Ahi Festival to bring together local Lae villages

By MALUM NALU

Symbol of the Ahi Festival

The inaugural Ahi Festival, a major cultural and sporting event involving the six Ahi villages in and around Lae, will be held at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae from Dec 12-17.

It is an initiative of Riback Stevedores Ltd, the major employer of Ahi men and women from the six Ahi villages of Wagang, Yanga, Butibam, Hengali, Kamkumung and Yalu and has their full support.

Riback Stevedores staff modeling uniforms which will be worn by the six villages during the inaugural Ahi Festival next month.-Pictures courtesy of Riback Stevedores

Sporting events include basketball, volleyball, netball, soccer, touch rugby and a number of other fun games for the kids.

The Ahi Festival – with the theme Promoting Education Through Sports & Culture - is aimed at raising funds for the establishment of an Ahi resource centre, an education facility which will have a library, computer laboratory and conference and workshop facilities.

“The Ahi Festival is an initiative of Riback Stevedores Ltd and has the full support of the Ahi community,” explains Riback general manager Peter Boyd.

“The company believes that the effects of the social problems facing the Ahi community can be wide-ranging in size anywhere from local effects on a family or a village to the Lae community and even the entire society. 

“The company therefore wants to do its part in helping the Ahi community to help themselves to take a lead now in working towards addressing some of their social problems. 

“We hope other members and stakeholders of the Lae community can also join in and help the people of Ahi in their endeavours to create an educated and orderly community that can co exist peacefully with others in the wider Lae community.”

Boyd said the social problems of the Ahi community could be addressed only if the community could unite and work together in search of solutions with the support of strategic partners. 

“The Ahi Festival can be a powerful tool to unite the Ahi community,” he added.

“It can also create awareness of the social issues and promote a team approach with key stakeholders to address the socials problems with the view to minimise its crippling effects on the people of Ahi – the current generation and also the future generation.”

Some of the main objectives of the Ahi Festival include:

•           Promoting community unity;

•           Promoting and preserving Ahi culture;

•           Creating awareness on social Issues and assistance available; and

•           Showcase local talents in culture, sports, music and business.

The Ahi villages are all located within and around Lae – the industrial city of Papua New Guinea. 

Along with the expansion and development of Lae, these traditional villages are also being forced to accept new changes and influences brought about by the changing socio-economic conditions.

The changing socioeconomic conditions have placed a high demand for land on the Ahi communities. 

This has seen most of the traditional land being taken away.

 Land was taken earlier by missionaries, then the colonial government and recently the state and industry. 

The attractions of  urban life along with government’s and industry’s demand for labour has also attracted Papua New Guineans to migrate to Lae in search for work and better living conditions.

 This unfortunately has created a need for more land.

 Consequently, customary land which used to be hunting and gardening land has all been replaced with buildings, factories and urban settlements. 

Without gardening or hunting land, most inhabitants of the Ahi community are now forced to adopt and embrace the cash economy. 

“Education of the children of Ahi is therefore important,” Boyd said.

“Without land and other natural resources, the human resources must be trained and developed if the Ahi community is to survive and live in peaceful co-existence with every other Papua New Guinean and the wider Lae community.”  

The economic changes around Lae also bring with them many tangible and intangible social problems which affect the Ahi communities. 

Tangible social problems include unemployment; law and order issues; drug abuse; alcohol problems; and school drop-out rate is high.

Intangible social problems include breakdown in moral standards; lack of ethics in community leadership – a recipe for corruption which affects the management of church groups, clans and businesses owned by the people; community disharmony; and breakdown in the family unit

Elephants for 5-Mile

PNG Gardener Justin Thatchenko continues to amaze city residents in NCD in his efforts to beautify the capital and make it welcoming for visitors and tourists as they enter the city, The National reports.
Now, with Christmas a month away, a convoy of “animals”, not normally seen in these parts, was seen being trucked yesterday to the Jack Pidik Park at 5-Mile. 
There, they stood alongside the Christmas lights put up by PNG Gardener workmen this week as NCD Governor Powes Parkop officially switched them on yesterday evening. 
The artificial animals, including giraffes, elephants and rhinoceros, drew quite a stir from the public as they made their way to their destinations yesterday. – Nationalpic by AURI EVA

Economy to grow 7.1% this year, says forecast

PAPUA New Guinea's economy grew by an estimated 5.5% last year and is expected to grow 7.1% this year, The National reports.

According to the Deloitte Touche 2011 budget alert, the economy was able to weather the global recession of last year reasonably well, with the financial sector remaining resilient due to relatively low exposure to overseas financial instruments and a strong domestic funding base.

However, the most heavily affected sectors were agriculture, forestry, fisheries and the manufacturing sectors due to declining overseas demand.

Themed Building the foundations for economic growth and prosperity, the 2011 budget in many ways can be described as a "steady as she goes" budget, which builds on planning done in previous years and takes advantage of the increased revenue stream expected to be available next year.

As in previous years, the government seeks to promote a stable macro economic and fiscal environment and to that end has announced a balanced budget.

The global recovery together with expected increased commodity prices and production will result in additional mineral revenue in 2011.

The government set out what it saw as a number of risks to the fiscal and economic outlook on which the budget is framed.

These include the fragility of the global economy in terms of its impact on PNG exports and commodity prices, delays to the PNG LNG and other resource projects, and the government diverting from fiscal discipline and adding to already strong inflationary pressures.

On the plus side, it was recognised that a number of mining and gas projects are under active consideration which would provide a boost to the PNG economy if they proceed.

As such, the government will fund its established framework, the national agriculture development plan 2007-2016 with K109 million, with support also going to other sectors of agriculture.

Fisheries will be receiving K55 million to foster investments in marine industrial zones and the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone in Madang.

It will also receive K15 million for the Coastal Fisheries Development Programme.

Forestry will be receiving support in terms of programmes aimed at, among others, support for forest research institute rehabilitation and support for sustainable forest management.

 

 

Vote notice ousted

House committee declares no-confidence motion defective

 

THE opposition suffered a double blow yesterday when its notice for a vote of no-confidence was declared defective, and three of its MPs moved to the government side, The National reports.

Parliament Speaker and chairman of the parliamentary Private Members Committee (PMC) Jeffrey Nape is expected to announce the committee’s decision, nullifying the notice, when parliament resumes at 10 o’clock this morning to deal with major government business including the women’s reserved bill.

The PMC members included Deputy Speaker Francis Marus, Usino-Bundi MP Sampson Kuli, Yangoru-Saussia MP and East Sepik Governor Peter Waranaka and Mendi MP Isaac Joseph.

They held their meeting to discuss the notice when parliament was adjourned yesterday morning.

The PMC’s main agenda was to consider the merit and the demerits of the notice of motion of no-confidence and whether it was of national importance or a parochial matter.

The PMC was also to consider, among other things, that some opposition MPs, who had initially signed the original notice of motion, had now joined the government ranks and withdrew their support for the motion.

Three MPs who had given their letter for the withdrawal of support included Simbu Governor Fr John Garia, Alotau MP Charles Abel and Kairuku-Hiri MP Paru Aihi.

Garia and Aihi were former PNG Party members who had pulled out since the change of leadership from Sir Mekere Morauta to Belden Namah.

The three MPs said in separate letters to the speaker that they had withdrawn their support as signatories.

Garia said the decision had been necessitated by his recent decision to be part of the United Resource Party following his release from PNG Party.

“Given the strong alignment that the URP has with the government and, more importantly, because URP is an integral part of the coalition government, I consider withdrawal of my support from the motion of no-confidence as in order and totally appropriate,” Garia said.

The opposition, learning that the PMC was meeting, urged it to take the vote of no-confidence motion as in the best interest of democracy and the people of PNG.

Speaking during a media conference yesterday after the parliament was adjourned, the opposition said the motion was in order and, therefore, should go ahead as submitted.

Members said that although the government might push for the motion to be thrown out on the grounds that several parties, who have been signatories to the motion, were with the government, there was nothing wrong as only the mover had the right to withdraw.

The speaker also asked the opposition to inform the house, when it sits today, who the opposition leader is and who are the members in the opposition.

 

 

Chimbu's five sum up fight for reserved seats

SYLIA Gonapa, Bepi Dom Apa, Schola Yauma, Jilla Kaupa and Dawa Sandra Terence each spent K40 this week to travel by road from Kundiawa to Lae and fly from there to Port Moresby, The National reports.

The mothers, from Sinasina-Yongomugl, came to give their support for the bill for the 22 reserved seats in parliament for women and, more importantly, to ensure their local member and speaker of parliament Jeffrey Nape did likewise.

Nape is the key man in parliamentary deliberations, they said.

They wanted to witness him supporting and passing the bill through the first reading so that they can go back and tell the women of Sinasina-Yongomugl that their MP did the right thing by them.

The mothers said: “For 35 years, we (women) have been observers and labourers while men made decisions affecting our lives,” Gonapa said.

“Now, we want to support this bill so that we can also help make decisions.

“Now, we have come to see this bill passed. We have used our own money to make sure this bill is passed.”

Schola Yauma said: “Man cannot work alone. We produce children together.

“We must make decisions affecting the child’s welfare together.

“We are not after money. We want to participate in decision-making for the betterment of our children.

“We want our MP and speaker to support this bill.”

Bepi Apa said: “We see in the newspapers the good work that Dame Carol Kidu is doing.

“She is making good decisions, but there is only one of her.

“What good we could do in this country if there were another 20 Kidus.”

Gonapa added: “In a home, both man and woman make decisions for the welfare of their family. So far, we have only seen man making the decisions.

“Decision-making in PNG is like a plane flying on one wing.”

There was another, slightly dark aspect, to this which the women said they were aware of.

Presently, only a few women were taking up the fight for reserved seats but, when the law is passed, businesswomen and educated women, who were now passive observers, would take centre stage in trying to vie for the seat, they said.

The Sinasina women said women leadership must be about bringing real change and not about wealth, power and ego trips.

They said they had seen enough of that already and that the push to get women into parliament was really to make a difference, and not to bask in personal glory.

The women went to parliament yesterday along with truckloads of other women who had also flown, trucked or sailed in from different parts of the country on the promise that the bill would be presented, but, parliament adjourned to today to do so.

Word on the bill was that cabinet had made the necessary adjustments and it was ready for presentation.

Dame Carol will present the bill to amend section 101 of the constitution, which has the personal support and blessing of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

 

Deputy Prime Minister lauds budget

DEPUTY Prime Minister Don Polye believes the 2011 budget provides the essential tools for the people to become active participants not just in the local economy, but also the regional and global economy, The National reports.

He said PNG was fast becoming an integrated economy, in line with international obligations and commitments.

Polye said PNG was part of regional Asia-Pacific economy that was growing faster than other global economies, and was part of the Apec economy that must achieve the Bogor goals for zero-rate on tariffs to achieve a free-trade economy by 2020.

“Whether we like it or not, a vigorous wave of change is sweeping across the regional economy and our survival depends on our self-empowerment and enlightment, our preparedness to change to capitalise on the dynamics of progress,” he said.

He said the 2011 budget identified targets and provided the resources to achieve these goals.

He said the huge funding appropriated to education, for tertiary as well as trade and TVET education, funding of agriculture credit support and support for micro- and medium-scale enterprises were examples of the government’s commitment to achieving these goals.

He said it was right for the budget to target the medium-income class, and provide the resource for industry development and SMEs.

He said it was important to develop entrepreneurial skills and create avenues for exposure to international trade and investments.

He praised the K50 million allocation to develop economic corridors in least developed areas, and reforming of the tariff regime to attract more investment and open up trade with reciprocating economies.

Polye said the prime minister’s championing of the fight to reduce emissions of the green house gasses on the global stage provided PNG the opportunity to tap into energy project less dependent on fossil fuel.

In this regard, the government is exploring potential for thermal power projects in various locations in the country, and the Purari River project with the Queensland state government.

 

 

Prime Minister defends family

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare has hit back at the opposition and media for persecuting him and his family with allegations for political convenience, The National reports.

Sir Michael sought leave from parliament and, in a personal explanation, said the Somare family had not taken anything away from the country that did not belong to it.

“I brought this country through to independence with the best of intentions.

“Nobody should put up with the kind of venom that my entire family has been subjected to over the years that I have been in office,” Sir Michael said.

“Yes, I am a member of parliament and a public figure, but there are standards of conduct even in our everyday life when dealing with each other as human beings, even towards people in public life.”

The prime minister said it was for political convenience that the Moti Affair was continually being flogged by the opposition.

He said the matter concerning the Taiwanese deal was put to rest months ago when the courts in Singapore identified the persons involved in the scam and dealt with them.

“It is not a matter for Papua New Guinea.

“Similarly, the Singapore bank account is a figment of the opposition’s imagination.

“Until an ounce of proof comes out, it is insanity ... we all know the definition that Bart Philemon provided us so illustriously of doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

“Meanwhile, the Ombudsman Commission is holding tightly onto the only shred of

purported breach that they can claim against me.

“Yet, on a daily basis, my family and I have been trialed by the media on unfounded claims and allegations.

“Never in the history of PNG has any other family been dealt with in such an indecent manner.”

Sir Michael said this type of politics had never been played out in this manner over the last 35 years where personal attacks had become the order of the day.

“I have watched the many finger-pointing that has been going on.

“We have lost our sense of decency.

“The opposition leader has equally reduced himself to name-calling instead of constructive debate.

“It is equally interesting that, recently, there have been many statements made about our attitude by the public at large.

“There is no respect for one another anymore,” he said.

“Is government to blame when individuals take pride out of a filthy habit like betelnut chewing?

“I have been in my car when plastic bottles were hurled at the window full of betelnut spittle. What a disgrace.

“I have seen cars parked in the middle of the road while two wantoks speak to each other. Passing cars have to find room to manoeuvre around them.

“Is it the responsibility of government to instill basic principles of respect into these individuals? Disgraceful!”

He said the word corruption crept in too easily into people’s vocabulary every day.

“We do not need proof anymore for corruption. We can just say the word and it becomes a fact.”

Budget Reply by Bulolo MP Sam Basil on Tuesday, Nov 23, 2010

Mr Speaker, it is my please to present to you my reply for the 2011 Budget as the Member for Bulolo and also the Opposition.

 Let me from the outset put the record straight that the Opposition is quite skeptical of this budget ever achieving much of what it sets out to achieve.

This government has since its inception had a very poor record of never properly and effectively implementing its money plans.

Mr Speaker, year in year out, Papua New Guineans have been crying out for delivery of basic services in health, education, roads, bridges, wharves, airstrips and more but, their wishes have always been that.

There isn’t much that this government can show for the large sums of money it has purported to have spent over the years since it took office.

All our public infrastructure and services have fallen into disarray.

Our hospitals, health centers and clinics continue to struggle for the basic of drugs while people, especially the mothers, young and old, continue to die of curable illnesses whilst this Government watches.

 Building of a K500 million health facility in Bautama City can also be one of the examples of a confused government whereby the Prime Minister looses touch with his Cabinet ministers and the grassroots people.

Most of Papua New Guinea’s schools, universities and colleges have fallen into disrepair despite the allocation of large sums of money over the years, including the RESI funds which largely benefited the government members of parliament.

A very good example can be drawn from the Aiyura National High School where a relative of a very senior legislator in this parliament won the contract and misused most of the funds and the matter is now in court.

Most of the RESI funds have been expanded from trust accounts and have been misused or corruptly applied.

Our roads are all in a sorry state including our biggest investment, the Highlands Highway, which feeds all the highlands provinces which are home to some major resource projects including the PNG LNG project - we say thank you for the national highway funding.

Can the Government assure the people that the highway funding will not end up with the wantoks of ministers in the form of relatives and political cronies?

Just recently we learnt from the media that the Works Minister has allowed his wantok a contract so what is the guarantee there that the people will get real benefits from those highway funds? 

Mr Speaker, our coastal and maritime provinces continue to be neglected in terms of proper wharves, jetties and the like. 

Those that are usable are almost collapsing preventing our rural people from bringing their produce safely to the markets.

Mr Speaker, given the harsh topography and ruggedness of our beautiful country, a large part of our rural communities depend on air services to access Government services and bring their produce to the market. 

We have, on many occasions, heard the cries of our rural people for the government to allocate funds and follow through with implementation and rehabilitation and continued maintenance of our rural airstrips.

 A lot of these pleas have fallen on deaf ears for reasons only known to this Government.

The Transport Minister is already planning to spend K1.4 billion to upgrade the Jackson International Airport while this budget reflects very little to even upgrade the rural population’s very-important infrastructures such as the jetties and the airstrips.

Mr Speaker, there are so many other deficiencies in the performance of this Government to effectively manage and implement a lot of its money plans which I can continue to talk about but I do believe you all are familiar with.

We therefore strongly believe that this Government has failed miserably to implement its past budgets and we believe the 2011 money plan will be no different.

 It is our strongest conviction that this government lacks the capacity, the willpower and know-how to successfully implement the 2011 money plan.

Mr Speaker, our biggest fear is that a lot of the money that is intended for projects in the 2011 budget will be squandered as was always the case in the past.

It is therefore important that all sectors within the Government’s public service machinery be overhauled and this Government quickly put in place proper management strategies for this budget to ensure that the people of Papua New Guinea really benefit from this money plan.

 

Assumptions

Mr Speaker, this budget is prepared using many tested and untested assumptions that stand to be put through rigorous volatilities in the market.

The global financial crisis and its impacts may have subsided to an extent, but the global market is still quite volatile with rumblings still in Europe (Ireland and Greece) and other parts of the world.

 The weakening of the US dollar in recent times has had a positive impact on resource prices especially gold and oil but would this be sustainable?

 The Opposition will monitor this budget assumption with interest to measure its performance against set revenue targets.

Note that all may be rosy now but history has it that things may quickly turn for the worse so the onus is on the Government to monitor its assumptions on the parameters used in the budget to ensure that it achieves and implement it budget effectively.

 

Revenue

A big part of the budgets direct revenue is funded through incomes from resource projects either directly or indirectly apart from other tax revenues.

It will also be funded through the increases in project grants owing largely to the depreciation of the Kina against the Australian dollar and the increased funding from AUSAID.

Mr Speaker, it is also important for the government to note that this may be good but, it must also seek to encourage growth in the other revenue sectors to cushion the effects of volatility and uncertainties that surround the global commodity prices and diversify its future revenue source.

 

Expenditure

 

Mr. Speaker, the opposition notes several deficiencies in the 2011 budget and among them are some glaring issues that we will now address.

 

• Insufficient funds have been set aside for disaster and emergencies (disaster risk management – K 5.7m and K1.9m disaster management) despite numerous advice and warnings from experts citing a pending El Nino weather pattern that may have massive implications on the lives of a large part of the population which depends on the land for survival. It is imperative that the government plans and budgets for, not only the El Nino weather pattern but, for natural disasters which PNG is not immune to;
•  Mr  Speaker, the 2011 Budget has allocated minimal or no funding directly for upgrading of rural airstrips which serve a large part of the population of PNG that lack any other means of transport.   This is total neglect on the part of the Government to provide a vital service to the rural people of PNG.
• Mr. Speaker, the Westminster system of Government and democracies all over the world consist of and depend on a vibrant opposition to strike a balance and ensure that healthy debate on matters affecting the nation are tested and agreed to through healthy debates, government policies are properly implemented and the three arms of government are operating efficiently. The Opposition is appalled at the government’s deliberate attempt to weaken the rules that govern any democracies by its dismal budgetary allocation to the opposition. This government has again used this budget to suppress the work of the Opposition to ensure that the Government of the days is answerable to the people of Papua New Guinea through its management of this country.

 

Trust accounts

Mr Speaker, the Opposition believes that apart from the Sovereign Fund, all monies included in this massive budget that the government has put forward for 2011 should never be placed in trust account.

This government has had a very poor record of managing, auditing and reporting of funds held in trust accounts.

 Many a time Papua New Guineans have demanded for the Government to make public its records on the use of public funds held in trust account but to date this Government has failed miserably to make these records public.

It is common knowledge that a lot of these funds have been abused without a trace thus putting a lot of our project in jeopardy.

It is therefore imperative that this budget be managed outside of trust accounts and by the normal government accounting system as specified under the Finance Management Act so that funds are put to good use for the projects they are intended for are subjected to proper procurement and scrutiny processes to bring accountable and tangible benefits to the people of Papua New Guinea.

 

Inflation factor

 

Mr Speaker, this budget is framed so much around the LNG project but not everyone in the Papua New Guinea will benefit directly from the LNG windfalls.

It will only be the landowners around or within the project areas, the pipeline and the processing facility.

All Papua New Guineans will however feel the negative impact of this project on their lives through high cost of goods and services brought about by the LNG project. 

With high revenue comes an increase in money supply thus putting an upward pressure on inflation.

The people of Papua New Guinea are already expressing their concerns about the increased prices of basic store goods.

The sad story is that it will get worse.

For majority of Papua New Guineans, life will get harder.

For businesses, the cost of doing business will escalate which will greatly affect profitability unless these costs are passed onto the consumer.

The Papua New Guinean agriculture sector stands to suffer the most as not only will its costs increase but, increased money supply will appreciate the Kina thereby rendering our agricultural exports expensive and non-competitive on the global market.

It is therefore very important that the Government prepares to put in place a well-planned monetary and fiscal policy to manage the negative impacts on the economy brought about by inflation.

It must also plan to assist the agriculture sector, be in through increased subsidies or other assistance to ensure it survives as it is the livelihood of most Papua New Guineans.

 

Dutch disease

Like all major oil and gas projects all over the world, increased revenue from the LNG project and other resource sectors will increase inflows of revenue, thus causing currency appreciation making Papua new Guinea’s other exports, especially in the agriculture sector,  become more expensive,  thus reducing its competitiveness on the global economy. 

Mr Speaker, a large part of Papua New Guinea’s population depends entirely on the agriculture sector for their survival.

This situation will therefore have a devastating effect on the livelihoods of a greater part of the population of this country.

It is therefore critical that the government immediately put in place policies within the monetary and fiscal management frameworks, including subsidies to ensure that it mitigates the effects of this resource curse on the livelihoods of the rural people of this country and the population at large.

Mr Speaker, as you are aware, dependence on one particular sector of investment for any country is a dangerous trend as it exposes the country to adverse market conditions which come with a very high level of risk.

We believe in diversity of investment in all available sectors to cushion the risks that something bad may happen to the one investment or sector thereby destroying our economy.

 

Capacity

Mr Speaker, it is encouraging to see that the government has awoken to the fact that Papua New Guinea does not have the capacity to supply labor to the economy through the education system that Papua New Guinea inherited after independence.

It has taken the PNG LNG project for reality to sink in and remind the Government that all is not well.

In its current form, the Papua New Guinea labor market is competently unable to supply all the labor requirements not only for the PNG LNG project but, also to fill in the vacuum created by movement of people into the resource sector and new jobs created as a result of the resource boom.

Mr Speaker, the Opposition strongly believes that the initiatives current undertaken by the Government to address this labor shortage is a little too late as a lot of jobs have been lost to foreign labor and the PNG LNG construction phase has truly taken off leaving Papua New Guinea way behind.

It is sad to note that the people of Papua New Guinea have again lost out on job opportunities because the Government has failed to realise in time and plan to educate Papua New Guineans in time to capture these once-in-a-lifetime job opportunities.

 Do we always have to play catch up while our people suffer?

The Government doesn’t care Mr Speaker; maybe we all should buy houses in Cairns, catch an early flight into Port Moresby for Parliament Session and afternoon flight back into Cairns.

Yumi giamanim ol pipol istap.

Mr., Speaker, there will be a huge demand that will now be place squarely on the shoulders of this government to, not only manage this massive budget but, the large revenue windfall that will reach our shores as a result of the PNG LNG project. 

For this country to truly benefit from the developments and growth that will come with this massive revenue, Papua New Guinea will need to be able to greatly lift its implementation capacity to truly realise economic growth.

The biggest worry that most Papua New Guineans share is the capability of this government and its machinery to adequately manage this massive windfall revenue.

This Government must quickly address these capacity issues to ensure that Papua New Guinea does not fall into the resource curse that has happen in many resource rich countries.

This country must avoid at all cost from following these trends where it become a poor nation after the life of such project simple because it has failed to improve its management capacity.

Finally Mr Speaker, it has been alleged that over K5 billion of public funds has been stashed away into trust accounts which have yet to be audited.

This government owes it to its people that a thorough audit must be done quickly and made public so that the people can see how their money has been managed.

The under funding of the Ombudsman Commission, Public Prosecutor, Attorney General, Auditor General and the Police has reflected badly on the overall status of this country at the international level.

PNG has been listed as one of the corrupted countries in the world, unsafe to take a holiday and Member of Parliament are almost immune to prosecution.

Mr Speaker, the K20m allocated for the upgrading of this parliament house must be managed by the Finance Department as I have a copy of the 2010’s first quarter audit and believe me, all financial procedures has been breached.

Parliament’s operating account has been operating on a K2 million negative; therefore, nobody in this house must be trusted anymore to independently operate such funds anymore.

Mr Speaker, the Finance Minister must be mindful the performance of this 2011 budget will reflect his first budget ever as the minister responsible, therefore,  his future reputation depends on the strict management of this budged and urge him to so and commend him of his efforts so far.

 

Digicel Stars enters semi-finals

By SAO HOIRE

The Digicel Stars singing competition is taking the country by storm and getting tougher as it winds down to the grand finale next month.

Digicel Stars elimination round two contestants awaiting the final judges word during the show’s live recording at POMCC last week

 With two elimination rounds already gone, everyone is in suspense as to who will win the title and walk away with the prize money of K10, 000 plus a recording contract.

The winner from elimination round two, Greg Aaron from rainy Lae, gave a hyped-up, mind-blowing performance as he belted out a country number from Keith Urban, Love Somebody during the live performance at Port Moresby Country Club (POMCC) last Wednesday.

The song got the audience roaring with excitement and even a guitarist up on stage in an impromptu performance which won the judges’ hearts to announce him the winner on the night.

Elimination round one winner, Joseph Normou, also from Lae was the judges’ choice with two viewers’ choice winners announced: Christopher Cobb who sang a number from Outfield and boy group Leo from Lae.

Viewers’ choice winners were submitted through SMS votes so keep voting for your favourite Digicel star to 1699.

For each round, only two successful contestants will be selected by the viewers to move forward.

“It has been a pleasure to watch and listen to all the wonderful singing and acting talent that is out there,” said Digicel PNG CEO John Mangos.

“Digicel Stars is now entering its final and most exciting stages and we are looking forward to even more talent being shown as the contestants will be pushed to show their very best performances.

“We give our best wishes to all the contestants as you are all winners to have made it this far in the competition.

The Digicel Stars semi-finals will be aired on EMTV on Sunday at 6.30pm with six contestants to compete for a place in the finals.

A total of 16 contestants made it through to the elimination rounds.

Dec 5 will see a showcase performance by the contestants with the grand finale to be on Dec 12.

So keep voting for your favourite star to the short code ‘1699’.

For example, vote for Hanley by texting ‘Hanley’ to 1699.

Hanley Logoso belting out his version of Guy Sebastian’s ‘Attention’ song that got the crowd roaring during the elimination

By voting, you can also win great prizes.

There will be K1, 000 free credits to be given away each week as well as 50 lucky SMS voters will win K50 free credits each.

Miss South Pacific Pageant 2010 at Lamana

This weekend will be a definite crowd pleaser at the party capital of PNG - the Gold Club -  beginning on Friday evening with the Miss South Pacific Pageant Talent Show and then on Saturday, the much-anticipated grand finale of the 2010 XOX PNG Idol.

The Miss South Pacific Talent Show on Friday will begin at 6pm and will showcase the 11 beauties in sarong wear.

The show is from 6pm-9pm so the Gold Club Arena and balconies will be closed off during this event unless you have tickets which are available from Lamana's reception for K60.

You can call Jacquie or Julie.

Patrons are advised however that the inside bar will operate as usual with free entry for members and K25 for non-members.

Once the Talent event is over, the Arena will be open for the usual Friday night outdoor party.

On Saturday evening, from the 40 auditioned singers 11 weeks ago, the top 10 remain and the concert of truth will reveal the best live entertainers and winners of the K10, 000.

This already looks like a brilliant show with finalists being Li Walter, Chaddy Ipah, Natalia Maino, Henry Gewang, Richard Wema, Samantha Clark, Nouna Regione, Emma Kamura, Gideon Singur and Matthew Jordan.

Who will reign supreme in the battle of vocals and showmanship?

Members free entry, non-members K25. Come on down to Lamana for a great night’s show!

 

Chinese PNG? I don't think so

From PAUL OATES

"PNG can become the China of the Pacific", the Minister for Planning and Monitoring and District Development, Paul Tiensten said recently at a dinner in Kokopo.
Yet exactly what was the Minister referring to?
"Past PNG governments had only looked at their survival," the Minister is quoted as saying.
He then made the point that PNG as a country must align itself with both the short and long term government strategies; "and that
this may well result in PNG becoming the China of the Pacific."
With a booming economy and aspirations of becoming the leading world power, China is an easy example to laud when so called developing countries wish to align and emulate their own development strategies.
But exactly what would it mean if PNG did adopt Chinese methods and strategies?
If one were to look beneath the rhetoric and hyperbole, might not this concept create some problems for Mr Tiensten's own government?
What methodologies for example, does the Chinese government use to curb
corruption?
Is Chinese culture readily able to be assimilated by the PNG people?
Do PNG people want to emulate the Chinese way of doing things?
Those with some experience of PNG culture and customs might well point out that a similar notion used to be bandied around some decades ago about PNG adopting western culture and ethics.
How successful was that concept in creating a society and government that eradicated corruption and enabled PNG to use its resources to build up a modern nation and allow its people to prosper?
It seems that the idea of 'further fields always being greener' hasn't changed in four decades.
Why not start looking at the mirror and working out what is going wrong at home rather than chasing the illusion of a rainbow
elsewhere?
______________________________ ___________________

Post Courier on line News
   Wednesday 24th November, 2010

'PNG is China of Pacific'

By MAUREEN SANTANA

PAPUA New Guinea can become the China of the Pacific, a minister said during the closing dinner of the MTDP and PNGDSP rollout in Kokopo recently.
Minister for Planning and Monitoring and District Development Paul Tiensten said: "The important thing as a country we must align with the government's plans."
The Minister said the two government initiatives have looked at all the perimeters and have planned accordingly and this may result in PNG becoming the China of the Pacific.
Mr Tiensten however said PNG must plan appropriately and it must be together with government's short and long term strategies.
He said it was important to look at the missing links and one area was the implementation framework.
He said the government commitment was there but it was up to each province to build the capacity within their districts and to implement the funds coming from the national government.
The minister said past governments had only looked at their political survival.
Mr Tiensten said however for the current Somare-Polye government the current plans were aligned to meet vision 2050 and the government was putting funds to encourage economic and development growth.
Mr Tiensten said there were talks among developers and other multi-national organisations that PNG was becoming the China of the Pacific.

Simon says: ‘Life begins at 40’

By MALUM NALU

Lae boy and longtime Papua New Guinea resident, Simon Merton, turned 40 last Saturday with big celebrations at his house at Korobosea in Port Moresby.

Simon Merton ready to blow out his 40 candles surrounded by wife Chairmaine, family and friends.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

 Family, friends and Hebou Construction workmates of Merton turned up at his birthday bash which started on Saturday afternoon and continued until Sunday.

 Guests included prominent commentator Reg Renagi, PNG Rugby Football League interim chairman Gary Juffa. Lae legend Terry Charles, pilot Sao Maliaki, former radio personality Uncle ET and many more.

 There was plenty of food, drink and a live band to keep everyone happy.

 Merton, the man-of-the-moment and an accomplished singer, took centre stage several times to wow party-goers.

 “I spent the last 40 years enjoying my life in PNG and am going to spend the next 40 doing my best to ensure our children get to enjoy their life in PNG,” he declares.

 “I love PNG and will do anything for my country.”

Yes … I am Santa!

 MISTER Ho Ho Ho dropped by yesterday to visit sick children at the Port Moresby General Hospital, The National reports.

Santa brought smiles as well gifts for all when he paid his annual visit from the North Pole, courtesy of the good staff of Coffey International, who helped in cash and kind.

After touring the hospital’s ward, Santa stopped by a bleary-eyed Sugui Eneri’s bed to hand over this special gift and all his special love for a speedy recovery.

“It brightens up their day,” duty officer Sister Maea Kauio said.

Santa and his Coffey International team rode off soon after, perhaps with Christmas tidings for other needy children in the city.

Coffey Global Quest started in 2000 in Adelaide, Australia, and is an initiative of the staff from Coffey International to help organisations in need of help.

15 foreign investment analysts visit LNG sites

A 15-man team of foreign investment analysts is  impressed with the oil operations at Oil Search Ltd and the activities at the PNG gas project sites, The National reports.

The team was in the country recently to have a first-hand look at the on-going gas and oil projects.

Later, they met with Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare.

OSL managing director Peter Botten and his team of executives hosted the team composed of fund managers, bankers and investors that included JB Morgan Securities, Norges Bank, JP Capital Partners, Macquarie Equities, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Asset Management, BNP Baribas Securities, Macquarie Securities and Nomura Securities.

They were told in detailed briefings that in 2014, gas from the oil producing fields, which is currently being re-injected into the fields, will be recovered and fed into the PNG LNG pipeline as the first gas off-take for overseas markets.

This excited the analysts and raised a lot of questions regarding the development and expansion of the central processing facility in Kutubu to cater for the LNG project and a host of other financing issues.

They also visited the construction site of the Hides gas conditioning plant and the first of a number of Hides well-pads that will feed plant.

Former managing director of Mineral Resources Development Corp Francis Kaupa – a structural engineer, who heads the civil works, ground clearance and infrastructure – gave the visitors a thorough briefing on the early works.

They also flew over Komo and saw the huge airport construction underway. When completed, this airport will take the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov.

Botten told the visitors that PNG, especially the Southern Highlands and the Gulf, was  attractive oil and gas provinces which raised the interests of a lot of potential investors

Most of the analysts were very pleased with what they saw and heard as they were driven through the heart of Hela region by road which allayed any fears they might have had about project security.

 

 

Budget passed

Shadow treasurer claims little achieved in last eight years

 

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

 

TREASURY and Finance Minister Peter O’Neill has declared 2011 as the “year of implementation” as parliament last night unanimously passed the record K9.3 billion money plan for next year, The National reports.

The budget, which had the support of almost all MPs from both sides of the house, was debated for six hours before being passed on voices.

The integrity law required parliament to vote on the budget along party lines, with parties submitting to the speaker a resolution of the decision of their caucus which way they would vote.

But, the government and the speaker decided that, since much of the integrity law was struck down by the Supreme Court, this voting requirement no longer applied.

O’Neill, who generally received warm reviews from parliament and the private sector on his first budget as treasurer, said implementation was a top priority if the government wanted to achieve targets and development goals and improve indicators.

“If we work within the budget framework, the targets set by the MTDP and the MDG will be achieved; the social and health indicators will improve.

“Public servants must roll up their sleeves and work with the private sector, with politicians leading from the front.”

O’Neill stressed that the monthly reviews of the budget he promised would be a crucial part of the government’s strategy in implementing the budget.

During debate, however, the budget took a hammering from shadow treasurer Bart Philemon.

Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta was overlooked by Speaker Jeffery Nape when he tried to present his comments of the budget, with Nape arguing that Sir Mekere had passed up his opportunity to speak by allowing Philemon to deliver the budget reply.

Sir Mekere left the chamber without speaking, and later released the text of his speech to the media.

Philemon said in his speech the government had achieved little despite eight years of stability and economic prosperity.

He said the government had spent K55 billion in eight years to achieve very little with corruption rising, the public service bloated and unproductive and eating K2 billion of the recurrent budget, and failure to broaden revenue base beyond mining and oil and gas sector.

Senior opposition MP and member for Abau Sir Puka Temu said the overall 2011 money plan was good news for the country.

He commended the treasurer and government for packaging a very good budget but the challenge was on implementation.

O’Neill said he was disappointed with the opposition’s reply, which lacked new initiative and substance.

“To tell you the truth, I am a bit disappointed given the experience in the opposition.

“We need constructive debate on the budget.

“I am happy that many people accepted the budget and the challenge is for us to implement on a timely basis,” O’Neill said outside parliament.

 

 

Bill on reserved seats goes back to cabinet

THE National Executive Council will meet today to make amendments to the bill to have 22 reserve seats for women in parliament, The National reports.

Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu said there were discrepancies in the Equality and Participation Bill which did not go down well with some members of parliament, who had refused to support the proposed legislation.

Dame Carol said the reserved seats for women would come from the 22 provincial electorates under the new arrangements before cabinet for endorsement before tabling in parliament.

She said previously, the proposal to have one provincial electorate with two seats did not go down well with the provincial governors.

Dame Carol said the alternate would be two provincial electorates, one for the governor and the reserved seat for a woman in parliament.

“It is the same boundary, and I know it sounds crazy, but one provincial electorate is for a woman and she will become an ordinary MP with no district support improvement programme (DSIP) grants.

“If the government) does not give women the K2 million discretionary funds, do not worry about it,” she said.

“Some people are saying it will cost so much, but, the cost is for salary and two staff; only a few millions but we can afford that.

“We are not going into parliament for money but to provide the gender balance and to speak on issues affecting the nation as women.”

More than 100 women leaders, attired in PNG-coloured meri blouses and laplaps fronted up at the parliament front gates to drum up support at lunchtime yesterday.

Dame Carol met the women and asked them to be patient and wait for another day or two as the bill would have to be amended and brought to cabinet.

“Be patient, we have waited a long time for this and we can wait for another one or two days.”

Dame Carol also told the women that some people had wanted to adjourn parliament after the budget but the prime minister had declined.

She said proper processes and procedures must be followed as some clever lawyer may challenge the bill in court.

“We do not want to pass the bill in a hurry and, later, being declared null and void by the courts. We have to do it properly.”

She said the eyes of Pacific Island countries were zeroing in on PNG as what was happening here could also be done in other Pacific Island countries to get reserve seats for women.

 

 

 

 

One more wasted budget, says Philemon

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

THE opposition yesterday criticised the 2011 Budget as another example of the government doing the same thing over and over again with little result, The National reports.

Shadow Treasurer Bart Philemon said the government had wasted eight years of political stability and has nothing to show for more than K55 billion it had spent during this period.

Holding up The National newspaper and pointing to the front page which had a picture of an overcrowded ward at the Port Moresby General Hospital with mothers sleeping on the floor to illustrate his point, Philemon said social indicators had deteriorated under this government.

He said with the budget showing a lot of microeconomic holes, it was built on “shifting sand” and not “solid rock” and would collapse.

Philemon told the government to realign their unproductive expenditure to a productive expenditure while looking back of the past experiences and comparing of how effective it would work when the K9.3 billion was implemented next year.

 “They are not working on reliable, accurate data and their monitoring and evaluation capacity is questionable.

“Despite the government achieving positive growth rates of up to 8% in consecutive years majority of our children do not attend primary school while major hospitals are always overcrowded and understaffed while our rural clinics and aidposts are rundown and with little or no drugs,” he said.

He said the people especially women and children in urban centres lived in constant fear of being robbed, mugged, raped or even killed while the agriculture sector had been neglected, heavily politicised and corrupted, and badly managed.

He said the highly-educated and competent citizens still had no formal jobs with unemployment estimated at more than 60% while basic services especially in the rural areas had deteriorated forcing people to move to town and cities in increasing numbers.

Philemon said agriculture should be the foundation for education and health but not much concern was given in addressing agriculture which was the back bone of the nation’s development.

 “There is nothing to celebrate or be proud about in the dire state of PNG including economic growth insufficient to impact households, poor performance on social indicators, absence of quality data or indicator framework for PNG, development plans have existed, but not well resourced, not linked to other plans and poorly implemented and the lack of fiscal discipline resulting to overspending and unproductive spending,” he said.