Gulf PMV tragedy remembered

Caption: A family brought even closer together by tragedy…Sophia Auhava, Colbert Ivosa Kovea and Damien Feareka.-Picture by AURI EVA

 

By MALUM NALU

 

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, young Damien Feareka, 31, from Lese Oalai village, Gulf province, was travelling home from Port Moresby to be with wife Sophia, 28, and three-year-old son Colbert Ivosa Kovea.

A devout Catholic, Feareka, a storeman with Airways Hotel in Port Moresby was travelling home that weekend to be with his wife and son for a church festival for Mother Mary.

With him on the passenger truck, along with about 26 other passengers, was his loyal brother-in-law, Sylvester Auhava, 31, a subsistence farmer from Lese Oalai.

Mother Mary must have deserted them that day, and they never made it to Lese Oalai.

Near Bereina, Central province, about 100km west of Port Moresby, their truck collided head-on with another passenger truck from Gulf province killing 17 people, in what was Papua New Guinea’s worst-ever road accident, until the Jan 12, 2010, accident involving two passenger buses along the Markham Valley of Morobe province in which more than 40 people were killed 

Fourteen passengers and the two drivers died instantly in the Bereina accident on the Saturday afternoon of May 30, 2009,  while a young boy died later from severe internal injuries at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

Many survivors were taken to hospital, some with life-threatening injuries and others suffering broken arms and legs.

One passenger truck was heading to neighbouring Gulf province, while the other truck was heading for Port Moresby.

The vehicles were reportedly carrying 28 passengers each, many of whom were sleeping at the time of the crash.

“I went off to sleep,” Feareka tells me.

“When I woke up, I was shocked.

“I had a dislocated hip, a bone in my right leg was broken, the forefingers of my right hand were broken and I had hit my head.

“It happened around 3 o’clock.

“On the PMV we were travelling on, only four people survived.

“When I woke up, I couldn’t get up, until some people came and pulled me out.

“The only family member I lost was my tambu (in-law), Sylvester Auhava, from Lese Oalai.

“I’m married to his sister.”

Feareka has taken a year off work from his job as a storeman with Airways Hotel because of the serious nature of his injuries.

“I’ve gone through a lot of pain and trauma,” he reveals.

“Sometimes, when I sit down by myself, all those memories come back to haunt me.

“It also comes back to haunt me when I look at my bad legs.”

Perhaps because of his Christian upbringing, Feareka doesn’t harbor a grudge against those who may have been responsible for the tradgedy, except to say that drivers must drive more carefully and avoid consuming alcohol.

He thanks God for the fact that he is still alive and feels an empathy for those who lost family members

“PMV drivers always travel at top speed to pick up passengers in Gulf province and travel back to Port Moresby,” he says.

“The main cause of the accident was drinking and driving, plus driving at top speed

“I was going home for the weekend, because there was a feast for Mother Mary.

“We were travelling home for that occasion and we got involved in the accident.

“Nobody was thrown off the vehicle.

“We were all on board.

“They brought me to Bereina clinic.

“There were only two ambulances around at that time.

“I was brought over by my uncles, who travelled from Port Moresby to Bereina, and brought me to Port Moresby.

“I stayed in hospital for two months.

“I didn’t lose my job.

“My bosses told me that when I was fit enough, I could go back and work.

“Right now, I’m not working, because they have to take the metal out of my right thigh.

“I have to go back for another operation.”

Feareka, wife Sophia Auhava and four-year-old son Colbert are a picture of family love as they speak with me last Sunday.

Colbert runs around asking mum and dad for a lolly, oblivious to the fact that his dad may not be with him today.

“I was shocked and surprised to hear about the accident,” Sophia says as she fights back tears.

“I was in the village when the accident happened.

“After the accident, the next day, we came to Port Moresby.

“I lost my elder brother, Sylvester, who was travelling with my husband.”

The family, now closer than ever before since the accident, plan to travel to Lese Oalai to remember the accident, and particularly their brother and uncle Sylvester Auhava.

Gulf provincial disaster task force caretaker committee chairman, Jacob Ivaroa, is the one mandated to look after victims of the accident.

“There were many contributing factors to that accident,” he tells me.

“One of the key factors was the atrocious road conditions.

“The accident happened immediately after a sharp corner, where there are huge potholes.

“The driver wanted to avoid these potholes and didn’t see the oncoming vehicle.

“The driver travelling down to Gulf was tired because the previous day, he came from Gulf, returned, and then drove back to Port Moresby.

“He finished at about midnight, had a few hours of sleep, and then started picking up passengers at 7am for another trip.

“His fatigue affected his judgement.

“If he was not under stress, this would not have happened.

“There’s also evidence of both vehicles trying to avoid each other.

“Many of the people would also not have died had we had good medical services.

“Many of the people were alive after the accident, but died from things like loss of blood.”

May 30, 2009, was one of the saddest moments in the history of Gulf province and PNG as it was on this day that the then worst-ever road accident in the country took place.

As we remember those who lost their lives, we hope that some good will come out of this tragedy, for both Gulf and PNG.

Rest in Peace.

 

Businesses call for measures to address energy security in APEC

Chinese Taipei, 27 May 2010 – Recent turmoil in global energy markets underscores “the continuing challenges we face in strengthening energy security throughout the Asia Pacific,” says the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

 

In a letter to APEC Energy Ministers, ABAC – a group comprising some of the most respected business people from throughout the Asia-Pacific – makes very specific recommendations as to how these challenges might be addressed.  Excerpts follow:

 

• ABAC strongly recommends continued engagement between governments and the private sector… This is important as the private sector, including energy producers, transporters, financers, and consumers as well as relevant NGOs, provide essential perspective on the real impact of proposed policy and regulatory measures on actual markets, consumption patterns and productivity.
• In 2008, ABAC sponsored publication of the Strategic Framework for Energy Security in APEC, a document designed to guide APEC’s energy security work.  From our perspective much remains to be done to implement many of the recommendations contained in this document.
• In the near term, we encourage APEC governments to focus on improving efficiency and conservation as a cost effective approach that can be broadly applied across the spectrum of supply and demand.  Expansion and diversification of energy resources remains an important piece of any comprehensive energy security approach.  APEC should work to secure wider use of low-carbon fossil fuels, including promoting the use of natural gas and development of gas transport infrastructure.
• Nuclear energy is appropriate for many economies as a low emissions source of power generation.  ABAC supports consideration of nuclear energy and studies into its feasibility in APEC individual economies. 
• We recommend Ministers undertake to study the possibility of establishing an APEC or Asian futures market in gas.
• A comprehensive approach must include efforts to manage demand through conservation and efficiency efforts.  This should include emphasis on improving the energy efficiency of power plants, promoting conservation and efficiency in buildings, and development of a common labelling system to promote dissemination of energy efficient products, including home appliances and IT products. 
• It is important to prioritise development of standard metrics to assess efficiency, preferably by sector, to assist in measuring progress and quantify results.  We encourage Ministers to commit to establishing an APEC-wide common understanding of terminology, standards and best practices for measuring efficiency.  Eliminating distortions and promoting efficiencies in energy markets must also be a cornerstone of a strategic approach to improving energy security.  Recognising that in a group as diverse as APEC, complete harmonisation of standards is very difficult, we feel that in the near term, a focus on transparency and information sharing in this area may be a more practical goal.
• Expanded emphasis on developing “clean” energy and promoting innovation in energy and related technologies is a final core pillar to a complete APEC energy security approach.  Such development must involve close cooperation with government through public-private partnerships and regulatory framework that encourages private sector investment.
• APEC economies should complement UNFCCC principles and processes by endorsing the development of an APEC Low-Carbon Pathfinder Scheme.  The Scheme would be based on the successful APEC formula of voluntary, non-binding, open regionalism.  Under such a Scheme, low-carbon policy measures by each APEC economy would be systematically and transparently prioritised and reviewed, with reports published annually or biennially so as to share experiences with other APEC economies.
• APEC must continue to recognise that regional energy security strategies must be developed and implemented in the context of the overall global energy security situation.  As such, relevant APEC agencies and sub-fora should coordinate closely with energy-related international organisations to ensure synchronicity of effort and maximise the potential for collaborative progress.

 

The letter is signed by ABAC 2010 Chair, Gempachiro Aihara, on behalf of the group.

 

For more information, contact: mitsuiabac@mitsui.com or media@apec.org

Timely business training for business development officers

Participants and trainers are all smiles after the graduation

By MALUM NALU

More than 30 business development officers (BDOs) from throughout Papua New Guinea graduated from an International Labour Organisation – Start Improve Your Business training of trainers and refresher training of trainers seminar at the Granville Hotel in Port Moresby last Friday.
ILO’s internationally-recognised SIYB is one of the few internationally-recognised business courses in PNG and is run by SBDC.
The SIYB programme is recognised in 48 countries, including PNG, which had the benefit of four internationally-recognised master trainers who conducted the two-week seminar.
The seminar was a capacity building training programme for provincial and district BDOs.
A total of over 30 provincial and district BDOs attended.
This seminar was a result of findings from the 2009 provincial commerce advisors conference in Alotau that identified many impediments that incapacitate BDOs in respective provinces to provide and deliver services for the development and growth of the SME sector in the provinces.
SBDC, as the lead implementing agency for SME development and growth in the country, took this initiative to up-skill the BDOs to:
• Effectively provide assistance to small business women and men to start and improve small-scale businesses;
• Participate actively in economic development projects; and
• Businesses and spin-off activities created by the large resource development projects.

Empowering women in the art of making clothes

Empowered…Jeris Kundin, Tan Maki and Anna Karapi hard at work at the PNG Garment and Textile Development Institute
From left are Jeris Kundin, Tan Maki and Anna Karapi while at back are SBDC women in development officer Maria Kalap and business development manager Nathan Timo
Anna Karapi, Tan Maki, SBDC women in development officer Maria Kalap and Jeris Kundin

By MALUM NALU

Three women from rural areas of the country have just completed four months of intensive training in clothes making.
The women, two from Jiwaka area of Western Highlands province and one from Eastern Highland province, were brought to Port Moresby by Small Business Development Corporation for the express purpose of furthering their clothes-making skills at PNG Garment and Textile Development Institute.
From the beginning of February to the end of May this year, the three women have been undergoing intensive training at the institute, which SBDC hopes will reap handsome rewards by them going back home and training more women.
SBDC paid for their travel, training and daily living costs in Port Moresby, and to put the icing on the cake, paid for two industrial sewing machines worth K3, 100 each which they will take home with them to teach more women.
They are Tan Maki and Jeris Kundi, both sewing trainers at Kuling Star Vocation Training School in Minj, Western Highlands province; and Anna Karapi, from Isametoka village in Goroka, an informal sector businesswoman who is already into making clothes.
SBDC business development manager, Nathan Timo, explains it’s all about empowering women from rural areas.
“A lot of women are getting into sewing and tailoring, and this particular project is all about empowering women in rural areas to improve livelihood, create employment opportunities and alleviate poverty,” he says.
“We are empowering women in rural areas so that they can help other women.
“SBDC brought them here and paid for their return airfares, lodging, course fees and a small living allowance.
“SBDC is also providing them two industrial machines.”
Karapi, an informal sector businesswoman, sells clothes she makes around Goroka.
“Over the 16 weeks, I have learned many new things and am now more advanced in sewing, especially in things like designing, pattern making and then construction of garments,” she said.
“When I go back, I will be able to attend to all orders.
“I’ve already got big plans to expand.
“What I have learned will not be wasted, and I say this because there is no tailoring company in Goroka.”

AusAID funding review

From PAUL OATES

Has anyone actually thought about recruiting and employing qualified Papua New Guineans for the work on offer?
e.g. Target the aid programmes to the local talent available.
Why isn't there an 'independent' recruitment programme set up under the AusAID umbrella to ensure that 'qualified' PNG people are available for each position before it is offered to a high priced overseas consultancy firm who then employs overseas staff who have very high 'on costs'?
 If there are no qualified PNG available, train them up ASAP under a contract that has a set sunset clause in it and won't be fully paid for unless the prior benchmarks for achievement are met.
The whole AusAID programme has so far seemed to be run on a scatter gun approach.
Why not provide a supplement to all PNG public servants who are prepared to sign a binding agreement not to be involved in any corrupt practice and to report those they find breaking the law?
If the PNG public service were to be paid a reasonable wage they would not have to rely on corruption to feed and look after their family.
Why not concentrate on health or education and ensure these principle areas are working across the nation?
Talkfest's are expensive 'no brainers'!
The PNG government is going to increase the number of ministries (and therefore public servants), instead of making sure those they already employ are actually able to do what they are paid to do.
 Clearly the AusAID funding needs to be targeted at national achievement and not local appeasement.
A monster has been created that no one as yet seems willing or able to control.

United Nations report accuses Papua New Guinea police of beating prisoner

From: AFP
May 25, 2010 7:21PM

PAPUA New Guinea police systematically beat detainees, cripple those suspected of serious crimes and sexually assault female prisoners, a United Nations report said.
After spending almost two weeks touring the impoverished Pacific island country, the UN's special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak said police often brutally beat detainees with car fan belts, gun butts, iron rods and stones.
"I found systematic beatings of detainees upon arrest or within the first hours of detention, including during interrogation," Mr Nowak said in a statement on his preliminary findings issued in Port Moresby.
"Very often beatings are inflicted by the police as a form of punishment of suspects, reflecting complete disrespect for the presumption of innocence and the dignity of persons suspected of crimes."
Mr Nowak, who carried out unannounced visits to police lock-ups and jails and conducted confidential interviews with detainees, said he was disturbed by some of what he heard.
"I am very concerned about the practice of the police to deliberately disable persons suspected of serious crimes and those who escape from detention," he said.
In jails, those who tried to escape were tortured upon recapture as a standard practice, he said.
This included brutal beatings with machetes or rifle butts, shooting the legs and feet of detainees at close range and cutting their tendons with knives and axes to cripple them.
Women were particularly vulnerable while in police custody, with many allegations of sexual abuse, Nowak said.
"Some officers also appear to frequently arrest women for minor offences with the intention of sexually abusing them," Mr Nowak said.
"As a punishment, some women were also threatened or were placed in cells with male detainees for a night, where they were subjected to collective rape by the other detainees."
He described as appalling the conditions for detainees left for extended periods in some police cells, saying in several stations he visited officers did not have access to the keys to open the cells.
"During the visits, I witnessed that detainees were locked up in overcrowded, filthy cells, without proper ventilation, natural light or access to food and water for washing, drinking and for using the toilets," he said.
Medical care for inmates was lacking and led to avoidable amputations and the spread of disease among detainees.
Mr Nowak said officers with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary were often unable to enforce the law due to insufficient human and financial resources, high levels of corruption and a lack of political will.
Speaking to AFP from Port Moresby, Mr Nowak said he had met with high-ranking Papua New Guinea government officials on Tuesday and had been assured they took the issue seriously.
"They haven't denied what I said," he said.
But he said the country suffered a high level of violence in general and this led to police using heavy methods, saying officers felt: "We have to beat them up in order to show who's the boss, in order to intimidate."
Mr Nowak, whose team was physically threatened by an intelligence officer in a remote area, said he would strongly urge the government to implement major structural reforms of its police and corrective services in his final report.

AusAID fat-cats

Millions wasted on ‘briefcase’ advisers

 

AUSTRALIA’S foreign aid programme, which also includes Papua New Guinea, is under siege after revelations that tens of millions of dollars are being wasted on huge salaries for consultants and rich contracts for private firms, Australian newspapers reported yesterday, The National reports.

An extensive investigation by the newspapers had uncovered what they termed “a lucrative foreign aid industry” and raising questions about the Australian government’s decision to double funding to more than A$8 billion (K18.69 billion) a year.

The damning publications come on a day when the high-level review of the Australia-PNG Development Cooperation Treaty was publicly released in Canberra, slamming the A$414 million (K967.5 million) programme, claiming that A$100 million (K233.6 million) was being paid to a handful of firms – but delivering little.

The latest developments confirms Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Abal’s worst fears expressed early this year when he called for an overhaul of  the annual aid to PNG, saying he believed too much money was wasted on costly consultants.

Yesterday, the newspapers – The Courier-Mail, Daily Telegraph, The Adelaide Advertiser and The Herald Sun – reported that aid experts were questioning the size of contracts paid to “briefcase” advisers who fly into poor countries, including PNG, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.

The newspapers’ investigation reveal:

• Just five firms – led by Coffey, GRM and Cardno ACIL – secured A$1 billion (K2.46 billion) in AusAID contracts;
• More than a dozen aid consultants earn more than prime minister Kevin Rudd and fly around the Pacific advising on everything from “gender integration” to sport, transport, energy and justice;
• Millions of dollars are being diverted to questionable aid programmes, including A$12 million (K30.38 million) to research the giant panda in China and A$13 million to redevelop a single school in Nauru;
• nAusAID, the agency in charge of foreign aid, is investigating a small number of cases of fraud and is about to undergo significant restructuring; and
• Millions are being spent by the AFL, girl guides, ACTU and other community groups on “selling” a pro-aid message to the public.

The newspapers named one highly-paid consultant in PNG as John Dinsdale, a former clerk of a court in Melbourne.

He is paid more than A$500,000 a year, tax-free, as PNG law and justice adviser.

Executive Gerald Gahima, a former justice in his native Rwanda, is no stranger to controversy. In February 2004, he suddenly left Rwanda amid questions about personal debts of US$S600, 000.

The US state department cited allegations of misuse of office in personal bank transactions against Gahima. Four years later, in February 2008, he was made “senior justice adviser” to Timor-Leste on a two-year A$757,960 tax-free contract, paid by Australian taxpayers.

Nikhil Desai, whose glamour address is listed as 6850 Melrose Drive, Los Angeles, was appointed as Vanuatu energy adviser on a two-year contract valued at A$746,730.

Around the Pacific Rim, questions are being asked as to why consultants, such as Peter Kelly, who is paid A$433,000 a year to supervise Vanuatu’s small road system, are paid so much. Partly it is because Australia has signed up to the so-called millennium development goals, which includes a commitment to gender equalisation.

That explained why Susan Ferguson earns A$293,423 tax-free a year as “gender integration adviser” to PNG, the newspapers said.

“The review into the flagship PNG programme is particularly embarrassing – and raises serious questions over the value of pumping billions of dollars into fragile states.

“The former Howard government tightened aid to PNG in 2005 after it received secret intelligence of scams involving senior members of the then PNG administration.”

They reported that AusAID will pour A$415 million into PNG next year but the review –  conducted by three independent experts Stephen Howes, from the Australian National University, Dr Eric Kwa from the University of PNG and Canadian Soe Lin – is scathing of the present scheme.

 They found tens of millions of dollars was “wasted” on consultants and glossy reports. Money also props up bureaucracies instead of buying life saving medicines and equipment.

The review team found Australia’s financial support was “being spread too thinly” across a raft of areas – including health, education, transport, law and justice and tackling HIV/AIDS.

The review has criticised the amounts being spent on highly-paid advisers and called for a shake-up in how the PNG scheme is managed. It did identify some positive outcomes – particularly in health programmes run by churches and other non-governmental organisations.

It wants a stronger focus on this sort of programme – and, yesterday, Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith backed changes in the aid programme when he announced the public release of the treaty review in Canberra.

“Advisers have been a feature of Australian aid over many years and, while we do not intend to pre-judge the outcome of the (PNG) review, it may be that there is an over-reliance on advisers in some countries,” Smith’s spokesperson said.

In a media statement, the minister said: “Under the Rudd government, the proportion of foreign aid spent on technical assistance is already significantly lower than it has been previously.

“During the Howard government, average spending on technical assistance was 41.8% of the foreign aid budget. It peaked at 47.4% in 2004.

“During the Rudd government, average spending on technical assistance has been 34.5%.”

 

 

The lid is lifted on Australia's foreign aid programme

From PAUL OATES

In a Special Report in today's Courier Mail on Australian foreign aid, some of our overseas aid were listed in detail.
The report claimed that around a quarter of our aid to Papua New Guinea is paid to a handful of firms who in practice deliver little of substance.
Under the heading 'Pacific nations outraged by huge salaries paid for advisors', examples include a former clerk of a Melbourne court who now receives $500,000 a year, tax free, as the law and justice adviser to PNG.
Under the 'Millennium Development Goals', a female adviser is paid $293,423 tax free a year as a 'gender integration adviser' to PNG.
It was reported that the newly appointed head of AusAID, Peter Baxter, has 'vowed to crack down on highly paid consultants as part of a broader restructuring of the foreign aid programme'.
Other references to PNG include:
- over 12.5 million for private rental accommodation contracts in Port Moresby.
- three quarters of a million dollars paid to the Media Council of PNG for a 'new funding agreement'.
- an independent review of the PNG/Australia treaty found 'millions of dollars being "wasted" on consultants and glossy reports'. Australia's financial support was "being spread too thinly" across areas including health, education, transport, law and justice and HIV/AIDS.
- Health programs run by non government agencies and churches received a tick of approval however.
"It may be that there is an over reliance on advisers in some countries," Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister is quoted as saying.
So what about introducing outcomes based auditing into our Foreign aid programs? I searched and searched the report but couldn't find any reference that might be even slightly construed as approaching anywhere near that revolutionary concept.
_________________________________
Tens of millions in foreign aid wasted on salaries and commissions

  Steve Lewis and Nic Christensen
  From: The Courier-Mail
  May 24, 2010 12:00AM

AUSTRALIA'S foreign aid program is under siege after revelations tens of millions of dollars are being wasted on huge salaries for consultants and rich contracts for private firms.
An extensive investigation has uncovered a lucrative foreign aid "industry", raising questions about the Rudd Government's decision to double annual spending to more than $8 billion.
And a high-level review has slammed the $414 million program in Papua New Guinea, claiming $100 million is being paid to a handful of firms - but delivering little.
Aid experts also have questioned the size of contracts paid to "briefcase" advisers who fly in to poor countries, including East Timor, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tonga.
The Courier-Mail's extensive investigation can reveal:
. A small clutch of five firms have secured $1 billion in contracts.
. More than a dozen aid consultants are earning more than Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, flying around the Pacific to advise on everything from "gender integration" to sport, transport, energy and justice.
. Millions of dollars are being diverted to aid programs including $12 million to research the giant panda in China and $13 million to redevelop a single school in Nauru.
. AusAID, the agency in charge of foreign aid, is investigating allegations of fraud - and is about to undergo a significant restructuring.
. And millions of dollars are being spent by the AFL, Girl Guides, ACTU and other community groups "selling" a pro-aid message to the public.
The review is embarrassing for the Government - and raises serious questions about the value of pumping billions of dollars into fragile states.
__________
On pages 4 and 5 of the same paper there are some further details:
Foreign Spending as at December 31, 2009 was quoted as:
1. Major five consultancies                    $955,090,376
2. Government payments                   $759,912,587
3. Corporations                                   $537,205,016
4. Non Government organisations    $225,700,306
5. Major charities                                $213,056,756
6. Universities                                      $ 85,942,386
7. Smaller consulting firms                 $ 78,514,144
8. Advisors                                          $ 24,271,03

Big five Australian contractors

Total value of current contracts as of Dec 31, 2009:
1. Coffey International                        $310,079,609
2. Cardno Acil Pty Ltd                       $302,413,369
3. GRM International                         $266,538,015
4. GHD Pty Ltd                                  $ 54,534,579
5. Sinclair Knigh Merz                      $ 21,704,802

Keeping district and people lost

By JAMES WANJIK

GOVERNMENT is of the people by the people for the people.
 It is a trite principle in democracies.
In Wosera, East Sepik province,  this principle is remote.
Since 1997 people have faced politically-motivated pain.
Their elected representatives since 1997 had no impact.
Till Wosera leaders see light of truth Wosera and her people will be lost.
To win Wosera people need change.
Change in leadership and governance at Wosera.
Without such change Wosera people will be ever more turned into human workhorses and buffalos carrying among others cocoa bean bags over long distances to bring in foreign exchage for leaders and bureaucrats to squander out of greed.
 So bad it is that the trunk road from Patigo to Nungwaia has deteriorated so bad that now only well equiped and fitted four wheel drive vehicle can make the road.

Papua New Guinea Parliament now irrelevant

From PAUL OATES

A recent editorial in a Papua New Guinea newspaper highlighted how the increase in the Somare ministry from 28 to 32 has effectively created a quorum that could govern PNG in its own right.
 With 32 ministers and a Speaker, the required number of 33 or a quorum is achieved.
The Speaker could merely in future convene the ministry and have them pass laws without having any Opposition or other members available.
The Somare government has therefore finally reduced the PNG Parliament to a toothless and silent rubber stamp.
 The current government has in effect, voted their fellow non government members into irrelevance.
Opposition members might just as well install cardboard cut-outs in their seats in Parliament or become computer images of virtual reality.
What happens when all members of Parliament other than the current government ministers are excluded from the Parliament for example?
 If there were to be a lock out of Opposition members or those members were in some way delayed from attending a sitting, the Somare/Temu government has now become a law unto itself.
There is now, no effective way of holding the Somare government accountable either in or out of the Haus Tambaran.
With one vote, PNG has entered an entirely new phase of non-representative Parliamentary government.
The next step and final step is full blown dictatorship.
But wait, could there be light at the end of the tunnel?
When the two new governors of the two new districts Jiwaka and Hela, arrive in the House in 2012, the numbers required for a quorum will be altered.
But then the creation or yet another ministry could always fix that minor hiccup.
 So will the 20 new seats reserved for women alter the balance?
Not if they are to have 'appointed' members as occupants.
If the new female members are to be appointed by the government, this will deliver the final death blow to the last vestiges of PNG democracy.
So will these expensive machinations by the Somare government, worth millions of kina, produce a recipe for any better performance in a government that has presided over an almost total collapse of services and infrastructure.
Not by one iota.
_________________________________________________________

Editorial from today's The National

Cabinet alone can convene a parliamentary session

PARLIAMENT last week passed an amendment to the Organic Law on the number of ministers to allow the prime minister to increase their number by four from the present 28 (27 ministers and the prime minister) to 32.
In so doing, Parliament unwittingly gave the executive government the right to convene Parliament with only the speaker present.
Parliament's present quorum is 33.
By increasing cabinet numbers from 28 to 32, Parliament has virtually given the executive government the mandate to convene a parliamentary session on its own with only the speaker present and no other member.
Now, one might argue that such a situation is absurd and, in any case, no business could get done because of other requirements such as the number of members required to pass important legislations, but there is always a danger inherent as we shall see shortly.
Earlier last week, we raised the issue in this space about the independence of the three arms of government - executive, legislature and judiciary - and the need to ensure such independence is never undermined.
We raised the concern that Parliament is presently at risk of becoming a mere rubber stamp of the executive government.
To our mind, the vote to increase the number of ministries adds to this risk as it will erode the independence of the legislature (Parliament) further.
Look at the manner parliamentary business is conducted these days.
On most days, the business of Parliament is carried on voices. For those unfamiliar with parliamentary procedures, this means that the speaker asks the chamber whether they support or oppose an issue under discussion and invites members, who support it, to say "ayes" and those who do not to say "no".
The speaker is able to tell from the number of voices whether the "ayes" or the "noes" have it. Most days, this is how business is conducted.
Were this principle applied in a Parliament sitting, which had only ministers in attendance, it would be perfectly okay since every minister is a Member of Parliament. Every matter decided would be within the norms, practices and procedures of Parliament.
This means that the executive government could make a decision at cabinet level and then ratify it in Parliament without any other Member of Parliament participating.
Quite apart from the important issue about this being "another job for the boys", as the opposition claimed and the matter of the extra cost to the nation, by this amendment, Parliament has made it possible for the executive government to constitute the legislature as well.
Unwittingly, or perhaps by design in some circles, Parliament has undermined itself and removed its independence.
While this might sound far fetched at the moment, and in practice might never happen, the grave concern is that if such a situation was ever contemplated by this or future governments, it is now legally possible.
All the more reason why the size of Parliament needs to be expanded beyond 109 by the inclusion of the two governors for the Jiwaka and Hela provinces in 2012 and by the 20 reserved seats for women.
The other concerns, which have already been raised by the opposition, is the extra cost to the nation and the matter of jobs for the boys.
The list of jobs by the opposition is that there are 28 ministers (soon to be raised to 32), 12 vice-ministers, 19 permanent parliamentary committees and 14 parliamentary referral committees. This totals 73 which also constitute a three-quarter majority of Parliament, the number required to pass amendments to the Constitution. The additional four ministers are extras.
In the area of costs, K14.9 million is presently spent on the existing 26 ministries excluding the prime minister and deputy prime minister who, together, cost K3 million. The four new ministries are expected to cost an additional K2.8 million. This is a sizeable amount of money.
The question that must be asked is: What other sectors of this country need further ministerial rule?
The further question that must be asked is: "Are all the present ministries performing to expectations and producing results such so that more ministries can be expected to boost the productivity factor and, hence, be considered positive for the country overhaul?
If the answers to these questions are in the affirmative then, we suppose, the country can foot the bill as we can expect to gain something. If not, this is nothing but another wasteful use of taxpayers' money.
And, do not forget the encroachment factor referred to in the beginning of this editorial.

99% say Prime Minister not doing enough on corruption

24 May 2010

 

PORT MORESBY: Ninety-nine percent of people who voted in an on-line poll think the government is not doing enough to tackle corruption.

The poll was conducted by the public interest group ACT NOW!

Effrey Dademo, Program Manager, says: “The message to the Prime Minister and the government is clear. The people want to see much more action on corruption. That has to include prosecuting white collar criminals in the public service and those they conspire with”.

ACT NOW! says corruption is the biggest single issue facing PNG as it takes vital funds away from the health sector, education and infrastructure maintenance.

“Why are our hospitals crumbling? Why do our kids go to schools with no books in the library? Why are our roads impassable? It is because our government is failing to stop corruption and the theft of public money”, Ms Dademo says.

ACT NOW! says the people of PNG have a right to know what the government is doing to give effect to the recommendations of various Commissions of Inquiry, including the very recent finance inquiry. Also, what steps have been taken to investigate allegations against government Ministers who have been linked to bank robberies committed by William Kapris?

“We hope the Prime Minister will listen to what the people are saying and take some immediate action.”

For further information and comment contact Effrey Dademo on (675) 7689 5266 and at effrey@actnowpng.org

 

 

 

World Environment Day celebrations at Varirata National Park

World Environment Day celebrations in Papua New Guinea will take place on Friday, June 4, and not the internationally-designated day of June 5.

Department of Environment and Conservation will be hosting the official WED programme at Varirata National Park, outside of Port Moresby, under the theme ‘Many Species, One Planet, One Future’.

DEC secretary Dr Wari Lea Iamo said PNG would join the international community to observe the event with a wide range of activities including song and dance by schools.

“WED is celebrated every year to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action,” he said.

“This year’s theme highlights biodiversity development and poverty alleviation.

“It is important for the public to be made aware of environmental issues, feeling responsible about protecting or conserving the diversity of life in our local environments.

“We are not alone, we share the environment with many species of living things either land life forms or marine life, we need to appreciate their existence.”

“We must also see the importance of protected areas like Varirata National Park for instance, where, as individuals or families, we can come to be one with nature and get a glimpse of living things in their natural environment.

“For from the environment, we get our food and water.

“We must also remind ourselves that we cannot over-harvest, over-garden or even abuse natural things that we depend upon to sustain our life.

“Neither should we introduce new things that nature cannot absorb or eliminate by its own process of degradation.”

Dr Iamo thanked companies that demonstrated corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards the environment and invited all residents of Port Moresby to go to Varirata for WED celebrations, to be presided by Governor General Sir Paulias Matane.

“Perhaps,” he said, “someone may take the park to heart and help the department build it into an international tourist attraction.”

 

Provision of ART drugs in Papua New Guinea will continue after August 2010

National AIDS Council chairman Sir Peter Barter says provision of ART drugs in Papua New Guinea will continue after August 2010.

He made this reassurance, particularly to people with HIV and AIDS, in response to news articles in The National on May 20 titled “Last three months before ART drug supply ceases” and “Government deadline to fund AIDS drugs looming”.

 ART in PNG has been exclusively funded by the Global Fund since 2004 and current funding will expire at the end of August 2010. 

“These new articles may cause unnecessary panic, anxiety and alarm in the public especially among the community of people living with HIV,” Sir Peter said.

“This misinformation needs to be corrected.”

He said the facts were:

• There was stock of ART drugs in the country till December 2010.
•  A proposal to extend funding for treatment beyond August 2010 had been submitted under a ‘continuation clause’ to the Global Fund Secretariat by the PNG country coordination mechanism. The two-year proposal document is currently under review by the secretariat in Geneva;
• The Prime Minister had verbally committed K6 million to fund treatment and testing programmes from September to the end of 2010.  This was in response to the gaps created by the Round 9 HIV proposal which was not approved for funding; and
• The CCM was in the process of developing a five-year HIV Global Fund Round 10 proposal. The funding proposal would cover treatment, care and support services.

“Whilst the National Aids Council is responsible for the coordination of the fight against HIV and AIDS, this is a shared responsibility involving the National Department of Health who are responsible for the treatment together with the procurement of ARTs,” Sir Peter said.

“The National Aids Secretariat is in close consultation with the Health Department and other donors, bilateral partners and stakeholders who are implementing the fight against HIV and AIDS and whilst emphasis is being given to treatment and care which is vital, the main objective is to prevent the spread through awareness, increase testing and to upscale this message throughout PNG.”

 

Questions on use of Gulf accident funds

Questions have been raised about how public funds have been used as the first anniversary of the horrific Hiritano Highway accident is remembered on May 30.

A horrific head-on truck crash involving two passenger trucks from Gulf province killed 17 people, in what was Papua New Guinea’s worst-ever road accident, until the Jan 12 accident along the Markham Valley this year in which more than 40 people were killed.

The trucks collided near Bereina in Central province, about 100km west of Port Moresby.

Fourteen passengers and the two drivers died instantly in the accident on the Saturday afternoon of May 30, 2009,  while a young boy died later from severe internal injuries at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

Many survivors were taken to hospital, some with life-threatening injuries and others suffering broken arms and legs.

One passenger truck was heading to neighbouring Gulf province, while the other truck was heading for Port Moresby.

The vehicles were reportedly carrying 28 passengers each, many of whom were sleeping at the time of the crash.

After the accident, the Gulf provincial disaster task force committee was set up, especially to look after funds which were donated to assist victims

Committee member Jacob Ivaroa, who has been appointed new chairman after allegations of misuse of funds by the previous executive, said this was “blood money” for victims of the accident and should never have been misused.

He had a short meeting with members of the Gulf community at the OTC oval at Five-Mile on Saturday, at which it was decided that another meeting be held on Wednesday this week, to prepare for the anniversary.

Ivaroa said over K200, 000 was raised by the committee for the purpose of repatriating bodies, erecting memorials and various others.

“The balance of the money has disappeared,” he said.

“These are public funds and we must be accountable to the public.

“Unfortunately, we have no funds, despite the first anniversary being on May 30.

“We want to hold a small commemorative ceremony; we want to remind drivers of the dangers of not being responsible.

“We want to go back to the accident site, set up a plaque, maybe go to the Gulf villages and have some food, publish something in the newspaper, and wash our hands clean.

“We don’t want people to question us about how we have used the money.

“We want to be fair to the people, especially those who lost family members.”

Ward 8 councillor from Sepoe village, Vincent Aiere, said all concerned members of the Gulf community should attend Wednesday’s meeting.

“Today’s turnout is very poor and could have been influenced by the previous committee management,” he said.

Accident survivor Damien Feareka, 32, from Lese Oalai village, suffered serious physical injuries and is still going through psychological trauma.

A devout Catholic, Feareka was traveling home that weekend to be with his wife and son for a church festival for Mother Mary, however, ended in tragedy with many people including his brother-in-law Sylvester Auhava being killed.

He has taken a year off work from his job as a storeman with Airways Hotel because of the serious nature of his injuries.

“I’ve gone through a lot of pain and trauma,” Feareka said.

“Sometimes, when I sit down by myself, all those memories come back to haunt me.

“It also comes back to haunt me when I look at my bad legs.”

Feareka said while in hospital, committee members never visited him, and when he was discharged the previous chairman gave him a mere K200.

He and wife Sophia Auhava, as well as four-year-old son Colbert Ivosa Kovea, plan to travel to Lese Oala to remember the accident and brother-in-law Sylvester Auhava.

 

Sepik woes in public eye

By JAMES WANJIK

 

Sepik Highway and roads and bridges accounting and leadership plot have been uncovered by Public Accounts Committee.

Slowly Sepik people are probing leadership of Sepik and Papua New Guinea.

A group of senior Sepiks are questioning where trust funds for Sepik Highway, roads and bridges have gone to.

About K30 million were parked in the trust account controlled by public servants of Sepik.

Thaddeus Kambanei was the key trustee.

Very bad record and bookkeeping is at the root of the scam.

Public servants are taking leaders' directions without question.

This explains lack of accountability.

 But the question is why has Somare as Regional Member for East Sepik not taken up this issue with appropriate authorities like Ombudsman Commission and police?

 

Business officers urged to drive SMEs

Central deputy administrator Mannasseh Rapila presents Jacklin Ravu from Yu Tok, a non-government organisation, with her certificate.-Pictures by MALUM NALU
Central deputy administrator Mannasseh Rapaila presents Jerry Mekero, a business development officer from West Sepik province, with her certificate

Business development officers (BDOs) who attended a seminar conducted by the Small Business Development Corporation have been urged not hold back what they have learned.
Central deputy provincial administrator Mannasseh Rapila made the call in his keynote address at the graduation of BDOs from throughout Papua New Guinea from an International Labour Organisation – Start Improve Your Business training of trainers and refresher training of trainers seminar at the Granville Hotel in Port Moresby last Friday.
“The worse thing you can do to your people is to withhold all the good things you have learned in the ILO-SIYB training of trainers and refresher training of trainers seminar,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the losers will be your own people whose interests brought you to attend this seminar.
“Your provincial administrator thought that you would provide the type of advice required for the betterment of local businessmen and women, therefore, you were selected to attend this seminar away from your province.
“By the same token, in acceptance of this selection, you have made a commitment with your provincial administrator to return well-equipped to do what is required of you as business development officer of the province.”
Mr Rapila further urged participants to return to their respective provinces and take stock of local business entrepreneurs.
“How can you assist these local businessmen and women with the new, modern methods that you have been provided with over the past two weeks?” he said.
Mr Rapila said small and medium enterprises (SMEs) provided employment for local people; hence, their survival should be the concern of the BDOs.
“One of the visions of Somare/Temu government as enshrined in Vision 2050, which was recently launched, is the empowerment of people in the rural areas economically and your training this week has been timely,” he said.
“In order to achieve this vision, you as business development officers in your respective provinces, play a very-important role.
“While the government is advocating and strategising policies to enhance and improve standards of living in the rural areas, this vision cannot be achieved without properly equipping our local businessmen and women with better and improved methods and systems of operations.
“They need your expert advice in order to do well in their businesses; otherwise, they will be spectators while more-established foreign companies grab all the business activities from them.
“You make it your business to ensure that these local entrepreneurs are competitive.
“Given this scenario, you as the key agents in the provinces in promoting and growing the SME sector, play a very important role for these small SME entrepreneurs.
“The SME sector empowers PNG businessmen and women by providing better methods and ways to carry out businesses.
“In doing so, you play a very-important role in the achievement of this development vision.”