Sir Arnold hits out at court ruling

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

ATTORNEY-General and Minister for Justice Sir Arnold Amet has described the Supreme Court decision to suspend two government ministers as unethical, unjurisdictional and inappropriate, The National reports.

Sir Arnold criticised the Supreme Court decision to view the cases of Patrick Pruaitch and Arthur Somare to be the same as Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare's.

"This is unethical, unjurisdictional and inappropriate.

"The party to that case was Sir Michael and that had no­thing to do with Patrick and Arthur," he said.

He said Sir Michael had the constitutional right and was at liberty to challenge the case in court whether as the country's leader or as an ordinary citizen.

However, he said ethically, the two ministers were not given an opportunity to be heard.

He said there were three different Supreme Court decisions.

The first ruling was to suspend Pruaitch as soon as he was referred by the public prosecutor, the second was when he was granted leave to take up office while waiting for a tribunal to be set up and, the third, was when Pruaitch and Arthur were suspended.

However, he said there had been inconsistencies when a three-man Supreme Court bench over-ruled ano­ther Supreme Court ruling.

Sir Arnold said that the rulings were differently constituted and was inconsistent in the process of law.   

However, he said he was looking at the possibility of getting a higher Supreme Court review to look at the issues of inconsistencies in the ruling.

The higher Supreme Court review would have to be a five- or seven-man bench with the powers to over-rule the decisions of a three-man bench.

He said the chief justice had been asked to set up a higher court and was in the process of doing that.

 

 

Family okays plan to assess PM’s health

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

THE government has consulted the family of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare to allow two selected doctors to report on his health condition, The National reports.

Attorney-General and Justice Minister Sir Arnold Amet told a media conference that Sir Michael's doctor, Isi Kevau, had met with the National Executive Council to discuss the process allowing two appointed medical doctors to assess Sir Michael's condition.

"As respect for the Grand Chief, the family has to be consulted first before the assessment process, as required under the constitution, is followed," he said.

Sir Arnold, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Ano Pala and Public Service Minister Moses Maladina and other members, said discussions with the Somare family had been positive.

He said it meant that the head of state could go ahead and ask the PNG Medical Board to appoint two practising doctors to go to Singapore to, in consultation with doctors at the hospital, assess the prime minister's condition.

He said the doctors had 28 days to complete the report and forward it to the head of state.

He said if the report indicated that Sir Michael could not resume duties within three months, then the head of state would inform the speaker to convene parliament and elect a new prime minister.

He said if the report concluded otherwise, the head of state would not need to inform parliament.

Sir Michael's son, Arthur, had revealed two weeks ago that the family wanted to retire the Grand Chief to allow him time to recover at his own pace.

However, Sir Michael is required by law to formally and personally make known his intention to step down from office.

Sir Michael is reportedly out of his hospital bed and walking a few steps each day with assistance, and speaking to those around him.

On Monday this week, he was visited at the hospital by Fiji's interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is the current head of the Melanesian Spearhead Group of which PNG is a member.

Lae is on the road to nowhere

By MALUM NALU
Morobe Governor Luther Wenge, true to style, opened up a can of worms with a savage attack on regional works manager Brian Alois in The National on Monday this week.
The grand Songang and his right hand man, Lae-based Highlands businessman Peter Honale, condemned a Weekender article in this paper last Friday which criticised the state of roads in Lae.
He said the article, based on information provided by Alois, was a setback to efforts by the national and provincial contractors to get rid of potholes on Lae roads for many years.
Wenge, however, miserably failed to see that Alois has the support of so many people in Lae and Papua New Guinea, judging by the number of phone calls and emails I received.
Just last December, acting Prime Minister Sam Abal dished out more than K100 million to a handful of contractors to fix up Lae roads, however, cracks are already appearing in the concrete and water is spilling out from drains

Truck along Markham Road, opposite Lae Showground. Concrete here is already cracking.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

Contractors are working willy-nilly on their assigned stretches, in an unplanned, haphazard fashion, and there seems to be no uniformity all over the city.



Cracks already appearing in the concrete along Markham Road opposite Lae Showground.

 Compare that to a decade ago when AusAid-funded Barclay worked on the Lae roads?
The Department of Finance, seemingly, has appointed overseas contractor NME International as its engineering supervising consultant for Lae roads with no input whatsoever from Department of Works.
Alois and the works guys, even the city engineer, have no say whatsoever in the Lae roads project.

Project signboard along the hill leading up to town.Works Department and Lae City Council, however, have no say in the project.

“I am not against concrete roads and I believe they are great,” he explains.
“But I do not believe it is the solution for our roads here in Lae.
“We have not exhausted the other methods and importantly, we do not have specifications for concrete roads here in PNG, let alone specification for maintenance of concrete roads.
“The K100m allocation is a lot of money and given the fact that Lae has just over 140km of road length, this money if applied through approved processes using conventional and improved designs, can transform close of 50% of these roads.
“That concrete section done earlier in front of Admin Compound is going, and falling apart, after five years!
“Take a drive down there and take a closer look, there are cracks everywhere and that is not a good sign.

Huon Road between Town and Eriku, the first concrete road in Lae, commissioned by Morobe Governor Luther Wenge. Concrete is already cracking.

“Furthermore, surface run‐offs from the newly-constructed section done by Dekenai will flow down and water will seep into those cracks in the concrete and sooner or later, there will be differential settlement between the individual concrete sections and that would be catastrophic; it is already happening – try driving at over 60kph and you will feel the undulations.
“The surface texture is also fading and like I said before, maintenance is near difficult.”
Alois has observed a number of faults in the current Lae road works.
“Firstly, all the designs are different and each contractor has its own,” he said.
“The consultant was supposed to do the design and pass it onto the contractor, instead the contractors did the design and requests approval from the consultant.
“This is a terrible joke!
“Secondly, I do not believe any traffic survey/count was done on the sections of the roads before the contractors started their works.
“How do the contractors know the volume and type of traffic that uses the road?
“Assumptions again, that is bad, very bad.
“Roads are designed to carry axial loadings and that can only be calculated from traffic counts.
“Thirdly, we are removing the pavement material by digging down onto the sub-grade and after that we are replacing with concrete.
“If we are going to build concrete, it would be wise to build on solid foundations and not on weaker material.
“Take a drive around and you will see what I mean and worse still, the beddings were not sufficiently compacted – we are building on loose materials too!

Driving down the steep Huon Road Hill, a lesson in how not to build roads.

“Apart from planning and classification of roads to match traffic, traffic management during construction is also an essential element especially when we are working in town where there is significant volume of traffic.
“Without this, there will always be chaos and I do not need to comment any more on this.”
Alois said at the completion of the first Lae roads project back in 2001, AusAID funded a comprehensive study that recommended two important elements for Lae City Council and the Morobe provincial administration to implement before any future funding could be considered: Construct various drainage outfalls from the previous works; and provide continuous funding for routine maintenance.
“Two drainage outfalls were constructed and these were (i) Bumbu A (near the main wharf, old Ai Gris Market) and (ii) Marsina (adjacent to the cement factory),” he said.
“The Didiman Creek (running down the old airfield) was also lined.
“Now the only reason why extensive work was done to improve the Didiman Creek was to cater for future drainage to feed into it.
“A purposely-constructed spillway was built for overflows from the Raun Wara. There are seven other drainage outfalls that need construction and unless this is done, run‐offs from our roads will have no facility to assist in the discharge.
“So basically, all these water and those from the buildings/houses just simply flow around until they eventually seep into the ground, hence the reason why the soil under us is water‐logged.”
Then there’s the issue of provision of continuous funding for routine maintenance.
“We have seen the result of negligence and it is not going to help us if we do not cater for routine maintenance year‐in year‐out,” Alois said.
“The roads previously reconstructed are beginning to fall apart right before our eyes and we have not even made any attempt to repair them.
“Those small cracks have widened and potholes have emerged simply because we have not attended to them while they are still small.
“Culverts are blocked and during heavy rain, they overflow onto the road and that contributes to rapid pavement deterioration.”

Wife-bashing cop dismissed

CONSTABLE Simon Bernard, who was at the centre of media attention last December over the torture of his wife, Joy Wartovo, was dismissed from the police force on June 27, The National reports.

Police investigators found that:

*On Dec 7 last year, at the Gordon police singles barracks in NCD, Bernard tortured his wife, causing severe injuries to her body by using a hammer, an axe, pliers and hot iron by cutting her fingers and burning her on her left arm and left leg;

*Bernard acted in a manner that was prejudicial to good order and discipline in the force; and

*On Dec 21 last year, in Port Moresby, Bernard acted in a manner that discredited the force by being featured in a media report on his continuous beating and torture of his wife.

Police said no written explanation was received from Bernard.

"While he did not submit any explanation, the evidence produced by state witnesses, including photographs of the injuries sustained by Wartovo, showed clearly that he did commit the offences of family and sexual violence against his wife."

Bernard was found to have breached the police commissioner's circular No.06/2007 in relation to family and sexual violence.

Police said Bernard's dismissal "is intended to serve as a deterrent penalty".

 

 

Kina value up against US dollar

FOR the first time since April, Papua New Guinea's currency kina, has increased its value against the US dollar, The National reports.

On average, K1 could now buy US$0.43, compared to previous months' daily exchange rates.

Central Bank Governor Loi Bakani explained in the bank's first quarter report that the kina's average daily exchange rates have continued to appreciate against the US dollar, UK pound sterling and the euro, but have been depreciating against the Australian dollar and Japanese yen.

By June 27, the local currency had reached a high of US$0.4330 and A$0.4154.

This means the kina had appreciated against the US dollar by 2.9% to 0.3895, pound sterling by 5.0% to .02419, and euro by 11.2% to 0.2753.

It depreciated against the Australian dollar by 6.9% to 0.3770 and Japanese yen by 5.6% to 32.2400.

The report said that the increase of the kina value was due to the high inflow of foreign exchange, associated with the mineral tax receipts for the government and high commodity export earnings.

This was brought on by the high prices set by the international demand for mineral and agricultural exports, resulting in 21.5% increase in the weighted average kina price of mineral exports.

The weighted average kina price of agricultural, logs and marine product exports increased by 31.1% and was attributed to higher kina prices of cocoa, coffee, copra oil, palm oil rubber and marine products.

Meanwhile, the report said the level of gross foreign exchange reserves had increased from K7,982.9 million at the end of March to K8,441.4 million as of last month.

The increase was also attributed to the high mineral tax receipts made in foreign exchange.

The economy's continued growth during the first quarter was supported by business sales, private sector employment, private sector credit and higher prices and production of most agricultural and mineral export commodities.

 

 

Abal confident of advice by AG

ACTING Prime Minister Sam Abal is confident of the advice provided to the government by Attorney-General and Justice Minister Sir Arnold Amet and his department, The National reports.

He said the advice given by Sir Arnold "is based on his experience as a former top lawyer and chief justice and cheap politics should not be used to degrade his integrity".

Abal was responding to a call by the opposition for Sir Arnold to be sacked for poorly advising the government on major issues of contention.

Opposition leader Belden Namah claimed "so many blunders are costing taxpayers millions of kina on legal advice provided to the government and parliament".

He said such advice had resulted in the government and speaker "jointly destroying the independence of parliament".

But Abal said Westminster parliamentary democracy "allows for freedom of expression and opinion and, of course, it caters for the opposition and its role in bringing issues and opinions before government".

While he had no issue with that, Abal said: "What I take issue with is their ability to allow their sly and cheap gutter political motives to engage, yet again, on a personality hunt.

"Sir Arnold is no doubt a man of integrity and public standing.

"He has been PNG's outstanding lawyer and has risen in much of his public life to the post of chief justice of PNG.

"He is a renowned and eminent jurist and scholar of the Commonwealth prior to him becoming a member of parliament.

"The people of Madang recognised this fully and gave him the mandate to serve them as servant leader in parliament.

" With full cognisance of his outstanding professional background and personal achievements, and contributions to legal policy development towards the progress of this nation, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, as prime minister, had full and total confidence in him and appointed him as attorney-general and justice minister in his cabinet.

"He is one of the PNG's proud knights in shining armour, someone we all must show goodwill and respect to.

"Many of us aspire to be like him. Not many of us can be like him.

"There is no reason for such a cheap, gutter and childish call by the opposition for Sir Arnold to resign from cabinet simply on narrow assertion that his advice to cabinet should all the time be true and correct in law," Abal said.

 

MP asks tribunal for time to travel

By SAMUEL RAITANO

 

THE Leadership Tribunal will decide today whether to allow suspended Angoram MP Arthur Somare the time he needs to obtain the information from his electorate required for the hearing, The National reports.

On Monday, Somare's lawyer Kerenga Kua said his client had a total of 105 allegations made against him.

He said the Ombudsman Commission had also claimed that Somare had facilitated 57 cheques to the recipients in Angoram.

He said the issuing and use of those cheques were matters to be raised at the tribunal.

But the time  they were  requesting was what they needed  to travel to East Sepik and talk to the  reci­pients.

Kua said that Angoram was a vast electorate with the recipients of the cheques scattered along the Sepik River and its numerous tributaries.

This is why they needed more time to travel there and obtain the needed information.

On Monday, the public prosecutor's office had submitted the necessary documents needed by the tribunal to start the hearing.

 Initially on Monday, both parties had asked the tribunal for a month's adjournment on the grounds that both parties needed time to file the necessary documents for thee hearing.

But on Monday afternoon, after a brief adjournment, the public pro­secutor's lawyer, Katua Umpake, told the tribunal that he had the ne­cessary documents to start the hearing.

The documents were the statement of reasons from the Ombudsman Commission and the statement of charges from the public prosecutor.

This triggered the Organic Law provision which required that So­mare be suspended immediately.

The three-man tribunal will comprise chairman Justice Salatiel Lenalia, and  magistrates Orim Karapo and Noreen Kanasa.

The ruling  today will determine if Somare will be allowed time to visit and talk to the recipients in his electorate.

Abal: Pruaitch still in

Supreme Court causing confusion, says minister

 

FINANCE and Treasury Minister Patrick Pruaitch yesterday accused the Supreme Court of abusing its judicial powers and creating confusion and uncertainty in PNG laws, The National reports.

Pruaitch made his accusation in regards to last Friday’s Supreme Court decision which had been portrayed in the media as an automatic suspension for him from office.

In a three-page letter yesterday to Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal, Pruaitch said legal opinions he had sought advice that he was still minister and that Friday’s decision was a separate matter between Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and the Ombudsman Commission.

“The Supreme Court was not asked to deal with the issue of suspension from office.

“The fact that it proceeded to consider the issue of suspension at its own choosing is a matter of grave concern bordering on abuse of judicial powers and in contravention of the courts’ rules and principles of precedents and finality in decision-making,” he said in his letter.

Abal affirmed Pruaitch as his minister last night.

Abal said: “He is still a minister in cabinet.

“He remains a minister until officers of the court have served legally binding decisions of the court on him.

“We will respect court decisions but he is a leader and must be respected too.”

Pruaitch told Abal that the parties before the Supreme Court case were Sir Michael and the Ombudsman Commission, thus, any decision arising out of that case “can only bind those parties and not me”.

“The implications of the Supreme Court opi­nion on the issue of suspension is to add further confusion and uncertainty in our laws.

“The Supreme Court presided by a panel headed by Justice Kirriwom suspended me on the interpretation that a leader is automatically suspended when the public prosecutor refers the leader to the chief justice.

“The second Supreme Court headed by Justice Sakora reversed and discharge that decision and made orders reinstating me as leader and minister.”

“The Supreme Court panel headed by Justice Sakora specifically made orders reinstating me as leader and minister.

“This court order is binding for all intents and purposes. Since the Supreme Court order of March 31,  no other Supreme Court order has been expressly made setting aside the March 31 Supreme Court order.

“Any action in contravention of the attached Supreme Court order would amount to contempt of the Supreme Court order.”

Last Friday’s Supreme Court decision did make direct references to the Pruaitch case (No.2)  claiming it “does not correctly represent the law” and that it “runs against the spirit and intent of section 271 (6) of the Constitution and the whole scheme of making leaders accountable for the sake of good leadership, good administration and good governance”.

Elsewhere, the decision stated: “For avoidance of doubt, we reiterate that suspension is triggered or takes effect from the moment a decision is made to refer a leader to a leadership tribunal by the public prosecutor.”

Yasause explains disappearing act

By SAMUEL RAITANO

 

THE case of the “disappearance” of murder suspect Theo Yasause was solved yesterday – by the good doctor himself, The National reports.

Yasause phoned The National newsroom from his Boroko police cell to say he had been there all the time; since April after all his application for bail was refused by the district, national and supreme courts.

There was confusion in court on Monday when neither the prison officers nor police could tell Justice Nicholas Kirriwom where Yasause was after he had failed to appear in court.

But, when he did turn up yesterday, the former director of the Office of Climate Change told Kirriwom, through his lawyer Canute Nidue, that they were not aware of a hearing the previous day.

Kirriwom did not question him further.

Nidue also apologised for not notifying the court that he would be representing Yasause in place of Copland Raurela.

Bomana jail commander Michael Mondia said Yasause had been remanded at Bomana in April after being charged with the wilful murder of former rugby league star Aquila Emil.

He said after initial court appearances, Yasause was removed from prison and kept at the Boroko police station.

Mondia said last week, he wrote a letter NCD metropolitan commander Supt Joseph Tondop to return him to Bomana but did not receive a reply.

The District and National courts had recommended that Yasause be remanded at Bomana while his case was pending in court.

Yesterday, Public Prosecutor Marriane Zurenuoc asked the court for a month’s adjournment to allow both parties to file pre-trial statements.

The court agreed to that and issued a fresh warrant for Yasause to be further remanded in custody.

Police, meanwhile, had blamed the public prosecutor’s office for failing to get a warrant from the National Court to have Yasause sent to Bomana after his court case two weeks ago.

Police said Yasause was at the Boroko police station all this time.

Zurenuoc, on Monday, told the court that they could not locate Yasause when asked by Kirriwom why he was not present for his hearing.

Zurenuoc also told Kirriwom that Yasause could not be located at the Boroko police cell on Monday.

 

Namah slams AG for giving poor advice

OPPOSITION leader Bel­den Namah says the country needs a new prime mi­nister and accuses Attorney-General Sir Arnold Amet of giving misleading advice on important constitutional matters, including the health status of the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, The National reports.

Namah, with the support of Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat, Sir Puka Temu and Jamie Maxtone-Graham, said at a media conference that  the country lacked leadership and parliament must be recalled to appoint a new prime minister or dissolved the position to allow for fresh elections.

He said Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal was illegally occupying the position and called on the government to invoke section 142 (5) (c) of the Constitution to vote in a new prime minister.

Namah raised concern over legal advice given to the National Executive Council and parliament on important issues affecting PNG, including constitutional matters.

He raised the concern following the decision by a three-judge bench Supreme Court last Friday which cited Sir Michael for preventing a proper legal process from taking its course.

“The Supreme Court decision clearly indicates that some leaders can go to the extent of abusing the process to deliberately delay justice to protect personal interests,” he said.

Namah said the judiciary and the courts should not tolerate such tactics, especially cases involving parliamentarians “who are the lawmakers”.

“Politicians and people with legal background who are found to be abusing processes should be dealt with appropriately,” he said.

Namah was critical of the legal advice provided by the state lawyers.

“With Sir Arnold, a former chief justice, as the government’s chief legal adviser, it is hard to understand why there have been so many blunders,” he said

“It is such blunders that are costing the taxpayers millions of kina for legal advice provided to the government and even parliament.”

He said some high profiled cases included:

*Government ignoring fiscal processes in fiscal agreements over landow­ner benefits and local company content for the LNG project;

*Illegal re-election of Sir Paulias Matane as go­vernor-general;

*Continuous failure by government to meet the required 63-day (nine-week) parliament sittings;

*Sir Michael’s efforts in preventing the Ombudsman Commission from investigating him on official misconduct charges;

*Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare’s endless court attempts to stop the OC dealing with him for alleged misconduct charges;

*The failure by the government to appoint two medical doctors to report back in 28 days the condition of the prime minister; and,

*Failure by Abal to immediately appoint two new ministers after the suspension of Arthur Somare and Patrick Pruaitch.

“The Constitution, laws and independence of the judiciary are essential for democracy to survive,

This government and parliament Speaker have jointly destroyed the independence of parliament.”

 

Mitchell: K125m bills parked with Nasfund

By ALISON ANIS

 

NATIONAL Superannuation Fund (Nasfund) chief executive officer Rod Mitchell yesterday confirmed the controversial K125 million so­vereign community infrastructure treasury bills (SCITB) have been parked with Nasfund, The National reports.

“Nasfund is holding onto 125 million treasury notes issued under the Treasury Bill Act (2002). The notes won’t be released until the state clears its side,” Mitchell said.

He said that Nasfund had followed legal procedures but the state had not and must find a way correct that.

He said this following media reports yesterday where Minister for Communication Patrick Tammur announced that the K125 million was with Nasfund.

Mitchell argued that the information that came out in the media, including findings from the study conducted by National Research Institute which categorised the treasury bills as illegal, were incorrect.

In its report released last month, the NRI said the deal was done without the approval of parliament as required by the PNG Constitution sections 13 and 14, was not in line with the Public Finance Management Act and Bank of PNG Act, which limits government borrowing.

“The Public Management Act and Finance Act do not apply to treasury bills. This is different and as far as I know Nasfund has gone through legal process and I have all the legal documents with me to prove that,” Mitchell said.

 “The purchase of 125 million treasury notes was guaranteed by the state.

“Nasfund has invested based on that fact and plays no part in how the funds are to be used and for what purpose since the bill was issued for and on behalf of the state.”

In a press statement, the Nasfund board has sworn to no secrecy when arguing and justifying the legitimacy of the deal.

Treasury bills, the board argued, was issued under the Treasury Bill Act by signature and authority of the Treasurer and Minister for Finance Patrick Pruaitch, co-signed by the Minister for National Planning and Development Paul Tiensten with the sponsorship of Tammur.

The board, which includes John Jeffery, Reginald McAlister, Dr John Nonggorr, Lady Wilhemina Siaguru, Hulala Tokome, Graham Ainui and Murray Woo, said the superannuation fund’s contribution in the treasury bill “will yield 7.05 % if rolled annually”.

“All indications from the state are that the treasury note will be rolled over through the Central Bank which is normal for such instruments.

“This has been confirmed in recent NEC deliberations,” the statement read.

The board and Mitchell assured contributors that all was okay and that reports in the media were incorrect and lacked accuracy.

Somare suspended

Angoram MP and Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare (right) was yesterday suspended from office by a leadership tribunal hearing allegations of official misconduct against him, The National reports.

 The three-member tribunal is chaired by Justice Salatiel Lenalia. Somare's suspension was in accordance with section 27(2) of the Organic Law on Duties and Responsibilities of Leadership.

 It also consolidated the provision of section 28 of the Organic Law that a leader, once referred to a tribunal, is automatically suspended from office. The tribunal will, on Thursday, rule on applications for an adjournment until Aug 16 to give both parties time to prepare themselves. – Nationalpic by AURI EVA

 

Supreme Court rebukes PM

SIR Michael Somare has been castigated by the Supreme Court and cited for "preventing a necessary and proper legal process from taking its proper course", The National reports.

He has been accused of applying delaying tactics in his prolonged legal battle against the Ombudsman Commission which go against good public administration and good governance.

In a landmark decision last Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed all matters brought before it by Sir Michael.

In the process, the court made findings that clarified confusions surrounding the question of exactly when a leader ought to be suspended from office.

The Supreme Court decision by Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika and justices Nicholas Kirriwom and Ambeng Kandakasi had restored the time of suspension of a leader back to the moment when the public prosecutor makes a decision to refer a leader to a leadership tribunal.

"For avoidance of any doubt, we reiterate that suspension is triggered or takes effect from the moment a decision  is made to refer a leader to a leadership tribunal by the public prosecutor ..." the court ruled.

This now meant that Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare and Treasurer and Finance Minister Patrick Pruaitch are automatically suspended as both had been referred to separate leadership tribunals.

Somare appeared before his tribunal yesterday and his suspension was confirmed by his own counsel.

An earlier decision in Pruaitch's case, relating to tendering of certain documents before the tribunal before suspension is effected, was found to be "bad law".

Suspension is not automatic only in the case of the referral of the prime minister, the chief justice and the public prosecutor.

All others, without exception, are covered by section 27(2) of the Leadership Code which states that leaders are suspended when the public prosecutor decides to refer them to a leadership tribunal.

While facing the leadership tribunal, Sir Michael decided to file certain proceedings in court raising questions of interpretation and application of the constitution mainly to review processes brought against him by the Ombudsman Commission and the public prosecutor.

Having made its decision, the court said: "The various steps Sir Michael took, through his legal counsel or advisers, were nothing short of an attempt at preventing a process ordained by law taking its proper course."

The court ruled that through the unnecessary delay tactics, Sir Michael denied himself justice and quicker options and reliefs under normal process.

"The process, albeit with much delay, has now been concluded with no direct challenge against its conclusion by Sir Michael.

"These proceedings, therefore, have no utility and have been a total waste of the court's time."

Costs were awarded against the PM.

Chief takes first few steps

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare has been walking with aid in hospital and talking since last Thursday, although his recovery is expected to be slow, The National reports.

According to Brian Gomez, media adviser to State Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare, Sir Michael has been walking with assistance after weeks of being confined to bed in a hospital in Singapore after undergoing surgery.

Gomez said Sir Michael had been walking and talking since last Thursday.

He underwent heart surgery in April and then underwent two more re-construction surgeries.

Theresa Kumo, media adviser in the Prime Minister's Department, said, when asked for more information on Sir Michael, any official statement on the condition of the Grand Chief would come from the family of Sir Michael.

Kumo said although Sir Michael was recovering, it was too early to comment on anything because any statement would have to come from the family.

Last Tuesday, Sir Michael's son Arthur revealed to the nation of his family's intention to retire their father from active politics.

However, under the law, Sir Michael will have to officially declare his intention to step down from office and formally inform the head of state of his decision.

In the case of ill-health, the government may nominate two doctors to examine him and give their professional opinion on whether he is capable of continuing in office as prime minister.

It would be left to parliament to decide, if he was declared unfit to continue or decides to step down, on who should succeed him.

There were already reports of factions lobbying to get the top post and the leadership of the National Alliance party.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Fiji's prime minister  Frank Bainimarama, who is in Singapore to watch the netball world championship, is likely to visit Sir Michael in hospital. This, however, could not be confirmed with Fiji's permanent secretary for information Sharon Smith-Jones yesterday.

 

 

K125m glitch will be fixed, say ministers

By ISAAC NICHOLAS in Kokopo

 

TWO senior government ministers have assured Nasfund contributors that the government will correct any anomalies in the K125 million saga in the next appropriation bill, The National reports.

National Planning Minister Paul Tiensten and Communication Minister Patrick Tammur gave the assurance yesterday.

Tammur was the initiator of the controversial sovereign community infrastructure bill.

Neither men would comment on a Central Bank report that the entire saga was conducted outside the normal financial approval processes and in contravention of the Public Finances Management Act.

Tiensten said the government would accommodate the arrangement in the next appropriation bill whether it was a supplementary budget or the budget proper for next year.

"The maturity period for the loan is 2014 for the government to start repaying as guarantor of that funding," he said.

Tiensten said the timing was within the period when the government was expected to get proceeds from the liquefied natural gas project.

He said the Nasfund loan was unlike conditional loans or multi-lateral loans that would cost the state more and  exposed to external risks.

Tammur denied claims that the K125 million had been released to the Kokopo district.

He said the Kokopo joint district planning and budget priorities committee, in prioritising projects, identified water supply and roads as a major development agenda.

He said the committee came up with a project submission and knocked on the doors of donor funding agencies including Nasfund.

"The people of Kokopo are only the recipients, the procedures and procurements are the responsibility of the funding agency," Tammur said.

"The treasury minister authorised or signed off the documents to guarantee Nasfund that the money will be repaid by the government.

"The K125 million is still with Nasfund," he said.

He said a similar arrangement was made to build the Poreporena Freeway.

Ramu workers go on rampage

By RIGGO NANGAN

 

MORE than 1,000 wor­kers on strike at the multi-million kina Ramu Agri-Industries Ltd oil palm project in Gusap Downs, Ramu Valley, destroyed company properties yesterday after the mill management failed to address their grievances, The National reports.

Gusap police station commander Insp Adam Busil and his men had to calm down the angry workers after they had cut through the fence into the mill site and started destroying company properties.

Busil said he had warned the workers that their strike was an industrial matter and it was up to the company management to respond to their demands. But if they started to destroy properties or harass people, then police would deal with them, he said.

The workers from the first, second, third and fourth divisions of the oil palm project, after waiting in vain for the management to address their grievances, went on the rampage claiming that their petition had not been attended to after lodging it last week.

They claimed to have waited at the oil palm estate at Gusap Downs since last Saturday but the management at Ramu sugar estate in Ramu town, several kilometers away, did not respond directly but instead sent the union representatives to talk to them.

They said their main grievances were low pay, lack of safety gear, inadequate housing allowances, entitlements and death benefits.

They said they received an hourly rate of K1.78 and a harvest target of 120 fruit bunches at 0.12 toea per bunch for eight hours daily. The workers claimed that they usually harvested more than 120 bunches under harsh conditions at times but were paid for only 120.

They said they were not issued with footwear or hand gloves as the dried oil palm leaves and stalks were very sharp.

Attempts to get comments from the company management yesterday were unsuccessful.

Flowers and trees in the lawn outside the mill were cut down and a fallen tree was laid across the main entrance into the mill.

A section of the wire fence was cut and glass windows of the main mill office, an oil analysis laboratory and a weighbridge reading panel were smashed and a computer screen removed.

A truck parked outside the office also had its windscreen smashed and a pile of paper was placed under the fuel tank ready to be lit.

Signboards were torn and debris were scattered along the main oil palm road leading into the mill.

The glass window of a butcher retail outlet nearby was smashed with rocks and beef from the abattoir was removed before the looters were stopped by police.

Lae contractors line up to get payout from council

Words and picture by PISAI GUMAR

 

Despite heavy down pour in Lae city whole day today, almost 500 contractors engaged for minor grass cutting and cleaning drainage around various city locations fronted at Lae City Council (LCC) office to get their payment for the work done three years ago.

Officers that requested anonymity reported the major road work contractors are still waiting for their payments.

Most payments were due for payments back in 2008 coupled with 2009 until 2011.

Some of these works could be done by the LCC health and community services; otherwise could be directed into respective wards to engage youth, women, church and sporting groups to involve.

 However, contractors were involved without knowledge of the responsible sectional heads.

The picture shows contractors waiting for their names to be called to receive payments.

The rate of the payments defers on tools, manpower and the size of the work.

K1.9million ravaged

Probe exposes shady deals by civil servants

 

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

A TOTAL K1.9 million of the development budget has been committed in just three months and much of it in questionable projects, an investigation reveals, The National reports.

The investigation, conducted by private law firm, Korowi Lawyers, into the Department of National Planning further asserted that a network of senior workers have been awarding themselves lucrative contracts from the development budget to their own companies.

The report, hastily put together in a short space of time on the directions of reinstated secretary, Joseph Lelang, contained names of the senior officers, their companies and instances of the alleged transactions along with cheque details.

Copies had been sent to Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal and the fraud squad.

The report cited acting secretary Ruby Zarriga and Minister Paul Teinsten as having turned a blind eye on the actions of the senior officers. Both were recommended for serious disciplinary actions.

Nearly K23 million out of a K30 million, allocated under the church-state partnership programme, was reported to have disappeared leaving only K22,000 in the till as of June 1.

The report further recommended that a number of projects totalling K33.7 million would need to be further investigated while some 17 payments, totalling K14.3 million, were made without any project documentation received.

Other recommendations were: 

*That head of department to commence disciplinary proceedings and refer officers to the police fraud and anti-corruption squad for criminal investigation;

*Use the proceeds of Crime Act to recover all monies paid out as well as repossessing tangible properties;

*For the acting prime minister to commission an inquiry into this year’s development budget by allowing for independent investigators;

*To discipline acting secretary Ruby Zarrigga and minister Paul Teinsten; and

*To abolish the Department of National Planning and Monitoring and transfer all financial powers to Treasury Department, the adoption of one appropriations Act and transfer of policy and planning functions to the Prime Minister’s Department.

A total K1.9 billion, which comprised 90% of the national government component of the K4.2 billion development budget, was alleged to have been mismanaged.

The balance of the budget comprised foreign aid monies, of which 75% was from AusAID.

The K1.9 billion in total warrant authorities were reportedly released by the Department of Treasury of which K735 million in project monies were placed under trust accounts held by the Department of Finance.

A remainder of K1.2 billion was released to projects by the Department of National Planning and Monitoring over three months from March to May.  

While lengthy future scrutiny would reveal what had happened to all the funds, several incidences of mismanagement of the development budget programmes were discovered and contained in the report.

For example, the district market programme was allocated K20 million under the budget. Of this, a total K10.442 million was released in two batches leaving a balance of K9.558 million. However, the report revealed a nil-balance with the money transferred or diverted elsewhere.

It was further revealed that certain districts did not acquit previous funds but still continued to receive funding. These included Telefomin, Imbonggu and Talasea markets.

The report revealed that senior managers of the department received much of these funds through several private companies (registered with IPA) to benefit themselves and their cronies.

A total K30 million was

allocated to social development funds governed by the church-state partnership framework

and executed between the state and church partners in October 2008.

It was reported that between March and May this year, a total of K7,160,263.66 was released to projects without records for the balance of K22,817,321.34.

The balance as of June 1 was only K22,415.

Lawyer: Police shock family in dawn raid

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

A TEAM of police officers allegedly stormed the home of National Planning secretary Joseph Lelang and harassed his wife and children early last Friday, his lawyer Philemon Korowi claims, The National reports.

Korowi told reporters that the officers entered the home at around 4am last Friday and demanded to know the whereabouts of Lelang.

He questioned the actions of the police officers, saying they had traumatised the family.

“We deplore the conduct of the policemen as being unprofessional, undisciplined and sinister,’’ he said.

Lelang was charged by police earlier this year with breaking in and entering his office after he was reinstated by the court to his current position. He had been earlier suspended from that position over certain allegations levelled against him. The court had ruled in his favour.

The latter case is pending in court.

But, last week, police wanted to question him over reports he was trying to interfere with state witnesses in the case.

Lelang was summoned twice by the police to go to the Boroko police station. Even Police Commissioner Anthony Wagambie wrote to him to go to the police station. He failed to do so.

But Korowi said the police officers had treated the Lelang unfairly.

“If it was in relation to the criminal charges against Lelang, in which he was requested to attend at the Boroko police station for a record of interview relating to the complaints of attempting to pervert the course of justice, then, there was no urgency for him to attend as he was not a common criminal,” the lawyer said.

He said Wagambie had agreed to a request from Lelang to delay his visit to the police station because he had to seek a medical check overseas and that he would come to the police station upon his return.

Korowi claimed that the police officers did not have any arrest or search warrants.

He said he had reported the matter to Wagambie and lodged a formal complaint with the internal public complaints division.

 

Nothing done to control arms, says Maipakai

By JUNIOR UKAHA

 

INTERNAL Security Minister and Kikori MP Mark Maipakai is worried about the build-up of firearms leading into next year’s elections, The National reports.

He said this last Friday during a passing-out ceremony 98 officers from the Royal Papua New Guinea Police Band at the Bomana Police College.

Maipakai said since the report and recommendation of the Guns Control Committee came out six years ago, “little or nothing has been done to rectify the situation”.

“I am concerned about the use of firearms, both legal and illegal, in the commissioning of crimes, conflict situations and especially in next year’s national elections,” he said.

Maipakai said the use of guns was one of the single biggest problems facing the country.

He said guns which fell into the hands of criminals and other unscrupulous people were used to kill people.

He said the use of illegal firearms to commit crimes “is a hindrance to development and is destroying businesses”.

“Guns will drive away investment and ruin our society,” he said.

He said guns were used in over 80% of crimes committed in the country.

Maipakai commended Police Commissioner Tony Wagambie and his deputies for the pre-election operations being conducted nationwide.

“It will flush out some of these illegal firearms but not all of it,” he said.

Police Commissioner Operations Fred Yakasa said police operations before and during the election would require K188 million to be successful.

Yakasa said around 20% of that money would be used in pre-election operations.

Lae is on a road to nowhere

By MALUM NALU

On Friday, June 25, while back home in Lae, I took a drive along the city’s infamous roads with regional works manager Brian Alois.

We took a look at Markham Road opposite Lae Showground, Bumbu Road opposite  golf course, Milfordhaven Road opposite Botanical Gardens, the steep hill leading up to town from Voco Point, and the Huon Road leading from town to Eriku.

At first glance, so much for so little, that I felt like breaking down and crying for the people of Lae – me included – who have suffered so much over the years.                                              

I remember a Lae from the 1970s and 1980s that was perfect – before the rot set in – and had no potholes at all

Just last December, acting Prime Minister Sam Abal dished out more than K100 million to a handful of contractors to fix up Lae roads, however, cracks are already appearing in the concrete and water is spilling out from drains.

Contractors are working willy-nilly on their assigned stretches, in an unplanned, haphazard fashion, and there seems to be  no uniformity all over the city.

Compare that to a decade ago when AusAid-funded Barclay worked on the Lae roads?

The Department of Finance, seemingly, has appointed overseas contractor NME International as its engineering supervising consultant for Lae roads with no input whatsoever from Department of Works.

Alois and the works guys, even the city engineer, have no say whatsoever in the Lae roads project.

“That question that arises is that if the national Department of Works or provincial works is not supervising the millions already spent on Lae roads, which agency is responsible?” wonders four-time Lae MP Bart Philemon.

“Going by the project signboards, it would appear that the Department of Finance is now the implementing agency.

“If this observation is correct, then how much this could be?

“Department of Finance is not technically qualified, so how will it depend on the engineering consultant to manage the whole project?

“I believe the Department of Finance appointed NME International as its engineering consultant for Lae roads project.

“It means that the government has now delegated or offloaded its responsibilities to this private company in preference to its own implementing agencies.”

“The company, NME International, is now totally responsible for everything that takes place.”

What is painfully obvious to all is that there is no overall design for total Lae roads upgrading, with all engineering designs being different, each contractor having his own design.

Alois concurs with Philemon, and during our drive, pointed out some things that were lacking on Lae roads including utilities, road furniture, street lights, dumping of spoils and physical planning approval.

“There are no provisions for relocation of utilities such as water, telephone lines and power poles, etc,” he says.

“Consideration should have been given to these respective service agencies to firstly, relocate the infrastructure and secondly, make provisions for future extensions/installations, etc.

“Once the roads are concreted, it would be near difficult to carry out works on the relocation, maintenance and installation of service utilities.”

Road furniture

“Every road has to have them and apart from the many other functions, they are there to promote road safety for vehicles and pedestrians as well,” Alois says.

“Importantly, we have not allowed for accessibility for people with disabilities (wheelchairs); compare the previously upgraded roads by AusAID and these current works.”

Street lights

“Every modern city has to have street lights and these were installed when AusAID funded the roadworks before.

“In these current works, there are no street lights and we say all the time that Lae is not only the second city, it is the industrial hub.”

Dumping of spoils

“We are dumping all the spoils dug up from the roads into the sea at the DCA beach and that is not good environmental management.

“If these works were planned properly, then my suggestion would be to do river training works on the Bumbu, and use the spoils as backfills and that way we can reclaim some of the land that was eroded over the years by the Bumbu River.

“Institutions like National Polytechnic (Lae Tech), Bumbu Barracks, CIS Buimo and streets along the Cassowary Roads have suffered loss of land.

“So instead of dumping the spoils and polluting the sea, we could have made good use to reclaim and at the same time protect further erosion.

Physical planning approval

“I am sure that no physical planning approval was given for the current works unlike the previous works by AusAID.

“So we have broken the procurement laws (no tender, variations exceeding maximum limits etc), and also the physical development laws.”

Alois says entry into Lae can be through ends or gateways: From the Highlands Highway at Bugandi and from Bukawa Road through Busu Bridge.

“These two roads that lead into Lae City are classified as national roads; the Highlands Highway as it traverses into the city rides on Markham Road then onto Milfordhaven Road ending at the Lae Port, while the Bukawa Road rides on to Malahang/Busu Road terminating at the Malahang Industrial Centre,” he adds.

“I’d like to believe that there is no road classification for the network of roads here in Lae.

“Needless to say, it is necessary, in view of the traffic volume and high maintenance costs, that we categorise our roads into their primary functions.

“This means that we must, in the first instance, assign roads according to what we want them to deliver in terms of traffic.

“We must have different classification of roads that are designed and constructed for the different types of traffic that we would expect would use them.

“The suggested road classifications can be:

·         Class A main arterial roads;

·         Class B link roads;

·         Class C industrial roads;

·         Class D residential roads; and

·         Class E central business roads.

“At the same time, we must emphasise on nominated routes for our public transport system.”

Alois, apart from being the regional works manager, is also the president of the Institute of Engineers PNG Lae branch and a board member to Institute of Engineers PNG Board and Professional Engineers Registration Board.

Meantime, Lae continues to be heading on the road to nowhere!