Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea goes online

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea now has the opportunity to evangelise through the Internet.

This follows the launch of the church’s website - http://www.elcpng.org.pg/ - last week which, among other things, will keep its members informed of activities within the ELCPNG.

The website contains details of the church’s history, events, education, health and other church-related activities and development programmes.

It was launched by acting Head Bishop Rev Zau Rapa last week.

“The website will introduce you to who we are, what we believe as a Christian denomination in PNG, and our ministries that puts out faith in action,” according to the home page.

“The ELC-PNG has a membership of over 1.2 million all throughout Papua New Guinea.

“This is approximately 20% of the total five million population of the country.

“The ELC-PNG anniversary day is celebrated on the 12th of July every year.

“This is the date when the pioneer missionary Rev Johannes Flierl first started his mission as a Lutheran pastor to reach to the people of Papua New Guinea in 1886

“Last year 2008, the Lutherans in PNG celebrated its 122 years of establishment.

“The official logo of the ELC-PNG shown above bears the hand of white man handing over the cross to a black man, the background image is the map of Papua New Guinea, and they are inside Luther's Rose.

“With Jesus Christ as the supreme head of ELC-PNG, we have three officials that look after and administer His work here: the Head Bishop, Assistant Bishop and General Secretary.

“ELC-PNG has 17 districts and seven departments.

“Districts are the regional settings of the Church throughout PNG whilst the department ministers the works that ELC-PNG serves God by providing to the people.”

 

A spectacular new palm species from the Sandaun povince, Papua New Guinea

Caption: The author Roy Banka with the new palm species discovered - longispadix Banka & Barfod sp.nov. – from Sandaun province

 

By ROY BANKA

 

NEW Guinea is one of the world’s greatest palm diversity hotspots with around 270 species, and the island is home to some of the most beautiful palms that thrive in the pristine and untouched rainforests.

Many of these palm species have great economic importance to rural communities in Papua New Guinea such as the coconut, betel nuts and other species which have great ornamental potential both within the country and internationally.

Although many New Guinea palm species are known scientifically, most species remain poorly known, as there is a lack of indigenous plant taxonomists and botanists who are working on documenting this great palm diversity that the island has.

The Palms of New Guinea Project (PONG) involves scientists from six different countries (United Kingdom, United States of America, Denmark, Australia, Indonesia and PNG), who have come together to explore and document this diverse palm flora of New Guinea, resulting in a number of new species being discovered and described in the past five to six years - one of such a discovery is presented here.

In 1999, the late Joseph Wiakabu from PNG Forest Research Institute (PNGFRI) and John Worimbangu from the Momase Area Office of the National Forest Service in Lae, Morobe province,  collected for the first time, an aberrant species of a Licuala around Green River in the Amanab area of the Sandaun province.

The specimen was presented to us at the Lae Herbarium and the collectors mentioned to us that it had a very long inflorescence that reached the forest floor.

From the height of the palm indicated on the label we deduced that the inflorescence was at least 4m long – the longest ever recorded of the genus!!!

 We checked with the measurements for the inflorescence length with experts in this group and discovered that this inflorescence length is much longer than the Licuala’s from Borneo, which is another centre of palm species diversity in the world – so we were so excited to go out and see for ourselves.

During one of our field campaigns organised within the framework of the PONG project we recollected the species along the banks of the Pual River near Vanimo again in the Sandaun province.

We described the species for the first time and named it Licuala longispadix Banka & Barfod sp.nov., which simply means the species Licuala with a very long inflorescence (spadix) and is named by Banka and Barfod and is in fact a new species (sp.nov. in Latin for “species nova” or “new species”).

The species is known from only two known localities in the Sandaun province where it is rare locally in lowland forest on alluvial plains dominated by species Intsia and Pometia.

This species of palm has a conservation status rating of “High Concern” as it has been recorded from only two localities in the Sandaun province, and from the type locality along the Pual River a careful search within a 100 m radius revealed only one individualand no regeneration, so the species has to be protected especially during any kind of forest clearance so that whatever population of the species in the area can be protected.

 

GPS used in teak breeding in Papua New Guinea

Captions: 1. Kuriva seed trees 2. PIP Project 2008 3. PIP Project 2008
TECTONA grandis or teak is one of the world’s premium timbers and fetches a very high price selling compared to other premium tree species such as kwila and taun.
The National Forest Service (NFS) has plans to establish additional major lowland teak plantations in the not-too-distant future.
Teak is not indigenous to Papua New Guinea but was introduced as early as the late 1800’s from South East Asia.
Teak from India is now known to be the best in the world, but to obtain seeds at present is difficult.
One of the scientific officers at PNG Forest Research Institute Gedisa Jeffery said during a site visit that  the NFS faced a serious threat domestically of vandalism, fire and illegal felling of candidate seed tree that could result in the gradual reduction of the genetic base of teak in PNG.
Mr Jeffery said that previous methods of marking candidate teak trees included the ring marking of trees with paints, steel tags and star pickets.
However, all these methods have failed over time,  due to natural or manmade conditions.
With the advancement in technology such as the  global positioning system (GPS),  it makes the job easier for scientist or technical officers to accurately pinpoint the exact location of selected teak trees in plantations, wood lots and trial sites making it easier to locate specific or marked trees.
A trial run on the GPS was put to test in the various teak sites in the Central province, East New Britain and Morobe to see if it wouldwork.
The testing opportunity to use GPS was under the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) project titled ‘Adding Value to Community Grassland’.
 “With help from the Forest Management Division and the Mapping Branch at the NFS headquarters, a team comprising of M Howcroft, Francis Vilamur, Constin Bigol and Ripa Karo went about to test the idea of using GPS on locating trees in specific sites,” Mr Jeffery said.
“The test was to prove if a candidate tree can be located once the exact location was recorded into GPS data”.
He added that once the GPS position for a selected candidate teak was recorded they could return to that particular tree in future to re-measure and collect seeds or vegetative plant parts to access the status of the tree.
With the GPS used in tree location,  it will be helpful for technical and scientific officers to locate the exact tree location to collect coppicing materials if the trees were felled or burnt down for record and data purposes.

How Papua New Guinea can learn from the Taiwan experience

Captions: The author on the observation deck on the 89^th Floor of the Taipei 101 in July 2007 2. Taipei 101 – the tallest building in the world.

 

A half-century ago, Taiwan was basically on the same boat that Papua New Guinea is on right now.

It was a resource-poor, under-developed tropical island.

Through sustained good policies over the past few decades, it has lifted its population from poverty, joining the ranks of the most-prosperous and competitive economies in the world.

Unlike Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong, it was able to weather quite unharmed the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

While advanced Asian countries have emphasised large corporate units, the Taiwanese economy is dominated by 97 per cent small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

While this might seem a disadvantage, the industry is structured in such a way that clusters of SMEs can service larger enterprises.

The entrepreneurial spirit generated by Taiwan’s difficult economic situation and lack or resources in earlier decades emphasised flexibility and cost-consciousness.

Taiwanese companies are accustomed to turbulent times and constant change, and expect to have to change products every six months.

This structure provides great flexibility and rapid response times, while allowing for a more human scale and stronger personal relationships within the companies.

Today, Taiwan is a technological powerhouse that ranks among the world’s top producers of notebook personal computers, flat panel displays, modems, motherboards and other electronic components and products.

In 2004 it ranked fourth globally in the production value of its IT hardware.

It was also fifth in the World Economic Forum’s 2005-2006 Global Competitiveness rankings, with a strong showing in the area of technology and innovation, ranking 3^rd in the world in the technology index.

The 2005-2006 Global Competitiveness Report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional strength in technology issues, including an impressive capacity for innovation, firm-level technology absorption, university/industry collaboration in research, and its pre-eminent position in the use of the latest technologies, from mobile phones to personal computers and the Internet.

Taiwan is indeed a model for countries, such as our Papua New Guinea, who are striving to improve their performance and competitiveness in information and communication technologies.

Taiwan’s transition from a poor agricultural society into an increasingly-sophisticated powerhouse of high-technology manufacturing and the world’s leading producer of information and communication technology products is, without doubt, one of the most-compelling development stories of the past half century.

However, as with all other countries that wish to maintain a competitive edge, the authorities will have to remain vigilant.

There is scope for further improvements in enhancing the quality of public institutions by increasing levels of transparency and openness.

Taiwan should in coming years aim to reach the standards of the Nordic countries in this area.

It has already matched their technological prowess.

Now it must reach their levels of efficiency in public sector management.

In his case study on Taiwan in the 2004-2005 Global Information Technology Report (Lin, 2005), FC Lin traces the evolution of Taiwan’s ICT industry through the first economic miracle of Taiwan’s transformation from an agricultural to an industrial economy (1953-1986), and describes the second miracle of its industrial restructuring (1987-2000), when low technology industries were forced to relocate overseas and were replaced by technology-intensive industries, particularly in the Information Technology sector.

In half a century, per capita GNP rose from US$196 to US$14,032.

Lin attributes these successes to the following factors:

• Strong government leadership in maintaining a high growth rate and a strong fiscal situation;
• Manpower development with a high level of science and technology graduates;
• The coalescing of high-tech clusters following the model of Silicon Valley;
• The development of venture capital supporting high-tech small and medium enterprises; and
• A highly-energetic private sector.

 

He identifies the future challenges as breaking into the advanced industrial and research areas of application integration, technical innovation, and standards formulation as global competition reduces profit margins.

Today, everyone recognises the economic challenge that mainland China represents for Taiwan.

With the rapid growth of the economy in mainland China, there are increasing business ties between the mainland and Taiwan, despite as yet unresolved issues on the political front.

Trade between the two is growing rapidly, and a large number of Taiwanese, perhaps up to a million, are now working in mainland China.

There is a high level of investment as well, now estimated at US$100 billion, as the mainland is the logical place for Taiwanese businesses to delocalise production that is no longer competitive in Taiwan, taking advantage of low land prices and cheap labour.

These strengthening trade, economic and business links will undoubtedly serve to create the conditions for a peaceful co-operative resolution of outstanding bilateral political issues.

 

We must keep our parks clean

I took my children for a stroll to the park at Gerehu Stage 2 in Port Moresby yesterday and was quite impressed at work on the new basketball court progressing well (pictured).
My kids went to play (pictured), while I sat on the grass, watching them play and taking pictures.
The concept of parks is a great one, long overdue in the national capital, by National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop.
However, what caught my attention was the amount of litter, mainly plastics, in the park.
Littering reflects the no-caring attitude of Papua New Guineans and this attitude has to stop.
We must be happy that we now have parks and recreational facilities for our children and do our bit by looking after them and keeping them clean.

Cry, the beloved country Papua New Guinea

Looking back all those years since 1975, I am now firmly of the view that independence came too early, much too early when Papua New Guinea wasn’t prepared.

We neglected our education and health systems and are now paying a high price for it with the numerous social problems in Papua New Guinea.

Pre-independence, and the early days of independence, there was still a strong colonial impact; strong missionary influence.

The came independence!

We did not have the capability to properly educate all our children, many of whom dropped out of school, and being unemployed, turn to a vicious never-ending circle of crime which continues to this day.

These people, being poorly educated, couldn’t properly educate their children and the problem passed on to the next generation.

We also did not have the capability to manage and improve our health services, which have degenerated over the years.

We are now paying a high price for the many years of neglect by the government and the prime minister – Sir Michael Somare – must now admit to the people of Papua New Guinea that he has just about destroyed us by fighting for early independence from Australia.

A nation’s prosperity is measured by the levels of education, health and general living conditions of its population at large.

All you have at present is a resilient majority as spectators of a politically-powerful and economically influential elitist minority who live in high price apartments and glass houses in exclusive Port Moresby and offshore locations.

The present education and health data in brief are:

 

Education

 

•           55% of people are illiterate;

•           50% of school aged children are not in school;

•           High drop out/low retention rate;

•           Lagging behind in teachers training.

 

 

Health

 

People are still dying from easily preventable and treatable diseases.

•           7,300 babies under 1 year die each day (20 per day);

•           10,200 babies under five years die (28 per day);

•           220,000 babies less than five years have no proper nutrition;

•           3,700 mothers die every day (10 mothers dying per day);

•           Half of all children in Papua New Guinea are not immunised;

•           60% of mothers not properly supervised when giving birth;

•           70% of people have no access to safe drinking water;

•           HIV/AIDS spread rapidly through Papua New Guinea over the last 10 years;

•           Over 14,000 confirmed HIV/AIDS cases;

•           Estimates of HIV/AIDS cases putting infection rate at 1-2% of population

Gender-based violence high in Papua New Guinea

PAPUA New Guinea has one of the highest prevalent rates of gender-based violence in the world, The National reports.

According to a statement by United Nations office in PNG, about 67% of women report experiencing family violence, and in some remote Highlands communities, this figure rises to a staggering 90%.

The report said that in the urban centres, around one in six wives report receiving hospital treatment for injuries inflicted on them by their husbands.

PNG will join the world in observing International Women’s Day today.

The day is aimed at raising public awareness of violence against women (VAW) and what people could do to end it.

This year’s theme is focused on a collective approach “Women and men: United to end violence against women”.

The report stated that PNG also has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world where nearly half of reported rape survivors are under the age of 15 and that13% were under the age of seven, and even then, most cases were not reported.

In light of the issue, one of the key features of the UN’s work on gender-based violence was to involve men in addressing gender-based violence through supporting the men’s forums on VAW and children.

The UN system in PNG also identified gender-based violence as one of its key advocacy areas and was also looking at tackling gender-based violence in all its programme activities.

UN resident coordinator in PNG, Dr Jacqui Badcock said that “affirmative action measures will help raise women’s profile so they would become active citizens in all sectors”, especially the areas of political participation and decision making.

“We need increased participation of women in key executive positions in both in the Government and private sectors who will ensure policy decisions and decision making are in line with efforts to achieve gender equality and development towards ending violence against women,” she added.

She said that the persistence of this problem was one of the major constraints to women’s economic and political leadership at all levels

 

The rape of Papua New Guinean women

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ of Letters From Port Moresby

 

 MANY YEARS ago, an Asian woman was abducted by a group of five raskols (hoodlums) while she was getting into her car at a parking lot near her workplace shortly after calling it a day.

The woman in her 40s was taken to the settlement just outside of Port Moresby where she was gang-raped. After the original group was done with her, she was again subjected to the same brutal assault by a pile of 10 young and old village men who paid K2 (US$0.70 at current rate) each for a quick, forced-sex, a torture that lasted the whole night.

Just before sunrise, she was brought back to where her car had been parked overnight. To save her from further humiliation, her family kept their silence about her nightlong ordeal.

Obviously, they believed that the local police won’t exert effort in bringing the culprits to justice if ever they filed a complaint. During those days the local police were, and are still these days, having difficulty earning the trust of Port Moresby expatriates.

These days, rape cases are rife across the country. The act is commonly committed within the family. A husband comes home intoxicated, demands for food and when there’s no food to serve, beats up the poor wife and rapes her, after which he turns his lust to the second female in the family – his daughter.

A young girl left alone at home would neither feel safe nor protected because chances are, some nuts from the village who could be her relatives would just barged into her home and assault her.

A lone female – whether she’s in her pre-puberty or old enough to be called a woman – would always face the risk of getting assaulted while working in the food garden or walking home from school. And even if they are in a group that just emerged from a disco house, the chances of attack are even greater, this time involving a bigger gang of usually drunken men.

Horrific stories of torture, rape and other violence against women are a common staple of Papua Guinea’s mainstream newspapers – The National, Post Courier and the Sunday Chronicle.

Over the last several months, the news pages had been dotted by rape stories involving young girls, young women, housewives and even elderly women. And their attackers were both young and older men who were either intoxicated or under the influence of marijuana. And a number of them are family members and relatives.

Take for instance, the rape cases in New Guinea Islands on the northern waters of PNG. (NGI is composed of big and small islands including the West New Britain, New Ireland and Manus provinces.) The island-provinces’ police commander expressed dismay that parents of rape victims – many of them minors – are not cooperating with the police by reporting the culprits, in most cases individuals who have been trusted by the family and the community.

The island provinces’ statistics showed that there were two incidents of “sexual penetration” being reported in one day. These figures are quite alarming, the commander said, and lashed out at parents who are supposed to be taking good care of their young daughters but are not. Most of the offenders were usually under the influence of marijuana and alcohol, usually home-brewed.

Sadly, many women have come to see sexual assaults among violence inflicted on them as “normal”, as have men, confident in the knowledge that the state will not act quickly, decisively or consistently against them.

WHY IS THIS happening in a country of more than 6 million and that is just beginning to make sense of the influences from the Western world brought in by outsiders from about 17 countries?

American researcher Shirley Oliver-Miller*, in a recent three-year study on sexuality in PNG, has observed:

“To most young Papua New Guinean women today, a man with money, a car, or even a schoolboy with promise, is a far more attractive prospect than a poor boy with no obvious future. For many young men, having no money with which to buy sex directly, or simply with which to make a girlfriend happy, is a frustrating state of affairs.

“Some men state that there is no opportunity for them to have sex at all, unless they rape a woman. Group rape is less likely to lead to trouble than individual rape, although most men who state they rape women do both.”

Oliver-Miller has observed that any sort (of raped) is disturbingly common in all areas of the country, rural, town, and city. In addition to commercial sex, there is the issue of “line-up” or pack rapes.

“Often associated with “six-to-sixes” (clubs that remain open from 6pm to 6am) or video showings that run from evening to dawn in both rural and urban areas, a group of men/boys take turns in forcing a woman to have sexual intercourse with them.

Says Oliver-Miller: “As they watch each other, the sexual dynamics of rape and homosexuality mix to produce, for some, a highly erotic event. In some communities, line-ups are reported to take place every weekend. Older men, many of whom are married, are also frequently involved. Younger men and even boys of 11 or 12 are able to join with their elders in sexually abusing a women.

A 17-year-old guy she interviewed described his village: “In here, rape and forced sex exist just like in other parts of the province. It happens especially during disco nights and video shows. When we brought our village girls to the disco or video show, the boys from other places came and took our girls for dance and sometimes take them home to sleep with them and have sex with.

“We thought they slept only with their friends, but somehow, the boys arranged it with their village boys and made single file on them (line-up). When the girls come back, they never tell us about it because they are afraid and ashamed. Then, we do the same to their sisters in return.”

Oliver-Miller noted that this type of sexual practice is extremely dangerous because the men involved are exposed to the semen of many of the men, thus raising the risk of acquiring STIs and AIDS, not from the woman, but from the other men involved. And the woman is placed at extremely high risk of acquiring STIs and HIV as well.

But even up to these days, many Papua New Guineans still do not like to admit that such things are going on. However, there is now a great deal of evidence from studies conducted in selected urban areas (like Daru, Port Moresby, Lae and Goroka) and may rural villages that such sexual activities are widespread.

These sexual activities are highly dangerous from a public point of view because they spread diseases very quickly, not just among the people who participate in them, but among all those other persons, wives and husbands, new and old boyfriends and girlfriends, with whom these people have sex. These activities are also responsible for many STIs, including HIV, among newborn babies.

In most areas of PNG today, pornographic magazines, picture books, and videos are available, despite laws to the contrary.

Many adults and young people seem to enjoy looking at pictures of people having sex. They consider it educational, and given the dearth of printed or other media on sex, this is hardly surprising.

To some young people, however, the experience is frightening, because they find themselves sexually aroused with little understanding of how to manage their desires.

And oftentimes, this leads to rape.

 

Email the writer: jarahdz500@online.net.pg

alfredophernandez@thenational.com.pg

 

*SHIRLEY OLIVER-MILLER is Senior Program Officer II, at Margaret Sanger Center International, Planned Parenthood of New York City. Since 1980, Ms Oliver-Miller has been responsible for managing government and non-government projects, and developing and implementing program strategies around reproductive and sexual health issues. She has worked in 37 countries, most recently Papua New Guinea, developing programs for government and non-governmental agencies around population health.

 

InterOil gears up to build gas plant

Oil company obtains five-year petroleum prospecting license extension

 

By SHEILA LASIBORI

 

THE discovery of a “world record” natural gas reservoir in Gulf province has now set the foundation for the construction of a natural gas liquefication plant in Port Moresby, The National reports.

The plant, to rise next to the InterOil Corp-owned Napa Napa oil refinery on the outskirts of the city, would set the infrastructure for the exportation of the condensate (gas in its condensed state) next year.

William Duma, minister responsible for Petroleum and Energy, made this known yesterday at Parliament where he turned over Government documents to InterOil formalising the announced “declaration of location” at Antelope One.

The documents also included a five-year extension of the company’s petroleum prospecting licences (PPL) No. 236, 237, and 238.

With these documents, the company will now expand its current exploration sites at Elk and Antelope One in Gulf province.

“InterOil has more than satisfied its commitment to maintain and extend its licence through investment in seismic data acquisition and drilling of wells over six years, which ultimately resulted in the largest discovery in the country’s history and the world’s largest vertical section of reef at 792m,” Mr Duma said.

Petromin Holdings Ltd, responsible for the State’s full 22.5% equity interest in the upstream and 10% in the mainstream of the project, said the declaration of location and the extension of the licence areas had paved the way for Petromin and InterOil to commercialise the project.

Joshua Kalinoe, Petromin’s managing director and chief executive, said the flaring of Antelope One last Monday underpinned a first train 3.5 million tonnes per annum capacity plant at an estimated cost of US$5 billion (K14 billion).

 

New Britain Palm Oil Limited: Revenue soars to US$352m

NEW Britain Palm Oil Ltd has increased its revenue by 56.5% to US$352.2 million (K994.9 million) for the operational year ending Dec 31 last year, The National reports.

Profit after-tax was US$106.3 million (K296.93 million).

NBPOL also reported a record 1.27 million tonnes of fruit processed and 320,000 tonnes in aggregate crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel produced.

Crude oil production was 7% higher than the preceding year and palm product extraction rates remained about 28%.

An average CPO selling price achieved by the company for the year was US$926 (K2,587) per tonne as against the previous year’s price of US$686 (K1,916.20) per tonne.

Forward sales of roughly a quarter of its production for this year of 82,000 tonnes of CPO averaged US$849 (K2, 371.51) per tonne.

As of yesterday, the production figure was now at 156,000 tonnes of palm oil output at an average price of US$780 (K2, 178.77) per tonne.

Dividends paid during the year totalled US$0.4180 per share, including an interim dividend for last year of US$0.14 per share.

A final gross dividend of US$0.14 will be paid this coming May.

 

Bloody end

Two suspects shot dead after hold-up

 

By SAMSON KENDEMAN

 

NCD police shot dead two suspects while three others sustained gunshot wounds after a daring daylight robbery at a store in Gordon, Port Moresby, yesterday afternoon, The National reports.

Police recovered one home-made gun after confronting the armed criminals around 3.45pm yesterday.

The bodies of the two suspects were taken to the Port Moresby General Hospital mortuary, while the three injured suspects were admitted to the POMGH emergency ward for treatment.

POMGH yesterday confirmed receiving the bodies of the two suspects, said to be from Kairuku-Hiri and Goilala districts of Central province respectively.

Traffic along the Poreporena Freeway, Boroko Drive and several adjoining roads came to a standstill yesterday for almost an hour as residents and bystanders flocked to the scene to get a closer look, before an ambulance arrived and removed the two bodies and the injured suspects to POMGH between 5pm and 5.30pm.

Police said the suspects had held up staff of Seeto Kui Holdings at Gordon around 3.30pm and took off with the day’s takings from the two cash registers in a stolen white motor vehicle.

Unconfirmed reports said the suspects had carjacked the vehicle of a person attending the funeral of Lady Miaru Amet, wife of ousted Madang governor Sir Arnold Amet, at the nearby Sione Kami Memorial church before proceeding to Seeto Kui to commit the robbery.

Witnesses said the suspects were armed with pistols and a home-made gun when they held up staff at the cashier’s desk.

Workers and security guards at the store swiftly called police.

The police then chased the suspects along Geauta Drive, Gordon.

Police said as the suspects were speeding from the scene, their vehicle collided with an oncoming vehicle.

The suspects then got out from the vehicle and jumped into the Gordon roundabout drain, where police shot dead two of them while the other three sustained gunshot wounds.

NCD metropolitan commander Chief Supt Fred Yakasa last night confirmed that two suspects were dead and three others were admitted to POMGH.

Supt Yakasa said the suspects were in a stolen motor vehicle when they committed the robbery.

However, he said full details of the incident would be available today, including the suspects’ identities and how much money was stolen.

“The public is fed up with lawlessness in the city.

“Police will come down hard on them and that’s the kind of retaliation that happened today (yesterday),” Chief Supt Yakasa told The National last night.

“Enough is enough!” he said.

Supt Yakasa urged unemployed youths to join the team Yumi Lukautim Port Moresby to work and sustain their living in the city.

“Lay down your arms and you must seek those kinds of opportunities to make yourselves useful rather than getting involved in illegal activities,” he said.

Chief Supt Yakasa also urged all citizens to cooperate with police to curb escalating crime in the city.

 

Where has all the money gone?

THE Opposition has questioned the whereabouts of K32.5 billion from Government budgets since 2003, The National reports.

Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta, his deputy and Lae MP Bart Philemon and other Opposition MPs told reporters yesterday that vital services like health and education were not reaching the rural people.

“We have the resources.

“If it is not the lack of money, then what is the problem?

“We need to ask these questions,” Sir Mekere said.

He said between 2005 and last year, K28 billion was passed through as national budgets and a further K4.1 billion as supplementary budgets, totalling K32.5 billion.

“Where is all the money?

“Where are all the schools?

“Where are all the hospitals?

“Can someone tell us?

Sir Mekere also supported Enga Governor Peter Ipatas, urging Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare to show leadership to the nation by his readiness to accept alternative views and criticisms of his Government’s policies and actions.

“The Prime Minister should welcome comments from the public on the performance of his government.

“He should stop acting as though he alone has a monopoly over wisdom and knowledge,” Sir Mekere added.

He said the Prime Minister’s early and unexpected departure from Wabag last week, rudely missing a feast hosted for him by the people of Enga, was an example of his unwillingness to entertain different views and criticism of his actions and decisions.

“Most Papua New Guineans would find this behaviour arrogant, unacceptable and unbecoming of a national leader.”

Sir Michael and his officials left early last Friday (Feb 27) because he was upset by the remarks made by Enga Governor Peter Ipatas.

Mr Ipatas commented that the K142 million offered by the Prime Minister to the people of Enga should have been channelled through the provincial government.

Mr Ipatas was not happy that the Prime Minister had allocated a large amount of money directly to the districts and by-passing the provincial government.

Sir Mekere said he fully understood and supported the views of Mr Ipatas.

He said the Prime Minister’s decision to by-pass the provincial government would undermine the integrity and the legitimacy of provincial governments.

He said that if the Prime Minister wants to channel money directly to the districts, he should get rid of provincial governments.

“It is pointless having provincial governments in place and not using them to provide services to the people.

This incident once again demonstrates clearly this government’s habit of making important policy decisions on the run, without proper analysis,” Sir Mekere said.

Massive scam within Papua New Guinea AIDS Council

Papua New Guinea National AIDS Council Secretariat chairman Sir Peter Barter today confirmed reports that there is massive corruption “involving millions of kina” within the NACS.

He has also described as “unacceptable” a letter from NACS acting director Romulus Pakure regarding more than two million condoms going past their expiry date without being distributed.

Sir Peter made the confirmation as international media reports surfaced of HIV/AIDS ravaging PNG as the NACS became “rotten to the core”.

“It’s a mess,” he said.

“That’s all I can say about it.

“There is an inspection going on, as well as an internal investigation.

“It’s quite a big scam involving millions of kina.”

Australian Associated Press reported that the NACS had overspent its budget, with millions of kina wasted - most notably on unnecessary travel – as about 2% of PNG’s population became infected with HIV/AIDS.

AAP also had documents outlining abuses by NACS staff.

Sir Peter also said that the government should also shoulder its share of the blame as the NACS had been without a council and substantive director for almost two years.

“The government must also take the responsibility as well,” he said.

“To correct something like this that has been going on for so long is extremely difficult.

“The NACS first met on Dec 15 after almost 18 months without a council. 

“After a close down over Christmas/New Year, a meeting was held last month and the main focus was to get a director appointed to take charge again.

 “The NACS has been without a substantive director for almost two years.  

“We are dealing with alleged corruption along with ways to operate with a 67% reduction in the budget, coupled with the devalued Australian funding.  

“We are making progress towards appointment of a director, along with measures to prevent further wastages of funds.”

Sir Peter said a new director for the NACS should be appointed towards the middle of this month and early next month.

Meanwhile, NACS acting director Romulus Pakure, said in his letter to Sir Peter dated Mar 4 that only 586,064 condoms held in the AusAID/NACS warehouse at Badili had reached expiry date.

“None of these condoms have been purchased by NACS, rather, they are the remainder of inventories that were transferred to NACS following the wind-up of NHASP (support project) or part of a consignment donated in late 2007 which had a relatively short shelf life,” he said.

“It is not known exactly when the NHASP condoms were purchased, however; generally, condoms are supplied with a four to five year shelf life.

“Further, NACS has not purchased any pre-packed condoms that are unsuitable for current dispensing machines.

“Only the Karamap pre-packed condoms which were originally designed for retail vending machines were unsuitable for use in the NACS dispensers.”

HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea increases as National AIDS Council is "rotten to the core"

More than two million condoms paid for with Australian aid money have been left to expire in AIDS-ravaged Papua New Guinea, AAP reports.

The PNG government's National AIDS Council Secretariat left the stockpile, worth $A190, 000, sitting in a warehouse for more than 18 months.

The condoms are now past their expiry date and cannot be distributed in a country that has the highest incidence of HIV in the Pacific.

The secretariat has just appointed a new board, which aims to reform its activities and look into serious allegations of mismanagement.

Documents obtained by AAP show the secretariat has overspent its budget, with hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted - most notably on unnecessary travel.

The documents also outline alleged abuses by staff.

The secretariat's new chairman Peter Barter, a former PNG health minister, said the stockpile was discovered during a recent audit.

"I've only been on the board a month and have been dealing with various levels of alleged corruption and mismanagement (within the secretariat)," he said.

"AusAID is not to blame. We just need to distribute what condoms we can and get our direction right. We will also be getting the fraud squad (in)."

Another secretariat board member, who did not want to be named, said: "The new board recognises the immense problems within NACS and has commenced a major clean-up."

"NACS has become rotten to the core but the new direction is cleaning it up," the member said.

But board members have said a reduced budget from the PNG government will hinder the organisation as it tries to implement reforms.

Dr Ann Clarke, general manager of the PNG Business Coalition Against HIV and AIDS, said she was relieved that another batch of condoms had recently arrived in the capital, Port Moresby.

"We've known about AIDS since 1987 and could have had an effective condom distribution network set up in the 1990s," she said.

An AusAID spokesman said 45 million male and female condoms were on their way into PNG.

"While any wastage of resources is unfortunate, sufficient supplies of condoms are available in PNG," he said.

Australia has promised $A100 million to help PNG battle AIDS under a five-year program that began in January 2007.

It's estimated two per cent of PNG's population is infected with HIV/AIDS, affecting between 40,000 to 60,000 people.

 

Minister for State to appear next month over misappropriation charges

MINISTER for State Philemon Embel, facing a misappropriation charge, appeared in court yesterday, The National reports.

Police prosecutors told the court the Nipa-Kutubu MP was served his police file, which had been completed.

Embel, who appeared in person for his mention, was given until next month to respond to the allegation and serve his reply to prosecution before his next appearance next month.

Prosecutors said yesterday that Embel would need a legal counsel, in the event that the matter was committed to trial at the National Court.

He was arrested in January after being charged under section 38(3) A (1) (a), Chapter 256 of the  Criminal Code Act.

It is alleged that he misappropriated K165, 000 meant for a church in March 2006.

Police arrested Embel based on a complaint lodged by Southern Highlands provincial administrator William Powi.

Embel has appeared twice for mention at the Waigani Committal Court, but both times it was adjourned to give time for police to complete the files.

 

Police Minister grilled over deals

Rambi denies using position to get payment

 

By MADELEINE AREK in The National

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare was yesterday pressured to investigate allegations that millions of kina from the Police Department were pumped into a car rental company owned by Minister for Internal Security Sani Rambi, The National reports.

The Opposition raised the allegations on the floor of Parliament yesterday, and Sir Michael promised to look into the matter.

But while Mr Rambi admitted his company was doing business with police, he denied using his position to influence payments.

Bulolo MP Sam Basil told Parliament Mr Rambi had placed himself in a conflict of interest position, and this was a stumbling block in the minister’s administration of his duties as police minister.

Mr Basil alleged that Mr Rambi and Police Commissioner Gari Baki needed to be investigated over their alleged involvement in diverting millions of kina that could have been used to improve the working conditions of police personnel throughout the country into the Mt Hagen-based car rental company.

He also told Parliament that Mr Baki operated two bank accounts, the police commissioner’s trust account and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary infrastructure trust account into which monies transferred for special operations were being used “uncontrollably”.

Mr Basil identified Mr Rambi’s company as Mountain Hire Cars Limited, which he said had a very lucrative business engagement with the police force.

“The bills run into millions (of kina) which can be saved and used for vehicle purchases that can be used by the police department, which can cut costs by almost 50%, and the savings expanded into other logistical support that the department did not have,” Mr Basil said.

“Millions of kina had been transacted into these accounts for special operations and some excessive funds have run dry, therefore, bringing the morale of investigating officers very low.

“Regular cashing out of cheques and transfer of funds to other operating accounts needed to also be scrutinised,” he added.

He later circulated to the media copies of what appeared to be bank transactions of those accounts.

Mr Basil asked the Prime Minister to appoint an independent auditor to probe the expenditure in those two trust accounts, and monies paid to the car rental company.

Sir Michael said he would look into this as he had received documents relating to the matter and was aware of it.

Speaking to The National outside Parliament, Mr Rambi did not deny that his company, Mountain Hire Cars Limited, had business with the police department.

He said the department, in fact, still owed him K700,000 in outstanding hire car fees.

Mr Rambi said the payments were for a five-year period, from 2002 to 2006, before he entered politics and were for police special and election operations in the Highlands.

Mr Baki concurred with Mr Rambi, saying the department owed K1.2 million to two other Mt Hagen-based car rental companies.

Mr Rambi said Mountain Hire Cars leased vehicles to the police department for the Chuave and Anglimp-South Waghi by-elections as well as all the cars that were used in the state of emergency in Southern Highlands province.

However, all that was before he entered politics in 2007.

And, while he did receive some payments, Mr Rambi said he did not take it up as a matter of priority after winning in the 2007 general elections and was given the police ministry because he knew it would amount to a “conflict of interest” situation.

“I have been paid only K1.5 million; the State still owes me K700,000,” Mr Rambi said.

He said after he became minister, the police department rented vehicles from his company only once – during the ethnic clash in Mt Hagen last year.

He said the vehicles were rented for 42 days, but he got paid for 21 days’ use only.

He did not say by how much.

 

Papua New Guinea Defence Force Officer on UK defence scholarship

A senior officer from the PNGDF will leave for the United Kingdom this weekend to undertake a seven-week course funded by the British government.

Commander Tau Ila of the PNG Defence Force will attend the ‘Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context’ course at the Cranfield University in the UK from March 9 to April 24.

The high level international course is designed to expand a senior officer's knowledge and understanding of the skills required to run a modern, effective and efficient military in a globalised world – especially the military's relationship with a democratically-elected civilian executive and its promotion of transparency and good governance.

In wishing Commander Ila a safe trip to the UK the British High Commissioner to PNG, David Dunn, said:

“It is extremely important that senior military officers from around the world are able to come together to share best practice and compare working methods. Modern military forces need to be up to date with the latest thinking to ensure that they are able and equipped to deliver the quality of defence services expected of them and meet the new challenges ahead in what is a rapidly changing world.”

Commander Ila’s departure comes six months after PNGDF colleague Lt Col Mark Goina completed an international staff course at the UK Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS).

It also builds upon the very successful visit to PNG in October last year of senior international military officers from the RCDS in which they visited Port Moresby, Madang and Goroka.

The Cranfield University’s Defence College of Management and Technology is one of three main colleges of the UK Defence Academy, the others being the RCDS and the Joint Services Command and Staff College.