PM: Why should I listen to Kapris?

PRISON escapee and robber William Kapris would be dead if not for the good laws of PNG, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said yesterday, The National reports.

He was angry the media was giving a lot of prominence to what Kapris was claiming.

He said the criminal had accused three of his MPs without providing proof.

“Kapris goes to jail and he says what he likes and accuses three of my members of receiving money; he has not proven that they were party to this.”

“He is a murderer, a looter, everything, very dangerous, in other countries he would have been shot long time ago, particularly in developing countries, brown skin countries, they would have shot him. You are lucky, we made good laws, that’s why he is protected by law to go and say what he wants to say,” he said.

He brushed aside calls for him to act on the allegations Kapris raised against suspended treasurer Patrick Pruaitch, Correctional Services Minister Tony Aimo, and Deputy Speaker Francis Marus.

“Without any evidence, commentaries are being made by the media (in print and on radio) for government to act on the words of a convicted criminal.

“You all know very well that it is not my job to conduct investigations. If the police have video taped this interview and made it public, it is for the police commissioner to explain whether his men were under instruction to do so and for what purpose.

“To go straight to head of government to demand answers shows the people’s ignorance in the processes of government.”

 

Chopper saved from arson

A US$20 MILLION (K56.4 million) twin-rotor Columbia helicopter was nearly razed by a frustrated Hides gas field landowner on Monday,The National reports.

The arsonist managed to cut the security wire fence to gain entry into Oil Search Ltd (OSL) Nogoli camp at about 7.30pm.

He then climbed into the helicopter through the rear opening and emptied a kerosene container, including in the cockpit.

He then lit a match stick to start a fire.

The light and smoke alerted security guards who rushed into the helicopter to put out the flames.

Tari liquefied natural gas project police security operations commander Jim Namora said Wabag-based police mobile squad (MS) 12 commander chief Sgt Joseph Ka’a responded swiftly when alerted by the camp’s security.

Namora said Ka’a, who was then leading a section of the MS12 on motor patrol near the camp, helped put out the fire.

They then launched a dawn raid on a house near the camp yesterday and picked up the suspected arsonist.

“He was arrested and charged with one count of being unlawfully in the camp premises and another for committing arson.”

Namora said more charges would be considered according to the Civil Aviation Act.

The suspect told police during interrogation that he was “unhappy” with OSL and how OSL conducted its operations in Hides, and, therefore, decided to burn the aircraft to show his frustration.

He was flown to Moro to be locked up in police custody pending a court appearance.

An expatriate manager at Hides commended police for their quick action in saving the twin-engine Chinook Colombia helicopter.

The source said OSL would have lost more than K100 million if the aircraft was razed.

The aircraft, owned by Pacific Helicopters Ltd, is contracted by OSL to fly in equipment and machinery for its operations at Hides, Lake Kutubu, Moran and the nearby oil and gas fields for the coming LNG.

The helicopter did not sustain any major damage.

The hard job of trying to be fair to AusAID

From PAUL OATES

WHEN SOMEONE known only as 'Peter' suggested on PNG Attitude that some people might be a trifle unfair when reflecting on AusAID's manifest flaws, I thought: "Fair enough, let's look at what is being offered to Papua New Guinea on Australia's behalf."
So, seeking evidence to contradict my opinions, I investigated a website 'Peter' identified as presenting more positive stories, http://www.educo.net/our_projects/law_and_justice/justice_advisory_group.htm
Now I know it's easy to cherrypick details that align with preconceived notions but, in this case, not only was it easy to select information to support my argument, there appeared to be little available to contradict it.
Quote: Educo has considerable experience in promoting and fostering political processes, in particular strengthening institutions of political accountability and improving government responsiveness. Our firm has successfully implemented large projects such as the five-year $5.7 million Ombudsman Commission Institutional Strengthening Project in PNG.
So if $5.7 million has been spent strengthening the PNG Ombudsman, exactly how has that helped the PNG Ombudsman Commission over the last five years? This is the same Ombudsman Commission that has reportedly been poorly resourced and cash strapped to the extent that is had difficulty in performing its role in PNG.
Then the following information is provided under 'Educo achievements' in the $11 million Justice Advisory Group Project to provide "independent advice on the law and justice sector" and "promote sector coordination":
Quote: Educo has produced a performance monitoring framework for the law and justice sector, as well as studies and reviews covering fraud and corruption, village courts, community-based corrections, restorative justice, police, sector planning and coordination, facilities and infrastructure management and a sustainability strategy for sector performance monitoring.
In May 2006, AusAID assessed Educo's management performance on the project at "an average of 100% against all indicators". That's pretty good - 100% - but exactly what were the indicators and which ones over achieved and which ones didn't work at all. In other words, what did $11m actually achieve for PNG in the long term. Alas, no details.
So 'Peter', unfortunately I am still none the wiser as to which of my criticisms were misconceived.
I am, however, more convinced than ever that my suggestions should be given practical consideration by those in AusAID who are organising this project.
I am also further disenchanted with the apparent ease with which highly paid AusAID consultants are able to justify their claims against Australian taxpayers with extensive 'goobledegook or, in layman's terms, sheer and simple 'bulldust'.
Here are a few more interesting facts and figures from the informative Bertelsmann website http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/118.0.html?&L=1:
PNG aid per person. $50.20 [I wonder what the average PNGian would say if they knew this?]
Basic Administration. The country suffers from an inefficient, corrupt bureaucracy, serious problems with maintaining law and order, weak discipline within the army and police forces, and poor governance. Most analysts consider PNG a weak state in which the state apparatus cannot implement even the most basic policies. The government's most basic operational machinery is either dilapidated or non-existent in many rural areas and the highlands, where tribal conflicts continue. [What is the use of trying to fix governance issues when the 'state apparatus cannot implement even the most basic policies'?]
Rule of Law. The ombudsman office suffers from a lack of capable staff and resources. [So what happened to the $5.7 million for strengthening the Ombudsman spent by Educo and paid for by AusAID?]
Management Performance. Under the Strongim Gavman Program 40 Australian officials will be placed in the PNG bureaucracy to assist with reforms in the areas of economic and public sector governance, border management, transport safety and security, and law and justice. The political leadership will respond with proposed changes to mistakes made and failed policies, but more often than not, policies remain stuck in the same routines. Senior politicians who interfere with the implementation of public policies often block new policies that threaten their personal interests. [So what objectives are to be achieved by the two lawyers recruited by AusAID? What has been achieved after $11 million spent on the Educo Justice Advisory Group?]
Anti-corruption policy. In theory, the government is committed to battling corruption and nurturing good governance. In reality, however, corruption is endemic. It is a problem at all - including the highest - levels of politics, bureaucracy and society. It is almost impossible to carry out an effective anti-corruption policy in practice. The Ombudsman Commission conducts investigations of political leaders suspected of corruption, but once a politician resigns, the Commission can no longer legally investigate the case. [Again, what happened to the $5.7 million?]

Papuan taipan anti-venom on trial

The deadly Papuan taipan, one of the most-venomous snakes in the world.-Picture courtesy of DAVID WILLIAMS

By MALUM NALU

The world’s leading clinical toxinologist has given the thumbs up to Port Moresby General Hospital and rural health centres for the care given to snake bite victims, particularly the deadly Papuan taipan, one of the most-venomous snakes in the world and the leading cause of death in Papua New Guinea.

Prof David A. Warrell, the world’s leading clinical toxinologist, principally famous for his work on prospective studies of snakebite in tropical developing countries, said this after a lecture at the University of PNG’s medical school in Port Moresby on Monday evening.

Prof Warrell, who is professor of tropical medicine at the University of Oxford in England, has been in the country planning a clinical trial of the new Papuan taipan anti-venom developed by Port Moresby-based clinical toxinologist and herpetologist Dr David ‘Snakeman’ Williams of the Australian Venom Research Unit.

However, there is no indication yet as to when the anti-venom would become available, as it would first have to be trialed and approved.

Prof Warrell is no stranger to PNG, having worked here between 1986 and 2001 on a collaborative project between the University of Oxford and UPNG’s department of health.

“I haven’t come back (to PNG) for 10 years so this is very exciting for me,” he told me after the lecture.

“I’m very impressed by the care given to snakebite victims here at the hospital and in the health centres.

“For example, I visited Kwikila on Sunday, which is a health centre run by health extension officers and nurses.

“The key to saving lives in snake bite is good, early treatment, and that starts at the rural health centres.

“I’m back here to see the progress with the snake bite programme because it’s reached an exciting stage with the development of a new anti-venom, an alternative to Australian anti-venom, manufactured in Costa Rica.

“This was developed over the last two years by David Williams and his team here at the (UPNG) department of health.

“First it’s got to be subjected to clinical trials to confirm the very-promising potency and safety.

“These trials will be carried out here at Port Moresby General Hospital.

“I hope to be involved in the new trials of anti-venom here and I wish them the best of fortune in carrying out the trials.

“I agree with the dean here, Prof Isi Kevau, that this research could be very stimulating to medical students and young doctors here to remind them of the importance of doing research.”

Dr Williams announced last September before leaving for Switzerland that the new anti-venom would cost one-eighth of the current very-expensive price.

The cost of a vial is currently K4, 500; however, the new anti-venom will cost K600-K650 per vial.

The Papuan taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) is responsible for more than 90% of all cases of envenoming in south-eastern PNG, and the cost of treatment with available anti-venoms manufactured in Australia currently exceeds K4, 500 per vial.

Analysis of the incidence of bites by taipans have resulted in needs estimate of at least 700-1, 000 vials of appropriate anti-venom each year, yet, much less than this is purchased by the National Department of Health because it cannot afford this many vials at the current prices.

Matching seeds to needs in times of climate change

Dr Ehsan Dulloo (left) of Bioversity International and NARI director general Dr Raghunath Ghodake at NARI Headquarters in Lae on Monday

By SENIORL ANZU of NARI

Local varieties of taro and sweet potato (kaukau) that are well-adapted to the predicted future climates will be matched to target areas in PNG, says a visiting specialist in agricultural biodiversity and conservation.
Dr Ehsan Dulloo, a senior scientist from Bioversity International in Italy, said climate change was imposing an unprecedented threat to livelihoods and food security with great impacts over time and across locations and PNG needed to match seeds to the needs of farmers for climate change adaptation.
He said this in Lae early on Monday during an inception workshop and launch of a new project on agricultural biodiversity in PNG.
The project, titled ‘Matching Seeds to Needs: using locally available varieties for adapting to climate change and improving the livelihoods of the poor farmers in PNG, ’will be undertaken in the country in partnership with NARI over the next three years.
It is funded by Bioversity International-UK to the value of US$300,000.
The other major partners are the Fresh Produce Development Agency, PNG Women in Agriculture Development Foundation (PNGWiADF), and the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees.
NARI director general Dr Raghunath Ghodake thanked Bioversity International and welcomed the new development.
He said the impacts of climate change on agriculture were real and this was true with genetic resources for food and agriculture and the project was important for the country.
Under the project, the regions in PNG under greatest threat from climate change will be identified, and results from global climate models will be used to predict the future climates in these regions.
Based on these climate models, varieties of PNG’s two most important staple crops (kaukau and taro) that are well-adapted to the predicted future climates will be matched to these target areas. Seeds of these adapted varieties will be made available to farmers through community-based seed multiplication and delivery systems.
With seeds adapted to their needs, resource-poor communities will be able to sustain agricultural production despite changes in climate conditions and avoid falling deeper into poverty.
Kaukau and taro were chosen because they are among PNG’s most important staple crops: kaukau alone accounts for 66% of total staple crop production in the country.
NARI will provide planting materials, associated information and personnel in the field.
The institute will also be responsible for identifying the most-useful varieties which can ensure that farmers can sustain and even increase production in the future despite changing climatic conditions.
The Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees will maintain elite lines selected through this project from national collections and make available planting material and information to breeders, researchers and farmers in PNG and other countries.
Technical contributions, including training, will be provided through complementary funding from the Global Crop Diversity Trust, a multinational organisation.
The PNGWiADF will play a key role in ensuring the participation of women farmers in germplasm selection and dissemination, assisted by private industries in PNG such as FPDA and Allele Fresh Produce.
The overall impact of the project will be that local communities in PNG and their food production systems will successfully adapt to changes in climate, maintaining or even improving their food security and improving their livelihoods to reduce poverty.
The Lae workshop was held at NARI headquarters and was attended by representatives of project partners, University of Technology, Lae district and farmers from Morobe, Eastern Highlands and Central provinces.
Its goal was to launch the project, inform shareholders of its aim, develop and agree on the detailed work plan of the project, and assign roles and responsibilities of the participants.

Papua New Guinea defence force at the crossroads

By REGINALD RENAGI

As we progress further into this millennium, the role of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in developing and maintaining PNG’s defence capability will no doubt go through a significant change. 

I begin with a simple thesis: unless our present defence force structure is altered in some fundamental way, PNG’s military will become increasingly inadequate for the burdens placed on it by our country’s foreign and defence policies. 

It is almost 35 years since PNG was given her own military, and during this time, the government saw no real need to review its capabilities. 

Although successive governments did recognise the need for maintaining an efficient military, much lip-service has been paid to the important issue of defence and national security over the years. 

As a result, the defence force has seen little change since Independence in 1975.

For more than three decades, changes in PNG’s strategic environment and the need for greater self-reliance in defence have been understood for many years. 

However, for a variety of reasons, the defence organisation has not yet translated these fundamental changes into a coherent national security strategy, and new defence force structures have not occurred.

In view of the difficulties involved in predicting either likely threats to the country, or a range of possible contingencies which PNG could face in the future; thus, most of our strategic assessments during the post independence period has so far been of a ‘no threat’ environment. 

For valid reasons it would be highly irresponsible to plan forward on this basis – as PNG can not always plan for a ‘no threat’ future.

This no-threat ‘syndrome’ has clouded successive government’s thinking and has made it complacent for well over three decades. 

This complacency has directly contributed to a great extent the present grave security situation PNG finds itself today. 

As an independent sovereign nation, we really have no credible excuse for not recognising the basic elements of PNG’s national security situation with which we have to deal with now.  

Prime Minister Somare has been in office for a long time. 

In that time, his two-term government has consistently failed even to this day to not critically reappraise what his predecessor, Sir Mekere did in 2001. 

Now is the time to put the Ministry of Defence on notice now before the 2012 elections by coming to the rescue of the PNGDF.

Today, Defence is at a ‘crossroads’ in PNG.

It is time for the government to fix the PNGDF and bring it back to its former glory. 

The country’s national security situation now demands for the Ministry and Defence department to face up to some real issues, make long-term decisions and get on with those decisions.

Defending PNG in future calls for a complete re-appraisal of our outlook on the capabilities of the PNGDF now; not in another three decades time.  

Deadly floods

Caption: That’s how high the water reached ... Villagers pointing to debris trapped by this tree to show the height of the flood waters at its peak.

 

2 killed, 6 missing as river burst its banks

 

TWO children drowned and six people are still missing as heavy rain wreaked havoc on coastal villages in Central province, west of Port Moresby, at the weekend, The National reports.

Six houses were swept away by the flooding Veimauri River, which also destroyed food gardens, provincial disaster officials reported yesterday.

The bodies of the two children, a seven-year-old girl and her two-year-old brother, were recovered among flood debris, along the Veimauri River early yesterday morning and taken to the Port Moresby General Hospital morgue for post-mortem results.

The mother had also been swept away by flood waters but was found alive by villagers.

Disaster officials said the Veimauri burst its banks on Saturday, washing away the homes and food gardens at Avara village, near the Galley Ridge rubber estate at Doa, not far from the Hiritano Highway.

They said the search was continuing for the missing six.

Yesterday afternoon, Central Governor Alphonse Moroi, accompanied by Central police commander Chief Supt John Maru, visited the area and assured the people that shelter, clothing and food would be dispatched from Port Moresby today.

Maru said that Central police would lead the search for the six still missing, further down the river.

The Galley Ridge rubber estate at Doa and Avara village border on the Veimauri River.

Avara village is made up of people originally from Woitape in Goilala and Koiari area who are landowners there.

It has a population of more than 200 people with homes scattered along the river, up to the Veimauri Bridge at the Hiritano Highway crossing.

Last night, Maru confirmed that there were other villages along the Doa area which were affected by flood waters, although not as seriously as Avara.

Police would check them out today to see whether they suffered casualties, he said.

 

 

Kroton Ltd in control

THE government has created a new company to take full control of the PNG LNG project, and any future petroleum projects in the country, The National reports.

The company is known as Kroton No. 2 Ltd, previously a subsidiary of the Independent Public Business Corporation, controlling the state’s interest in the project.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare announced that Kroton No. 2 would now have its own management and board. It is understood Dairi Vele from the Gas Office would be chief executive officer of Kroton, but this could not be confirmed.

Kroton would manage the state’s 19.6% equity in the LNG project.

The prime minister said Kroton No.2 Ltd would be a fully-functional petroleum company with the appropriate resources to adequately represent the State’s interest in the LNG project.

Sir Michael said since Kroton No.2 Ltd was wholly-owned by the state through the General Business Trust, it is imperative that Kroton played a leadership role in the commercial development of the hydrocarbon industry in the country.

“To facilitate this, cabinet has endorsed the functional separation of Kroton No. 2 Ltd from IPBC to allow the former to develop into a national hydrocarbon development corporation while IPBC focuses on value-adding and management of the General Business Trust.

“IPBC will remain as a shareholder in Kroton No. 2 Ltd until the maturity of the existing funding arrangements with the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi. Thereafter, the shareholding will be reviewed.”

The government borrowed money from IPIC to invest in the project, swapping with the Middle East company cash for the state’s equity in Oil Search Ltd.

Sir Michael said Kroton No.2 would represent the interest of the state in all future meetings relating to the LNG project.

The Department of Public Enterprises and its minister and IPBC have been directed to fast track the necessary logistical requirements to enable the office to be fully functional and report back to NEC.

“In addition, the Public Enterprises secretary has been directed to lead the formulation of a national hydrocarbon policy primarily aimed at maximising the state’s participation and optimising value to the state, in close consultation with key departments and agencies,” Sir Michael said.

“The government has acknowledged the achievements of the state in terms of the PNG LNG project reaching its final investment decision on Dec 8, 2009, and the financial close on March 12, 2010.”

PM failed to act on trio: Marat

RABAUL MP Dr Allan Marat has questioned Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare for failing to remove the three MPs implicated by suspected bank robber William Kapris, The National reports.

He said Kapris had revealed the names of two ministers and the deputy parliamentary speaker in the Supreme Court.

One of the two ministers named was suspended treasury and finance minister Patrick Pruaitch.

Marat said Correctional Services Minister Tony Aimo and Deputy Speaker Francis Marus were still holding on to their offices despite the revelations of their alleged involvement with criminals.

“Can’t the prime minister act swiftly to remove them to salvage whatever decency there is left of the government?” he told a large crowd in the Kokopo Secondary School hall for the 2010 Kokopo Walk against Corruption forum on Sunday.

“If the prime minister cannot, then he should come out in public and tell the nation why he is holding on to them.

“I stood up for what is right that went against the government’s interests and Sir Michael did not hesitate to sack me in the most humiliating manner in front of all the other ministers and backbenchers,” he said.

Marat said Sir Michael’s favourite expression was that “ministers alleged to have committed misconduct in office were presumed innocent until proven guilty”.

“That expression is not consistently applied.

“So what is the real reason for holding them back as there are many capable backbenchers who can do the job?

“Some of us are used by the National Alliance (NA) party merely as numbers to form the government. After that, some of us are nothing but figures to the party,” Marat said.

“We were deliberately avoided and the views, opinions and advice of other people were taken and acted upon, much to our surprise and disapproval.”

Marat said there were no real respect for certain ministers and what the ruling NA party wanted must be done at all costs.

“For lamenting the failures of the past and present governments in not preparing and building up our human capacity in readiness for the extractive industry and in particular the LNG project, I was removed,” he said.

Marat had expressed doubts about the reality of the foreign consultant’s reports on the safety impact of tailings to the environment and citizens on the proposed Nautilus Mining in the Bismarck Archipelago, proposed smelting facility and dumping of tailings at the old Rabaul airport area and Ramu Nico’s deep sea tailings in the Basamuk Bay in Madang.

“My stand against the proposed Maladina amendments to the leadership code was the last straw,” Marat said.

 

Brocade finally out of water

Roz Savage (centre) with Brocade in Madang as she is taken out of water. Picture courtesy of SIR PETER BARTER

By MALUM NALU

Brocade, the boat of British ocean rower and environmental campaigner Roz Savage, is now out of water after an epic 47-day rowing voyage from Tarawa in Kiribati.

Savage made landfall last at 8am Friday on Brocade, completing her three-stage trip and becoming the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean.

She set off in her 23-foot boat from Tarawa in mid-April on the final leg of her Pacific voyage.

In total, she spent about 250 days alone at sea, rowing more than 8,000 miles and taking an estimated 2.5 million oar strokes along the way.

Savage traveled from San Francisco to Hawaii in 2008, then on to Tarawa last year, before finally arriving in Madang.

Savage said that after taking a well-deserved break in Madang, she and Brocade would be moving down to Perth, Western Australia, for the Indian Ocean stretch of her next epic voyage from Perth to Mauritius in Africa.

University of Goroka to proceed with graduation

By KATE GUNN of University of Goroka

 

Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Goroka, Dr Sam Najike, issued a statement today advising UOG staff, students and the public that the 13^th graduation ceremony planned to be held at the university on June 11, 2010, will still proceed.

 “The graduation will still go ahead as planned, as we (the university) are focused on addressing the graduands”, Dr Najike stated.

 The ceremony will take place this Friday at the University of Goroka, where approximately 280 people from all around the country are expected to graduate.

 

 

Court allows review bid by Somare to proceed

A JUDICIAL review mounted by Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare will proceed, The National reports.

The National Court last Friday dismissed an application by the Ombudsman Commission (OC) to dismiss it for want of prosecution.

However, the watchdog itself came under criticism for taking 14 months to file the motion.

Justice Nicholas Kirriwom, while dismissing the application, said: “I am not going to dismiss (Somare’s judicial review application).

“Based on evidence before the court, it is plain that the matter has reached the stage of trial and I shall direct this matter to go back to the appeals and judicial review track for directions in accordance with the rules,” Kirriwom said.

The OC application last March 2 argued that Somare’s review proceedings had taken too long to be heard. Therefore, it should be dismissed for want of prosecution.

However, Kirriwom ruled: “The power of the court to dismiss an action for want of prosecution should be exercised only when the plaintiff’s default had been intentional and contumelious or where there had been inordinate and inexcusable delay on his or his lawyer’s part, giving rise to a substantial risk that a fair trial would not be possible or to service prejudice to the defendant.”

But, in this case, he pointed out that Somare’s lawyer Kerenga Kua’s affidavit before the court showed that Somare had made a number of attempts to have the proceedings heard and competed.

In light of the referral being made by the OC followed by Somare’s judicial review proceedings on Nov 6, 2006, and the dismissal proceedings last March 2, “there is a period of 14 months unexplained since the motion was filed to the time the motion was moved”.

Kirriwom said: “The issue here is whether there has been an inordinate and inexcusable delay in the prosecution

of the plaintiff’s action.

“Kua (for Somare), contended that there has been no delay; everything necessary to bring the matter to trial was done in compliance with the rules of court which, in themselves, have the effect of prolonging speedy disposition of cases.

“Kua also argued that the OC agreed to most of the adjournments sought as being necessary and, through its counsel, gave the impression that it had no problem with the progress being made on the case.”

However, the OC maintained that “the slow progress of the case was a calculated and deliberate choice (by Somare) to frustrate the prosecution of the judicial review application”.

Environmental law amendments: a wake up call for Papua New Guinea

From JAMES WANJIK
Former Secretary for Mining

TODAY we know who leaders work for. Leaders work for worthless money. Money of miners made from people's land and resources. Very truth I warned PNG leaders and people since 2006.

Money is the reason for the creation of Mineral Resources Authority (MRA). If not for illegal tax in illegal production levy MRA would not have seen light of day.

At present MRA is unconstitutional and is operating illegally. Only reason is money.

Other weak policies like land reform and customary land registration are driven by money.

Ramu Nickel mine is very exposed. Hearing Basamuk leaders waking up leaders I breathed sigh of relief. MRA is the culprit in the midst. It is a Trojan horse.

Puka Temu cuddled it and took it in as National Alliance (NA) Government baby after 2007 National Election. I warned against it but Puka Temu saw me as a villain. Now I have the pleasure of being proven right. NA Government will pay.

When MRA brought in the lawyers who drafted the law that created it I knew landowners of Basamuk will be shut out. Swinging out litigation on environment, MRA works for money. Till landowners take on MRA they will not win.

The Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 is a very tyrannical law. It makes our Government of the people now for the miners.

Let us look at the legal implications of the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 (EAA).

1. Property right [s.1(2) EAA]

Landowners of Basamuk and other areas of PNG have customary land ownership, possession, use of land and can do transaction within the same customary group. This property is protected by the Constitution.

By merely stating this right is compulsorily acquired for public purpose without providing for just compensation the law amounts to expropriation of property.

This makes the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 unconstitutional as it contravenes Section 53 of the Constitution.

2. Public purpose [s.1(2) EAA]

Mines are money business. No money no mine.

Private investors will invest if the investment will yield certain financial rate of return.

If taxes were collected then mines would be of economic importance to a nation.

I do not agree mines are public purpose business activities.

Public purposes are service oriented. Transport infrastructure, recreation, accommodation and towns are clear examples of public purpose.

Utilities like telecommunication, power, water and sanitation can be public or private depending on object. Profit will mean private and service, public.

Mining is a private business for profit. It is not a public purpose activity.

3. Encroachment on other laws [s.69A EAA]

Mining is a regulated activity. Law on mining lays foundation for other laws. A mining lease is a precondition for mining business for instance. Environmental regulation will regulate this mining business.

The Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 will correct any defect in mining lease approval process and non compliance with condition of lease.

Apart from this, statutory discretions of officials under the Mining Act 1992 will be overridden by the Director of the Environment Act 2000. This is absolutely absurd.

4. Extinguishing cause of action [s.69B EAA]

PNG is a Western democracy. An important principle is checks and balances for excesses of power and authority by any person. The rule of law and due process are to give effect to checks and balances. The Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 gives more powers to one person without checks and balances.

The law also outlaws any legal suit against rogue mines. Ramu mine is very vulnerable without this law.

Ramu mine proceeded with construction phase on unlawful approval of the Chief Inspector of Mines of the MRA in June 2007. The Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 will legitimise this unlawful action by the Director of the Act under an Authorisation Instrument.

5. No regulation of mines [s.87A EAA]

After I was removed as Secretary for Mining in December 2006 and the Department of Mining was smothered in 2007 the mining industry has been unregulated since.

Under the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 the Director may exempt Ramu mine from any requirement of the Mining Act 1992 and the Mining (Safety) Act Chapter 195A. This will leave lot of very frustrated people.

6. Smelting and tailings disposal [s.87B EAA]

Refinery and processing at Basamuk will produce tailings. It was proposed that tailings will be placed in deep canyons in the Basamuk bay.

Deep Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) was the subject of recent litigation. There are good arguments on both sides.

Lihir mine is the best practice as it has more information on DSTP than any other mine in the world. Problems there would be surface plume dispersal and tsunami caused by tailings in case of undersea landslips.

Under the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 the Director may use Lihir experience as best practice.

7. Environment and development [s.87C EAA]

Mining in essence is a dirty business. It is about moving dirt for money. Environment will be harmed.

The law on compensation is provided for in the Mining Act 1992. The process there is compensation by agreement between the licence holder and landholder. And Warden would only make a determination if no agreement is reached.

Under the Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 the Director can issue a certificate of necessary consequence and in effect remove right to compensation.

8. Liability for damage [s.87D EAA]

The general legal position in both common law and civil law jurisdictions is polluter pays. This was legally in PNG until now.

It means polluter will not be liable. A certificate of compliance will bar any claim for damages.

Summary

The Environment (Amendment) Act 2010 was intended to legitimise and outlaw any claim for damages which would have been legitimate had mines been properly legally regulated.

MRA is the culprit PNG must remove at once. It is only interested in money. Money in illegal tax in illegal production levy.

..........Poem..........

Shock and shame for money

By James Wanjik, Port Moresby, June 3, 2010

People and money are not same,

Resource abundance and

development poverty are paradoxes,

Leaders of PNG have lost worth,

Leaving people shocked

and shamed for money.

Well educated politicians

and tribal leaders of PNG,

Telling arrogance of lawyers

working for money,

Making so much noise of gong,

Moving true lawyers

and leaders to act.

Bold and brave so many people are,

Voicing truth and pondering most,

Letting leaders' arrogance laid bare,

Shocking and ashamed

for miners' money

Aid programmes and the real world of Papua New Guinea

BY JOHN FOWKE

DID YOU KNOW that the justly-admired frontline medical corps, Medicins Sans Frontieres, has managed and operated Angau Memorial Hospital's medical and emergency services as best they can under difficult circumstances for the past three years, as an errand of mercy recommended by the World Health Organisation?

And a year or two later, MSF arrived in Tari, the seat of today's burgeoning gas industry . Despite harassment from drunks and criminals there, MSF continues to run this major provincial hospital catering for some 180,000 people of Hela- where for many years there was not one full-time, permanent, practicing resident Papua New Guinea national doctor, let alone the five which are needed, and for whom  aid-funded fully-furnished three-bedroom houses have long been available. Of course Tari's hydro-electric power supply was out of order for many years, needing new parts for its governing mechanism, but MSF managed somehow to get a standby diesel plant operating for the hospital, no thanks to good old Elcom.

With all the fully-justified complaint about the overpaid, often immature and pansy-hands aid-funded consultants being deployed to PNG by AusAid and the multinational aid industry, it would have been a no-brainer, one feels, to have stepped in, MSF-like, with some practical,seasoned, medical and para-medical people to prop up these and many other needy hospitals in PNG. And to send in standby diesel plants and working 'fridges for delicate materials and medicines, plus essential materials and supplies to lost-cause centres like Menyamya and Kikori and Tabibuga and Erave to name only four of many dozens.

However, none of the great brains which fund and design and implement PNG's foreign-aid programs have thought of this. Too busy with REALLY IMPORTANT projects, like telling the coffee industry for the third time in the past  10 years that it needs to re-invent the wheel of on-the-ground marketing practice, a wheel which has regularly been re-invented to no purpose at all by several groups of essentially silly bearded or bilum-wearing white-men apparently  suffering mid-life-crisis or early-onset dementia. Nothing has resulted from all this expensive input, and now yet another team from the vaunted halls of Curtin University is on its way to have yet another go.

All this money would be far and away better utilised if handed to the major, established Church Missions - most of which maintain a majority of honest, idealistic and practical trained workers operating in these essential fields., in well-maintained Church-owned institutions. Whilst I have no religious faith myself I am a strong advocate of the major Christian churches and the programmes both of a spiritual  and a practical, hands-on nature they provide to this society.

I am writing this in Goroka where the district hospital was built and opened in 1967, and for many years remained an excellent institution. Today it is very run-down, facilities for the disposal of general medical and surgical waste, for instance, have deteriorated to where they no longer exist.The nurses quarters appear to have been partly-demolished, with doors and windows stripped from otherwise sturdy concrete-block dormitories. There are nurses present in the hospital, and a pleasant and hard-working lot they are, but one has to wonder where they are forced to sleep nowadays? Supplies and operating funds are always scarce but work goes on even though patients are frequently sent into town to purchase anti-malarial drugs, penicillin, sterile dressings,hypodermic syringes and even humble aspirin and Panadol so that they or their children may be treated appropriately. The politicians of the province pay no heed this, nor to the parlous state of the Goroka sewage-farm which has sat like a great, black, stinking row of Olympic swimming-pools for years  now, growing thick forests of hollow-stemmed pitpit which reaches four and five meters to the sky. A local man, living near this rotting eyesore in what used to be "Beautiful Kolples Goroka" tells me that the pipes were opened long ago and the town's daily contribution of excreta flows, untreated, into the Asaro river. How a community can remain reasonably healthy under these cisrcumstances is a mystery. Goroka, so-far free of cholera, suffers regular epidemics of typhoid. I just wonder about all the villages and coffee-factories situated below the foetid Asaro outflow.

This is just a short list of the wrongs existing within the health system - one could go on and on – and, realistically, like law-and-order, it is a huge social problem in a society which has fallen hard between two steep mountains in its express-ride transition from the Stone Age to the Toyota Age. Nothing will change until the middle-class of PNG realises that it is an entity with the potential to steer this crazy, " wealthy-but-dirt-poor" nation into a clear and open pathway leading to fairness and equal opportunity for all its citizens.The middle-class is made up of the educated and the employed and the entrepreneurial, all of whom hope each day for a better deal for their kids. This will only come when they realise their status, not as "Kerema," or "Sepik", or "Hailans" etc etc, but as citizens of a Commonwealth- the Independent Nation of Papua New Guinea.Once the middle-class understands its real place in modern PNG, once it welds itself into a strong political entity, then this beautiful and loveable country will move towards its right and due place among all the nations of the world.When will this happen? No-one can tell at present for to all intents and purposes this land is still a collection of many mutually-jealous tribes and not a nation at all, in reality. This is a problem that any amount of aid will not solve - PNG society just has to work its way around it. Or not.

Unfortunately there is a shortage of obviously charismatic and ideological proto-leaders lurking in the bush, although we daily look for such to emerge. This will only occur when the middle-class mobilises as such, not as a clamorous mass of jealous, disparate tribes all talking about the same thing . A middle-class which is always missing the point. The point that they are their own solution if only they can stretch their imaginations and act to form a strong, convincing and above all, honest, leadership-block.

A block which also appeals to all the village-based old-timers and all the youngsters now left to waste away in hidden valleys  and dusty settlements with no roads, no opportunities, and and no insight or idea of what the world might be to them if the bonds of lack of opportunity which imprison them were to be  untied.

As for foreign friends, Australia, the EU, the World Bank, the Japanese Government and the ADB to mention the major actors, all these will do well to stop trying to carry out hugely-wasteful "capacity-building" and "re-training" and "niche marketing" nonsense-projects invented and implemented by a generation of spoiled graduate pups who think that by draping a bilum over their shoulder on arrival they have become recognisably assimilated and will be welcomed and valued  and make a contribution to PNG society. The way the ruling-class and the public service has set the system up it is almost impossible even for those elected as Governors to exert influence over the country's administration and fiscal management. Aid-funded advisors are just fiddling around the edges in these circumstances.  A new and differently-aimed set of policies need to be thought about  by the aid-providers. As things stand in PNG what needs to be done is for about 85,000 arses to be kicked and realistically offered the door if not willing to abandon current common practice in the PS and Provincial Administrations. One can't see this happening any time soon and it is with this in mind that donors should seriously re-think their programmes and policy vis-a-vis PNG.

For Australia, lets be sensible and realise that outside of MSF-type medical teams and a limited range of specialist services, the likes of Mal Meninga and his men will do far more for the relationship which Australia wants to maintain with PNG,  and also for PNG  itself, if they or their like are paid to come up and set up and make competitive the PNG League. The National Sports Institute is another target for lots of Australian help and for the formation of links with similar Aussie institutions. And whilst Australia at large is not conscious of the fact,  PNG is, like Australia, one of the few countries which fields an international lawn-bowls team. How about some of the residents of what is now called "Fort Shitscared" in Moresby venturing out on a Saturday afternoon in PoM or Lae or Goroka or Mt Hagen or Madang, to sit with club-members beside the rink and watch nice, sensible, good-mannered midde-class Papua New Guineans enjoy themselves in their spotless whites, accompanied by the odd brown bottle now and then. Here is another place where an imaginative Australia could do so much for both countries. All it takes is a little courage, a little lateral thinking, and a willingness to be a partner rather than a smiling but still heavily-patronising schoolmaster.

How about AusAid funding a tour of a really good Bougainville Bamboo Band around Oz/NZ and the Pacific, ending up at the Edinburgh Festival? This is a magnificent sound, and there are virtuosi available to thrill the rest of the world with it!  This embryo nation needs this sort of confidence-building to make it think and act like a nation, not a collection of several hundred jealous tribes who can't form a bond of common interest largely because under their leadership since independence they have achieved so little as a nation.

From an Australian perspective, lets do lots of a practical nature in the areas of health and education in areas where MSF-style intervention is the only answer to the peoples' needs; lets help develop sport and the arts especially music and dance. Lets get competitive badminton going- this can easily and affordably be played at village level, and its HUGE in Asia. Why not in PNG?

Lets get Australian communities to collect container-loads of books and send them up to nominated communities as demonstrations of good-fellowship and  a desire to help. Lets design and ship prefabricated steel school-library buildings. This list is endless, and with due and careful consideration a much more people-friendly, human and mate-to-mate sort of relationship might be forged between close neighbours than that which exists between us now.We're always going to be neighbours. Always.

Oz lawyers to strengthen Papua New Guinea governance

From PAUL OATES
I refer to the article in today's PNG Attitude titled 'Australian lawyers to strengthen governance'.
______________________________________

This initiative raises a few concerns.
Firstly, why does Papua New Guinea need qualified lawyers to improve public service governance? This is a straightforward management and internal audit function that requires a proven administrative skills set and not a qualified legal one. Also, no overseas applicant should be recruited for these positions unless it has first been established that there are no suitable PNG applicants available.
Secondly, these lawyers should be working directly to the Australian Department and not a consultancy company.
Thirdly, there should be some limitations specified in the contracts to be undertaken by the occupants of those positions in the Office of the Solicitor General?
Here are some suggestions for inclusion in these contracts:
1. There must be a guaranteed outcomes based, independent assessment on a half yearly basis with the Australian employer and achievement targets agreed on, at the start of each assessment period. Non achievement of agreed targets effectively causes contract termination and an automatic cessation of employment.
2. Successful applicants must sign an agreement to conduct an effective training programme with guaranteed skills transfer to at least two PNG officers each year. The agreed training program to be put together and assessed by the law societies of both PNG and Australia on an ongoing monthly basis after discussion and agreement by both the training officer and the PNG officers being trained.
3. Agreed parameters are to be written into each contract to ensure that those officers recruited and the PNG officers being trained will not be in any way undertaking any work associated or involved with the defence of the members of PNG Parliament or PNG public service officers, should these PNG persons be personally or severally involved in any legal action on any issue.
4. Successful applicants must have proven, cultural sensitivity and an awareness of PNG culture and customs.
5. Successful applicants must have a minimum of 5 years proven experience in working with the same types of matters and issues they will be required to work on during the period of their contract.
6. Each successful applicant must be able to allowed to communicate with both PNG government and PNG Opposition members.
______________________
06 June 2010
Australian lawyers to strengthen governance
BY DONALD HOOK

THE AUSTRALIAN Government will appoint three senior lawyers to work with the law and justice component of Papua New Guinea's Strongim Gavman programme.
The programme is designed to improve governance, law and policing in PNG.
Two of the lawyers will be senior litigation advisers in the office of the PNG Solicitor-General.
The other will be a senior commercial law adviser in the office of the State Solicitor.
Australia's Attorney-General's Department, which manages the law and justice but not the policing component of Strongim Gavman, advertised the three positions in Australian newspapers this weekend.
The two-year appointments - with the possibility of a one-year extension - have a tax free annual salary range of $132,652 to $145,385 plus allowances.