What will kill more humans than AIDS, Murder and Suicide Combined?

SMOKING!!

 Check out what smokers are doing to their lungs and the lungs of their loved ones who inhale their second hand smoke. http://www.presmark.com/htmlfile/pictures.htm

 Smoking Fact Sheet

 August 2008

Cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity (disease and illness) and premature mortality (death) worldwide. Smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 438,000 American lives each year, including those affected indirectly, such as babies born prematurely due to prenatal maternal smoking and victims of "secondhand" exposure to tobacco's carcinogens. Smoking cost the United States over $193 billion in 2004, including $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in direct health care expenditures, or an average of $4,260 per adult smoker.¹

• Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.²
• About 8.6 million people in the U.S. have at least one serious illness caused by smoking. That means that for every person who dies of a smoking-related disease, there are 20 more people who suffer from at least one serious illness associated with smoking.³
• Among current smokers, chronic lung disease accounts for 73 percent of smoking-related conditions. Even among smokers who have quit chronic lung disease accounts for 50 percent of smoking-related conditions.⁴
• The list of diseases caused by smoking includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), coronary heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, pneumonia, periodontitis, and bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, throat, cervical, kidney, stomach, and pancreatic cancers. Smoking is also a major factor in a variety of other conditions and disorders, including slowed healing of wounds, infertility, and peptic ulcer disease.⁵
• Smoking in pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 percent of low-birth weight babies, up to 14 percent of preterm deliveries, and some 10 percent of all infant deaths. Even apparently healthy, full-term babies of smokers have been found to be born with narrowed airways and reduced lung function.⁶
• In 2005, 10.7 percent of all women smoked during pregnancy, down almost 45 percent from 1990.⁷
• Neonatal health-care costs attributable to maternal smoking in the U.S. have been estimated at $366 million per year, or $704 per maternal smoker.⁸
• Smoking by parents is also associated with a wide range of adverse effects in their children, including exacerbation of asthma, increased frequency of colds and ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome. Secondhand smoke causes more than an estimated 202,000 asthma episodes, 790,000 physician visits for buildup of fluid in the middle ear (otitis media, or middle ear infection), and 430 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases each year.⁹
• In 2006, an estimated 45.3 million, or 20.6% of adults (aged 18+) were current smokers. The annual prevalence of smoking declined 40 percent between 1965 and 1990, but has been virtually unchanged since then.¹⁰
• Males tend to have significantly higher rates of smoking prevalence than females. In 2006, 23.6 percent of males currently smoked compared to 17.8 percent of females.¹¹
• Prevalence of current smoking in 2006 was highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (32.2%), intermediate among non-Hispanic whites (21.8%) and non-Hispanic blacks (22.6%), and lowest among Hispanics (15.1%) and Asians (10.3%).¹²
• As smoking declines among the non-Hispanic white population, tobacco companies have targeted both non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics with intensive merchandising, which includes billboards, advertising in media targeted to those communities, and sponsorship of civic groups and athletic, cultural, and entertainment events. In 2005, advertising and promotion by the five major tobacco companies totaled $13.1 billion.¹³
• Tobacco advertising also plays an important role in encouraging young people to begin a lifelong addiction to smoking before they are old enough to fully understand its long-term health risk.¹⁴ Ninety percent of adults who smoke started by the age of 21, and half of them became regular smokers by their 18th birthday.¹⁵
• In 2007, 20 percent of high school students were current smokers.¹⁶ Over 6 percent of middle school students were current smokers in 2006.¹⁷
• Secondhand smoke involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers from other people's cigarettes is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a known human (Group A) carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 (ranging 22,700-69,600) heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers annually in the United States.¹⁸
• Workplaces nationwide are going smoke-free to provide clean indoor air and protect employees from the life-threatening effects of secondhand smoke. Nearly 70 percent of the U.S. workforce worked under a smoke free policy in 1999, but the percentage of workers protected varies by state, ranging from a high of 83.9 percent in Utah and 81.2 percent in Maryland to 48.7 percent in Nevada.¹⁹
• Employers have a legal right to restrict smoking in the workplace, or implement a totally smoke-free workplace policy. Exceptions may arise in the case of collective bargaining agreements with unions.
• Nicotine is an addictive drug, which when inhaled in cigarette smoke reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously. Smokers not only become physically addicted to nicotine; they also link smoking with many social activities, making smoking a difficult habit to break.²⁰
• In 2006, an estimated 45.7 million adults were former smokers. Of the 45.3 million current adult smokers, 44 percent stopped smoking at least 1 day in the preceding year because they were trying to quit smoking completely.²¹
• Quitting smoking often requires multiple attempts. Using counseling or medication alone increases the chance of a quit attempt being successful; the combination of both is even more effective.²²
• Nicotine replacement products can help relieve withdrawal symptoms people experience when they quit smoking.²³
• There are seven medications approved by the FDA to aid in quitting smoking. Nicotine patches, nicotine gum and nicotine lozenges are available over-the-counter, and a nicotine nasal spray and inhaler are currently available by prescription. Buproprion SR (Zyban) and varenicline tartrate (Chantix) are non-nicotine pills.²⁴
• Individual, group and telephone counseling are effective. Telephone quitline counseling is widely available and is effective for many different groups of smokers.²⁵

Nicotine replacement therapies are helpful in quitting when combined with a support program such as the American Lung Association's Freedom From Smoking (FFS), which addresses psychological and behavioral addictions to smoking and strategies for coping with urges to smoke.

 

Sources:

1.       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses United States, 1997-2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. July 2005. Vol. 54; 25:625-628 [cited 2007 Mar 13].

2.       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS). Tobacco Use in the United States. January 27, 2004.

3.       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking Attributable Morbidity - U.S., 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2003 Sept; 52(35): 842-844.

4.       Ibid.

5.       U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2004.

6.       U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2001.

7.       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics Reports. Births: Final Data for 2005. December 5, 2007; (56)5.

8.       Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. State Estimates of Neonatal Health-Care Costs Associated with Maternal Smoking U.S. , 1996. Vol. 53, No. 39, October 8, 2004.

9.       California Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. June 2005.

10.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Analysis by the American Lung Association, Research and Program Services Division using SPSS and SUDAAN software.

11.   Ibid.

12.   Ibid.

13.   U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2004 and 2005. April 2007. Accessed on February 8, 2008.

14.   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1994.

15.   Mowery PD, Brick PD, Farrelly MC. Legacy First Look Report 3. Pathways to Established Smoking: Results from the 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Washington DC: American Legacy Foundation. October 2000.

16.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance � United States, 2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. June 6, 2008; 57(SS-04).

17.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Office on Smoking and Health. National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). 2006 NYTS Data and Documentation. April 18, 2008. Accessed on April 30, 2008.

18.   California Environmental Protection Agency. Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. June 2005. Accessed on 4/30/07.

19.   Shopland DR, Gerlach KK, Burns DM, Hartman AM, Gibson JT. State-Specific Trends in Smokefree Workplace Policy Coverage: the Current Population Tobacco Use Supplement, 1993 to 1999. J Occup Environ Med 2001; 43:680-686.

20.   National Institute of Drug Abuse. Research Report on Nicotine: Addiction, August 2001.

21.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey, 2006. Analysis by the American Lung Association, Research and Program Services Division using SPSS and SUDAAN software.

22.   Fiore MC, Jaen CR, Baker TB, et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. May 2008.

23.   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking and Tobacco Use. You Can Quit Smoking. Accessed on October 2, 2007.

24.   Fiore MC, Jaen CR, Baker TB, et al. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. May 2008.

25.   Ibid.

*Racial and ethnic minority terminology reflects those terms used by the Centers For Disease Control.

View American Lung Association Nationwide Research Awardees for 2008-2009

InterOil's financials "on track"

PORT MORESBY: InterOil has announced it is “on track” to meet projected earnings for the third quarter of 2008, despite the current international economic situation.

Chief Financial Officer Collin Visaggio said the company’s refining and distribution operations have continued to perform positively.

 “These segments of our business are returning in line with our profit expectations”.

Mr. Visaggio said InterOil would be filing its third quarter financials on or soon after November the 10^th.

“I am pleased to advise that to date we have weathered the recent economic downturn through a series of prudent management and control procedures”, he said.

The announcement comes as InterOil prepares for the next phase of its exploration programme in the Gulf Province.

Drilling is scheduled to commence at a new site called Antelope-1.

The rig, support equipment and buildings are being transported into the area and a team of drilling specialists and geologists will; shortly be on site.

Antelope-1 is located just two-and-a-half kilometres from the successful Elk-4 discovery well where a major gas strike was made three months ago.

During tests, Elk-4 returned a gas flow rate of 105-million cubic feet per day, the largest gas flow rate of all time in Papua New Guinea.

InterOil says it also has high hopes for Antelope-1.

 

For further in formation please contact

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager

Media Relations & Public Affairs

InterOil Corporation

Ph: 321 7040 - Mobile: 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com  

 

 

THE AUCKLAND MEETING OF EXPERTS ON THE REGIONAL PETROLEUM PURCHASING INITIATIVE

Hotel Grand Chancellor, Auckland, New Zealand

 

8 – 9 October 2008

OUTCOMES DOCUMENT

 

1.         Representatives from Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu were present at the meeting.  The meeting was chaired by Honourable Lisiate ‘Aloveita ‘Akolo, Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries and Acting Minister for Agriculture, Food, Forest and Fisheries, Tonga. Also present were representatives from the ADB, the PPA, SOPAC, UN-ESCAP, and the World Bank, along with representatives of the private sector.

 

2.                              Officials expressed their gratitude to the Government of New Zealand for its support in hosting and funding the meeting.

 

3.                              After Forum Leaders underlined the need for urgent action, the Meeting of national experts was convened to provide relevant advice to various Ministers’ Meetings aimed at expediting implementation of the initiative. Officials noted with concern that the availability, accessibility or affordability of petroleum products can have a serious impact on island economies, and determined to take a regional approach to address this common concern. Officials learnt from each other’s experiences, particularly those of Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) on their petroleum import procurement strategies, and the challenges and the benefits of such approaches. Officials also noted that the impact of high and volatile prices on the region’s power utilities adversely affects service delivery.

 

4.                              Officials considered and reviewed a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the immediate implementation of a Pacific Petroleum Project.  Officials recommend that the project :

 

(a)           provides a strategic focus on the procurement of the regions core energy needs, including security of supplies, management of strategic petroleum storage, risk management, strengthened domestic pricing policy frameworks and increased private sector participation in the downstream petroleum distribution sector;

(b)          identifies optimum clusters of countries where the pooling of resources will improve negotiation for petroleum supply contracts, leverage purchasing power, and minimise the transaction costs for procurement activities;

(c)           helps achieve optimum resource allocation, avoid duplication of effort and ensure that planning and regulation reflects energy security goals and priorities as set out in the Pacific Islands Energy Policy, and respective National Energy Policies;  and

(d)          promotes regional cohesion and encourage long-term thinking and commitment to strategic options for the on-going procurement of petroleum products and supplies.

5.                              The Officials agreed on the substantive provisions of the draft Memorandum of Understanding establishing the Pacific Petroleum Project, and further, agreed to recommend it for consideration and signature by Forum Economic Ministers or Pacific Energy Ministers at their upcoming meetings.

 

Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat,

Auckland, New Zealand.

09 October 2008

 

Bulolo Plans to Rise and Shine in Five Years

Caption: Bulolo MP Sam Basil in Upper Watut on October 9 to deliver an ambulance

By PETER NIESI

It used to be a name heard in conjunction with gold. Since those early 1900’s the echo of names like Wau, Eddie’s Creek, Mumeng and Bulolo have subsided. Bulolo because of the PNG Forest Products Ltd managed to remain afloat. Garaina – in the Waria area – also came to the fore in 1970s and early 1980’s because of tea but has dwindled.

But that the drowsy, limp district is getting a new lease of life and wants to make its mark, and take its place with the great, resource-rich districts in Papua New Guinea.

  There are two key reasons for Bulolo District’s stir from its slumber. The first is successful exploration for gold and copper that has placed names like Hidden Valley and Wafi on the minerals map.

Harmony Gold has found the prospects in Hidden Valley substantial enough to lead the formation of a Morobe Mining Joint Venture. Nothing unusual in that – except their mission statement – using their finds is to make Morobe a Mining Powerhouse in the nation again.

With extensive exploration work going on, this cannot be treated as an idle passing statement. Wafi is on track and Triple Plate is exploring – with former PNG Mining Director Tony Williams at the helm and so are other exploration companies.

Mining tends to create townships in no man’s land settings. But not with the other reason, embodied in the nearly six foot frame of Bulolo MP Sam Basil. Businessmen with his own security and fisheries firm, political advisor, self-taught engineer with a love of telecommunications and internet e-mail communications, and a natural knack for getting things done – those all hint at this vibrant leader from Buang Local Level Government.

His mind is focused and fixed: Basil wants an end to disparity in services like road access, health services, educational services, communications and electricity from LLG to LLG in his district. And he wants this sustained as perpetually as possible.

For too long, he says, the people in or nearest to Wau and Bulolo, have had easy access to Government and other services and service providers, while the rest in Mumeng, Watut, Wau Rural, Buang and Waria access to services diminishes the further they are.

Shortly after he was declared Member for Bulolo, he swung into action. Some un-used K420, 000 in the Bulolo District Treasury Account was re-scoped to establish what in effect is a district works unit with three teams.

The legal framework for this was established based on a submission he presented successfully to the Tutumang – the Morobe Provincial Assembly.

For road works, two teams were established – one to cut and grade new roads and the other with a welding and construction team to follow through with the nut and bolts of roads construction. Another unit was established to erect buildings where they are required.

Opening up the Middle Watut road was one of the road’s team’s tasks. It yielded results that Mr Basil had envisioned – but was still ecstatic pleased about.

“We opened up the road and coffee bags and alluvial gold came out. In less than six months, three brand new PMV trucks were bought to provide services – carriage of passengers and their goods,” he said, adding the people are helping themselves now.” They just needed road access restored.”

At new Mumeng, he has combined with Niugini Table Birds to put up a tower for rural radio telephone services as well as television receptor – a move he has repeated in Buang and wants to expand to all LLGs.

He knows that the people can’t be left waiting for vital health services. Early on, he purchased an ambulance and sent out a health team whose task is to do the rounds in each LLG doing preliminary diagnosis of the sick, immunising children and bring the seriously sick out for further medical attention. This team also brings in medical supplies and takes the sick to health centres in Bulolo and Wau or even all the way to Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae.

Mr Basil is a realist. Crime is here to stay and Bulolo and Wau and the district as a whole are not exempted. As a reserve police officer and owner/operator of Armsec Security Services, he knows the importance of police presence. Immediately, he wants to see each of the LLG’s have one or two policemen with a vehicle, arms and radio communication and a stand by mobile squad.

Last month, he decided he wanted to have a Bulolo Five-Year District Plan bringing together district leaders in various sectors as well as Morobe Provincial Administration and members of the private sector. 

He told administration staff that he did not want a “cut and paste” job from other plans. He already knew what his district needed, and work had already begun in some of these areas. What he wanted, he told them, was to capture what he was going, incorporate what the private sector were doing or can do, and to identify and document ways to fund the larger projects.

“I want the Bulolo District Five-Year Development Plan to incorporate the fact that I want to see equal access to services, participation in income earning opportunities– and benefit from projects within the public sector and private sector for all my people,” he said.

Mr Basil is too astute to shoot his golden gooses – Bulolo and Wau. In fact, during the one-week of consultations on the Plan, he gave the mayor of the towns, two dump trucks with instructions to start raising their own revenue.

His love for internet/email communications showed on that day with purchase of full computer sets aimed at ensuring that there is direct communication between his office, the district and provincial administration, as well as all the LLGs in his district.

 

Students and teachers build classroom

Students and teachers at Pararoa Primary School in remote Upper Watut, Morobe province, have taken it upon themselves to build a double classroom without waiting for assistance.

Seeing that there was an urgent need for extra classrooms, and no assistance from parents, they took it upon themselves to build the bush material double classroom.

On Thursday last week (October 9), they invited Bulolo MP, Sam Basil, to open the double classroom.

He told students, staff, parents and the people of Pararoa that his focus was on Local Level Governments (LLGs).

Mr Basil assured the students and staff of Pararoa Primary School that they would not be forgotten.

School captain Martin Max commended all students and staff for their hard work in building the double classroom.

“We are very excited about this,” he said.

“It was all the work of our students and staff.”

The school has 460 students from five villages in Upper Watut LLG, has Grades Three to Eight, and eight teachers.

 

Bridge over troubled waters

Villagers from remote Pararoa village in Upper Watut, Morobe province, now have a footbridge over the Watut River.

It was opened by Bulolo MP Sam Basil on Thursday last week (October 9).

The bridge was built with assistance from Mr Basil, PNG Forest Products in Bulolo and Hornibrooks.

He told the people that the footbridge was part of his vision to bring development to Local Level Government (LLG) level.

“We have many more footbridges to build,” Mr Basil said.

“Previous Bulolo MPs have delivered services only to district level, and not to the rural areas through LLGs.

“I will allocate resources to each LLG in the Bulolo electorate.”

He told the people that they would benefit from services such as an ambulance, a multi-purpose tractor as well as VSAT services to provide them with telephone and Internet services.

Upper Watut LLG president Waka Daimon said Mr Basil made a commitment to build the bridge before he went into Parliament.

“This MP has a heart for Bulolo electorate,” he said.

“The message I want to make clear to you people is not to ask him for free handouts.

“He is trying to bring development to the Buololo electorate.”

Bridge builder Atarus Lini Apo, who is a Boys Scout troupe leader in Upper Watut, built the bridge together with his scouts from the First Watut Scout Association under its obligation “to serve the community and take care of national resources”.

“This is under the skills training to build foot bridges,” he said.

“We pass our appreciation to provincial Boys Scouts commissioner Sailas Mapan for his support of the project.

“We plan to build several more foot bridges in the Upper Watut LLG.”

 

 

New ambulance for remote Upper Watut

Captions: 1. Bulolo MP Sam Basil is made a chief of the Upper Watut people.2. Upper Watut villagers celebrate their new ambulance.3. Upper Watut villagers celebrate their new ambulance .4. The new ambulance.

Remote Upper Watut Local Level Government (LLG) in Bulolo, Morobe province, now has an ambulance to take sick people to hospital in either Bulolo or Lae.

The Toyota Landcruiser ambulance was delivered to the people by Bulolo MP Sam Basil amidst much celebration at Mainyanda government station on Thursday last week (October 9), and the very next day, carried its very first seriously-ill patient to Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae.

It is part of Mr Basil’s plan to have an ambulance in all six LLGs in his Bulolo electorate so that people can have access to health services.

He said Upper Watut was first, to be followed by Mumeng, Buang and then Wau Rural.

Wau and Bulolo towns already have access to health services while the last LLG, Waria, doesn’t as yet have a road.

Mr Basil told the people that last year, while on the campaign trail in Upper Watut, he came across a very sick woman named Freda, who was being pushed in a wheelbarrow.

He said he rushed Freda to hospital in Bulolo, and was so moved by the experience, that he made it a point for Upper Watut to be the first LLG to have an ambulance if he was elected into office.

That promise came through on Thursday last week.

“Upper Watut is the first to benefit from an ambulance and the other LLGs will follow suit,” Mr Basil said.

“This ambulance is a gift to you so that you don’t push a woman like Freda in a wheelbarrow again.

“This ambulance, however, is not to be used for drinking beer and carrying women around.

“Have a man of sober habits appointed to drive this vehicle.”

Mr Basil also announced that apart from the ambulance, a mobile clinic for all six LLGs would be launched next month.

The other good news he announced was that Bulolo hospital would have a doctor next year.

Upper Watut LLG president Waka Daimon commended Mr Basil for rolling out health services to rural areas as well as such things like road maintenance and VSAT telephone and Internet.

“We used to think that such services would never come to us,” he said.

“We have good roads, health services and we can ring anywhere in the world.

“I believe that we can achieve a lot more if we work together.

“My challenge to you, my people of Watut, is to remember that these things cost money.

“We all have a duty to look after these telephones, ambulance and other services.

“This ambulance must not be used to buy and drink beer in.

“It must only be used to carry sick people.”

 

Zero tolerance

Caption: Wau-Bulolo mayor Jack Nawie (left) with Bulolo MP Sam Basil in Upper Watut… ‘zero tolerance’ of crime in Wau and Bulolo.

Wau-Bulolo mayor Jack Nawie has sent a blunt warning to criminal elements that there will be “zero tolerance” of crime in these two towns.

He said the two historical gold mining towns were again experiencing a boom in mining and exploration activities and their “cowboy town” tags must be disposed of to attract more investment.

“As the manager of these two towns, I will not tolerate these criminal acivities any more,” Mr Nawie said.

“There will be ‘zero tolerance’ of criminal activities.

“As manager of these towns, I want companies to come and invest here.

“We don’t want the ‘cowboy town’ image of Wau and Bulolo to come back and haunt us.

“We will work closely with all companies already here and those who want to come in as they are bringing services and we want to support them.

“I also want to raise the level of the two towns from Urban Level 2 to Urban Level 1 because of the current boom in mining and exploration.

“I will work closely with Bulolo MP Sam Basil and the other LLG presidents to push for development in these two towns.”

Mr Nawie is orginally from East Sepik but, like many others, was born and raised in Bulolo and calls it “home”.

“This is my town and this is my place,” he said.

“My heart lies where I was born.”

 

Basil plans to set up alluvial miners' group

Caption: Aerial shot of a gold dredge in Bulolo. The rivers and creeks around Bulolo and Wau abound with alluvial gold. Picture by SIMON ANAKAPU of Morobe Mining Joint Ventures.

 

Bulolo MP Sam Basil aims to set up an alluvial miners’ association to cater for their needs as well as process their gold.

He said alluvial miners in his electorate were quietly sifting millions of kina worth of alluvial gold from rivers and creeks with no proper records being kept, as well as being cheated by unscrupulous buyers.

“I estimate that this industry contributes about K7 million per month to the economy of Papua New Guinea,” he said.

“Eighty (80) % of this, I further estimate, is going out through dubious means.

“This alluvial gold goes out through logging and fishing boats, not through proper gold dealers.”

Mr Basil said he would push for government funding for a proper smeltering plant for alluvial miners in his electorate to process their gold.

“I’m going to put a plan together for the 2010 Public Investment Programme (PIP) to fund the smeltering plant, which will be owned by what will be known as the Wau-Bulolo Alluvial Miners’ Association,” he said.

“It will be driven by a private sector approach to curb undue influence.

“This goes with an export license of its own.

“By doing that, we reverse the current trend.

“It, of course, won’t take out the entire current illegal trend but it will help the government to have some data on this part of the economy of PNG.

“I will advertise for a partner to format a plan together for a smeltering plant to be situated in Bulolo or Mumeng station.

“With our export license, this is going to be a multi-million kina association.”

 

PACIFIC ACP TRADE MINISTERS TO CONSIDER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN EPA NEGOTIATIONS WITH EU AS WELL AS OTHER TRADE-RELATED ISSUES

Trade Ministers from the Pacific ACP countries will consider the recent developments in the negotiations of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) when they meet in Nadi, Fiji, 20 – 21 October.

The Trade Ministers’ meeting will be preceded by a meeting of Pacific ACP Trade Officials also in Nadi, 16 – 17 October.

The Ministers will consider the outcomes of the PACP – EU Joint Technical Working Group Meeting that was held in Brussels last month and decide on a way forward for the negotiations.

“These negotiations are becoming critical as the extended deadline for the negotiations of the EPA with the EU will expire at the end of the year. The Technical Working Group Meeting made progress on some issues that they did not make progress during the previous round of negotiations, including agreement on tariff covering frozen tuna and loins but the Ministers need to be informed on the progress and decide on a way forward in the negotiations,” says Peter Forau, Acting Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

The PACP Trade Ministers will consider the legal text of the EPA with the EU.

They will also consider the preparations made for the Donor Round Table Meeting on Aid –for-Trade and the Pacific Trade and Development Facility which will be held 23- 24 October.

Other issues at the PACP Trade Ministers will include consideration of a way forward on the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) issues including an update on the study on the Pacific Single Market and Economy, an update on China/Pacific Islands Investment, Trade, Tourism and Ministerial Conference held last month, an update on the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and the Joint Scoping Study on Trade, Investment and Development Cooperation Agreement between the PICs and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

They will also consider a way forward on the Chief Trade Adviser position for the negotiations of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) with Australia and New Zealand.

 

For more information, contact Dr Roman Grynberg, Director Economic Governance Programme on phone 679 331 2600 or email: romang@forumsec.org.fj

 

 

 

NEW FORUM SECRETARY GENERAL COMMENCES 3-YEAR CONTRACT

The newly appointed Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Mr Tuiloma Neroni Slade (pictured) will start his three-year contract on 13th October.

Mr Slade, from Samoa, was appointed by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders during the 39th Leaders’ Forum in Niue in August to replace former Secretary General the late Greg Urwin who passed away on 9th August.

Mr Slade is the first Samoan to lead the region’s premier political organisation since it was founded in August 1971.

A lawyer by profession, Mr Slade has held several positions in the legal fraternity including a Judge, in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands (2003-2006); Assistant Director, Legal Division in the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK (1983 – 1993), and Attorney General of Samoa (1976 – 1982).

He was also Acting Chief Justice of Samoa for interim periods.

Mr Slade was also Samoa’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York and concurrently Ambassador to the United States of America and High Commissioner to Canada from 1993 – 2003.

He was awarded the Order of Samoa – Poloaiga Sili a Samoa, in 2005.

He is also a recipient of the Global Oceans Leadership Award (2003), the Elisabeth Mann Borgese Medal for services to small island developing States and oceans (2003) and a Laureate of the Elizabeth Haub Award for Environmental Diplomacy.

 

For more information contact Mr Johnson Honimae, the Forum Secretariat’s Media Officer on phone 679 331 2600 or email: johnsonh@forumsec.org.fj

 

 

Wrong Email Address

A Highlands couple decided to go to Madang to escape a particularly cold Highlands weather.

They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans.

So, the husband left Hagen and flew to Madang on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel.

There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife.

However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realising his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Port Moresby, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral at 9 Mile cemetery.

He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My loving wife

Subject: I’ve arrived

Date: April 6, 2006

I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you’re allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. sure is freaking hot down here!

Wau and Bulolo renaissance

Aerial view of Bulolo. Picture by PNG FOREST PRODUCTS

Golden Pine Plantations, Bulolo. Picture by PNG FOREST PRODUCTS

An aerial view of the Hidden Valley Mine Project area stretching down to Hamata. Picture by SIMON ANAKAPU of MOROBE MINING JOINT VENTURES

The author (centre) with Sampson Bonai (left) and Vii Killar at the start of the Hidden Valley Access Road at the back of Bulolo. Picture by SIMON ANAKAPU of Morobe Mining Joint Ventures

Panorama of the Bulolo and Watut vallers from the Hidden Valley Access Road. Picture by SIMON ANAKAPU of Morobe Mining Joint Ventures

You can feel it in the air as you drive up the scenic Wau-Bulolo Highway from Lae.

We drive over the Markham Bridge crossing the great river of the same name past Niugini Tablebirds, pretty villages with roadside markets, Zenag Chicken, picturesque rolling hills and snaking rivers – which if they could speak – would tell you so much.
In the rivers and creeks, village miners are quietly sifting a fortune in gold dust, using crude wooden sluices made from bush materials and cheap metal pans.
Our driver, Gima Pokana of PNG Forest Products, points out a spot along the Snake River dubbed as “ATM Corner” because, whenever villagers and settlers want quick cash, this is where they come, just like an ATM machine in town.
My colleagues, The National’s Lae sales executive Vii Kiilar and our former reporter and local Wau/Buolo boy Sampson Bonai, join in lighthearted banter with Gima.
Memories of my younger days as a reporter in Lae, when I constantly drove along this road, come rushing to mind.
But those days of the late 1980’s and 1990’s, when Wau and Bulolo were disparaged as ‘cowboy towns’ due to the lawlessness, are fast becoming a thing of the past.
There is now a feeling of excitement and optimism akin to the historical gold mining days of the 1920’s and 1930’s.
The once normally-quite road is busy with big trucks heading to and from Lae headed for the Wafi prospect in Mumeng, Koranga Creek, Edie Creek and Hidden Valley in Wau, and PNG Forest Products in Bulolo.
The historical mining towns of Wau and Bulolo in the Morobe province, you see, are on the verge of a major renaissance with the increase in mining activity.
This has resulted in massive economic activities in these areas reminiscent of the 20’s and 30’s.
Employment opportunities and other spin-off activities abound with the ‘big three’ projects at Hidden Valley, Edie Creek and the famous Koranga Creek on the fringes of Wau town.
The historic Bulolo airport was re-opened this year to serve the increased mining activities.
The discovery of gold at Edie Creek above Wau in 1926 sparked off a gold rush of massive proportions which led to the exploitation of the rich deposits of the Bulolo-Watut river system by large-scale mechanised mining.
History is indeed being rewritten with the current developments at Wau and Bulolo which will benefit the whole of Papua New Guinea.
We drive past the Buang junction, over the notorious Kumalu River which buried the once –thriving Mumeng government station under tonnes of rubble, and then the beautiful and iconic pine trees of Bulolo come into view.
Gima drives us into the PNG Forest Products township, which is like going back in time, given the well-kept colonial-style houses which are more than 50 years old.
PNG Forest Products evolved from Bulolo Gold Dredging Limited that commenced operations in large-scale alluvial mining in the late 1920’s.
The Bulolo region was at the time one of the largest gold fields in the world.
A total of seven dredges scoured the valley floor, dredging thousands of tones of high grade gold-bearing ore.
As the mining operation scaled down, the plywood factory and sawmill were constructed.
In collaboration with the then government, the pine plantations were also established at this time.
In 1954, plywood production and the export of product to overseas destinations commenced.
From the early 1950’s the company has been involved in the conversion of both hardwood and plantation resource to high value end products.
Today, PNG Forest Products is the leading producer of timber and plywood products using only 100% plantation pine.
Its products include prefabricated houses, dressed timber and mouldings, treated power poles, export high grade plywood and veneers.
The company operates a 5.5MW hydro power station at Baiune which was built pre-war to supply power to the gold dredges.
Today, it supplies the total power requirements for the company township of Bulolo and Wau.
PNG Forest Products is truly a self-sufficient organisation with retail stores, freezers, bakeries and a cattle farm.
“The face of Bulolo is changing and becoming a bit like it used to be, which is good for everybody” deputy general manager Rinus Vacks tells me.
“It’s very, very positive.
“Bulolo’s got a very good feel about it.
“We’re certainly riding on the back of the booming economy.
“We’re also moving along with the economy.
“We certainly hope that the current strength of the economy will continue.”
Banks in Bulolo – Nationwide (formerly Wau) Microfinance and Bank South Pacific - are gaining momentum as business picks up as a direct result of the exploration and mining boom in the area.
Nationwide Microfinance, in particular, has picked up dramatically since it was opened in Bulolo last February 26.
“Within this short space of time there has been a lot of cash circulating within within the townships of Bulolo and Wau due to mining activities as well as alluvial mining,” manager Jacob Bigiglen enthuses.
At the Bulolo Golf Club, the oldest in the country, we meet a motley crew of miners, foresters and locals who are all too happy to spin a yarn over a couple of beers about the good ‘ol days of Wau and Bulolo.
The other club in town, Bulolo Bowling Club, is renowned for producing bowlers who have represented PNG in international tournaments.
The next day, we head for Hidden Valley gold mine project with Simon Anakapu, who is public and internal relations manager with Morobe Mining Joint Ventures, a partnership between Harmony Gold and Newcrest.
We take the private access road at the back of Bulolo, which curves its way through the mountains, for over 40km before hitting Hidden Valley.
Here, in the middle of nowhere, a massive change is taking place.
Work at the Hidden Valley gold mine project outside Wau in Morobe province is progressing well and on schedule with production to start next year.
Remote Hidden Valley near the border of Central and Gulf provinces has become a hive of activity as Morobe Mining Joint Ventures work on a project that promises to transform the famous gold mining towns of Wau and Bulolo.
To date, an enormous 26 million tones of waste have been removed from the pre-strip by giant trucks and other equipment, operated exclusively by staff from surrounding landowner villages including women.
Acting mine manager Chuck Hennessey tells me there is a general air of optimism all around as construction work nears competition and commends all staff, many from surrounding landowner villages, for their hard work.
“The feeling is pretty good,” he says.
“This is going back to the root of mining in PNG and we’re pretty excited about that.”
Evening over the Bulolo and Watut valleys as we drive back is a sight to behold as we watch the panorama unfold.
“This is God’s country,” Simon remarks.
And I couldn’t agree more.