Vavine's Curse highlights Papua New Guinea's HIV/AIDS problem

A powerful new book by Port Moresby-based journalist David Lornie shines the spotlight on the terrifying HIV/AIDS situation and associated social problems in Papua New Guinea.

Vavine's Curse is the inspiring story of a young orphan girl from a small inland Rigo village outside Port Moresby who, through no fault of her own, finds herself with a HIV sentence.

Ostracised by her fellow villagers at a very young age, Vavine has to battle her way through prejudice, male chauvinism, superstition and violence.

Her journey in life takes her from the village to the bright lights of Port Moresby and through a world of drugs, corruption, crime, poverty and prostitution in the big city.

David Lornie, no stranger to PNG, takes us through the urban jungle and shows how the people dress, talk, eat and drink.

We are introduced to teenage girls with mini skirts in sleazy nightclubs, corrupt politicians, and sugar daddies who prey on high school girls.

Vavine's pimp "uncle" Dennis, a typical Port Moresby sugar daddy, brings her to the city to work in his nightclub/cum brothel.

The innocent Vavine is introduced to the shady and seedy world of prostitution, alcohol, drugs and all things evil.

Dennis and his partner in crime, Billy – on the recommendation of 'boss lady' Emily - get the naïve village girl to be a courier for their lucrative drug-running business on the streets.

The "stink thing" within her, however, gets too much and she seeks the wise counsel of Father Michael, who runs the Holy Cross Centre in Tokarara, one of the poorer suburbs of Port Moresby.

The centre is cramped beneath a government-sponsored clinic and offer blood tests, counseling, treatment and, above all, love and understanding.

Fr Michael recommends that Vavine starts the anti-retroviral drug treatment programme, which can keep the disease under control for a long time.

The story takes a twist towards the end as Vavine is busted by police – who have been keeping her under surveillance all this time - and her Mike Tyson-like driver Butler, fast becoming one of her best friends, is shot dead in the process.

Devastated, lost and alone in a tiny, dank room, she has just about resigned on everything when Emily – who all this time is an undercover cop – comes in and sets her free.

And in a final happy twist, Gaba, a young village boy who has had a crush on Vavine all this time, marries her and they live happily ever after in the village…despite her HIV status.

Lornie has created this story of courage and determination in the hope that it will increase awareness of the horrifying threat of HIV/AIDS.

"This disturbing events that surround Vavine in her struggle for survival are common in PNG," comments Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu.

"This is a novel that deserves to be widely read, particularly by high school students, as the awareness it brings will serve as a sober warning about HIV/AIDS and the human costs."

Fr Jude Ronayne-Forde, of the Simon of Cyrene Centre, notes: "I grieve for the children of PNG: for the ones infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

"They have a right to protection and care, and we adults are duty bound to give them a future."

David Lornie grew up in PNG in the 1970's, his parents teaching at Maprik High School, Goroka Teachers College and University of PNG.

He returned to PNG in 2001 to work for the Post-Courier where he is currently supplements editor.

He has a great love for PNG and is horrified by the HIV epidemic in this country which looks set to explode further and tear the country apart.

He wrote Vavine's Curse in the hope that it will help educate young people about the dangers of HIV and also to show that those with HIV are simply humans with a terrible disease who need love, not hatred.

Vavine's Curse – now on sale at Theodist and soon the UPNG Bookshop - is dedicated to the people of Papua New Guinea, with 10% of the author's royalties and 10% of the profits to be donated to Tessie Soi's Friends Foundation.

The Friend's Foundation provides support and care for people living with HIV/AIDS.

This support includes assisting parents in the prevention and reduction of the transmission of HIV to their babies; and Orphan Buddy system for children who have lost their parents, burials for unclaimed children from Port Moresby General Hospital and community-based home care.

Vavine's Curse

ISBN 13: 9780646488950

Publication Date: 2008

Binding: Softcover

Written by DAVID LORNIE

Dwyers Pacific Press

'Green Chip' Somare or is it 'Grand Chief' Somare?

Story and picture by JASON SOM KAUT

 

There was a buzz of activity in Enga with everyone busy.

Wabag Primary School students apparently, with teacher supervision, decorated the school for the ‘Grand Chief’s’ historical visit last Thursday.

They had different coloured balloons with welcome messages hanging everywhere.

‘Welcome to Enga NEC (National Executive Council), etc...

But one of these balloons read: “Welcome ‘Green Chip’ to Enga” when it should it should have read “Welcome ‘Grand Chief’ to Enga”.

Either very stupid or very clever with all the talk of Green Revolution and technological age of micro and computer chips...mmm.

 

 

 

Rainy day in Wabag

CHILDREN and the crowd braving a sudden downpour at Wabag Primary School in Enga province during the historical visit by Prime Minister

Sir Michael Somare last week Thursday. Picture by JASON KAUT.

 

 

 

Two more pictures of Busu High School in the 1980's

Champion Busu allround sportsman Bob Aaron wins an inter-house 100m race in 1981.

A high school soccer competition in 1982 with Busu, far left, followed by Bugandi and Lae International high schools.

A song for Jan Scharlach and Busu High School

The late Jan Scharlach (right) with huband Jim (left) and Busu head boy John Singas after graduation in 1983.

The author (seated) with fellow Busu High School graduates in 1983.

Left to right are Bosi Sayama,Ali Yapi, Edward Misob,John Cates, Malum Nalu and Ire Zuhuc (front) posing for a last shot at Busu High School in 1983.

Busu High School Class of '83

Last Sunday, while I was in The National office preparing my work programme for the week, I happened to check my GMail and received the sad news from my ex Busu High School teacher Jim Scharlach in Canada.
Jim sent me a couple of lines to let me know of the death of his wife Jan last weekend.
It was quite distressing for me, as the Scharlachs were good friends of me and so many other students who passed through Busu High School, Lae, in 1981, 1982 and 1983.
I was at lost for words, and the memories of the good old days of Busu, where I did Grades 7 to 10 from 1980 to 1983, came rushing to mind as I stared blankly at my computer screen.
There were great teachers in those days such as the Scharlachs, British headmaster and history buff Nigel Stanley, his fellow Briton maths/science teacher Roger Dallimore (who went to great lengths to teach us how to play chess), inimitable Filipino practical skills teacher Tony Socan (who taught us how to build houses and so many other things), and several other expatriates and nationals.
There was a sizeable expatriate community in Lae in those days, and around Busu, a sizeable missionary community at the Martin Luther Seminary and Lutheran Church headquarters at Ampo.
There were few if any potholes in Lae in those early days of independence, crime and settlement-related problems were unheard of, we neither smoked marijuana nor indulged in homebrew (apart from the occasional cigarette or bottle of beer out of teenage curiosity), didn’t engage in cult-related activities in school, or carried knives and homemade guns to fight against other schools.
There was respect for all, especially our teachers, something that is very much lacking these days, and I wondered how Lae and Papua New Guinea could deteriorate so fast in just one generation.
“I wanted to let you know that Jan passed away last night,” Jim wrote.
“She had been fighting cancer for many years.
“She is now in a better place.”
Jan, Jim and their three wonderful young children were in Lae in 1981, 1982 and 1983 and they played an important role in shaping so many students of Busu, many of whom now hold senior positions in both government and private sectors.
Jan was a great teacher who has had a great influence on my life, particularly in reading, writing and literature.
She imparted in me a love of poetry, the classics of literature, Shakespeare and writing and these have been with me all my life after leaving Busu in 1983.
Those who were at Busu in 1981, 1982 and 1983 will remember the great Jim Scharlach, our sports master extraordinaire and maths/science teacher who coached the school on to greater heights in basketball, volleyball, softball, athletics, rugby league and soccer against our rivals such as Bugandi, Bumayong, Lae High and Lae International.
Sports rivalry between Lae high schools in those days was intense, and under Jim’s coaching, Busu brought down traditional powerhouses such as Bugandi from their lofty pedestals.
National representatives such as champion high jumper Michael Elisha, basketballers Hilda Roy, Bob Aaron and Casey Stafford, and towering Kumul rugby league forward Kera Ngaffin – to name a few - were all protégés of Jim.
Jan was our English teacher and her literature lessons were unforgettable.
Last November, 25 years after leaving Grade 10 at Busu, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from one Jim Scharlach in Canada – whom I had not heard from all these years - apparently after he had read my blog so many times and was wondering if I was indeed the same ‘Malum Nalu of Busu’.
“Good day Sir,” he wrote.
“Was wondering if you were the Malum Nalu who attended Busu High School in the 80’s?
“I have enjoyed your articles.
“Thanks for your time.”
Since then, we have been corresponding, and I shared with Jim the tragic loss of my wife last Easter and he told me that Jan had been fighting cancer for the last six years.
“It has been a tough go, but she is surviving,” he wrote.
“The kids are doing well and as a group have given me five grandchildren.
“I am still teaching and enjoying it.
“I think back to our time at Busu and am so thankful to have been able to experience that.
“It was great to have been able to work with students who wanted to be there and worked so hard.
“I had always planned to return but conditions back here made it so difficult.”
Last Christmas, the Scharlach family sent me an email with their Christmas greetings, in which Jim poignantly told of a Christmas in Lae so many years ago at the Burns Philip store.
The Burns Philp store, which over the years became Best Buy, was burned to the ground just before Christmas last year.
Jim was quite saddened at the burning of the old Burns Philp store and the ongoing violence and law and order problems in Lae and throughout Papua New Guinea.
“I remember taking my kids to Burns Philp (Lae) to see Santa Claus,” he wrote.
“They were very apprehensive until Santa called each of them by name.
“Thanks to Santa, Simeon (a Busu Grade 10 student in 1981), my kids had an opportunity to meet their real Santa.
“I continue to enjoy reading your blog but am saddened by the violence that continues to be prevalent in your major cities.
“It is so sad that a few people – rascals and a few politicians – have given a beautiful country with the majority of people being great caring people such a negative image.
My cousin Peter Sayama, who went to school at the same time at Busu (under the name Bossi Sayama), was also saddened to hear of the death of Jan.
“The likes of you, Jan, and of course our principal at that time, Nigel Stanley, have no doubt shaped the lives of those of us who have come in contact with you all that taught us at Busu,” he said in an email to Jim.
“I can vividly remember Jan and her imposing figure in classroom: the way she reads a novel that can captivate our attention in class that we get so disappointed when the bell sounds for the end of English period and we have to wait for another time for her to continue.”

Massive gas find in Gulf

By SHEILA LASIBORI in The National

 

THE discovery of a large reservoir of top quality natural gas in the country has placed Papua New Guinea among the top producers of liquefied natural gas at world markets, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said yesterday.

He was speaking when officiating at the flow and flare ceremony for a massive gas find at Interoil’s Antelope One site in Gulf province.

InterOil Corporation needed to raise US$5 billion (K14 billion) to complete the infrastructure for the project, including the construction of a pipeline to its Napa Napa oil refinery on the outskirts of Port Moresby.

At yesterday’s test flow, Sir Michael opened the first valve, which flowed and flared gas equivalent to 105.5 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) (yesterday’s figure, as different testing schedules produce different measurements).

The second flare was measured to produce a “world record” 383mcfd and it could have been more as technicians allowed the gas to flow through a three-inch pipe instead of the full six-inch diametre to control the heat.

Antelope One can produce up to 545 mcfd of dry gas, which, when flowed, measures 382mcfd and this can produce up to 5,000 barrels of condensate per day (gas in its condensed state), or equal to a total of 68,600 barrels of oil per day.

The productivity of this well was way above the 350-550mcfd of gas production needed to start a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

The company said a third party-confirmed capacity of 17.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcf) of gas, places PNG as one of the best quality gas producers in the world with a 760m column of gas.

InterOil’s chief executive officer and chairman Phil Mulacek said this was a world record as no such discovery (to date) had happened prior to Antelope One.

“The well flowed enough that in a little bit of time, just one minute, it would have filled up a pipeline from Port Moresby to here, in one minute.

“We took an hour and 30 minutes to fly the same distance,” he said.

“We understand it to be a record for the world; we’re not cheating, we’re not horizontal; it’s a straight vertical column.

“It proves that the nation has one of the highest quality reservoirs on this planet,” Mr Mulacek said.

The discovered oil well is the largest onshore vertical hydrocarbon column in the entire Asia-Pacific region with more than 2,600ft (792m) of gas and condensate, which is a new resource discovery estimated by InterOil engineers at more than 10 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

Sir Michael said the “world record natural gas discovery” will place PNG as a co-leader with Australia in supplying LNG to Asian markets.

“InterOil has elevated the status of PNG in global energy markets and has positioned our country to become the dominant source of new LNG for the growing energy markets in Asia for decades to come,” Sir Michael said.

“We (Government) introduced a new upstream fiscal policy and InterOil is the only company that believed in PNG and is willing to commit significant capital to our future development.

“InterOil stepped up to the plate with a US$125 million (K349 million) drilling commitment, the largest exploration programme in our history.

“The next steps to realise that vision has become clearer and it is now our turn to commit to clearing the path towards first production with our loyal and dependable partner, InterOil,” Sir Michael said.

Meanwhile, Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma announced that InterOil’s petroleum licence, scheduled to expire on March 23, was extended for another five years based on advice by the petroleum advisory board.

Wayne Andrews, InterOil’s vice-president on capital markets and investor relations, said InterOil might start condensating next year and, in the next five years, might start producing for world markets from its Elk/Antelope One field for leading LNG markets like Japan, South Korea and Spain.

 

Seeking the region's best and the brightest: APEC calls for papers

Singapore, 2 March 2009 – An all expenses-paid trip to present their views at the annual APEC CEO Summit – a gathering of the Asia-Pacific’s top business people, which will be held in Singapore this November – may just motivate business students to knock out one more paper. 

Celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) invites senior level and postgraduate students from business schools in APEC member economies to write an original essay discussing: “What can APEC do for business?” 

The topic, intended to stimulate discussion surrounding APEC’s core mission and long-term goals of free and open trade and investment, has been kept broad, to allow for the greatest range of perspectives and ideas.

“We put a good deal of thought into the best way to celebrate our anniversary,” says Michael Tay, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.  “We decided that the most appropriate way to reflect our values as an innovative and inclusive body would be to stimulate discussion – and maybe even debate – surrounding APEC and business and how they can work together in the new economic landscape.”

Three winners will receive prizes totalling USD 5,000.  The top essayist will present his or her work at the CEO Summit taking place in Singapore in November 2009 and will have the chance to meet his/her economy’s Leader.  This experience includes the cost of flights to Singapore, hotel accommodation and a per diem allowance, in addition to a USD 500 cash prize.

The second prize winner will be awarded USD 1,000 and the third prize winner USD 500.

For complete submission details, please visit: www.apec.org/20years

 

For more information, contact:

 

Linda Carroll at lac@apec.org or at (65) 6890 9672

Carolyn Williams at cdw@apec.org or at (65)9617 7316

 

 

Carolyn D. Williams

Media Manager, APEC

35 Heng Mui Keng Terrace / Singapore 119616

D: (65) 6891 9671 / M: (65) 9617 7316 / F: (65) 6891 9600

 

Today in history

Yahoo! Is Incorporated (1995) In 1994, two Stanford PhD candidates began indexing interesting websites as a hobby. "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" launched as Yahoo! the following year, and it has since grown to become the largest information portal on the Web. Initially, Yahoo! called itself a "directory" because it employed indexing specialists to categorize websites, but the Web has since grown so large that the use of automated spiders has become a necessity. What is the name "Yahoo!" an acronym for? More...

 

Malcolm Turnbull linked to mass logging operation in Solomon Islands

By Linda Silmalis

February 28, 2009 10:00pm

(http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25119923-949,00.html)

 

 

JUST as Malcolm Turnbull tries to outsmart Labor on environmental issues, a file of documents has emerged linking the Leader of the Opposition to a mass logging operation in the Solomon Islands.

The tiny island of Vangunu is a speck on the world map; a dot in the Pacific and home to just over 2000 people. It forms part of the collection of thousands of land masses that make up the Solomon Islands.

Once covered in pristine rainforest, the island and the surrounding Marovo Lagoon were the subject of lobbying by the New Zealand government and environmentalists to have it World Heritage-listed in the late 1980s.

Almost two decades later, the island is again being talked about - only this time for different reasons.

The emergence of a carefully-documented file detailing mass logging operations and the ongoing impacts in the region has Vangunu back in the spotlight.

More specifically, the file - obtained by The Sunday Telegraph - records the involvement of Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull over that time.

Mr Turnbull was the chairman of a company called Axiom Holdings after he and fellow investors purchased a 16.21 per cent stake in the company in 1991.

The company was one of several companies with logging activities in the Solomons.

It was also one of the largest.

According to the documents, it was under Mr Turnbull's time as chair that the company boosted its activities and profits, with devastating consequences on the environment.

It is not the first time that the former environment minister has been scrutinised over the issue.

His critics began digging around his past business interests during the battle for the seat of Wentworth in 2004.

With environmental issues a key issue at the time, his opponents were keen to challenge Mr Turnbull's green credentials.

It emerged that he had been chairman of Axiom Forest Resources from late 1991 to to July 1992 -- a company that had earlier been the subject of a series of damning AusAID reports.

Published in the early 1990s, the reports likened Axion and its operations on Vangunu to "a clear-felling operation" that made little attempt to be sustainable.

Responding to the issue at the time, Mr Turnbull told ABC radio that he had had no hands-on role in the logging operations on the Islands.

Describing himself as a "corporate doctor", Mr Turnbull said that after he saw the consequences of poor forestry he had tried to encourage local owners to change their ways. Mr Turnbull said he was unaware the companies had been described as having some of the worst logging practices in the world.

He said he was aware of some companies having "difficulties" and that Axiom had acquired them to clean up the mess.

"The vision of the founders of Axiom, of which I was not one, was to acquire these logging companies and then restructure them and sort of reposition them so that they became sustainable operations," Mr Turnbull said. "My only involvement with the company was as a corporate doctor."

Three years later, when John Howard announced plans to help fight deforestation in South-East Asia and the South Pacific, the issue again arose as Labor circulated press clippings in Parliament House, again detailing the AusAID reports.

The clippings were an embarrassment for Mr Turnbull who had just described forests as "lungs of the world".

When questioned at the time, Mr Turnbull said he had visited the Solomons but never been to the site of the logging operations. The issue again disappeared.

However, just as Mr Turnbull struggles against internal critics and tries to shift the focus onto his policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, documents about his Solomon Islands dealings have surfaced.

So just what do they contain?

Plenty. Enough, to suggest Mr Turnbull may have been driven more by profits than saving forests.

Mr Turnbull was chairman of Axiom for almost seven months.

In July 1992, the South China Morning Post published an article that states Mr Turnbull sold out of Axiom for HK25c per share, or a representing a sale return of over $A4.3 million.

While it has never been confirmed just how much Mr Turnbull pocketed from the venture, it is speculated that the profits from the exercise may have been as high as $25 million.

Three months after the sale, the Australian-government funded AusAID study was released which catalogued the logging activity of Axiom and its subsidiaries: Integrated Forest Industries, Rural Industries, Silvania Products and Isabel Timber Co. The report found that the companies had massively increased logging activities in the region while Mr Turnbull was chairman.

Specifically, Axiom increased its production from 25,500cum to 40,900cum between 1991 and 92.

Production was able to be increased because of a new Silvania operation that had begun on the island of Vangunu, it said. The operation had contributed an additional 70,000cum to its quota.

"The degree of canopy removal and soil disturbance was the most extensive seen by the authors in any logging operation in tropical rainforest in any country," the report said.

Asked about the details of the report, Mr Turnbull's office referred The Sunday Telegraph to an e-mailed transcript of his earlier interview with the ABC.

Labor has long believed Mr Turnbull has failed to explain his role as a corporate doctor and, specifically, what he did to improve logging practices given production effectively doubled under his watch.

As a Labor source said: "Malcolm's biggest problem is everyone's let him off the hook because it has been written about before." However, he has never confessed that things actually worsened under his watch.

As the file states: "Malcolm Turnbull has repeatedly said that he's an environmentalist, particularly during his hard fought election win in 2007 in his leafy and well-educated seat of Wentworth.

"He's also sought in recent days to position himself as an active campaigner against climate change. But Malcolm Turnbull's past as a logger in the Solomon Islands calls into question how strongly he really holds these views."

More embarrassingly for Mr Turnbull, the file also contains scientific articles published in international journals detailing the impact logging has had on the local Solomon Islands community.

A 2002 report by marine biologists published in The Status of Solomon Islands Coral Reefs said the unique reef and Marovo lagoon system was still suffering from the effects of logging.

"Villagers report huge sediment plumes following heavy rain," it said. "Once the rain has stopped, the water may clear within 24 hours to a week. In the rainy season that means the plumes are a semi-permanent feature."

A 2005 Melanesian Geo article by local resident Douglas Pikacha said the lagoon may never recover from the damage.

A further paper published last year said large algal blooms from sediments in the catchments were wreaking havoc on the delicate reef system.

Mr Turnbull may believe he has already dealt with the issue in the past but, so long as the devastating impacts of the logging activities on the islands keep emerging, Labor will be ensuring it won't go away.

At the very least, the file is an embarrassment for a leader trying desperately to out-green Kevin Rudd on environmental policy. Coming smack bang in the middle of the debate over an emissions trading scheme, it is an unwanted distraction.

At worst, it suggests profit has been placed over the environment and with devastating consequences.

In the same way Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil frontman wishes he had probably never penned US Forces, Mr Turnbull might well be wishing he had stuck to banking.

 

Digicel to launch 'solar' handsets in June

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

THE Digicel Group will launch in Papua New Guinea and Samoa the world’s first-ever low-cost solar-powered cell phone in June to cater for people not connected to the power grid.

In an announcement at the recent mobile world congress in Barcelona, Spain, the Caribbean-based Digicel said it had partnered with China’s ZTE to make the technology available to 90% of PNG’s population and to those in Samoa.

Digicel-PNG confirmed the solar handset’s launch, saying it would cover “selected markets” without commenting on the June launch in the country.

ZTE, one of China’s biggest telecoms equipment providers, manufactures the solar-powered handset Coral-200-Solar (pictured above) which would be available below US$40 (K120).

ZTE and Digicel believed sales in the first year would reach “several hundred thousand”.

“We estimate in the world there are more than two billion people who have limited or no access to electricity,’’ Wang Yong Zhong, general manager of ZTE cell phone handsets, told reporters at the Barcelona expo.

An Asian Development Bank paper on PNG’s power situation said 90% of population, or 5.4 million, had no access to electricity.

To tap this huge market, Digicel will be erecting cell sites in areas across the country not covered by PNG Power service to connect the solar-powered handsets to the telco’s nationwide network.

Coral-200-Solar uses technology developed by Dutch company Intivation to boost the current from a single mini solar panel located on the back of the phone.

A charge of one hour in full sunlight would offer 15 minutes of talk time, Digicel and ZTE said, adding that the phone could be charged normally with an electricity supply.

“Once the handset’s battery power weakens, the solar power charging starts, “Digicel said.

The handset comes in colour display without fancy functions.

“In our lives (in the rich world), an interruption of power is a nuisance ... but it is infrequent,” Digicel-Jamaica executive Tom Bryant told reporters.

“But where we conduct business, the absence of power is a daily activity,” he said, referring to PNG, Samoa and poor countries in South America where Digicel is the dominant cell phone communications provider.

Intivation, the Dutch company supplying the technology linking the solar panel to the battery in the ZTE model, claimed the Chinese-made device was “twice as effective” as anything else on the market.

 

Prime Minister to 'flow, flare' gas at Antelope 1

InterOil’s gas find believed biggest natural gas deposit

 

By SHEILA LASIBORI

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare will today “flow and flare” the well at InterOil’s Antelope One gas discovery site in Gulf province, according to The National newspaper.

According to InterOil Corp, the discovery was considered – on the basis of independent expert analysis – “to be the biggest natural gas find of the century anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere or the Asia-Pacific (at least for the last 20 years)”.

The site is located in the vicinity of the Purari River.

Sir Michael will be accompanied by his deputy Dr Puka Temu, who is Minister for Land and Mining, including delegates.

The Antelope One well has hydrocarbons in the Antelope reef. The top of the reservoir had intersected at 1,796m with gas encountered at the same depth.

The company had advised last month that drilling was continuing at 1,964m with an unbalanced mud system with gas production averaging two to three million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) whilst drilling with full returns and about 3,400psi of back pressure on the formation with rates up to 15MMcfd had been achieved while circulating out gas kicks.

It said mud loggers report showed a fine-grained limestone facies inter-bedded with and grading to a coarser grain more porous dolomitise facies.

The dolomitise facies displays good to very good visible matrix and porosity.

The porosity was a mixture of primary and well-developed secondary porosity with evidence of chalkification and dolomitisation.

The lower interval associated with a significant gas kick has an increase in dolomite which averaged almost 80%.

A media team led by InterOil’s senior manager for media relations Susuve Laumaea will join the party at the site.

The programme will see villagers at the Wabo base camp host a traditional welcome ceremony for Sir Michael and the delegation.

 

Passing of Jan Scharlach in Canada

The late Jan Scharlach (right) with huband Jim (left) and Busu High School head boy John Singas after graduation in 1983. Picture by MALUM NALU.

I have just received some sad news from my ex Busu High School teacher Jim Scharlach, in Canada, of the passing of his late wife Jan last Friday night.

“I wanted to let you know that Jan passed away last night,” Jim wrote.

“She had been fighting cancer for many years.

“She is now in a better place.”

Jim, Jan and their children were in Lae in 1981, 1983 and 1983 and they played in important role in shaping me and many other students of Busu.

Jan was a great teacher who has had a great influence on my life, particularly in reading, writing and literature.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Sharlachs at this sad moment in their lives.

I will let other ex Busu High School schoolmates know.

Malum

Sorcery-related killings in Papua New Guinea akin to Salem witch hunt

The numerous sorcery-related killings in Papua New Guinea where innocent men, women and children are killed can only be compared to the Salem witch trials.

Viewed by many to be the result of a period of factional infighting and religious hysteria, the witch trials of Puritanical Salem Village, Massachusetts, led to the executions of 20 people—15 women and five men—and the imprisonment of approximately 150 accused witches.

Even after the trials ended, people who had previously been found not guilty of witchcraft remained in prison, held until they paid their jail fees.

What is "spectral evidence," and how did it play a role in the witch trials? More...

Bulolo MP to sort out issues with MMJV

An aerial view of the Hidden Valley Mine Project area stretching down to Hamata. Picture by SIMON ANAKAPU of MOROBE MINING JOINT VENTURES.

Bulolo, Morobe province, with the Bulolo River snaking through the town. Picture courtesy of PNG Forest Products.

The Bulolo River...MP Sam Basil has warned of class action if the river is polluted. Picture courtesy of PNG Forest Products.

Bulolo MP Sam Basil will meet with officials from Morobe Mining Joint Venture today tomorrow to sort out several issues relating to the Hidden Valley gold mine in Wau, as it prepares to start pouring gold this year.
These include company accommodation being built in Lae, sedimentation of the Bulolo River, and the structure of royalty payments.
Mr Basil said from Canberra today that he would meet with officials from both Harmony Gold of South Africa and Newcrest Mining of Australia, who are joint venture partners in Hidden Valley and Wafi.
“An earlier meeting was held in Melbourne with the executives of Newcrest, however, many issues relating to the developments in Bulolo were not raised as the meeting was to meet the other half owners of the MMJV,” he said.
Among the issues to be discussed to today’s meeting will be the building of MMJV staff accommodation at 10-Mile outside Lae, and not at either Wau or Bulolo, as demanded by the local people.
“Bulolo has had earlier experiences of mining activities taking place there, and after the resources were reaped off, the mining companies disappeared, leaving behind a big holes with no sustainable activities or infrastructure both towns,” Mr Basil said.
“The 1980’s saw the worst of the two towns, which were both branded as ‘cowboy towns’.
“A public forum will be held back in Wau with appropriate community representatives involve, including the newly-formed Bulolo District Development Foundation, which consists of all professionals from Bulolo in PNG and overseas, business house representatives and the ordinary residents and people of Wau/Bulolo.”
Mr Basil also expressed his disappointment at landowner executives for not doing enough to pressure the company to focus its attentions in terms of infrastructural developments back into Wau and Bulolo.
“The company must understand that dealing with a particular landowner group only does not provide a one-stop shop to the company,” he said.
“They must understand that the entire people of Bulolo are closely watching and they will understand when there may not be enough jobs or business activities for everyone.
“But seeing the company building its infrastructure in Wau and Bulolo will bring relief into their hearts, because they are still haunted by the bad experience of the past, which makes the issue very sensitive.”
Mr Basil said unlike MMJV, the national government had made available K7 million for 21 houses for Wau police, while Morobe provincial government contributed K500,000 for police houses in Zenag, K1m for a grader and rubbish collections trucks, as well as K8.5m worth of developments.
“Those developments, if and when are constructed in Bulolo will add pressure to improvement of the town’s utility services such as water upgrade, communication upgrade, electrification upgrade and so on,” he said,
The other issue will be the sedimentation of the Bulolo River caused by the mining upstream, which has greatly affected the local alluvial miners, and there is a possibility of Mr Basil engaging an independent group to assess the environmental damage.
He said there was the possibility of extending the affected areas into Middle and Lower Watut.
“If negotiations are not addressed properly after the presentation of the reports, then a class action will be the next possible action,” Mr Basil warned.
“Community programmes and projects will also be discussed as the company is running its own programmes in duplication or against the district’s and the national government’s rural developmental focus.
“The structure of the royalty payments will also be discussed as the mining company will start pouring gold this year and the impact to the local communities can be affected if the current structure is not updated or thoroughly looked at.”
A report from the meeting will be made available for the media and the Bulolo people by Wednesday.

No ticket for a corpse

Below is a feature story about Papua New Guineans going  all the way across the Torrest Strait to Mabaduwan and Saibai on the Australian side to seek health services because the Papua New Guinea government doesn’t give a damn about them! You feel so much for these people who cross the sea border at the risk of their lives because the PNG government has forgotten about them.I feel an affinity for these people as my late wife was from Irupi, just about 20 minutes by dinghy from Saibai, and her people go all the way across the Torrest Strait to Mabaduwan and Saibai to seek health services because the PNG government doesn’t give a damn about them!So much for 33 years of ‘independence’ from Australia!

 

By John S Whitehall in the The Medical Journal of Australia 2008

 

Saibai Island is the closest part of Australia to another country. Lying in the Torres Strait, off the tip of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, the mangrove-rimmed mudflat is only 4 km from Papua New Guinea (PNG) — a mere 20 minutes in an outboard dinghy, but a journey from poverty to plenty in terms of health care for residents of the palm-thatched village of Mabaduwan, PNG, north of Saibai. Mothers bring their sick children to the primary health care centre in Saibai, and who can blame them? Once a dinghy beaches, a Rolls-Royce service is triggered.

One mother recently brought her one-month-old daughter to Saibai because she was sleepy and not feeding well. The carer in Saibai noted a full fontanelle and telephoned the administrative centre in Thursday Island, about 120 km away, at the tip of the Cape. A helicopter was sent to retrieve the mother and infant to Thursday Island, where hydrocephalus was suspected and advice was sought from the regional centre for neonatal care in north Queensland, in Townsville, about 1500 km south.

 The centre dispatched a retrieval team of doctor, nurse, incubator, ventilator and backpack of medicines to Thursday Island in a twin-engine King Air of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Thursday Island, however, is too small for a landing strip, so fixed-wing planes must land on nearby Horn Island, where passengers catch a bus to a jetty and then a barge across a fast-flowing strip of water to Thursday Island. Medical evacuations are facilitated by a small helicopter, which is based on Horn Island and hops back and forth.

The retrieval team left Townsville as night fell, were helicoptered back and forth from Horn Island in the middle of the night and returned to Townsville just before dawn. They had confirmed the large fontanelle, floppiness, an unreactive left pupil, and a sluggish right pupil, and initiated ventilation for respiratory failure.

In Townsville, ultrasonography revealed a massive lesion in the left cerebral hemisphere, which was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging to be a tumour.

Meanwhile, the mother, who spoke very little English and whose life to that day had been spent in rural simplicity, was plunged into the luxuries of our modern Parents’ Unit next to our busy intensive care ward: lamp-lit hut with split bamboo floor was exchanged for electric lights and carpet; wood cooking fire for microwave; sleeping mat for huge, sprung, blanketed mattress; tropical heat for refrigerated “comfort”; nocturnal silence for the cut, thrust and whistles of intensive care battle; and family and friends for armies of strangers contending at all hours. Worse, the trees near the beach had been replaced by a strange contraption, more like a well, and there was no sea water with which to clean herself.

We wondered why she had chosen to sleep with the lights on until we realised she did not know how to turn them off. Why did she sleep on top of the bed, or was she sleeping on the carpet?

We soon learned that she had no idea how to use the microwave and stove and, in any case, had no coins to turn them on so we, of course, provided food. Why did she devour the fruit and leave everything else? We learned she was ravenous for sweet potato and cassava and perhaps a piece of fish.

We thought she might like to go outside, but she was terrified to leave the ward. The acres of parked cars and the traffic on roads running in all directions contrasted with the carless, unpaved pathways between huts in Mabaduwan.

Not surprisingly, her mental health began to disintegrate, and she became so fearful she would not even go to the toilet unless accompanied by a nurse.

We needed to talk to her — to explain things and get permission for the surgery —but were confounded by her dialect. Late on the Friday afternoon of her admission, we rang our translating service, the health clinic at Mabaduwan, the Saibai clinic, people who allegedly knew her husband on Saibai, her embassy, and various consulates to no avail, but as luck would have it, someone discovered a distant “cousin” who had a boy in our paediatric ward who had worked his way to Townsville from Mabaduwan in a similar manner. The cousin spoke English.

Conversation about the apparent diagnosis, the remote chance for surgery, the risks of anaesthesia, and so on, was tricky and took quite a while, supplemented as it was with such basic information as how to use the bathroom, and reassurances that we were bringing a change of clothing. In the end, we convinced ourselves that the mother understood matters and agreed to surgery.

Surgery revealed a fleshy mass infiltrating the brain, with necrosis and haemorrhage. Frozen section showed malignant glioblastoma. As much tumour as possible was removed, the wound closed and the baby returned to the ward, still ventilated.

After the surgery was completed, conversation became even trickier as we tried to discuss the contending kindnesses of continuation or withdrawal of high-tech support. There was no doubt about mother’s continued retreat into herself.

Ultimately, it was widely agreed to withdraw high-tech support and “let nature take its course” and, while the cousin was rallying a few friends to support the mother, we began to explore the ways of transporting mother and the baby’s corpse back to her village. She was adamant that she did not want to be separated from her daughter’s body, and we were keen to preserve what remained of her stability. It was clear that mother and daughter should travel together — one should not go with the luggage.

Problems accumulated with each phone call. No commercial airline would even think of transporting a mother with a corpse in her arms. Discreetly wrapped? No way! How about in a small crib? Not on your life, mate. I tell you, we can’t sell a ticket to a corpse.

Well then, how about doing us a favour and transporting the corpse free of charge in the luggage if we really have to do it that way? No chance — it is all tied up with regulations and corpses can only travel with the assistance of a qualified undertaker and in a proper casket.

A funeral director was asked how much it would cost to transfer one small corpse to Saibai. At least $3000, was the reply which, we figured, was probably about 3000 times the mother’s accumulated wealth.

Was there any chance the RFDS would take mother and corpse on a back load to Thursday Island? Its King Air is the only plane based in Townsville, and constant demands from the living relegate those of the dead to the bottom of the list. Moreover, there were certain rules about transporting corpses.

What if we kept the baby alive, to be extubated on Thursday Island? Would the commercial airlines consider carrying a baby being discretely hand-ventilated by a nurse? It was not as if we were asking for room for our whole transport team and equipment. After all, that equipment is all we have and it, too, needed to be on call in Townsville for the needs of the living.

At least the airlines considered this question, but later phoned to express regrets that other passengers in the small regional plane might be challenged by the phenomenon.

Sensing it might be easier to transport the living than the dead, we postponed the extubation, which took a bit of explaining. Mother seemed to follow the logic, and phone calls to Saibai and Mabaduwan began to prepare for the possibility but, as night fell on the second day of fruitless organisation, there was no apparent answer to the problem. We hoped something would “turn up” in the morning. It did.

The RFDS plane had been dispatched to pick up two adult patients in Cairns and bring them back to Townsville. Cairns is about halfway between Townsville and Thursday Island, and there was time to put in a “mercy” diversion to Thursday Island. The old problem of transporting corpses remained and it was very good the baby was still alive.

We still did not want to be separated from our transport incubator for the journey, which was likely to take about 10 hours, and sent one of our experienced nurses to ventilate the baby by hand. It was not clear how we would get the baby from Thursday Island to Saibai but wondered if she could go with one of the regular field trips to those islands. On the other hand, perhaps the baby could be extubated on Thursday Island and mother and corpse could return to Saibai in some kind of unofficial way, for which the Torres Strait is renowned.

 As our time was limited, medical staff on Thursday Island agreed to meet our team on Horn Island from where the baby would be helicoptered to the hospital for extubation. This would be very helpful, but would involve four hops of the helicopter: to pick up a doctor or nurse from Thursday to meet the patient on Horn, to take her to the hospital and then return to base.

Off flew our little group — up the coast over the Great Barrier Reef, then over the flat scrub of the Cape with its single four-wheel-drive track, determinedly heading for the tip where it would join the shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria, which had been receding from the west. Almost three hours after take-off, mother, baby and ventilating nurse alighted on red-soiled, sparsely treed Horn Island in the azure flows of the Torres Strait, to breathe the heavy, hot, watery air of the tropics. Mother was instantly at home. Nurse began instantly to perspire. Oddly, mother sighed “trees”. Did you not see any in Townsville, the nurse asked? Not one, said the mother, though the hospital is surrounded by them.

Meanwhile, concerns had risen in the staff at Thursday Island when it was learned the child was returning for extubation at that hospital while her father and other family members were gathering on Saibai to see her before she died and to be with her when she did. It seemed heartless to pass a corpse on to the family and budget constraints joined the meltdown. A helicopter would be employed to return the baby and her mother from Horn to Saibai, and a nurse and experienced paramedic would go with her to continue hand ventilation.

That helicopter was waiting on the airfield when our team arrived and in the hot haze of Horn, the child was passed from nurse to nurse and continued the journey home. Our team returned to Cairns.

At about 4 pm, father was reunited with daughter but, taking her up, would not pass her on to anyone. He appeared to have been consumed by an isolating grief that excluded and even blamed his wife. Everyone was alarmed and no one really knew what to do, but time was passing and the helicopter needed to return before dark.

With the sun low, the family gathered around the child and the tube was removed in expectant hush . . . but death did not follow. Stillness was punctuated by weak gasps that strengthened, quickened, and went on and on, all night, and into the morning when the family wondered if it would be all right to head off for Mabaduwan so the girl could see her grandparents.

Something did expire that night — the bitterness of the father. In a transformation judged by the night nurse to be the most moving she had ever witnessed, father, mother and family were reunited. It was “the proudest moment” of the nurse’s career.

At about 10am, the dinghies were fired up and the family returned home, but I knew nothing of these latter events when, two days later, I took a call from the primary health care worker in the village in PNG. In broken English he explained the baby was now crying loudly, waving its arms and demanding food, and wondered if I had further advice? My English broke in reply.

In retrospect, this medical venture had involved multiple sea trips, six helicopter flights, two ambulances, two long-haul plane retrievals with special staff on overtime, several days of life-supporting intensive care, neurosurgery, anaesthesia, medicines, laboratory investigations, social-work support, interminable phone calls, accommodation, meals, and changes of clothing . . . all for free. In return, a small girl lived for six months.

 

Author details:  John S Whitehall, FRACP, MRCP (UK), DCH, Director

Department of Neonatology, Townsville Hospital, Townsville, QLD.

Correspondence: John_Whitehall@health.qld.gov.au