Earhart's plane found at last?

THE discovery of the wreckage of an aircraft in the Ip River in East Pomio, East New Britain province last week, has generated renewed speculation that it could be the aircraft belonging to famed American aviatrix, Amelia Earhart, The National newspaper reports.

What makes this particular discovery significant is the fact that an Australian aircraft engineer, who has been involved since 1994 in a project to locate Ms Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E, had pinpointed the location where the wreckage was found as the place where he believed Ms Earhart’s plane went down.

An entry on the free internet encyclopaedia Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart#Departure_from_Lae) says the engineer, former Air Niugini employee David Billings, asserts that a map marked with notations consistent with Ms Earhart’s engine model number and her airframe’s construction number, was seen briefly by Australian soldiers during World War II.

Mr Billings’ theory originates from the WWII Australian patrol stationed on East New Britain and indicates a crash site 64km (40 miles) southwest of Rabaul, which is only a few kilometres away from where the wreckage was found last week.

Mr Billings speculated that Ms Earhart turned back from her intended destination of Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean after unsuccessfully trying to rendezvous with an American warship, and tried to reach Rabaul for fuel.

Mr Billings and his team had made 10 attempts to locate the wreckage. His theory is contained in an exhaustive article on an American aviation website (http://www.wingsoverkansas.com/earhart/article.asp?id=850) detailing the reasons for his conclusion that the wreckage spotted by the Diggers on April 17, 1945, belonged to Ms Earhart.

Ms Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Lae on July 2, 1937, in the heavily loaded Electra for Howland Island 4,113km (2,556 miles) away. To date, their disappearance had remained an enduring mystery.

A brief report in Monday’s The National prompted one reader from Australia to write in to suggest that the wreckage could belong to Ms Earhart’s Electra.

Further research on the internet revealed Mr Billings’ theory pinpointing the area 64km southwest of Rabaul where the Diggers spotted the wreckage in 1945.

A community leader from the Kalip ward in East Pomio, Isidor Vote, said last week that the aircraft was discovered by a group of youths in the Ip River in the bushes of East Pomio.

Local villagers believed the aircraft might have been shot down during World War I between 1913 and 1914, and even suggested it was being flown by a female American pilot. It is not known what their theory is based on.

Mr Vote said the wreckage had the serial number 06751 on one of its body parts that had remained intact all these years, and parts of one of its wings had dents on it.

Mr Vote wanted Government authorities to visit the site and inspect the aircraft in order to get more information.

He said it would serve as a record for the War Museum in Kokopo.

If the find proves to indeed be Ms Earhart’s Electra, it will have far more significance and could prompt an international media frenzy in the Pomio area.

Murder capital

Port Moresby listed among world’s worst

PORT Moresby has been placed among the top five murder capitals in the world, a ranking by a foreign publication that has got Police Commissioner Gari Baki fuming, The National newspaper reports today.

The Washington DC-based Foreign Policy publication, in its edition last September, lists Port Moresby alongside Caracas (Venezuela), Cape Town (South Africa), New Orleans (USA) and Moscow (Russia) as cities where you have a very good chance of getting murdered.

The Foreign Policy website (www.foreignpolicy.com) , on which the listing is still available, says when it comes to brutal, homicidal violence, these five cities stand in a class of their own.

The publication said Caracas, which has a population of 3.2 million, had a murder rate of 130 per 100,000 residents, Cape Town had 3.5 million people and a murder rate of 62 per 100,000 residents, New Orleans had 220,000 people and a murder rate of 67 per 100,000 residents, Moscow had 10.4 million people and a murder rate of 9.6 per 100,000 residents, while Port Moresby had a population of 254,000 (2000 population census) and a murder rate of 54 per 100,000 people.

It described Port Moresby as a place with high violent crime rates, high level of police corruption and gang activity.

A spate of murders in recent weeks, especially the brutal killing of businessman Sir George Constantinou on Dec 16 and Air Niugini pilot Timothy Houji on New Year’s Day, would give critics little to argue against this very negative ranking.

But Mr Baki yesterday expressed disappointment at the ranking, especially when Port Moresby’s population was small in comparison to other world capitals.

He questioned the validity of Foreign Policy magazine’s listing of the world murder capitals.

“As commissioner of Papua New Guinea police, I was shocked and upset over Foreign Policy’s listing because it is simply not true,” he said in a letter distributed widely to be published.

“I have been a law enforcement officer for more than 35 years and I know, for a fact, that we have not had 54 murders in Port Moresby at any one time over the last 10 years.

“In fact, our annual average nationwide was much less,” Mr Baki said.

“It would be interesting to know the magazine’s source of its 2004 figures.”

He said the magazine also did not clearly indicate which year’s murder rates were used in its comparison exercise.

“These facts will have an overall bearing on the end results, especially for anyone making a comparative analysis such as that done by the Foreign Policy magazine.

“The report is grossly unfair on Papua New Guinea and sets back the many positive developments taking place within the country.

“There is no denying that PNG has a serious law and order problem.

“But, PNG and its problems cannot be compared with the four major cities Port Moresby was listed with,” Mr Baki said.

Foreign Policy’s article

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Population: 254,200 (2000 census)

Murder rate: 54 per 100,000 (2004 figure)

What’s happening: The capital of island country Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby might seem like a surprising addition to this list. But its high violent crime rates, along with high levels of police corruption and gang activity, helped earn the city the dubious title of “worst city” in a 2004 Economist Intelligence Unit survey. With gangs called “raskols” controlling the city centres and unemployment rates hovering around 80%, it’s easy to see how Port Moresby beat out the 130 other survey contenders. Port Moresby’s police don’t seem to be helping the crime situation last November, five officers were charged with offences ranging from murder to rape. And in August, the city’s police barracks were put on a three-month curfew due to a recent slew of bank heists reportedly planned inside the stations by officers and their co-conspirators. Rising tensions between Chinese migrants and native Papua New Guineans are also cause for alarm, as are reports of increased activity of organised Chinese crime syndicates.

Port Moresby is one of the murder capitals of the world? Amelia Earhart plane found? Hagen girl tied, burnt to death!

Two good stories on the front page of The National newspaper today, one on Port Moresby being rated one of the top five murder capitals of the world, and the other on a plane wreckage discovery in East New Britain strongly thought to be that of famed American aviatrix Amelia Earhart.The Post-Courier had the horrific story of a young woman being blindfolded, tied up and burnt to death in Mount Hagen.Phew! What a horrific way for Papua New Guinea to start the year!

Details to come.

'Penis fire' suspect is charged

An Australian woman has appeared in court in Adelaide charged with murdering her husband by setting fire to his penis, BBC reports.

Rajini Narayan, 44, is alleged to have doused her husband, Satish, with a flammable liquid while he was sleeping.

When she set him alight, Mr Narayan jumped out of bed and knocked over the substance, causing the fire to spread.

Mrs Narayan told the court she had not intended to kill her husband but to punish him for his alleged infidelity.

Prosecutor Lucy Boord said Mrs Narayan had confessed to her neighbours, telling them she was a "jealous wife" and believed her husband was having an affair.

"I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else, I didn't mean this to happen," Ms Boord quoted Mrs Narayan as saying.

The fire, on 8 December 2008, caused damage to the couple's house estimated at 1m Australian dollars ($715,000, £490,000).

Mrs Narayan was initially charged with arson and endangering life - including the lives of her three children who were in the house at the time.

The charge was upgraded to murder after Mr Narayan died from his injuries last week.

She has been held in police custody pending the results of a psychological assessment.

 

Death Notice and Funeral Notice

The late First Officer Timothy John Houji

 

The family of Timothy John Houji (Air Niugini pilot) would like to advise all relatives and friends of his tragic death in the early hours of January 1, 2009.

Haus Krai is being held at the Houji residence at Six-Mile, Air Niugini Village, Stage 1 (Section 120, Lot 19).

 

Funeral Service

 

Date and time: Wednesday January 7, 2009, 1pm

Venue: Rev. Sino Kami Memorial Church, National Capital District

Funeral will be followed by refreshments at the Houji residence (Haus Krai) and his body will overnight in the family home. Timothy’s final flight will be on Thursday, January 8, 2009, to his home province of East Sepik to be laid to rest at Woginara No. 2 Village.

For further information, please contact Ruth Telek on (675) 6876016 or (675) 72204519.

2009 game fishing titles in Madang

The Game Fishing Association of PNG will hold this year’s game fishing national tournament in Madang.
The Madang Game Fishing Club (MGFC) will play host to the 34th GFAPNG National Titles sponsored by Mobil, Global Internet and Shimano.
The GFAPNG holds the national titles once a year during the Easter period.
Four affiliated clubs in Madang, Lae, Port Moresby and Rabaul alternate the role of host club each year, so that each of these towns hosts a national titles every four years.
“Each year Madang has played host, the number of anglers and non-anglers participating in this nine-day event has increased,” organising committee member Teresa Litz said today.
“This year the MGFC titles organising committee is expecting a minimum of 380 anglers to register, as well as up to 150 non-fishing guests.
“Registration fee is K400 per adult (fishing), K200 per junior (fishing) and K150 per guest (not fishing).
“These fees might seem steep, but they include: tournament bag, tournament shirt, cap, grid map, loads of promotional gear, breakfast, lunch (fishing days only), fuel vouchers and access to sponsored evenings for the duration of the whole tournament.
“Registration forms can be downloaded from www.gfa.com.pg/2009 ."
 The GFAPNG National Titles is a highly prestigious event and each year hundreds of anglers from all over PNG and overseas make the pilgrimage to the host town in order to participate.
The tournament is not just for seasoned anglers; many people who have never been fishing before have registered to fish the National Titles and have had such a great time.
“‘The Titles’ actually has a long record of rewarding the ‘greenies’ who have never touched a rod before!” Litz added.
“The best thing about the titles is it is an opportunity to socialise and meet other people from other towns or provinces; many men, women and children have formed lasting friendships based solely on a chance meeting at the titles.
“The camaraderie and mateship that’s experienced throughout the nine days of the tournament is truly unique and it’s this factor, not the prizes, that has most anglers returning every year.
 “Preparations for the 2009 titles are going very well.
“With up to 50 sponsors, over 400 anglers and guests as well as up to 40 boats, the logistics of holding an event like this require at least 12 months of planning and preparation.
“The titles committee is confident that it will be ready by the briefing night on April 3 and look forward to hosting an action-packed, fun-filled tournament right through to the final day when they bid farewell to visiting anglers at the ‘Crying Towel’ session on April 13.”

Skerah.com out now to promote Papua New Guinea

By ROSELYN VAI

Just a toksave that our 2009 edition of Skerah.com is now out.

Happy to receive your contributions in 2009.

If you got articles/blog articles promoting PNG, then please send them to us for publication with link to your site or blog.

Help us promote Papua New Guinea.

We'll only publish a paragraph or two and then a link to your site.

If you want your blog listed on our homepage and your articles included in our e-newsletter with a link then please let us know.

Our 2008 e-newsletter will carry on in 2009 but due to many contributions it will be on a fortnightly basis.

The first issue is in February.

A sample can be accessed here:

www.skerah.com/2009enews

rgds

Roselyn