Pictures of Bootless Bay, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Pacific Adventist University goes more hi-tech with new computers

Jackson Kumye and Donalyne Kuamin, both third-year education students at PAU, working on two of the new computers installed this week

Pacific Adventist University has maintained its status as one of the most hi-tech institutions in Papua New Guinea with a significant upgrade to its computer laboratories this week.
While students at the long-established University of PNG and University of Technology are struggling for computers, their counterparts at PAU and Divine Word University in Madang are miles ahead.
PAU currently provides some of the best computer and technology facilities in PNG and these facilities are available to all students studying at PAU.
While studying at PAU, students as part of their fees are all provided access to computer labs (ratio of 4:1 students per computer, one of the best for any university in PNG), a school email address, wireless internet, ladies dorm computer and wireless access and access to the latest teaching and learning software and equipment.
The PAU this week installed 24 brand-new computers in the schools of business and science and technology.
The classroom computer upgrade program, costing approximately K70, 000, is running all of the most-current teaching and learning software including Windows Vista SP2 and Office 2007.
Additionally, because PAU is a member of the Microsoft IT Academy programme,
students there will also have access to and be taught in the use of Microsoft’s latest development software such as Visual Studio 2008, Expression 2, Visio 2007 and Project 2007.
The installation of 22-inch LCD screens will facilitate the teaching and learning of many of these programmes.
Ben Thomas, dean of the school of business, is excited about the installation of the new
computers.
“Computers play a critical role in all aspects of business,” he says.
“It is imperative that students learn to use the latest computer technology, as this will enable them to be successful in their future employment.
“I believe that PAU produces the best graduates because of our holistic emphasis on education.
“Good infrastructure and facilities, such as computers and the internet, as well as our focus on quality lectures, student work ethic, church participation and sports allow PAU to produce graduates who can be successful in any organisation.”
While installing the new computers, IT staff could overhear comments from students who are excited about the new facilities and equipment.
“These computer upgrades are part of our ongoing commitment to live up to our vision
statement to be the BEST (Biblically Sound, Educationally Valid, Spiritually Challenging, Technologically Relevant) provider of quality tertiary Christian
education in the Pacific islands,” says Wayne Hawken, communications director at PAU.
“These upgrades continue to ensure that PAU students have leading access to technology
while studying at PAU.”
PAU will continue to significantly upgrade its technology and computing facilities throughout the remainder of this year.
PAU is a tertiary institution owned and operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, offering diploma, bachelor and post-graduate awards in a range of disciplines.
PAU is located at Koiari Park, at 14-Mile outside Port Moresby, with affiliate campuses
At Fulton (Suva, Fiji) and Sonoma College in East New Britain province.

A holiday with a difference

Students taking sewing lessons at PAU’s ‘Holiday School’

Sixteen-year-olds Maria Raka (right) from Laloki High School and Grace Apana from Badihagwa Technical Secondary School busy sewing away at PAU’s ‘Holiday School’

Friday, July 10, draws to a close the groundbreaking ‘Holiday School’ programme run by the School of Education at Pacific Adventist University’s Koiari Park Campus at 14-Mile outside Port Moresby.
The holiday School has transformed normal university classrooms into a school for approximately 200 grade 10 students from various schools in the Port Moresby area.
“The timing of the holiday school has been an excellent opportunity both for the pupils and the practice teachers,” says Dr Jillian Thiele, dean of the school of education and holiday school ‘principal’.
“The holiday school has meant that our students have been able to experience a wide range of situations in a controlled environment, and the Grade 10 pupils have had the opportunity to get additional professional tutoring in preparation for the national
Year 10 exams.”
Enthusiastic students told me that they had enjoyed every moment at PAU’s picturesque campus and it was a welcome change from their normal classrooms.
“We’ve been learning science, social science, English and maths,” said Ishmael Nigints from De La Salle High School, Bomana.
“There are also optional subjects like IT, sewing and cooking.
“I’ve enjoyed it very much, I have learnt a lot, and it’s very interesting.
“At De La Salle, there are only boys, but here, there are girls, so it’s a new experience for some of us.
“And also, the environment here is very beautiful.”
Dr Thiele said the topic focus areas for the holiday school had been identified and managed in conjunction with a number of high school teachers and principals in the NCD region.
“As a result,” she said, “the holiday school is targeting areas that teachers have identified as common weak areas.
“Additionally, because the holiday school is being held on the PAU campus – school
pupils and teacher trainees have direct access to the university’s specialist lecturers in the
various content areas.
“The programme would not have been the success that it is without the assistance and support of the NCD governor, Powes Parkop, who has assisted the holiday school with bus transport to all NCD students from the NCD region to Pacific Adventist University for the holiday school.
“The programme this year is considered a great success and PAU wishes all of the participants the best for the upcoming national exams.”
PAU is a tertiary institution owned and operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, offering diploma, bachelor and post-graduate awards in a range of disciplines.
PAU is located at Koiari Park, at 14-Mile outside Port Moresby, with affiliate campuses
Fulton (Suva, Fiji) and Sonoma College in East New Britain province.

Bulolo thanks outgoing US envoy

Bulolo MP Sam Basil ties a traditional headdress on outgoing US Ambassador Lesley Rowe

People of Bulolo, Morobe province, on Thursday, July 09, 2009 presented gifts to outgoing US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea Lesley Rowe.
The gifts – bilums, a headdress and a spear – were presented to Ms Rowe by Bulolo MP, Sam Basil, who earlier this year witnessed the swearing in of Barrack Obama as 44th US president at the invitation of the US government.
Ms Rowe told Mr Basil that she was so glad that he had been able to travel to the US and witness the historical transition of power.
“It was a historical time,” she said.
“I’m glad we got you (to travel to the US) when you were young.”
Mr Basil thanked Ms Rowe on behalf of his fellow Buang villagers, people of Bulolo and Papua New Guinea for the last three years she had spent in the country.

Return of the 39th Battalion 'chocolate soldiers'

Peter Holloway (left) and Harry Barkla at McDonald's Corner

Harry Barkla makes a point of history to Aaron Hayes of Ectourism Melanesia

Harry Barkla and Peter Holloway meet Australian trekkers at Owers' CornerEnthusiastic trekkers meet 39th Battalion veterans Harry Barkla and Peter Holloway

Australian trekkers surround 39th Battalion veterans Harry Barkla and Peter Holloway at Owers' Corner

Australian trekkers line up to meet Harry Barkla and Peter Holloway at Owers' Corner last Sunday

Peter Holloway autographs a book for an Australian trekker as Harry Barkla looks on

Harry Barkla signs an autograph for an adoring Australian trekker

Harry Barkla spent his 21st birthday sitting in a foxhole on the Kokoda Trail before all hell broke loose at the Battle of Isurava in August 1942.
The 87-year-old from Bendigo, Victoria, has returned to Papua New Guinea for the second time since 2007 with another Australian World War 11 veteran Peter Holloway to mark 67 years since the battle and to remember lost mates.
Both are members of the legendary 39th Battalion – so wrongly disparaged as “chocolate soldiers” - who fought the Japanese in the now-famous Battle of Isurava in August 1942.
I was privileged to be asked by tourism operator Ecotourism Melanesia to be their tour guide last Sunday as well interview them, given my interest in WW11 history.
It was an emotional moment for both men as we visited the site of the old Schwimmer Drome at Laloki, Owers’ Corner, MacDonald’s Corner, the wreck of the mv MacDhui, the site of the Jackson Airfield (now International Airport), and Bootless Bay, among others.
One of the most-touching moments was when a group of young Australian trekkers arrived at Owers’ Corner after the grueling 96km trek from Kokoda, and when they learned that Mr Barkla and Mr Holloway were original members of the 39th Battalion, they were treated like royalty and swamped for autographs.
“We did it for you,” the two veterans humbly told the admiring trekkers.
An increasing number of Australians and Papua New Guineans are just now beginning to learn the tremendous story of courage and tenacity at Isurava, but it is hoped that more will take the time to learn about it
During the period from 27-30 August 1942, under almost constant attack, soldiers of the 39th Australian Militia Battalion and the 2/14th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, with the help of the 2/16th Battalion and the 53rd Battalions, held back the advancing Japanese at Isurava.
What followed was the famous fighting withdrawal down the Kokoda Track during September 1942, which ended with the Australian dig-in on Imita Ridge on September 17, 1942.
From Imita, there was no further retreat.
On September 28, the Japanese began their withdrawal back across the Owen Stanleys along the Kokoda Track, having come within sight of the sea and the lights of Port Moresby on Ioribaiwa Ridge opposite Imita.
Ironically, the militia men of the 39th Battalion were initially disparaged by more-experienced soldiers as “chocolate soldiers” who would melt in the heat of battle, but proved this tag so wrong at Isurava.
“I celebrated my 21st birthday at Isurava on August 22, 1942,” Mr Barkla told me
“The Japs didn’t attack until August 28, which was when the 2/14th (Battalion) arrived.
“I’m very proud of the 39th Battalion for the job they did against terrific odds.
“Ask any member of the 39th Battalion and he’ll tell you he’s a very proud man.”
The other 39th Battalion veteran, Peter Holloway from Melbourne, did not fight on Kokoda, initially being involved in supplying food to troops, but did see action on the Northern Beaches of Buna, Gona and Sanananda (which he visited this week).
More Australians – about 1,400 in all – were killed in Buna, Gona and Sanananda than Kokoda, where about 500 were killed.
“I was part of that campaign,” Mr Holloway recalled.
“The significant part was when we could walk on the beach at Sanananda.
“I celebrated my 21st birthday in Port Moresby on February 19, 1942, the day the Port Moresby Hotel was bombed by the Japanese.”
Mr Holloway said Australians owed Papua New Guineans a great deal for their help during WW11.
“We had great assistance from the indigenous people,” he said.
“A lot of our people would have been dead if it hadn’t been for them.
“I think they’ve had a rough deal from the Australian government since the end of the war.”
Among the fascinating yarns Mr Barkla and Mr Holloway shared was that Mr Barkla was working on the mv Macdhui on June 17, 1942, the day before it was bombed and sunk by Japanese planes, while Mr Holloway was supposed to have been working on it on the actual day of the bombing but was sick
Five of their 39th Battalion mates were killed together with 10 crew members of the ship.
They also served at Jacksons Airfield and remember the numerous Japanese air raids.
Jackson Airfield was named after Australian ace pilot John Jackson, leader of RAAF Squadron 75, who was killed in a dogfight against Japanese planes over Port Moresby on April 28, 1942.
“The very first day he (Jackson) was here, he shot a Japanese Kawasaki aircraft,” Mr Holloway said.
“He shot down quite a number of Japanese aircraft.
“He had quite a number of Japanese aircraft painted on the side of his aircraft, for every one of them that he shot down.
“On April 25, 1942, which was Anzac Day, we were at the back of the hill and New Guinea Anglican Bishop, Philip Strong, was conducting a service when the Japanese attacked.
“We all ducked for cover but he remained and continued to conduct the service
Mr Barkla and Mr Holloway were based on the hill overlooking the airfield, at what is now the PNG Defence Force’s Air Transport Wing staff quarters.
They also spent time at Bootless Bay keeping an eye for Japanese aircraft.
Both men could reminisce on and on about their WW11 days, however, time caught up and they had to leave for Popondetta.
I asked them why they were called “chocolate soldiers”.
“They said we weren’t fulltime soldiers, that we were part-time soldiers,” Mr Holloway replied.
“They said when the heat of battle was on, we would melt, but we didn’t.
“Australia had two armies, the Australian Imperial Forces, and the Australian Military Forces.
“The ‘chocos (Chocolate Soldiers)’ were part of that.
“Every member of the 39th Battalion was a volunteer.
“Most of the 39th Battalion eventually joined the AIF.
“They never called us ‘chocolate soldiers’ after the New Guinea Campaign.
“When we fought together, side-by-side, they changed that opinion.
“The 2/14th will tell you that if it hadn’t been for the 39th Battalion, they would have been annihilated.”

Interesting photo

 John Dege Waure trekking the South Simbu road a couple of days before his 14th birthday during his school term break. 

 In the background is the Whagi River separating Mt Wikauma to his right and Gunangi Basis to his left.

Gumine High School can be seen at the foot of Mt Wikauma.

Picture by Martin Mintai Waure

 

 

 

Pictures of Pacific Adventist University

I visited Pacific Adventist University at 14-Mile outside Port Moresby today and took these shots.
It's a great place to visit, especially for the avid birdwatcher, and I highly recommend it for any visitor to Port Moresby as well as residents of the Papua New Guinea capital.

Latest pictures of my cucumber garden

And for you keen followers of this blog who have been monitoring the adventures of my, my kids and our cucumber garden, I'm pleased to report that it's growing bigger and bigger every day.
The plants are flowering and we're all eagerly looking forward to our first harvest.
Above are pictures of the cucumber patch as well as my two keen gardeners, two-year-old Keith and his four-year-old sister Moasing.

Complex international factors force up July fuel prices

Increased international demand for refined fuels has forced up domestic fuel prices throughout Papua New Guinea.

InterOil President Bill Jasper says the increased demand is being spurred by a number of complex factors.

“Perceptions that Europe and the United States may emerge from recession later this year is a significant factor,” he said.

“So too are the needs of the fuel thirsty Chinese economy, which continues to grow despite the worldwide financial crisis.

“Added to this is the disruption to supply from key African oil fields due to political and civil instability.

“During the past month, crude oil reached a year high price of more than $US73 a barrel.

“Basically overseas markets are driven by perceptions of future demand and supply.

“We are part of the international oil-consuming community and as such we are not immune from the powerful forces at play.”

Locally, refined fuels will cost more this month in line with movements in the international marketplace.

The pump price of gasoline (ULP) is up by about 4 %.

Diesel and kerosene have increased by six and seven percent respectively.

Mr Jasper said despite recent increases, refined fuels are significantly cheaper now than they were at this time last year.

“UPL is about a third cheaper than what it was mid-way through 2008,” he said.

“The current retail price of diesel and kerosene is about half of what it was at the peak.

“Fuels are now more affordable for our many Government, commercial and private customers than they were a year ago.”

 

For further information and to arrange media interviews contact:

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation

Ph: (675) 321 7040

Mobile: (675) 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com  

 

Robbing our children of their childhood

Young people enjoying the new basketball court at Gerehu Stage Two yesterday




I recently wrote in this blog about new recreational facilities sprouting up all over Port Moresby, thanks to the very visionary leadership of National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop.
For instance, at Gerehu Stage Two where I live, the first of two new basketball courts went up at the weekend, meaning I can take my kids to the courts and teach them how to play.
Towards the end of last year, playground facilities were set up, bringing so much joy and enjoyment to children in the neighborhood.
I like nothing better than a glorious sunny arvo when I can take my kids for a leisurely stroll in the park and watch them swing, slide, climb on the monkey bar or roll on the sand, while I take pictures of them or lie down on the grass and read.
It is quite ironic that while Mr Parkop and the NCD Commission are spending a lot of money on such facilities, politicians like Deputy Prime Minister Sir Puka Temu and certain business houses are doing their best to take them away from our children.
They must remember that such facilities also keep our young people occupied and away from a life of alcohol, drugs, and juvenile delinquency.

Police probe killings of four children

From The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper

 

Father of murdered children faces questioning by cops

 

POLICE in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands province, are expanding their investigations into the killing of four children, allegedly by their own mother early last Saturday morning, in a village outside the city.

The mother, who surrendered to police and has been questioned while in custody over the last three days, faces wilful murder charges which carry the death penalty.

Police have not formally charged her yet, and are seeking to question others, including her husband.

Police said they had not picked up Anis Onda, the husband, and other people in the village for questioning because they were in a state of shock and mourning, and police were giving them time.

“We would like to question the father and other relatives; what they know about this shocking incident,” metropolitan commander Chief Insp Peter Roari said.

So far the woman has not said much, only blaming the husband for the action she took.

Internal Security Minister Sani Rambi, who was very disturbed after learning of the killings, took the unprecedented step of going to the police cells in Mt Hagen to talk to the woman.

He was seeking to find out for himself the reasons for the heinous crime, and not to assist police investigations, sources said.

Mr Rambi told The National the woman allegedly did what she did because she was fed up with the husband.

Reporters from The National visited the haus krai at Kuiya village, where the husband, Mr Onda, was in mourning with his family and relatives.

Mr Onda was shocked and could not say much, but tribal leaders called for the woman to be sentenced to death.

The shocking crime took place early last Saturday.

Police alleged that the mother took the four children out one by one, and killed them by drowning them in the Kum River.

Police alleged she made sure that all her children were dead before she surrendered to police and told them what she had done.

The bodies of the children – three girls and a boy aged between nine and three – had been recovered from the river and are at Mt Hagen General Hospital awaiting post-mortem examinations.

The news of their killing has shocked Papua New Guineans, and attracted widespread condemnation and calls for those responsible to face the death penalty.

Mr Onda and his wife are from the Hagen Central district in Western Highlands province.

 

Impressive developments at Owers’ Corner

New police station under construction at Owers' Corner

New resthouses being constructed at Owers' Corner

Roadworks along the Sogeri-Owers' Corner Road on Sunday

Resthouse at Owers' Corner

Trekkers receive a welcome from their porters after completing the rugged Kokoda Trail on Sunday

Storyboard at Owers' Corner

World War 11 spots such as McDonald’s Corner and Owers’ Corner, further in from Sogeri, have always been a favorite place for many residents of Port Moresby.
They are famously known as the beginning of the Kokoda Trail and are visited by thousands of tourists, mainly Australians, every year.
Enjoying a cold beer after a hard couple of days on the Kokoda Trail has always been part of the routine for these trekkers.
Enjoying a family picnic at Owers’ Corner under the blue sky, white clouds, majestic mountains and lush, green environment is a moment to treasure.
McDonald’s and Owers’ Corners, for many years, have been a means of escaping from the sweltering heat and scorched landscape of Port Moresby.
While Moresby is dry as a bone for over six months of the year, these places, invariably, are moist and green and the mountain air cooler.
The mountains, foothills, forests, savannah woodland, rivers and streams have long captured the imagination of many.
It goes without saying that when one goes to McDonald’s and Owers’ corners, one returns to the city very much relaxed, and reinvigorated.
They are very much among the many jewels in PNG’s crown.
My two-year-old son Keith and I accompanied a group of Australian visitors to Owers’ Corner on Sunday – thanks to Ecotourism Melanesia - and I was quite impressed with the infrastructure developments there.
A new police station and rest houses are going up to cater for the increasing number of trekkers.
The Sogeri-Owers’ Corner Road, which five years ago was a national disgrace, is making a complete 360-degree turn and I was quite happy to see a committed bulldozer working at MacDonald’s Corner on Sunday.
Owers’ Corner, about 17km in from Sogeri, is the finish line of the Kokoda Trail after a rugged and grueling trek over the Owen Stanley Ranges.
Vice-versa, it is the start line of the trail, from which one must start the journey to Kokoda.
Kokoda Trail, which includes Owers’Corner for that matter, is a world-famous icon that draws in people from all over the world for varying reasons.
In 2003, I first walked the Kokoda Trail, ending at Owers’Corner, and found the place in an absolute mess.
The memorials at Owers’Corners were unkempt and covered by bush, a desecration of the memory of those many men who sacrificed their lives during World War 11 so that we can live in peace.
The road, rather ‘goat track’, from Owers’Corner to Sogeri was an absolute national disgrace, given the number of tourists who came to walk the Kokoda Trail every year.
Guides and porters told me about being shouted upon by angry tourists after waiting for hours for a vehicle to pick them up.
All that, I’m pleased to report, is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Lae a skeleton of its former self

The remains of Best Buy Store

Hodgson Nagi (Telikom) Building continues to remain the tallest building in Lae

Eight Street bus stop, Lae…notorious for potholes and bag snatching

Lae, particularly the Top Town area, continues to remain a skeleton of its former self.
Nothing remains of the former Best Buy Store, formerly Burns Philp – one of the icons of Lae – after it was burned to the ground last December.
It looked cluttered and unorganised last Saturday, with people wandering aimlessly, as compared to the hustle and bustle of the past.
The old Hodgson Nagi (Telikom) Building – built in the 1970s – continues to be the tallest building in town.
Potholes abound in town and the Eight Street bus stop is notorious for bag snatching, especially from women, by gangs of youths.
There is, however, a silver lining to the dark cloud with a number of new property developments in Lae.

Ethics in politics - are they mutually exclusive?

By PAUL OATES

 

Speaking at a seminar some years ago, the Queensland Ethics Commissioner presented an example of an ethical dilemma. Asking the group to indicate when they perceived an unethical point had been reached, the Commissioner gave the following ‘hypothetical’ example:

A senior Public Service officer was recruited with a contract package that included a private plated vehicle. Part of this officer’s package allowed for this vehicle, maintained and fuelled by the government, to be used after hours in a private capacity by the senior officer. “Did anyone see a problem in this,” The Commissioner asked? A few old crusty Public Service types (me included) did but not many raised their hands.

“OK,” he went on, “The vehicle in question was also allowed to be driven by the officer’s family when not being used in an official capacity. See any problems with this?” A few more raised their hands but still only a small percentage of the seminar’s participants.

“OK. Police were then called to an accident involving this vehicle that was being driven by the teenage son of the senior officer, late at night.” “Who thinks there is a problem?” About half the audience now had their hands up.

“The police then had trouble extracting the young man from the vehicle as he was covered in dozens of pizzas he was in the process of delivering,” was then next and final part of the story. At this stage, roughly two thirds of the audience thought they had a problem with the ethics of this situation.

However when those who didn’t have a problem with the ethics of this situation were asked why, (and the majority of these seemed to be from a Local Government background), most said that as the officer’s contract allowed for family members to drive the vehicle after hours, no law had been broken. The fact that the taxpayer had to pick up the insurance and repair bill along with the fuel bill was apparently not seen as a problem. Also, that a profit making enterprise was being conducted using a taxpayer funded vehicle also seemed to these people to be of no concern.

Imagine my surprise when I was discussing this ‘hypothetical’ years later with a number of senior officers and one confessed that he was the Personnel Officer of the Department this incident occurred in and had to make a ruling on it. His ruling was the same as those who said that no problem existed as the provisions of the contract had not been broken.

So what’s ethical and what’s not? What benchmark should be used to evaluate political malpractice and who should apply it?

In an article titled “MPs thumb noses at ethics,” by Steven Wardill on the 4^th of July 2009 in the Courier Mail, the retiring Queensland Integrity Commissioner Mr Gary Crooke, QC warned:

“… that MPs were thumbing their noses at conflict-of-interest criticisms.
His comments came on an extraordinary day in the Gordon Nuttall trial, as former premier Peter Beattie contradicted claims from his successor, Anna Bligh, that she did not need to declare a free family holiday last year.
Ms Bligh told Brisbane District Court this week there was no need to declare the stay at the Sydney mansion of Thiess director and friend Ros Kelly.
However, Mr Beattie yesterday told the court any holiday gift given to a minister should be declared.
"We both know what we are talking about and the answer is yes," Mr Beattie said when asked if a declaration was needed.
Mr Crooke said the actions of MPs risked undermining public confidence and compromising gains in ethical standards.
Mr Crooke said he was often aware of politicians and senior public servants who did not seek the Integrity Commissioner's advice because they believed in their own ethical compass."There is a danger, a very real danger, that . . . an individual is so confident of their own ethical approach to anything that confronts them that they won't heed whatever is thought to be the conflictual aspect," he said. "But, in fact, they fall into the trap of engaging in a practice that, objectively, is seen to be inappropriate."

Mr Crooke also criticised the growing practice of "pay-per-view" politics that has emerged on both sides of politics as a key fundraising mechanism.
He said politicians were only "trustees" of elected positions so they were selling something they had no right to.
Ms Bligh, who eventually declared her holiday after it was revealed by the Courier-Mail, yesterday said the job of the integrity commissioner was vital to ensure ethical behaviour.
She defended pay-per-view fundraising, saying the donations were publicly declared.
"In the Australian political context, these arrangements are seen for what they are, they are political donations," she said.
But Mr Crooke, a senior counsel in Queensland's Fitzgerald inquiry, said the practice struck at the heart of public administration and both sides of politics appeared to be keen to take the money but reluctant to debate if they should.
"One of my abiding fears is that if something like this is done and cannot be justified in principle, there a developing tendency in public
administration for people to say: 'If we just do it and tough it out people will forget about it'," he said.
"That is the worst type of apathy and if we are talking about trying to improve public standards there has got to be accountability and justifiability for anything that is done at the top level."

Now if this is the current situation in Australia today, how can we ‘cast aspersions’ at PNG? Most stories and articles about PNG these days continually focus on the negative aspects of political corruption and malfeasance at the highest levels.

In comments on the article on the 4^th of July 2009 about today’s PNG by Dave Tacon titled “As things fall apart”, Phil Fitzpatrick comments on the ‘PNG Attitude’ site:

“… it’s almost a mandatory requirement for stories about PNG. I suspect that Dave Tacon knew that without the negative sensation, including the title, his story wouldn’t have otherwise been published.”

Is this therefore the situation most journalists find themselves when an editor calls for an article on PNG? Is this why in PNG Attitude, the PNG Governor General called on PNG writers to write about only good things that are happening in PNG today?

In a Christmas message from the Queen years ago, she raised the dilemma of the modern world. “No news is good news,” she said, “But it seems these days that good news is no news.” Christian culture and standards have been used for centuries as a basis to develop and interpret Australia’s and PNG’s legal system. But has this worked effectively or even just worked?

Surely any ethical debate about a politician’s actions should ultimately focus on outcomes and not inputs. Otherwise, there is a tendency to start tripping over the trees while losing sight of the forest? Could there be a more practical way ahead? After all, what we really want are politicians who by their actions, can improve our existence and not make it worse.

So how could a new, but still ethical approach work? Could and should we put to one side the current ethical standards that have evolved from our legal system? If we were to do so, what benchmarks would we then have to evaluate whether a politician was behaving ethically and correctly?

What about creating a “Commission of Political Truth and Objective Resolve”. Imagine if all politicians were held accountable for their time in office and responsible for achieving what they said they would do prior to being elected? Imagine if there were to be a publically issued report card on each elected member prior to the next election? Surely the acid test aught to be whether the lives of their fellow countrymen and women were demonstrably better off for a politician being elected?

Now how would both Australia’s and PNG’s politicians then stand up to assessment I wonder?

How you can help commemorate the Montevideo Maru

From Keith Jackson

Dear Friend of Montevideo Maru,
Later this year (we hope in November), the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee will make a submission to the Commonwealth Government in which we shall recommend ways in which the Australian nation can permanently remember and honour the tragedy of the men who died as a result of the fall of Rabaul in 1942 and the subsequent sinking of the Montevideo Maru.
We would like this submission to come from all of us and, at an appropriate time, we will seek your approval to add your name to it.
For now, though, there is something you can do - and I thought I might add a bit of interest by framing it as a contest.
Topic: What is the most important initiative you think the Federal Government could take to honour the men of Rabaul and the sinking of the Montevideo Maru?
Limit your response to one (maybe two) suggestions. Keep them fairly brief but give some reasons why you think your ideas should be adopted.
There are prizes for the three best entries (as adjudicated here in the secrecy of my home office): two copies of a CD The Music of W Arthur Gullidge played by the Melbourne Staff Band of the Salvation Army (with thanks to John Cleary) and a DVD of John Schindler's award winning documentary The Story of the Krait (with thanks to John Schindler).
When you submit your entry (by email to benelong@bigpond.net.au), let me know which prize you'd like.
We'll publish all entries in the MvM Newsletter and close the competition in a month or so (or whenever your inspiration seems to have dried up).
Better still, the Committee will consider entries of merit for inclusion in our submission to the Commonwealth.

Best wishes.

Keith

 

Keith Jackson AM  |  Chairman
Jackson Wells  |  Neutral Bay, Sydney, Australia
t: 02 9904 4333 | f: 02 9904 4555 | m: 0411 222 682
e: benelong@bigpond.net.au.au |  e: kjackson@jacksonwells.com.au
PNG Attitude Website  |  w: http://asopa.typepad.com

 

 

 

Mother kills four children in Papua New Guinea

Caption: Sad and emotional moment ... The bodies of the four children are being brought to the Mt Hagen General Hospital as their relatives grieve in the background. – Picture courtesy of Dr Malts WaiKids

By JAMES APA GUMUNO in The National, Papua New Guinea's leading daily newspaper
A MOTHER is in police custody in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, after she allegedly killed her four children and dumped them in a river.
The bodies of the four children were recovered at the Kum River.
It is believed the woman murdered her children in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The mother surrendered to police, after being satisfied that she had killed or drowned all her children.
Police said the eldest daughter was eight, second daughter aged seven, third, a son, aged five, and the youngest a boy about two and half years old.
Metropolitan Commander Chief Insp Peter Roari said yesterday the mother was in police custody and had not been charged yet.
Chief Insp Roari said the bodies of her children were recovered by her tribesmen on Saturday.
He said the woman, believed to be 35, told police during a brief interview that she drowned all her children because her husband never looked after her and the children.
She told police she was fed up with the husband’s constant drug abuse.
Chief Insp Roari said the woman was from Togoba village but married to a Moge man, and they lived at Kuiya village outside Mt Hagen city.
He said this was a very rare case and had shocked residents of Mt Hagen and Western Highlands province.
Chief Insp Roari said he believed this was a first of its kind in the province and country, where a mother decided to take the lives of her four innocent children.
He said homicide detectives would now question the mother and find out what forced her to kill her children.
She will undergo medical examinations.
The bodies of the four children are in the morgue at Mt Hagen General Hospital.
When hearing of the gruesome killing, a shocked North Waghi MP Benjamin Mul said the mother should be put to death.
He said that she was not fit to live in this world.
He said he could not believe that a mother could do such a thing to her children.
“Even animals love and care for their babies,” Mr Mul added.
“She is worse than an animal and should not live in our society as she poses a great risk to our children.”
Provincial police commander Chief Supt Kaiglo Ambane said that there was a possibility other people might have been involved.
He added police were investigating.Chief Supt Ambane supported Mr Mul’s call for the death penalty to be imposed immediately to deter such killings. Friends and relatives are in mourning at Kuiya village.

As things fall apart in Papua New Guinea

[TheAge Text-only index]

Date: July 04 2009

Dave Tacon in The Age

IT IS midday in Kerema, the capital of Papua New Guinea's Gulf Province on the country's south coast. The sun is too fierce for most of the street vendors, whose trade is busiest in the late afternoon. Not that Kerema ever gets particularly busy. It's a ramshackle coastal town of less than 6000 people at the mouth of an estuary with dark sandy beaches, mangrove swamps, two general stores, a hospital and an airstrip.

Kerema's only bank was robbed on May 15, 2008. It was an inside job organised by the entire senior staff together with local street criminals known as raskols. The bank has not reopened but has been replaced with a bank agency with prohibitively high fees for most locals.

Detective Andrew Mokoko, 35, walks the street outside the bank agency office in plain clothes, nonchalantly toting a pump-action shotgun. A local identity, he chats with passers-by and the betel nut vendors. Although he is officially on duty, he is earning a little extra as a security guard with a weapon from the police armoury.

This is explained to me by a former police officer. When I ask why Mokoko is out of uniform, the reply is: "Well the raskols often wear police uniforms."

In Papua New Guinea, corruption is taken for granted. Still, Kerema is tame compared with the country's more populous regional centres, where a largely uneducated population flock in the hope of work. Unemployment is rife. Violent crime, driven by poverty and tribal allegiance, is out of control. In recent weeks there has been sustained rioting throughout the nation. The targets are mainly Asian-run businesses — convenient scapegoats for the disenfranchised.

Commenting on recent rioting in the nation's capital, Port Moresby, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare acknowledged the perception that his Immigration Department is so corrupt that "a six pack (of beer)" is accepted tender for a passport.

Papua New Guinea, a country with more than 760 distinctly different languages, was ill-prepared for the independence granted by Australia in 1975. To this day, the prevailing political system is based on wantok — the support of one's friends and family above all others. Superimposed into government, wantok is a system of pure cronyism and nepotism.

Although the country is blessed with abundant natural resources — a multitude of minerals, forests and fisheries — the profits most often remain in the pockets of a corrupt few who amass offshore real estate assets while their children are educated abroad, usually in Australia.

Port Moresby already has a reputation as one of the world's most unliveable cities for expatriates, partly due to an annual survey conducted and published by The Economist. Most recently, it ranked 137 out of 140 rated cities, and it's not difficult to see why. Few areas are deemed safe outside the fortified compounds that house expatriate resource industry employees and the like. The settlements, ghettos that sprawl amid the hills beyond the port, are no-go zones even for police. Gangs of raskols, no longer satisfied with robbery, rape and murder, have begun to diversify into kidnapping. The most popular targets are executives and their families. Four weeks ago, the 13-year-old daughter of a prominent Melbourne-educated businessman and two others were abducted from his Port Moresby home. They were released when their kidnappers were captured.

Residents of Lae, Papua New Guinea's second most populous town, assert that their home is even more dangerous than Port Moresby. The criminals, according to a recent police petition, have more high-powered weapons and ammunition than law enforcement officers, who are unable to even write up reports on the crime wave on broken typewriters in termite-infested barracks that have not been maintained for more than 30 years.

Even more troubling is an HIV/AIDS epidemic that is the worst in the Pacific region. An estimated 2 per cent of the adult population is HIV-positive. Despite the best efforts of Australian and international aid agencies, PNG fails to provide adequate health care for its people.

In the last week of May, Ialibu District Hospital in the Southern Highlands, which serves more than 30,000 people, was forced to close. Starved of funds, the hospital defaulted on its electricity bill and had its power cut. In consequence, about 180,000 European Union and AusAID-donated vaccines for measles, tuberculosis, tetanus and hepatitis B were destroyed.

Bodies had to be removed from the morgue. The hospital's medical superintendent, Dr Youngpu Samo, made pleas to his local MP that went unanswered. The best the hospital could do was to place public notices in Ialibu township advising of the closure, recommending the community avoid sickness and accidents.

The country's slide into chaos has not gone unnoticed. The United Nations has recommended that PNG be demoted from its list of developing countries to the unenviable position of least developed. Not only would PNG join the Solomon Islands on the list, but also the likes of Haiti, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.

The small Catholic station of Kanabea is a world away from many of the ills that beset Lae and Port Moresby. Kanabea's church, rural hospital, school and handful of timber dwellings are a mere 27 kilometres from coastal Kerema. It is, however, situated in some of the country's most inaccessible terrain. Kanabea lies in the least developed area of PNG's least developed region, the Gulf Province. Sprawling river deltas, swamp and then a mountain range covered with rainforest divides it from its provincial capital. There are no roads, only perilous bush tracks passable only to the toughest bushmen.

Aside from two-way radio, the settlement's main contact and sole means of bringing in cargo is by air, a method of transportation that is expensive and dangerous. Rain clouds can envelop the mission for months on end. Air accidents have claimed the lives of two priests, two lay missionaries and several local parishioners over four decades.

AS THE single-engine Cessna breaks through the clouds, the mission comes into view. Alarmingly, so does a mountain slope directly ahead. The experienced pilots of North Coast Aviation bank hard and guide the craft in for a jolting landing on the long, grassy airstrip carved into the side of Mount Eruki.

Mission staff and about 60 members of the local Kamea community greet the plane. Young children make up the majority of the welcoming party, dressed in an incongruous combination of T-shirts handed down from Melbourne's Catholic community, grass skirts and tapa cloths — a felt-like material crafted from bark.

Such was the fearsome reputation of the Kamea that the native Papua New Guineans who accompanied the first missionaries refused to disembark fearing that they would become main course for one of their country's few cannibalistic tribes. The disdain held by many Papua New Guineans for the Kamea remains, although the arrival of Christianity and corned beef put an end to cannibalism.

All of Kanabea's infrastructure, including the hydroelectric generator, has been built by Australian charity — mainly from the Catholic Church. In some respects, the facilities at Kanabea Rural Hospital surpass those of many regional hospitals. Pilots are known to fly themselves in for X-rays rather than brave the anarchy that is Port Moresby General Hospital. Here, vaccines are kept safe by a back-up power supply sourced from solar panels.

The visiting fee for patients is about 20 cents, although garden-grown vegetables are also accepted. Until recently, the hospital had no doctor. The previous one, Australian priest Maurice Adams, succumbed to leukaemia 14 years ago. In May, Kanabea welcomed 26-year-old Dr Magdelene Taone of Port Moresby, who agreed to a three-year posting. She faces a great challenge, serving a mountain community with little awareness of primary health. Malaria leads a host of preventable diseases including tuberculosis and dysentery. One problem that is conspicuous in its absence is HIV/AIDS.

But although the rural hospital's AusAID-funded HIV/AIDS counselling centre remains empty, the disease is gradually making inroads into the mountains. Of 1000 HIV rapid tests administered last year, five returned positive in Bema, a Catholic mission, either an arduous 12-hour trek or a seven-minute flight from Kanabea, weather permitting. The disease poses a great threat to the traditionally polygamous Kamea, but for the time being, their isolation is their greatest protection. Despite this, the community is attempting to build a road to Lae.

Enga Province, in the highest part of the highlands, is unique in PNG in that its people consist predominantly of a single ethnic and linguistic group. While Enga is free of the cultural fragmentation evident in much of the country, tribal warfare is widespread and governance dysfunctional. A local-born woman, Dr Maryanne Amu, wants to help her people in the regional centre of Wapenamanda. A specialist in public health, she hopes to change health policy from inside the government. In 2007, she ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate in elections marred by deceit and intimidation.

In Amu's account of events, the winning candidate installed his own supporters as electoral officers. When voters arrived at the polling station they found that their forms had already been filled in for them. Amu also claims that opposition groups were terrorised by thugs provided with guns by the candidate.

Of her 89 fellow female candidates, only former Australian teacher Carol Kidu claimed a seat in the 109-member parliament. Kidu's attempts to pass legislation that guarantees 20 seats for women have so far been unsuccessful. Women's rights in PNG have a long way to go in a country where, according to Amnesty International, about 150 women are killed each year in the highlands province of Chimbu on suspicion of practising witchcraft. Despite this, Amu plans to run in the next general election in 2012.

In the meantime, she is tackling her community's own AIDS crisis through the Wapenamanda Centre for Primary Health Care, which she founded in 2006. The centre has largely been funded from Amu's own pocket, with money saved from employment in Australia.

She has also engineered partnerships between her health centre and a number of non-government bodies outside PNG. One such group is Melbourne-based Cabrini Health. On the last weekend of May, Catherine Garner, Cabrini's mission integration manager, visited the centre.

She was welcomed as a dignitary in true highlands tradition in a ceremony that approached three hours. Before a crowd of more than 100, lengthy speeches were given by local leaders including a former minister for Enga. This was followed by a mumu — a feast of pig, chicken, bananas and sweet potato cooked in a pit.

As the sun set, Garner was driven to a mothers' group outside town. She and Amu sat before a crowd of about 60 on a grassy clearing in a mountain valley. An older member of the audience raised his hand to speak and said, in Engan, "Papua New Guinea is like a child that thought it was strong enough to go into the world on its own, but it was not. Now Australia is like the parent who returns to help. We thank you for coming back."

Dave Tacon is a Melbourne-based freelance writer and photographer