The Divine Word University Open Day, which falls on May 3, 2009, is a time that the University opens its doors to the public to showcase the achievements of its students and the ongoing relationship with its partners.
As an academic community, DWU is committed to being a constant agent of positive change and creativity through quality of its services, and with this consistency, its theme for 2009 is “Partnership for Total Quality Management”.
By RONALD BULUM
WHEN Talasea forestry resources owners were chartering an aircraft just so they could go to Hoskins to get kettles for their wives, and when Hami Yawari was splurging kina like confetti, no traditional, uneducated Papua New Guinean complained.
The illiterate had no reason to begrudge Yawari or the Talasea because he came from a society where the measure of a man's wealth was shown by the display of his possessions or as ethnographer Bronislaw Malinowski noted in the Trobriand Islands between 1915 and 1918, his ability to give.
The tradition of giving to show wealth - from those pleasurable exotic isles to the cold and rugged Torricelli mountains - is suffice to say, widespread.
Little wonder then that the West New British and the Southern Highlanders gave no thought to keeping money in a safe or bank.
Their, or our habits, have given The Nationwide Micro Bank impetus to go to as young as possible an age group in Finschhafen primary schools to instill a sense of "savings culture".
It is going to be a stiff challenge.
Our habits have given economists who were molded in the intellectual teachings of philosopher Adam Smith and his Wealth of Nations, a sudden turn.
Instead of using the Gross Domestic Product as the yard stick to measuring a nation's standing, in which the ability to earn and save in the bank and increase liquidity and hold the balance of payments higher is an influential factor; other economists think otherwise.
They pursue the notion that a country's wealth should be measured by the amount of income per capita that is spent.
By that paradigm, Time Magazine in about late 1992 showed that Papua New Guinea, Mexico and China could not be classified as Third World Nations or under developed, or (the more politically correct term) Developing Nation.
Papua New Guineans are big spenders - compulsive buyers.
And the square root is that they come from a rich society, naturally.
In traditional
Efforts by economic researchers to delve into the proportions of urban and rural population that are living in poverty and of the extent of their poverty, have shown that by their measure, all rural Papua New Guineans were in poverty because they were living on less than K1 a day (K362 a year) - less than enough to feed a fat baby a day in New York.
Yet no one died of starvation in starch-starved Mortlock or protein-deficient Mt Wilhelm.
Even city outcasts at Sabama,
Poverty is clearly defined when someone can't feed himself (and that he has no choice).
The
With that in mind, consider
"Nearly all throughout history have been very poor.
"The exception, almost insignificant in the whole span of human existence, has been the last few generations, in the comparatively small corner of the world populated by Europeans.
"Here, and especially in the
"The ideas by which the people of this favoured part of the world interpret their existence, and in measure guide their behaviour, were not forged in a world of wealth.
"These ideas were the product of a world in which poverty had always been man's normal lot, and any other state was in degree unimaginable.
"This poverty was not the elegant torture of the spirit which comes from contemplating another man's more spacious possessions.
"It was the unedifying mortification of the flesh - from hunger, sickness, and cold. Those who might be freed temporarily from such burden could not know when it will strike again, for at best hunger yielded only perilously to privation.
"It is improbable that poverty of the masses of the people was made greatly more bearable by the fact that a very few - those upon whose movements nearly all recorded history centres - were very rich.
"No one would wish to argue that the ideas which interpreted this world of grim scarcity would serve people equally well for the contemporary
"Poverty was the all-pervasive fact of that world."
The thought of Dr Galbraith; someone who headed the American Office of Price Administration during the very trying time of stretching of resources in WWII, and studied the nadir of free market economics in his The Great Crash 1929, is that classical economics was born in a harsh world of mass poverty.
It has left us with a set of preconceptions hard to adapt to the realities of our own richer age.
In that vein, the Papua New Guineans schooled in western economic thought are finding it hard to cope with Sir Michael's (Air Niugini's) buy.
But the villager will say, "Go for it, Somare".
Tok Pisin Phantom comics from 1970s wanted by Australian collector…a challenge for you Wewak boys
Hi,
My name is Les Gray (email norles@chariot.net.au), from
I am an avid Phantom Comic collector.
I got your email address off the internet.
I am wondering if you can help me trace Phantom comics produced about the 1970s by Wirui Press in Wewak.
I have little information on these comics and would like to include them in my large collection.
Thank you for your time.
Les,
Petromin committed to discuss commercial terms
Importantly, it will discuss terms on which it will provide a carry for Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd in respect to the financing of the State’s equity in the project.
This comes after Petromin and InterOil signed a heads of agreement (HoA) on Wednesday in
The HoA is for commercial cooperation with CNOOC, following official talks between Mr Wen and Sir Michael.
The occasion was viewed as one of the major achievements of Sir Michael’s visit to
Petromin, in a statement, said both InterOil and itself had started discussions with a number of major oil and gas companies to bring in a strategic partner to the InterOil project that would underwrite the project.
“The HoA now allows CNOOC to participate in that process,” the statement said.
“More significantly, the HoA provides for CNOOC to discuss the terms on which it will provide a carry for Petromin in respect of the financing of the State’s equity in the project.”
Petromin managing director Joshua Kalinoe said the parties were committed to quickly agree on the commercial terms for this financing and to enter into binding arrangements as soon as possible.
Mr Kalinoe said he was excited about the progress to date on the financing arrangements.
He thanked the National Government, in particular Sir Michael, for the support and the political leadership provided for the InterOil-led project in his capacity as minister responsible for Petromin.
“For Petromin and the people of
He added that CNOOC and InterOil had given undertakings to work with Petromin to assist it to build capacity and experience in all facets of the project and to create jobs, skills training and long-term economic benefits for as many Papua New Guineans.
“As an example, Petromin has the option of co-marketing the State’s share of the LNG. This will develop marketing expertise which will have on-going relevance as new oil and gas resources are located and developed.”
OPPOSITION leader Sir Mekere Morauta has challenged Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare to show proof of all the riches accumulated by his Government, The National reports,
Sir Mekere was responding to a number of statements issued by Sir Michael early this week.
In one statement, the Prime Minister defended the purchase of an expensive Falcon jet, saying PNG was rich enough to afford this executive aircraft.
In a another statement, Sir Michael said Papua New Guineans were better off now than they were at Independence and there was no one starving from poverty in the rural areas.
Sir Mekere said yesterday the Prime Minister’s statements were the ultimate insult to the people, who were suffering lack of basic services, essential drugs and high price of goods and services.
“The Prime Minister and his Government’s social and economic radar is seriously off course.
“He needed to reset the radar to reflect the serious problem the nation is facing,” Sir Mekere said.
“There is no denying that this country enjoyed unprecedented economic growth for the last seven years.
“But that had little to do with what (Sir Michael) put in place; the climate for stability and growth were in place before his Government was voted in.
“PNG enjoyed an economic boom, with large inflow of revenue from high commodity prices, due largely to the economic expansion in
“We had a tidal wave of added revenue,” he added.
“PNG, according to the Prime Minister, is rich enough to buy a Falcon jet for his use, but not rich enough to pay nurses, teachers and policemen; not rich enough to pay school fees; not rich enough to pay for medicine for rural clinics and provide schools with provisions.
“
“People like the Prime Minister and I can be medivac to
“Stories are bound of serious sick people waiting for days to be attended to at the
Sir Mekere said millions of kina in public funds had been mismanaged with nothing to show for that could make Sir Michael and his Government proud.
“Where are the new roads, schools, hospitals and clinics?
“Where are the promised houses for public servants and teachers?”
He said the Somare Government beat their own expectations by blowing last year’s budget by K540 million.
“The Government is continuing this reckless spending approach unrestrained, and we can expect a bigger budget deficit this year.
“Of course, we have to borrow to fund these deficits and, like all borrowings, someone has to pay for them.”
The Pacific Freedom Forum condemns the continued harassment and detention of Fiji-based journalists filing for or providing information to overseas news outlets, in addition to continuing harassment of local media and journalists.
The reported detention of Pita Ligaiula, who was filing for Associated Press and based at the PacNews Secretariat in Suva, occurred alongside the reported harassment of other journalists filing for outlets including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Radio New Zealand.
"This outrageous behavior on the part of Fiji authorities will only serve to still further focus attention on that country's situation, because the story will still be told," Pacific Freedom Forum chair Susuve Laumaea says.
"The reported invitation to 'approved' journalists - whose prior reportage on
"Local and overseas journalists were, like Pita Ligaiula, trying to provide balanced and accurate reports about Fiji, and all the current Fiji authorities can do is harass and attempt to silence them."
"Locking up reporters such as Fiji TV's Edwin Nand, whose interview with deported ABC reporter, Sean Dorney, was seen world wide, and now AP's Pita Ligaiula, whose reports were also published globally, only demonstrates that those responsible need help and training in what real journalism is all about," says PFF co-chair Monica Miller.
"The increased pressure on our media colleagues in
"PacNews is produced by the Pacific Islands News Association, itself a long running regional media and journalism support and training organization, which owes no loyalty to anybody except to its members and affiliates, and to the principles of fair, accurate, and balanced journalism.
"The continuing attacks on the
Letters Blog | April 17, 2009 | 4 Comments
GRAHAM Davis ("Dealing with the dictator”, Features, 16/4) must be naive indeed to believe Frank Bainimarama’s cover story for seizing complete power in
What evidence is there that Bainimarama has any democratic instincts at all? He has systematically purged the Fiji Military Forces of constitutionalist officers, demanding they pledge an oath of personal loyalty to him and dismissing those who refuse. He never accepted the authority of the democratically elected government when there was one, and overthrew it by force in the end. He has comprehensively militarised the governing of
Now he has muzzled the free media, blocked the FM transmission of Radio
Stewart Firth Bright, Vic
All coffee farmers are called on to move into their coffee gardens now and harvest their coffee, process it and bring out to market to take advantage of the current coffee prices.
Current prices are at K3.80 per kilogram of parchment thus Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) Limited Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ricky Mitio, urges farmers to start harvesting now with the favourable price and dry weather.
Mr Mitio appeals to all coffee farmers to stop tribal fights, wondering around on roadsides and towns and get back into their gardens to harvest coffee.
Cherry ban is still on, but harvesting coffee would prevent perpetrators from stealing cherries to sell resulting in farmers missing out on the benefits of their own hard work.
Coffee cherry sale is still under control and a roadside cherry trade is not permitted by law.
CIC commends all coffee growers and stakeholders in the marketing chain for last year’s record export earning of K509 million for the calendar year 2008.
This result was achieved on the back of higher prices, combined with higher export volumes. From the total earnings, growers received 66% while exporters and processors retained 19% and 15% respectively. Last year’s record was, by far, the highest level record for the industry.
The previous record was achieved in 2005 valuing K457 million.
“We would like to achieve a progressive record again this year and in the coming years,” said Mr Mitio.
Mr Mitio encourages growers to increase production though rehabilitation and planting new trees in their gardens to gain from higher prices.
He added that the District by District Coffee Rehabilitation Program funded under the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) has commenced in selected districts in the Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands and
All growers are urged to work together with CIC officers to carry out this program to increase production.
District by District Village Coffee Rehabilitation Programme hopes to rejuvenate aging senile coffee trees of coffee gardens especially in the smallholder sector to boost production.
The Media Council of PNG is supporting the call for the Government of Frank Bainimarama to not interfere with the media which is performing its noble roles of promoting good governance.
President of the Media Council of PNG, Joe Kanekane pleaded for the media to be respected as the "Fourth Estate" which is supposed to be independent to perform the functions of a watchdog.
“Please understand that the media must keep a sceptical eye on the activities of the government and the powerful. Without a free and independent media, the public interest will not be guarded, and those in powerful position can abuse the power for personal gains.”
Mr Kanekane said the Government must also respect the freedom of expression and freedom of the media as a basic human right enshrined in Article XIX of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mr Kanekane commended the courage of the journalists and other media personal including those being intimidated in the newsrooms. He urged them to be fair and report objectively to carry the voices of different sectors of the population and communities in
Mr Kanekane appealed to the international community, particularly the governments of the region, development partners, and regional bodies and civil society organisations to continue to demand for the liberalisation of restrictions to the media in
So much money on an executive jet…for so few people
Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, despite a public outcry against the
This is despite the fact that
Air Niugini is buying a Falcon 900 triple engine executive jet (pictured) on behalf of the PNG government.
The plane is described in a number of websites as an advance comfort jet fit for the rich and powerful.
One site said: “The Falcon 900 is one of the most technologically advanced large business jets available.
“Its design incorporates the latest improvements in aerodynamics and flight systems, which results in beautiful flight characteristics, gentle landings and cruise speeds of over 550mph.”
By IAN TAUKURO
Seeing how many of us are getting so worked up over the new Falcon for our pollies, I thought I'd send out this picture of what Barack Obama flies around in...
When our Falcon lands at
However, wherever, Air Force One lands, people, especially Americans, gaze in awe at this magnificent symbol of American power and wealth. (The aircraft is responsible for carrying the
I understand that the plane has an escort of two or three fighter jets when it is in the air and, if traveling overseas, a few navy ships positioned on the sea under the flight path, just to ensure that nothing goes wrong ... these Americans are truly over the top!
But, if you love planes like I do ... open up the picture and drool away!
By Graham Davis | April 16, 2009
Article from: The Australian
LIKE many military leaders before him, Frank Bainimarama can be autocratic, stubborn, wilful, obstinate and disdainful of the traditional nuances of civilian politics.
He may also be the best hope, albeit in five years' time, of a democratic
If that seems a ludicrous proposition when constitutions are being abrogated and the media proscribed, it's time to consider some basic truths that seem to have been overlooked in the "good guy, bad guy" narrative that invariably passes for analysis in much of the Australian media.
The bad guys, of course, are held to be Bainimarama and his patron,
The good guys are those calling for an immediate election: a coalition of lawyers, human-rights activists and elements of the local media, plus the man Bainimarama deposed at gunpoint in 2006, former prime minister Laisenia Qarase.
It's time to dispense with this simplistic premise because a compelling argument can be made that, in fact, the reverse is true; that Bainimarama and
The
Bainimarama and
So that is what they intend to do before the country goes to the polls again in 2014, and no amount of hectoring or sanctions is likely to deter them.
In the meantime, the regime needs to embark on that electoral reform, behave less erratically, cease harassing the media, expelling publishers, hounding its opponents and put its case far more cogently than it has.
Why is
For all the voluble calls by Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith for "a return to democracy in
Certainly not the brand of democracy taken for granted in Australia, New Zealand, the US and in the European Union, those now casting themselves as righteous crusaders against Bainimarama's supposedly despotic rule.
There's no one-man, one-vote in
This was a parting gesture of the British at independence in 1970 to their loyal Fijian subjects, along with guaranteed indigenous ownership of more than 80 per cent of
No non-indigenous
Mahendra Chaudhry, made it to the prime minister's office before he was removed at gunpoint in 2000.
Nor is the president elected. He is chosen by an unelected hereditary body called the Great Council of Chiefs, the apex of a social order that insists indigenous rights are paramount.
Would Australians and New Zealanders accept this? Not on your nelly.
So why the chorus of regional disapproval when an indigenous Fijian, Bainimarama, finally decides enough is enough?
Forty per cent of the population not only lives daily with this disparity of rights but, in the main, accepts it.
Why? Partly in the spirit of acknowledging the importance to indigenous Fijians of their vanua (land and traditional ties) but mainly as the price of ensuring racial harmony. It's this largely unspoken consensus that's underpinned whatever success
Yet it also depends on indigenous Fijians displaying their own generosity of spirit or, more pertinently, not being too greedy in sequestering all the spoils for themselves.
What Qarase, Bainimarama's chief political opponent, did before he was overthrown in the 2006 coup was to cross an important line.
By insisting that indigenous Fijians gain coastal rights as well as land rights, and be paid cash by other citizens to swim in, fish in and even cross their seas, he demanded more from the other races than many regarded as equitable and fair.
By doing so, he recklessly jeopardised the delicate consensus on which
Just as bad, in Bainimarama's eyes, Qarase's coastal bill raised the spectre of envy and conflict between Fijians themselves, for those living in remote areas would never be able to glean the riches available, for instance, to those holding the tourist industry to ransom.
For all their comparative advantages, many ordinary indigenous Fijians still maintain a barely disguised sense of grievance against other races, perpetuating the myth of a threat to their way of life.
This was the big lie of
Ordinary Fijians should be asking their own leaders why they're still disadvantaged, because if they are being fleeced, it must be by their own elite who have been in control since independence. The political instability of recent years is all part of a crude tug of war between competing Fijian chiefs, career politicians and (mostly) wannabe business types for the spoils that come with government: patronage, leverage, the dispensing of contracts and the accumulation of wealth.
The apotheosis of this was the 2000 coup led by the strutting George Speight, who was merely a puppet for a gaggle of opportunistic chiefs and commoners who used the Indians as scapegoats in a sordid lunge for power.
In an obscene echo of their atavistic past, the Speight clique trashed the supposed citadel of local democracy, the parliament, took hostage then prime minister Chaudhry, and proceeded to engage in an eight-week orgy of drunkenness and sex.
Enter the hero of that hour, but the man Rudd and much of the international community now casts as a villain nine years on.
Bainimarama, as military chief, tricked Speight into surrendering, and turned him over to the courts to be dealt with for treason. He also had to contend with a bloody mutiny in his own ranks in which he barely escaped with his life. Yet no one seems to ask a simple question. If he really wanted to be
Instead, history tells us, he handed over power to Qarase, a one-time merchant banker whom he trusted to stabilise the country, lay to rest the racial bogey once and for all and return
What did Qarase do? Not just extend indigenous supremacy but bring some of the key players in the 2000 coup, who Bainimarama wanted punished, into the heart of government. Qarase got plenty of warnings to back off but didn't. It was only a matter of time before Bainimarama's fiery temper snapped.
Qarase never believed one of his own would oppose him, but it was a grave miscalculation based on his own ignorance of Bainimarama's background and attitudes.
Most of the Fijian elite come from exclusively Fijian schools but Bainimarama grew up with other races at
He's said to be gripped with a sense of destiny yet has some glaring blind spots, such as a tendency to shoot his mouth off when the occasion calls for at least a modicum of diplo-speak.
More serious for even Bainimarama's staunchest supporters are some appalling lapses of judgment, including the latest, muzzling the local media and expelling foreign journalists such as the ABC's Sean Dorney.
The most glaring was when he reinstated his brother-in-law, Francis Kean, as head of the navy after Kean spent nearly two months in jail for killing an uncle of the groom at the wedding of Bainimarama's daughter.
"What's wrong with that?” Bainimarama has testily asked interlocutors. Plenty.
Yet for many Fijian citizens, the military chief remains their best hope for a meaningful stake in the future, and if he can deliver on his promise of equal rights, all will be forgiven.
It's certainly a striking paradox that having forged vibrant, multicultural nations from their own monocultural origins,
Graham Davis is a Fiji-born journalist who reported successive coups for the Nine Network's Sunday program and is now a principal of Grubstreet Media.
Although only in its infancy, PNG surfing is sitting in a perfect position, and a position many countries will be envious of, to take advantage of and move into the lucrative and booming international surfing industry.
The Surfing Association of PNG Inc (SAPNG) in its carefully orchestrated parallel growth of this new sporting industry over the last 22 years, organised Jamo Borthwick from Australia's Gold Coast, to travel to the major PNG surfing locations to begin to develop and enhance the local surfers and their surfing skills.
This first trip, lasting almost three weeks, enabled Mr Borthwick to experience and understand the set up and position of each location and their individual needs.
This will allow a more-detailed and comprehensive long term plan to be designed and put into place including numerous more trips to continue to build, grow and develop the industry in an effective and efficient way.
The areas visited were Kavieng, Vanimo, Tupira outside Madang and Port Moresby.
The aim of the PNG surf coaching programme is multi-pronged.
Firstly it is to train and coach local surfers to improve their individual and the overall technical proficiency, skills and ability of the surfers.
Much time was also dedicated to the training and development of the older surfers in the clubs in the art of surf coaching to develop local coaches who will be able to continue this surfer improvement and progress in between Mr Borthwick's visits.
The other vital component of these surf clinics is the introduction of surf rescue, aquatic safety and basic emergency care techniques and training for surfers and locals.
This will aid in the safety and knowledge of the surfers for times when someone may experience difficulties or require help or rescuing in the surf or ocean.
It is the beginning of developing fully-qualified, internationally-recognised PNG surf life guards.
The programme will help develop and build local surfing and safety but also help PNG to become a renowned destination for international surfing tourism and for PNG to capitalise and benefit from the hugely lucrative market of travelling surfers.
The foresight and forward thinking of SAPNG President Mr Andrew Abel, ML, and fellow SAPNG board member and long-time resident, Mr Jason Pini, speaks volumes for the commitment of the national sporting organisation to develop and grow the industry being mindful of the mistakes and trappings other nations have suffered in the development of their country's surfing industry development.
This will ensure PNG does not suffer these same mistakes and set backs and that industry development and growth is achieved in a manner that benefits all involved – the travelling surfers, the local surfers and land owners and the PNG tourism industry and economy.
In Australia, Mr Borthwick owns and manages a licensed Surfing Australia Surf School on the Gold Coast teaching and coaching surfers of all ages and abilities; trains and educates Australian surf life savers, surf life guards and the general community in surf life saving techniques being licensed by the Australian Lifesaving Academy to provide Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) training; is and has been a head coach of Australian surf clubs for a number of years and is one of the most-qualified and experienced surf coaches and instructors in surfing and surf life saving.
Surfing Australia and SLSA are renowned as the world leading bodies and organisations in their respective fields, so the PNG surfers and surfing locations have been, and with Mr Borthwick's future trips and long-term programme in place, will continue to be exposed to and trained under the international best practices in surf and surf life saving training, coaching, methods and techniques.
Having visited and worked with eight of PNG's surf clubs that are, or are soon to be, affiliated SAPNG surf clubs, Mr Borthwick sees huge potential for PNG surfing.
He visited Kavieng with Kavieng Surf Club, Vanimo with Vanimo, Sunset, Waromo and Yako Surf Clubs, Tupira Surf Club north of Madang and Port Moresby's two surf clubs – Sero and Taurama.
The Board Sailing Association of PNG also attended the Moresby clinics to learn surf and aquatic rescue and emergency care techniques as well as learn about effective sports coaching techniques for use in their association to help build and grow their sport here in PNG.
"This first trip has given me an excellent opportunity to see each of the regions and their individual attributes, requirements and needs and to now effectively plan out, together with SAPNG, our future pathway to continue surfing's growth and development," Mr Brothwick said.
"I am extremely excited to not only be involved and be a part of the growth and development of surfing here in PNG and feel very privileged for the opportunity but I see so much untapped potential for PNG in terms of surfing talent and tourism options for PNG to take advantage of and benefit from.
"I watched and worked with surfers of all ages and abilities, some with an amazing natural talent and sensational skills and who are already surfing exceptionally well.
"I have no doubt that with the implementation of our programmes, the development of local surfing and putting into place these professional coaching and training programmes that we will see PNG surfers successfully competing on the world scene in the future.
"As well, watching and working with prospective coaches with their enthusiasm, their thirst and hunger for coaching knowledge, direction and skills leaves me in no doubt that this success for PNG surfing will happen sooner rather than later."
Asked whether he sees an opportunity for surfing tourism here, Mr Borthwick was adamant that there is huge potential.
"PNG offers numerous high class breaks and surf locations.
"Combine this with the warmth, friendliness and beautiful hospitality of local people and the local villages, PNG can massively benefit economically and see a great influx of tourism expenditure from travelling surfers.
"As well, the desire of locals to want to learn and become proficient in surf rescue, aquatic safety and life saving techniques means that the safety of local surfers will be hugely increased.
"It will also add to the safety and appeal for PNG as a surf destination for travelling surfers as they can be comforted by the fact that locals have been trained in rescue and emergency care techniques in case they get into difficulties in the surf during their travels."
Mr Borthwick strongly urges that the tourism development must continue to be undertaken with extremely careful planning and to maintain its rigour and conscientious planning of tourism growth to ensure that it remains a winning combination and destination for all involved and not to become another overcrowded "Bali" destination.
He has great confidence that president Mr Andy Abel and his SAPNG board will ensure that this is the case and PNG can preserve its charm and identity while at the same time profiting from surf tourism to ensure an equitable and sustainable surfing industry that is consistent with SAPNG constitution and strategic master plan in their efforts in contributing to the social and economic development and nation building of Papua New Guinea.
Mr Borthwick finishes by saying: "I cannot wait to continue my involvement with SAPNG and the growth and development of surfing here on so many levels to help build and grow this opportunity that is just waiting to be utilised for the PNG people to benefit from.
"In all, this new programme and the introduction of this type of surf training, coach mentoring, coaching skills education and rescue techniques instruction marks a new and exciting era in the growth of PNG surfing.
"Not only can we expect to see many benefits for the local surfers but also for PNG as a whole through economic tourism benefits."
This is the first step in a long-term plan between SAPNG and Mr Borthwick.
Mr Abel, Mr Pini and Mr Borthwick in consultation with the SAPNG board and its affiliated surf clubs around Papua New Guinea are to formulate this long term plan to ensure regular, consistent trips will build and develop this untapped PNG resource bursting to be used and positively exploited for the benefit of all the PNG people.
For more information on the surfing in Papua New Guinea, please log onto www.surfingpapuanewguinea.org.pg
APIA (16 April 2009) - As the representative of National Media Associations to the Board of the Pacific Island News Association (PINA), I wish to call upon my colleagues, the Presidents, the Vice Presidents, the members of Pacific media associations as well as international media associations to make a stance against the mistreatment of Journalists in Fiji.
The actions of the interim Fiji Government has infringed upon their work as informants of the public, and as we know threats against local and international Journalists in Fiji is a direct threat against people's right to know, and in turn free media in the Pacific region. This is not just about freedom of the media in Fiji, it is about freedom of the media in all of the Pacific.
Having been in Fiji in the past three days, I witnessed firsthand the obstacles faced by the media there. I am one of the fortunate few Journalists who made it through without question. Despite the restrictions, and the threats on Journalists in Fiji it is with great pride to note a strong response by the newsprint industry to injunctions imposed by the Fiji interim Government. I personally congratulate Fiji Times for running blank pages with notice of injunction; this is a brave move, and just one of the ways to respond to this kind of treatment.
I wish to remind Commodore Frank Bainimarama of his own words to me a year ago, that Journalists do have a role to play in any Government. So let them do it.
I also just received unconfirmed reports that Pita Ligaiula, PacNews Journalist has been taken in by Fiji Police. I call on my fellow media advocates in the region to join me in demanding the release of fellow Journalist Ligaiula without harm.
To end, I reiterate my call on national media associations to make their stances known on this issue, show Fiji media our support, this is when they need us most. Let us not be deterred by ignorance, may freedom of speech continue to prevail in Fiji despite impediments.
Cherelle Jackson
Representative of Pacific National Media Associations
Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)
Based in Samoa
P.O Box, Apia, Samoa
Ph: (685) 777 3776
www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10566879
By JAMES IHAKA
Frank Bainimarama's regime has silenced the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio transmitters in
Commodore Bainimarama yesterday told Radio New Zealand that press freedom had been "causing trouble" in
But several blogs and independent commentators are deriding "Frank and Co" and calling him an illegal leader.
The rawfijinews.wordpress.com blog, which refers to the Bainimarama regime as "Frank and Co", reported that civil servants were banned from using the internet at work and discussing anti-regime subjects. "Such directive will only prompt the civil servants to check out the blogs in the comfort of their own homes ... to see what exactly it is that the illegal goons don't want them to see," its author said.
Another thread revealed internet cafe owners had been told to close while government "internet investigators" probed their businesses.
"The internet cafe owners replied that they were going to call the police to report them for harassment. The officers decided to just split and forget about it," it said.
The intelligentsiya.blogspot.com blog said
"The self-appointed illegal leader defies the calls for elections and lies about the so-called 64 percent support of his ideals and the normalcy of our current situation," it said.
"Lo and behold we even detect some knee-knocking as Bainimarama now begins to fear another coup within a coup of his three coups."
The loyalfijian.blogspot.com blog said Sada Reddy's first move as Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji to devalue the dollar by 20 percent ranked alongside the 1987 coup and the several abrogations of the constitution "as one of the most severe actions taken by any Fijian administration".
Meanwhile, coupfourpointfive.blogspot.com
Thursday 16th April, 2009
Eda Ranu wishes to advise our valued customers that due to installation of important facilities on our major 900mm trunkmain, there MAY be disruptions to your water supply from 10am to 6pm on Thursday 16th April 2009.
Areas to be prepared for possible service disruptions are: Town, Paga, Ela Makana, Konedobu, Kanudi, Roku, Kouderika, Porebada, Gerehu, Rainbow, Ensisi Valley, North Waigani, South Waigani, Tokarara, Hohola, 6 Mile, Gordons, Erima, Gordon Industrial Area, Boroko and Korobosea.
Consumers are asked to store water and for health reasons please boil all water for consumption during the 12 hours after water is restored.
We apologise for the inconvenience caused and ask for your cooperation and support during this time.
For further information contact our Hotline on 312 2100.
Self-motivated, organised, pro-active person needed to assist with Port Moresby-based Australian-PNG research project on drama for HIV & AIDS prevention. Must speak English and Pidgin, and have excellent interpersonal and office skills. Full-time one year. Salary PNK 22,000. For more information email Dr Andrea Baldwin andreabaldwin@optusnet.com.au or phone Daniel Waswas (685 2322). Applications close 20/03/09.
Dr Andrea Baldwin
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation and
Creative Industries Faculty
Email: andreabaldwin@optusnet.com.au
Ph: +61 7 3857 5150
Mob. +61 412 439 909
