Papua New Guinea: Roads to growth

By OXFORD BUSINESS GROUP

Plans for a major highway upgrade deal with China and progress in transport development schemes underline Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) determination to tackle infrastructure deficits that have thus far inhibited the island’s economic growth.

Magi Highway, Central province, which links to Port Moresby

In March, Francis Awesa, the minister of transport, told Australian media that the government is seeking a $4.73bn-$5.67bn loan from China to fix its major economic lifeline – the Highlands highway – with some funds also to be used for other road upgrades. Awesa added that he was “confident” a deal with Beijing would be negotiated.
The 800-km Highlands highway runs from the port city of Lae in the Morobe province to the highlands region, which is home to the crucial Exxon-led $15.7bn PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, the Porgera gold mine and numerous coffee plantations.
“Economically, it is very important for the government to look after this highway, which a lifeline for these projects and the people,” Awesa told ABC radio on March 13. “Lae is also the biggest industrial city and deserves to have the best roads.”
Plans for the highway upgrade are part of wider government plans to improve infrastructure. Under the PNG Development Strategic Plan (DSP) 2010-30, the government aims to raise the share of national roads in good condition to 100% and triple their length by 2030. This includes long missing links, corridors, and “nation-building roads” that will create a “national road network”.
The Department of Transport has prepared the National Transport Strategy 2011-30 and the Medium-Term Transport Plan 2011-15 (a five-year capital improvement programme), which both place greater emphasis on maintenance and rehabilitation above system expansion. Officials say the funds for planned upgrades – including repayments to China for the proposed highways loan – will come from a sovereign wealth fund established to manage revenues from the PNG LNG project, which are estimated to be $300bn over 30 years.
PNG’s road system comprises 8762 national roads, 8100 km of provincial links, and around 8000 district, local and other roads, as well as 800 bridges. The national roads include 3335 km of designated “roads of national importance”, often called “priority roads”.
Government initiatives are backed by AusAid’s $51.76m Transport Sector Support Programme, which noted in a September 2011 report that 53% of the 16 “priority roads” were now in good condition, compared with the 32% registered in 2010. Meanwhile, the major seaports of Port Moresby and Lae had improved their average ship turnaround time to 2.72 days in 2011 from 2.8 in 2010. Finally, 16 national airports have been certified to international standards.
Air travel is a crucial form of transport for PNG and is credited with opening the mountainous and densely forested island up during the latter stages of the colonial period. The capital Port Moresby and Lae are still only reachable directly by plane.
In February, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) invited bids for the construction of a new airport terminal building and associated works at Mt Hagen Airport, located in the western Highlands province. The ADB is implementing a 10-year $640m airport development project, including expansion at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby, new security systems at Kavieng, and improvements at Wewak, Alotau, Kimbe and Mt Hagen. Landing safety system upgrades are already complete under this programme.
The challenges presented by maintaining the Highland highway make clear why air travel is so crucial to the country’s development. While the highest pass reaches 3000 metres, 24-degree inclines and declines on gravel are common, according to a PNG Report article, which adds that a return trip takes around four days.
“Around 500 prime movers operated by eight major transport companies currently ply this road, contributing to 40,000 loaded truck movements per year,” the report noted, with trucking activity set to increase during PNG LNG’s construction ahead of its completion date of 2014.
“The road serves almost three-quarters of the population of the country from a region that contributes three-quarters of the country’s GDP,” according to Jacob Luke, the president of PNG’s Trucking Association.
Roads aren’t the only vital piece of PNG’s overall transport network: ports are responsible for shipping vast quantities of goods. The two most important ports are Port Moresby and the Port of Lae, which connects to the PNG LNG project. PNG Ports, the state-run agency in charge of the country’s ports, is currently investing in wharf cranes to increase traffic and is also working to boost container movements at both ports. The agency is also considering the development of another two ports at Vanimo and Wewak to serve a possible gold mine project and expanding facilities at Medang.
Port Moresby’s plans to renovate the Highland highway and port operations are an important step towards improving conditions that currently limit the transport of goods, dampen manufacturing and export potential, and discourage foreign investment. Future plans to link not just lucrative projects but all communities to economic centres will ensure the entire country sees the benefit of increasing transport connections

Genesis of the Genia greatness

The rugby star is just another member of the clan back at the family home in Port Moresby, writes Georgina Robinson of Sydney Morning Herald

IT IS LATE afternoon in Port Moresby and we're hurtling through town in the tray of Frank Genia's ute. The sun is warm and hanging low over the harbour as we pass street stalls and clusters of bored young men who survey each passing vehicle with a mix of curiosity and mistrust. Frank, the original star halfback in the Genia clan before his determined little brother Sanchez William stole the mantle, makes only a cursory effort to avoid the many gaping potholes on the dusty roads that head up through hills looking out to the Coral Sea.

Will Genia ... back in his childhood home in PNG. Photo: Georgina Robinson

Will Genia, the linchpin Wallabies halfback, is taking the Herald on a tour of the neighbourhoods in which he spent his childhood as a tubby, round-cheeked young kid his schoolmates nicknamed ''Pooh Bear". Less tubby now than nuggety, he sits in a corner of the tray in a t-shirt and shorts, tapping on the side to tell Frank when to stop, go, or linger.
''The neighbourhood was always quite safe. Here was quite safe,'' Genia says as we drive through a quiet patch in Boroko, a bustling suburb in the centre of Port Moresby.
''You still had to be quite careful. We lived in a little cul de sac so my folks said we could never, ever go past that.You had to be, I guess, protective, but with good reason. The one time we actually ventured out with our bikes, past the cul de sac … we had our bikes stolen. So we never did it again.''
The ute stops outside a large weatherboard home, surrounded by grand old palms but obscured from view by a two-metre high dark green fence topped with barbed wire. Genia's parents, Kilroy and Elizabeth, raised their five children here until 2003, when Will was a 15-year-old at boarding school in Brisbane and no one believed for a second that he could play as well as Frank.
''This is where I grew up, racing up and down with my brothers on our bikes, playing cricket on the road,'' Genia says. ''It's changed a lot but it's a good place. We used to play marbles just here.''
The 2011 Super Rugby Player of the Year is a four-hour flight and a million miles from rugby right now. He has taken an opportunity presented by the Reds' round eight bye to nip home for a few days to see family and help launch an Australian Rugby Union program using the game to teach life skills to school children.
This mid-season visit is a rare treat. Genia usually comes back for a month-long stint at Christmas, when the whole family drives three hours east to their village, Lalaura.
But in the back of his brother's ute on a languid Easter Monday afternoon in Papua New Guinea's wild and bustling capital, the 24-year-old is relishing the break.
''It's good to be home,'' he says. ''I always feel really free when I get back home, away from everything. All the troubles you leave behind and elsewhere, you come back and it's just so laid back, you can do whatever you want, sit in the back of utes, drive around town. It's just carefree and that's the best thing about it.''
We pull into the Genias' home in town, on a hill above the Royal Papua Yacht Club. From their deck, you can see the road snaking along the harbour below with a running path, on which Genia trains during his trips here.
We hop out of the ute and walk past the car space under the house where Frank, Will and their younger brother Nigel spend all their time on these holidays together. There's a table and a few chairs, empty Coke cans and the familiar mess found in all boys' hangouts.
''We just sit there and tell stories about anything and everything for hours on end,'' Genia says. ''We don't really watch TV, we don't really do too much, we just chill out and hang out with family.''
Much of the appeal of home for Genia is that he can slip straight back into his place in the ''clan", as his father affectionately refers to his wife and five children. There are no stars in the Genia household, just hard workers. Each member does what is best for the family. Decisions are shared, as are successes.
Frank is the senior sibling - Will and Nigel still share a bedroom when they come back - and Kilroy Genia, a former foreign minister in the Papua New Guinean government, is the seat of authority. Elizabeth Genia was promoted recently to assistant governor at the Bank of Papua New Guinea. Frank, who introduced Genia to rugby and taught him to play halfback, runs businesses in Port Moresby but spends half his time in Brisbane. Nigel, 20, does labouring work and plays club rugby while he looks after his younger sisters, Anne-Marie and Lorraine, who are in school at Somerville House. Genia's partner Vanessa regularly feeds them all from their home in Carindale, on Brisbane's southside.
''We are very proud of [Will],'' Kilroy Genia says after he and Elizabeth return from Lalaura and join their boys on the deck. ''We've always encouraged him to maintain a level head all the time but other than that we feel that his achievements are also our achievements, because we're a very close-knit family.''
So close-knit that one of Genia's few arguments with his father arose after Kilroy got wind of a plan to go to Europe that his son was hatching a few years ago.
''I said 'You didn't tell Mum and I you were going to Europe. We know you're a big boy but you need to at least talk to us because there are things you might do that will come back and haunt you or that you might regret making those decisions.'''
The move offshore didn't happen then but the topic has been broached again recently as Genia - off contract this year - contemplates his next move. Genia's parents do not want him to leave Australia. Kilroy, soft-spoken but authoritative, looks to his son before expanding on their aversion to Europe.
''It's a decision that Will has to make but if he asks me I would say 'You have the Lions tour coming up and you have one more World Cup to go.'
''Sometimes players - particularly at that age - you get out of the radar. Especially if you still desire to play for Australia. It's better you stay in the country. That's what I've been telling him.''
Genia is obviously tempted by a new experience and the money that might be on offer from European clubs to a young player nearing the peak of his powers.
''I'd love to stay in Queensland and still have the option to play for Australia but at the same time you can't close yourself off to what else is out there, other opportunities that may present themselves,'' he says.
He would like the Reds and the ARU to ''make the decision for me by making me have to stay''. But he knows there are risks if he leaves.
It's a safe bet that there will be a few more family conferences before the question of Genia's future is settled.
''The way we've been brought up it doesn't matter who you are, where you've gone. You can be the richest man in the world, you still give respect to your elders,'' Frank explains as the last of the twilight fades.
''Our parents were brought up that way and it doesn't matter where we live … we still have that respect. If I say something, [the younger children] can't argue with me, that's it. But then it all comes down to Dad. Once he speaks, whether you're right or wrong, that's it. And [Will] is exactly like Dad, he thinks he's right all the time.''

Georgina Robinson travelled to PNG as a guest of the ARU

Helping offer children life and ball skills

From GEORGINA ROBINSON of Sydney Morning Herald

WILL GENIA hopes a new rugby program will unearth more outstanding sporting talent in Papua New Guinea, but believes its core purpose is to make life better for children through sport.

Genia travelled to the land of his birth this week to help promote the $2.45 million Australian government-funded Pacific in Union initiative.

Homegrown talents ... Genia promotes a program of goodwill. Photo: AusAID

''It's all about life skills,'' Papua New Guinea Rugby Union general manager Simon Kerr said. ''You don't have to encourage these kids to get out too much, you've just got to drive around the streets here and you'll see them playing touch footy or volleyball or wheeling a tyre down the road with a couple of sticks.

''They're active. It's just encouraging the healthy aspect, showers and balanced diets, and all the simple things we take for granted.''

Rugby union is the country's fourth most popular sport. Football is the most popular by participation and rugby league dominates the television thanks to the NRL's penetration. Genia didn't play rugby union until he went to high school in Brisbane as a 12-year-old.

And despite persistent calls for a Papua New Guinean team to join the NRL, the Australian Rugby Union and the Australian government thinks the smaller code has a chance to win hearts and minds, thanks to the success of Genia.

''I think union has a real potential here,'' Australia's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Ian Kemish, said.

''League, while very popular, has some real organisational problems in this country. Some of the other guys, including AFL and cricket, are getting themselves going and I'm delighted … that rugby union is getting involved.''

 Genia said he hoped the new program, which is also being rolled out in Samoa and the Solomon Islands, would lead to greater participation in PNG.

''Rugby league's huge up here, it always has been, ever since I was a little kid,'' he said. ''State of Origin is insane here, it's like a religion, they love it. So it's quite tough, but initiatives like Pacific in Union can try to change that, promote the game a little bit more, which will be good.''

But in a country in which 40 per cent of the population is under the age of 15 and poverty is overwhelming, Genia said the program could do more for children than hone their catch-pass skills.

''I like the idea of a program targeting young kids and presenting them with opportunities they wouldn't be presented with otherwise. There's so much talent running around all the Pacific Islands … You can get kids off the street, keep them clean, keep them away from drugs and alcohol, and unearth some talent as well while they're at it.'

InterOil's Papua New Guinea LNG plan becomes political football

From PLATTS

 

InterOil Corporation's proposed Gulf LNG project appears to have become something of a political football in Papua New Guinea, with Prime Minister Peter O'Neill calling for his energy minister William Duma to "desist from confusing the investment community" about the status of the proposal.

Duma, PNG's minister for petroleum and energy, told Platts Friday that he wanted to "remind" InterOil of his comments of last September, when he said the company's planned Gulf LNG development did not meet its December 2009 project agreement with the government and had been rejected by the National Executive Council, or cabinet.

The project agreement calls for InterOil to deliver a 7.6 million-10.6 million mt/year LNG project based on its Elk and Antelope gas reserves, using internationally recognized technology and operators. Instead, the company was proposing a three-phase development and did not have an internationally reputable partner on board, Duma said.

In a statement issued by the prime minister's media unit late Friday, O'Neill said InterOil's LNG project in PNG's Gulf province would go ahead "when all preconditions set by government and the 2009 project agreement are fully satisfied."

"There is no National Executive Council decision rejecting the Gulf LNG project," O'Neill said. He also reiterated his statement of August 2011 that the government under his watch would "assist InterOil to secure a strategic operating partner, rescope the project agreement to enable phased LNG development, and to locate the project in Gulf province."

O'Neill has also "directed the ministry and Department of Petroleum and Energy to cooperate with InterOil and desist from confusing the investment community and Gulf province government and landowners with media statements about rejection of the project," according to the statement.

Duma earlier told Platts that he had urged US-listed InterOil to talk to Shell about its plans for the LNG project, rather than pursue its proposed phased development with Australia-based minnow Energy World Corporation.

In February 2011, InterOil signed an agreement with EWC for a modular LNG plant to be developed in two phases -- first 2 million mt/year, with a later expansion of 1 million mt/year. The agreement, which was originally conditional on a final investment decision on the project being taken by December 31, 2011, provided for a possible expansion up to 8 million mt/year.

 "I've been encouraging InterOil to talk to Shell, but they are not in negotiations with them," Duma said. "Shell has told [InterOil] that they want to talk [about the Gulf LNG project], so why haven't they been talking to Shell and other [majors]?" he queried.

Shell would be one logical partner for InterOil, as it already has a strategic alliance with PNG's state-owned Petromin, which it signed last August, and is actively pursuing LNG opportunities in PNG. Petromin was formed to hold PNG's assets and maximize indigenous ownership and revenue from the mineral and petroleum sectors.

With production of 18.8 million mt of LNG in 2011, Shell would also fit the government's requirement that InterOil's LNG project be operated by an internationally reputable player.

ExxonMobil is also active in the emerging PNG LNG sector. The US oil and gas giant is currently constructing a $15.7 billion, 6.6 million mt/year LNG plant near Port Moresby, scheduled for startup in 2014.

Duma said InterOil had held preliminary discussions with Korea Gas Corporation about possible participation in the Gulf LNG project, alongside Japan's Mitsui and Japan Petroleum Exploration Company. "But Kogas is not an LNG plant operator, it is an importer of LNG," he added.

Japex signed a cooperation agreement with Petromin in 2010, the same year that Mitsui inked an agreement to develop a $550 million liquids stripping plant with InterOil at the Elk and Antelope fields.

Kogas officials were not immediately available for comment. Mitsui had not responded to Platts inquiries at press time, and Japex declined to comment.

A source familiar with the matter told Platts Friday that Japex and Mitsui had jointly held talks about possibly joining InterOil's project, but it was not immediately clear whether the discussions were still under way.

InterOil at the end of March again extended its deadlines for final investment decisions on the liquids stripping project with Mitsui and the LNG plant with EWC. The projects had at that time been scheduled for FID by March 31, 2012.

Now, the liquids project is due to go to an FID by June 30, 2012, with provision for a possible further extension to December 31, 2012. The decision on the LNG project has also been pushed back to the end of this year.

At the time, the company said it had continued to progress the development of its LNG project by completing front-end engineering and design work for the proposed field gathering system, the liquids stripping project and pipeline to the proposed LNG plant site on the coast. Bids for the liquids stripping project "have been received, evaluated and are in the process of being finalized," the company said.

Under its project agreement, InterOil has until June 2013 to take a final investment decision on the LNG project.

InterOil CEO Phil Mulacek said Friday that the bid process for the LNG project was advancing, with international investment banks Morgan Stanley, Macquarie Capital and UBS pursuing partners.

"The purpose is to secure an LNG partner to accelerate the LNG capacity to 8 million mt/year, with them as lead operator," Mulacek told Platts. "This may involve the new LNG partner buying part of the Elk/Antelope gas assets. This was outlined to the PNG government and was accepted," he added.

"In regards to Shell or other LNG partners, they are all under confidentiality agreements and we cannot talk about the discussions," Mulacek said.

Cooperative societies in need of funding

By MALUM NALU

Cooperative societies are in urgent need of government funding, according to Registrar of Cooperative Societies of PNG Joseph Ingipa.

This is unlike the past when cooperative societies were very effective in Papua New Guinea.

Ingipa said for this year, the government had allocated K3 million, of which K400, 000 had been set aside as seed capital.

Registrar of Cooperative Societies of PNG Joseph Ingipa

This K400, 000 had been split up with K100, 000 going to each of the four regions.

Ingipa said this on Wednesday as Commerce and Industry Minister, Charles Abel, gave K50, 000 to Ungai-Bena MP Benny Allan for the Eastern Highlands Coffee Cooperative Society.

Both Abel and Allan acknowledged that cooperative societies needed more assistance from the government.

“This K3 million is not enough,” Allan said when receiving the K50, 000 from Abel.

“We should put more money into cooperatives.

“We already have an Eastern Highlands Coffee Growers’ Cooperative to get our coffee growers together.

“This money will be used to assist coffee growers of Eastern Highlands.”

The co-operative societies movement was introduced to PNG in 1947, and had worked successfully from the 1950s to the early 1970s, bringing goods and services closer to the rural areas, mobilising people and enabling them to undertake socio-economic activities, thus generating income to sustain their livelihood.

Co-operative societies then were developed under the four-tier level structure, namely the primary, district (association), regional (union), and national (federation) that affiliated to the international body.

There were four types of co-operative societies developed then and operated in the country, which were: consumer co-operative, marketing co-operative, producers co-operative and credit co-operative.

The formation of these societies then were centered on developing a trade network for distribution of import goods, collection of raw materials for export and mobilising of funds for new socio-economic activities.

The movement became dysfunctional after the Co-operative Societies Ordinance (1965) was repealed by the then House of Assembly in 1974.

Prime Minister: InterOil Gulf LNG project to go ahead

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says Interoil Corporation's LNG project development in PNG's Gulf province will go ahead when all pre-conditons set by government and the 2009 Project Agreement are fully satisfied. Mr O'Neill said today there was no National Executive Council decision rejecting the Gulf LNG project. The Prime Minister reiterated his earlier statement in August last year that the government under his watch would assist InterOil to secure a strategic operating partner, rescope the project agreement to enable phased LNG development, and to locate the project in Gulf province.

Prime Minister O'Neill has directed the Ministry and Department of Petroleum and Energy to cooperate with InterOil and desist from confusing the investment community and Gulf Province government and landowners with media statements about rejection of the project.

Kokoda trekking industry grows 70 years on

By MALUM NALU
The Kokoda trekking industry has become a major money-spinner over the last 10 years and is something the country can be proud of, according to leading national tour operator Narai Billy.
He said this as the world-famous Kokoda Track becomes a mecca for international trekkers, mainly Australians, this year with the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign of World War 11.

Kokoda tour operator Narai Billy

Billy said since the 60th anniversary of Kokoda in 2002, when then Australian prime minister John Howard visited, the Kokoda trekking industry had grown like never before.
“The Kokoda trekking industry is growing and growing all the time,” he said.
“It has become a famous international trekking icon.
“As the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign is commemorated, the Kokoda Track itself should also be celebrated in a big way.
“People are willing to come and do the challenge of the Kokoda Track.
“They feel that it’s part of WW11 history, and enjoy the flora and fauna, as well as the sheer adventure of the track.
“Villages along the track are benefitting from regular income, better health, education and communication services that they have not had access to before.”
Billy, one of the first local tour operators along the Kokoda Track, said there would be major commemorations when the 70th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign falls later this year.
A local from Depol village in Sogeri, where the Kokoda Track begins, he has been involved in the trekking industry for the last 20 years.
Billy’s company, Kokoda Icon, is an established trekking company that brings trekkers for the Kokoda Track.
It started as Koiari Tracks and Tours until the name change.
Kokoda Icon caters for long or short Kokoda treks, as well as sightseeing in the local Sogeri area.
Many of its clients come from Australia, especially Brisbane and Melbourne where it has agents.

PMIZ to be high impact project

By MALUM NALU
The Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Vidar, Madang province, will be one of the biggest impact projects the country has ever seen, says Commerce and Industry Secretary Stephen Mera.

Commerce and Industry Secretary Stephen Mera

He told The National after launch of the engineering concept design for the US$95 million (K216 million) PMIZ on Wednesday that the project would be of massive proportions.
The PMIZ is located at Vidar Plantation, along the North Coast Road outside Madang town, and comprises a total of 215ha.
“The first phase alone will cost about K400 million,” Mera said.
“This is a regional project.
“By the time we complete the project, we would have spent up more than K1 billion.
“When the investors come in, you’re looking at more and more money coming in.”
Mera said the project would start immediately with the launch of the engineering concept design on Wednesday, and payment of K10 million PNG government counterpart funding by Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel to China Shenyang International Economics & Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC).
“The design will take about six months,” he said.
“We are at the detailed design stage now
“We expect construction to begin by the end of this year.”
Mera said of the US$95 million, the PNG government would contribute US$21 million while US$74 million would come from the Exim Bank of China.
The project is the biggest soft loan project from the Chinese government to Papua New Guinea.
Funding for the project was secured through bilateral arrangement between China and PNG.
A framework arrangement was signed in November 2009 which allowed for PNG to access the concessional loan from Exim Bank of China.
The condition of the concessional loan was for the main contractor to be a Chinese company selected by the bank through its own selection process.
The aim of PMIZ is to create a regional tuna processing centre which will provide an opportunity for regional member countries and PNG tuna industry to set up processing plants within the zone, add value to their tuna catches and supply export markets.

Abel: PMIZ landowners must be respected

By MALUM NALU
Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel has told stakeholders in no uncertain terms that landowners of theUS$95 million (K216 million) Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project in Vidar, Madang, must be respected.

Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel…landowners must be respected

Abel’s strong message came during presentation of PMIZ’s engineering concept design by Korean engineering consultants Deco to the PNG government, and the payment of K10 million PNG government counterpart funding to project consultants China Shenyang International Economics & Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC), on Wednesday.
The PMIZ project has been the subject much controversy since it was first mooted, with landowner issues high on the agenda.
“The issue is for landowners to be engaged meaningfully in the project,” he said.
“We must try to engage them as much as we can.
“There must be a socio-economic package for local landowners.
“We must address their concerns.”
Abel said the government gave K1 million to project landowners last October to prepare them to participate in the development and construction phase of the PMIZ.
Even former Environment Minister Benny Allan, who was present on Wednesday, admitted that he had a very hard time with PMIZ landowners.
“We went through ‘rough seas’ when confronted by landowners,” he said.
Last May, landowner issues came to a head when government ministers were branded "conmen and thieves" at a public rally organised by then Justice Minister and Madang Regional MP Sir Arnold Amet.
The rally, at Alexishafen, saw angry landowners and villagers expressing their frustration over outstanding land issues and refusing to let the PMIZ project go ahead until all issues were resolved.
All and then Commerce and Industry Minister, Gabriel Kapris, were present while then Fisheries Minister Ben Semri was absent.
Issues highlighted then included organising of incorporated land groups and infighting among executives and clan members of the two umbrella companies, Kananam Investment Ltd and Rehammb Holdings; absence of a working memorandum of understanding and agreement; exclusion of any legislation protecting people's interest regarding long-term effects to their environment, health or land; government's failure to conduct awareness exercises in discussing boundary issues concerning underwater leases already marked and taken over by the project; and equity for the people and provincial government.
Francis Gem, an NGO representative and landowner, incited a scuffle on stage and started the name-calling.
He pointed at the ministers' faces, and said: "Yupela olgeta konman (you are all conmen)".
This was after Gem asked the crowd if they wanted the PMIZ project to continue and the crowd shouted "nogat (no)".
His outburst did not settle down well with Allan, who stood up to confront Gem, which brought police on stage to calm things down.

Security warning for PNG poll

Sydney Morning Herald

THE federal government has been urged to arrange a regional security force, backed by a US Navy helicopter carrier, to secure the peace during Papua New Guinea's coming elections.

"We should expect the elections to be violent" ... a man demands suffrage as thousands of Papua New Guineans protest against the government's plan to delay national elections during a rally in Port Moresby on April 10, 2012. Photo: AFP

The elections, due on June 23 at the end of the Parliament's five-year term, are seen as a critical moment, with the politicians of the 1975 independence era retiring and a $15 billion liquefied natural gas project coming on stream in 2015, delivering huge revenue flows to the government.
''PNG faces generation change at the same time as the biggest resources boom in its history,'' the Gillard government's parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, told a conference at Deakin University, in Geelong. ''This is why the next elections are so important and why it is so important that they happen on time.''
Scott Flower of Melbourne University has seen campaigning already under way in the violent highlands provinces in January, with money and home-made shotguns flourishing openly.
With the police diverted by states of emergency declared in two provinces last week, and the defence force down to 2000 soldiers, he doubted security resources available inside PNG were up to preventing violence, intimidation and ballot hijacking.
''I really think they will be overwhelmed,'' he said.
Dr Flower suggested Australia urgently consider organising a regional security force, possibly with helicopter support from a US Navy carrier, for the duration of the elections.
Because of local sensitivities about Australia, particularly after the earlier warning by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, of sanctions if elections were not held, Dr Flower suggested a broad regional composition, a time limit to prevent it being seen as a Solomon Islands-type of long-term intervention, and personnel coming under a joint panel of PNG and Commonwealth judges in case of any legal problems.
Nicole Haley, a specialist on Melanesia at the Australian National University, said the impending election was shaping up as worse than the malpractice-ridden 2007 elections.
''There is every indication that the level of malpractice will increase in 2012, not least because the stakes are higher due to the LNG project,'' she said.
With just over two months left before the vote, it would not be possible to remedy the flaws.
''In the weeks and months remaining it will not be possible to produce brand new rolls, nor to undo the messages deriving from the 2007 experience, nor to depoliticise the military,'' Dr Haley said.
''Based on the current situation, we should expect the elections to be violent, we should expect them to be marred by fraud and malpractice on a scale never before seen and we should expect the security personnel to be both partisan and politicised.''

PMIZ project set to roll in Madang

By MALUM NALU
The engineering concept design for the US$95 million (K216 million) Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Vidar, Madang province, was yesterday (Wednesday) handed over to the national government by Korean engineering consultants, Deco, The National reports.

An artist’s impression of the PMIZ project

Minister for Commerce and Industry Charles Abel took delivery of the design and also paid K10 million to project consultants, China Shenyang International Economics & Technical Cooperation Corporation (CSYIC), as the first tranche of the PNG government’s counterpart funding.

Abel (right) receives the engineering concept design for the PMIZ project from KPT Group of Companies managing director Jason Lee, who is associated with Korean engineering consultants Deco.-Picture by MALUM NALU

Abel said since taking office last year, the government recognised the economic importance of the project as a strategic economic corridor infrastructure project” that would stimulate increased economic growth”, particularly in the northern region.
“When the O’Neill-Namah government took office, we quickly realised the strategic, economic and national interest that a project of this magnitude and scale would bring for PNG,” he said.
“As minister responsible for the project, I ensured I was not going to let this important opportunity for international business slip by without giving it the full support it deserved, bearing in mind the net gains the PMIZ would reap for PNG and her people.
“I made sure it got off the ground quickly, as an enabling infrastructure necessary for the government to realise the much talked about economic corridor concept.”
Abel, when giving K10 million to CSYIC deputy general manager Terry Wang, said it was the first tranche of the PNG government’s counterpart funding.
This is on top of the K1 million government gave to project landowners last October to prepare them for participating in the development and construction phase of the PMIZ.
“This is a demonstration of the firm commitment by government to ensure the PMIZ project gets off the ground quickly,” Abel said.
“This US$95 million PMIZ project is indeed a major resource impact project.
“The PNG National Fisheries Authority and my department have fully appraised the project.
“Both direct and indirect economic returns are enormous in the long run.
“The PMIZ project will have a massive pull-in effect of foreign fisheries industry participants that settle on our shores to do business in this strategic resource sector.
“It will no doubt become a catalyst for change for many of our coastal fishing provinces.”
Abel said the winning concept design was chosen following three submissions by engineering consultants, Deco, which had on March 13 this year presented to the government three concept designs for final selection.
Yesterday’s unveiling of the engineering concept design of the MPIZ project puts in motion the construction phase of the project.
Abel thanked all key stakeholders of the PMIZ project for bringing into reality a pilot concept design “that looks set to graduate PNG’s fisheries industry infrastructure to world-class attention and standards as PNG strives to be on par with the best industry participants in the world”.

A bird's eye view from 4-Mile Overhead Bridge

A bird's eye view from 4-Mile Overhead Bridge.
Things look so good from up here, however, it's so filthy on the ground with buai pekpek (betelnut shit) and other litter.

Pictures of the new Lands Department headquarters

Pictures of the new Lands Department headquarters along Waigani Drive, Port Moresby.
There have been many accusations levelled at the department as being one of the "most-corrupt" and we hope that this new building will give you a new lease on life.

To Daru with love

My four babies Moasing, Keith, Gedi and Jr with their uncle Samio before he flew off to Daru today.

They all took a day off from school to see their uncle off, with flowers and candles for their mum's grave...

Danaya faces fraud charges

By ANGELINE KARIUS
WESTERN Governor Dr Bob Danaya faces four fraud-related charges in relation to a provincial executive council decision to sack administrator William Goina, The National reports.
Danaya was arrested by the police fraud squad in the National Capital District.
He was released on a K4,000 bail yesterday afternoon.
Director of the police fraud squad unit Timothy Gitua said Danaya was questioned, charged and detained at the Boroko police station before being bailed.
He said Danaya was charged with forgery, uttering a false document, false pretence and conspiracy to defraud the state.
The charges related to a Western provincial execu­ive council decision made to the national executive council to terminate the appointment of Goina as provincial administrator.
Gitua said the charges did not relate to money.
“Based on the recommendation by the provincial assembly, the NEC made the decision to effect Goina’s termination,” he said.
NCD metropolitan commander Supt Peter Guinness confirmed Danaya’s arrest