Somare announces key Papua New Guinea policy shift

By KETH JACKSON

 

You would never have known from today’s Australian media coverage of Sir Michael Somare’s visit to Australia, but in a major speech in Canberra last night the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister heralded a major shift in policy on development aid and resource deployment.

A key feature of the new approach is the intention of PNG to direct more resources to employing Australian judges, doctors and teachers throughout the country.

Sir Michael said the time has come for PNG “to assert and accept more responsibility for our national development. We must forge a new relationship of equitable partnership with Australia. We will also be accepting more responsibility with respect to regional initiatives.”

Negotiations are about to begin with Australia on an Aid Exit Strategy to ultimately phase out Australian development aid. Initially, in what can be seen a blow to aid agency AusAID, there will be less consultancies and more money deployed to the private sector.

The Exit Strategy will be conducted so as not to prejudice PNG’s development effort and without destabilising the national budget. There will also be a resource shift from the public service to fund infrastructure development in the transport, health and education sectors.

Sir Michael announced that new consular offices would open in Sydney and Cairns as PNG seeks to strengthen its relationship with Australia.

 “PNG and Australia are true friends,” he said. “Our partnership has withstood the test of time. Over the years this partnership has grown and matured. But of particular interest and importance to me is the warmth of the relationship – an aspect very often overshadowed by negative reporting in the media.”

You can find a full transcript of Sir Michael’s speech here: Download Somare_Canberra_ 280409

 

The need to know, no, noe, err....

Stewardesses’ is the longest word
typed with only the left hand.

And ‘lollipop’ is the longest word typed
with your right hand.

(Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)

No word in the English language rhymes with
month , orange, silver, or purple.

' Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
(Are you doubting this?)

our eyes are always the same size from birth,
but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'
uses every letter of the alphabet.
(Now, you KNOW you're going to try this out for accuracy, right?)

The words 'racecar,'  'kayak'  and 'level'  are the same whether
they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).
(Yep, I knew you were going to 'do' this one.)


There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous':
tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

(You're not possibly doubting this, are you ?)

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in
order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'
(Yes, admit it, you are going to say, a e i o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters
only on one row of the keyboard.
(All you typists are going to test this out)

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds .

(Some days that's about what my memory span is.)

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.
(I know some people that could do this too.!)

Almonds are a member of the peach  family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps.

They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,
the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube
and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
(Good thing he did that.)

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Now you know more than you did before!!

Condolence to families of Australian trekkers

The management committee of the Kokoda Track Authority (KTA) and the management of the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority pass on their heartfelt condolences to the families of the two trekkers who have tragically died on the Kokoda Track in the past week.

“Two young people to be lost far from home must be especially difficult” they said in a joint statement.

The KTA and PNG TPA respect the family’s wishes for privacy at this time and won’t discuss the individual circumstances.

Since 2001 nearly 20,000 trekkers have walked the Kokoda Track, increasing from less than 100 permitted trekkers in 2001 to more than 5,600 in 2008.

 This season there have been 20 tour operators guiding trekkers along the Kokoda Track,  leading tours from both the Owers Corner and Kokoda trail heads.

“These recent tragic incidents are rare with only two other trekking deaths over the past eight years. People thinking of undertaking the trek should be reassured that commercial tour operators working on the Kokoda Track are highly-professional with longstanding experience and expertise. They are also asked to commit to observing a code of conduct,” they said.

Walking the Kokoda Track is a physically and mentally challenging activity that requires significant preparation and planning. The Track travels through remote and rugged terrain closely following the war time route of the Australian forces defending Port Moresby, and removing a threat to the Australian people. Prospective trekkers should undertake a planned and well-timed training regime to prepare them for the adventure and tour operators can assist in designing this program. The trek should not be undertaken without full medical insurance and a clear understanding the challenging experience ahead of them

The KTA and PNG TPA management are also working on set guidelines which will be implemented shortly for all prospective trekkers to undertake compulsory training and seek proper medical clearance from each of their respective doctors before they walk the track.

“We hope that this will lead to us regulating the track in the long term,” they said.

“The experience is profound, even life changing for some, where trekkers can gain an insight to the courage and hardships of the Australian soldiers and the Papuan New Guinean people who supported them . Trekkers are challenged personally by the experience and gain a better understanding of themselves and discover a new found strength to their own character.”

A highlight of the experience for many is meeting and talking with the villagers along the Track. The Track links a series of villages and most nights are spent within or alongside a village in either a campsite or a guesthouse providing opportunities to engage with the local communities.

“The trekking industry makes a significant contribution to the people living along the Track with wages for porters and guides, food and lodging. The trek permit fees are collected by the KTA and used to maintain the Track and distributed to local communities.” said KTA chief executive officer Rod Hillman.

This season a draft Code of Conduct is being trialed by tour operators to reinforce the quality of the experience for trekkers. The code of conduct addresses issues such as:

• Adherence to Kokoda Track Authority (KTA) rules, guidelines and procedures;
• Promotion of sustainable tourism on the Kokoda Track;
• Promotion of the unique heritage of the area, especially its military history, environmental and cultural values;
• Promotion of responsible tourist behaviour;
• Minimising impacts on the natural environment through best practice;
• Supporting local communities;
• Promoting excellence;
• Duty of care to clients; and
• Exercising appropriate duty of care to staff.

 

For more information contact: Mr Rod Hillman, CEO, Kokoda Track Authority, rhillman@online.net.pg  Tel: + (675) 3236165

 

 

Fiji media council ban and mystery detentions 'deplorable': Freedom Forum

A Pacific media freedom and advocacy group, the Pacific Freedom Forum, deplores the arbitrary ban on the Fiji Media Council celebrating World Press Freedom Day on May 3, 2009.
The "authorities" in Fiji have refused the Fiji Media Council a permit to hold meetings to do with media freedom and advocacy.
"Under the so-called 'Emergency Decree', which passes for the Rule of Law in Fiji, the ‘authorities’ have specifically banned political and media related meetings, and this still further compounds the appalling human rights situation now operative in Fiji," says Pacific Freedom Forum chair Susuve Laumaea.
"The Fiji Media Council is an established national media advocacy and self-regulating body which has every right to join with international colleagues to locally celebrate what is an internationally recognized day commemorating and promoting freedom of speech and media responsibility..

"Arbitrarily refusing the nation's peak media association a ‘permit’ to celebrate World Press Freedom day is completely self-defeating. Fiji's harassed and intimidated journalists will nevertheless join in World Press Freedom Day celebrations, if only in their minds and hearts. Their situation will be widely recognised worldwide as Fiji under the current ‘authorities’ joins the ranks of countries where freedom of association and freedom of speech, fundamental human rights, are severely restricted under threat of arbitrary sanction, newsroom closure, and worse."

The Pacific Freedom Forum also deplores the reported refusal by the Fiji "authorities" to allow the Red Cross to visit a number of activists associated with the Nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party, including Iliesa Duvuloco, reportedly detained for circulating a pamphlet critical of the current regime.
"The Red Cross has an internationally-recognised legal mandate to check on the welfare of detained people, irrespective of what side or position they may have taken in a conflict situation," notes co-chair Monica Miller.
"Clearly, denying the Red Cross access to these detainees is a gross violation not only of their fundamental human rights, but also of international law which mandates the Red Cross and similar organizations to access detainees to assess and provide for their safety and welfare."
Miller says the latest developments continue to point to a gravely deteriorating human rights environment in Fiji.

CONTACT:

PFF interim Chair
Susuve Laumaea | Sunday Chronicle Newspaper | Papua New Guinea
Mobile: 675-684 5168 | Office: 675-321-7040 | Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com

PFF interim co-Chair
Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa
Mob 684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com

The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media.
We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance.
In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.

Archbishop Tutu Opens Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission

HONIARA, 28 April– Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu arrived here today on an official state visit to launch the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Solomon Islands, which will help to bring peace to communities still divided by violence during five years of civil unrest.

For the first time, thousands of Solomon Islanders will be able to speak publicly about the violence and abuse they experienced and witnessed from 1998-2003.  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will provide a forum for victims and perpetrators to speak about the causes and impacts of that violence.

The retired African archbishop, known as “South Africa’s moral conscience,” is deeply revered in this largely Anglican South Pacific country, both for his role in chairing his own country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and for his consummate commitment to promoting human rights and opposing racism.

“Archbishop Tutu is an advocate for human dignity whose tireless efforts have helped millions of people around the world,” said Prime Minister Dr. Derek Sikua.  “His presence here this week will inspire Solomon Islanders to help to heal old wounds caused by the violence and civil unrest experienced during the ‘tensions’.  It represents a turning point in our efforts to move away from bitterness and resentment, and to create a shared future as a unified nation,”  said the Prime Minister.

The Solomon Islands experienced social unrest and organised violent conflict between 1998 and July 2003. The signing of the Townsville Peace Agreement in 2000, and the arrival of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands in 2003 -- which is an international peacekeeping and development mission -- brought an end to active conflict and restored law and order.  However, outstanding grievances remain unresolved in a society which still places high value on traditional means of reconciliation over formal judicial proceedings.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an independent body, comprising three national and two international commissioners.  The Prime Minister announced the names of the Commissioners last Friday.  They are:  Fr. Sam Ata of Solomon Islands (Chair); Ms. Sofia Macher of Peru (Deputy Chair);  Mr. George Kejoa of Solomon Islands; Mrs. Carolyn Laore of Solomon Islands; and Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi of Fiji.

“Reconciliation in Solomon Islands must be based on our traditional values and customs,” said Sam Iduri, Minister for National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace in Solomon Islands.  “The chosen commissioners bring a breadth of experience that ensures the Solomon Islands Commission will benefit from other international experiences, and also follow a process which is meaningful to Solomon Islanders.”

Financial and technical support for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been provided by a number of contributors, including the Governments of Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand; the European Commission; the International Centre for Transitional Justice; the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and the United Nations Development Programme.

“Reconciliation is the number one priority of the government, as it affects the ability of thousands of Solomon Islanders to participate fully in social, cultural and economic life,” said Knut Ostby, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative designate for Solomon Islands.  “We are truly fortunate to have one of the elder statesmen of truth commissions and victims’ rights here to assist with the formal opening of the Solomon Islands Commission. UNDP is proud to support this initiative.”

 

 

For information and press inquiries, please contact:

 

Mrs. Joy Kere, Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace, Solomon Islands by e-mail at pspeace@pmc.gov.sb or finioa@gmail.com; and by telephone at (+677) 28616 or 96150.

 

Mr. George Atkin, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands by e-mail at gatkin@pmc.gov.sb; and by telephone at (+677) 21863 or 94555.

 

Ms. Christina Carlson, UNDP Honiara, Solomon Islands by e-mail at christina.carlson@undp.org ; and by telephone at (+677) 22747 or 96353; or (+881) 641414524.

 

Ms. Cherie Hart, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok by e-mail at

Cherie.hart@undp.org; and by telephone at +66 8 1 918 1564

 

Ms. Julia Dean, UN Information Centre in Canberra by email at

jdean@un.org.au; and by telephone at +612 627 382 00

 

 

***

ABOUT UNDP: UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. There are three UNDP Offices in the Pacific, based in Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea; as well as the Pacific Centre, UNDP’s regional programme and knowledge centre in Suva, Fiji, focused on Small Islands Developing States and serving 15 Pacific Island countries.

Pacific Freedom Forum relocates regional media freedom meet.

A regional media event aimed at promoting press freedom in the Pacific will bring reporters across the region to Apia, Samoa, May 6 to 8.

 The Pacific Freedom Forum, UNESCO and SPC ‘Building Courage under Fire’ three-day workshop and seminar was originally planned to take place in Suva, Fiji, to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on May 3.

 However, the event was relocated due to the Fiji regime’s imposition of emergency restrictions and repressive clampdown on the media since an appeals court ruling on April 9 declared the 2006 coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama illegal. 

 “While we felt that Fiji would have been the ideal workshop venue given our theme, we have a responsibility to ensure the funding support we received is used effectively, and this would have been impossible given the emergency regulations in place there,” says Pacific Freedom Forum chair Susuve Laumaea. 

 “Part of the cancelled event in Fiji was a regional UNESCO World Press Freedom Day celebration on May 3. The current emergency ‘laws’ there now make such an event illegal.

  “The Fiji media situation shows clearly how media freedom affects all Pacific Islanders, not just those who work in the media.  We want to look at ways to encourage that understanding, not just in our newsrooms, but across our communities and in the homes and minds of more Pacific people.”

 Laumaea is joining delegates from Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the host country at the media freedom workshop in Apia.

 The primary objectives of the Workshop are to provide Pacific journalists with the latest information, skills, and contacts to protect and promote media freedom in their countries as well as to firmly establish the Pacific Freedom Forum as a going concern. 

 “Overall, the intent is not to single out any one country, but to ensure the Pacific context of the universal right to free speech and expression of opinions gets some timely attention and forward-thinking debate from journalists to enhance their everyday work,” he says.

 Workshop trainers are Deborah Muir of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and leading Pacific journalist, author, and media commentator Kalafi Moala, of Tonga.

 

The ‘Courage under Fire’ event is made possible with UNESCO IPDC funding, and support from global media freedom watchdog IFEX.

 

 

CONTACT:

 

PFF interim Chair

Susuve Laumaea | Sunday Chronicle Newspaper | Papua New Guinea

Mobile: 675-684 5168 | Office: 675-321-7040 | Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com

 

PFF interim co-Chair

Monica Miller | KHJ Radio | American Samoa

Mob    684 258-4197 | Office 684 633-7793 | Email: monica@khjradio.com

 

The Pacific Freedom Forum are a regional and global online network of Pacific media colleagues, with the specific intent of raising awareness and advocacy of the right of Pacific people to enjoy freedom of expression and be served by a free and independent media.

We believe in the critical and basic link between these freedoms, and the vision of democratic and participatory governance pledged by our leaders in their endorsement of the Pacific Plan and other commitments to good governance.

In support of the above, our key focus is monitoring threats to media freedom and bringing issues of concern to the attention of the wider regional and international community.

Papua New Guinea aid misspent, says Kevin Rudd

Article in today's on line Courier Mail News


AID money to Papua New Guinea has been misspent on consultants rather than teachers and health services, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

In a joint news conference in Canberra with PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday, Mr Rudd said the pair had discussed historical problems with aid delivery.

"Too much has been consumed by consultants and not enough delivered to essential assistance in teaching, in infrastructure, in health services on the ground in villages across Papua New Guinea," Mr Rudd said.

The effectiveness of aid to PNG needed to be tied to UN mandated Millennium Developments Goals, so outcomes from foreign aid spending could be measured.

Asked about poverty in PNG, Sir Michael said no one starved in the Melanesian nation even as kids roamed the capital Port Moresby where their parents searched for work.

"You've probably seen one or two in Port Moresby, kids who come to look for opportunities for education and health. When they miss out, then they of course roam the streets," he said.

"No one is starving in Papua New Guinea. We always have something to eat."

Sir Michael said food was in abundance everywhere in Papua New Guinea.

"Everywhere in Port Moresby alone, if you've been in Moresby you see the hills and mountains have gardens," he said.

"They have sweet potato gardens, tapioca gardens, they have bananas and I don't think anyone in Papua New Guinea starves."

Sir Michael said his country did not have the poverty of Africa.

"We are a village society. When one village is poor, the other village helps."

The PNG government had allocated 980 million kina towards building education, health services and infrastructure in the villages, the largest amount since the nation was granted independence in 1975.