Montevideo Maru story in today's Sydney Morning Herald

Today's Sydney Morning Herald has an excellent story about the Montevideo Maru and Rabaul as seen through the eyes of Hooky Street.

 The story is also online here http://www.smh.com.au/national/seeking-comfort-and-closure-67-years-on-20090617-chy3.html

 

 

 

Getting the 'rough end of the pineapple'

Captions: 1. Pineapple Building. 2. Pineapple Building with the mildew-covered Central Government Building in the background

The ‘rough end of the pineapple’, Australian slang for a disadvantageous position which was made world-famous by prime minister Kevin Rudd, could be how Papua New Guineans could describe their deteriorating infrastructure, especially government buildings.
Colloquially, and literally – as seen by the ‘Pineapple Building’ at Waigani - Papua New Guineans are indeed getting ‘the rough end of the pineapple’.
The state of PNG government buildings all over the country epitomises the neglect and decline of the country since independence in 1975.
All over the country, hospitals, schools, public libraries and government buildings have basically gone to the dogs
The country's historic first Parliament (House of Assembly), in a converted isolation hospital in old Port Moresby town, has collapsed into a vandalised wreck.
The major government offices, inland at Waigani - the Canberra type geographical centre of Port Moresby - and the ‘Pineapple Building’ that once housed prime ministers, received so little maintenance that they were abandoned within 25 years of being built as health hazards.
The national bureaucracy as a result migrates from one new building to the next, leaving behind shells.
There has been much talk about restoring the first Parliament, and the ‘Pineapple Building’, however, it seems to have been much ado about nothing.
In September 1975, Port Moresby became capital city of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.
New government buildings were constructed at Waigani area to house government departments, including a spectacular National Parliament Building, which was opened in 1984 by Prince Charles.
Other important national buildings such as Supreme Court, National Museum, and National Library are also located in the same area.
Among the buildings, there is a strange-shaped building opposite Sir John Guise Stadium.
This was originally one of the government buildings called ‘Marea Haus’, but now everybody calls it as the ‘Pineapple Building’ because of its shape resembling the tropical fruit.
All these, suffice to say, have fallen into various states of disrepair.

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…

Essential reading about the carbon trade and Papua New Guinea

Have a look at this blog http://natashaloder.blogspot.com/ for the tantalising tidbits about the carbon trade controversy and Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea in hot seat: claims of false carbon credits

By ILYA GRIDNEFF of AAP

16/06/2009 12:00:00 AM

 

Papua New Guinea's Office of Climate Change director has denied any wrongdoing amid reports he issued up to 39 false multimillion-dollar carbon trading deals.

Theo Yasause said in Port Moresby on Monday that stolen documents leaked to the media were ''samples'' not designed for official use.

Documents obtained by The Economist and available on the internet show a series of what appear to be multi-million-dollar carbon trading deals with foreign companies in various regions of the country.

Dr Yasause said, ''I've not sold or made any money out of this process.

''I've done no deals, or sold any credits.''

Even though the leaked documents appeared to carry his signature, the official seal, and another colleague's signature, they did not represent real deals, he said.

''It's not a false document but a sample,'' he said.

''It's speculation by certain individuals who have no regard for the process.

''They should have asked before they released this kind of statements,'' he said.

''It was a sample stolen from my drawer, we were looking at several types of project,'' he said.

Dr Yasause said a criminal investigation would be conducted to find who stole the sample documents, along with a review of the Office of Climate Change. ''We never received any funding from foreign entities,'' he said.

''We have not issued any credits to anyone,'' he said.

Papua New Guinea has the world's third-largest rainforest and great interest in turning the asset into carbon trading revenue, but at present no such policy or legislation exists in the country.

Dr Yasause was in the news two years ago when Papua New Guinea's national executive council revoked his appointment as secretary for national planning and monitoring. At the time, sources said the appointment had caused a split in cabinet.

Dr Yasause was an economic adviser to Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

Dr Yasause, of Yangoru, East Sepik province, has worked for the Department of Education, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Commerce and Industry. He has also served with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat as trade policy adviser to the region under a European Union-funded project for the past five years. AAP

Weather warning

When you walk out the door in the morning and see this in the sky.......  
.....just go back inside, have another cup of coffee,

And stay home. It's NOT going to be a good day.
Hope today was different. Have a nice day

2009 Papua New Guinea Mining and Petroleum Seminars

The Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum will be hosting a Petroleum Seminar on the 27th –28th October followed by a Mining Seminar on the 29th – 30th October at the Crowne Plaza, Port Moresby.

As well as providing a comprehensive technical update on current activities in the mining and petroleum industry, these seminars will offer an excellent opportunity to meet all the players in the PNG resources industry, including Government, and for joint venture discussions, networking, and promotion.

The Petroleum Seminar will feature the current activities in the petroleum sector including PNG’s first LNG development, major new gas discoveries at Elk/Antelope in the Gulf Province and Douglas/Puk Puk in the Western Province, and other exploration.

The Mining Seminar will showcase the PNG mining industry highlighting project updates, new developments, advanced prospects, and exploration. PNG’s four new mines – Ramu nickel/cobalt project and Hidden Valley, Simberi and Sinivit gold mines - will be featured as well as the offshore deep sea exploration for seafloor massive sulphide deposits.

The seminars will be complimented by a Trade Fair with 16 companies exhibiting their services, products or exploration/production activities to the delegates.

The Chamber sees the seminars as an important service to members and to the general public.

It is essential that information on the activities of the mining and petroleum sectors is freely available to all.

For this reason, the Chamber endeavours to keep the registration fees for the events to a minimum.

The Chamber is expecting over 800 delegates to attend the seminars.

Along with industry and Government any member of the public is welcomed to attend.

For further information please contact the Chamber on telephone (675) 321 2988 or email conf@pngchamberminpet.com.pg