I was in the remote Upper Watut local level government (LLG) area of the Bulolo District of Morobe Province,
The people were ecstatic with their new ambulance and put on a traditional welcome song for Mr Basil and other invited guests.
These are some pictures of the occasion which I took.
Malum
A great place to build your brand is through blogs. Many bloggers actually want to talk about your brand.They gladly display advertising for your brand. They hunger for news about your brand.How do I know that? It’s all profiled in the recent 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report by Technorati.com, the blog tracking service.
Each year Technorati writes a State of the Blogosphere Report. http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/ For the first time in 2008 the State of the Blogosphere Report addresses the subject of brands. It’s a gold mine of information. So let’s dive in and see what it tells us.
Bloggers Talk About Brands Frequently
Bloggers talk about companies’ brands all the time. Brands now play a major part in bloggers’ online conversations, as several of the Report’s findings note:
· More than 80% of bloggers post product or brand reviews, and write about brands they love or hate. Even day-to-day experiences with customer care or in a retail store are fodder for blog posts.
· 37% of bloggers post product reviews or brand reviews “frequently”
· Companies today are reaching out to bloggers: one-third of bloggers have been approached to be brand advocates.
· The majority of bloggers now accept and display advertising on their blogs.
Blogs Have Become Credible and Influential Sources
Perceptions about blogs have shifted since the early years of blogging. If you had this picture in your mind of nut wings blogging in their pajamas in their parents’ basements repeating tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories, you are missing what’s happening with blogs. Simply put, blogs have come to be seen as credible, influential sources – so much so that today, bloggers look primarily to other blogs for their information, instead of to the mainstream media:
· 71% of bloggers believe that blogs are getting taken more seriously as sources of information. Blogs are getting accepted.
· 49% believe blogs are just as valid media sources as traditional media! Let that sink in a moment: almost half of bloggers believe that reading something on another blog is just as valid as reading it in, say, your local newspaper.
· 61% say that blogs have advertising and content that entice them to learn more about products and services. In fact, among bloggers, blogs are the #1 most influential source of information about brands – more so than mainstream media in print or on TV.
5 Take-Aways
I suggest there are 5 key take-aways from the State of the Blogosphere Report 2008 for small businesses when it comes to your brand-building efforts:
(1) Bloggers find it a natural thing to discuss brands on their blogs if those brands capture their attention in some way, good or bad (hopefully in your case all good). So don’t hold back from reaching out to bloggers. Blogs are now accepted places for reviewing a product, introducing a new product or service, or announcing a new marketing initiative. Blogs also welcome advertising messages highlighting your products and services, with the majority of bloggers now displaying ads on their sites.
(2) Blogs are credible sources of news and information. In other words, being seen on a blog can be as valid as being seen in mainstream media – more informal perhaps, but valid. It’s no wonder that many large corporations today proudly recognize product-reviews by blogs among their press mentions on their websites. Large corporations welcome – they seek out – mentions on blogs. Why not take a page out of their book?
(3) Bloggers are most open to receiving marketing messages from other blogs. If you want to reach the millions of bloggers (or just that segment of your market which blogs) the best place to do that is to be seen on blogs. Blogs are the medium where most bloggers get their information today. In fact, other blogs are the primary place where other bloggers look to get information about products and brands today.
(4) Bloggers as a group are educated and affluent. Bloggers are a good target market. The Report found that 75% of
(5) Your competitors are being seen on blogs. With so many bloggers having been targeted by companies to become brand advocates, in all likelihood that means your competitors are already reaching out to, or advertising in, blogs. Unless you too are there, you could be at a competitive disadvantage.
* * * * *
So, definitely consider blogs a fertile ground for building brand awareness and visibility. The blogosphere is ready for you — in some ways hungers to hear from you and your brand
Bulolo MP Sam Basil and his pet tree kangaroo at Sam’s home at 14-Mile outside Lae.
Sam is currently one of the youngest and most proactive members of the current Papua New Guinea Parliament and has won widespread admiration for what he has achieved for his Bulolo Electorate in little over a year.
The plight of Iruupi villagers in Western province, regarding their
They now see their Governor Bob Danaya and South Fly MP Sali Subam as having neglected them in the face of something that now threatens their whole livelihood.
Mr Subam declined to comment yesterday (Thursday) when contacted until he had received a detailed report from his officers in Daru about dead aquatic and plant life along the
He travelled to Daru yesterday and said he would be in a better position to comment on the matter after he was briefed by his officers.
“I have assisted the officers with logistical support to travel into the area,” Mr Subam said.
“However, I have not received the report from the testing team as yet.
“No comment until I get the report from them.”
However, Iruupi villager Thomas Ame, who travelled with government officers Frank Paliuous (health) and Stanley Jogo (fisheries) to Iruupi on Tuesday this week, said they merely skimmed the surface before returning to Daru instead of spending more time with the villagers.
He said they only interviewed two women who were returning from their garden and a man who had fallen sick after eating taro boiled with water from the
“The water is going from bad to worse and starting to affect all the people,” Mr Ame said from Daru.
“When you put your legs in the river, they start to itch and swell.
“All the food in the gardens beside the river is affected and there is no goodness in the food.
“The villagers are moving their gardens closer to the village.
“The villagers don’t have any food now and are only eating coconuts and sago.
“Children are hungry
“Those who can afford to, take fresh meat to Daru, sell it, and use the money to buy food from the shops and take back to Iruupi to feed their children.
“Villagers are also complaining about feeling sick after drinking water from the smaller creeks and are now only drinking rain water
Last month, the villagers raised concerns in a letter to Dr Danaya, Mr Subam, and the Departments of Petroleum and Energy and Environment and Conservation about the increasing number of dead fish being found in the
At the beginning of this month, after no response from relevant government authorities, the villagers again complained about dead fish and crocodiles, as well as birds, pigs, deer and wallaby.
Iruupi, south of Daru near the Torres Strait, is closer to
Captions: 1. Bulolo MP Sam Basil checking out the progress of work along the
The Buang people of Morobe province will have a timely present for Christmas.
They will be able to use the new-look Gabensis-Muniau (Buang) Road after suffering for many years because of its neglected state.
They have had to travel all the way to Mumeng and then turn off to Buang instead of having the luxury of this shortcut.
Gabensis is a typical
Reconstruction of the road comes under the Bulolo District Road Maintenance Programme (BDRMP) initiated by Bulolo MP Sam Basil.
“We plan to have this short cut road reconstructed before Christmas so that Buang people from all over the country can go home and spend time with their families,” he says.
Team B of the BDRMP is doing the shortcut from Gabensis to Buang, working on gravelling and culverting at the same time.
It has been working on the road for the last three works and expects to complete the task in another three weeks,
“If a private contractor was doing the job of Team B, it would cost us K180, 000 a month, however, we’re doing this at K45, 000 a month,” Mr Basil said.
“I’m talking about working eight hours a day, seven days a week.”
He said the area also had huge untapped potential for tourism.
There is a breathtaking view of the
White cockatoos, hornbills and other birds abound in this forest area surrounded by picturesque hills, rivers and creeks,
“I plan to set up a lookout at this point, together with a barbeque area, where families from Lae can come and relax and have a good time at the weekend,” Mr Basil says.
“There is so much potential for tourism in this area.”
The notorious
Its fast flowing torrents are infamous for claiming lives, burying the one-thriving Mumeng government station under tonnes of rubble as well as sweeping away motor vehicles.
This is becoming a major concern, especially with the boom in mining and prospecting in the area, as well as to the livelihood of the thousands of people of the Bulolo and Menyamya electorates.
The solution is a bypass road through Buang, on to the gold fields of Bulolo and Wau, and further on to Menyamya,
Bulolo MP Sam Basil asked the National Government for funding in the recent Supplementary Budget for this bypass road and K9m of an estimated total cost of K27m has been earmarked for this purpose.
“I’m under a lot of pressure from
Landowners from five villages – Kumalu 1 and 2, Mumengtain, Bangalum and Pamelambus – have formed a company called Kumubapa Holdings to tender for the building of the road in a joint venture with Filipino company Benje.
They have met with regional works manager Brian Alois and provincial works manager Nickson Laime in Lae, to push for the release of the funds so that they could start work.
“The landowners from five villages have joined together and formed a company called Kumubapa Holdings,” Mr Basil said.
“Benje will inject the professional component and the landowners will provide the rest.
“I want active landowner participation in all projects in my electorate.
“Apart from this, there are other opportunities in Bulolo for such work, which I want the landowners to participate in.”
Mr Basil said the proposed road would run up to and cross the
Drilling at a new site called Antelope-1 commenced Wednesday this week.
The rig, support equipment and buildings have been air lifted into the area during the past month.
The site is now fully operational as a drilling project to appraise the Antelope Field. .
A team of about a hundred personnel including drilling specialists and geologists will carry out the complex drilling operation in the weeks ahead.
It is intended the drill bore will penetrate more than two thousand metres beneath the earth’s surface.
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
InterOil President Bill Jasper says the company also has high hopes for Antelope-1.
“We believe the Elk and the Antelope structures form part of the same subterranean gas reservoir”.
“Based on recent testing we believe the overall structure to be 15 kilometres long, five kilometres wide and more than 600 metres in thickness”, he said.
“So far the test results on Elk-4 have been in line with our high expectations.”
“We believe our discovery is one of significant potential”, Mr. Jasper said.
Mr. Jasper said recent appraisals provided “a strong positive” for InterOil’s planned Liquid Niugini Gas Project.
The proposed multi billion Kina construction project would be one of the largest investments ever made in
The plans involve the construction of a new LNG processing plant on land adjacent InterOil’s Port Moresby refinery and a pipeline to transport the gas from the Gulf Province.
For further in formation please contact
Susuve Laumaea
Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation
Ph: 321 7040
Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com
Above are pictures of beautiful and scenic Mumeng Local Level Government (LLG) area in Bulololo District,
The pictures were taken during my visit there last week.
It certainly is one of the scenic and picturesque areas of
Bulolo MP Sam Basil is doing a lot to bring about development to his electorate and you can see the difference everywhere you go.
Captions: 1. Dr Clement Malau officially opens the Goroka hospital’s business resource centre; 2. Robert Schilt IT Manager, Dr Joseph Apa CEO and Dr Clement Malau
This was a momentous occasion for hospital staff, management and the board and a unique opportunity for the hospital to share about its IT achievements over the past 18 months and also how an Open Source Software (OSS) approach can provide long term tangible benefits and savings to the national health system and other hospitals within
The opening of the centre has been 12 months in the planning and finally it happened.
The Health Secretary, CEO’s from each of the Highlands hospitals, senior staff from the Health Department, AUSAID advisors and
Hospital chief executive officer Dr Joseph Apa told of how it had saved thousands of kina in computer software costs and should be an example to other hospitals in the country.
He said the decision by the hospital to adopt
“Open Source Operating Systems such as Linux Ubuntu are essentially immune to viruses,” Dr Apa said.
“The hospital has not had one virus incident in the last 12 months.
“What’s really ironic is that none of our Open Source PC’s and laptops actually runs any form of virus protection software.
“By going down the Open Source path we have essentially bypassed the prohibitive costs associated with licensed software such as Microsoft Office and Virus Protection.
“This in itself has saved
“We have now started the process of investigating Open Source options for an electronic patient records System, something that all hospitals around PNG are desperately needing, and I am amazed at the rich collection of quality Health Information System (HIS) related applications currently available through the Open Source Community.
“The ultimate objective in introducing electronic information systems at
“This goal will only be achieved through the provision of efficient, reliable and integrated Health Information Systems that are cost effective.”
Information Technology manager Robert Schilt emphasised the IT achievements at the hospital, many a first for a public hospital in PNG:
• Deployment of 60 PC’s and laptops including a Local Area Network (first hospital in PNG);
• Establishment of a business resource centre (first hospital in PNG);
• Setting of a training room and course(s) with 100-plus staff trained (first hospital in PNG)
• Monthly meetings of an IM&T Steering Committee (first hospital in PNG)
• Hospital website and online health forum www.ggh.org.pg (first hospital in PNG)
• Access to the Hinari subscription (first hospital in PNG)
• Development of an organisational Intranet (first hospital in PNG)
• Recent media coverage (first hospital in PNG).
The IT team at
Pictured are some pictures of Bulolo I took just last week.
The first one shows Bulolo MP Sam Basil standing at the Mumeng Local Level Government (LLG) office at Mumeng along the main
It’s a great place and has some of the most-breathtaking scenery in
Malum
Above is a picture of my four wonderful young children who have been my source of strength and inspiration since the sudden and untimely death of their mother, Hula, on Easter Sunday this year.
I have three sons and a daughter.
The boys are Malum Junior, Gedi and Keith, and my only daughter is Moasing.
Pictured left to right are Gedi (6), Moasing (4), Malum Jnr (7) and Keith (1).
You can read about the wonderful time we had with Hula in this blog by just clicking on her name in this story.
Malum
The international community should enable rainforest countries to halve deforestation by 2020 and make the global forest sector ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030.
This is the recommendation of an independent report to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown published yesterday.
The Eliasch Review, ‘Climate Change: Financing Global Forests’, is an independent report commissioned by Mr Brown and led by Johan Eliasch, his Special Representative on Deforestation.
It provides a comprehensive analysis of the financing and mechanisms needed to support sustainable management of forests and reduce emissions associated with deforestation.
The Review finds that:
• The international community should aim to support forest nations to halve deforestation by 2020 and make the global forest sector ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030 – i.e. with emissions from forest loss balanced by new forest growth.
• Reducing emissions from deforestation should be fully included in any post-2012 global climate deal at
• National Governments should develop their own strategies to combat deforestation in forest countries, including establishing baselines, targets and effective governance and distribution of finances.
• In the long term, the forest sector should be included in global carbon markets.
• Public and private sector funding will be needed in the short to medium term as carbon markets grow.
• The international community should provide support for capacity building where necessary. Total capacity building costs are estimated at up to $4 billion over 5 years for 40 forest nations.
Mr Eliasch said:
“Saving forests is critical for tackling climate change. Without action on deforestation, avoiding the worst impacts of climate change will be next to impossible, and could lead to additional climate change damages of $1 trillion a year by 2100.
“Including the forest sector in a new global deal could reduce the costs of tackling climate change by up to 50% and therefore achieve deeper cuts in emissions, as well as reducing poverty in some of the world’s poorest areas and protecting biodiversity.
“Deforestation will continue as long as cutting down and burning trees is more economic than preserving them. Access to finance from carbon markets and other funding initiatives will be essential for supporting forest nations to meet this challenge.”
UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband welcomed the report:
“Deforestation accounts for almost a fifth of global carbon emissions. I welcome this report’s contribution to the global debate about how we address this. It will help us chart a course to reduce deforestation, help the world’s poorest people and cut carbon emissions.
“I hope it can help the vital process of securing agreement on climate change in
UK International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander said:
“With more than a billion of the poorest people on our planet dependent on forests to provide them with a livelihood, today's report highlights the challenges we face in reconciling the short-term interests of individuals with the global challenge of tackling climate change.”
Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare of
“
Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno-Ugarte of
“The
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda of
“As the world acknowledged last year in
Norwegian Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim said:
“The Norwegian government welcomes the Eliasch Review as an important contribution to the discussion of developing a mechanism for including deforestation and forest degradation in a new climate regime. We look forward to working with Prime Minister Brown, the British government and other partners to take this vital effort forward.”
Captions: 1. Bulolo MP Sam Basil points out the panorama along the
There is a breathtaking view of the
I took the drive along this road, which has been neglected for the last seven years, together with Bulolo MP Sam Basil last Friday and was so taken in by the panorama which unfolded before our eyes.
White cockatoos, hornbills and other birds abound in this forest area surrounded by picturesque hills, rivers and creeks,
“I plan to set up a lookout at this point, together with a barbeque area, where families from Lae can come and relax and have a good time at the weekend,” he says.
“There is so much potential for tourism in this area.”
I visited parts of Bulolo last week with Mr Basil and he showed me so many areas with tourism potential as well some of his projects in his local level government (LLG) areas.
These once-forgotten rural people in the six LLG areas of Buang, Mumeng,
Indeed, as Bob Dylan sings,’ the times they are a’changin’ for Bulolo
Gabensis is a typical
The people of Buang have suffered for several years because of the state of this road.
They have had to travel all the way to Mumeng and then turn off to Buang instead of having the luxury of this shortcut.
Reconstruction of the road comes under the Bulolo District Road Maintenance Programme initiated by Mr Basil.
“We plan to have this short cut road reconstructed before Christmas so that Buang people from all over the country can go home and spend time with their families,” he says.
“We have advertised and we have got a manager on contract, who is running the project at the moment.
“We have Team A and Team B.
“Team A is in Watut reviving the rural roads there and in November will move to the
“If a private contractor ran it, it would cost K130, 000 a month to operate, however, it’s costing us only K30, 000 a month.
“Team B is doing the shortcut from Gabensis to Buang.
“It’s doing gravelling and culverting at the same time.
“If a private contractor was doing the job of Team B, it would cost us K180, 000 a month, however, we’re doing this at K45, 000 a month.
“I’m talking about working eight hours a day, seven days a week.”
At Mumeng LLG Station earlier that day, we watched construction work on two new houses for manager, being built under Bulolo District Building Maintenance Programme.
“The programme has a contracted manager who has a degree in architecture and building,” Mr Basil explains.
“It has Team A and Team B consisting of plumbers, electricians, bricklayers and carpenters with a provision to hire four villagers wherever a project is.
“In the programme, if a school had K100, 000 to build a classroom, be guranteed that 40% of that money will not go to a contractor.
“We maximise that money so instead of building one double classroom, we can build two double classrooms.
“I am delivering services to my electorate using the private sector approach minus the profit factor, therefore, maximise the supposed-to-be-profit for more service rollout.
“When
“People live in six rural Local Level Government (LLG) areas which are Buang, Mumeng,
“Wau/Bulolo Urban is where the district administration is, so when previous MPs bought vehicles, they were for the urban areas while the rural areas were neglected.
“This meant that the district chewed up everything while the LLGs suffered.”
Last Thursday, we visited remote Upper Watut LLG where Mr Basil opened a footbridge and a new double classroom, and then delivered a new ambulance at Mainyanda government station.
“I’m putting an ambulance into all LLGs so that they can all have access to this service,” he tells me.
“I’ll be issuing ambulances for the next four weeks.
“And then we have tractors which will have plowers for agricultural use, slashers for cutting grass, grading blade for grading roads and a trailer for carrying coffee bags, gravel and utility use.
“These will be use free of charge for government services while there will be a user-pay policy for private users to cover fuel.
“Remember the 1970’s when government services were so good?
“In those days, stations were alive, clean and well-maintained.
“We want to do the same in the Bulolo electorate now.
“This is the very basic fundamental, which is putting government into the LLGs.
“I’m issuing an ambulance to
“Waria doesn’t have a road; therefore, I’m allocating money to build a road first, from Biaru to Garaina.
“For Wau and Bulolo towns, I’ve already given them two garbage trucks to collect rubbish and generate their own revenue.
“In November, they will take delivery of their new grader.
“It will spend a week every month in Wau and Bulolo towns, and then rest for two weeks.”
Rural electrification is another major project with 42 houses already lit up, from the main grid from Baiune, and 10 more houses to follow before the end of this year.
“PNG Power will send in a surveyor upon my request for Sambio village and Bayevaga village,” Mr Basil says.
“The power will come from the main grid from Baiune hydro-electricity in Bulolo.”
And then there’s the marvel of instaneous telephone and Internet communications.
“I’m carrying out a pilot project for telephones,” Mr Basil says.
“We’ve already opened up the Mapos Parish with a VSAT installation.
“There are six lines.
“We are running five lines from the installation vicinity, a few kilometres apart.
“Telephone lines are installed next to shops so shop owners take ownership of it.
“We compensate the shop owners by signing them up as wholesale buyers for Telikads by buying them 10% cheaper.
“Buang is already connected by VSAT, but still to be officially opened.
“
“By 2012, all people in Bulolo electorate will have access to telephone services, via VSAT.
“Telikom PNG can strike us out by 2012, when they are focused on 2020.
“We are embarking on purchasing 15 more units for installation next year at a cost of K1 million.”
