Papua New Guinea MPs' perks up

Housing, car allowances to increase by 42-50%

 

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

 

MEMBERS of Parliament are set to give themselves a 42% rise in accommodation allowances and a further 50% increase in vehicle allowances, The National reports.

The 35th Report of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) presented to Parliament on Wednesday afternoon by SRC member and Public Service Minister Peter O’Neill, on behalf of the Speaker, recommended the increase to Parliament.

The Speaker is chairman of the SRC.

Members will vote on the measure soon.

Mr O’Neill, on behalf of the SRC, said the report related to the accommodation allowance which, from complaints that had been received, was far below the amount charged by real estate companies and, as a result, many MPs end up staying with wantoks in the settlements whenever they come to Port Moresby. Mr O’Neill said the SRC, through its contacts, had established that the recent increase on charges for rental accommodation imposed by real estate companies was around 42%.

“The commission does not always increase the accommodation allowance whenever there is an increase in rental charges, however, in this instance because of the difficulties being experienced by leaders in securing reasonable accommodation in Port Moresby, the commission had decided to recommend an increase along the same level as imposed by the real estate companies,” Mr O’Neill said.

The second matter that the report dealt with related to vehicle allowance.

Mr O’Neill said the SRC was aware that the type of vehicle (a Mazda 929), upon which the vehicle allowance was originally determined, was no longer sold in Papua New Guinea.

“This meant that another vehicle type will need to be determined in order to update the allowance base. This will be done in due course.

“In the meantime, Mr Speaker, the commission has decided to recommend an increase of 50% on all vehicle allowances.

“I recommend the report to the honourable Members of the House.”

According to figures taken from the SRC determination of 2007, released on July 1, the Prime Minister, Speaker, Deputy Prime Minister and Opposition leader and ministers enjoy a vehicle allowance of K49, 500 and drivers get K7, 150 annually.

This will now be increased to about K75, 000 and drivers’ pay to increase to about K12, 000 per annum.

Vice-ministers, chairmen of parliamentary committees and the deputy Speaker are now receiving an official vehicle allowance of K42, 075, which will increase to about K63, 000.

MPs receive a vehicle allowance of K24, 750 each and that will increase to K40, 000.

For accommodation, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Speaker and leader of Opposition currently receive K1, 400 a week, which is likely to increase to around K2, 100 a week.

Ministers and chairmen of parliamentary committees get K1,200 a week, deputy Speaker, vice-ministers, deputy chairmen of committees get around K900 a week while Opposition and Government whips get K800 a week.

Ordinary MPs receive around K700 a week and will see an increase of 42% with the recommended increase in accommodation allowances.

 

Eastern Highlands vegetable farmers get a new depot, thanks to New Zealand

Captions: 1. The Nomari Fresh Food Marketing Depot after the opening. 2.  FPDA general manager Ambassador Aiwa Olmi, New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Alistair  Crozier and other invited guests at the opening. 3. New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Alistair Crozier cutting the ribbon to officially open the Nomari Fresh Food Marketing Depot.

By GARY FAGAN of Fresh Produce Development Agency

RURAL vegetable farmers in the Mando area of Eastern Highlands province no longer have to worry about the difficulties of getting their fresh produce to market.
They now have a new fresh food marketing depot in the village at which they can easily sell their produce.
 Nomari fresh food marketing depot came about with the assistance of the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA).
 FPDA is a government-funded agency responsible for developing a commercially-orientated supply chain of fresh food, and mandated to improve the performance of the fruit and vegetable industry by providing expert assistance in the area of training, research and information.
 “It’s a dream come true and something that we have waited for a long time,” said farmer Veronica Wasari.
“My problems are now over.
“I don’t have to worry anymore about the hardships I face in finding transport to take my fresh produce into Goroka town markets.
“I can sell them right here in my village.”
The depot was officially opened by the New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner Alistair Crozier.
He was accompanied by Therron McIvor, a representative from the Foreign Affairs Pacific Division of the New Zealand (NZ) High Commission.
Mr Crozier his government over the last few years had been assisting PNG in terms of funding such projects to develop its fresh produce industry.
He said so far New Zealand has supported about 200 PNG students to undertake studies in various disciplines in different educational institutions.
“We want to help the people of Papua New Guinea, however, you have to be committed in what you are doing before we can be able to assist you,” Mr Crozier said.
 “The New Zealand aid is like a seed planted in the ground and it is up to you to look after it and make it grow and bear fruit.”
 Outgoing FPDA general manager Ambassador Aiwa Olmi challenged the people to allocate land if they wanted to see development in their province.
He said FPDA had been trying to set up a permanent headquarter in Goroka but was unable to do so because there was no available land.
In 2007, the Nomari fresh food marketing depot started with a handful of youths, led by now chairman of the depot Rocky Aimo, with the idea of keeping the youths away from illegal activities and get them in living meaningful lives.
With support from FPDA, in terms of providing training on farming techniques, helping them to source markets and later guiding them to secure a funding of K47, 000 from NZ Aid, the group was able to construct the depot.
Mr Aimo first started off as a village extension worker attached to FPDA.
He said the depot would serve as a fresh produce chilling and storage facility.
Mr Aimo said so far the depot had shipped over 200 tonnes of fresh vegetables. 
From the money raised, the depot was able to buy a new truck to transport fresh produce to Lae to be shipped to South Seas Tuna in Wewak.

Pineapple processing in South Fly

Captions: 1. Participants of the pineapple training workshop at Daru High School. 2. A participant from Dimiri village (left) and South Fly agricutltural officer Ginoi Waina trying out the grating and filtering stages of making pineapple juice. 3. Dimiri participants and trainers posing for a group photo after the pineapple processing training at Daru High School. 4. Isidora Ramita of NARI showing the formation of pineapple jam jelly during one of the demonstrations on fruit processing.

By JOSEPHINE YAGA      

Fruit farmers in Western province can now produce their own juice and jams from pineapple, thanks to National Agriculture Research Institute for training on food processing which was conducted recently in Daru.
Thirty fruit farmers in the Dimiri area of Moreheard LLG, South Fly district, attended the two-day training conducted by NARI food technologist Isidora Ramita.
It was facilitated by James Ernest of NARI Laloki and Ginoi Waina of division of agriculture, South Fly.
It was part of the Morehead Food Security Support Project funded by PNG Sustainable Development Programme and NARI in 2008.
Mr Ernest said commercial production of fruits and vegetables was increasing in some parts of PNG.
 However, during post-harvest and delivery to markets, there is substantial lose of produce due to over ripening or rotting and careless handling.  
He said fruit producers generally lacked the skills and techniques in proper processing, preservation and adding value to their produce.
Mr Ernest, who is also the coordinator of this technology transfer project, noted in the training report that pineapple farmers in the Dimiri community planted some 26,000 pineapples as an income generating project initiated by the villagers themselves.
The pineapples were harvested and sold at the local market in Daru town for K 2 to K4 a fruit but the villagers could not sell all the harvests, resulting in a huge lose due to over ripening.
After identifying the problem, NARI organised the raining workshop last December.
Mr Ernest said the project provided an alternative by training the producers the simple food processing technologies on making pineapple juice and jams.
 It was also aimed at reducing transportation cost and adding value to the produce which can be sold to earn higher income or extended storage for later use.
He said one of the key components of the project was to provide appropriate farmer trainings to enhance skills and knowledge of the rural people both in farming practices and simple food processing technologies.
The participants stated that the training was the first of its kind to be conducted in Daru, particularly in the South Fly, and asked for more.
 According to Mr Ernest, the participants also raised concern about the importance of the training and the need for the trainers and facilitators to have ample time doing awareness of such training to attract more number of potential participants. 

Landmark decision on old Lae airport

Caption: Jubilant Butibam leaders Jonathan Benjamin, Jonathan Saing, Sam Abel, Ali Isaac, Garett Kissinh, Barry Way, Thomas Peleli and lawyer Frankford Dagina.

The Supreme Court today handed down a landmark decision on the controversial old Lae airport land by rejecting an application to stay order taken out by Ahi landowners from Butibam and Kamukumung villages against the Morobe provincial government and the State.
The court noted that the landowners had not been adequately compensated for all anguish and turmoil they had gone through over the years,
It has long been a sore thumb in Lae as Morobe Governor Luther Wenge and his administrator Patilias Gamato fought a war of words both within and out of court against the villagers.
Just a couple of week ago, things came to a head at the old Lae airport, as old Butibam women were manhandled and beaten by Lae police.
Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, in a short one-page decision, refused the application of the Morobe government and its illegal LEC/LEH Joint Venture Ltd.
Village elders from Butibam and Kamkumung, flanked by their lawyer Frankford Dagina, hailed the Supreme Court decision as a huge victory for their people, who they said had been robbed of their birthright.
They included outspoken Butibam leader Garett Kissing, Ahi Landowners’ Association president Jonathan Saing, general secretary Ali Isaac, Butibam village chairman Jonathan Benjamin and Apo clan leader Sam Abel.
In the National Court, the provincial government was claiming the whole old Lae airport land, under a five-year urban development lease (UDL), which expired on Feb 26, 2009.
The landowners successfully fought in court to dismiss that case, and from which, the provincial government provincial government appealed to the Supreme Court.
“The Morobe provincial government was seeking to stay that order of Feb 13, 2009, on the basis that Morobe provincial government and LEC/LEH Joint Venture have a contract for construction of an access road within the old Lae airport for K3 million,” Mr Dagina said.
“On Monday, March 16, the matter was heard and it was adjourned to today for a decision.
“The Supreme Court had refused the application to stay on this basis:
•       LEC/LEH Joint Venture Ltd is not registered with the Investment Promotion Authority;
•       The five-year UDL had expired on Feb 26, 2009; and
•       The Morobe Provincial Government was in continuous breach of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the State and the landowners signed in 1999.
“In making the decision, the court noted that the landowners are yet to be adequately compensated for the land, pursuant to the Constitution and relevant Acts for the whole of Lae land.”
Emotional Butibam leaders said: “This land issue goes back a very long time.
“It has been through God’s grace that this matter has finally been sorted out, and we are seeking an end to all of this, as after all, we are the legitimate landowners of the old Lae airport and the whole of Lae City.
“We are seeking that the government address our current situation.
“The people of Butibam and Kamkumung really appreciate the decision of the Deputy Chief Justice and the Supreme Court today over the old Lae airport land.
“It is a victory for the oppressed and it’s a victory that gives the people the value of ownership, which has been deprived of us for several decades up to now.
“The people of Butibam and Kamkumung today acknowledge that there is justice, there is fairness, and there is a process that has never been shown in such a way until today.
“Amidst all the legitimised corruption of the Morobe provincial government, we invite the Somare/Temu government to come in and develop Lae City with the direct involvement of the landowners.”

Asia-Pacific agricultural researchers awarded Australian Fellowships

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today presented the John Dillon Memorial Fellowship award to nine talented agricultural scientists and economists – including three from Papua New Guinea -  from the across the Asia-Pacific region

The Fellowship recipients are visiting Australia at the invitation of the Australian Government for leadership training and to make making valuable connections with Australians working in similar fields during their six-week visit.

“Each member of the group has shown potential to lead research institutes and agencies in our partner countries and will be important contributors to the global effort to fight poverty and secure world food security,”Mr McMullan said.

 “They have each won a John Dillon Fellowship, provided by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, ACIAR, for short-term leadership development opportunities in the area of agricultural research management, agricultural policy and extension technologies to people who are participating in ACIAR-funded programs.” McMullan said. 

The scheme is named in recognition of the late Professor John Dillon who made an outstanding contribution to international agricultural research and research collaboration.  

“This year we are once again hosting an impressive group of people who are doing important work on agricultural development in their countries in collaboration with ACIAR,” said ACIAR CEO, Peter Core.

“They are involved in a range of industries, such as the coffee industry in Papua New Guinea, cattle production in Eastern Indonesia, and in Pakistan’s horticultural industries.”

The group of John Dillon Fellows are in Canberra from 10-20 March, visiting ACIAR, the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and eWater CRC at the University of Canberra. 

The remainder of the program has been specially tailored to their individual management training needs. 

“The Fellows’ six week visit in Australia commenced with management training at Mt Eliza Business School, and includes training in Canberra and Brisbane.  In addition the Fellows have had placements with Australian R&D organisations in Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Wagga Wagga and Sydney, to experience how they manage research in a changing environment,” Mr Core said.

“The John Dillon Fellowship scheme is just one aspect of the valuable capacity building work ACIAR does,” Mr McMullan said.

The 2009 ACIAR John Dillon Fellows include: 

·        Ms Wahida, Coordinator, Collaborative Research Division, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Socio Economic and Policy Studies, Bogor, INDONESIA

·        Dr Marsetyo, Senior Lecturer, Department of Animal Science, University of Tadulako, Palu, INDONESIA

·        Mr Handoko Widagdo, Acting Country Director, World Education Indonesia, Jakarta, INDONESIA

·        Mr Nelson Simbiken, Senior Research Scientist, Papua New Guinea Coffee Industry Corporation, Goroka, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

·        Mr William Kerua, Lecturer, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

·        Mr Don Yakuma, Program Coordinator Forestry, OK Tedi Development Foundation, Tabubil, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

·        Mr Chea Sareth, Deputy Head of Socio-economics and Science Division, Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA 

·        Dr Babar Ehsan Bajwa, Manager (Technical), Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board, Lahore, PAKISTAN

·        Mr Oupakone Alounsavath, Director, Planning and Cooperation, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Vientiane, LAO PDR

 

Jungle Child movie seeks Papua New Guinea actors and actresses

Captions: 1. Sabine Kuegler with Fayu warrior. 2. Sabine Kuegler as a child (above) and later a young woman with Fayu friends. 3. Sabine Kuegler with Fayu children. 4. Sabine Kuegler…torn between two races. 5. Cover of Dschunglkind (Jungle Child) by Sabine Kuegler

German film production company UFA Cinema Germany will shortly be conductiong an audition to scout Papua New Guinea actors and actresses for a film called Dschunglkind (Jungle Child) which will be shot in Malaysia in 2010.
The auditioning, which has the full support of the National Cultural Commission, will be held on March 31 at the Raun Raun Theatre in Goroka, April 1 and 2 at the Ulli Beier Theatre at the University of PNG in Port Moresby, April 4 at the Vanimo Sports Oval, April 6 at the Prince Charles Oval in Wewak and April 8 at the Madang Visitors and Cultural Bureau.
The film, based on a bestselling German book of the same name, tells the story of Sabine Kuegler and her missionary parents and how they go to live in a remote jungle area of West Papua, Indonesia, among the recently-discovered Fayu, a tribe untouched by modern civilisation.
It is her remarkable true story of a childhood lived out in the jungle, and the struggle to conform to European society that followed.
David Taim, senior festival officer with the NCC, said the German company visited PNG last year, and after having a look in our jungles, opted for Malaysia for logistical reasons, however, the bulk of actors would come from PNG.
“They are seeking to recruit more than 50 actors and actress,” he said.
“The audition is open to any interested public Theatre groups and individuals.
“All wishing to come for audition must be in traditional costume.”
Mr Taim added: “One casting will be done by me and the Australia casting director called Angela Heesom, and the second one will be done by the Germans.
“Then the cast will be finalised and we will work the logistics of how to move the actors over to Malaysia.
“By February next year, they should be flying over.
“The German director travelled to PNG with his technical people last year, scouting locations for this film.
“They went to Lae and Goroka, however, the forests were not to their liking, and they chose Malaysia.
“It was also a matter of logistics.”
Mr Taim stressed that such opportunities for PNG only came once in a blue moon; hence, he would be working closely with the German company to ensure that it gets nothing less than the best from us.
Dschunglkin, first published in 2005, is the story of how an exotic, touching, and unique childhood leads into the drama of a woman who longs to revisit her homeland.
It is highly-emotional, exciting, full of humor, in parts even poetic
“It must have been October. I’m 17 years old, standing at the train station in Hamburg,” Sabine Kuegler writes.
“An icy wind sweeps across the platform.
“I’m terribly cold; nobody explained to me how to dress in winter.
“I’m nervous, all of my senses are on edge.
“I observe the people around me with mistrust and I’m ready to hit anyone who should attack me.
“How can I defend myself?
“I have neither a bow and arrow nor a knife on me.
“I start to shiver, tears roll down my cold cheeks, I long for the humid heat of my homeland.
“I’m a child of the jungle.”
Sabine Kuegler’s story begins as she arrives in West Papua at age five, daughter of German linguists who are missionaries.
She arrives to find a tribe which even today lives as if it were the Stone Age.
She had already spent her earliest years far from civilisation, but now her parents build a house for themselves and their three children in the middle of the jungle, only reachable by air or by sea.
The little blonde girl falls in love with the jungle at first sight – it’s a fantasy world, a playground.
She learns to hunt, to climb, to swim in the raging river which is teeming with crocodiles.
She knows how to shoot arrows at poisonous spiders and how to start a fire without matches.
Instead of French fries she eats roasted insects, instead of gum she chews bat wings.
She learns how brutal nature can be – but also what war and hatred among people can mean.
The once-cannibal Fayu people penalises every infraction with death.
And yet the children of this tribe are like brothers and sisters to Sabine.
At age 17 Sabine is sent to a Swiss boarding school to get her diploma – a disastrous turn of events for her, since she feels and acts like a Fayu.
“Fear is something I didn’t learn until I got here,” she says, but also, “Deep inside me is a fighter.
“I survived in the jungle, why not here?”
And so Sabine learns everything for the first time – how to shop, how to greet people, how to cross the street.
Today, after 14 years in civilisation, she blends in with everyone else, and she has a family and a job.
But homesickness and longing constantly burn inside her.
She is going to return to the jungle to find out for herself: Where do I belong? Who am I really, a Fayu or a European?
Sabine Kuegler writes: “I want to tell a story, a story about a girl who grew up in another age.
“A story of love, hate, forgiveness, brutality, and the beauty of life.
“It’s a true story. It is my story...”
“I had an indescribably beautiful, but also danger-filled childhood.
“I walked barefoot through the jungle and I was one with nature.
“And here, in the only recently-discovered Fayu tribe, which stood for cannibalism and unimaginable brutality, a tribe that still lived in the Stone Age, that was just learning to love instead of hate, to forgive instead of kill, a tribe that became a part of me as I became a part of it, this is where my life changed.
“I wasn’t a German girl anymore, not a white girl from Europe anymore – I became a native, a Fayu girl from the Iyareke tribe.
“In the jungle, when you’ve found food for yourself and your family, then you have done your duty.
“There’s nothing else to do or to worry about.”
“It was only later that I came to understand that my childhood was unique.
“That I don’t have to be ashamed of being from the jungle.
“Beauty, danger, adventure, simplicity and miracle are words that can only describe part of the life I left behind. I want my book to show that there is more to life than money, technology, and progress.”
David Taim can be contacted on telephone (675) 3235114, mobile (675) 71107651 or email ncc@culturetok.org.pg

Antonia Singut is Miss Papua New Guinea 2009

Caption: Antonia fulfils quest . . . Miss University of Papua New Guinea Antonia Singut (left) is ecstatic on being crowned the Red Cross Miss PNG 2009 by former Miss PNG Genevieve Roberts at the crowning ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Saturday. The event was a huge success, according to the organisers.  – Nationalpic by AURI EVA

 

By CHRISSILLA KABE TALIS in The National

 

ANTONIA Singut, the 21-year-old Sepik beauty, is Miss PNG 2009.

She entered the quest as Miss University of Papua New Guinea

(UPNG), and performed extremely well during the quest to be adorned with the crown on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Port Moresby.

Ms Singut is of mixed East Sepik and East New Britain parentage.

She is the eldest granddaughter of veteran journalist, the late Ian Boden, and she dedicated her win to him.

Ms Singut said her late grandfather, who passed away last November, had a great influence on her life and so she had decided to follow in his footsteps.

She is a third-year journalism student at UPNG and is also pursuing environmental science studies at the university.

The confident, charming, intelligent young lady has a way of lighting up the room when she enters, qualities that helped her win another major title – Miss Charity Runner-Up.

She also won other minor titles of Miss Friendship (voted by her fellow contestants), and Miss Photogenic

(chosen by the quest photographer).

As Miss PNG, Ms Singut said she would endeavour to commit and dedicate her whole life to the work of the Red Cross – disaster relief and humanitarian work.

Later this year, Ms Singut will go on to represent PNG in the Miss South Pacific Pageant in Fiji, and has promised to make the country proud when she participates in this pageant.

The Miss Charity Queen title went to Brigitte Wase, who entered the quest as Miss Ox & Palm, sponsored by Hugo Canning Company Limited.

She made her sponsor very proud as the company’s undying support and dedication in assisting her in all her fundraising activities and preparations for the quest paid off in the end.

Not only is she the Charity Queen, Ms Wase also won another major

title – Miss PNG Runner-Up.

This 22-year-old of mixed Oro and Central parentage walked away with a Toyota Camry Vista last weekend, a prize from Ela Motors to the Charity Queen to acknowledge her efforts in raising funds for a worthy cause.

Altogether, the contestants raised about K90,000 for the Red Cross.

The other minor award of Miss

Patron’s Choice went to Miss Milne Bay, Julie Wapi.

The other contestants were Miss Oro Filma Gadebo, Miss Goroka Jacqueline Saleu, Miss Granville Motel Christine Kenwai and Miss Simbu Isabella Nopro.

The crowning was a historic event for the quest, according to Sue Darby, a judge during the evening and a pioneer member of the quest committee who has always been involved in its activities over the years.

Ms Darby said this was so because apart from former Miss PNG Genevieve Roberts (2006-2008), and the 2009 Miss PNG Ms Singut, there were five other former queens who were present that evening.

They are: Miss PNG 1993 Sharon Onsa Pople (Mistress of Ceremony); Miss PNG 1997 Lisa Linibi (quest judge), and three members of the quest organising committee – Miss PNG 1994 Tania Doyle, Miss PNG 1995 Imanakone Sioa and Miss PNG 2005 Michelle Pala.