I've been following the story in the Post-Courier of the young man who was charged with killing another young man about four years ago through that absolutely stupid male cult practice called 'skelim bros' and was shocked today to learn that the court has now ordered a four year suspended sentence on the perpetrator.
The newspaper did not report on the reaction to this sentence from the deceased's parents/family but I'm sure they must be feeling a real sense of injustice right now.
Where is justice being served for a boy, who was probably talked into skipping school that fateful day by boys older than himself, forced into drinking homebrew as part of the 'skelim bros' rite of passage nonsense, then held up against a wall and punched to death violently and repeatedly in the chest by the perpetrator, another boy, probably older and who was also drunk not just from the alcohol, but from the sense of power that all bullies possess when they target the weak.
And, bullying is what 'skelim bros' is all about. It's protectionism for male teenagers. If you don't get punched in the chest until your sternum/ribs snap or bend inward, at least, you are not considered man enough to be part of the crowd. You are an outsider whom others can ignore and prey on, because you are viewed as being different - and lord knows that is not a feeling you want to have when you're a teenager. It's not exactly a nice feeling when your peers ridicule you or, worse, belt you up.
Whilst following the articles, I thought the courts were presented with a good opportunity to send out a strong message that 'skelim bros' and bullying in general, which is, unfortunately, common place in most schools, is wrong and if you punch someone in the chest so hard that the impact collapses the chest cavity, snapping the ribs in the process and causing the broken bones to tear flesh, pierce the heart or lungs and thereby cause a very painful death, you, the bully, will go to jail because you have killed someone deliberately.
But, alas, today, I read that the courts have imposed a slap-on-the-wrist sentence and you can just imagine the relief and happiness that the perpetrator would have felt as he was embraced by his equally relieved family as they walked out of the court room into the fresh air and warm sunshine. It was a beautiful day for them.
Meanwhile, the soul of the poor deceased boy, despatched so ruthlessly to the sheer blackness of eternity, roams the great void angrily, restlessly, eternally. And, somewhere, at a school in this country, some poor male student, the child of parents of have worked hard to put their son in school, is either preparing to undergo 'skelim bros' or is either being considered for 'skelim bros' by his peers. The cycle of violence rages on restlessly, eternally.
THE director-general of the Office of Higher Education
(OHE), Dr William Tagis, has questioned the effectiveness of the security
management of the University of Technology in Lae, The
National reports.
He said there had been student deaths in the past five
years, with the recent one last Thursday when a first year engineering student
from East Sepik was killed, allegedly at the
hands of a highlands student or students.
“A death or deaths, even injuries, of any student at a
university campus, is a very serious matter,” Tagis said
yesterday.
“No university should allow ethnic groupings.
“Such activities must be stopped because they are not
helping anyone,” he added.
Tagis said Unitech should instead encourage “academic
groupings” which he said were more healthy as they were made up of mixed
groupings of students from all cultural and ethnic
backgrounds.
Tagis said about a year or two ago, there was another
killing of a highlands student, followed by heightened unrest on that campus
with another student being badly-injured.
Last week, the first year engineering student was
killed.
“A university that is allowing such continuing unrest
brings about questions about the executive management of the institution;
particularly, its management of security system of all living on campus –
students and staff like.
“Students must feel safe to study and move about on a
university campus.
“With the continuing deaths of students, there must be
questions as to the effectiveness of its administration, particularly
security.
“It brings to my mind why there is no disciplinary
control in a university campus,” Tagis said.
He pointed out that “ethnic groupings” must not be
allowed and called on the Unitech administration to immediately do away with
such practices by its students on campus.
He said it encouraged the breeding grounds of the
current on-going ethnic clashes leading to killings of innocent students whose
reasons for being in a higher education institution was to gain valuable
education which would benefit PNG.
Tagis dispatched one of his senior officers to the
university on Monday and expected him to return with information of what was
really going on.
He said based on this information, his office would make
its next moves to assist Unitech to reach a long-term objective on better
control of the safety of students on campus.
Councillor Elizabeth Gonoua
of Central (from left), Julie Keni of East Sepik, Sophie Kaupa of Chimbu, PNG
Women in Business president Janet Sape, Lari Fareho of Port Moresby and vice
president of the People’s Action Party Martha Kaia showing off their passports
for a trip to the Shanghai 2010 world trade expo.
By BOSORINA
ROBBY
FIVE Papua New Guinean businesswomen
will be going to China to celebrate the country’s
independence at the Shanghai 2010 world trade expo this
weekend, The National reports.
The women, who are engaged in small
to medium-sized businesses, were the winners of the PNG Women in Business (WIB)
expo held in Lae earlier this year.
The trip to Shanghai was one of the
incentives of WiB.
The women are Kuni/Mekeo councilor
Elizabeth Gonoua, who is a rubber farmer; Julie Keni, a guest house proprietor
in East Sepik; Sophie Kaupa, a tailor with branches in Lae and Chimbu; Lari
Fareho, a local jeweller in Port
Moresby; and bilum wear specialist Florence Jaukae.
In a small ceremony yesterday, PNG
WiB president Janet Sape thanked the women and their families for their
commitment to support the organisation which aims to equip mothers who are
venturing into small businesses.
Sape said many women in PNG were
very skilled but did not have anywhere to go to further their skills and market
to expose their products.
She had encouraged all interested
women to visit the PNG WiB office at the DCI Textile building at Gordon to know
more about how they can participate in moving PNG forward through their own
business ventures.
She also acknowledged Minister for
Commerce and Industry Gabriel Kapris and his department for supporting this
incentive and assisting to set up WiB and sponsoring the
trip.
The women were presented with their
passport by People’s Action Party vice-president Martha Kaia, on behalf of
Kapris.
CORRECTIONAL Services Minister Tony Aimo has confirmed overseas media reports that the Correctional Services will buy non-lethal weapons worth more than K9 million for its jails from Australian defence technology company Metal Storm Ltd, The National reports.
The Brisbane-based company announced separately on its website that the Correctional Services planned to have about 1,500 of these weapons in service starting next year.
Aimo said CS had placed orders worth US$3.364 million (K9.1 million) but no payments had been made as arrangements were being done on a government-to-government level.
The minister, reinstated CS commissioner Richard Sikani and deputy commissioner operations Henry Wavik will travel to Brisbane next week to check on the weapons.
Metal Storm said this week it would supply 500 weapons and 50,000 rounds of ammunition in a deal signed with Aimo.
The semi-automatic weapons would be used with non-lethal ammunition and would be deployed to CS officers in charge of security at jails throughout the country, providing non-lethal response capabilities that could be lifted to immediate lethal response if necessary.
“PNG is delighted to be able to source weapons at the leading edge of shotgun technology and we hope in due course to have about 1,500 of these weapons in service,” Aimo said.
He said he expected ratification of the urgent purchase through the usual government protocols shortly and the first 50 weapons to be delivered by next February.
Aimo said CS would be getting non-lethal weapons while the police and defence would be beefing up their firepower with lethal weapons.
He said orders had been placed and were going through the normal procurement process.
“If things go well, Correctional Services will be the first to get non-lethal weapons that is aimed at injuring rather than killing of escapees.
“We do not want to kill prison escapees, the message we want to get across is for escapees to go back and serve their jail term, and we (CS) will rehabilitate you into the community as a reformed person.”
Aimo said that CS saw the capacity of the weapon to deliver a rapid and escalating response as exactly what was necessary for security in PNG jails.
Metal Storm CEO Dr Lee Finniear said the production contract was a watershed for the company after many years of research, development and testing.
He said that an additional advantage for the CS was that weapons that were lost or stolen could not be used with conventional illegally obtained ammunition.
“Illegal arms possession is a big problem in PNG and the government are determined to tackle the issue on a variety of fronts.
“By purchasing Metal Storm weapons, the PNG Correctional Services is contributing to government arms control by ensuring that, if stolen, its new weapons cannot be used effectively by criminals,” Finniear said.
THE reinstatement of Correctional Services Commissioner Richard Sikani to the top post is lawful and in line with all public service rules and regulations, minister Tony Aimo said yesterday, The National reports.
He told reporters that all internal and external investigations had cleared Sikani of any wrongdoing into the escape of serial bank robber William Kapris and 11 others from the Bomana prison early this year.
Based on these findings, the minister said cabinet saw fit to give the CS top administrative post back to Sikani.
“Sikani was not personally involved or responsible for aiding and abetting the escape of Kapris and 11 other hardcore prisoners from the Bomana maximum security unit on Jan 12,” Aimo said.
He said the jail commander of the corrective institution was responsible for the day-to-day administration and management of the prison, including the maximum unit.
“It is clearly spelt out in his duty statement,” he added.
He said two prison warders, Abiang Kera and John Weka, had been charged with the offence with their cases now before court.
“My department, through the commissioner, has in place security procedures and protocols, standing orders and operational orders in the management of the maximum security unit.
“The underlying rules and command must be observed and managed by the jail commanders and all their officers at CS institutions throughout the country.
“It is not the task of the commissioner, or even the minister, to stand at the Bomana maximum security unit gate or the CS gate to check every client visiting prisoners,” Aimo said.
“Security protocols of all security units must be strictly executed in all our correctional institutions.”
The minister said an internal investigation into the escape of Kapris and 11 others did not, in any way, implicate the commissioner.
“Having considered all these facts, I, as minister for CS, seeking advice from Public Service Minister Peter O’Neill and the chief secretary to government, Manasupe Zurenuoc, sought cabinet’s approval to reinstate Sikani as CS commissioner.”
The approval was granted on Aug 27.
Aimo urged the commissioner to ensure command and control mechanisms were put in place to get the department up and running.
Sikani’s first task would be to implement the prison industry authority concept, a vehicle aimed at driving the rehabilitation of rundown institutions and the rural lock-up programme that had grinded to a halt in January.
Telefomin MP Peter Iwei (left) with chief pilot Gerard Conron near the plane at the Jackson International Airport yesterday.-Nationalpic by JEFFREY ELAPA
FOUR local level governments in West Sepik’s Telefomin district have become the first local level government (LLG) to own a plane to serve their people, The National reports.
And they have much to thank TransAir co-owner Les Wright for making it possible.
Unfortunately, Wright could not witness the handover yesterday, as he
was one of four people killed in the Misima, Milne Bay, plane crash in
bad weather last Tuesday.
Telefomin MP Peter Iwei said the nine-seater Cessna 206 was bought for
K300,000 using his district support grants which were approved by the
district planning and budget priorities committee.
The plane was bought in Cairns, Australia, under an arrangement with Wright before last Tuesday’s tragic plane crash.
Iwei said that the plane would be leased to the Frieda River copper mine
in his electorate so that it was sustainable in the long run, allowing
the district to collect revenue.
He said Telefomin was one of the most isolated districts, which was only
accessible by air, and the plane would ease many transportation
problems.
He noted that the plane was small, however, it was appropriate for
serving his people whose travel had been restricted for many years.
Iwei thanked third-level airlines like MAF that had served his remote
area, and the purchase of the plane was not to compete but for service
delivery to his people.
The launching of the plane will take place in Telefomin after it is registered as P2PIW Min Airways.
Villager Collin Tandamat, who turned up to see the plane at the TransAir
hanger at the Jackson International Airport, said he was pleased to see
the little people owning a plane to serve themselves.
Iwei returned from Telefomin yesterday to learn of the Misima tragedy and passed his condolences to Wright’s family
THE trial date for the deep sea tailings placement (DSTP) legal battle against Ramu NiCo management (MCC) and state stakeholders has been confirmed for Sept 21-Oct 1 at the Madang National Court, The National reports.
At directions hearing yesterday, defendants Ramu NiCo, Mineral Resources Authority, Environment and Conservation Department and the state maintained that the trial date should be kept and the trial preparation should be fast-tracked while the plaintiffs should file and serve any affidavits to prosecute their claims.
Justice David Cannings heard three applications which were returnable yesterday:
* First defendant Eddie Tarsie’s application for an expedited trial and related matters;
* Sama Melambo and Pommern ILG’s application to withdraw from the proceedings; and
* Plaintiffs Tarsie, Farina Siga and Peter Sel’s application to have the matter referred to the alternate dispute resolution (ADR) courts for mediation.
Cannings ruled that the plaintiffs should file and serve additional affidavits and notices by Sept 13 and the defendants by Sept 17.
He also expressed concern that the application for mediation was too late in the litigation process; however, he would hear the notice of motion on Friday.
Cannings also accepted an invitation, in principle, from Ramu NiCo to visit the DSTP site at Basamuk, RaiCoast, but not before the trial.
He said the site visit could take place after the close of the submissions but before he hands down his decision.
The plaintiffs had been granted an interim injunction since March, halting work on the DSTP offshore facility construction claiming that the tailings were environmentally damaging to marine life and their livelihood.
Yesterday, Cannings granted leave for Melambo and Pommern ILG to cease the litigation proceedings.
Outside the court, Ramu NiCo said yesterday it would make good preparations for the trial while always ready to start the settlement discussion with the plaintiffs any time this week.
It had sent a letter to all parties on Sept 5 but had not received an indication from the remaining three plaintiffs.
Ramu NiCo also said that it was seeking legal advice and would be making applications to seek cost and undertakings on damages from third parties who were believed to have financed the litigation.
In a separate but related move last week, four LLG presidents and a magistrate of the area filed affidavits in the Waigani National Court saying that they had not authorised Tarsie, Siga and Sel to be party to the proceedings initiated in March against Ramu NiCo and the state.
The K3.1 billion project was due to go into production at the end of this year.
Friends, especially those in Lae or those who will be in Lae over the independence weekend, we'll be putting up Mum's headstone on Friday September 17 followed by kaikai on Saturday September 18, at our house at Butibam village in Lae, so please feel free to drop by.
Eastern Highlands students
studying at the University of Technology waiting in front of the Yanepa
building for Governor Malcolm Kela-Smith to present their petition yesterday.
Sepiks turn on students from other
provinces
THE University of Technology, despite further intimidation
and threats by provincial groups against each other, is assuring safety and
appealing to students to return to classes next
Monday, The National reports.
The administration said last night
that it had also beefed up security with more police presence at the Taraka
campus.
Police have been given orders to
arrest and charge anyone breaking Unitech rules and regulations and disrupting
peace.
On Monday night, Sepik students searched all lodges and dormitories and
attacked students from other provinces.
University workers said the Sepiks
had retaliated following an attack by Western Highlands students late in the
afternoon.
Police were forced to fire warning
shots into the air to disperse the unruly group, an academic
said.
The Sepik students continued the threats and intimidation
yesterday morning and attacked a Central student in front of the union canteen
at midday.
Students said the Sepiks were
attacking anybody “who is not a Sepik”.
They said the Sepiks were angered
when they learnt of a discussion on Monday night by all other provincial groups.
They viewed the meeting as collusion to team up against
them.
“They thought that everyone is
against them,” the students said.
In Goroka, Unitech students from
Eastern Highlands yesterday petitioned Governor
Malcolm Kela-Smith to assist them to return to complete their
studies.
The students fled the Taraka campus
last weekend along with other highlands students in fear of attack from
Sepik students following a clash that resulted
in a death.
President of the Unitech Eastern
Highlands Students Association Solomon David petitioned Kela-Smith in front of
the Yanepa provincial government building
yesterday.
The students called for maximum
security to be provided for them to return and complete the remaining five weeks
of their academic year.
They also called for financial
assistance for transport and political intervention to address the current
situation on campus.
The students claimed that the
university’s senior management had failed to deal with the problem, resulting in
a death, injuries and chaos.
In Mt Hagen, Western Highlands
students said they were not involved in the clash.
They said the fight was between the
Chimbu and Sepik students, and no Western
Highlander had part took in it.
The National, yesterday, reported
that the Sepik students were angry that a Western
Highlands student, known to them, was instrumental in the fight at
the student mess.
The fight reportedly began after a
Sepik student was assaulted at the university
gates at Taraka.
Meanwhile, Enga students who boarded
a PMV bus from Lae to Wabag were allegedly attacked along the Highlands Highway
last weekend.
First-year student Terry Kandiu said
they were attacked and robbed at Kindeng, but they did not know who the
attackers were and why they were attacked.
Police in Mt Hagen confirmed that
they had received reports of the incident but had not made any
arrests.
NEARLY 500 people have been left homeless in the Huon Gulf district of Morobe after a freak thunderstorm on Monday night flattened their homes, The National reports.
Villagers of Maiama on the coast of the Morobe patrol post lost 32 homes and the remainder of their food gardens in the strong winds and heavy rains.
Women, children and the elderly were pleading for help from relatives in Lae for food supplies and medication.
Fears of flooding and landslides had also been raised for villages along the coast to the border of Northern and in the hinterlands.
It is the second disaster to have affected the village in a week after last Wednesday’s 2m-high flooding of the MasiraRiver that swept away 25 homes and lowland gardens, Morobe patrol post sub-district manager Essing Ulam said last night.
He said last week’s devastation left more than 100 people homeless and Monday night’s had worsened the situation with more than 300 people without either food or shelter.
He said a southeasterly wind lashed the village at 1am on Monday.
Cash crops of vanilla vines and cocoa trees and food gardens were all destroyed.
Ulam said the phenomenon was described by villagers as “some strange wind”.
Ulam and his Department of Agriculture and Livestock officer have compiled a latest report to the Morobe provincial disaster and emergency office for assistence.
They had been visited at the weekend by Huon Gulf district administrator Tony Ase.
Ase said last night that he had requested relief supplies from the disaster office.
In the meantime, the people are scouring their gardens for food.
Pyrethrum offers an alternative income earning opportunity
for farmers in the high altitude highlands of Papua New Guinea.
It is re-emerging as a cash crop due to innovations in
research and development through collaborative efforts among partners.
With the establishment of markets, improved planting
materials, production suitability, technical support and new information,
farmers should fully capture this income-earning potential.
Pyrethrum is a daisy-like plant of the Chrysanthemum group
of the Compositae family. An active constituent, extracted from dried flower
heads, known as ‘pyrethrin’, has economical importance.
Pyrethrum flower
Most of this active ingredient is used as additives in pharmaceuticals
(body and household sprays), insecticides, mosquito coils and many more.
Pyrethrum grows well in some patches of areas within
altitudes ranging from 1800 – 3000 meters above sea level.
Such altitudes have the suitable temperatures and humidity
with optimal rainfall, and other environmental conditions conducive for
pyrethrum production.
In the 1950s, the national Department of Agriculture and
Livestock introduced and evaluated high-yielding seeds from Congo and Kenya to determine its adaptability
under PNG conditions.
Research work commenced in Aiyura (Eastern Highlands) in the
early 1950s but due to poor performance, further work was moved to Tambul (Western Highlands) in 1966 and continued further up the
highlands to Sirunki in the Enga province.
From results obtained during these trials, 30 pyrethrum
clones with high pyrethrin content, superior agronomic yield parameters with
some level of tolerance to floral fungal diseases were selected for further
assessment.
The 30 promising clones were further multiplied at the
Sirunki Sub-Research DPI Station and distributed to farmers around Sirunki and
other pyrethrum-growing areas in the Enga province.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s, the pyrethrum industry
played a major role in sustaining the livelihood of some 65-85,000 people.
Unfortunately, the clones were lost in farmers’ fields.
The loss was beyond a
retraceable point as farmers lost interest in the crop.
This contributed to
delivery of fewer flowers by farmers to an extraction factory and thus resulted
in the fall of the industry in 1995.
The pyrethrum industry was worth K350, 000 to K400, 000 with
annual production of 300 tonnes in the early 1970’s until the closure.
However, since 2003, NARI Tambul has recollected available pyrethrum
clones that were found in farmer fields in the Sirunki area and established a
germplasm collection at the Taluma Research Station.
This was done with the aim to improve pyrethrum clones by
poly-crossing among them. It was also a step forward for reviving the pyrethrum
industry with the identification and selection of improved clones.
In addition, NARI has also worked on addressing crop
husbandry in relation to improvement in flower yields through assessment on
cultural husbandry practices such as plant spacing, slashing off tops, fungal
disease severity and improved drying methods. This includes generation and
production of technical information for dissemination to farmers and
stakeholders.
For the pyrethrum industry to be fully re-commercialised,
the farming communities need to be well equipped with technical knowledge and
skills on pyrethrum crop husbandry which are adopted into their farming
systems.
This has been the
main focus of various collaborators now involved in the re-commercialisation of
the pyrethrum industry in PNG.
The industry has picked up since recently due to a sound
partnership arrangement between the extension team of the Enga Pyrethrum
Company and the NARI Tambul research team in terms of production and
dissemination of technical information through distribution of posters,
information leaflet and improved planting materials.
Farmers and farming
communities have cultivated 18 improved pyrethrum clones which were distributed
as preliminary released planting materials since early 2006 through the
collaboration.
As a result there is significant increase in production of more
than 145 tonnes in 2008, compared to less than 40 tonnes in 2005.
Currently, the Enga Pyrethrum Company Holdings Ltd (EPC) is
purchasing dried flowers from farmers and selling its product, oleoresin, in
crude, to Botanical Resources Australia based in Tasmania,
Australia.
EPC started off with the purchase of 40 tonnes in 2005 and
gradually increased to 145 tonnes in 2008.
According to the pyrethrum extraction factory at the
outskirt of Mt Hagen City, the extraction efficiency of the plant has improved
mainly due to high pyrethrin level of dried flowers, improvement in farmers’
level of understanding of the crop husbandry through awareness and availability
of improved planting materials.
With the improvement in the level of understanding of the
crop by growers and farming communities, the industry would serve as a giant
sole cash earner in the marginalised sketches of high altitude highlands of PNG.
Hereafter, the industry would foster downstream processing
and farmers can be paid much higher price for their produce.
It can be paid on the
pyrethrin content and not dried weight as it is at present.
The industry has great potential in subsequently establishing
multiple export markets overseas for selling of raw materials as well as
processed products.
Pyrethrum crop is a sustainable and viable industry for
rural marginalised farmers in the high altitude highlands of the country.
The industry has a great potential, having had the most-conducive
environmental conditions, production cycle all year round, availability of
improved clones with more than three years of expanded life span of the farm,
and multiple established overseas markets for the produce and processed products.
Seven young contestants for the Hiri Hanenamo crown, led by 22-year-old Wari Gou from Barakau (from left) yesterday lined up at the Botanical Gardens in Port Moresby
to strut their stuff for photographers, The National reports. With Gou are 18-year-old Mary
Kone from Tubusereia; Hebou Morea, 22, Porebada; Sese Boge, 20, Gaire;
Bele Nou, 18, Manumanu; Venessa Vagi, 17, and 23-year-old Carolyn
Sabadi both from Boera village. The contestants will line up to be
judged during the Hiri Moale Festival on Sept 16, coinciding with the
country’s Independence Day celebrations. – Nationalpic by AURI EVA
MOST students at the University of Technology in Lae have left the campus and apparently abandoned the six final weeks of the academic year, The National reports.
While the Unitech administration was counting on normal classes to resume today, only a handful of students from other provinces, along with those from Enga and international students, mainly from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, were left at the Taraka campus along with the East and West Sepik male students.
Many students from other highlands provinces had left the campus with six bus and truckloads of Chimbu students, out of fear of retribution, hurriedly leaving for Kundiawa last Saturday, courtesy of their provincial administration and the Morobe provincial government.
Many other students, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire between Simbus and Sepiks, were living off campus awaiting resumption but dreading that the Unitech council may not extend the school year.
Sepik students at the campus were adamant the academic year should not resume unless the Chimbu student perpetrators, allegedly involved in the killing of a first-year applied physics student last Thursday night, were arrested and prosecuted and the university administration gave them assurances to safeguard their lives.
The Sepiks met with Unitech registrar Allan Sako and acting vice-chancellor Prof Mohammed Sater yesterday morning in relation to a petition they presented to the university administration last Saturday evening which, among other things, called for the investigation, arrest and prosecution of Chimbu students alleged involved in the clashes and the death.
The petition also demanded the removal of Kuima Security, which guards the campus premises, saying they failed to maintain peace during the fights.
The university administration was also blamed for not doing enough when the fights first started last Tuesday, resulting in the hospitalisation of a student.
Sepik students were angered that the university had failed to report last Tuesday’s initial fight to Lae police which, they said, could have deterred further clashes last Thursday evening.
In response, the administration said police investigations were underway with Sepik and Chimbu students, security personnel and university officers being interviewed.
Sako said the Unitech council would meet to consider security measures at the campus.
He said Chimbu students, allegedly involved in the fight, would be identified and dealt with under existing university rules and regulations with termination a possible option.
The same course of action, the university said, would apply to students from East and West Sepik who were found to have breached these same regulations.
There was a slight altercation at the student mess yesterday afternoon when Western Highlands students, prevented from eating at the mess, stoned an Engan student who was allowed to use the facilities.
The Sepik students were angry that a Western Highlands student, known to them, was instrumental in the fight at the mess last Thursday resulting in the death of a Sepik student.
Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, who is also East Sepik MP, had insisted that a report on the campus killing and fight be sent to him by yesterday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge said he was saddened by the events and offered to assist Sepik students “in any way possible”.
Security measures on campus were being beefed up with heavy mobile police presence.
THE National Government’s 20-year strategic development plan (SDP) is set to take off as the medium term development strategy nears its 10-year cycle.
Key players in the government preferred the SDP to the Vision 2050, arguing it was properly costed and had realistic targets, The National reports.
The SDP was conceptualised by Planning Minister Paul Tiensten, who foreshadowed the 20-year plan when he delivered a stinging attack on the 40-year plan (later named Vision 2050) during the mining and petroleum conference in Sydney in December 2008.
The SDP is costed around K250 billion over 20 years,
starting next year.
The medium term development plan will take up the first five years of SDP, and a growth concept Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru would kick-start next year is called PRAEC (petroleum resource area economic corridor).
“I want to champion PRAEC for the next five years,” Agiru said yesterday.
Under PRAEC, various projects would be developed and funded along the corridor area.
These projects are expected to spur growth in these areas, which will mostly be affected by the petroleum projects now under way.
“Under PRAEC, Southern Highlands and Hela will be the envy of the rest of PNG. Gulf, Western, Enga and Central will also benefit from this concept,” Tiensten said when commenting on the move by Agiru.
Agiru said he believed Vision 2050 was only a dream.
He said the ideals of 2050 were already captured in the constitution.
“Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare envisaged this and captured it in our constitution. It has been there for 35 years.
“We do not need Vision 2050. It is not costed. We do not know where it will start and finish,” Agiru said.
While Agiru kick-starts PRAEC, other parts of PNG will also have their own growth concepts under this plan.
For the funding commitment of the SDP to be fully realised, the government may relax restrictions, placed by the medium term fiscal strategy and other laws or policies, so government can access funds to inject into the 20-year plan.
Government sources said the government might borrow against future earnings, given the national debt to GDP ratio had fallen below 50%, to fund this strategy since most of the programmes were development-oriented and would trigger economic growth and create wealth in the 20 years.
THE Misima crash that killed three Australians and a New Zealander last Tuesday has also exposed serious concerns about Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) handling of Trans Air’s operations and anger about the allegedly poor performance of some of the parties involved in Australian investigations into the Kokoda disaster last year, The National reports.
Popular Australian website Crikey, reported that while the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) had agreed to a Papua New Guinea invitation to assist in its investigation at the site where the operator’s Citation II jet crashed off the runway on Misima Island, its involvement is being kept at levels Port Moresby considers appropriate to an aviation accident rather than a political circus.
Information given to Crikey said a massive and costly inquiry by Australian authorities – including the department of environment, water, heritage and the arts as well as the ATSB, CASA and department of foreign affairs and trade – into the crash of a PNG Airlines Twin Otter while descending toward the Kokoda airstrip last Aug 11 produced a report “so badly flawed that it was withdrawn without a detailed release after the PNG authorities objected to what they regarded as factual errors and mistakes within it”.
Crikey said: “That crash killed 13 people, including nine Australians about to embark on the Kokoda Track walk.
“An official and detailed PNG report into the tragedy is in preparation for public release on a date to be announced.
“The anger in Port Moresby over CASA’s alleged ‘persecution’ of Trans Air and one of its co-owners, Les Wright, who died in last Tuesday’s crash is not about Wright’s numerous offences against Australian safety regulations while chief pilot and part owner of the earlier Transair, which went out of business after the crash of its Metroliner turbo-prop while approaching Lockhart River in far northern Queensland on May 7, 2005, killing all 15 people on board.
“Rather it is about a perceived vendetta against the PNG Trans Air operation, in which Wright had no role in its management of safety, and which officials in Port Moresby saw as an attempt by CASA to deflect blame for its complicity in the LockhartRiver crash.
“To summarise from privileged documents, the ATSB in its inquiry in the 2005 crash blamed inadequate and ineffective CASA oversight of Wright and Transair as a contributing factor, in that if CASA had done its job the accident would never have happened.
“These claims, subsequently pursued by the relatives of the LockhartRiver dead through senate committee hearings into CASA and aired in a coronial inquest, are well supported.
“The CASA ‘vendetta’ against Wright and Trans Air failed after the administrative appeals tribunal in January reversed the regulator’s refusal to issue a certificate of approval for its medical evacuation and related flight activities between PNG and Australia.
“Those flights used the same jet that was destroyed on Tuesday after it was observed to aquaplane off the MisimaIsland airstrip in heavy rain and crash into trees.
“Wright is now dead, and following the comments about him and Trans Air made by CASA, which sought to leverage positive spin on its failures to deal with Transair in 2005, so is its reputation in PNG.”
The bodies of three Australians and a New Zealander killed in a Papua New Guinea plane crash have arrived in Brisbane, ABC reports.
All four were on board a Trans Air charter plane when it crashed into trees and burst into flames on MisimaIsland, off the south-eastern tip of PNG, last week.
The Queensland coroner took possession of the remains just before midday (AEST) yesterday and will carry out post-mortem examinations.
The sole survivor of the accident - the plane's 25-year-old co-pilot Kelby Cheyne - has been discharged from a Townsville hospital.
The Australian victims were marine pilot Chris Hart, Trans Air co-owner Les Wright and Darren Moore, who was believed to be working for PNG's Civil Aviation Authority.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has sent three experienced investigators to PNG following a request from local authorities
PNG LNG project operator Esso Highlands Ltd (EHL), the subsidiary of ExxonMobil, spent more than K460 million (US$170 million) on goods and services during the quarter from April to June this year, The National reports.
It also employed a total of 2,300 nationals, representing 80% of the total workforce during the period in review, while training new workers, of whom 17% of the graduate trainees were women.
These were contained in a report covering the second quarter period which also showed the company’s environmental activities.
EHL managing director Peter Graham, in his executive summary report, said recruiting and training local citizens was another key component of the project’s national content plan.
Graham said the project would require a peak of approximately 12,000 workers, about one-third of which would be locals.
He said the workers were sourced across the project region including Gobe, Kopi, Kantobo, Hides, Komo, Moro and the LNG plant site areas as well as other areas of the country.
Graham also said the project’s approach to environment protection began with a thorough understanding of the physical surrounding and operating environment with the goal of minimising the project footprint.
He said to continue the effort in this area, “this quarter the project environment field team was expanded to enable site verifications across al the active construction worksites”.
“At the end of this quarter, approximately two-thirds of the overall survey programme and one-third of the onshore pipeline survey were completed.
“The pre-construction survey reports addressing archeological and cultural heritage, ecology, weeds and water quality were submitted to the Department of Environment and Conservation in which acceptance was secured,” Graham added.
THE government lost K54 million to fraud and bogus claims disguised as compensation for the Highlands Highway rehabilitation project, an expert has claimed, The National reports.
Consultant Mori Resources said the fraud was perpetrated by the absence of legislation on road corridor managements.
The fraud and bogus claims were pushed by public servants colluding with dishonest villagers, the firm said.
Further claims lodged by villagers with the Department of Works escalated to K68 million, compelling the state to put on hold the Highlands Highway rehabilitation project.
This had abruptly disrupted all rehabilitation and upgrading work on the Highlands Highways and other major roads in the country.
The Asian Development Bank, which loaned the money to fund the project, has pulled out.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Works Don Polye received the report of this fraud last Friday by the consulting firm which was engaged to undertake structural mapping, verification and valuation.
Mori Resources said less than K10 million should have been paid to the landowners if proper procedures were followed with only those structures within the 40m corridor of the highway being pulled down, and their owners compensated.
The minister was not impressed with the involvement of public servants into the rod.
“This is corruption by state agents and contractors who are collaborating with the people,” Polye said.
“Everyone in society entangled themselves and willingly participated in this act of corruption to rob the country.”
Polye said immediate actions would be taken against those involved once all the evidences were put together.
Identifying and persecuting those involved, including the landowners, would be fairly easy because Mori Resources had used the GIS structural mapping system linked to a satellite precisely identified who were genuine claimants and who were not.
During the structural mapping process, Mori Resources discovered that of the total K54,067,338 paid out for structures either outside the legal 40m road corridor or were non-existent, only K8,957,175.35 worth of structures were recorded within the 40m corridor.
The minister said he would present the report of the finding to cabinet for deliberation.
HOUSING Minister Andrew Kumbakor has described the Poporena Freeway as a “death trap” that needs to be redesigned before more lives are lost, The National reports.
Kumbakor is mourning the loss of his young son Malakai, 13, who was killed in an accident along the highway on Saturday evening.
Malakai was in a sedan with four others, heading back from town after a basketball training session.
The driver, believed to be his elder brother, lost control and shot off the highway at Hohola.
Malakai was thrown out of the car. He suffered injuries to his head and other parts of his body, and was pronounced dead on arrival at the PacificInternationalHospital.
Police are investigating the accident.
“There have been a lot of deaths on the Poreporena Freeway over the years.
“Most of these deaths are preventable if safety was considered during its construction. For example, there is no way of controlling speed on this highway,” the minister said.
The lack of speedometer, or any gadget to control speed, meant motorists were travelling at high speed on the highway.
“There is no speedometer, or speed humps. There are so many vehicles on the road today.
“The lack of policing is such that people with dangerous habits are allowed to drive on the road,” he said.
“Our roads and their use are so unregulated here,” Kumbakor said.
Malakai was a Grade 6 student at the KopkopCollege in Gerehu. He is survived by six brothers and four sisters.
Also over the weekend, a pioneer SDA pastor in Enga was killed in Boroko when he was hit by a vehicle.
He was identified as Pr Paul Piari. Details of his death were not released, but police are also investigating.
Last year, two brothers were killed at Konedobu, along the freeway, when a vehicle which had spun out of control slammed into them.
The two were sons of government lawyer David Lambu.
THE University of Technology administration has urged students who have left the campus to return for classes starting today, The National reports.
Many of the students left the campus after violence flared again between two ethnic groups last Thursday night, which resulted in the death of a first year engineering student.
The senior executive management and heads of departments met and agreed to suspend classes last Friday and resume today while efforts were made at the weekend to bring the groups involved together to reconcile.
The university administration also quickly moved to beef up security on campus with the engagement of a police mobile squad and increasing the number of security guards by private contractor Kuima Security Services and the university’s own security staff.
Lae metropolitan commander Chief Supt Nema Mondiai also assured that more policemen would be deployed on campus should the need arise.
Acting vice-chancellor Prof Mohammed Satter and registrar Allan Sako met with the student representative council executive and leaders of student groups, especially from the Highlands provinces, last Friday and assured them that security measures were in place to ensure the safety of the students.
They told the students the mobile squad 14 from Goroka would be based on campus until the situation is back to normal.
Other measures imposed included:
* Restrictions on movement of staff, staff dependents, students and the public in and out of the campus from 10pm daily until further notice;
* Restrictions on vehicles moving in and out of the campus from 10pm daily;
* Restrictions on ethnic or regional meetings or gatherings on campus; and
* Emphasising the existence of the zero tolerance policy on alcohol and drugs.
Police and security staff have been directed to strictly police the measures. Any student, staff, staff dependent or member of the public who breaches the restrictions would be dealt with under the university rules and the laws.
The measures follow the killing of a first-year electrical engineering student last Thursday night on campus.
The student died after being attacked with sticks and stones and stabbed during the fight.
Another student sustained serious injuries and is in critical condition at the AngauMemorialHospital.
A third student is also recovering at Angau, where he was admitted with serious head injuries last week.
Last Thursday, the students involved in the first fight met and agreed on a truce, shook hands and reconciled. Later that evening, the fight erupted again, this time involving a larger group.
Satter, while expressing regret and dismay at the continuing violence perpetrated by a minority of the students, appealed to everyone, including the public to adhere to the restrictions so as to bring about normalcy on campus.
He urged those students that left the campus to return and allow for lectures to resume on Monday (today), adding the university had not closed.
Satter also appealed to the concerned students and student groups to stop the violence and allow the normal process of the law to take its course and for negotiations with the disputing parties for an early resolution.
He said the administration did not want the students’ studies to be disrupted any further, with just five weeks left before the final examinations.
Kutubu is known for producing Papua New Guinea’s finest crude oil which is commercialised internationally.
Early works proved that Kutubu also has the potential to produce upland rice.
The soil and the climate are just right.
The Foe, Faso and Moran women have wasted no time; they are already in business, venturing into household level rice production for family consumption.
Taking the lead is the Kutubu Foe Women’s Association.
Their initiative was boosted with the donation of two new rice milling machines by Oil Search Ltd and the Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
Pictured is Piano Paul (left) from Waro village in the Faso area of Kutubu with her 25kg of NR 15 rice variety, harvested from her backyard experiment after receiving seeds from NARI.
Piano was a proud mother who was happy to show her harvests to Maria Linibi (right) of the PNG Women in Agriculture (PNGWiA) and Elizaberth Kelly of the Community Development Initiative (CDI) foundation last week.
