Stopping traffic in Times Square

It’s not often you get a Huli Wigman and an Asaro Mudman running loose in one of the world’s most popular locations – the Times Square in New York.

But that’s exactly what happened last week when Tourism Promotion Authority staff Oberia Ataku (wigman) and Kaleno Basina (mudman) adorned themselves in their traditional Papua New Guinea bilas and strutted their stuff along the crowded sidewalks and under the bright neon lights of Times Square.

American based internet news service Absolute Travel said in its latest edition: “It’s not easy to stand out in New York City but last week, our buddies from Papua New Guinea literally stopped traffic”.

The Wigman and Mudman also had wide-eyed revelers starring in awe as they strolled through SoHo’s swanky streets.  

Ataku and Basina were promoting PNG in New York and the North American market as part of a media and trade seminar organised by the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority’s United States office.

Papua New Guinea icon Mewie Launa dies in New Zealand

By MALUM NALU

One of the most-respected government business executives in the country, Mewie Launa, died from a suspected heart attack in New Zealand last Saturday.

Late Mewie Launa (right) with New Zealand Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand at Kabiufa outside Goroka in September 2009.-Picture by MALUM NALU

Launa, who was corporate affairs manager with the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) in Goroka, died from a suspected heart attack in Auckland, New Zealand, while on a business trip.

His body is in New Zealand awaiting repatriation to Papua New Guinea.

He was aged 56 from Chuave, Chimbu province, but was well-respected all over the country, especially his adopted home of Goroka for his work in business, community, sports, church

The FPDA took out a full-page advertisement in The National today announcing his death, which shocked many people, given the respect he commandeered in the country.

As word of his death started spreading, tributes started pouring in on social media sites such as Facebook, from family, friends and colleages

Launa was a well-known former rugby league player in Goroka and Port Moresby, and worked with Investment Corporation, Coffee Industry Corporation and FPDA.

Younger brother, former Chuave MP Peter Launa, said tonight that the family was still reeling from the shock of the sudden death.

“We are still in a state of shock,” he said.

“We will miss him.

“He was a unique Chimbu.”

Launa, while with the Investment Corporation was involved in co-operative societies, for which many people remember him for.

At the CIC, he was in a senior management position at a time when the industry faced so many crises such as Coffee Rust and the infamous Panga case, but helped to steer the ship through stormy waters.

He employed young people from all over the country with a view towards giving a new face towards PNG’s then often-controversial coffee industry.

At FPDA, which he joined after CIC, Launa was helping to set up so many vegetable projects in the country – such as the Potato Late Blight project - with a view towards the LNG project, including building of the new FPDA headquarters in Goroka,  when he passed away.

Ironically, he was closely involved with New Zealand Government support of the vegetable industry in PNG at the time of his death, which included him hosting New Zealand Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand at Kabiufa in September 2009.

New Zealand Herald News reported that Launa died from a suspected heart attack at a dinner before the Rugby World Cup semi-finals last Saturday.

Launa, who collapsed about 7.30pm as about 500 diners sat down to eat last Saturday night, was believed to be attending dinner with his wife and other FPDA executives.

Former All Black Andrew Mehrtens, who gave a speech at the dinner, said he, like many others at the dinner, was at first unaware of what was happening.

When word started to filter through there were mixed messages about what had happened to Launa

"We were about to go in there and do a couple of things as part of the entertainment and then we got told that someone had possibly had a cardiac arrest but then we also got told that he'd been taken out and possibly just passed out.

"We were reasonably oblivious to the gravity of it; they had the medics in there. They were working on him outside the actual function room."

St John staff worked on Launa for about 40 minutes but were unable to revive him.

Mehrtens, who didn't learn that Launa had died until after the function, said it was a difficult balancing act for the organisers but he believed they handled the situation well given the circumstances.

"I guess the tough thing for the organisers there is being sensitive to this guy and those around him in that sort of situation but at the same time not effectively cancelling the whole event, so I think they did it pretty well," Mehrtens said.

Please, do not pass judgement, says airline

 
AIRLINES PNG has appealed to everyone not to pass judgment at this difficult time until investigations into the causes of the disaster have been established, The National reports.

Simon Wild...'premature to say anything'

Two flight recorders, the cockpit voice recorder which records all conversation in the cockpit and the flight data recorder which records all instrument readings and other technical data throughout the aircraft, have been in Canberra, Australia, since Sunday and their contents are being examined.
Together with detailed forensic investigations of aircraft parts from the crash site and other examinations, investigators ought to collect a body of evidence sufficient to piece together what exactly caused the accident.
APNG chairman Simon Wild said yesterday that until that was concluded, it was premature to make any preemptory judgment that would be prejudicial to the future of the airline and its 530-member work force.
At the same time, the company is making strenuous efforts to contact relatives of those who died, offer condolences and assist them.
Wild spoke with staff of APNG to reassure them the company was doing everything possible to keep jobs safe and secure.
“I am very aware that at a time when so many lives have been lost that the focus is on the here and now. And so it should be,” Wild said in a statement.
“We are continuing to work closely with authorities to establish the cause of Thursday’s accident, and hope to receive some indication in the coming days.
“We have 530 PNG nationals with Airlines PNG and I know how important those jobs are to you, to your family and to the nation. I know that the work we do is essential not only to the PNG economy but to the very fabric of our national society.
“Our pilots and crew fly to and between places no one else goes, bringing cargo to people who otherwise would have difficulty receiving supplies like food and medicine. And it is absolutely vital that we all keep doing all those very necessary task into the future.
“I know that many people in our country depend on us as much as we depend on the citizens of our country.”
The company’s 10 Twin Otter fleet is continuing to service all its charter obligations to resources companies.
Wild said the companies had been gracious and trusted APNG enough to allow it to continue operations.
He said for the past few days the airline had conducted extensive checks of its engineering and safety procedures prior to the ill-fated flight and was confident that all procedures had been followed.

Death list duo alive and well

By FRANK SENGE KOLMA

Some of the 11 Airlines PNG Dash 8 aircraft now grounded at the Jackson Airport in Port Moresby.-Nationalpic by FRANK KOLMA

INVESTIGATIONS into the Madang Dash 8 crash has taken a bizarre twist with revelations that two of the “dead” passengers were in fact not on the ill-fated flight last Thursday, The National reports.
The two, Petrus Akau and Ronald Bibi, named on the flight manifest, are very much alive, investigators have learned.
Akau and Bibi had given their tickets to two other passengers who Madang provincial police commander last night named as Bernard James (for Akau) and Divu Langa (for Bibi).
In its attempt to contact all 28 relatives of persons on the manifest of Dash 8 aircraft, Airlines PNG turned up two passengers whose names were on the manifest but who had given away their tickets to two other persons.
This revelation further complicates the already difficult process of establishing the identity of all the 28 bodies that have been badly charred in the fiery crash near Marakum village in the Raicoast area.
Whether they are relatives who were offered the tickets or other persons who bought the tickets off the two passengers on the flight manifest remained a mystery

Locklyn Sabumei and the Goroka dream

By MALUM NALU

What do Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Chief Secretary Manasupe Zurenuoc, National Court judge Panuel Mogish, Airbus A380 pilot Captain Locklyn Sabumei and many other leading personalities of Papua New Guinea have in common?

Goroka boy Capt Locklyn Sabumei in the ‘front office’ of the Airbus A380

Give up?

They are all proud former students of Goroka Secondary School, one of the leading secondary educational institutions in the country, who will be putting their money where their heart is on Saturday.

There are many more including leading woman engineer Finkewe Zurenuoc, Goroka MP Thompson Haroqkave, Ungai-Bena MP Benny Allan, Chuave MP Jim Nomane, former MP John Nilkare, former Police Commissioner Henry Tokam, former Chief Magistrate John Numapo, former Kundiawa-Gembogl MP the late Joe Mek Teine and many, many more, from all over PNG.

They will be holding a fundraising dinner at Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, Vision City, on Saturday, October 22, to help the school raise funds to rebuild its science laboratory, which was razed by fire in June this year.

The dinner coincides with another pride of Goroka, the Bintangor Goroka Lahanis, playing in Sunday’s Digicel Cup grand final, meaning the place will be chock-a-block with Goroka supporters.

The school, formerly known as Goroka High School, has produced some of the finest in this country.

They have all been asked to help the school at this time of need.

A fundraising committee known as Asu Amiti Fundraising Committee has been set up in Goroka and Port Moresby since the burning down of the laboratory, and has already conducted several fundraising activities, which will culminate with Saturday's dinner.

Sabumei, who completed Grade 10 at the school in 1982 before going on to Sogeri National High School and then University of PNG, before switching to flying, recalls that those were among the best days of his life, which made him what he is today.

He admits that his interest in aviation started when he watched the first Air Niugini F28 to Goroka in 1979.

“ I enjoyed my days at Goroka High School, and it's a pity I don't have any photos from back then,” he told me from United Arab Emirates while taking a breaking from flying the mammoth super jumbo jet.

“(Prime Minister) Peter O'Neill and I were in the same class.

“He went directly to UPNG whilst I went to Sogeri National High School, and later met up with him at UPNG.

“I remember hanging out with my boarding friends after school and waiting for dinner time, because I loved the ‘flour’ that the cooks at the mess would make.

“Not the most-healthy meal by any standard, but it tasted good nevertheless!

“The teachers at the school were great.

“I especially remember my maths teacher in Grade 10, Sister Linda.

“She was a Catholic nun from Germany that taught at the school.

“Her teaching style was fun and encouraging, and she made learning maths very enjoyable.

“I also remember enjoying agriculture class to the extent that I ordered day-old chicks, guinea fowls and guinea pigs from Lae, to look after in my back yard.

“For a while there, I thought my calling was Agriculture.

“The school also had a cockatoo that we used to take great pleasure in teaching many not-so- polite words, and for which we repeatedly got told off by the principal, Mr Egan, at morning assembly.

“My interest in aviation started whilst I was at Goroka High School.

“I remember the school giving us half a day off to go see the F28's first flight to Goroka, around 1979 I think.

“That just spurred things along.

“My friends and I would walk to the airport, and stand by the fence closest to the departure end of the runway, and stare at planes for hours on end.

“All the while thinking to myself....one day I'll fly those.

“Years later, when I was in Air Niugini and flying to Goroka, I saw other kids doing the same thing along the fence and thought, ‘wow...dreams do become reality’.

“Twenty-five years in commercial aviation later, I’m still living the dream.”

Fundraising committee member and businessman Jeno Aeno, owner of Oxford Medical Supplies and a former classmate of O’Neill and Sabumei, urged all former students to attend the dinner.

Tickets are on sale in three categories – gold for K10, 000, silver for K5, 000 and bronze for K3, 000 – while individual tickets can be purchased for K150.

“I’m an ex-Goroka High School student and also a landowner from Kama village,” Aeno said.

“I feel obliged that I should support the fundraising drive.

“The school has produced some of the most highly-respected people in the country.

“It is one of the biggest secondary schools in the country, just like Kokopo Secondary School in East New Britain and Bugandi Secondary School in Lae.

“The school continues to produce brilliant students for the universities in the country and overseas.

 “We’re having ex-students from places like Alotau, Kokopo, Tabubil, Lae and Madang calling us to purchase tickets,” he said.

“These people are going to spend their own money to fly in just for the dinner.

“It’s also becoming like a big reunion for the school.”

Aeno said apart from students, many former staff would also be attending Saturday's dinner, such as former longtime principal Bernadette Ove, Karoko Asimi and others.

“They are very fond of the time the spent in Goroka,” he said.

Aeno said they were already assured of support from National Gaming Control Board, Post PNG, JDA Wokman, Eyechen and National Maritime Safety Authority.

He is already putting his money where his mouth is, with Oxford paying for four tables at a cost of K19, 000.

Former students and supporters of the school who wish to attend the dinner can call Oxford Medical Supplies on telephone 325 4874.

Crash reports will be made public, says Prime Minister

PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill has assured relatives and the public that the investigation report into the fatal air crash that claimed 28 lives will be made public, The National reports.
O'Neill, during his meeting with the Modilon General Hospital board and management said he hoped the crash investigation was completed to give some relief to relatives on the cause of the accident.
"Civil Aviation Safety Authority has grounded all Airlines PNG Dash 8 fleet to do an audit on all its aircraft, the background to see if there is an issue on manufacturer and safety. Until that is done, APNG will remain grounded," O'Neill said
He said the recent crash involving Airlines PNG aircraft in Madang and the 2009 crash in Kokoda were not related.
He said he had asked the PNG Accident Investigation Commission chief executive officer David Inau to make available the 2009 Kokoda crash report which should be ready by now.
O'Neill said it had taken some time for that report but said investigations of aircraft crash reports were slow because of the nature of the investigations.
He appealed to the family and relatives of the dead in the Madang air crash to be patient while awaiting DNA testing with the help of the Australian authorities to identify the bodies.
He said the investigations would reveal the outcome that the government wanted to take note of and make cabinet decisions to ensure the safety of the travelling public.
O'Neill admitted that after 36 years of independence, road infrastructure was still a problem and the people would continue to use air transport.

O’Neill commits K500,000 for evacuation and funeral

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill has announced the national government's commitment of K500,000 towards the repatriation and funeral of the 28 passengers killed in the Airlines PNG crash near Madang, The National reports.
"The government is committing K500,000 for evacuation and funeral.
"The government will do everything possible to ensure we transport them back to their villages to be given the respect they deserve with a decent burial," O'Neill said.
He also promised to ensure legislations were tightened to ensure such air accidents were not repeated.
"We will work closely with the airlines to ensure safety standards are maintained.
"The government remains committed that safety standard is maintained at the highest level," he said.
O'Neill visited the crash site yesterday.
The government dele­gation included Civil Aviation Minister Puri Ruing, Madang Gover­nor James Gau and Prime Minister's chief of staff Ben Micah.
They travelled by the Falcon jet to Madang yesterday morning before taking a 10-minute helicopter ride to the crash site.
O'Neill led the wreath laying on the propellers of the aircraft.
A one-minute silence was observed before he asked Micah to end the solemn occasion with a prayer for those who lost their lives.
"Terrible," O'Neill said after taking into account the enormity of the crash scene when he walked through the crash site.
"It is history for this country to have such a big loss of lives in a single plane crash," he said.
He said his visit to the crash site was to pay his respect to the victims and also to personally pass on his thank you and appreciation on behalf of the government to the villagers who helped saved four lives and removed the bodies.
O'Neill attended a memorial service at the Divine Word University where he personally met the grieving students who lost their family members on the ill-fated flight.
He told the service of his visit to the crash site which he said was by far the biggest loss of lives in the country's 36 year history.
He thanked the Divine Word university community, public servants, Australian air investigators and Australian Federal Police for their quick response to assist PNG.
He later visited the Modilon General Hospital where he met staff and management.

Australian forensic experts to help identify burnt bodies

A FORENSIC team from Australia yesterday arrived to conduct DNA tests on the victims of the Airlines PNG Dash 8 crash, The National reports.
Modilon General Hospital director of medical services Dr Billy Selvi said the hospital was short-staffed and faced other issues that had largely left staff demoralised.
Since last Friday, the hospital had became the centre of attraction as relatives of the dead converged hoping to see the remains being brought in after several helicopter trips.
Boston Jack, the morgue attendant, said yesterday a team that returned to the crash site had recovered two more skulls.
One of the four survivors is a Malaysian, Chin Ku Fa, who suffered 27% burns. He is in stable condition.

Work begins on recovering parts

By ANGELINE KARIUS

FOUR Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) officers have yet to start investigation at the crash site, according to Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) officer on the ground Lesley Sefue, The National reports.
Sefue, who is heading the team, confirmed that ATSB had two aircraft engineers in the country – one in Madang and the other in Port Moresby.
He said the team had flown in from Australia at the weekend to assist PNG investigators establish the cause of the accident.
"We have yet to commence investigation into the crash leading into the second day.
"Right now we are still removing components of the aircraft's engine and securing it from possible rain.
"There is still no concrete evidence linking the crash," Sefue said, adding there would be no information made public when investigations start.
Sefue said three Airlines PNG aircraft engineers have joined the investigators and were also providing assistance.
He also said the crash site had been sealed off and guarded to protect evidence and also because of potential health hazard.

InterOil: Fuel not contaminated

FUEL distributor InterOil yesterday denied that its fuel may have been contaminated, leading to last Thursday's Dash 8 aircraft crash in Madang, The National reports,
PNG Accident Investigation Commission chief executive officer David Inau also ruled out the contamination theory put forward by a Lae businessman which The Australian newspaper reported at the weekend.
InterOil general manager Peter Diezmann said in a media statement that immediately following the crash, it initiated its standard operating procedure to quarantine relevant fuel sources and facilities, freeze aircraft operations and engaged with the Civil Aviation Safety authority to ensure that appropriate testing could be undertaken.
He said the company undertook the testing to determine if its fuel were contaminated as speculated.
"The company was concerned for the safety of other air travellers, even though it was unlikely that their fuel would have contributed to the accident, therefore, all fuel distribution was stopped to allow for the testing," he said.
Diezmann said the bad fuel theory was ruled out because another 15 aircraft also refuelled at Nadzab Airport, Lae, from the same batch of aviation fuel last Thursday.
He said initial testing and analysis of the fuel confirmed that the fuel supplied to the aircraft in Lae fully complied with specifications.
Diezmann said comprehensive testing has now been completed by a specialist independent laboratory and consequently CASA had cleared the company's refuelling operations.
He said as a result of the clearance, refueling operations at Nadzab had recommenced.
Asked yesterday to comment on fuel contamination, Inau said: "We would discount that."
He has set up office at Madang airport to coordinate efforts to determine the cause of the crash which killed 28 people.
"If contaminants were in the fuel they would have caused the engine to flame out.
"But the way the fire tore out the plane shows it could be other causes which may be related to other factors.
"So yes, we are still trying to figure out what the bang, which people say they have heard, is all about".
Meanwhile, a team from Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturers of the Dash 8 aircraft, and a team from Pratt and Whitney, engine makers of the plane, arrived yesterday in Madang and will visit the crash site today.
Airlines PNG, meanwhile, had grounded its remaining 11 Dash 8 aircraft, hoping to resume as soon as clearance is given.

Prime Minister visits crash site

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill yesterday visited the crash site of last Thursday’s horrific air tragedy outside Madang and offered K500,000 to repatriate the bodies for proper burials, The National reports.

Brother and sister John Paul and Paula Matlam in the company of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill at Madang's Divine Word University yesterday. They lost family members in the Airlines PNG Dash 8 aircraft disaster last Thursday.-Nationalpic by JAYNE SAFIHAO

The repatriation of bodies, however, will have to await DNA testing by an Australian forensic team to establish the identities of the deceased as most bodies had been burnt beyond recognition.
The team was yesterday briefed and set up office within the Madang hospital grounds to begin work today.
They are to take blood or mouth swabs from relatives to establish DNA matches with the bodies of the dead.
In selected spots in many parts of the country, the traditional haus krai, or places of mourning, had been set up for friends and relatives to gather and express their grief for the 28 who perished.
Meanwhile, the sole supplier and distributor of fuel, InterOil, declared yesterday that the fuel was not contaminated as suggested in media reports.
General manager Peter Diezmann said the company undertook the testing immediately after the crash to determine whether its fuel were contaminated but after further comprehensive testing, CASA cleared the fuel operations.
Bad fuel has also been ruled out by the PNG Accident Investigation Commission chief executive officer David Inau.
A team also arrived yesterday from Canada from Bombardier who manufacture the airframe and from Pratt & Whitney, the engine makers to undertake their own investigation into the crash.
Air Niugini, which flies Dash 8 in its own fleet, continued its operations after doing its own investigations and after receiving assurances from the aircraft manufacturers that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft.
O’Neill, accompanied by Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Puri Ruing, yesterday laid a wreath at the site of the crash and attended mass at the Divine Word University where he comforted students who lost parents and relatives in the crash.

O'Neill, Madang Governor James Gau (centre) and a government official observing a minute of silence at the crash site.-Nationalpic by ISAAC NICHOLAS

The university has set up a haus krai and has established counselling services for the students affected

Merger proposal off, says prime minister

By WALLACE KIALA

PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill says the proposed merger between Air Niugini and Airlines PNG has been cancelled, The National reports.
The government's decision comes because of the tragic plane crash last Thursday, the worst air disaster in the nation's history.
The Dash 8 aircraft crashed near Madang, killing 28 of the 32 people on board.
While conveying his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, O'Neill said the Independent Public Business Corporation would be directed to review other business alternatives.
It would also put in place aviation safety options and look at planning a way forward for the aviation industry.
"Government has heard what the people and the unions have said and has decided to cancel it (the merger)," O'Neill said.
He was speaking at the launch of the National Airports Corporation last Friday. His announcement was greeted with applause from the company's management and staff.
An NAC senior officer was reportedly among one of those killed in the plane crash.
The decision by government to have the merger dissolved now puts to rest speculation and issues from the public, individuals, private and public institutions and the airline workers unions on the implications of the merger.
The National Executive Council last month approved in principle the merger by the two major airlines.
There has been increasing concern raised against it by the public and private institutions.
When announcing the merger last month, O'Neill said the major result would be the significant expansion of air services.
He had said only 32 airports had scheduled airline services.
More than a week ago, members of the National Airline Employees Association, the National Pilots Union, Flight Attendants Association, Air Niugini Engineers Association and the airport fire fighter union marched from Jackson International Airport to the Air Niugini head office at 7-Mile to protest against the proposed merger.
They had a petition to the airline management, saying a merger would not deliver any financial, commercial and credible gains to Air Niugini and the people.

Passenger list released

AIRLINES PNG grounded its remaining 11 Dash 8 aircraft last Friday while investigations started into last Thursday's horrific crash that claimed 28 lives, The National reports.
Eleven of the 28 people on the ill-fated flight were parents and family members of students at the Divine Word University who had gone to participate in a thanksgiving ceremony last Friday.
The university held a candle-lit vigil in remembrance over the weekend.
Those who died in the accident were Sidy Abore, Patrus Akau, Jeffrey Ako, Lucas Bako, Jenny Bal, Ronold Bibi, Samuel Bid, Natasha Bonga, Nathan Bonga, Cotilda Bula, Jeffrey Bula, Saron Doma, Ian Gagi, Benedict Kanaiu, Paul Konia, Thomas Kuekue, Esher Matlam, Christine Matlam, David Olobai, Samson Ote, Barnabas Philip, Debura Rabura, Miria Renagi, Anki Saiyong, Robert Sanglela, Mark Save, Simon Tiriman and Cecilia Wata.
As six Australian forensic experts were dispatched to assist with identification of almost all the bodies which have been burnt beyond recognition, APNG also announced that experts from aircraft frame manufacturers DeHavilland in Canada were also on their way and should be at the site today.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill is also expected to visit the site and to participate in a memorial service at Divine Word University today.
Two black boxes, the flight recorders, were retrieved and could give vital details to investigators on what exactly happened in the final moments on board DHC-8 P2-MCJ.
An eyewitness, Amos Titus, from Marakum village told The National that there was a loud noise in the air and there was smoke pouring from the tail of the aircraft as it flew low over the sea.
"The smoke was blowing from the tail of the aircraft," Titus said in Tok Pisin.
"And fuel was pouring from the plane because it was dripping flames behind it as it approached. Where ever the fuel dripped on leaves of trees, the leaves burst into flames.
"The plane hit the branch of a tree and it flew off and then the tail broke apart and the plane hit the ground. It skidded for about 150m before it hit a tree and stopped.
"I was so shocked. I had never seen anything like it.
"I heard screams inside but the fire was too hot to do anything. Only one Chinese man jumped out and we helped him to safety."
APNG chairman Simon Wild pledged the airline's total commitment to establish the cause of last Thursday's tragic crash and support the families of the 28 victims.
He said APNG was "100% committed to finding out" the truth about the cause of the crash.
"We want and need to know too, and when we do, we will share our knowledge with you.
"That is why we have opened our books and made our people available to the investigating authorities, why there is a team from Canada representing the airframe manufactures and the engine makers on site today, and why we will share the community's pain until we know.
"My personal commitment to you is that, until we are confident there are no safety issues with our Dash-8 fleet, they will stay on the ground."