Sir Rabbie joins InterOil board

Interoil Corporation yesterday announced that its board of directors has approved the addition of two members, The National reports.
 Sir Rabbie Namaliu and Samuel Delcamp, former executive director and chief investment officer of the Fuller Foundation, have both joined the board.

Sir Rabbie Namaliu

In keeping with good corporate governance practices, the board also decided to separate the roles of chairman and chief executive officer.
Dr Gaylen Byker was appointed chairman of the board.
Phil Mulacek will continue as chief executive.
In addition to serving as PNG prime minister from 1988 to 1992, Sir Rabbie served as Speaker of the National Parliament between 1994 and 1997.
Prior to this, Sir Rabbie was minister for foreign affairs and Trade from 1982 until 1984 and has held several other senior government posts since his first election to parliament in 1982.
Sir Rabbie has chaired InterOil’s PNG advisory committee since last August.
Delcamp has more than 40 years of investment experience.
He served as executive director and chief investment officer of The Fuller Foundation, a public charity, for 24 years.
Delcamp was instrumental in founding the organisation and overseeing the growth in its assets under management from US$4 million to more than US$600 million.
Byker has additionally served as director and president of MBM Partners Inc, an unregistered investment adviser.
During his tenure as a director since 1997, Byker held roles as lead independent director and  chair of the board’s compensation, among others. Nominating and governance committees and membership of its audit and reserves committees

Kongo Coffee to get K10 million loan funding

INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, will set up a risk-sharing facility with Bank South Pacific to enable the bank to provide K10 million in loans to Kongo Coffee Ltd, the largest locally-owned coffee exporter in Papua New Guinea, The National reports.
 The financing will help the company buy more coffee from farmers, meet market demand and create more jobs.
“IFC’s guarantee means Bank South Pacific will now be able to lend us the money we need to triple our coffee processing capacity to six tonness per hour from two tonnes,” Jerry Kapka, Kongo Coffee’s managing director, said.
“This improvement will allow us to purchase more coffee beans from local farmers, satisfy our customers’ demands, and increase our coffee exports.”
The company largely buys its coffee from remote communities in Chimbu province, where more than 100,000 people rely on the coffee industry for jobs and income.
Most of its suppliers are small growers who own less than two-and-a half hectares of land.
In addition, IFC will provide advice to Kongo Coffee to improve its corporate governance, internal systems, and management skills.
“By helping Kongo increase its exports and sustainability, we are giving small-scale coffee farmers an assured buyer who will want more of their product,” Carolyn Blacklock, IFC’s resident representative in PNG, said.
“More demand means younger farmers have a future and are given the opportunity to expand their businesses, increase profits, and create jobs.” 
A key priority for IFC in the PNG is to provide investment and advisory services to financial institutions to better serve micro, small, and medium enterprises and expand access to finance in rural areas to improve living standards and create economic opportunities.  
IFC is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector.
It helps developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilising capital in the international financial markets.
In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, IFC helped its clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities  – all while driving its investments to an all-time high of nearly US$19 billion

Goroka Show gets K20,000 boost

By MALUM NALU

THE popular Goroka Show, PNG’s biggest tourist-pulling event, will get even bigger and better this year, according to Eastern Highlands Farmers and Settlers Association (EHFSA) president Wilson Thompson.
He said this last Thursday during the presentation of K20,000 from Bank South Pacific to Eastern Highlands Agriculture Society for the 2012 Goroka Show.
BSP Goroka branch manager Ruben Elizah and rural banking regional manager Joe Waim handed over the money to EHFSA and show executives.

Thompson (left) receives the K20,000 from Elizah as Goroka Show chairman Gideon Samuel looks on.-Picture by THOMAS SOLEPA

Elizah said BSP was committed to community activities such as the show, and construction of a mess as Mesauka Secondary School, while Waim said rural branches and small business facilities would be opened in Okapa, Aiyura and Yonki,
“All accommodation have already been booked out by tourists and others are even booking for 2013,” Thompson said.
“I challenge Tourism Promotion Authority and National Cultural Commission to also assist in this premier event.
“We will soon be asking them to remove Goroka Show from their brochures and publications as we have not had any support from them, apart from the Institute of PNG Studies.”
Thompson said the first day of the show would be committed to agriculture and rural development, hence, it was fitting that BSP was now placing more emphasis on rural banking and financial services.
Goroka Show chairman Gideon Samuel said National Gaming Control Board had sponsorship rights for the show, with BSP being the second major sponsor.

Peter O'Neill set to win Ialibu/Pangia seat back

Peter O'Neill is set to win his Ialibu/Pangia seat back.
He has primary votes of more that 50% plus one.
He is set to be the first candidate to win in the 2012 national elections.
O'Neill, at last count, had more than 16,000 votes so it should just be a mere formality for him in the remaining ballot boxes.
At last count today, O'Neill had 16, 583 votes and his closest rival was Raphael Noipo (2,930), while Eke Lama was third on 2, 767 votes.

More details to be posted.

World Bank: PNG must spend better

By MALUM NALU

THE passing of the boom in PNG government revenues will challenge authorities in the coming years, according to the World Bank, The National reports.
 This is according to its latest PNG Economic Briefing The Challenge of Transforming Today’s Boom Into Better Living Standards for Tomorrow,  which was presented by World Bank country economist Tim Bulman at the monthly economic and public sector programme seminar at the Holiday Inn last Friday.

Tim Bulman

The report said meeting the community’s expectations of improving services would require “spending better as much as spending more.
Important policy steps are being taken in this direction, but the pressures to meet short-term demands, and PNG’s social needs, are great”.
“Before the revenues from the LNG and the potential additional projects start flowing late this decade, government revenues are expected to stagnate, especially relative to rising costs of skilled employees, and of materials and the demands of a population growing by around 2% each year,” it said.
“At the same time, the community will continue to expect the government to provide more and better services, towards benefitting from the boom occurring in parts of the economy.”
The report said to manage these opposing pressures, it would be essential for the government to better ensure that spending from the government was translated into education, health and other services delivered to the end user with fewer leakages en route, or that investments in infrastructure were appropriately maintained.
“This will require both better planning and implementation,” it said.
“The establishment of the sovereign wealth fund and the government’s move towards multi-year budgets for capital projects are steps in this direction.
“More effective, especially in the short term, will be reducing leakages.
“Strong institutions of governance, throughout the public sector, and developing a pervasive culture of accountability can help achieve this.”
The report said translating economic wealth of the scale enjoyed by PNG into better living conditions for all citizens was a great challenge.
“Some countries have successfully managed the challenge of the ‘resource curse’,” it added.
“Already, PNG has created a climate that attracts investment in its resource production, and it is developing the institutions to ensure that this wealth supports a stable macro-economy.
“For long-term development and prosperity, it will be essential to design PNG institutions that ensure political leaders have the incentives to turn the nation’s wealth into long-term, broad-based development, rather than maximising the potential for it to generate short-term private rents.
“Failure to do this may undermine the gains of the past decade and the potential ongoing boom, working its way through the project planning and preparation pipeline.”
The report said Standard & Poor’s warned of this risk in February this year when it shifted the outlook for the country’s long-term sovereign debt from stable to negative.
“The challenge will be for the leadership that emerges from the mid-year elections to replicate these efforts in the public realm,” it said.

InterOil extends LNG deal with Mitsui

INTEROIL announced at the weekend that it has entered into agreements with Mitsui & Co Ltd to extend the dates by which certain conditions are to be met and final investment decisions (FID) made in LNG project agreements with Mitsui until Dec 31, 2012, The National reports.
 On March 30, 2012, InterOil indicated additional amendments to extend the joint venture operating agreement (JVOA) for the company’s proposed condensate stripping plant (CSP) with Mitsui, and associated agreements to December 31, 2012, were being contemplated.
“The JVOA for the company’s proposed CSP with Mitsui and associated agreements, have been amended so that the time allowed for FID has been extended until December 31, 2012,” InterOil said in a press statement.
“The JVOA sets out the rights and obligations of the participants of the joint venture to develop a CSP at InterOil’s Elk and Antelope field site in Gulf province, Papua New Guinea.”

Angry Anderson returns to Kokoda

Australian rock singer-songwriter, television presenter-reporter, actor, and political activist Angry Anderson returns to Kokoda on Monday to lead a group across the Kokoda Trail with Charlie Lynn of Adventure Kokoda. Angry first trekked Kokoda in 1996 as part of the ‘Angry Anderson Challenge’ which included a group of Australian celebrities led by Charlie Lynn.

Angry Anderson enjoying a bush buffet along the Kokoda Trail in January 1996

The trek was filmed by Channel 9 and screened on the following Anzac Day.
The epic television feature attracted an audience of more than three million viewers and put Kokoda on the map.
Angry returned to the trail a few months later to take a young child, Kennedy Siga from Alola village, to Melbourne for a serious operation on his legs.
Kennedy’s journey also featured on a Channel 9 television documentary.
Angry has always harboured a strong desire to return to Kokoda and trek it again with Charlie Lynn.
They will be joined by another 30 trekkers who will follow the original wartime trail which has been carefully mapped by Charlie over the past five years.

Angry Anderson and Darryl Braithwaite on Kokoda

At the time of the Angry’s last trek in 1996 only a handful of hardy trekkers made their way across the Kokoda Trail each year.
There were no accurate maps and the original battlesites were difficult to reach as some had been reclaimed by the jungle.
Others had been bypassed by new tracks and there were no memorials or monuments to identify the significance of the battlesites.
Since Channel 9 put Kokoda on the map with the Angry Anderson Challenge more that 30,000 Australian trekkers have trekked across it in what is becoming one of the most significant pilgrimages they will ever undertake.



Angry Anderson on This is Your LIfe

 There is much more to our shared wartime history than Kokoda. Rabaul, Milne Bay, Buna, Gona, Lae, Finchaffen, Nadzab, Shaggy Ridge, Madang and Wewak are some of the locations that could give rise to a wartime tourism industry that would have no equal in the Pacific.
Kokoda is the gateway and Angry Anderson helped prise the gate open with his epic challenge in 1996.
Angry and Charlie have been supported by Air Niugini who initiated Kokoda 70 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the war in Papua New Guinea.

The way forward for the Motu-Koitabuans

By REGINALD RENAGI

After being seriously marginalised since PNG got its independence in 1975, a practical way forward must now be found for the Motu-Koita (MK) including the people of Koiari from the Sogeri Plateau in the Central province.
 There is now a very pressing development need for the MK to have a good road map for the way forward into the future.
After this mid-year national general election, it is most imperative for all MK community together with their community leaders to rise up with its own future agenda of what they see as the most critical issues affecting their community; upon which the city of Port Moresby is situated.
It is also most important for the Motu-Koitabu Assembly (LLG) and the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) administration to work together with the national government and synergistically improve the MK (and Koiari) people’s quality of life now, and in the future.
It is now more imperative than ever before for the national government to immediately put in place a good independent political structure to encompass all MK (and Koiari) communities within the Central province. 
 Its key goals among others must be to effectively promote the aspirations including the future wellbeing and welfare of the Motu-Koitabuan (including the Koiaris) society within Central province.
In view of what has happened in recent years, I now call on the relevant authorities to critically address the ongoing plight of the MK (and Koiari) communities in these key areas:

• Review the Motu-Koita Act and importantly, make the current Motu-Koita Assembly more effective, efficient, transparent and accountable than it is now;

•   The national government must in the next five-years create a strong political structure for either a new MK Open Electorate within NCD, or a separate new MK (to also include Koiari) Electorate within Central Province for obvious reasons;

•   Through joint efforts of the MKA, NCDC administration and the Central Provincial Government demand the national government to place an immediate ‘Moratorium’ on all NCD Land sales, while at the same time; a comprehensive ‘Social Mapping of the total MK and Koiari landowner clans genealogy surveys to be conducted in Port Moresby; and throughout Central Province;

•  A special Capital City ‘development package’ be negotiated with the national government to fairly compensate (through loss of their traditional land) the peoples of the MK and Koiari landowners, and be backdated to self-government in 1973 up till today;and

• The new PNG government after the national election must make it one of its number one priority considerations by critically addressing the long outstanding plight of the MK and the Koiari people, and only then; that they can start empowering themselves by transforming their lives as we progress further into this millennium.

Illicit trade into PNG begins at Batas Market

By MALUM NALU

Batas Market, on the Indonesian side of the border with PNG at Wutung in West Sepik province, is where the multi-million kina trade of illicit goods into PNG begins.

Batas has, over the years, become a mecca for shoppers from all over PNG to buy cheap Indonesia food, clothing, electronic goods and other items, however, in recent times, it has become the hub for trade of illicit goods into PNG.

British American Tobacco, for one, estimates that PNG loses at least K7.2 million a year because of illicit tobacco products being smuggled in through the border post at Wutung.

Cheap Indonesia cigarettes and other goods on sale at Batas Market on the Indonesian side of the border last weekend.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

Millions more, however, is lost to PNG through smuggling in of other products from Indonesia, despite the Border Development Authority (BDA) being set up at a cost of K75 million in 2009 with the purpose of dealing with development and security issues in border provinces of PNG.

The concern is that smuggling is also indicative of a bigger, more aggressive cancer that eats away at government revenue and the local economy: transnational crime.

Transnational crime includes narcotics, arms smuggling, money laundering, human trafficking, counterfeit products and terrorism

The National visited Batas last weekend and saw pornography, sexual toys for both men and women, cigarettes, alcohol and various other items being sold at very cheap prices.

The multi-million kina illicit trade in PNG using smuggled items from Indonesia, particularly cigarettes, is flourishing during the elections with decreased Customs, police and military presence at Wutung Border Post.

The border post at Wutung

Lack of personnel at Wutung means that smugglers basically have free reign during the election period.

With PNG lacking maritime strength to patrol the sea border, there is no control of what comes in through this.

Customs were not checking in goods brought in from Batas Market on the Indonesian side of the border last weekend.

Last Sunday, The National witnessed the illicit trade at Vanimo Airport, where several carefully-packed cartons of Indonesian cigarettes consigned for Wewak and Mt Hagen were loaded on to an Air Niugini Q400 flight bound for Wewak, without as much as a question being asked as to their contents.

Cheap Indonesian cigarettes being sold at a roadside stall in Vanimo at the weekend. These cigarettes proliferate in Vanimo and are now being smuggled in large consignments into the Highlands.

A private intelligence source monitoring the illicit trade at the border, told The National in Vanimo that a highly-organised racket involving wealthy Highlands businessmen and local Wutung and West Sepik villagers existed.

A senior government officer told The National in Vanimo that the illicit trade was a serious threat to national security as guns, drugs and human trafficking could easily be carried out from Indonesia.

The intelligence source said the cigarettes were transported to Aitape near the border of East and West Sepik provinces, and then moved down to Wewak and then Madang for transport to the Highlands.

“It comes from the Batas Market, across the Wutung Border Post, and then comes out towards Vanimo,” he said.

“What the Highlands businessmen are doing is that they liaise with the local villagers and get them to carry Indonesian cigarettes across from Batas.

“They stockpile these cigarettes in the villages until they reach 20-30 cartons.

“These then come out from Wutung Village via boat or road to Aitape,  transported by road to Wewak, then loaded onto ships or dinghies for Madang or Bogia, where they are picked up and transported by road to Mt Hagen, Minj or Banz.

“The concern is that these Indonesia cigarettes are brought in without paying any excise duty to the government, which is missing out on millions.”

The senior government officer said this was a very serious threat to national security which must be addressed immediately.

“All stakeholders including Customs, police and PNG defence Force must work together,” he said.

“I do not know what the Border Development Authority is doing.

“There are no patrol boats manning the maritime border with Indonesia.

“Cutoms officers at the Wutung Border Post are under-resourced and this is a very big concern.

“Apart from cigarettes, anything can be brought into PNG like forearms, drugs, anything.

A Papua New Guinea customer (back to camera) checking out electronic goods at Batas Market.

“It’s a concern for the government and they have to address this at the national level.

“Smuggling is very big.”

A Customs insider told The National recently that  it was ironic that Customs collected K2.3 billion in 2011 fiscal year but the total recurrent allocations for 2012 was only K18 million which was a mere 0.008% of what the organisation collected.

“There are things happening at our borders every day,” the source said.

“The border control and enforcement agencies are under resourced in terms of manpower, logistical support and training.

“Further to that, border enforcement officers are not being properly looked after in terms of housing, good salary, etc.

“Government agencies have very low staff retention rates where well-trained and qualified persons leave and find pastures elsewhere for better working conditions.”

The source said acceptance of bribes by officers was brought by the increasing cost of living.

“An officer is likely to forgo over K20, 000 state revenue at any one instance by accepting less than K200 offer for approval and release of goods or people,” he said.

“The consequential risks attached with allowing such people or goods to enter the country are far more damaging for the people, the legitimate business community and the country in terms of security and revenue for the state.

“Responsible governments must increase funding towards staff welfare, salary/wages for staff and build the resource capabilities so that officers can perform their tasks with professionalism and due care.”

NBPOL beef nets K14.9 million in 2011

By MALUM NALU

New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL), PNG’s largest producer of beef, produced 1.28 million kilograms of beef for the local market last year, which netted the company K14.9 million.

According to NBPOL’s 2011 annual report, the group remained the largest producer of beef in PNG, however, beef production would continue to play only a minor role in the overall investment strength of the group.

 “This does not mean that the beef production will not receive investment, or that beef production cannot be significantly improved to provide a valuable resource to supplement the earning capacity of the group, especially in areas where cattle and oil palms can be intercropped, or in areas where oil palms are unsuited as a sole commercial crop,” the report said.

“The group’s herd size showed some growth with 20,000 cattle managed in two separate locations.

“The group herd produced some 1, 284,000kg of beef for the PNG market, generating revenue of K14.9 million.”

The report said the herd at Ramu Agri Industries Ltd RAIL, at Leon Plains in the Markham Valley of Morobe province, had about 16,500 head of cattle, while the herd at West New Britain had about 3,500 head of cattle.

Cattle at Leron Plains Ranch in the Markham Valley of Morobe province.-Nationalpic by MALUM NALU

At RAIL, the feedlot had a capacity to finish up to 1,000 head 120 days prior to slaughter.

“The feedlot ration is currently based on sorghum silage, mill run, palm kernel expeller and molasses,” the report said.

“Good efficiencies and standards at the abattoir, combined with improved weights have yielded much improved quality in the final product.

“Additional investment in stock yards and machinery for both silage production and pasture improvement are all contributing to better efficiencies.”

Kina Aset Management Ltd posts K9.43 million loss for 2011

By MALUM NALU
Kina Asset Management Ltd (KAML) chairman Sir Rabbie Namaliu yesterday (Thursday) announced a net loss after tax of K9.43 million for 2011 at its annual general meeting at the Ela Beach Hotel in Port Moresby.
KAML, however, appears to be on the rebound this year with its first quarter report showing portfoliogrowth of 5% over the final 2011 quarter to a total of K39.6 million.
KAML generated an investment gain of K2.38 million in the first quarter ending on March 31, representing gain of 6.2%.
Sir Rabbie said the KAML portfolio had in the last year experienced some negative growth in line with world markets as the larger economies of Europe and the USA endured high unemployment, sluggish markets and low business and consumer confidence.

Sir Rabbie…negative growth in 2011 because of world markets

“The European nations of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain saw their credit rating deteriorate and concerns of sovereign defaults send shocks through global markets,” he said.
“Despite a series of economic interventions by their respective governments and financial institutions, international market conditions continue to struggle and remain volatile.
“The nations that had dominated the world in terms of trade and industrial development have suffered dramatic economic calamities as their domestic economies have suffered and in many cases failed because of instability.”
Sir Rabbie said the KAML investment portfolio contracted 24%, or approximately K12 million with the A&P/ASX 50 down 13.14% and the KSI down 22% in the 2011 year.
“The decrease in the portfolio value has been attributable to these international factors as well as the strong appreciation of the PNG Kina against other major currencies, contributing further to the negative impact on the international investment portfolio.
“KAML recorded a net loss after tax of K9.43 million for the year ending December 31, 2011.
Sir Rabbie said PNG had been fortunate enough to remain relatively unscathed from the effects of the global financial crisis and the slow recovery affecting the more-developed economies of the world.
“While it can be said that we are not immune to the global slowdown, the situation does provide us with an opportunity to learn from those challenges faced the US and Europe,” he said.
“However, the economic and financial turbulence in Europe and the US has allowed the epicenter of global market forces to shift closer to home with the larger developing economies of China, India and Malaysia emerging as the new dominant market forces, building and supplying the needs of a global market.
“These nations have been supportive of the growth and stability of PNG and to help our nation expand quickly in sharing the mineral and energy boom in the Asia-Pacific region such as our very own LNG projects.
“The PNG government and Central Bank, in their efforts to assist in the reigning in of domestic inflation, have continued to tighten monetary policy and bolster the PNG economy.”

Western province gas field produces excellent results

By MALUM NALU
Kina Petroleum Ltd (KPL) on Wednesday announced that its Ketu 2 gas condensate field at PRL (petroleum resource license) 21 in Western province had produced excellent results and is a strong candidate for development, The National reports.
The company, in an update to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on Wednesday, said as a result of a recent review, KPL had assigned the field with an estimated mean contingent recoverable resource of 375 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas and 21.8 million barrels (MMbbl) of oil.
Ketu-2 had flowed gas at rates of over 20 million cubic feet of gas during testing by operator Horizon Oil.
This flow included condensate though this could not be measured accurately.
However, Horizon said this is expected to be in line with the 60 barrel of condensate per million cubic feet of gas ratio observed at Elevala-1.
Ketu-2 appears to have confirmed that the Ketu field has a lateral extent of at least 9km and a gas column height of over 50m, making it likely that a large upgrade to reserves is on the cards.
“The Ketu 2 well has produced excellent results and in conjunction with previously announced results from the Elevala/Tingu complex, have significantly raised expectation for development of a liquids project in PRL 21,” KPL managing director Richard Schroder said in an update to the ASX yesterday.
“The decision by the operator to begin early development studies for a liquids project is consistent with KPL’s view that an attractive development is emerging in PRL 21.”
KPL, in conjunction with its joint venture partners, continues to assess the mapping of the Elevala/Tingu complex after the drilling of Elevala 2 and Elevala 1.
KPL holds a 15% stake in PTL 21 with Horizon (45%), Talisman Energy Ltd (32.5%), and Diamond Gas Niugini B.V (7.5%).
“KPL’s volumetric calculations based on revised maps and new information presented by the operator have identified some positive differences in recoverable volumes calculated, and previously published, by KPL,” according to the update.
“KPL’s announcement of March 20, 2012, in respect of the Elevala/Tingu complex, advised an estimated mean contingent resource estimate of recoverable gas of 480BCF and 28MMbbls of condensate and a P10 estimate of 700BCF and 41MMbbls respectively.
“KPL’s latest estimates for the Elevala/Tingu complex are likely to be in excess of these volumes and require further technical discussions with the operator before they are released.”
The update said the overall outcome from the drilling of Ketu 2 and Elevala wells was that the estimated mean recoverable condensate resource for PRL 21 was now is excess of 50MMbbls of recoverable condensate, making a PRL 21 resource a strong candidate for development.
“The operator, Horizon Oil (Papua) Ltd has advised the PRL 21 JV (joint venture) that it will commence concept development studies in the second half of 2012, based on the successful results obtained so far within PRL 21,” according to the update.
“The PRL 21 JV is now also likely to drill the Tingu 1 well, with such well now expected to be drilled in the first half of 2013.”

Poetic magic of Ramu Valley

By MALUM NALU

RIGHT at the end of the majestic Ramu Valley in Madang province, the great Ramu River flows, at the crossroads of Madang, Eastern Highlands and Morobe provinces.

Ramu River rolls away.-All pictures by MALUM NALU

The Ramu rolls away, as if on till Judgement Day, between the towering Finisterre Range of Madang province on one side, Bismarck Range of Eastern Highlands on the other, and the panoramic Markham Valley of Morobe province is just out this picture by the master painter.

The great Ramu River as seen from the suspension bridge linking Ramu Valley and Eastern Highlands province.

Afternoon in the Ramu Valley on Friday, June 15, 2012, as I stand on the banks of the Ramu mesmerised by the sheer poetic and sublime beauty of the place.



Arguably the best picnic spot in PNG on the banks of the Ramu River, bordering Madang, Eastern Highlands and Morobe provinces.


I am here with well-known former beauty queen Sharon Onsa Pople, Miss PNG of 1993 and now the face of Ramu Agri Industries Ltd (RAIL), our driver and a security escort.
It is pure Ramu Valley magic!
This is the best picnic spot I've ever seen yet in this country on the banks of the Ramu - surrounded by Madang, Morobe and Eastern Highlands province - in picture-perfect settings.
I stand here on the banks of the Ramu, lost in my own little reverie, and feel like doing a Huckleberry Finn down the river, as he did in Mark Twain’s Missisipi River classic of the same name.

Ramu riverside scene.

Sharon jolts me, saying that she regularly takes her kids for picnic here and that RAIL employees raft down the river at weekends.
There is a footbridge which crosses from the sugar cane fields of Ramu, Madang province, across the mighty Ramu River to Eastern Highlands province, walking distance from Henganofi, used by Eastern Highlanders.

That's me on a suspension bridge linking the Eastern Highlands (background) and Ramu Valley.

I walk across the wire bridge and, presto, I am in Eastern Highlands, gazing down like the lion king on the endless realm of the river, palm oil and cane fields, against the magnificent backdrop of the Finisterre Range.
That is why, Sharon tells me, she has fallen in love with the place.

Canefields of Ramu Valley with the towering Bismarck Range of Eastern Highlands province in the background.

Earlier today, over the mountains of the Finisterre Range at Dumpu, I was shown the track to Shaggy Ridge, one of the most-famous Australian campaigns of WW11, which does not get as much attention as Kokoda Trail.



The gap between these mountains at Dumpu, in the Usino-Bundi area past Gusap, leads on the the WW11 icon of Shaggy Ridge.

 Shaggy Ridge was the site of several battles during the Finisterre Range campaign of 1943–1944 and, if things work out well, I might trek later this year.
I spent three lovely days in the valley last week, from June 14-16, visiting RAIL’s various projects in cattle, palm oil, sugar and ethanol.
After having not visited for many years, coming back to Ramu was a breath of fresh air, a chance to enjoy the freedom of the open plains, mountains and rivers of the Ramu and Markham Valleys which was part of my life as a young reporter in Lae in the 1990s.

Entrance to Surinam Palm Oil Estate.

All kinds of creature comforts here at the Ramu Guest House where I stayed, that you would have thought that you were in a 5-Star hotel.
These include an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, excellent bar at the adjoining Ramu Management Club, and restaurant which serves the best quality Ramu steak fresh from the paddock.

Children playing in picture-perfect settings at the Ramu Club against the magnificent backdrop of the Finisterre Range.

And to top it off, free wireless internet so I can work all night from my laptop!
The sugar town of Gusap, in my book, is one of the best and cleanest small towns in PNG for which cities like Port Moresby and Lae can learn from.

The sugar town at Gusap is one of the most-beautiful, clean and well-maintained in PNG.

Developments taking place in Ramu right now, since the giant New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) bought off Ramu Sugar in 2008, are nothing short of phenomenal.

The magnificent Finisterre Range towers over the Ramu Valley.

RAIL is carrying out massive multi-million kina expansion of palm oil in Ramu Valley of Madang province and adjoining Markham Valley of Morobe province after having its product rated as among the best in the world.
These projects included the biggest-ever 440km-long irrigation project in PNG using water from the Gusap River, building of satellite towns or “village estates” at Surinam and Dumpu past Gusap in the Usino-Bundi area, a second mill at Dumpu, and getting more out-growers from Ramu and Markham valleys.

That's me at the Dumpu Estate signboard along the Ramu Highway.

 Ramu palm oil was certified in 2010 by Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), meaning it is internationally recognised.

The massive palm oil storage tanks at Gusap in the Ramu Valley last Friday. The large yellow one can hold up to 1,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) while the smaller one can hold 250 metric tonnes of palm kernel oil.-

PNG’s first 100% locally made alcoholic drink – Ramu Rum – will be on sale in shop shelves later this year.
This follows the approval of production by PNG Customs to RAIL, although Ramu Rum has been produced for many years and is given as a gift to local and international VIPs.

Ramu Rum...to be on the shelves later this year.

“It will be the first spirit produced entirely in the valley from cane grown in the valley, processed in the factory producing molasses, and then used to produce rum,” general manager Jamies Graham tells me.
“Fairdeal and Trade Winds purchase ethanol from us to produce some of their bottles of spirit."
RAIL will increase its harvest of sugar to reach a production target of 43,000 tonnes per annum over the next five years.

Cane harvestor (left) and tractor at work in the cane fields of the Ramu Valley on Friday, June 15, 2012.-

Graham says this will meet the demands of the growing PNG market, as the company does not export its sugar.
He saysthe threat of weed and pests had been controlled, thanks to the company’s efficient research and development department headed by national scientist, Dr Lastus Kuniata.
Last year, RAIL produced about 36,000 tonnes of sugar from a total cane harvest of 397,000 tonnes.
RAIL runs the biggest cattle ranch in the country with more than 20,000 head at Leron Plains in the Markham Valley of Morobe province.

Cattle in a yard at the RAIL’s Leron Plains Ranch in the Markham Valley of Morobe province on Thursday, June 14, 2012.-

The cattle are are then taken to the feedlot at Gusap to be fattened and slaughtered.
Ramu Valley is truly one of the great food bowls of PNG and one of the most-beautiful places in the country.

Evening of Thursday, June 14, 2012, along the Ramu Highway at Gusap.

PNG coffee promoted in New Zealand

By AUGUSTINE DOMINIC
PAPUA New Guinea coffee has received much-needed promotion in New Zealand through the joint efforts of the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) Ltd and Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand (FTANZ), The National reports.

Neknasi Village in Nawae district, Morobe province, developed its coffee production and marketing with FTANZ.

CIC’s mobile coffee extension officer Michael Toliman, who was invited by Fairtrade CEO Steven Knapp to New Zealand last month, promoted PNG coffee and also had the opportunity to co-launch Auckland as the Fairtrade City of New Zealand with Auckland mayor Len Brown
Toliman highlighted the positive developments in the livelihood of rural PNG coffee farmers, who were selling their coffee under the Fairtrade banner.
He highlighted Neknasi Coffee Growers Cooperative, from Nawaeb district in Morobe province, whose members were beneficiaries of coffee marketing arrangements with Fairtrade.
More than 400 group members have opened individual bank accounts in Lae and are building permanent houses, purchased three trucks for the group, purchased a generator for lighting the village and were developing a water project.
Toliman toured various cities of New Zealand and informed the people that money spent on buying PNG coffee under the Fairtrade arrangement was creating tangible benefits in the lives of rural PNG coffee farmers.
He was invited to attend the Fairtrade Fortnight, an annual event that was launched in Europe in 1997 to encourage and promote products of third world producers to have a fairer market to sell their products and develop their economic capabilities.

Microbank: K1m in mobile dealings

By MALUM NALU
MORE than K1 million worth of transactions involving 20,000 people were carried out through Nationwide Microbank’s mobile phone banking technology since its introduction last November, starting in West New Britain province,
The grassroots-focused microbank is using cutting edge technology to bring banking services to the most-remote areas of Papua New Guinea, according to managing director Tony Westaway.
At the forefront of this is SmartPhone technology to open new MiCash mobile phone accounts, he told The National.

MiCash account opening agent in West New Britain.-Picture courtesy of NATIONWIDE MICROBANK

“We’ve got about a million kina’s worth of transactions,” Westaway said.
“We’ve got more than 20,000 mobile money MiCash wallets.
“We’ve got 24 agents, plus we’ve got our branch network.
“Our product is a mobile wallet and a bank account.
“It’s quite an innovative product.
“The bank account is sitting on a mobile phone
“We piloted Mobile Money in West New Britain in November last year.
“Our future is with mobile money and using people to help people in the villages and in the plantations.
“We send MiCash embassadors into the villages with SmartPhones, takes pictures of the customers and record their fingerprints or their mark, and the information is uploaded to our head office to open an account in six or seven minutes.
“It’s quite innovative.
“Cell phone technology has allowed us to reach out to the people, which has never been done so before.”
Westaway said internet banking was limited to those tech-savvy people with computers, while 85% of the people involved in the informal sector, had access to mobile phones.
“They certainly all have mobile phones,” he said.
“This has really been bringing the people into the first world.
“A lot of the technology used in PNG is cutting edge.
"It’s designed to overcome the geography of the place and these sorts of challenges.
“A lot of what we (Nationwide Microbank) do here is cutting edge and you won’t see it in the developed world.”
Westaway said there was a great, untapped market out in rural PNG for Nationwide Microbank.
“We don’t see any competition from commercial banks,” he said.
“There’s an opportunity here for financial institutions to assist the grassroots people.
“I don’t think any one organisation, including commercial banks, of that market.
“That’s our target market segment, on the bottom end of the pyramid.
“We don’t have corporate banking or commercial banking.”
Westaway said Mobile Money was a very unique product of Nationwide Microbank.
“We see a lot of opportunity here, particularly for the grassroots people, and particularly, for women.
“One of the interesting aspects of this money product is that it provides confidentiality and independence for women.
“We want to make a difference here.
“We started off with 25% of our accounts held by women, we’ve now lifted that to 34%.
“I think it’s growing, not only because of financial literacy, but because of our Mobile Money product called MiCash.
“It means that they can carry their mobiles around and nobody knows that they’re carrying their bank account.”