Milne Bay Butterflies discovered

A survey of the butterflies of Milne Bay Province islands, which started in 2010 by British entomologist John Tennent, Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum in London, is in its final phase.

 Tennent returned to the province last October and plans to stay until the project is completed in April this year. 

He has recently returned from the eastern Louisiades, where he surveyed islands not previously visited, including Lowa Island, east of Rossel and the most-easterly island in Papua New Guinea. He also looked at the small island groups at the western end of the Calvados chain, south and west of Misima (Duchateau, Montemont, Jomard, Duperre, Torlesse groups), finding butterfly species previously unknown from Milne Bay on Panavalavalan (small Panasia) and the Torlesse group.

 Tennent, who has now visited 134 different islands in Milne Bay, said “There are more different butterflies on the islands than anyone realised when I started the survey – probably 260 or so, and many are more widely-distributed than previously understood. Although there are more than 1,000 species known from Papua New Guinea as a whole, this is a very respectable number for the islands”.

 British High Commissioner to PNG, Jackie Barson, said the discovery of more than 260 different butterflies on the outer islands underlines again PNG’s reputation as a world biodiversity hotspot.

 “The fact that these tiny islands scattered all over the tip of PNG have an abundance of wildlife is amazing and emphasises the need for more conservation programmes,” she added.

 There are a few more islands to visit by Tennent before finalising the project, which will result in the first book devoted to the butterflies of Milne Bay Province islands.

This will illustrate all the butterfly species and subspecies known from the islands and be the major reference work on the region for the foreseeable future.

 The project is funded by the National Geographic Society in America, the Natural History Museum, Royal Entomological and Linnean Societies in England, and private funding. 

It is also supported by the University of Papua New Guinea, the National Research Institute and the Department of Environment and Conservation.

The last person to carry out a comprehensive butterfly research on Milne Bay island was   A.S. Meek, an English collector in the early days of the 20^th century.  

Remembering Asaro’s favourite son

By Dr HENRY OKOLE

I drove into the car park of the Shady Rest Motel at about 10 am. It was 28 of December
2011, the third last day of the year. The rain that morning was not going to keep me away
from this appointment, with an iconic figure of Papua New Guinea.
I stepped out of the vehicle and gazed at the throng of people around to see if I could
recognise a face that would resemble a younger version that I recalled from pictures of
yesteryears. There he was, I figured, sitting at ease beside the reception area. I walked up to
the elderly person, not sure really, but thankfully his face broke into a big grin when our eyes
met. ‘Yu orait yangpela?,’ he greeted me in Tok Pisin as he stretched out his hand for a firm
hand shake. We made our way to a table just outside the restaurant where we ordered coffee.
Such was my meeting with perhaps Asaro’s most famous son: Sir Sinake Giregire.

Sir Sinake Giregire, 28 December 2011 at the Shady Rest Motel.-Pictures by Dr HENRY OKOLE

As fatewould have it, this was to be my first and last meeting with Giregire. It was his last interview
too. He sadly passed away a week later - on 4 January this year aged about 75.
I wanted to talk to Giregire for two reasons - firstly, I have always been fascinated by
accounts of people who played a role in laying the foundation of PNG. No level of
education, or ounce of sophistication, could ever replace the wisdom, vision and commitment
of such individuals. That is why, for me, it is a sacrilege when the pillars of the state are
disrespected. Secondly, I was assigned to rearrange the platform for the PNG Country Party
in preparations for the 2012 national elections as part of a project at the National Research
Institute.

From left areWilson Thompsons-Orlegge (general secretary, PNG Country Party), James Mehuwo (vice-president, PNG Country Party) and Sir Sinake Giregire

Out of personal interest, I wanted to meet the man behind the party’s ideas.
Giregire founded the party in 1974, a splinter group that left the United Party.
Listening to Giregire’s life story was like looking through a colourful prism. The different
stages of his life, from education to adulthood, depicted a chapter in his life which
corresponded with an epoch in PNG’s history. While many of us remember him as among
the country’s pioneer politicians in the likes of Sir Pita Lus, Sir Michael Somare and the late
Sir Albert Maori Kiki. Giregire was relatively young and a businessman by the time he
entered the House of Assembly in 1964 as the elected Member for Daulo/Goroka/Unggai-
Bena – now three distinct electorates.
Giregire hailed from Gimisave No.1 village, nestled at the base of Asaro valley in the Eastern
Highlands province. His education commenced just after World War II at the Asaroka
Lutheran Mission School where he did Years 1 – 6. Later he transferred to Finschhafen
where he attended the Heldsbach Secondary School for three years. Malaria however
curtailed his schooling in the Morobe province and therefore he went back home to Asaroka.
Living outside his province allowed the young man to be acquainted with business ideas.
Giregire saw a lot of potential in agriculture in particular, a factor that was to be the bedrock
of his political vision years ahead. The development of the agricultural sector became
synonymous with rural development and particularly for PNG Country Party.
Initially, Giregire started by working as a mechanic in Goroka before moving to the Aiyura
valley where he became an agricultural assistant. With some assistance from an expatriate
brother in-law, Giregire started his own business venture. He first set up a pit sawmill
operation in Kainantu before tapping into alluvial gold mining, hence establishing a prospective gold mine operation in Yonki. Around 1958, while still in his 20s, Giregire
acquired 40 acres of land back in Asaroka where he planted coffee. It was the biggest
indigenous-owned plantation of the time. He also planted vegetable crops. During the course
of hiring locals, Giregire also benefitted from free clan labour. His business success further
allowed him to have a trucking business and a trade store that he operated out of the Asaro
government station by the early 1960s.
Giregire’s business acumen could no longer be ignored. With other indigene planters, they
made headways in the late 1950s when they became full members of the hitherto allexpatriate
Highlands Farmers and Settlers Association. This opened the door for Giregire to
encourage local farmers to get more involved in the agricultural sector. He made immense
contributions in many ways - one of them being his efforts to organize local people to
purchase land from expatriates and use them for agricultural and plantation purposes. He
also used his sizeable agricultural estate to provide coffee seedlings to local farmers.
On the side of politics, the 1950s started with developments that were to forever change the
political landscape of PNG. The Legislative Council, established in 1951, was the first
national legislature of PNG. Over the years that followed village councils were formed
around the country. Among them was the Asaro Watabung Local Government Council, of
which Giregire was elected president in 1958. This marked his entry into politics.
Meanwhile, the international community and especially the UN Trusteeship Council - was
urging Australia to prepare its territories of Papua and New Guinea for independence.
Giregire successfully contested the first national elections in 1964. He was then appointed
the Assistant Administrator for the Highlands region, one of four regions of that time. Like
many of his colleagues who entered the House of Assembly with him, Giregire was forced to
think on his feet as he absorbed the decisive issues at the national level. Paramount was how
to reconcile the political aspirations of the two territories.
Giregire wanted a united Papua and New Guinea. He recalled how he personally went out of
his way to appeal directly to certain Papuan Members who wanted a separate political status.
He was also a member of the embryonic legislative group during the 1964 – 1968 legislative
term that convened the early discussions of a national constitution. He was a friend and
colleague to his expatriate colleagues both in the House of Assembly and in the business
community, but he never fully trusted them. He would always side with nationals whom he
feared were vulnerable to manipulation.
Giregire’s view of independence was aligned with his fellow Highlands Assembly Members.
The Highlands bloc that time wanted a deferral of independence for the country until their
region reached a degree of development parity with coastal areas. This view was further
crystallized after the 1968 elections through what was called the Compass Group (short for
Combined Political Associations). He mingled in this group with the likes of Dennis
Buchanan (Eastern Highlands Regional and later founder of Talair), John Watts (Western
Highlands Regional), Ian Downs (Central Highlands Regional), Kaibel Diria (Waghi) and Tei
Abal, Hon. Sam Abal’s father.
Giregire was still adamant during our December meeting that their position was still the
better option. Compass Group soon became the United Party under the leadership of Tei
Abal. Giregire’s increasing impatience with politics in the United Party, which allegedly was
dominated by white interests, was what caused him to eventually create the PNG Country Party. In 1975 Giregire narrowly lost by three votes to Sir John Gaius in his bid to become
the country’s first Governor-General. He eventually lost the Daulo Open seat in 1977. He
contested the same seat for the last time in 2002 and he came a closed third.
Giregire went to reminisce about the early days of the PNG Country party when he had
meetings from time to time with his officials of the Australian Country Party. The PNG
Country party ranks with Pangu Pati, People’s Progress Party, National Party and United
Party as among the longest existing parties in the country. The PNG Country Party has
contested every National election since its conception and has been a coalition partner of
many governments since independence.
Leading into the 2012 national elections, Giregire reiterated his party’s goals as enshrined in
its platform. He firmly believed that the future of the country depended on the need to
introduce development policies that targeted rural communities where the bulk of the people
lived. His party, now under the parliamentary leadership of Hon. Jamie Maxtone Graham
believes that urgent government attention through people-centred policies is absolutely vital
and integral to development initiatives in rural areas. Apart from securing basic services in
the form of education, health and infrastructure development, the Country Party wants to see
more effective policies that empower local people, and enhanced their opportunities to earn a
living through the resources that they have in abundance.
To the families and close friends of Sir Sinake Giregire, the country conveys its condolences
to you during your time of bereavement. To the people of Asaro and the Eastern Highlands
province, we thank you for the services of one of your finest that this country has ever seen to
have donned a clock of national leadership. The country certainly misses individuals of Sir
Sinake’s calibre at this tumultuous time - people with great ideas and a touch of fervour and
humility.

Dr Henry Okole is a Senior Research Fellow under the Institutional Strengthening Pillar at the
National Research Institute

Sir Michael: All deals by O’Neill-Namah invalid

GRAND Chief Sir Michael Somare says all dealings, including appointments by the O’Neill-Namah regime since Aug 2 last year, are invalid and not binding on the people of Papua New Guinea, The National reports.
“All agreements, treaties, memoranda of understanding, contracts, appointments and undertakings given by the O’Neill-Namah regime since last Aug 2 are dealings by an illegitimate government and, therefore, invalid and not binding on the people of PNG,” he said.
“At the appropriate time in the near future, my government will review each of these agreements and dealings and ratify or strike out where necessary.
“It is important, however, that my government remains calm and does not act hastily and prejudice ongoing court proceedings.
“How can any investor, international or national, feel investments are safe if parliament and departmental heads intentionally ignore court orders?
“How can investors feel safe when knowing they can be thrown out of the country on the whim of politicians unable even to return and defend their assets before the courts? 
“We cannot deport people without due process of the law.”
Sir Michael said ministers of the illegal regime flew the Falcon jet to Asia on “personal business” carrying an international fugitive on board and attracted serious concerns about laundering hundreds of millions in cash without explaining the truth to the people.
“In fact, US$250 million could indeed be carried on the Falcon jet if needed,” he said.
“These illegal ministers threatened to expel diplomats to deflect attention from their own misdeeds. They expend K500 million from the state coffers to buy influence without proper legal approvals.
“All expenditure and procurements done by the O’Neill regime have not been made by a legitimate government. All appointments and sackings are invalid and, therefore, cannot be implemented.”
He said the state would not be bound by any deals done by an illegal regime.
“Companies and countries who seek to deal with this illegal regime must do so at their own risk.
“The Supreme Court decision of Dec 12 is available on the internet to everyone wishing to read the orders of the court.
“The courts have clearly ruled that the O’Neill-Namah regime is an illegal government.
“This is a challenging time for PNG.
“Over the years, I have known and seen the aspirations of many of the leaders and have tried to accommodate them and balance them against the interests of the nation.
“Today, it seems, the nation’s interest has been trampled by greed and self-interest.
 “This regime has broken down almost every government institution, including the judiciary, and is still adamantly continuing its reign of devastation.
“However, none of us should sit idly by and watch a rogue government destroy our proud nation in a matter of months.
“I call on the people of Papua New Guinea to join with me in being patient and calm and wait for the courts.

Bonga accepts fist-fight challenge

NAWAE MP Timothy Bonga yesterday accepted a challenge by Kerowagi MP and Defence Minister Guma Wau to a fight, The National reports.
“I will fight him,” Bonga said.
“I will fight him outside parliament any time any day.”
The two men, both towering six-footers, got into a heated exchange on Wednesday when the speaker refused to recognise Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare and ordered him from the chamber of parliament.
As the Somare faction walked up to the speaker’s chair to present a petition to take their rightful place on the government benches as the court-reinstated government, Wau shouted at Bonga: “You are a criminal.”
He threatened to come out and fight Bonga but was restrained by other MPs.
“He is the criminal,” Bonga said yesterday.
“He has criminal charges against him, not me. He has been charged with trying to murder a man.
“But I am not afraid of him. If it is a fight he wants, I will fight him any time outside of parliament.”

Grand Chief: Barring MPs is dictatorial

BARRING members from entering parliament and threatening to arrest them is criminal and dictatorial, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare said yesterday, The National reports.
He said he was shocked to learn that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill had threatened to order police to arrest him if he ventured near parliament again.
“This is the first time this has happened in 36 years of Independence,” Sir Michael said.
“Respect must be given to the house. No police has any right to stop me or any other member from entering the people’s parliament.”
He likened the presence of armed policemen at the entrances to parliament and the threats of arrest as a dictatorial act.
Nipa-Kutubu MP Philemon Embel agreed with Sir Michael.
“It is criminal to prevent an MP from performing his duties as a representative of the people,” he said.
Sir Michael said he went to parliament to serve the speaker the orders of the Supreme Court “since he seems unaware of it”.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), we went there to remind the speaker, who was an intervener, that there are explicit orders that he must comply with,’’ he said.
“Due notice was given to the speaker the previous day.
“He cannot tell us that he is unaware of the orders or that he does not understand anything.
“We have to be seen to do the right thing. We exercised our rights to enforce the orders.
“Now we want him (speaker) to grant us our seats on the government benches in parliament. O’Neill and his team can then use their numerical strength and section 145 of the Constitution to remove me. There is nothing wrong with that.”
That then is the Somare camp’s “way forward” from the political impasse that has had two camps claiming to be the legitimate government since the Supreme Court decision of Dec 12 which nullified O’Neill’s election on Aug 2.
The Somare group wanted Speaker Jeffrey Nape to grant them their seats on the government benches in parliament in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court and for the O’Neill group to then use its numerical strength to vote them out of office.
This suggestion mets with two obvious problems: Invoking section 145 means a motion of no confidence but the constitution forbids any such motions within 12 months of the general election, now a mere four months away.
Secondly, the speaker and the O’Neill camp are adamant that there is no vacancy in the government seating arrangements.
On his status as the regional member for East Sepik, Sir Michael said the court had reinstated him as MP. And, even if the O’Neill camp claimed to have removed him again, the process is not complete until it is declared so by the National Court, which alone has the powers to invalidate the membership of a member, he said.
That was confirmed by the Supreme Court decision (order No.3) which stated that the “National Court has exclusive jurisdiction as to whether the seat of a member has become vacant”.

Somare’s visit disrupts house

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

THE row over who the legitimate government is came to a head in parliament on Wednesday after Sir Michael Somare made an unannounced appearance, The National reports.
It triggered off a heated exchange of words with MPs loyal to Peter O’Neill as Sir Michael walked up to the speaker’s chair to deliver a copy of the Supreme Court order of Dec 12.
The court order had restored Sir Michael as prime minister.
The confrontation forced Deputy Speaker Francis Marus to suspend the sitting after he ordered Sir Michael to leave the parliamentary chamber.
The heated exchanges included one in which Kerowagi MP Guma Wau called Nawaeb MP Timothy Bonga a criminal. Wau pointed a finger at Bonga and challenged him to a fight. But he was stopped by other MPs.
Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah shouted across the floor to remove the “stranger” (Sir Michael) who he claimed was no longer an MP.
The session started with the morning prayer and Question Time.
NCD Governor Powes Parkop was directing questions at Agriculture Minister Sir Puka Temu on the Trukai rice advertisement on another rice firm that wanted to take over a monopoly over rice production and supply.
It was then that Sir Michael and his group came into the chamber, stood at the back until Parkop completed his questions.
Sir Michael’s group of about 20 MPs then walked to the speaker’s chair where Sir Michael presented the court order.
Bulolo MP Sam Basil raised a point of order that there was a “stranger” on the floor. Sir Michael replied: “Who is the stranger?”
Sir Michael later told the media that the move was to petition the speaker to enforce the Supreme Court ruling in allocating his government members their rightful seats in parliament.
He said he was not a “stranger” after winning nine general elections and serving 44 uninterrupted years as the member for East Sepik.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sir Michael visited the Speaker of Parliament, Jeffery Nape, to urge him to comply with the Supreme Court order of Dec 12, 2011.
He said his group was making a point that they were MPs who should be allocated their rightful places in the house.
Sir Michael was accompanied by the referrer of the Supreme Court reference, East Sepik Governor Peter Wararu and a member of his constituency, Tony Aimo, into the parliamentary chamber.
He said his members merely followed parliamentary procedures by petitioning the acting speaker with the court order so that parliament could comply with.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill described the action of Sir Michael and his followers as “disgraceful and disrespectful”.
“There are a handful of MPs who stubbornly use the old man in that manner for their own political gain,” O’Neill said.
“You cannot serve court orders in parliament and it is disgraceful because parliament is a separate arm of government.”

Basil levels charges against Morobe leader

BULOLO MP Sam Basil has levelled serious corruption allegations against his Morobe Governor Luther Wenge during debate on the National Anti-Corruption Strategy statement in parliament yesterday, The National reports.
Basil, who is National Planning Minister and deputy leader of PNG Party, made the allegation against Wenge who is in government ranks.
Last week, PNG Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah went on national radio calling on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to resign.
Wenge, who took the floor to debate the issue, alleged that corrupt people included politicians and public servants.
Basil raised a point of order, then, pointing fingers at Wenge, said that the governor was involved in corrupt dealings with land sales in Lae.
Wenge denied the claim, adding that those pointing fingers should be investigated to see whether they were clean.
During debate, Wenge said that corruption had become a part of PNG life from small people, to churches, public service and members of parliament.
He said he supported the statement from the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, adding that it would be a huge task in tackling corruption but at least a start had been made.
Wenge said when politicians choose their own district administrator because the person had contributed pigs to his election gathering that was corruption

Kandep MP: Target root cause of corruption

By JEFFREY ELAPA

THE endemic and systematic corruption that is rife can only be corrected when the root cause of the problem is addressed, Treasurer and Finance Minister Don Polye said, The National reports.
During the debate on the national anti-corruption strategy 2010-30 in Parliament yesterday, he pointed out that there were many factors contributing to the high level of corruption.
He said there was always a root cause to all problems. One was the endemic and systematic corruption in PNG – a huge problem affecting the nation.
He said culture was one of the causes because there was always a difference between the introduced western culture and the indigenous Melanesian culture.
He said some things were not part of our culture and problems arose when the two cultures clashed.
“In order for those cultures to become part of our culture, we have to train our people to accept them as part of our life,’’ he said.
“For example, as I grew up, my father and mother did not teach me to budget. It was something new and a skill they even did not practise before. I learnt it when I was at university,” he said.
All new skills had to be taught in the family unit and continued as they proceeded to school so that it became part of them.
Polye said by using some of the government policies such as the Pikinini policy, the youth policy and the education polices, some of the problems relating to corruption could be addressed.
Targeting family units, churches and education systems meant that young people were trained at an early age to develop skills of respect and honesty.
As the treasurer, he had not allocated any funding to the good policies Dame Carol Kidu had initiated in her department. But as a government, they could so that such policies be utilised to address the issue of corruption and the other social problems.

Proposed whistle-blower law revisited

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

THE Government will be reviewing the proposed whistle blower protection legislation in a bid to stem the tide of corruption in the bureaucracy, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said yesterday, The National reports.
He said the departments of Prime Minister and NEC, Justice and Attorney General and other departments have started reviewing key activities in its effort to weed out corruption.
O’Neill said these included:
qReviewing the proposal for a whistle-blower protection law;
qReviewing the proposed Freedom of Information law to install new and higher level of transparency and accountability;
qReviewing all laws dealing with corruption with a view to strengthening existing laws;
qReviewing the proposal for an Anti Corruption body such as the Independent Commission against Corruption; andqReactivating the implementation of commission of inquiry reports.
“At the very top of these priority activities is the need for government to immediately put in place risk management strategies especially for high risk departments to curb corrupt practices.”
He said this task is now being undertaken by the chief secretary to government.
O’Neill also outlined the eight key action areas which all stakeholders including the government must concentrate their efforts and resources to effectively combat corruption and improve good governance.
He said the action areas involved strengthening and promoting honest leadership, transparency and public exposure of corruption, effective people management, integrity of public finance management system, accountability and oversight, compliance and enforcement, public awareness and education and coordination and partnership.
O’Neill outlined these key areas when unveiling PNG’s first anti-corruption strategy 2010-30 in parliament yesterday.

Somare is evil, says Polye

FINANCE Minister Don Polye has described Sir Michael Somare as an “evil” man, The National reports.
Polye, the Kandep MP, told reporters in Mt Hagen that Somare was good in destroying young vibrant leaders and suppressing them.
He claimed that Sir Michael used highlands leaders as the “perfect football to play around with” without the leaders themselves knowing.
He gave as an example of Wabag MP Sam Abal who Sir Michael had appointed as deputy prime minister. Likewise, he used Governor Anderson Agiru to try to destroy Peter O’Neill, Polye said.
Polye accused Sir Michael of blocking the late Sir Tei Abal, father of Sam Abal, from becoming prime minister even though he had the numbers.
He did the same thing to Sir Imbakey Okuk and other leaders from the highlands, Polye said.
“Cutting and chopping young leaders for hidden motives is undemocratic and evil.”
Polye warned those in the Somare camp that Sir Michael would not groom or mould a young vibrant leader to lead the country.
Polye wanted to destroy the evil in the National Alliance by de-registering the party and forming a new one

Billions in state funds stolen through corruption

ALMOST K1 billion of public funds goes down the drain annually because of widespread corruption, it has been revealed, The National reports.
During a debate in parliament on the first national anti-corruption strategy 2010-30, Public Service Minister Bart Philemon stressed that if nothing was done to address the problem now, the government would continue to lose that much money each year.
Government agencies have over the years conducted investigations and inquiries into the misappropriation of public funds but nothing had been done to effectively address corruption, Philemon said.
Because of this, he said, the national wealth had failed to trickle down to the people - despite the billions of surplus money in government.
He told parliament that there had been unequal and inefficient distribution of services although there had been a record budget of K60 billion in the past nine years.
He said corruption was worse than the killer disease HIV/AIDS because it affected everyone in society while the latter affected only individuals.
Philemon said the way to address corruption was at the top “and come down gradually to the bottom”.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill introduced in parliament the 20-year strategy which set out a clear pathway to address corruption in PNG.
“Yet there is common agreement that despite efforts to eradicate it, corruption continues to run unabated and is doing inexorable harm to the vary fabric of the PNG society,’’ he said.
“Influential reports from both the PNG government and independent sources show clearly that corruption is no longer sporadic, isolated to certain segments of the community and institutions. Rather corruption appears to be more systematic and endemic.”
For example in 2010, the Public Accounts Committee reported that it had made inquiry into 1,000 agencies, each examined from 2003 to 2008.
The findings showed that the management and accountability of public servants and the government had collapsed miserably.
Overall, there had been a rise both in terms of the number and frequency of corruption and bad governance practices as shown by the investigations of a range of inquiries by government and the public accounts committee, auditor general and Ombudsman Commission.
“This is both frightening and worrisome and should elicit the attention of both citizens and authorities at all levels,” he said.
He said corruption and bad governance tended to feature prominently in areas that included:

• Questionable and dishonest conduct which undermines and questions the personal integrity of those who are in position of trust and authority;
• The use of bribery to acquire preferential service or treatment;
• Theft of public money and illegal acquisition of assets by abusing one’s position of authority;
• Disregard and by-passing officially sanctioned process to acquire a service or select appointees;
• Lack of compliance with the Public Finance Management Act including breaching of procurement process;
• Conflict of interest in public decision making; and
• Nepotism, resulting in recruitment and retention of unqualified staff.

He said corruption also existed in the private sector which had often been implicated in corrupt procurement processes.
“Companies will pay bribes or rely on contact to rig tenders,’’ he said.
“Additionally, with PNG’s wealth of natural resources, while of great potential benefits to citizens, at the same time have opened up huge opportunities for corruption.
“Corruption in how revenues from natural resource extraction activities are collected and distributed is a huge problem.’
O’Neill said PNG could not afford to pay for the cost of corruption and by extension, bad governance.
“Loss arising from thefts and siphoning off of financial resources, poor policy making and weak transparency and accountability have already placed heavy toll on the delivery of services to our people and the political and economic governance of the country at all levels.”
He said the anti-corruption strategy was not only about criminalising corrupt conduct but more importantly preventative measures in educating youths and children about the dangers of corruption

New FAO chief moves on global hunger

By JAMES LARAKI of NARI

UPON taking up new appointments to key positions, many would normally spell out their priorities that they would like to achieve during their term in office.

This was no exception to the incoming Director General of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Two days after taking up his appointment early this month, FAO's new Director-General José Graziano da Silva told his inaugural press conference that the total elimination of hunger and undernourishment from the world would be his top priority.

Locals from the Huon district of  Morobe province undergoing food processing training at NARI-Bubia under an initiative Bris Kanda, a locally-based NGO. Imparting such skills to communities is vital in our efforts to promote food security.

Graziano da Silva noted that his term in office would be only three-and-a-half years and he felt there was no time to lose.

He would like see FAO to begin by scaling up its support to a number of low-income, food deficit countries, especially those facing prolonged crises.

Making such commitment is one thing but getting the desired result is another.

 While he would ensure FAO to doing its part, it would require the efforts of everyone concerned to fulfill his desire.

 As everywhere else, FAO alone will not achieve the commitment of Graziano da Silva.

Graziano da Silva is aware of this and called on all concerned to make to their commitment to achieving the global fight against food insecurity and hunger.

"Ending hunger requires the commitment of everyone, neither FAO nor any other agency or government will win this war alone", said Graziano da Silva, adding that he wanted to work "in the most transparent and democratic way" with member countries, other United Nations agencies, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders.

Hunger eradication was the first of five strategic priorities he intended to pursue at FAO, Graziano da Silva said.

The others were: move towards more sustainable systems of food production and consumption; achieve greater fairness in the global management of food; complete FAO's reform and decentralszation; and expand South-South cooperation and other partnerships.

Issues of food insecurity and hunger are being pursued at all levels globally and organisations like FAO are at the forefront.

 They are aware of the threats posed by climate change which is likely to make the situation even worse.

They are also aware of what is unfolding in the Horn of Africa, a situation that can happen easily anywhere if unprepared.

 Therefore, they are calling on all responsible to make their commitments towards this cause, saying what is happening in the Horn of Africa is evident enough for us to work towards sustaining food security.

There are strong calls for appropriate policies and investment for sustained food security and efforts should made to finding long-term solutions for ending hunger and reducing poverty.

While for Papua New Guinea, food insecurity and hunger is not that serious and we remain relatively food secure.

However, we cannot use the present situation as an excuse for inaction.

We need work towards to finding long-term solutions for ending hunger and reducing poverty. Climate change, growing population, urbanisation among others are likely to put more pressure on food security and undernourishment.

We need work in line with the initiatives being untaken by organisations like FAO to address food insecurity and hunger.

As noted by Graziano da Silva, there must be concerted efforts by the government, private sector, NGOs and civil society to help ourselves.

We note that eradicating hunger altogether is a complex task.

It is a complex problem of infrastructure, governance, markets, education and so on.

But we believe these are things we can shape and strengthen.

That means that it is a problem that we can solve if we have the will and show some commitments towards it.

Organisations like the National Agricultural Research Institute, Department of Agriculture and Livestock and other organizations have already initiated efforts on this front.

We need to support them and do what we can towards this cause as these organisations will not achieve anything on their own.

We also need to work closely other organisation both regionally and internationally.

Unfortunate in PNG that there is lack of dialogue on many important issues like food insecurity, undernourishment, hunger, food price volatility, climate change to name a few.

These are issues being pursued at the global front with urgency.

We need to get involved in these efforts, and must continue our dialogue on these but locally, regionally and internationally for we will not achieve anything own our own.

For us, obviously the primary responsibility naturally lies on our own hands.

We certainly are aware of the things that need to be done and know where improvements are required.

We need to pool our resources together and rededicate ourselves towards this cause.

Only then will Graziano da Silva will have achieved his aspirations when his term is up.