Crackdown

By ISAAC NICHOLAS in The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper

 

SIX suspects have been rounded up as police moved swiftly with bulldozers demolishing unlicenced liquor outlets and food stall from Erima Bridge to Five-Mile section of the Sir Hubert Murray Highway last Friday and Saturday.

Police, in a joint operation with PNG Power, NCDC and Eda Ranu, cut off illegal water and power connections while chainsaws were used to clear the rain trees, bananas and food gardens.

Almost 100 cartons of beer sold in unlicensed premises were confiscated by police as NCD metropolitan commander Chief Supt Fred Yakasa gave a stern warning to settlers to respect the laws or go back home to their village.

He also told the people that from now on, there would be no more sale, consumption of liquor and gambling along that stretch of road.

“My policemen will patrol these roads and they have been instructed to brukim lek na han (break legs and hands) of people caught breaking that order,” he warned.

Settlers gathered last Friday afternoon at Erima oval where Chief Supt Yakasa and his deputy Chief Insp Anderson Bawa appealed to them to hand in more than 10 people involved in the slaying of Dei MP Puri Ruing’s son and a relative last Wednesday night after the State of Origin II game.

Chief Supt Yakasa said six suspects had been taken in for questioning and appealed to the community to help surrender another 10-12 suspects still at large.

“Enough is enough. We have to do this operation to tell the people that there is law and people must have respect for the laws.” he said.

“I will continue to bulldoze illegal settlements. The Government now has a lot of money and what is a legal suit of K4 million compared to the lost of innocent lives.”

Chief Supt Yakasa said settlers had made illegal power and water connections and had been illegally selling alcohol for a very long time.

“What we are doing is to show you that your behavior and attitude is not accepted.”

He also commended Mr Ruing for not taking the law into his own hands and telling his people not to retaliate.

“Mr Ruing is a strong leader. I admire him and commend him for letting police handle the matter,” Chief Supt Yakasa said.

He also warned other settlements at Vadavada, Nine-Mile, Gerehu and Two-Mile Hill that police would move in and flush out people who harbour criminal elements.

He said police would move into Two-Mile Hill settlement on Wednesday and he would close all bus-stops along Two-Mile Hill where there have been numerous hold-ups and bag snatching from passengers.

 

Limitations (please click to enlarge)

 

Aussie families remember Montevideo Maru

By Ilya Gridneff of AAP

June 28, 2009 - 2:59PM

 

The hardest thing for families who lost relatives in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru (pictured)  during World War II was not knowing the fate of their loved ones.

But for those families, closure may finally come on Wednesday when a plaque is unveiled at an official ceremony marking Australia's worst maritime tragedy.

Ailsa Nisbet, 82, along with her daughter Marg Curtis and cousin Ron Hayes, will represent one of 15 Australian families at the July 1 memorial at Subic Bay, on the Philippines west coast.

They leave Melbourne on Monday to pay respects to Nisbet's brother Private John `Jack' Groat, who was on board the Montevideo Maru when it sank on July 1, 1942, carrying 845 prisoners of war from Australia's Lark Force and 208 civilian men.

The troops had been taken prisoner after Japan invaded Rabaul in Papua New Guinea's East New Britain province in January 1942.

The unmarked Japanese ship left occupied Rabaul on June 22, 1942 but nine days later an American submarine, unaware it was carrying allied prisoners, torpedoed it off the Philippines coast.

The sinking of the ship was not reported back to Australia, and for several years the fate of the prisoners of war was unknown.

Nisbet said for years it was a mystery as to what happened to her brother.

"The family was first told he was missing," she told AAP.

"Then they said `missing presumed dead', then we got a message he was a prisoner of war, then we got a letter from Jack saying he was being looked after by the Japanese.

"But that's all. Mum didn't hear what happened until late 1945.

"And there is still doubt about it," she said.

In 1997, Nisbet visited Rabaul to see where her brother was stationed and earlier this year for Anzac Day, Curtis and Hayes completed a three-day trek retracing the escape many Larkforce men had to make during Japanese occupation.

"It's a very emotional trip," Nisbet said.

"It's been many, many years and nothing has been heard of the Montevideo Maru and it's just all coming out now.

"I'm the last member of the family and it will be a closure for me to go up there."

Former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley, whose uncle Reverend Sydney Beazley was lost on the ship, is the patron of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee.

Phil Ainsworth, in the Philippines for the event, said the committee aims to get more national recognition for the tragedy.

"This memorial will give the families some comfort because even now 67 years later they still feel discomforted and in grief," he said.

Another attendee is Andrea Williams whose grandfather and great uncle were on board. She wants a government response similar to that for the recently-found HMAS Sydney, another World War II sea tragedy that claimed 645 lives.

"There is a fair amount of literature on the Montevideo sinking but there are some nagging specifics, like why there was no inquiry into the fate of these men," she said.

"It is still a secret as to why these men were left to their fate."

Australian archives had several passenger lists but they were inconsistent and there was no passenger manifest, she said.

"What has happened to the nominal roll of the men apparently on board?"

Veteran Affairs Minister Alan Griffin marked the 67th anniversary of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru by giving a speech to parliament last Friday.

Griffin said the Australian government put $7,200 towards the memorial and the Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Rod Smith will attend.

"I've spoken to individuals who lost family members as part of the Montevideo Maru and I know these things remain with people forever," he said.

"I express my heartfelt sympathy for their loss.

"I told parliament it was shrouded in mystery and that must have added to their loss."

 

How life in Asia has changed...13 ways

Adapted from an article by Nuri Vittachi, sometime journalist with the Macau Post and other newspapers in Asia.

 

1. The phrase 'Big Mac' referred to a large Scottish tourist.

2. The Queen of England was generally considered to be the Queen of the Whole Wide World.

3. At government offices you had to pay a special fee to do anything, including paying special fees.

4. Hairdresser referred to anyone who did haircuts, shaves and amateur surgical operations such as circumcisions [still true in certain parts of Asia]

5. Each city had just one TV station a few cinemas but there was a better choice of what to watch then even though we have over 500 channels and even fewer cinemas now.

6. If you wanted to withdraw money from a bank you had to take a day off work.

7. All light-haired, round-eyed people were referred to as Europeans, no matter where they came from. Former President George Bush is still referred to as a European in some parts of Asia.

8. Europeans were generally hated and despised but if one invited you to tea, it was considered a very great honour.

9. All toffee-coloured, curry-devouring people were known as Indians, even if they had been born raised and had lived and died without ever having been within a thousand kilometers of India.

10. Petrol was bought in tiny quantities, often in jam jars [still true today in parts of Indo-China and other places].

11. If you asked children their mother's name, they would often reply,'Which one?'.

12. Blood donating was seen as a legitimate way of earning money, and so was blood spilling.

13. When children got a boyfriend or girlfriend, the first question parents asked was 'What passport does he/she have?'

Telikom unveils wireless services

From The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper

 

TELIKOM is making cheaper, high quality wireless telephone and internet services available to its customers.

With its wireless phone launched recently, customers can make a call at peak hours for 6toea a minute, and 3toea a minute during off peak hours. The new service started at 10pm last Thursday.

Last Thursday afternoon, the company announced it now has on the market wireless high speed internet, initially for Port Moresby and Madang only.

Lae will be hooked up this week, and the other major towns thereafter.

Telikom chief executive officer Peter Loko unveiled the new product to reporters during a press conference last Thursday.

Customers will have access to high speed internet access, which downloads data at speeds of up to 1Mb/second via the wireless telephone at home.

It is available through Telikom’s X’cess fixed wireless network.

Also, a simple USB plug-in device provides wireless access to the internet at high speed through any enabled laptop or PC, separate from the phone, anywhere within range of the fixed wireless signal, which is about 50km.

Telikom estimates that 90,000 new customers will join the fixed wireless network by the end of the year, and they have the opportunity to have the internet access on either a medium speed of 153kbps, or on the High Speed Telikom plan.

“This is exciting new technology, but simple, and available at low cost to Papua New Guinea grassroots as well as big business, and it is being taken up with great enthusiasm,” Mr Loko said.

“The high speed wireless access speed and wireless portability has an introductory special price of K199, plus a monthly fee, and has 1Mb per second download capability, anywhere in PNG within range of our wireless network.

“It’s revolutionary, it’s cheap, and it is going to bring thousands of people into wireless internet access,” Mr Loko said.

Asked if the move to the wireless technology would mean rendering the fixed and cable network obsolete, Mr Loko said the market would decide that.

“We’ve invested a lot in our cable network, and we want to continue to use it for a return on investment, but the market will decide for us which way we go, down the track.”

Telikom recently invested a lot of money to upgrade its cable network. The new wireless internet product will be the envy of other internet service providers.

Asked if Telikom’s entry into the market would create regulatory issues, company officials said they were “within the legal and regulatory boundary”.

 

City killings

MP’s son among three killed in post-Origin violence

 

From The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper

 

THREE men were killed in Port Moresby and several others injured last Wednesday night as celebrations after the Maroons’ historic victory in the State of Origin rugby league series turned bloody.

Three men, two of them university students, were beaten and slashed to death at a Five-Mile Settlement. One of the victims was the son of Puri Ruing, the MP for Dei Open in Western Highlands province.

In Hohola, a man from Southern Highlands was hit by a police vehicle early yesterday morning as he ran across the road. He was taken to the Port Moresby General Hospital and is in a critical but stable condition.

His relatives, who live at Silkwood Street, vented their anger on motorists travelling along there, damaging at least five vehicles.

At Five-Mile, a grieving Mr Ruing was in shock after learning that his 21-year-old son, Manuel, and nephew Joel Aiwa, also 21, had been murdered at the settlement. The identity of the third deceased could not be ascertained yesterday.

A spokesperson for the family, Geoffrey Kuri, said the two had watched the State of Origin match at their Five-Mile home and at about 11pm, they decided to go out and buy a few drinks at the settlement.

He said the pair were attacked by a mob of drunkards from the settlement, who slashed them with bush knives and other weapons.

Mr Kuri said the two victims were doing their matriculation studies at the University of Papua New Guinea’s Open campus.

“Their bodies were mutilated and their heads and other body parts were badly chopped up. It was a barbaric act by the attackers who did not have mercy on another human being’s life,” Mr Kuri said.

The Five-Mile Settlement area has become a notorious place in NCD, where people sell alcohol illegally, residents say.

“Every week a person is being killed in this particular part of the city and this is not the first time.

“We as a family have suffered a double loss,” Mr Kuri said.

Mr Ruing appealed to NCD metropolitan commander, Chief Supt Fred Yakasa, to work round the clock to arrest the perpetrators of the murder who are said to be still at large.

“As a leader in the country, I cannot take the law into my own hands and ask my tribe to retaliate.

“No, let the law take control of the situation.

“Let us respect the law of the land, but police have to act immediately,” Mr Ruing said.

He said there was an alarming breakdown of law and order in the country, and nobody could feel safe anymore.

“The police force alone can’t be blamed for this.

“It is the National Government and all other sectors in the country.

“We have to take a joint approach to solve this very serious problem,” Mr Ruing added.

Dr Sam Yakopua, who is in charge of Accidents and Emergency at the Port Moresby General Hospital, confirmed that they had received the three bodies on Wednesday night.

Dr Yakopua said eight injuries were also reported, one of them very serious.

“It’s ridiculous, these injuries from violence related to the Origin match,” he said.

He confirmed the deaths of the two students from heavy bleeding resulting from knife wounds to the head, limbs and other parts of the body.

Pacific Adventist University library renovations begin

Library renovations (pictured) have begun at Pacific Adventist University's (PAU) Koiari Park campus near Port Moresby.
 The renovations – which have been two years in the planning and which are expected to cost approximately K400, 000 -  are anticipated to be complete in early Semester 2, 2009.
The library renovations will result in new study areas, additional shelving, an upgraded post-graduate and research facility, increased computer space and new staff offices.
 The library expansion will include the dedication of the library’s recently-updated computer facilities that students have had to towards the end of last semester.
The computer facilities include an increase of library computers by almost 800%, further expanded wireless access to internet and related services and additional electricity outlets for laptop computers.
 To increase the space available, a number of internal walls will be removed that are no longer needed since the administration team moved into a dedicated building at the end of 2008.
Another key part of the renovations will be the removal of the large ramp taking up most of the library’s downstairs floor.
 In its place a redesigned ramp will be installed to continue to provide access to those with physical impairments.
The K400, 000 needed for the library renovations and repairs have been made possible through generous donations from members of the Seventh Day Adventist church across Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.
The work for the renovations work is being completed and managed by PAU's internal support services team during the semester break.
PAU is a tertiary institution owned and operated by the SDA Church, offering diploma, bachelor and post-graduate awards in a range of disciplines.
PAU is located at Koiari Park, 14 miles from Port Moresby, PNG with affiliate campuses Fulton (Suva, Fiji) and Sonoma College (East New Britain province, PNG).