Thursday, March 12, 2009

This is beautiful please read:

A drunk man in an Oldsmobile

They said had run the light

That caused the six-car pileup

On 109 that night.

 

When broken bodies lay about

And blood was everywhere,

The sirens screamed out eulogies,

For death was in the air.

 

A mother, trapped inside her car,

Was heard above the noise;

Her plaintive plea near split the air:

Oh, God, please spare my boys!

 

She fought to loose her pinned hands;

She struggled to get free,

But mangled metal held her fast

In grim captivity.

 

Her frightened eyes then focused

On where the back seat once had been,

But all she saw was broken glass and

Two children's seats crushed in.

 

Her twins were nowhere to be seen;

She did not hear them cry,

And then she prayed they'd been thrown free,

Oh, God, don't let them die!

 

Then firemen came and cut her loose,

But when they searched the back,

They found therein no little boys,

But the seat belts were intact.

 

They thought the woman had gone mad

And was travelling alone,

But when they turned to question her,

They discovered she was gone.

 

Policemen saw her running wild

And screaming above the noise

In beseeching supplication,

Please help me find my boys!

 

They're four years old and wear blue shirts;

Their jeans are blue to match.

One cop spoke up; They're in my car,

And they don't have a scratch.

 

They said their daddy put them there

And gave them each a cone,

Then told them both to wait for Mom

To come and take them home.

 

I've searched the area high and low,

But I can't find their dad.

He must have fled the scene,

I guess, and that is very bad.

 

The mother hugged the twins and said,

While wiping at a tear,

He could not flee the scene, you see,

For he's been dead a year.

 

The cop just looked confused and asked,

Now, how can that be true?

The boys said, Mommy, Daddy came

And left a kiss for you.

 

He told us not to worry

And that you would be all right,

And then he put us in this car with

The pretty, flashing light.

 

We wanted him to stay with us,

Because we miss him so,

But Mommy, he just hugged us tight

And said he had to go.

 

He said someday we'd understand

And told us not to fuss,

And he said to tell you, Mommy,

He's watching over us.

 

The mother knew without a doubt

That what they spoke was true,

For she recalled their dad's last words,

I will watch over you.

 

The firemen's notes could not explain

The twisted, mangled car,

And how the three of them escaped

Without a single scar.

 

But on the cop's report was scribed,

In print so very fine,

An angel walked the beat tonight on Highway 109.

He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare.

 

 

 

Animal power for rural Papua New Guinea

Story and picture by SOLDIER BURUKA

In some rural areas of PNG, the use of draft animals is becoming important in agricultue farming.
Draft animals can be used to perform a wide range of activities such as transporting produce to the market, ploughing and land preparation, carrying people to the gardens, and many others.
This photo, taken in the Bogia district of Madang province, shows a family enjoying a ride on a buffalo.

Papua New Guinea's coffee export earnings reach a new record high

Papua New Guinea’s coffee industry has set a record export earning of K508.8 million for the calendar year 2008.
The good news was announced in a statement by the governing Coffee Industry Corporation
This is by far the highest level record for the industry.
The previous record was achieved in 2005 valuing K457 million.
“The Coffee Industry Corporation is pleased to announce that this significant result for the country’s coffee industry was achieved on the back of higher prices, combined with higher export volumes,” said an elated CIC chief executive officer Ricky Mitio.
“From the total earnings, growers received 66% while exporters and processors retained 19% and 15% respectively.
“The CIC would like to commend our coffee growers and other stakeholders in the marketing chain who contributed in bringing production up above the one million bag mark after it plunged to a 14-year low of 848,800 bags in 2006.
“This has enabled all industry stakeholders to cash in on the risen prices on the world market.”
 Current Arabica prices are holding out at above the US$1.00/lb, (equivalent to K6.50/kg FOB for Y grade) level and growers have been urged by CIC to increase production though rehabilitation and planting new trees in their gardens to gain from higher prices again this year.
“Competition in the global market has placed the challenge on all industry stakeholders to encourage farmers to stick to coffee as a cash crop,” Mr Mitio said.
“Aggressive promotion of quality PNG coffee is also necessary to maintain markets and venture into emerging markets.”
Meanwhile, the district by district coffee rehabilitation programme funded under the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) has commenced in the Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands and Simbu provinces.
“This programme hopes to rejuvenate the current poor state of coffee gardens, especially in the smallholder sector,” Mr Mitio said.
“All growers are urged to work together with CIC to carry out this programme to increase production.”


Mount Hagen fuel crisis

Mount Hagen has run dry of all automotive, industrial and aviation fuel.

Fuel deliveries into the area were suspended after a landslip forced the closure of the Highlands Highway near Mindina.

InterOil Products Limited General Manager Peter Diezmann says the damaged section of roadway is impassable to heavy vehicles.

"Some sections of the Highway have been washed away down an embankment.

"In other parts, deep craters have appeared".

"The issue is one of public and environmental safety", Mr. Diezmann said.

"There is no way a vehicle the size and weight of a laden fuel tanker could attempt to negotiate this highly unstable section of roadway".

"The effects of any accident could be extremely serious".

It is the fourth time in recent months the Highlands Highway has been closed to heavy traffic due to flooding and landslips.

 "The situation has gone beyond critical, there is not even enough fuel available to ration", Mr.. Diezmann said.

"The nation's third largest city is now effectively without fuel and we do not know when fresh stocks will be able to be brought in".

"It is only a matter of time before industry, public transport and some important public services begin to wind down".

"I sympathise with our customers who rely on fuel for many facets of their private and business lives". 

"However, nothing can be done until the road surface has been made safe for traffic", Mr. Diezmann said.

"We hope authorities will act quickly to repair and replace the damaged sections of this important road link to the Highlands".

"The ramifications of delayed action could be extremely serious for the regional economy and the livelihoods of many Highland people".

"This is too important an issue for authorities not to act decisively and immediately", he said..

 

For further information

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations - InterOil Corporation

Ph: (675) 321 7040

Mobile: (675) 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com  

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Pacific leaders must speak out against anti-media attacks in Fiji

Wednesday, March 11, 2009:  Another round of media-related incidents in Fiji this week has sparked condemnation and disgust from a regional media watchdog, the Pacific Freedom Forum.

Forum chair Susuve Laumaea of Papua New Guinea says Pacific leaders must stand true to their promise of serving the region, and the promise of good governance and security for all Pacific people as committed within the Pacific Plan.

According to Fiji media reports, at 2am on the 10 March, three men broke into the private home compound of Fiji Times Editor Netani Rika and vandalised his car. They remain at large.  The same day, police waving search warrants scoured the newsrooms of the Fiji Times and Fiji TV on the pretext of finding letters quoted from during routine news reports.

“The nature of the letters and their sources are convincing proof that the search warrant exercise was not about protecting the public safety, but growing an atmosphere of fear amongst Fiji journalists,” says Laumaea.

“It also calls into question the process of securing search warrants in this instance, and what reasons or justifications were used to grant the warrants for letters whose contents seem so mundane in terms of the level of attention used.”

He says it’s time for Pacific Forum leaders to make known to Fiji their support of democracy and the critical role of the media in keeping Pacific communities informed.

“The latest round of incidents provide a disturbing picture of the level of fear-mongering blatantly being practised by Fiji’s law enforcers, against media professionals,” says PFF co-chair Monica Miller, of American Samoa.

 “The Pacific Freedom Forum has long made clear its total condemnation of the current tactics from the Fiji regime clearly aimed at intimidating media workers from doing their jobs fearlessly and without favour,” she says.

“It is time for Forum leaders to step up and make known their concern over the ongoing campaigns and human rights abuses becoming ever more prevalent in Fiji.”

PM taken to task over 'slush funds'

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare has been challenged to present to Parliament documents showing that more than K4 billion, stashed away in various Government trust accounts since 2005, has not been used as “Government slush funds”, The National reports.

He has also been tasked to table in Parliament the details of all disbursements from these accounts as well as table a quarterly report to the Parliament on the operations of the trust accounts with details of all withdrawals and expenditures from them.

Sir Michael was also tasked to give reasons as to why sectoral funds allocated to the Health and Education departments, as well as the law and justice sector programme had been taken back and centralised under the Department of National Planning.

He was put to task by Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta in Parliament yesterday and responded, saying he would furnish the reports to Parliament with the assistance of Finance and Treasury Minister Patrick Pruaitch and National Planning Minister Paul Tiensten.

However, he gave the undertaking only after emphatically denying that the money was being used as “Government slush funds” as perceived by the Opposition and said he would have the documents tabled in Parliament to quell any suspicion, concern or cynicism over the lack of transparency in the allocation and disbursement of funds from trust accounts.

Sir Mekere told Parliament that the money, appropriated through supplementary budgets since 2005 and stashed away in trust accounts, had been removed from the scrutiny of the annual budget process and quarterly budget reviews.

He said as time passed, the public lost sight of the money, Parliament lost control over it and accountability was difficult to establish and enforced.

“The monies became Government slush funds,” Sir Mekere said.

 

Dad kills son over school fees

I read this story in The National this morning with tears in my eyes. It is a sad, but true story of the difficulties many families in Papua New Guinea have with paying school fees, whilst the government continues to turn a blind eye. When will this country ever learn that education and health are the two most-important things if it wants to develop? The young man didn’t deserve to die like this.

 

By ANDREW ALPHONSE in The National

 

A DISPUTE between father and son over payment of school fees ended tragically when the father stabbed his son to death at Koli village in Ialibu, Southern Highlands province, on Monday morning.

Ialibu police identified the deceased as 17-year-old James Lapua, a Grade 12 student at the Ialibu Secondary School.

Police said the father had sold a pig for K1, 300 last weekend.

Police believed the pig belonged to the son but was raised by the father.

As the son prepared to go to school that fateful morning, he asked his dad for part of the money for school fees from the sale of the pig.

Police said the father refused and an argument started during which the father went to his room, grabbed a knife and stabbed his son in the chest.

Police said Lapua died instantly.

An autopsy carried out at Ialibu hospital hours later confirmed that the knife had pierced the youngster’s heart, causing his instant death.

The father had fled the scene and is hiding in the bush.

Police criminal investigation division (CID) officers are investigating the incident.

Jacob Iki, chairman of the Ialibu Secondary School board of management, confirmed the incident and condemned the manner in which the young man’s life was taken away.

Mr Iki, who is also Ialibu town mayor, described the killing as “senseless and barbaric”.

Mr Iki said Lapua was an outstanding student with a bright future.

He described Lapua as a well-behaved young man and a regular church-goer who was well liked by everyone in the community.

All classes at Ialibu Secondary were suspended yesterday in respect of young Lapua.