PUBLIC AFFAIRS BY SUSUVE LAUMAEA

BLOCKED HIGHWAY

Re-align priorities to save people

IT’S that time of the year when reviews and assessments are done by Government and its agencies of the year that has been. That’s okay but to this scribe the approach would be different and the verdict is straightforward, especially in the face of natural calamities that have hit the nation: Stuff the reviews, put them on the back burner, lower them in the pecking order or at least re-align the priorities. The main resolve should be about securing life and limb of thousands upon thousands of ordinary and not so ordinary Papua New Guineans made homeless and dispossessed by natural calamities beyond their control in the preceding two weeks. On this occasion the Government must save the people first. Everything else can wait. There is a time and place for everything. Those governmental reviews and revisits to find facts, faults and failures are bound to be obscured by events that have unfolded without notice in the last two weeks and are continuing still unabated. The whole nation will feel their impact in the aftermath. Despite all the reviews, assessments, stock takes and whatever is forever, one conclusion will keep rearing its head insofar as PNG’s present and future prospects are concerned. That conclusion is simple enough. We, as a nation, are never prepared enough to face off the unforeseeable situations and circumstances that intrude into our national life or to scramble at short notice in response to neutralizing the threats or to hit the ground running when emergencies and disasters strike us. There is a glaring absence of a state of preparedness in our national life. Shamefully pathetic. We are always responding – and often times incompetently, inefficiently and disastrously -- to emergency and disaster situations. Quit the complacency and do something to become more prepared to confront unforeseen nation threatening events. The Government has to stop politicking with people’s lives, stop procrastinating, and stop exclusively placing all executive attention on pursuing big multi-billion foreign investments to the great detriment of the people. The Government has to get serious about the welfare of the multitude of rural and urban settlement–dwelling Papua New Guineans who are marginalised and live below the poverty line in a modern monetary economy. Government has to – by authority of the National Constitution of PNG -- create participatory basic life support opportunities to lift the living standards of the ordinary man, woman and child and the executive must start being decisive and assertive about the seven main priorities under the Medium Term Development Strategy 2005-2010. These priorities are Primary and Preventative Health Care, HIV/AIDS Prevention, Basic Education, Development-oriented Adult Education, Transport Rehabilitation and Maintenance, Promotion of Income Earning Opportunities and Law and Justice and they have been prioritised as such to build the foundation for creating a higher – if not perpetual -- level of happy, healthy and wealthy PNG society. When the people are happy, healthy and wealthy and are constructively and gainfully participating in and adding value to the overall state of happiness, healthiness and wealthiness of the people at large, then we, as a nation can rejoice and shout for the entire world to hear. That’s right. Papua New Guinea needs to move up to higher level of playing field. This will not happen when decision makers are driven by personal agenda. When this article went to print this scribe could not help but reflect on the fact that PNG is in the throes of two monumental natural disasters -- acts of God -- that have impacted most negatively on the economic and social lives of almost half the total population of Papua New Guinea. This Christmas looks to be a bad shocker for many people. We are faced with blocked major highway and at least 10 provinces whose coastal villages and respective coastline have been devastated by unusual high tides that brought on heavy swells and tear-way waves. The landslip and unusual high tides are naturally induced events. Let me explain why I say these are acts of God with two real life examples before I am accused of blasphemy. First, there’s been that controversial landslip at Mindima in Simbu Province that has cut off access or delivery of vital goods and services to almost two million people inhabiting Southern Highlands, Enga and Western Highlands and to government institutions and businesses operating in those three provinces and other parts of Simbu that share the provincial border with Western Highlands. The highway disaster has been compounded by compensation demands by a group of unreasonable and heartless roadside dwellers or opportunists at Mindima.  These compensation seekers will not allow temporary repairs and maintenance to stabilize the road and create access. They want their greed satisfied first. They want money – millions of it. Sometimes some of us wonder whether there is really any monetary value attached to piece dirt that is good for nothing else except for a road to go through. Papua New Guineans need to change their mindset about pushing the compensation culture as a way of life. Most Papua New Guineans are hard workers and survive on what they can grow as subsistence farmers. Among the noble and honourable hard workers are the spivs, conmen, bludgers and idlers who provide no constructive contribution to their respective communities and society at large except to look for quick money making opportunities like pushing false invoices and claims against the State or demand compensation for situations and events that arise as an act of God. These compensation seekers at Mindima deserve no humane description. What they are doing is typical blackmail. They have implied by their greedy actions that they give no damn for the livelihood of Western Highlanders, Engans and Southern Highlanders. Now that is not a friendly act at all, isn’t it? It’s unreasonable and heartless attitude akin to declaration of hostility against a majority of peace-loving, God-fearing, industrious and innocent Western Highlanders, Engans and Southern Highlanders. That compensation demand must be denied and the full force of the law must applied to punish the opportunists. The landslip is an act of God and therefore beyond compensation. There was no contract between the compensation seekers and God Almighty in the unlikely occurrence of a force majeure situation. So lump it.  Here are a couple of historical quotes from great minds of the last century that are also relevant in this century. Hopefully by reading and understanding the message therein respectively d some light and commonsense may shed on people who still think they are owed a living without doing the hard yakka. Theodore Roosevelt, a former United States president once commented: “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things.” That is very true. One cannot expect the luxuries of this world without getting one’s hands dirty or without sweating for the rewards. Then that prolific American humorist, satirist, lecturer and novelist Mark Twain once wrote: “Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.” Liken that to the compensation seekers at Mindima. Nobody owes them anything for a piece of valueless dirt – not created by the compensation blackmailers -- whose monetary value has suddenly been inflated beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The compensation seekers did not build the road, create the soil or spent money to build the road. They are simply bludgers. God created the soil. The Government spent money for the road to be built. The lesson for Government to learn is that there is a real and urgent need to create an alternate route to the isolated highlands provinces and not necessarily through troublesome Simbu. Time is overdue to seriously upgrade and seal the alternate highway into the populous highlands hinterland of Papua New Guinea. The Southern Highlands, Enga and Western Highlands – home to a little over two million people – need another alternate highway route for delivery of their vital goods and services. Government does not have the luxury of time to procrastinate on whether or not there should be an alternate road link to the rest of the highlands region. It’s there already. The Southern Highlands to Gulf highway is the most logical choice and the “win-win” way forward for the nation. The three isolated highlands provinces and Gulf have a great deal of economic fire-power via their vast natural resources to justify recognition and upgrading of such an alternate highway link.  Two LNG delivery pipelines are going to be build through the Gulf Province anyway so what’s the big deal about loading a highway on top of these two projects? Why not? When there is a political will there must a political way to move forward positively and gainfully. The highway is already in existence except a portion of about 30 kilometres between Kagua and Sembarigi that’s still under construction.  This highway needs to be upgraded, sealed and made an all-weather road and have it further developed on the back of two multi-billion kina liquefied natural gas projects to link up with Wabo and Baimuru which are closest points to InterOil Corporation’s Elk and Antelope gas discoveries. From there road linkage can be extended as far as Kerema to link up with the Hiritano Highway and then to Port Moresby. The flip side of such a development presents the opportunity for a major port development to take place at Wawabo or at Paia inlet in Baimuru to service major resource developments, business and government goods and services delivery in Gulf, Southern Highlands, Western Highlands and Enga. Yes, make it happen. Studies for such a port development have been collecting dust in the backrooms of the PNG Port Authority and the Transport Department since independence. As a national we cannot continue to manage our national affairs by reacting to crisis after crisis.  As if the highway woes were not enough, PNG has been hit by an unusual high tide this past week. Again it is an act of God. Weather experts say the tidal phenomenon has been triggered off by a climate condition known as La Nina, which, like El Nino, creates unusual weather and climate conditions in countries fringing the Pacific’s volcanic ring of fire. Some effects include unusual high tides, high temperatures, drought, heavy rain, snowing, landslides and cyclonic weather. The unusual high tide has wreaked havoc to the lives and wellbeing of thousands of Papua New Guineans can totally unexpectedly. Many of the affected people are traumatized and will never quite recover losses. This column extends sympathies to everyone who has been affected one way or another by this unusual tidal phenomenon. The Government – to its credit -- has acted swiftly and assertively to salvage what’s left and to rehabilitate the lives of the displaced and dislocated people. Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare’s cabinet on Thursday appropriated K50 million for immediate disbursement to disaster-stricken provinces. The high tides featured heavy swells and waves that repeatedly pounded and eroded the shore line in Milne Bay, Morobe, Madang, East and West Sepik, Manus, New Ireland, Bougainville and East and West New Britain. Thousands fled inland or to higher grounds as homes either became submerged under seawater or collapsed against the fury of nature. The historic Windjammer Beach Hotel in Wewak collapsed and many seafront village homes, businesses and government institutions and service centres suffered massive damage. The disastrous outcome in East Sepik was similarly experienced elsewhere in the affected provinces. The tidal disaster and the landslip at Mindima are unforeseen and unpredicted events. That is why I have chosen to describe them as an act of God. In the laws of compensation and contract, lawyers call such circumstances force majeure. In layman terms, it’s a legal clause that safe-guards parties in a contract from unfair liability or compensation. An elaboration of the act of God terminology is that it’s “so extraordinary and devoid of human agency that reasonable care would not avoid the consequences; hence, the injured party has no right to damages. Accidents caused by tornadoes, perils of the sea, extraordinary floods, and severe ice storms are usually considered acts of God, but fires are not so considered unless they are caused by lightning.” That’s true.  While relief is on the way to the tidal stricken people the highway situation has become extremely critical. A decisive and assertive government action spearheaded by a combined police and army callout to round up the blackmailers and lock them away must take place without delay. The last thing the government would want to avoid is a situation where Western Highlands, Enga and Southern Highlands are also declared disaster provinces as consequence of supply and services blockage and denial of access at Mindima.

• Share your views with the writer at mail to: suslaumaea@gmail.com or read this column at: malumnalu.blogspot.com or send SMS to: 684 5168.

 

More pictures of Rabaul from my recent trip

Some more pictures of Rabaul taken during my recent trip.

Malum

Christmas Spirit

Come Join in the Spirit of Christmas with us at Airways Hotel

Petromin buys into Elk/Antelope gas field

PORT MORESBY: Petromin Holdings Limited has bought a direct interest in InterOil’s Elk/Antelope gas field in the Gulf Province.

The government-owned entity has made initial cash payment as part of its continuing plan to fund 20.5% of the costs of developing the field.

InterOil Executive Vice President Christian Vinson described the Petromin buy-in as an important milestone in the development of the gas field.

“We hold very high hopes for Elk/Antelope, based on testing we have undertaken in recent months”.

“We believe the discovery has the potential to make a major contribution to the future economic development of the nation”, he said.

“On this basis we are delighted to have Petromin aboard”.

Recent testing has shown the Elk-4 site has a gas flow rate of 105 million cubic feet per day.

It is greatest flow rate from any exploratory gas well in PNG history.

Estimates show Elk-4 having a condensate rate of 1,890 barrels per day.

“The flow rate is a great indicator of the potential deliverability of the reservoir”.

“It gives a strong indication as to the quality and quantity of the Elk/Antelope discovery”, Mr. Vinson said.

InterOil is currently drilling the Antelope -1 exploration well.

It is intended gas from this field would feed the proposed Liquid Niugini Gas Project, of which InterOil is a foundation partner.

The multi-billion Kina development project would bring a wide range of economic benefits to the nation.

The initial phase would see a pipeline constructed from the Gulf Province to Port Moresby where a gas processing plant would be constructed near the InterOil refinery.

For further information please contact

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation

Ph: 321 7040

Mobile: + (675) 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com

 

NEC APPROVES EMERGENCY FUNDS FOR DISASTER IN MARITIME PROVINCES

FOR RELEASE – Thursday, 11 December 2008

The Prime Minister, Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare, today conveyed his deepest sorrows to families that have been affected by the high tides and waves that have hit some of the Maritime Provinces around the country.

In today’s emergency meeting, NEC has approved up to K50 million but immediately released to The Disaster and Emergency Services K20 million to provide relief assistance to people in affected areas.

Sir Michael said, “I know many homes have been destroyed and islands, beachfronts and villages in New Ireland, Manus, Autonomous Region of Bougainville, the two Sepik provinces and parts of Madang have suffered damage and serious loss of their properties.

“I will personally be visiting some of the affected areas over the next couple of days but urge open members from these affected areas to be on the ground to be of support to the families and to assess the type of assistance to give to your respective electorates,” said Sir Michael.

He further advised that Cabinet has given its approval for funds from members’ district improvement programmes can be used to provide relief assistance in each of the affected areas.

He said communications in some areas is slow resulting in the delay of official assessments from some of the Maritime Provinces.

In the interim, the Prime Minister advised that everyone in areas experiencing these high swells stay clear of the beaches and power lines on seafronts.

Indications from the National Disaster Committee and our National Weather Service are that our country is in the middle of a La Nina phase, where there are high seas which are generally normal this time of the year.

However the swells experienced over the last few days are far greater and the worst may not yet be over.

Sir Michael said, “I would like to urge everyone who is living along the coastlines of Maritime Provinces or on remote islands to move further inland or onto higher ground for safety.

I thank the PNGDF for the immediate steps that they have taken and call for cooperation among all relevant departments to make sure relief assistance is provided quickly to affected areas.

M T SOMARE GCL GCMG CH CF KStJ

Prime Minister

 

FORUM MINISTERIAL CONTACT GROUP SECOND VISIT TO FIJI

The Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Contact Group made its second visit to Fiji this week. 

Ministers said their discussions with the Interim Prime Minister and other key stakeholders had been frank and informative.

Ministers expressed disappointment that the Fiji Interim Government had confirmed that it did not intend to hold elections by March 2009, in line with its previous commitments to Forum Leaders.

Ministers said the visit reflected Forum members’ continued commitment to constructive dialogue with Fiji, and to support and encourage Fiji to return to democracy, within the framework of the decisions of Forum Leaders.

While in Fiji the Ministerial Contact Group held discussions with Interim Prime Minister Bainimarama and the Interim Attorney-General, officials from the Electoral Commission and Office of the Supervisor of Elections, and political leaders including deposed Prime Minister Mr Qarase and Leader of the Opposition Mr Beddoes.

In accordance with the directions given to the Ministerial Contact Group by Forum Leaders in their Niue Communiqué, the Ministers’ talks focused on the progress of the Interim Government’s preparations for elections, developments in relation to the political dialogue process, and the likelihood of political consensus arising from it.

Ministers thanked the Interim Government of Fiji for its facilitation of the visit, and expressed the hope that their talks had contributed to greater understanding of the importance of the restoration of democracy without further delay.
The Ministerial Contact Group, which has been tasked by Leaders with continued monitoring of the situation in Fiji, will provide a report to Forum Leaders on its findings and recommendations in preparation for Leaders’ proposed special meeting, which is likely to take place in January 2009.

The Group comprised Ministers from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga (Chair) and Tuvalu. 
For more information, please contact Ms Andie Fong Toy, Director Political and Security Programme, Forum Secretariat, Ph +679 331 2600 or email andieft@forumsec.org.fj

 

Liquefied Natural Gas project to take Papua New Guinea into the future

By JASON SOM KAUT, who attended last week’s 10^th Mining and Petroleum conference in Sydney, Australia

THE Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural gas project has the potential to underpin the nation’s development aspirations for the next 30-plus years and more.

It is the nation’s largest and most-ambitious development project since independence in 1975 and may well keep this adage for many decades.

Major players in the petroleum industry in the world are targeting PNG’s untapped gas reserves.

 Amongst them is ExxonMobil, which has a reputation to deliver projects within both schedule and budget.

 There is ever-increasing energy demand, particularly for gas, from China and India two of the fastest-growing developing nations in the region.

It was recently reported by the December 2008 issue of the international magazine Petroleum, considered to be the voice of the industry, that Petronet LNG - a consortium of Indian firms – has been actively seeking LNG and other gas assets around the world.

The magazine said, according to Indian press reports, Petronet was not only in negotiations with operators in PNG but was also considering a 5 million tonne per annum liquefaction facility of its own in PNG in order to secure gas exports to India.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Puka Temu extended Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare’s invitation for interested investors to visit PNG while concluding the Grand Chief’s opening remarks during the Sydney conference, while Exxon Mobil revealed plans to bring over a whole bunch of investors on a tour to PNG early 2009.

The final day of the Sydney conference saw revelations of PNG getting a poor rating from the World Bank and others.

But yet, many others including internationally-recognised Societe General, international investors and bankers gave PNG a ‘thumbs-up’ as a conducive investment environment amidst a global financial crisis that has seen many developed nations enter into recession.

That is the extent of the world’s interest in the nation’s vast gas reserves and the PNG LNG project, which some consider to be one of the few bright lights in current dark times.

Rumors are that members of OPEC, world regulators of the global oil price, will be a part of the contingent expected to visit PNG soon.

The PNG LNG Project will triple economic growth through employment and wealth creation and substantially improve the living standards of the more than 80% rural majority.

 It will have a rippling effect on nearly all other sectors of the economy.

According to Paul Bafle, executive director of ACIL Tasman of Australia who presented an economic analysis of the pros and cons of the Project, PNG LNG project provided a great opportunity for economic and social improvement in PNG, but also posed great challenges for prudential government.

 “Large resource projects generate large cash flows, but don’t always bring wealth and economic prosperity to the host countries,” he said.

Mr Bafle stressed the need for proper planning and for measures to be put in place before the resource revenue started flowing in.

Oil Search managing director Peter Botten stressed on the necessity of involving landowners in the project at the earliest possible stage.

This, he added was one of the ingredients for success in the mining and petroleum industry in PNG.

Greg Anderson, executive director of the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum which organised the biennial conference, highlighted the need to maintain relationships and market the nation’s potential.

 Much was said during the conference on the many positive structural changes in legal and governance issues in PNG.

But there are downsides to the project, according to Mr Bafle.

That is, if not planned properly, the effects could be devastating and see PNG step back 10 years in development and miss a golden opportunity to find its place among the leading nations of the world.

The 10^th PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment conference in Sydney,  Australia,  last week stressed the need for “prudent planning” amid a global financial crisis, which has seen most developed nations go into recession as world demand for energy and other necessities reach levels similar to the great depression.

PNG’s aspirations to commercialise its vast gas reserves are not new.

Past and present governments and numerous ministers in charge of the Petroleum and Energy department, notable among them Sir Moi Avei, attempted to commercialise gas over a decade ago.But now that is a thing of the past with the discovery of large condensates of gas reserves, some of which are of a very high standard, proving a technical headache in trying to harness the enormous pressures of the find.

InterOil also recently announced the discovery of massive gas reserves at its Elk/Antelope fields in the Western province and is optimistic that the find has the potential to underpin PNG’s second LNG project.

Leading the proposed project is global player and project operator ExxonMobil whose presence brings confidentiality to the project, encouraging investor confidence.

The recent announcement by the Government that it had secured the money needed to fully finance its 19.4% equity adds without selling down any Government equity nor put pressure on the budget further consolidates the confidence.

This was evident during the Sydney conference which saw a record 800-plus delegates from around the world attend the three-day event.

But while the positives have been highlighted many times, over it’s the negatives that need to be addressed.

Two of the notable ones are to ensure proper processes, procedures and policies are put in place to guide the dispersing of the enormous revenues that will flow in, estimated to be about US$800 million per year.

The other is that mining and petroleum reserves, non-renewable as they are will not last forever.

Leaders need to stop the bickering and the power struggles and start working together for the nation’s benefit.

According to National Planning Minister Paul Tiensten and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare, the revenues would be placed in Trust Accounts and be chiefly used to upgrade infrastructure and provide other essential services in rural areas, including health and education.

A proactive approach needs to be taken now to involve landowners at the earliest stage.

 It is commendable that ExxonMobil announced plans to develop the technical expertise of Papua New Guineans to supply labor to the multi-billion kina project.

 Education and training is a priority that must be enhanced as the human resource will last for generations after the non-renewable resources run out.

But the State and ExxonMobil need to clearly spell out to the people and the nation how they will benefit in spin-offs and labor supply and to what extent those benefit will curtail.

As it was stressed during the conference in Sydney, prudent planning is vital to the smooth progression and success of the PNG LNG Project for everyone’s benefit.