Prime Minister: Papua New Guinea is rich enough

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, despite a public outcry against the Papua New Guinea government wanting to buy a sleek new executive jet, is insistent that the country is “rich enough”. This is despite the fact that Papua New Guinea is lagging behind in education and health services, infrastructure, law and order, basically everything.

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare said yesterday the people of PNG will not be poorer by the decision to buy an executive jet worth millions of kina, The National reports.

The Prime Minister said in a statement the Government had allocated K40 million to Air Niugini to buy an executive jet “to cater for the growing needs in the mineral sector”.

Air Niugini would be responsible for the management and maintenance of the aircraft on a commercial basis and the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers would also have access to it, Sir Michael said.

“Our economy has grown considerably and our budget has significantly increased since the deficit years prior to 2003.

“We are, therefore, not taking money out of any of our service sectors to give to Air Niugini to buy this aircraft.”

He said the Government was rich enough to afford such a luxury, and accused his critics of spreading misinformation.

“As a Government, we have actually increased allocations to all our sectors since 2003.

“It is misleading and irresponsible to tout opinions not based on facts that we are depriving any Papua New Guinean of any essential service through the purchase of this aircraft.

“With the increase in allocation to all sectors, we should be seeing better Government services. Obviously, implementation of these allocations continued to be an issue that we are addressing.

“We are today where we have never been before and we must be strategic.

“We are no longer the impoverished country that outsiders and some of our own elites are so keen in calling us.

“Our future is bright and we, as elected representatives, are here to make the hard decisions that might not be appreciated immediately but would later be deemed timely and appropriate.”

Over the weekend, Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri told The National that the airline was buying a Falcon 900 triple engine executive jet.

He said the plane was not ultra-long range and could fly to most F100 airports in the country.

Mr Kumarasiri said it was part of Air Niugini’s plan to move into commercial executive charter.

The plane is described in a number of websites as an advance comfort jet fit for the rich and powerful.

One site said: “The Falcon 900 is one of the most technologically advanced large business jets available.

“Its design incorporates the latest improvements in aerodynamics and flight systems, which results in beautiful flight characteristics, gentle landings and cruise speeds of over 550mph.”

 

Grave robbers wreak havoc in Lae (and Papua New Guinea) cemeteries

These unscrupulous people will stop at nothing for a quick buck…even the dead

 

There are some things in life that are so hard to comprehend.

These things make you wonder why some people have the audacity to carry out such acts, which include desecrating the memory of loved ones that families and relatives have laid to rest.

These people can stoop as low as stealing brass plaques from graveyards to sell to unscrupulous scrap metal dealers for a fast buck.

In my home town of Lae, this practice has been going on ever since these dealers - who prey on Papua New Guinea's massive unemployment problem - set foot.

Today, a visit to cemeteries in Lae, will show you many headstones on graves that are missing brass plaques.

A case in point is the old graveyard up the road from the famous old Lae airport.

This graveyard is the final resting place for many of the pioneers of Lae and Morobe province, mainly expatriates, and was a relic of a bygone era where visitors could learn so much just by reading the plaques and headstones.

Rest In Peace - RIP - those buried here are supposed to be.

However, this has not been the case over the last 10 years or so, as grave robbers without a care in the world have plundered basically all the brass plaques.

In my younger days, as a journalist in Lae, one of my hobbies used to be wandering old graveyards and reading the plaques and headstones as I could learn so much history. Sadly, I can no longer do this, as many of the plaques are gone.

And the irony is that people are not making any noise about this daylight robbery going on in front of their own faces.

The grave robbers are desecrating graveyards at the old Lae airport, Second Seven (Malahang), and even my Butibam village, to name a few.

Heaven knows what would happen to the Lae War Cemetery if there wasn't tight security around to prevent these intruders.

We never thought that this practice would come to Butibam until a few years ago when plaques started disappearing overnight.

In May 2006, while on a working trip to Lae, I visited my father's grave at Butibam (pictured above) and took pictures.

A short time later, I was surprised to receive a call from my mother, who was in tears as she told me that Dad's plaque had disappeared to these unprincipled grave leeches.

The entire family, just like me, was shocked as we wondered what exactly Dad or we had done to deserve this.

The plaque, to this day, has not been replaced as I somehow have to find the exact wording for a replacement.

My father, the late Mathias Nalu, died on September 17, 1993, after more than 35 years of service with the Education Department as a teacher and later a school inspector.

He had just retired and received his final entitlements, however, never got to enjoy the fruits of his labour as he suffered a severe stroke from which he never recovered until his untimely passing.

Dad was one of those old Dregerhafen and Finschhafen boys who was always proud to call Michael Somare, Paulias Matane, the late Alkan Tololo, and many more, "old school mates".

Dad's school mates went on to become great leaders of this country while he chose to take the backseat as a humble teacher and school inspector.

Hundreds of teachers and public servants packed the St Andrew's Lutheran Church at Ampo in Lae for his funeral service.

The Nalu family was humbled by this show of respect from so many people from all over Lae, Morobe province, and PNG.

I realise that times are hard, but to steal brass plaques from graves to sell to some dodgy scrap metal dealer for a quick buck is unforgivable.

The government should put in place tough legislation to combat those who steal plaques from graves and those who buy them.

These offenders, as part of their rehabilitation, could be sent to Salamaua where the villagers there will teach them how to look after and respect old graveyards.

The old Salamaua cemetery is a relic of a bygone era of the 1920s and 1930s when fevered gold miners from all over the world converged on this idyllic part of the world.

To visit the old Salamaua cemetery is to step back in time, to a rip-roaring period when gold fever struck men from around the globe.

Today the old Salamaua cemetery, or what remains of it, is well tended to by the local villagers.

The graves are mute testimony to the days when European man, running a high gold fever, was claimed by a fever of a different kind.

I have a very simple message for those who removed my father's plaque and those who bought it.

"May God forgive you.

"I find it very hard to do so."

 

Chinese, Papua New Guinean Foreign Ministers meet on ties

 BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Papua New Guinean counterpart Samuel Abal Monday agreed to promote ties between their two countries, Xinhua reports.

China has all along paid great attention to developing friendly and cooperative relations with Papua New Guinea, said Yang.

He said the China-Papua New Guinea relation has achieved remarkable progress since the establishment of bilateral ties, featuring frequent high-level exchanges and widening cooperation in such sectors as economy and trade, agriculture, culture, education and health.

The two countries have also maintained close consultation and coordination in international and regional organizations, said Yang.

The upcoming visit of Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Michael Somare is of great importance in boosting bilateral ties, said Yang, stressing China is willing to join hands with Papua New Guinea to advance bilateral relations.

Abal said Papua New Guinean government attached great importance to ties with China and agreed to firmly adhere to the one-China policy.

Papua New Guinea is ready to work with China to enhance cooperation in economy and trade, energy and resources, so as to make new progress for bilateral ties.

After the meeting, Abal presented a check worth 531,300 U.S. dollars to the Chinese government on behalf of the Papua New Guinean government to support post-quake reconstruction in southwest China's Sichuan province, and Yang expressed appreciation to the donation.

 

Shoot to kill?

Fiji's military have been given permission to shoot civilians without fear of being prosecuted.

 

Terrified Fijians say they are too frightened to speak out after the latest political upheaval, which has seen the nation's media gagged by sweeping state censorship restrictions in a crackdown on dissenting free

speech.

Armed forces chief Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama returned to power as  prime minister on Saturday, a day after the president suspended the  constitution and fired the judges who had declared the his previous  government illegal.

President Ratu Josefa Iloilo also declared a 30-day state of emergency, limiting freedom of speech, expanding police powers and curbing media.

Reports emerged yesterday of people being detained without charge in the absence of a judiciary.

Public Emergency Regulations imposed by the military regime have given military personnel permission to use arms to break up processions, meetings or assemblies.

If anyone is injured or killed, the decree grants soldiers immunity from prosecution.

Yesterday's Fiji Times had blank pages after police censors forced the paper to erase international reaction to latest developments.

Privately owned Fiji TV pulled its 6pm news bulletin yesterday, refusing to allow the military regime to censor its broadcast.

It is understood that judges sympathetic to the military regime may be reappointed today.

In a national address after his reappointment, Commodore Bainimarama told Fijians they had the opportunity to build "on a clean slate, a new beginning".

"We must all be loyal to Fiji, we must be patriotic," Commodore Bainimarama said.

"The necessary regulations are in force. I'm sure we will all including the media co-operate with the relevant agencies."

Commodore Bainimarama has been in power since he overthrew the democratically elected government of Laisenia Qarase in 2006.

Attempts are being made to bring forward a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, where Fiji's suspension from the Pacific Forum looks certain and harsher sanctions are likely to be debated.

A Fijian citizen, too afraid to be named, spoke from Suva yesterday about his fear of being arrested, beaten or killed for speaking out.

"There's no constitution, there's no law. They are the law."

Many Fijians had struggled since sanctions against the regime crippled the economy, the man said. "People cannot afford to send their children to school or put food on the table. People are just struggling to find ways and means to live. You can't fight the military because they're the ones with the guns.

"Everybody's praying and hoping that things will change soon that will  return the government back to democratic elections ... where people are  free to speak [and] you're not always looking back and worried about  what will happen to you and your family."

Mr Qarase said he had to be careful to "say nothing" but feared that crime was likely to rise as poverty worsened. "The place is calm right now. Ahead, potentially, I don't know."

Government spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said no-one had been detained and there was no shoot-to-kill policy in the new regulations.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemned the situation in Fiji and labelled Commodore Bainimarama's administration "virtually a military dictatorship".

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully called the reinstatement of Commodore Bainimarama "a sham". "The events that surround his appointment take his country down an even darker path."

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has been operating in Fiji for months on reduced staff after Commodore Bainimarama expelled high commissioner Caroline McDonald and refused to allow the replacement of police and defence attaches.

The ministry was advising caution for Kiwis in Fiji yesterday, saying there was "some risk" to security. "Fiji is calm but a rapid deterioration to the situation, including the potential for civil disorder and violence, cannot be ruled out."

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/2330628/Armys-new-powers-terrify-residents

Closing internet access in Fiji? Whats possible?

We have been advised that tyrant FrankBainimarama   has ordered FINTEL, Vodafone, Kidanet, Connect and other Internet Service Providers in Fiji to close their internet operations.

 We are told that this advice was given to Bainimarama by his Vodafone advisor and Vodafone CEO, Aslam Khan.

Aslam is husband of Justice Nazhat Shameem, sister of Human Rights Commissioner Director, Shaista Shameem!

 The warning came from Fiji blogs and Fiji people social networks about a minute ago and it was started by Raw Fiji News, a blogspot against Bainimarama’s interim government.

So, if Fiji goes dark soon, then the advisory is correct...in the meantime, please tell everyone about what's happening...

IFJ demands Fiji regime reverse media clampdown

Tuesday, April 14: THE unprecedented clampdown on the media in Fiji at the weekend underscores the unwillingness of Fiji’s military leadership to uphold long-promised democratic reform in the Pacific island nation, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said today.

“Press freedom in Fiji is in tatters. The repressive actions taken against Fiji’s media at the weekend give the lie to promises by the military government throughout the past year that it would support press freedom and media professionalism as essential components of the country’s return to democratic rule,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.

 “But now, the draconian and reprehensible manner in which the military leadership is seeking to control information about highly significant events and issues in Fiji is comparable to the actions of other dictatorial regimes and closed societies, including Burma, North Korea and Zimbabwe.”

 Following an appeals court ruling on April 9 which declared the 2006 coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama was illegal, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo abrogated Fiji’s 1997 Constitution, sacked the nation's judges, declared himself head of state. He reappointed Bainimarama as prime minister on April 11.

 Ministry of Information officials and the police immediately imposed sweeping censorship of the media and installed censors in newsrooms. The media was warned not to publish or broadcast "negative" reports about the President’s actions and the appointments of Bainimarama and the Cabinet.

 Under 30-day Public Emergency Regulations, journalists are now required to submit “sensitive” news reports to government officials for approval. Media organisations could be shut down if official directives are ignored.

 Newspapers and television outlets protested by refusing to broadcast news bulletins and carrying blank pages and spaces in newspapers.

A blank page in the Sunday Times simply included a line declaring, “The stories on this page could not be published due to government restrictions.”

 However, most organisations are no longer running political reports. Local media personnel are privately reporting a “climate of silence” has gripped some newsrooms.

 Veteran Pacific affairs correspondent Sean Dorney, of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and reporter Sia Aston and cameraman Matt Smith, of New Zealand’s TV3, were due to be deported today. Their news reports over the weekend detailed the extent of the media clampdown.

 The IFJ is extremely concerned about the impacts of denying information to people in Fiji and the well-being of media personnel who seek to do their jobs amid a climate of fear and persecution.

The IFJ joins journalists and media organisations throughout the region, including IFJ affiliates in New Zealand and Australia – the NZ Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) –  the Pacific Media Centre (PMC), Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF), the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) and the Fiji Media Council in demanding that the Bainimarama regime immediately end all restrictions on Fiji’s news media and allow local and foreign journalists to do their jobs in the public interest.

 The crisis in Fiji follows more than a year of systematic and increasingly severe efforts by the military leadership to silence independent reporting by local and foreign media personnel and commentary by members of the public who dare to question the regime’s legitimacy.

 Anti-media actions have included deportations of publishers and editors, refusal of entry to foreign media personnel, police searches of newsrooms, contempt of court rulings, and public comments by military officers suggesting critical media must be shut down.

 Safety concerns have increased since a firebomb attack by unknown assailants on the home of the editor-in-chief of the Fiji Times, Netani Rika, on March 23. The bomb failed to ignite.

 

 For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

 The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide

 

Watut singsing group

These are pictures of a traditional singsing group from Watut, Morobe province, which I took during a visit to the area with Bulolo MP Sam Basil last October.