Death of the Macdhui

A small, but significant, anniversary took place on Monday June 18, 2007.

That was the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the motor vessel Macdhui, sunk in the Port Moresby harbour by Japanese bombs (pictured above in 1942 painting by Richard Ashton) in June 1942.

One of the best-known landmarks in Port Moresby is the wreck of the Macdhui in the waters just off the Port Moresby Technical College at Kanudi.

Many people just drive or walk past without knowing the significant role that the Macdhui played in the development of Papua New Guinea.

Recently, I was asked to be a tour guide for a retired US veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and one of the World War 11 relics I showed him was the wreck of the Macdhui.

As we stood at Kanudi looking out to sea, I wondered what stories the deep blue sea, the rolling hills, and the wide sky could tell me about what they saw that fateful day in 1942.

It was then that I realised that June 18, 2007, would be the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the Macdhui and decided to put pen to paper.

The Macdhui, 4630 tonnes, built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1930, was owned and operated on the Australia-Papua New Guinea service by Burns Philp and Company Limited.

Macdhui’s maiden voyage took place in March 1931, sailing to Suva, Fiji, via the Azores, Jamaica, and the Panama Canal, with a load of coal.

Then the Sydney to Rabaul route for Burns Philip with 167 first-class passengers’ accomodation.

On June 20, 1931, a fire broke out on another voyage between Madang and Lae, but the passengers were safely taken ashore in lifeboats.

MacDhui was safely towed to Salamaua, New Guinea's then administrative capital, by Neptuna, another Burns Philp & Co vessel.

After patching at Salamaua, MacDhui was sailed to Sydney for six weeks of repairs.

With the onset of war the ship was commandeered by the Navy and used to evacuate civilians from New Guinea, then carrying Australian troops back to Port Moresby.

On June 17, 1942, the Macdhui was attacked by Japanese bombers as it was discharging to lighters in Port Moresby harbour.

It began zigzagging around the harbour but took one direct hit which caused considerable damage.

The vessel later went alongside the main wharf to unload dead and wounded.

The next day, at 10.45am, there was another air-raid warning and the Macdhui moved out into the harbour and began manoeuvring.

Soon after the raid began, it took a direct hit.

The captain headed towards shallow water where his ship finally keeled over onto a reef.

Ten of the crew of 77 were killed along with five Australian gunners from 39 Battalion.

Altogether, the Macdhui took four direct hits.

The dramatic sinking was captured on a black and white movie film shot by the famous Australian cameraman, Damien Parer from a nearby hilltop.

The loss of the Macdhui was a great blow to the morale of the Australian troops in Port Moresby. Until then it had been the only regular and reliable link between Australia and Port Moresby.

After the war, the Australian government compensated Burns Philp for its loss.

The wreck itself is now deeply pitted and corroded under the waterline.

It is gradually breaking up but even if it does slip completely under the surface part of the Macdhui will remain in Port Moresby.

In the late 1960’s the mast was removed and now stands outside the Royal Papua Yacht Club as a memorial to those who died.

One of the bells was erected in the tower of St John’s Anglican Church in Port Moresby and to this day still calls parishioners to worship.

Former vice-commodore of the Royal Papua Yacht Club, Trevor Kerr, tells of a supernatural experience in 1979 when the ashes of the late Captain J. Campbell, skipper of the Macdhui, were laid to rest with his ship.

The powered launch Tina, owned and skippered by yacht club committee member Russ Behan, approached the wreck with Captain Campbell’s two sons, a United Church minister, and Kerr on board.

“The weather in the harbour was unusually placid, not a zephyr stirred,” writes former Port Moresby diver Neil Whiting in Wreck and Reefs of Port Moresby.

“The sea was so clear that the superstructure of the Macdhui could be seen below the surface of the water.

“There was not a ripple on the surface or current drift to break the calm.

“With heads bowed in prayer, the United Church minister upturned the urn containing Captain Campbell’s ashes and scattered the contents into the sea.

“Trevor, observing the ceremony in a more detached fashion than the others, observed the most amazing sequence of events.

“The ashes initially clouded the water as one would expect, but almost immediately condensed into a form similar to a teardrop.

“Then, the most amazing phenomenon occurred.

“The teardrop cloud quite rapidly crossed the six-metre intervening gap between the Tina and the Macdhui and disappeared into the hull.

“At a nudge from Trevor, Russ glanced up and also observed the incredible event.

“The engines of the launch were quickly started and in a state of chilled awe, the funeral party motored away.

“Captain Campbell had returned to his ship.”

Role of vegetables in nutrition and poverty alleviation in Papua New Guinea

By SENIORL ANZU

The contribution of vegetables to human nutrition and poverty alleviation in developing countries will be the focus of a seminar that will be presented at Bubia near Lae on Friday April 17.
Director-General of the World Vegetable Centre, Dr Dyno Keatinge (pictured), who is on an official visit to PNG, will deliver the seminar talk at National Agriculture Research Institute’s multi-purpose Hall at the Bubia head office.
The talk is titled ‘Battling Against Malnutrition and Poverty in the Developing World’, with focus on the contribution of vegetables to human nutrition and poverty alleviation.
The Taiwan-based World Vegetable Centre, also known as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), is the leading international centre for vegetable research and development worldwide.
 It is a not-for-profit research institute with the focus on alleviation of poverty and malnutrition in developing countries through the improved production and consumption of safe vegetables.
The Bubia seminar will be a highlight of Dr Keatinge’s five-day visit to PNG.
He arrived at the invitation of NARI as part of its effort to strengthen research and development on vegetables in PNG.                                                                                                                         Om Thursday April 16 Dr Keatinge will pay a courtesy call to the office of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock in Port Moresby and then visit NARI’s Dry Lowlands Programme at Laloki outside Port Moresby before travelling to Lae in the afternoon.
On Saturday April 18, he will travel the Highlands Highway to Kainantu and the NARI Highlands Programme at Aiyura to familiarise with the highlands vegetable farming systems.
The seminar will start at 10.30am followed by discussions and a press conference. Interested individuals or organisations should confirm their attendance by fax  (675) 475 1459 or email seniorl.anzu@nari.org.pg by Thursday April 16 at the latest.
Major stakeholders in vegetable and agricultural food production have been invited to the seminar.
 It is anticipated that NARI and other stakeholders would explore the possibility of developing partnership programmes between AVRDC and NARI and PNG organisations on vegetable research and development. 

National Agriculture Research Institute supplies animals for Wewak farms

By KU KOBILA

 

The National Agricultural Research Institute recently supplied breeding stock of goats, ducks and rabbits to the Wewak-based Foundation of Women in Agriculture Development.

The shipment consisted of six goats (five does and one buck), 14 ducks (12 females and two drakes) and nine rabbits (five females and four males).

The animals will constitute the foundation breeding stock for women groups in Maprik to promote smallholder livestock development in the area.

This will be followed by training by NARI livestock experts in the coming months.

Offspring from these animals will be distributed to other members to expand livestock raising in the area.

Chairperson of FOWIAD Monica Otto organised the procurement and shipment of animals from the Labu livestock research station as a follow-up activity from a meeting of the Momase regional research and development advisory committee with NARI researchers.

These animals will support production of quality animal products (meat, milk, egg, skin), income generation and manure to fertilise gardens.

The animals are known to thrive and perform well under PNG village conditions with minimal external inputs.

However, they need proper feeding, clean and hygienic housing and adequate water supply.

NARI will follow up progress on this project and provide training to livestock keepers.

Organic farming aims to get recognised in Papua New Guinea

Captions: 1. Travellers enjoying fresh coconuts from the Markham Valley. 2. Mothers selling organically-grown taro and pitpit at Rabaul market.

By JOSEPHINE YAGA      

The PNG organic agriculture sector is relatively new, unorganised and underdeveloped to meet certain requirements of international and domestic organic markets.
Unless PNG takes organic farming seriously, the country will continue to miss out on the opportunity to market organically-grown products when its agricultural production systems are primarily organic by default.
Regional organic task force member John Yogiyo highlighted this during a meeting on organic farming strategic plan, which was held at the Alan Quartermain Multi-purpose Hall at Bubia outside Lae recently.
The objective of the meeting was to pave way for the establishment of a PNG organic farming association and the certification process.
The meeting, facilitated by NARI, attracted representatives from the regional organic task force, New Guinea Fruit Company, Fresh Produce Development Agency, Mainland Holdings coffee division, Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Agriculture Department of the PNG University of Technology, Aiyura National High School and farmers.
“Although PNG has several industry organisations involved in the development of the organic sector, a formal organic entity with acceptable certification standards and processes needed to be in place”, Mr Yogiyo said.
He added that PNG as the biggest island nation had more resources than other neighbouring pacific island countries - where many individuals, co-operatives, farms and other groups would benefit from a local organic certification establishment.
He said the development of the organic agriculture sector provided PNG with opportunities to address problems in food security, unemployment and environment degradation.  
NARI principal economist Dr Keshav Kshirsagar outlined the advantages of organic farming and provided the overview of global trends in term of organic farming, organic wild collection, certification processes, marketing of organic products and per capita consumption of organic products in various developed countries.
Mainland Holdings Coffee Division Manager Allyosha Reilly commented that most PNG farmers farm organically but the biggest stumbling block is the certification process as it is very long and awkward where it required three years of screening and verification process before the final certificate is awarded.
He said his organisation approached NAASA (an Australian certifying body) about certification but the process was bulky with some of the criteria not applicable to PNG.
Mr Yogiyo said the essence of the meeting was to come up with a PNG organic task force that would look at constrains and opportunities faced by farmers and stakeholders and to find alternate solutions that would prepare this country to be certified as a recognised organic producer.
 He added that PNG was organic by default and urged that it was important the certificated process was organised after the meeting.
NARI director research Dr Sergie Bang provided a copy of a working document by FAO on organic farming initiatives in the Pacific region that had some missing data on organic production for PNG.
“I encourage you participants to provide the needed information if they are available with your respective organisations”, he said.
Commodity boards are also required to provide necessary information.
Dr Bang said although the Secretariat of the Pacific Community had provided K3, 500 to plan the development of organic farming, certification and marketing in PNG, more funding would be needed.
NARI will drive the process forward but will need support from the task force team, the private sector and others.
He recommended an immediate meeting in future to develop an action plan.
The meeting ended with the formation of an organic task force team whose main task will be to develop a strategic plan for the production, certification and marketing of organic produce from PNG.
 

University of Vudal signs agreement with Chinese university

Caption: University of Vudal Vice Chancellor Professor Philip Siaguru (left) and SCAU Vice President Professor Liao Ming seal the agreement with a handshake.

 

By LYTHIA SUITAWA

 

STAFF and students of the University of Vudal will benefit greatly from research and science technology expertise of the South China Agricultural University.

This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two higher education institutions on last month in China’s third largest city, Guangzhou.

The signing marked a historical moment for Vudal and paves the way for staff and student academic exchanges as well as collaborative research.

UoV Vice Chancellor Professor Philip Siaguru and SCAU Vice President Professor Liao Ming, who signed the agreement, both see the partnership as one of mutual benefit.

Professor Siaguru said as a young university, University of Vudal had much to learn from SCAU, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year.

“We are committed to making this MoU work because there is so much in terms of research and farming technologies that we can learn from SCAU,” he said.

“The simplicity and appropriateness of the technology used will suit our small rural communities and farmers greatly.”

Professor Liao said he believed the cooperation would develop into more than just collaboration between two educational institutions.

“This agreement also strengthens the ties between our two countries,” he said.

He added he looked forward to having staff and students of the University of Vudal visit SCAU in the near future.

The MoU is valid for five years.

Opposition points out bad maths in 2008 budget outcome

THE Opposition yesterday blasted the Government over its handling of last year’s budget resulting in an estimated K470 million deficit, The National reports.

Deputy Opposition leader Bart Philemon (Lae MP) said the Government did not get its sums right.

“They initially planned an expenditure of K6, 999.2 million.

“They revised this upwards by K790.7 million (to K7, 789.9 million) but ended up spending K7, 551.9 million,” Mr Philemon said.

“Effectively, they overspent by K552.7 million although they tried hiding this through the revised expenditure and net lending which showed they under-spent by K238 million.”

He told reporters at Parliament House yesterday that this was a classic case of “the sins of a Government catching up with it”.

“Without revising the budget, they were on target for a runaway budget deficit of K680.9 million,” Mr Philemon said.

“Their attempts to correct this in the revised budget, aiming for a budget deficit of K9.5 million from the K202.4 million surplus, did not work.

“They ended up with a final budget outcome of K478.5 million budget deficit,” he added.

“That should be reason enough for Treasurer and Finance Minister Patrick Pruaitch to resign.

“His inability to stick close to his own budget is a stinging indictment against the Government’s ability to manage the economy – particularly the finances – of PNG.”

The Opposition also alleged that Cabinet was “blackmailed” by Government backbenchers to allocate K534 million for

the district services improvement programme (DSIP) or they would not support

last year’s budget.

“What this means is that the Government did not honour its promises and obligations as this K534 million was part of the K6 million that was to make up each Open MP’s much publicised K10 million DSIP funding.

“The signal we got is that the Government was not communicating, consulting and managing its coalition partners and backbenchers, making the taxpayers pay for their knee-jerk reactions to make last-minute adjustments,” he said.

Mr Philemon said all the fiscal discipline he worked hard (as then treasurer and finance minister from 2002-05) seemed to have disintegrated into thin air.

He also expressed concern over the likely outcome of this year’s budget next year.

He said this was evident in the recurrent budget where, despite an upward revision by K2.9 million (from K3, 636.4 million in actual budget), the final budget outcome expenditure was an additional K127.4 million.

“Effectively, the Government spent K130.3 million when you compare the actual recurrent budget and the final recurrent budget expenditure outcome of K3, 766.7 million,” Mr Philemon said.

 

Prime Minister visiting China

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare is on an official visit to China, The National reports.
Officials decided it would be a low key affair, choosing to release a short statement on the visit hours before Sir Michael boarded the plane for Hong Kong on Monday.
The Prime Minister, who had just returned from an official visit to the Philippines, is visiting China at the invitation of president Hu Jintao.
While in Beijing, Sir Michael will witness the signing of several agreements between officials of both countries.
Sir Michael was scheduled to meet with Hu yesterday.
Today, he will hold bilateral discussions with premier Wen Jiabao.
He is also expected to meet with officials of Chinese companies with interests in PNG, including CNMB, the parent company of BNBM, and MCC, developers of the Ramu nickel mine.
Sir Michael returns to the country next Tuesday.
He is then expected to visit Australia at the end of the month.
However, authorities have not confirmed arrangements for the Australian trip.