated before they will germinate. In nature, the seeds would have passed through the gut of a bird or mammal before germinating in a pile of rich "compost." We simulate that process with scarification (use a file or sandpaper), or a two-minute immersion in dilute acid or boiling water.

 Usage

Yellow poincianas are usually planted as specimen trees or as shade trees. They are used as street trees in tropical cities, and commonly planted for shade in tropical and subtropical gardens. They are fast-growing and vigorous, but they cannot tolerate frost.

Features

The name poinciana also is used for three other showy subtropical trees or shrubs in the bean family: Royal poinciana (Delonix regia), also called flame tree or flamboyant tree; dwarf poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), also called Barbados pride or peacock flower; and another dwarf poinciana (C. gilliesii), also called bird-of-paradise bush.

 

 

Business activity blossoms in 2008 despite tough conditions

Captions: 1. World class Process Plant at Lihir Gold Mine in New Ireland province. Picture courtesy of LGL. 2. Aerial view of Porgera Gold Mine. Picture courtese of Porgera Gold Mine. 3. Gas...the future of Papua New Guinea. Picture courtesy of Oil Search Limited.

Papua New Guinea poised for greater heights with gas, mining and petroleum

By JASON SOM KAUT

Nearly all sectors of the economy from building-construction, mining and petroleum, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, both formal and informal sectors have experienced increased activity.
This has had a flow-on effect that has trickled on to other sectors like wholesale, retail, the hotel industry, housing and land.
Business performance would have been more if it had not been for the world financial crisis in the latter half of the year that has resulted in many major economies now facing recession and world commodity prices fall with declining demand.
But yet PNG has managed to enter the FEED stage in the nation’s undertaking of its most ambitious and biggest investment project ever –the US$10 billion PNG Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project.
The LNG Project has placed PNG on the world map and has captured the attention of the world’s leading mining and petroleum companies and large financial and banking organisations.
There were comments made during the recent 10th PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney, Australia that amid the world crisis PNG is one of the few shining lights in the world.
Interest in PNG’s mining and petroleum sector was evident in the record 800-plus participants at the conference where
Minister for State Enterprises Arthur Somare said the PNG LNG Project had the potential to positively change the nation’s economy and improve the living standards of its six million people.
 At its peak the project will generate revenue between US$600-800 million annually. Many speakers during the Sydney conference including PNG LNG Venture Manager Peter Graham all echoed similar sentiments.
Recently Nippon Oil Exploration (NOEX) of Japan through its affiliate Merlin Petroleum Company acquired AGL’s gas assets in PNG for US$800 million.
Being one of the joint –venture partners this has cemented confidence in the progress of PNG LNG Project.
The acquisition sees Nippon improve its stake in the project from 1.7% to 5.3%.
The formal announcement of the acquisition by AGL earlier this month was described by Government ministers and Joint Venture partners as a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone. That confirmed the widely-held view of the high-level of certainty that the PNG LNG project will proceed.
President of NOEX Makoto Koseki expressed hope that the firm can further contribute to PNG’s economic development through the acquisition through its expertise and role in two other LNG Projects in South East Asia.
“The deal imposes viability and sends a strong message of confidence in the project,” he said.
This is all amid uncertainty with the world’s financial and commodity markets.
The issue of concern is transparency and accountability and having the right policies in place.
The Government needs to explain to the people how they will benefit.
One of the few remaining major hurdles of the project is the Benefit Sharing Agreement which is planned for March 2009.
This will see the Government, developers and landowners agree on the benefits to landowners.
 Landowners have expressed desire to have an increase in royalty considering that the project will impact about 100, 000 landowners.
Record world commodity prices and good economic performance last year, windfall revenues that were rightly placed in trust accounts and the fact that our financial sector is insulated from the direct effects of the global financial market turmoil saw PNG less affected by the crisis.
According to Bank of PNG Governor Wilson Kamit this is because banks are funded primarily by domestic deposits and along with financial institutions do not have large exposures to external investments.
But the effects are starting to be felt with the latest victim being Nautilus PNG announcing less than a week ago that it would delay its seafloor mining venture in PNG and cut staff by 30% until the global economy stabilises.
There are also unconfirmed rumors that a major logging firm has sent staff home on three-months of forced-leave due to a fall in demand for its log exports in the region.
There are many mines in construction phase including the multi-billion Ramu Nickel mine while the Hidden Valley mine in Morobe province is scheduled to be in operation next year.
With the arrival of competition both Air Niugini and B-Mobile have improved performance as customers enjoy cheaper rates.
Despite a good performance the year was overshadowed by the world financial crisis and the unnecessary and brutal killing of pioneer PNG businessman and philanthropist Sir George Constantinou.
The World Bank, The Asian Development Bank and the Institute of National Affairs all cited the need for better regulations.
They raised concern on political uncertainty despite the current stability, law and order, instability in laws and regulations, corruption and poor infrastructure and public services.
Recommendations have been made to promote public-private partnerships, simplifying the system of licenses, taxes and regulations, promoting competition and the financial markets and formalising private and public sector consultation mechanisms.