Latest pictures of my cucumber garden

And for you keen followers of this blog who have been monitoring the adventures of my, my kids and our cucumber garden, I'm pleased to report that it's growing bigger and bigger every day.
The plants are flowering and we're all eagerly looking forward to our first harvest.
Above are pictures of the cucumber patch as well as my two keen gardeners, two-year-old Keith and his four-year-old sister Moasing.

Complex international factors force up July fuel prices

Increased international demand for refined fuels has forced up domestic fuel prices throughout Papua New Guinea.

InterOil President Bill Jasper says the increased demand is being spurred by a number of complex factors.

“Perceptions that Europe and the United States may emerge from recession later this year is a significant factor,” he said.

“So too are the needs of the fuel thirsty Chinese economy, which continues to grow despite the worldwide financial crisis.

“Added to this is the disruption to supply from key African oil fields due to political and civil instability.

“During the past month, crude oil reached a year high price of more than $US73 a barrel.

“Basically overseas markets are driven by perceptions of future demand and supply.

“We are part of the international oil-consuming community and as such we are not immune from the powerful forces at play.”

Locally, refined fuels will cost more this month in line with movements in the international marketplace.

The pump price of gasoline (ULP) is up by about 4 %.

Diesel and kerosene have increased by six and seven percent respectively.

Mr Jasper said despite recent increases, refined fuels are significantly cheaper now than they were at this time last year.

“UPL is about a third cheaper than what it was mid-way through 2008,” he said.

“The current retail price of diesel and kerosene is about half of what it was at the peak.

“Fuels are now more affordable for our many Government, commercial and private customers than they were a year ago.”

 

For further information and to arrange media interviews contact:

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation

Ph: (675) 321 7040

Mobile: (675) 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com  

 

Robbing our children of their childhood

Young people enjoying the new basketball court at Gerehu Stage Two yesterday




I recently wrote in this blog about new recreational facilities sprouting up all over Port Moresby, thanks to the very visionary leadership of National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop.
For instance, at Gerehu Stage Two where I live, the first of two new basketball courts went up at the weekend, meaning I can take my kids to the courts and teach them how to play.
Towards the end of last year, playground facilities were set up, bringing so much joy and enjoyment to children in the neighborhood.
I like nothing better than a glorious sunny arvo when I can take my kids for a leisurely stroll in the park and watch them swing, slide, climb on the monkey bar or roll on the sand, while I take pictures of them or lie down on the grass and read.
It is quite ironic that while Mr Parkop and the NCD Commission are spending a lot of money on such facilities, politicians like Deputy Prime Minister Sir Puka Temu and certain business houses are doing their best to take them away from our children.
They must remember that such facilities also keep our young people occupied and away from a life of alcohol, drugs, and juvenile delinquency.

Police probe killings of four children

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

 

Father of murdered children faces questioning by cops

 

POLICE in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands province, are expanding their investigations into the killing of four children, allegedly by their own mother early last Saturday morning, in a village outside the city.

The mother, who surrendered to police and has been questioned while in custody over the last three days, faces wilful murder charges which carry the death penalty.

Police have not formally charged her yet, and are seeking to question others, including her husband.

Police said they had not picked up Anis Onda, the husband, and other people in the village for questioning because they were in a state of shock and mourning, and police were giving them time.

“We would like to question the father and other relatives; what they know about this shocking incident,” metropolitan commander Chief Insp Peter Roari said.

So far the woman has not said much, only blaming the husband for the action she took.

Internal Security Minister Sani Rambi, who was very disturbed after learning of the killings, took the unprecedented step of going to the police cells in Mt Hagen to talk to the woman.

He was seeking to find out for himself the reasons for the heinous crime, and not to assist police investigations, sources said.

Mr Rambi told The National the woman allegedly did what she did because she was fed up with the husband.

Reporters from The National visited the haus krai at Kuiya village, where the husband, Mr Onda, was in mourning with his family and relatives.

Mr Onda was shocked and could not say much, but tribal leaders called for the woman to be sentenced to death.

The shocking crime took place early last Saturday.

Police alleged that the mother took the four children out one by one, and killed them by drowning them in the Kum River.

Police alleged she made sure that all her children were dead before she surrendered to police and told them what she had done.

The bodies of the children – three girls and a boy aged between nine and three – had been recovered from the river and are at Mt Hagen General Hospital awaiting post-mortem examinations.

The news of their killing has shocked Papua New Guineans, and attracted widespread condemnation and calls for those responsible to face the death penalty.

Mr Onda and his wife are from the Hagen Central district in Western Highlands province.

 

Impressive developments at Owers’ Corner

New police station under construction at Owers' Corner

New resthouses being constructed at Owers' Corner

Roadworks along the Sogeri-Owers' Corner Road on Sunday

Resthouse at Owers' Corner

Trekkers receive a welcome from their porters after completing the rugged Kokoda Trail on Sunday

Storyboard at Owers' Corner

World War 11 spots such as McDonald’s Corner and Owers’ Corner, further in from Sogeri, have always been a favorite place for many residents of Port Moresby.
They are famously known as the beginning of the Kokoda Trail and are visited by thousands of tourists, mainly Australians, every year.
Enjoying a cold beer after a hard couple of days on the Kokoda Trail has always been part of the routine for these trekkers.
Enjoying a family picnic at Owers’ Corner under the blue sky, white clouds, majestic mountains and lush, green environment is a moment to treasure.
McDonald’s and Owers’ Corners, for many years, have been a means of escaping from the sweltering heat and scorched landscape of Port Moresby.
While Moresby is dry as a bone for over six months of the year, these places, invariably, are moist and green and the mountain air cooler.
The mountains, foothills, forests, savannah woodland, rivers and streams have long captured the imagination of many.
It goes without saying that when one goes to McDonald’s and Owers’ corners, one returns to the city very much relaxed, and reinvigorated.
They are very much among the many jewels in PNG’s crown.
My two-year-old son Keith and I accompanied a group of Australian visitors to Owers’ Corner on Sunday – thanks to Ecotourism Melanesia - and I was quite impressed with the infrastructure developments there.
A new police station and rest houses are going up to cater for the increasing number of trekkers.
The Sogeri-Owers’ Corner Road, which five years ago was a national disgrace, is making a complete 360-degree turn and I was quite happy to see a committed bulldozer working at MacDonald’s Corner on Sunday.
Owers’ Corner, about 17km in from Sogeri, is the finish line of the Kokoda Trail after a rugged and grueling trek over the Owen Stanley Ranges.
Vice-versa, it is the start line of the trail, from which one must start the journey to Kokoda.
Kokoda Trail, which includes Owers’Corner for that matter, is a world-famous icon that draws in people from all over the world for varying reasons.
In 2003, I first walked the Kokoda Trail, ending at Owers’Corner, and found the place in an absolute mess.
The memorials at Owers’Corners were unkempt and covered by bush, a desecration of the memory of those many men who sacrificed their lives during World War 11 so that we can live in peace.
The road, rather ‘goat track’, from Owers’Corner to Sogeri was an absolute national disgrace, given the number of tourists who came to walk the Kokoda Trail every year.
Guides and porters told me about being shouted upon by angry tourists after waiting for hours for a vehicle to pick them up.
All that, I’m pleased to report, is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Lae a skeleton of its former self

The remains of Best Buy Store

Hodgson Nagi (Telikom) Building continues to remain the tallest building in Lae

Eight Street bus stop, Lae…notorious for potholes and bag snatching

Lae, particularly the Top Town area, continues to remain a skeleton of its former self.
Nothing remains of the former Best Buy Store, formerly Burns Philp – one of the icons of Lae – after it was burned to the ground last December.
It looked cluttered and unorganised last Saturday, with people wandering aimlessly, as compared to the hustle and bustle of the past.
The old Hodgson Nagi (Telikom) Building – built in the 1970s – continues to be the tallest building in town.
Potholes abound in town and the Eight Street bus stop is notorious for bag snatching, especially from women, by gangs of youths.
There is, however, a silver lining to the dark cloud with a number of new property developments in Lae.

Ethics in politics - are they mutually exclusive?

By PAUL OATES

 

Speaking at a seminar some years ago, the Queensland Ethics Commissioner presented an example of an ethical dilemma. Asking the group to indicate when they perceived an unethical point had been reached, the Commissioner gave the following ‘hypothetical’ example:

A senior Public Service officer was recruited with a contract package that included a private plated vehicle. Part of this officer’s package allowed for this vehicle, maintained and fuelled by the government, to be used after hours in a private capacity by the senior officer. “Did anyone see a problem in this,” The Commissioner asked? A few old crusty Public Service types (me included) did but not many raised their hands.

“OK,” he went on, “The vehicle in question was also allowed to be driven by the officer’s family when not being used in an official capacity. See any problems with this?” A few more raised their hands but still only a small percentage of the seminar’s participants.

“OK. Police were then called to an accident involving this vehicle that was being driven by the teenage son of the senior officer, late at night.” “Who thinks there is a problem?” About half the audience now had their hands up.

“The police then had trouble extracting the young man from the vehicle as he was covered in dozens of pizzas he was in the process of delivering,” was then next and final part of the story. At this stage, roughly two thirds of the audience thought they had a problem with the ethics of this situation.

However when those who didn’t have a problem with the ethics of this situation were asked why, (and the majority of these seemed to be from a Local Government background), most said that as the officer’s contract allowed for family members to drive the vehicle after hours, no law had been broken. The fact that the taxpayer had to pick up the insurance and repair bill along with the fuel bill was apparently not seen as a problem. Also, that a profit making enterprise was being conducted using a taxpayer funded vehicle also seemed to these people to be of no concern.

Imagine my surprise when I was discussing this ‘hypothetical’ years later with a number of senior officers and one confessed that he was the Personnel Officer of the Department this incident occurred in and had to make a ruling on it. His ruling was the same as those who said that no problem existed as the provisions of the contract had not been broken.

So what’s ethical and what’s not? What benchmark should be used to evaluate political malpractice and who should apply it?

In an article titled “MPs thumb noses at ethics,” by Steven Wardill on the 4^th of July 2009 in the Courier Mail, the retiring Queensland Integrity Commissioner Mr Gary Crooke, QC warned:

“… that MPs were thumbing their noses at conflict-of-interest criticisms.
His comments came on an extraordinary day in the Gordon Nuttall trial, as former premier Peter Beattie contradicted claims from his successor, Anna Bligh, that she did not need to declare a free family holiday last year.
Ms Bligh told Brisbane District Court this week there was no need to declare the stay at the Sydney mansion of Thiess director and friend Ros Kelly.
However, Mr Beattie yesterday told the court any holiday gift given to a minister should be declared.
"We both know what we are talking about and the answer is yes," Mr Beattie said when asked if a declaration was needed.
Mr Crooke said the actions of MPs risked undermining public confidence and compromising gains in ethical standards.
Mr Crooke said he was often aware of politicians and senior public servants who did not seek the Integrity Commissioner's advice because they believed in their own ethical compass."There is a danger, a very real danger, that . . . an individual is so confident of their own ethical approach to anything that confronts them that they won't heed whatever is thought to be the conflictual aspect," he said. "But, in fact, they fall into the trap of engaging in a practice that, objectively, is seen to be inappropriate."

Mr Crooke also criticised the growing practice of "pay-per-view" politics that has emerged on both sides of politics as a key fundraising mechanism.
He said politicians were only "trustees" of elected positions so they were selling something they had no right to.
Ms Bligh, who eventually declared her holiday after it was revealed by the Courier-Mail, yesterday said the job of the integrity commissioner was vital to ensure ethical behaviour.
She defended pay-per-view fundraising, saying the donations were publicly declared.
"In the Australian political context, these arrangements are seen for what they are, they are political donations," she said.
But Mr Crooke, a senior counsel in Queensland's Fitzgerald inquiry, said the practice struck at the heart of public administration and both sides of politics appeared to be keen to take the money but reluctant to debate if they should.
"One of my abiding fears is that if something like this is done and cannot be justified in principle, there a developing tendency in public
administration for people to say: 'If we just do it and tough it out people will forget about it'," he said.
"That is the worst type of apathy and if we are talking about trying to improve public standards there has got to be accountability and justifiability for anything that is done at the top level."

Now if this is the current situation in Australia today, how can we ‘cast aspersions’ at PNG? Most stories and articles about PNG these days continually focus on the negative aspects of political corruption and malfeasance at the highest levels.

In comments on the article on the 4^th of July 2009 about today’s PNG by Dave Tacon titled “As things fall apart”, Phil Fitzpatrick comments on the ‘PNG Attitude’ site:

“… it’s almost a mandatory requirement for stories about PNG. I suspect that Dave Tacon knew that without the negative sensation, including the title, his story wouldn’t have otherwise been published.”

Is this therefore the situation most journalists find themselves when an editor calls for an article on PNG? Is this why in PNG Attitude, the PNG Governor General called on PNG writers to write about only good things that are happening in PNG today?

In a Christmas message from the Queen years ago, she raised the dilemma of the modern world. “No news is good news,” she said, “But it seems these days that good news is no news.” Christian culture and standards have been used for centuries as a basis to develop and interpret Australia’s and PNG’s legal system. But has this worked effectively or even just worked?

Surely any ethical debate about a politician’s actions should ultimately focus on outcomes and not inputs. Otherwise, there is a tendency to start tripping over the trees while losing sight of the forest? Could there be a more practical way ahead? After all, what we really want are politicians who by their actions, can improve our existence and not make it worse.

So how could a new, but still ethical approach work? Could and should we put to one side the current ethical standards that have evolved from our legal system? If we were to do so, what benchmarks would we then have to evaluate whether a politician was behaving ethically and correctly?

What about creating a “Commission of Political Truth and Objective Resolve”. Imagine if all politicians were held accountable for their time in office and responsible for achieving what they said they would do prior to being elected? Imagine if there were to be a publically issued report card on each elected member prior to the next election? Surely the acid test aught to be whether the lives of their fellow countrymen and women were demonstrably better off for a politician being elected?

Now how would both Australia’s and PNG’s politicians then stand up to assessment I wonder?