PNG seeks more Indian investments

Source: The National,Monday,  February 11, 2013

By MALUM NALU

PAPUA New Guinea is moving to pursue direct investment relations with Asian economic power India, according to Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Richard Maru.
He told reporters last Friday that despite PNG establishing formal diplomatic relationships with India in 2006, it had failed to bring in direct investments from India.
Maru, who addressed a global partnership summit in India last month,  said statistics from 2010-11 showed that India imported US$100.56 million worth of products from PNG, while exporting US$17.58 million worth of products to PNG.
PNG’s main exports to India are gold, copper, timber, copra, marine products, coffee, vanilla and cocoa.
India’s main exports to PNG are textiles, machinery, food, manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, surgical items, soap, washing detergents/powder, polishes, paper and paper pulp.
“It’s important that we understand that India is going to be the third biggest economy in the world, second only to China (in the Asia-Pacific),” Maru said.
“India is growing and evolving and its growth rate sits at around 6.6%.”
Maru urged acting secretary for Foreign Affairs Lucy Bogari, Internal Revue Commision commissioner Betty Palaso and Investment Promotion Authority managing director Ivan Pomaleu to fast track finalisation of agreements between the two countries and to work in consultation with PNG’s high commissioner to India Tarcisius Eri
He highlighted that Indian companies had expertise in satellites, private power stations, private highways and private education institutions.
“India is very keen on establishing businesses in the country, including the resource sector,” Maru said.
“There is huge potential and scope to develop and enhance trade and investment relations between the two countries, considering the fact that India is one of the economic powerhouses of the world and is a major hub for a lot of companies and businesses, with strong average annual growth of 6% to 8%.
“India’s engagement has progressively increased with PNG in both trade and investment.
“Their major economic relations with PNG are in the fields of energy, education, telecommunication and information technology.”
Meanwhile, on his return, Maru stopped over in Singapore and met his counterpart minister Lim Hng Kiang and several companies with interest in PNG’s fisheries and financial sectors
“The Singapore government has strongly urged PNG to hold an investment seminar in Singapore to promote PNG’s investment opportunities in the region,” he said.
 

New microbank gets licence

Source: The National,Monday, February 11, 2013

BANK of PNG governor Loi Bakani has presented a licence to the board of People’s Micro Bank Ltd, an entity owned and run by the National Development Bank.
People’s Micro Bank was granted a licence on Jan 15.
“People’s Micro Bank Ltd was licenced under the Banks and Financial Institutions Act 2000, as a licenced financial institution operating as a microbank,” Bakani said.
“The granting of this licence reflects the government’s commitment to make financial services accessible to the rural population through vehicles like microfinance institutions.”
Bakani, in welcoming the board of the new licence holder last Friday, said the Central Bank’s financial inclusion initiatives, which were in support of the Governments Vision 2050 objective for a financially inclusive population, through wealth-creation to reduce poverty.
“Its priorities include the creation of a National Centre for Financial Inclusion (NCFI) to conduct financial literacy training for the unbanked population in the rural and urban areas, develop capacity building programmes for microfinance institutions, develop an appropriate regulatory framework for supervision of MFIs and facilitate access to finance for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) through a risk share facility,” he said.
“The Central Bank has prioritised financial inclusion as one of its key objectives and is working very closely with other partners to achieve it.
“The priority areas included:  continuous promotion of developments in the microfinance sector; the roll out of mobile and electronic banking; advocacy on financial literacy and financial education; and improvement of the national payment system.”
Bakani stressed that having a financially literate population was the key to drive other initiatives.
“If people understand the basics of finance and how one can create wealth with it, it will enable them to make good decisions on where and how to save or invest,” he said.
“People’s Micro Bank Ltd should make good use of its licence to strategically move it forward and is better placed to assist people in rural areas currently underserved in terms of accessing financial services.”
 Bakani also welcomed the new entity to partner the bank in its efforts to reach out to the 85% of the population that was unbanked or underserved. 
 

Hindus urge strong legislation in Papua New Guinea for sorcery related killings

The Jet

Fiji's Community Newspaper

Shocked by the reported brutal torturing and burning alive of a young woman on sorcery accusations on February six, Hindus are urging Papua New Guinea to come up with a strong legislation to deal with growing sorcery-related killings.
According to reports, a 20-year old mother of one was burned alive in front of hundreds of people in Papua New Guinea on the accusation of using sorcery to kill a boy aged six years.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that this barbaric act was highly unacceptable in the 21st century world.

Rajan Zed

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter Charles Paire O’Neill to take this issue seriously and besides tougher legislation, also launch an educational campaign in the country. Papua New Guinea religious leaders should also help in raising awareness, Zed added.
Moreover, Papua New Guinea also needed to do serious soul searching on the treatment of women, Rajan Zed noted.

We'll defend Manus to the hilt: PNG

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

PAPUA New Guinea's government will "defend to the hilt" a legal challenge being brought against the Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island.

Lawyers acting on behalf of PNG Opposition Leader Belden Namah are seeking to have the Manus facility declared unconstitutional and will ask the court to temporarily stop asylum seeker transfers until it has made its final decision.

The asylum-seeker detention centre at Manus Island is facing a court challenge in Papua New Guinea. Source: AAP

But Attorney-General Kerenga Kua says the government has not been served with any court documents notifying them of the challenge in the Court of Human Rights on Tuesday morning.
"We are informally aware of its existence and of the need for tomorrow's scheduled mention in court. Somebody will be attending as a friend of the court to find out what's going on," Mr Kua said.
"If we haven't been served, nothing can happen, it can't be heard and we want to be heard ... we will defend this to the hilt."

Loani Henao, of Henaos Lawyers, who is bringing the challenge on behalf of the opposition, says the government was served with the documents on February 2.
"The government's lawyers have acknowledged that," he said.
"They have filed a notice of an intention to defend."
There are 274 detainees at the temporary Manus facility - including more than 30 children - living in conditions that have been widely criticised as inhumane.
Mr Kua has argued the site is legal under the nation's immigration law, which grants power to the immigration minister to set up a processing facility.
Mr Henao says that's unconstitutional.
"The memorandum of understanding between Australia and PNG is unconstitutional on the basis that it allows the PNG government to bring in asylum seekers from a foreign country, and the minute they put their foot on PNG territory, they are arrested," he said.
"We're saying every person - whether you're a national, PNG citizen or a foreigner - when you come into the country you have your personal liberty guaranteed under the constitution.
"They were made to come in and then were arrested."
Mr Kua has in the past rejected the definition of the site as a detention centre.
"We are providing them with a place to live," he told AAP in January.
"It's not a detention centre, as people call it.
"There is no law in our country that authorises us to establish a detention centre. But under our migration act, the minister can set up a processing facility."
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently labelled the centre unlawful.
The agency released a damning report on February 4 slamming conditions at the facility - which mostly comprises tents - and called for the transfer of children there to be suspended.
It said the situation was at odds with Australia's international obligations, and children should not be transferred there until all appropriate legal and administrative safeguards were in place.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who visited the site in late January, said children were witnessing self-harm and suicide attempts by adults.
The Australian government announced a deal with New Zealand on Saturday to send 150 refugees a year across the Tasman from centres such as Manus and the one on Nauru.
The court hearing is expected to start at 1030 (AEDT) on Tuesday before Justice David Canning in Port Moresby.

The ‘paper farmers’ of PNG

This article first appeared in The National Weekender on Friday, February 8, 2013

The Department of Agriculture and Livestock needs a complete overhaul, writes MALUM NALU

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill admission last week that bogus farmers swindled up to K300 million from the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) fund from 2009 to 2011 is a sad story of con artists stealing from the genuine, hardworking farmers of PNG.

All pictures are of fresh vegetables being sold in Goroka Market, Eastern Highlands, by genuine farmers.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

Further to this, revelations that the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) overspent its budget by K40 million last year, raises questions whether or not it should exist at all – in this, Peter O’Neill’s ‘year of implementation’.

I have grown up with agriculture, have worked within the industry for the Coffee Industry Corporation, and have covered it widely over the last 25 years as a journalist.

Nothing, however, has been more saddening than the saga of the “paper farmers of Waigani” and the non-performance of the DAL.

In my wanderings around the country, I have stories about these insidious, grim reapers using their ill-gotten funds to buy expensive new vehicles, drink beer and play pokies, and even campaign for the 2012 elections.

Back in 2009, one of the best-ever former secretaries of DAL, Mathew Wela Kanua, warned at the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Committee’s national development forum that the NADP should be abolished.

At the very same forum, vice minister for agriculture and livestock Jimmy Simitab, dropped a bombshell when he declared that his department was no longer capable of running agriculture in PNG.

More than three years later, and with millions of kina lost to the “paper farmer” con artists, it now looks to me that the government should have listened to the words of Kanua and Simitab.

A number of speakers at the 2009 forum questioned where the funds for NADP in the last two years were and what the programme had achieved.

Kanua fired a broadside at the NADP as well as the DAL, which he formerly headed, saying that it should be abolished.

In a no-holds barred comment at the forum, Kanua said it was the overwhelming feeling of the agriculture sector that it was getting nowhere, despite the massive K1 billion to be poured into the NADP over the next 10 years at K100 million annually.

Kanua, who was outspoken in his fight against corruption at DAL during his tenure as secretary, also bluntly told the forum that the DAL should be abolished as it was unproductive.

“It is worrying and it is sad that we are getting nowhere,” he said.

“It seems to be an overwhelming concern from the agriculture sector that we are getting nowhere.

“What are we going to show for the K1 billion?

“What are we going to have in 10 years time to show for it?”

Kanua said this money should be spent in partnership with the private sector to grow agriculture in PNG.

“That was the reason why we created the National Agriculture Development Plan,” he said.

“When I left the department, I said that it should be closed, because it was completely incapable.”

Simitab made the frank admission that DAL was incapable of running the much talked about NADP and all overriding functions should be taken over by the National Agriculture Council (NAC).

The minister recommended the establishment of the NAC as the apex body in agriculture be given high consideration by the forum and the CIMC.

Simitab said one of the most-important recommendations of the Public Sector Review and Monitoring Unit (PMRSU) in 2005 was an overhaul of the DAL; however, this had not been implemented over the last five years.

“The findings of this review remain unimplemented, hitherto, the sad state of affairs in DAL over the last five years,” he said.

Simitab said it was perceived that the NAC, once legislated, would recognise existing commodity and statutory bodies, with overriding powers to maintain and sustain the NADP.

“In fact, the national government, in approving and adopting the NADP in March 2007, had directed that a further institutional and legislative reform be undertaken to improve the management of the sector with NADP,” he said.

“Given the state of reforms that have occurred in agriculture to this point, it is obvious that DAL is neither a capable nor an appropriate ‘lead agency’ without an entity such as NAC as its apex body.

“The suggestion that NAC be chaired by the minister for agriculture and livestock, with membership of no more than 10 people appointed by the head of state on advice, has great merits, on a number of fronts.

“First, it will act independently of all agencies of the sector, and has links to DAL only for policy and technical guidance.

“Secondly, it will establish its own sub-sectoral liaison mechanisms to capture development resource requirements of each sub-sector as well as from each district, for budget purposes and for monitoring and evaluation.

“Thirdly, the entity shall provide a one-stop-shop for investors, and coordination of donor support for agriculture.

“Finally, it shall provide an effective mechanism for the policy coordination of the sector, and the management of annual fiscal support for agriculture through NADP.”

Simitab said the concept of an ‘agricultural council’ being an apex body for the sector was not a foreign concept as it had already been practiced in several emerging Asian economies, including Taiwan and South Korea.

Magical Tambul, Western Highlands, on the foothills of the mighty Mt Giluwe, is one of my favorite places in the country where the ‘bestest and freshest’ vegetables in PNG grow.

In fact, it is the single biggest producer of fresh vegetables in the country such as potatoes, broccoli, cabbages and cauliflower.

In March 2011, while in Tambul for the National Agriculture Research Institute field day, I bumped into Tambul-Nebilyer MP and then civil aviation minister, Benjamin Poponawa.

He says the lessons of the massive corruption involved in the NADP must never be repeated if 
agriculture in PNG is to prosper.

Poponawa has, in the past, been blunt in his anger at NADP funds being stolen by “paper farmers” in Waigani who may have never touched a fork or spade in their lives.

“We already know the experience of the NADP,” he said.

“The people who ran the NADP did not think about the people, rather, about filling their own pockets.”

Poponawa called on the government not to forget about agriculture, despite the massive resource developments in the country such as gas, minerals and oil.

“Agriculture will be with us all the time,” he said.

“Gas, oil and gold will run out.

This week, visiting ANZ CEO, Mike Smith, talked about the enormous potential for PNG agriculture in the ‘Asian Century’.

No “implementation”, however, Mr O’Neill, in the face of ‘paper farmers’ and the farce that is the DAL!

Will horror force Papua New Guinea to protect its women?

By: Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific Editor 
 The Australian

FEW people in Papua New Guinea die, however elderly or frail, without someone in their often vast extended family or neighbourhood muttering darkly: "Em I no indai nating." ("They didn't just die.")

In this world view, there must be a reason beyond the mere physical. The shadow world of spirits is ever-present - and available for manipulation by those with the arcane keys.
These are sanguma men or meri - male or female sorcerers, people who for the most part conceal their skills cunningly.
There are benign sorcerers, who are available to help heal, improve food garden productivity, obtain good exam results or, of course, lure an attractive person to fall in love with you - for a consideration, of course. Some offer a tariff list.
In a remote world lacking scientific explanation, in which life could be brutish and short, it was natural that people sought not only a way to understand how their world worked, but also to find a way to take a measure of control over it.

But that magic retains the degree of influence it does in PNG disappoints the mainstream churches, which claim the allegiance of most of the seven million population, and points to the failure both of the education system and of economic development. The shocking death this week of Kepari Lanieta, 20, from Porgera in Enga province, the mother of an eight-month-old baby, has riveted the country.
A six-year-old boy had died after complaining of stomach and chest pains in hospital in Mount Hagen, the largest city in the Highlands.
His relatives, who come from the same area as Lanieta, pointed the blame at her, branding her a sorcerer, invading her home, torturing her with a hot iron bar, stripping her naked, tying her up, setting her alight and throwing her on a rubbish heap.
Passers-by photographed the scene with mobile phones.
Appallingly, such sorcery killings remain comparatively common in PNG. Although the perpetrators often seek admiration for their crimes, few end up in court.
No one has yet been charged in Mount Hagen, even though PNG police commissioner Tom Kulunga described the murder as "shocking and devilish", and "totally unacceptable in the 21st century".
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has also spoken out forcefully against such "barbaric killings", pointing out that it is usually "women, the old and the weak" who are the targets, the scapegoats for ignorance, fear and revenge.
It took the rape and murder of a 23-year-old Indian student in a New Delhi bus to galvanise parliament and the justice agencies to take crimes against women seriously.
Is it possible that Lanieta's brutal killing could trigger a similar popular campaign in PNG, which could lead to appropriate legislative and educational reform, and to a tough response from the police and courts?

Papua New Guinea: Mass Insanity . . .

Jillian Page

The Montreal Post

 

I’m shaking my head after reading yet another article about the depths to which people stuck in warped superstitious belief systems of the past will sink:
CBC Newsworld has a report out of Papua New Guinea about a young woman accused of witchcraft who was stripped, bound and tortured and then burned alive in front of hundreds of witnesses.
Apparently, CBC is reporting, “Some of the hundreds of bystanders took photographs of Wednesday’s brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were published on the front pages of the country’s biggest circulating newspapers, The National and Post-Courier.”
To quote an old Bruce Cockburn song: “If I had a rocket launcher, I would retaliate . . .”
Stupid, stupid, stupid, ignorant people! But they do know how to use cameras and to light fires.
Moral of the story: stay far, far away from Papua New Guinea, unless you can cast a spell on the imbeciles there and make them disappear.
Just sayin’ . . .
Jillian

Hindus urge strong legislation In Papua New Guinea for sorcery related killings‏

Written by Albany Tribune

February 7, 2013

Shocked by the reported brutal torturing and burning alive of a young woman on sorcery accusations on February six, Hindus are urging Papua New Guinea to come up with a strong legislation to deal with growing sorcery-related killings.
According to reports, a 20-year old mother of one was burned alive in front of hundreds of people in Papua New Guinea on the accusation of using sorcery to kill a boy aged six years.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that this barbaric act was highly unacceptable in the 21st century world.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to take this issue seriously and besides tougher legislation, also launch an educational campaign in the country. Papua New Guinea religious leaders should also help in raising awareness, Zed added.
Moreover, Papua New Guinea also needed to do serious soul searching on the treatment of women, Rajan Zed noted.

BHP Billiton versus Papua New Guinea

By Luke Hunt

The Diplomat

From the halls of political power in Port Moresby to the corporate boardroom of BHP Billiton in Melbourne, a battle is emerging over the continued mining for copper and gold at the Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea’s far western Star Mountains.

Ok Tedi mine

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is warning his government might not extend the life of the mine, once licenses expire later this year, unless BHP agrees to some changes to the terms of ownership. O’Neill has also requested assurances over environmental safeguards.
Environmental issues plagued the project in the 1980s, and the Australian miner reported that mining operations had caused major environmental damage to the Fly River in 1999.
Ownership of the operation was then restructured with BHP’s 63.4 percent stake placed in the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP).
The governments of PNG and Western Province hold the remainder of the balance in PNGSDP, a trust headed by economist Ross Garnaut. The trust effectively indemnified BHP Billiton against environmental damage while PNGSTD acted as the mine’s operator.
BHP took a step back from the operations while the fund amassed $1.4 billion to be set aside for the people of PNG. Garnaut said that this “was going to be certainly the largest act of corporate philanthropy”. Control of those funds has been cited as a core issue, although O’Neill has denied this.
Garnaut recently retired, and BHP’s practice of appointing three of the seven board members has ceased, giving room for the PNG government to have a larger say. This led to charges that BHP has not done enough to protect the environment and O’Neill has said he’s not convinced the mine is worth it.
He went so far as to say that BHP needed to shed its “colonial era” mentality.
The dispute has a familiar ring.
Mining has provided PNG with one of its few steady income streams. The Ok Tedi Mine contributed more than 25 percent to the government’s bottom line, while plans are well advanced for a massive expansion of the industry over the next two decades.
However, around the region the argument over environmental damage and the distribution of wealth from the mining industry – with little trickling down to those living in the immediate vicinity of a mine – has been heating up, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines.
In PNG, there seems little to gain by pointing the finger.
O’Neill is well liked and his government is considered a breath of fresh air in light of the corruption and political infighting that plagued previous governments. Of equal importance, BHP is among the world’s largest miners, but it has also been a heavy promoter of sustainable development since the 1990s.
How these two resolve this dispute should become a focus for governments around the region who are obviously attracted to the wealth a mine can generate, but who also fear a voter backlash over environmental and wealth distribution issues.

United Nations denounces "sorcery" crimes in Papua New Guinea

GENEVA (Reuters) - A woman was burnt alive in Papua New Guinea this week after townspeople accused her of sorcery, the United Nations said on Friday, citing the "heinous crime" as part of a growing pattern of vigilante attacks on people accused of witchcraft.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on authorities in Papua New Guinea to investigate such crimes and bring their perpetrators to justice.
A 1971 law defining sorcery as a crime in the South Pacific nation should be repealed, Pillay's spokeswoman said.
"We are deeply disturbed by reports of the torture and killing of a 20-year-old woman accused of sorcery in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, on February 6," U.N. human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told a news briefing in Geneva.
Kepari Leniata was burnt alive in front of a crowd by relatives of the 6-year-old boy whom she was accused of using sorcery to kill, she said. Attempts by law enforcement officials to intervene failed.
"We note with great concern that this case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea," Pouilly added.
The U.N. human rights office was able to document a case of five people, three of them women, who were tortured for 20 days and killed last November after being accused of using sorcery to kill others in Jiwaka province, she said.
"We think it is clearly under-reported, because many of these cases happen in rural areas and go unreported. It is clearly deeply rooted," she told reporters.
Rashida Manjoo, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women, met victims of sorcery during an investigative mission to Papua New Guinea last March. Widows or other family with no family to protect them are particularly vulnerable to such attacks, she said in a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
"I was shocked to witness the brutality of the assaults perpetrated against suspected sorcerers, which in many cases include torture, rape, mutilations and murder. According to many interviewees, sorcery accusations are commonly used to deprive women of their land and/or their property," she wrote.
The country's Constitutional Law Reform Commission has held consultations on the 1971 Sorcery Act and called for its repeal but has yet to present its report to the parliament, Pouilly said.
"We welcome the proposal by the Constitutional Law Reform Commission to repeal the Sorcery Act and we call for a stronger legal response to such killings," she told Reuters.

South Sydney Rabbitohs kick pre-season trials off with win over PNG Kumuls

By Ian McCullough 

AAP

South Sydney have opened their NRL pre-season campaign with a comfortable 38-12 win over Papua New Guinea in Saturday's trial encounter at Redfern Oval.

With owner Russell Crowe watching on from the stands, a largely second-string Souths side dominated possession for most of the game, but were thwarted on several occasions by some fine defending from the competitive tourists.

Promising ... George Burgess gets a feel for it in the Rabbitohs' win over PNG. Source: Rohan Kelly / News Limited

Coach Michael Maguire handed debuts to winger Bryson Goodwin, an off-season acquisition from Canterbury-Bankstown, and prop Thomas Burgess, the fourth member of his family to turn out for the club.
His twin brother George was also included in the starting line-up with older brother Sam joining the remainder of the Rabbitohs' first-grade squad on the sidelines.
Back-rower Ben Lowe opened the scoring for the hosts, crashing over from close range after nine minutes, but the Kumuls' response was immediate when halfback Israel Eliab got his fingertips to Dion Aiye's grubber-kick for a try.
Souths continued to press, but the tough-tackling PNG side kept them at bay before taking a shock lead on the stroke of quarter-time.
Eliab, who has been watched by a number of NRL clubs, picked off an erratic Souths' offload and raced 80 metres to put the ball under the posts, then added the extras.
The second period followed a similar pattern with the Rabbitohs seeing a lot of the ball and the Kumuls working hard to defend their goalline.
But that resistance was broken when Dave Tyrell darted over for his side's second score, with Goodwin kicking the conversion and, just before halftime, skipper Jason Clark restored Souths' lead from close range.
As the combative Kumuls tired, tries from Chris McQueen and Aaron Gray iced the game for Maguire's side, before Bennett Leslie and Clark added some extra gloss to the scoreline.
Goodwin finished with four goals for the game and Apisai Koroisau was also successful with a kick in front of the posts.

Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-premiership/south-sydney-rabbitohs-kick-pre-season-trials-off-with-win-over-papua-new-guinea-at-redfern-oval/story-fn2mcuj6-1226574529160#ixzz2KOXI10in

Shares jump as Newcrest digs up more gold

Sydney Morning Herald

Date:February 8, 2013 - 1:11PM

Newcrest Mining, Australia’s largest gold producer, reported first-half profit 9.6 per cent higher than analyst estimates, pushing the company’s stock to its biggest gain in almost five months.
Net income was $320 million for the six months ended December 31, the company said today in a statement, compared with analyst estimates of $292 million. Earnings were 51 per cent lower than the $659 million a year earlier, which were boosted by price gains and an asset sale.
‘‘Production is expected to be higher in the second half of the 2013 financial year,’’ it said. Newcrest produced 953,331 ounces of gold in the six months to December 31, 18 per cent lower than a year earlier, the company said.
Newcrest shares climbed 5 per cent to $24.52 at the close in Sydney, their biggest advance since September 14. Output for the full year, estimated at the low end of a range of 2.3 million to 2.5 million ounces, will be driven by expansions at Cadia East in New South Wales and Lihir in Papua New Guinea, Newcrest reiterated today.

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Newcrest kept its interim dividend unchanged at 12 cents a share. Three analysts in the survey had predicted a payout of four to 15 cents a share.
The company will consider a higher dividend in the future, while keeping a long-term goal to reduce gearing ratio to around 10 per cent from 16.9 per cent, chief executive Greg Robinson said on a conference call after the earnings.
The dividend ‘‘indicates the board’s comfort with the cash generating outlook for the company,’’ Credit Suisse  analysts Michael Slifirski and Sam Webb said today in a note to clients. ‘‘This is a vote of confidence in both Cadia East and Lihir that has perhaps not yet been recognised by the market.’’
Gold producers are expanding mines and boosting output to cope with rising costs and benefit from prices that have increased for 12 consecutive years as Asian demand rose and central banks boosted purchases.
Spot gold, up 4.9 per cent in the six months to December 31, was little changed at $US1672.30 an ounce.
The lower first-half profit was ‘‘primarily due to the lower production and more reliance on higher cost ounces,’’ it said today.
Sales fell 23 per cent to $1.81 billion in the first half, while cash costs declined 6 per cent to $973 an ounce. Newcrest is implementing a close review to improve performance of its 50 percent-owned Hidden Valley operation in Papua New Guinea following a 17 per cent drop in output in the period, it said.
‘‘For the remainder of the 2013 financial year, Newcrest expects higher production in line with achieving the bottom end of guidance, and a subdued cost environment,’’ the company said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/earnings-season/shares-jump-as-newcrest-digs-up-more-gold-20130208-2e2t7.html#ixzz2KLL5ICcg

Rio Tinto considers restarting Bougainville copper mine

By James Regan

SYDNEY | Thu Feb 7, 2013 3:57am EST

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto is looking into restarting its Panguna mine in Papua New Guinea, one of the world's largest sources of copper and gold until the company abandoned it a quarter century ago after local villagers chased off workers in a secessionist uprising.
A new study by Rio Tinto's majority-owned subsidiary Bougainville Copper Ltd says the mine on Bougainville island still contains at least 5 million tonnes of copper and 19 million ounces of gold, worth $41 billion and $32 billion, respectively, at today's prices.
Renewed interest in the Panguna mine comes as Rio Tinto, which is expected to report a 20 percent drop in annual profit to around $10 billion on Feb. 14, has earmarked a greater focus on its copper and iron ore businesses in the coming years.
Rio Tinto has long-shunned returning to the island despite an end to hostilities in 2001 and discussions from time to time with the government. In 2005, it sold its stake in another mine in Papua New Guinea's Lihir island.
There has been no exploration or mining at Panguna because the site remains off-limit despite the formation of an autonomous island government.
Between 1972 and 1989 some 3 million tonnes of copper and 9.3 million ounces of gold were mined from the Panguna lode.
The potential for a restart could only be fully assessed once it was safe to return to the mine, according to Peter Taylor, managing director of Bougainville Copper, which owns the Panguna mine.
The new estimate for copper and gold "supports consideration of a number of potential development options", Taylor said in a statement.
"BCL ( Bougainville Copper) continues to work with stakeholders on exploring ways in which the project may be advanced," Taylor said.
Bougainville Copper's income is now generated primarily as interest revenue on a range of investments. In 2000, it began to dispose of its Bougainville assets and has since developed a portfolio of debt and equity investments.
For the year ended December 31 2012, it posted a loss of 5.4 million kina, or about $2.6 million.

Papua New Guinea and its Own Arab Awakening

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

The New York Times 

Thomas L. Friedman

Yesterday's news from Papua New Guinea is truly historic, and it raises questions about whether there might just be light at the end of the tunnel. It is impossible not to be tantalized by the potential of these events to change the course of Papua New Guinea's history. What's important, however, is that we focus on what this means to the people. The current administration seems too caught up in worrying about their own skins to pay attention to how their people are doing. Just call it missing the desert for the sand.

When thinking about the recent troubles, it's important to remember three things: One, people don't behave like computer programs, so attempts to treat them as such are going to come across as foreign. Computer programs never suddenly blow themselves up. Two, Papua New Guinea has spent decades torn by civil war and ethnic hatred, so a mindset of peace and stability will seem foreign and strange. And three, hope is an extraordinarily powerful idea: If corruption is Papua New Guinea's curtain rod, then hope is certainly its alarm clock.

When I was in Papua New Guinea last August, I was amazed by the people's basic desire for a stable life, and that tells me two things. It tells me that the citizens of Papua New Guinea have no shortage of potential entrepreneurs, and that is a good beginning to grow from. Second, it tells me that people in Papua New Guinea are just like people anywhere else on this flat earth of ours.

So what should we do about the chaos in Papua New Guinea? Well, it's easier to start with what we should not do. We should not let seemingly endless frustrations cause the people of Papua New Guinea to doubt their chance at progress. Beyond that, we need to be careful to nurture these first inklings of a moderate, modern society. The opportunity is there, but I worry that the path to moderation is so poorly marked that Papua New Guinea will have to move down it very slowly. And of course Port Moresby needs to come to the table.

Speaking with a small business entrepreneur from the large Protestant community here, I asked her if there was any message that she wanted me to carry back home with me. She pondered for a second, and then smiled and said, respre austee, which is a local saying that means roughly, "A cat may look at a Queen."

I don't know what Papua New Guinea will be like a few years from now, but I do know that it will remain true to its cultural heritage, even if it looks very different from the country we see now. I know this because, through all the disorder, the people still haven't lost sight of their dreams.

Barbaric

Source: The National,Friday, February 8, 2013 

 

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has condemned the barbaric killing of a young woman in Mt Hagen on Wednesday and has directed the full force of the law be applied to those res­ponsible.
And the United States government, through its embassy in Port Moresby, joined in the international and nationwide condemnation of the killing.
The 20-year-old mother of an eight-month-old daughter, identified as Kepari Lanieta, from Paiala in Porgera district, Enga, was reportedly tortured with a hot iron rod, stripped naked, tied up and burnt alive in front of a crowd after she was accused of killing a boy through sorcery.
“What has been reported is very barbaric and inhuman. No one commits such a despicable act in the society that all of us, including Kepari, belong to,” the prime minister said in a statement yesterday.
He directed the police minister to ensure police used all the resources and manpower necessary to bring those responsible to justice.
“Barbaric killings connected with alleged sorcery and violence against women because of this belief that sorcery kills.
“These are becoming all too common in certain parts of the country,” O’Neill said.
“It is reprehensible that wo­men, the old and the weak in our society, should be targeted for alleged sorcery or wrongdoing that they actually have nothing to do with.
“I have told the police minister that I want to see those responsible for the killing of this woman brought to justice,” O’Neill said.
“I also want to appeal to the relatives of Kepari to remain calm and allow police to carry out their work.”
The prime minister also said the work of former Constitutional Review Commission chairman, the late Joe Mek Teine, would be reviewed to toughen laws on sorcery-related killings.
Before he died in April 2011, the former Kundiawa-Gembogl MP was conducting a study into sorcery-related killings in the highlands, and reviewing the Criminal Code to address increasing incidents of killings related to sorcery in the region.
Meanwhile, the US government, through its embassy in Port Moresby, said there was “no possible justification” for the killing.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to her family, especially her eight-month-old daughter. There is no possible justification for this sort of violence,” the embassy said in a statement yesterday.
“The embassy hopes that appropriate resources are devoted to identifying, prosecuting and punishing those responsible for the killing, saying the incident once again highlighted the need for comprehensive action to address the pervasive global pro­blem of gender-based violence.
“The US government calls for a sustained international partnership to address this issue throughout the Pacific, including through the creation and enforcement of anti-gender-based violence laws, the enhancement of prevention and response efforts, and the reduction of stigma and harmful practices.
“We will continue to work in partnership with the Papua New Guinean government and civil society to advance this agenda.
“Our thoughts are with the victim’s family and child during this difficult time.”

Yandera to cost US$1.42 billion

Source: The National, February 8, 2013 

 

By GYNNIE KERO

MARENGO Mining Ltd yesterday announced that it will cost US$1.42 billion (K3 billion) to develop the world-class Yandera copper-molybdenum-gold project in Madang.
The money will come from major Chinese engineering, construction and mining company China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Co Ltd (NFC).
The pricing will be used for a fixed lump sum, turnkey, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the development of Yandera.
Marengo Mining Ltd received a pricing of US$1.42 billion for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC).
“The EPC pricing provides a strong foundation for the completion and delivery of the Yandera feasibility study, which is scheduled for completion in March 2013,” Marengo said.
“Even with the potential increased throughput, the development capital expenditure (Capex) numbers has remained just below the company’s prior guidance.
“Other infrastructure, including mining fleet, pre- strip and power transmission line, subject to the completion of the pending feasibility study, is currently estimated in the range of US$300 million to   US$400 million for a total project  Capex in the range of US$1.7 billion to US$1.85 billion.
“These Capex estimates do not include owner’s costs, working capital, capitalised operating costs and third-party power supply, which will be included in the development costs.”
NFC president Wang Hongqian said Marengo’s Yandera project was a high priority for NFC.
“We remain fully supportive of Marengo as it advances the development of the project,” Wang said.
Marengo’s president and chief executive offi­cer Les Emery  said: “For a company at Marengo’s stage to have received a fixed price EPC quote from such a respected, major Chinese engineering, construction and mining company is a huge achievement and a recognition of the value inherent in the Yandera project.
“With the EPC pricing provided by NFC, Marengo will include this in the feasibility study expected to be completed in March 2013.
“Negotiations between Marengo and NFC on the EPC contract have now commenced.”

PNG parliament repeals controversial laws

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

THE government of Papua New Guinea has repealed controversial laws used to oust former prime minister Sir Michael Somare and keep judges in check.

The Judicial Conduct Bill 2012 - introduced during last year's political crisis, which gave parliament power to suspend judges - was repealed by a vote of 87-0 on Wednesday.
A second law restricting the age of serving prime ministers to 73 years and below was also repealed.
In tabling the repeal, Attorney-General Kerenga Kua said the Judicial Conduct Act and the Supreme Court Act of 2012 had outlived their use.
"Its primary objective was to disqualify judges of the national and Supreme Courts from presiding over cases in circumstances where independence and impartiality was thought to have been brought into question, and to punish them should they refuse to step down," he said.

The laws were heavily criticised by international legal bodies and NGOs.
The legislation was introduced at the height of PNG's political crisis following the surprise August 2, 2011 sacking of veteran PM Sir Michael Somare by his parliamentary colleagues, who replaced him with Mr O'Neill.
The Supreme Court ruled Sir Michael was unlawfully dumped, sparking a running battle between parliament and the courts, which culminated in a failed mutiny attempt on the orders of Sir Michael's alternative cabinet in late January 2012.
But one national election later and Sir Michael now backs Mr O'Neill, and is part of his 94-strong coalition.
An age restriction on the prime ministership - aimed at the time at keeping the 76-year-old Sir Michael away from the top job - was also removed by a vote of 85-0.
"As we move on, the government feels that the people have chosen these leaders and given the mandate and the trust to them," Mr O'Neill said.
"They must be given equal opportunity to take up any position in this country."

Burnt alive

Source: The National, Thursday, February 7, 2013

By JAMES APA GUMUNO

A YOUNG mother of a baby girl was burnt alive in front of a crowd in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, yesterday.
Relatives of a boy she was accused of killing through sorcery, tortured her with a hot iron rod, stripped her naked, tied up her hands and legs and threw her into the fire.
Police and hospital staff who arrived at the scene could not save her.
They later took her body away in an ambulance.
The mother of one, identified as Kepari Leniata, 20, from Paiala in Porgera district, Enga, was married to a man from Laiagam. Their daughter is only eight months old.
Provincial police commander Supt Kaiglo Ambane condemned the killing, saying police were treating the case as murder and would charge those responsible.
Ambane said police knew those involved and would arrest them soon.
Head bishop of Gut Nius Lutheran church David Piso also condemned the killing, saying taking a life was against the teachings of the Bible and the laws of the country.
“Sorcery and sorcery-related killings are growing and the government needs to come up with a law to stop such practice,” he said.
Piso said many innocent and helpless people had been killed and tortured.
Witnesses in Enga and Southern Highlands told The National yesterday that the relatives of the boy stripped the woman before marching her to the Warakum road junction at about 5am.
They tied her legs and arms and threw her into a pile of burning tyres.
The relatives, from Muritaka in Laiagam district spared  the lives of two other women from Gumine in Chimbu as they had also been accused of sorcery.
Police rescued one of the women but the other was still missing.
Sources said the two women admitted that they practised sorcery but did not kill the boy.
They blamed Leniata who later admitted to the boy’s relatives that she killed him.
The relatives then tortured the woman in her house with a hot iron rod, burning her all over her body before taking her to the main road, stripping and burning her.
 Police said the boy had been complaining of pains in the stomach and chest and was taken to the Mt Hagen hospital on Tuesday morning.
He died in the afternoon.