Papua New (s) Guinea Blog

Ilya Gridnef, the intrepid Australian Associated Press man in Port Moresby, has set up his blog called Papua News Guinea (http://aappng.blogspot.com/).

“I cover PNG and the Solomon Islands,” Ilya says.

“Hopefully this blog can help those interested in these areas.”

Have a look…

 

Your favourite daily is No 1 - by a long way

THE National has again surpassed the 30,000 copies mark in the first quarter of the year and, in doing so, distanced itself further from the other daily newspaper, Post-Courier.

According to the internationally-recognised Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), which audits both newspapers, the circulation of The National during the January-March period of this year averaged 30,439 copies, while the Post-Courier was about 30% less at 21,352 (9,087 fewer).

In the previous quarter, The National’s average circulation was 27,765, compared to the Post-Courier’s 20,636 (7,129 copies or 25.6% less).

The ABC report, released two weeks ago, confirms that The National not only remains the number one selling newspaper in PNG for the past year and a half, but is likely to grow further.

For the January-March period of 2008, The National averaged 26,450 copies.

In the second and third quarters, it increased to 28,167 and 30,053 respectively.

In the last quarter, circulation went down to 27,765 as expected due to the holiday season before increasing to more than 30,000 in the first three months of this year.

The Post-Courier fared differently.

From 25,799 copies for the first quarter of last year, Post-Courier dropped to 24,140 (second quarter), 23,139 (third quarter), 20,636 (fourth quarter) before finally picking up about 700 copies in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, after some initial delays, work on a new building to house a bigger printing press at The National’s headquarters in Port Moresby is progressing smoothly.

The new press will provide for a bigger print run with more colour pages to meet the newspaper’s growing circulation and demand of advertisers.

A similar press will also be installed in the company’s second printing plant in Lae, which caters mainly for the northern region.

Both presses are expected to be in operation in a few months’ time.

The National will also be setting up at least two new offices this year and expanding others to improve coverage.

Recently, veteran journalist Oseah Philemon was recruited for the Lae regional office to head editorial operations in the northern region.

South Korean government invests in agro-tourism project in Morobe

NARI director-general Dr Raghunath Ghodake (left) and team leader of Korean investor and professor of Kangwon National University Dr Jeon Un-Seong signing the agreement at NARI Head Office in Lae last Friday. Picture by SENIORL ANZU


By SENIORL ANZU of National Agriculture Research Institute

The South Korean Government will invest a total of US$58, 900 in a new village movement concept, focusing on agricultural and eco-tourism development which will be trialed at Gabensis village in the Huon district of Morobe province.
The pilot project will include the production and processing of yam and construction of a yam-based tourism facility known as Saemaul Eco-Lodge.
Last Friday, a memorandum of agreement was signed between South Korea’s University-Industry Cooperation Foundation (UICF) of Kangwon National University and PNG’s National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) to pave way for this collaborative initiative.
UICF is a new research and cooperation organisation of the Kangwon National University, which has served to develop university-industry in the world.
With funds from central and local governments in South Korea, UICF’s objective is to contribute to the development of rural communities in domestic and foreign countries through various researches and professional consulting for improving agricultural technologies, residential environment and reforming social structure.
The university had proposed to NARI early this year to pilot the concept in PNG and Gabensis was chosen.
Last week, three Korean professors were in Morobe, inspecting NARI research facilities at Bubia and discussing with local scientists.
They also visited Gabensis, talking to farmers and identifying suitable sites where the one-year project will be conducted.
In signing the MOA on behalf of NARI, director general Dr Raghunath Ghodake told the South Koreans investors that yam was a traditional crop in PNG with huge potential for development.
“Yam is grown widely in PNG mostly for raw consumption,” he said.
“There is no processing, no exporting but there is big potential for development”.
He said that NARI had expertise in yam agronomy and economics and would be willing to collaborate and work together to assist farmers in adding value to the crop and getting it to markets.
He also suggested for the processing technology to be done on other crops such as taro, cassava and kaukau.
South Korean spokesperson Prof Cheol Ho Park expressed satisfaction on cooperation and willingness by both NARI and Gabensis villagers and hoped that the pilot project would be successful.
“This is a community-based cooperation,” he said.
“It is a pioneer concept in university-industry research and consulting with a view to contribute to the development of rural communities.”
Team leader Prof Jeon Un-Seong said PNG had big potential in eco-tourism and Gabensis was an ideal site.
He said the village, food gardens, lake and other natural features in the locality provided
a good natural setting for tourism development and UICF was keen to invest and capture that potential, particularly from an agro-tourism perspective.
Under the agreement, the South Korean government through UICF would provide financial and technical support for the project, which includes the establishment of machinery for yam processing, training of NARI staff on the same and construction of the yam-based eco-lodge.

British collector rates Papua New Guinea stamps among world's best

A British stamp collector has rated Papua New Guinea postage stamps among the best in the world.

United Kingdom-based R.E.A Howard said recently in a letter to the PNG Philatelic Bureau that he began collecting PNG stamps in 1937.

“I have really enjoyed your issues from 1937 and I am only missing four stamps plus one stamp booklet. I must congratulate you on your new issue service, this compares with the very best, do keep it up,” he said.

The bureau’s February 2009 issue, which Mr Howard referred to, features the country’s different frog species and was a joint project between Post PNG and conservation organisation WWF.

The British High Commissioner to PNG, David Dunn, said Mr Howard’s attraction to PNG stamps is not surprising.

“PNG stamps are amongst the most collectable in the world and with their vibrant colors and scenes depicting PNG life and the vast array of indigenous flora and fauna remain as popular today as this were in 1937,” he said.

Post PNG Ltd managing director, Peter Maiden, said the Post PNG philatelic bureau was established in 1959 as part of the Australian colonial administration’s Posts and Telegraphs Department and has a long and colorful history.

“One of the bureau’s early pioneers wrote about an American woman travelling to PNG from California in 1966 because she liked our stamps. And the bureau’s first big order came from the United Kingdom after it received a cheque of over £1000 from a Harry Allan, who sent another cheque with the same value three months later for another stamp collection,” he added.

Mr Maiden said thanks to the hard work put in by the bureau’s pioneers which has continued to this day by current staff, PNG stamps continue to be sold globally through agents based in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and the USA.

Mr Howard has decided to pull the curtain down on his hobby and indicated PNG was one of the few countries he restricted his collecting to.

“Now that I am in my 86th year I have decided with regret that I must now give up stamp collecting. Over recent years I have restricted my collecting to just a few countries, included those in PNG,” he said.

A guy is 72 years old and loves to fish!

A guy is 72 years old and loves to fish.

He was sitting in his boat the other day when he heard a voice say,

'Pick me up.'

He looked around and couldn't see any one.

He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say a gain,

'Pick me up.'

He looked in the water and there, floating on the top, was a frog.

The man said, 'Are you talking to me?'

The frog said, 'Yes, I'm talking to you.

Pick me up then, kiss me and I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen.

I'll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because I will be your bride!'

The man looked at the frog for a short time, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front pocket.

The frog said, 'What, are you nuts? Didn't you hear what I said?? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride.'

He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said,

'Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.'

With age comes wisdom.

 

PNG Eco-Forestry Forum targets 10, 000 trees planted by World Environment Day on June 5

PORT MORESBY: ENVIRONMENTAL and Conservation groups under the PNG Eco-Forestry Forum network are embarking on a massive tree planting drive with a target of 10,000  mangrove seedlings to be planted to commemorate World Environment Day on June 5.

The Motupore Islands Research Centre’s mangrove expert, marine biologist Thomas Manuawie, is heading the re-vegetation exercise to take place in three coastal villages of Gabagaba, Tubuseria and Tahira on June 5- 6.

“The theme for this year’s event 'Your Planet Needs You!-UNite to Combat Climate Change' reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark in December and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests,”  said Thomas Paka, EFF executive director

Mr Paka said the forum with various sponsors were taking the lead to promote this day amongst schools and local communities at various centres through the distribution of information kits on climate change issues to highlight the importance of environmental protection.

He said the theme called for community participation and action for local communities and citizens to take ownership of the fight against climate change.

He said climate change had become a primary concern with Papua New Guinea’s food, economic, cultural and biodiversity security at stake and coupled with the absence of/or slow progress of government policies to deal with these impacts, people need to be proactive.

 He called on the government to immediately put in place appropriate policies and strengthen the capacities of its relevant institutions both at the national and local levels to deal with the issue with urgency to avoid catastrophic impacts.

Growing trees is the simplest way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store them in trees (carbon sequestration).

As many costal communities are at the risk of rising sea level and its related impacts, the mangroves planting exercise should raise awareness and promote practical as mitigation actions to deal with the issues of climate change.

These efforts are also in line with the stated aims of Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare for 50% reduction of PNG’s carbon emission by 2020.

He is urging corporate entities, business houses, groups, communities and individuals to be part of this campaign either by either purchasing or sponsoring a mangrove plant for K2 each or supporting the event.

 

For more Information, contact the Forum on phone (675) 323 9050 or email: teff@global.net.pg. For media enquiries: Lydia Kaia, WWF ph: (675) 3200 149 email: lkaia@wwfpacific.org.pg

 

 

Mass looting - a new pastime in Papua New Guinea

Letters from Port Moresby

Written by By Alfredo P. Hernandez

HERE IN MY second home Papua New Guinea, organized mass looting has become a national pastime among the “raskols” (criminals), the jobless and the marginalized. It comes second only to betel nut chewing, a longtime enshrined national pastime, which unfortunately, has become a national disgrace in its own right. Already a perceived livelihood just like hunting, looting first evolved from the occasional plunder arising from broken-down vehicles – usually cargo trucks -- along the highways in the Highlands, something never heard of in this part of the world until the late 1980s when the living was still easy. My late father, a first-rate gasoline-and-diesel engine mechanic, had often told me proudly that he could stay three days and two nights along the highlands highway fixing a disabled hauler trucks with precious goods. But he came home, as always, in one piece, and with his truck and its contents intact. But this scenario of peace and security in this part of this world of green wilderness had been turned upside down with the collapse of the Bougainville gold mines during the late 1980s, sending to the streets thousands of Papua New Guineans jobless while their families were going foodless. From then on until some seven years ago, the government had been in great financial crisis, unable to attend to the most basic economic demand which was job. So, the people had to fend for themselves, while waiting for some promised economic reprieve from their government. It never came. So in this part of the highlands along these highways, the villagers in their desperation struck a new source of livelihood, just like striking gold and oil. At first, only the village thieves plucked the goods from the stalled haulers and sold them at the village or in town. But as the time went by, the virus of “easy money” had contaminated the entire village populace. When they sneezed, they expelled this virus, and this was caught by the next village sitting on either side of the highway. And the nasty chain reaction moved on, until the disease had become pandemic, crossing borders far and wide, rivaling the now-dreaded swine flu. Soon enough, every looting incident that would take place along the highways saw the entire village ganging up on the helpless trucking crew, helping themselves to the goods found inside the containers. And it did not happen just once. It happened for as many times as there were vehicles breaking down along the highway, and these included private vehicles and public buses called PMVs. There was an incident just two or three years ago when a cargo truck laden with the local beer products conked out along the dreaded highlands highway. In matters of few minutes, the entire village population was upon the disabled container truck, fighting over for the possession of more than a thousand cartons of beer after prying open the padlocked steel doors. Then, there was drinking frenzy the whole day as the entire village reeked of liquor. When the police arrived shortly after noon, they scrambled to arrest the culprits. They failed. The reason: They could not find any evidence of looting against the blind drunk thieves who actually made up the entire village population. The hauling company’s executives and the beer owners could not believe what they heard. HAVING LIVED in this country for more than 15 years, I am almost convinced that most, if not all, of villages along the highland highways cutting through the Southern Highlands Province, the Eastern Highlands Province and neighboring highlands provinces are a sleeping giant of a looter just waiting for their DLS to get activated, just like in a computer program, such as the “spell-check”. When you had misspelled a word, the default “spell-check” program pops to correct the spelling. By the way, DLS means “default looters syndrome”, a variation of what I called in this column three years ago – DRS -- or “default raskol syndrome”. And the one thing that could kick this syndrome into action is an unfortunate vehicle with goods getting disabled along the highway. It’s an opportunity enough to wake up a sleepy village population and throw them into hooliganism and thievery. That looting could take place as a matter of course in highlands’ notorious spots is no longer surprising. Here in Port Moresby, it has become an ordinary scene, taking place even in places were it is witnessed by many. Sometime ago, two of the country’s prominent media persons – the first a former music broadcaster and the other a former newspaper editor – were victims of separate looting incidents after they had a car crash off the road. While they were pinned down inside their vehicles with serious injuries, a group of men hurriedly came, searched their pockets and the inside of the car for valuables and took off with the loot, satisfied that they had their keep for the day. Clearly, the DLS/DRS embedded in them worked perfectly. OF LATE, HOWEVER, the people’ disease has been elevated to a much higher plane. Now, they have concocted something political in nature to justify looting to the bewilderment and chagrin of the entire nation, and to the disgust and amusement of the expatriates’ community. Getting themselves assembled into a big mass at the public square, whether it’s in Port Moresby or in the highlands, they call out the battle cry “Down with the Asians … send them home …” (Asians are supposed to mean “Chinese traders”). But under their breath, they whisper among themselves: “Have rally, we’ll loot …” And so the fun begins. Denouncing what they claimed as non-English speaking Chinese traders for “taking over” small business activities supposedly “reserved” for Papua New Guineans, the would-be looters would then move in for the kill with impunity. Chinese stores that had the mistake of ignoring such mass agitation to take precautions were the biggest losers: the thousands or so of people bulldozed into the stores and helped themselves to whatever there was for the taking – cash in the tills, “ukay-ukay RTWs”, canned tuna, sardines and meat, kitchen wares, foodstuff, toilet paper and more -- fleeing the premises only after they had been emptied and in ruins. Over the last several weeks, this had been the spectacle that became a staple of PNG newspapers. This economic carnage triggered strong condemnation from the civilized society, especially in Port Moresby, while the police tried their best to contain the lawlessness and arrest the so-called looting agitators, who were believed to be from anti-Asians NGOs (no-good organizations). Government officials could only shake their heads not knowing what lip-servicing statement to issue out to appease the beleaguered public. And so, the wholesale looting went on and had gone overboard in Port Moresby and in major urban centers like Lae city and Madang province in the northern coast of PNG, in Kainantu and Goroka in Eastern Highlands, and in neighboring provinces of Western Highlands and East Sepik. ALL THIS BOILS down to one thing: The economics of the stomach. When the stomach grumbles for food, the brain cannot function properly especially when it has to process ideas that require the owner to decide between what is good and what is not, or between   a difficult task and one offering an easy way out. Oftentimes, an undernourished brain tends to fall into a trap of taking the path of least resistance since it is most easy to comprehend, easy to understand, but at the same time remains clueless whether or not it is the right thing to do. Hunger has been with the marginalized sector of the PNG society for most of their lives seven days a week, characterized by two barest meals a day – one in the morning and one at nightfall. Or sometimes, just supper would make do. In between – lunch – is another story for most of the families, knowing that skipping lunch cooking for their favorite betel nuts (buai), or catnapping from noon till 4pm, would help make food last longer for another day or two. When the people amassed at public squares and were agitated -- yes, agitated -- to denounce Asians doing business they were made to believe had been stolen from them, they actually had a very little understanding, or none at all, of the whole affair. Or the true agenda of the rally leader-agitators. What they can comprehend at that very moment was that inside those stores are cash boxes and shelves loaded with food and other goodies that could solve their hunger – and all these are for the taking. The marginalized sector have been poisoned with the absurd idea that the hardworking Chinese traders have been stealing from them right under their nose – that is by running businesses like variety stores, fast-foods shops, repair shops and a lot more of small-and-medium size enterprises. Their leaders, or the instigators, have convinced the poor, unschooled villagers, that such economic activities are restricted to Papua New Guineans alone. Which means no foreigners could venture into these areas, let alone Chinese, without violating the law. Under this law, economic activities exclusive to the locals have been listed and defined. But such legislation was repelled a few years ago because there were no takers. The supposed beneficiaries never took advantage of it. It was replaced with a new one in which Papua New Guineans could invest into what has been called as the “informal sector”, the counterpart of the Philippines’ underground economy in which the players could do anything that would generate income legally without having to pay government taxes. But despite this opportunity, they never took advantage of it fully, settling only to selling cooked food, vegetables and fruits, used (or stolen) clothing and betel nuts (buai) along roadsides and in certain designated areas. And now they begin to hate Asian traders. They see them raked in good money from their efforts while catering to the needs of communities from Port Moresby to urban centers in the highlands region, down to the coastal areas like the industrial center of Lae and the tuna canning town of Madang. “That money could have been ours,” as the locals would claim, envious over the success of the Chinese in running their retail trade. But Papua New Guineans never tried to understand why these present-day traders, who could be third generation, fluent pidgin-speaking Chinese whose ancestors first came to this country just after WWII, persisted and succeeded in their enterprises. One simple answer is that the locals, even before, never ventured into where the Chinese have been successful – retail trading. Just think about this: If the Chinese did not invest, did not create and develop the market and did not pursue their trade, would there be such businesses flourishing in those areas where the looting became pervasive? I doubt it. Question: How come these looters are still in their hand-to-mouth existence until now? How come they are not engaged in such trade for which they have become envious of when they had been given the chance to do so long, long time ago? The answer is simple: They have no capital with which to start a trade store (variety store). One reason is that lending institutions remained uncomfortable in giving them capital. And even if they got bank loans, they don’t have the so-called business acumen – for which Chinese across the globe have been known – to stay in business for long and make money. In my home country the Philippines, a Chinese store could be found even in the remotest part of the province, flourishing as it conducted its business in peace. The Chinese retailers have been a part of the national landscape even before the first Spaniards came to the Philippines towards the middle of the 1500s, and even before the Americans invaded the country at the break of the 1900. And the Filipino community respected them for what they did and what they still do these days, and for being industrious and contented despite the little profit made from every item they sold. It is the same industry that made PNG Chinese successful. And the locals want to grab their exploits by asking the PNG government to drive them out of the country and deliver the business to them in a silver platter. What? How stupid could they get! How about investing in the same line of business and compete head-on with the Chinese? I can already predict the result: Locals doing this won’t survive. Here’s a story: Many years ago, a Filipino entrepreneur was running a successful trade business here in Port Moresby, which was a partnership with a Papua New Guinean. The “Pinoy” had worked hard over the years to make the business make money. Now, this PNG partner saw that there was a lot of moolah flowing into the business and the cash flow was first rate. So, he decided to buy out the Filipino, as he wanted to run the business himself, and wanted the money all to himself. In six months’ time, the business folded up and the PNG guy asked his ex-partner back. No way, said the Pinoy, who went on to put up another business that later flourished through sheer industry and business acumen. NOW, THE SPATE of organized mass looting in strategic parts of the country finally shook up the government hierarchy who wanted to know exactly what was going on with their citizens. Now, a so-called bipartisan parliamentary committee wants to probe the recent anti-Asian protest and massive looting that hit parts of PNG. And maybe to do something about this before it further gets out of hand. Well, the lawmakers are doing this “in aid of legislation”, a worn-out phrase in the Philippine Congress that usually ended up to nothing. Maybe they would move to legislate something to discourage looting, an offspring of hunger. But can they outlaw looting and hunger? They don’t have to look far for the cause of such opportunists’ unrest. It is right here staring at them. It is called poverty. It’s been here since PNG became a nation in September 1975. And today, year 2009, it’s more evident, pervasive and in living color. When people are hungry although there’s food, which however, remains beyond their reach, what could be the best option but to take an already accepted option in PNG -- that social norm to survive: looting. How the PNG government would legislate against this anomaly is yet again another perceived grandiose parliamentary debacle in the making. Email the writer: alfredophernandez@thenational.com.pg This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or jarahdz@online.net.pg This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it