Pictures of Pacific Adventist University

I visited Pacific Adventist University at 14-Mile outside Port Moresby today and took these shots.
It's a great place to visit, especially for the avid birdwatcher, and I highly recommend it for any visitor to Port Moresby as well as residents of the Papua New Guinea capital.

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.