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Vice chancellor Dr Gairo Onagi, artist Apa Tengere, New Guinea Fruit Company owner James Watson and Dr Susan Cochrane at the awards ceremonyBy GELAB PIAK
Wednesday, the 16th of September 2009, will mark the 34th year of
We, as Papua New Guineans, are proud of our nation but on the other hand, are troubled by the torturing thought: what really are we celebrating about?
Yes, we may be celebrating our freedom, or may be are celebrating our independence.
Both are right.
However, what is freedom.
Freedom is the power to express one’s thoughts, action, words and rights without objection or intimidation.
Freedom is having no objection to your rights, unless they violate the law of the land.
Last month, Metropolitan Superintendent Fed Yakasa, in stopping the infamous’ NGO political march said that the actions of the police were to protect the people’s rights.
First of all, what rights are the police protecting, when in fact, contradictorily, they are depriving the people’s rights and freedoms.
The people have the right, under the law of the land to expression of freedoms, such as freedom of speech and as such they had a right to express their thoughts, actions and words without objection.
Secondly, people have the right to services and the duly-elected government has the obligation to provide services to the people.
When the government doesn’t do what it is obliged to do, then the civil society has to stand up.
The vibrancy of any democracy depends on the freedoms and the liberation of its civil society to exercise its rights.
When the civil society’s freedoms are suppressed, a nation’s democracy is under threat. The opposition has on several occasions cried foul about Parliamentary democracy not being exercised.
Are these tell-signs of suppression and oppression, and at the highest level?
Thirdly, what is independence?
Independent and independence are two big words.
So what is it like to be independent?
Being independent is being able to fend, provide for oneself, and meet one’s own needs. Put it that way, it is very hard to see the PNG government fending, providing or meet the needs of its people, now or in the future.
There is a great need for policy makers to draft effective medium term policies.
Long-term policies and plans such as 40-year plans, may not be effective, may not realise and may be thrown out by future government that may not understand the need to make such policies.
Big projects: an illusive idea
Our future mustn’t depend on ‘big projects’.
The idea of ‘big projects’ is an illusive one that is luring landowners to give away their land without proper consultations with other villagers and community members, who, to the landowners’ misunderstanding, will be affected by the landowners’ decisions.
‘Big projects’ are creating a lot of problems in our Melanesian society of communality, brotherhood and peace and harmony.
‘Big projects’ are often rushed, and when they are rushed, no proper social mapping is done, no proper assessment for environmental damages is done, (e.g. how would the project affect the ecosystem of the particular area, etc, have we had any thought of that?), landowners form factions as self-interest eats away at the morals of society, corruption becomes rampant in the Government, and unwise decision are made.
It has also created a mentality in this contemporary society where villages wait for big projects such as oil, gas or mining and do not take initiatives to develop themselves with small projects that are community orientated like small holder plantation estates (coffee, cocoa, copra, etc) or sawmills instead they often wait for the big projects.
Overall, once the projects fail, we, as a nation, tend to lose millions or even billions of Kina.
We need to look at ways of becoming self-reliant, (almost can be better than fully), with a government that is the main services and goods provider.
Thus we can say that we are independent, because by then we have a government that fends, provides and meets its people’s needs.
A sad fact is that the Australian government, through AusAid, is more popular in rural areas than the PNG government.
This paints a picture of a government that is not able to provide and meet its people’s needs so other governments have stepped in.
Does that mean we are dependent?
Yes, it does, as we are dependent on overseas aid and that nevertheless means we are dependent.
We must, as our Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare always says, be an export orientated economy or nation.
Not an exporter of raw materials and vast natural resources, but an exporter of finished products.
But that will only come about if there is government leadership, and there must be government leadership.
A good example is
How did
By government leadership and a bold move towards industrialisation, only now known as the industrial revolution.
The government must lead by investing in downstream processing.
The government must build factories; enter into partnerships with companies to build factories and produce locally.
Producing locally would create more jobs, boost the economy, increase our GDP and greatly reduce our imports.
Exporting and producing locally maybe deemed as a far cry or something that happens in the future, but for it to eventuate in the future, we must start now.
PNG should start producing small products such as peanut butter, coffee jam, copper wires, etc., and then we can look at bigger products and projects like partnering with auto giants
We can then become a cheaper option for our close neighbors when they want to import cars as these cars will be genuine
The Government must also enact tariff laws for a certain period of time to help local products gain popularity among consumers.
This type of Government leadership is lacking in our country and that is demonstrated by the fact that many of our exports are raw materials and do have a higher value thus the returns are mere peanuts to what is made and earned by other countries out of our resources, that are later sold back to us as finished products.
Until then are we really independent.
Infrastructure, education and health: the secrets to prosperity
The secret to a nation’s prosperity is its infrastructure, education and health.
The government of
Are they in good, useable conditions?
Does the state of the infrastructure affect the economy and puts a strain on the economy?
Yes.
Bad state of infrastructure is a bottle neck to the economy.
The PNG economy while enjoying growth over the years, is struggling and the tell-signs are evident.
Exports of products such as coffee, cocoa, copra, and rubber may drop if road conditions are not improved and more farmers can not have easy access to markets.
This will have much greater impact on the smaller farmers who grow cabbages, tomatoes, ginger, and other crops for sale at local markets and also markets outside their province. Such is the case where farmers of garden produce from the highlands bring their farm produce to Madang for sell at the local markets.
The state of the
With the deteriorating road conditions pot holes form and becomes every truck driver’s nightmare; they either avoid them or go through them.
If they avoid them, they risk the chance of bumping into an oncoming vehicle, and, if they go through them, it wears out the truck’s tyres other parts under the trucks.
This is cause for concern to bosses of trucking firms as they know they will be ordering more parts, thus losing thousands.
This is a call for the Government to invest in infrastructure.
Investing heavily in infrastructure will not only improve the economy but also provide jobs.
Road condition must be fixed and maintained to acceptable standards where they are in a useable and working state.
Roads must be built to villages far out in remote areas which are in isolation.
Using these roads the people can then access markets to sell their produce or other services provided in the towns.
Bridges that have broken down due to lack of maintance must be fixed, so that people can have access once more, and may revive agriculture and farming in the ‘cut off’ areas.
The government must look at putting aside funds to rebuild bridges and other infrastructure destroyed by disasters.
An educated nation is a healthy nation.
Education must reach all the rural areas.
Schools that have shut down must be reopened, and teachers must be sent up there.
The government has to invest in education by building schools in both town areas and rural areas, and must pay teachers properly so that they are happy to go into the bush and teach, and they must also have good houses so that it boosts their morale as educators of tomorrow’s generation.
With an educated populace a nation will progress, as most of its citizens will be in a position to understand the problems facing their country or the economics of their country.
If many of the citizens are educated, PNG would find itself having a competitive work force.
Today, PNG’s workforce is not that effective, in the sense that there is no competition and workers are not competing for jobs.
What happens, and is happening now, is that the current work force is aging and there isn’t a younger generation to fill the gap created.
Thus, the education of the youths and not only the younger generation and children, must become a priority for the Government.
It must focus on equipping its people with knowledge, as the present world is a world where technology rules and a young, striving nation like
A meaningful and effective start would be investing in vocational training education. Why don’t PNG start training its next generation of welders, carpenters, plumbers, and mechanics?
These people are equal contributors to the immediate building of the nation.
As well as providing scholarships to universities, the government should provide scholarships to vocational training schools.
It is again these very people who will be involved in the infrastructure building and building of huge investments such as factories and hotels in this nation.
We need not bring other people from outside; that happens when a nation forgets about building its own workforce through investing in its people’s education.
Thus the nation is not healthy.
Healthy citizens contribute meaningfully to the building of a prosperous nation.
When a nation has a healthy workforce, production is said to double its normal rate.
The recent outbreak of cholera shows clearly the concern our government has for the health of its people.
Little that is, and that’s demonstrated by its snail-paced response to the recent cholera outbreak.
Not only had that, but the lack of health services also contributed to the deaths that have occurred in the affected areas; as some of the deceases are treatable.
Cholera was a time-bomb waiting to happen, as many rural areas do not have aid posts or the aid posts have been run-down and shut for many years now.
Even in towns, the standard of healthcare provided by the Government is no where near any standard at all.
The government is now planning to build a second hospital in the city or outside of the city.
This is good, but the government must build more aid posts with proper and enough medications in rural areas to ease the number of patients seeking medical help in towns and cities and putting a strain on the services the hospitals provide, as the hospitals built in towns and cities are built to cater for the town or city residents and cannot cope with increased number of patients.
The increased number of patients put a strain of health services provided by hospitals in towns and cities.
Nurses and doctors must have good housing and transport must not be a problem to hospitals, which need to transport patients or staff.
Providing a better healthcare system will ensure a brighter future for Papua New Guineans and a more productive workforce, resulting in a growing, demanding economy, thus a prosperous nation looms in the making.
A challenge for everyone:
Members of Parliament really need to stop their corrupt practices and have a true nationalist feeling that drives them towards nation building.
Nation building is not an overnight job. It takes, many people, in fact a whole nation, many years, and many hearts.
One pure heart can not turn the many unclean hearts.
It has to take courage for everyone to change, and if the politicians are not serious about building this nation called
No one may take the courage to build our nation, as you politicians are the top leaders, everyone are looking at you, and this Independence, everyone will be looking at you to hear what you will say.
Together, let’s build a nation in
View towards Ela Beach and Paga Hill
Artist’s impression of the superb Ela Vista overlooking Ela Beach
Artist’s impression of Ela Vista at night
Ela Vista apartment
Ela Vista semi-detached
Ela Beach terrace
View towards Koki
View over Ela Beach
Ela Vista, a new luxury low-to-medium density residential development is coming up on Touaguba Hill, facing Ela Beach.
This development promises to transform the face of Port Moresby once completed in the next few years.
The whole project totals 180 residential units on a land covering about 3.5 ha.
The K250 million-project will be developed in stages by Glory Estate Ltd (formerly known as Kembis Holdings Ltd).
The first stage totals 87 units, comprising semi-detached, terraces, and triplex apartments.
Set high on Touaguba Hill, Ela Vista looks over Ela Beach and beyond toward the sea.
It also looks over the Koki area.
Apart from the spectacular view it affords, the development is also handily located near amenities.
It is only 300 metres from the city centre.
Ela Vista boasts a contemporary design offering open-plan living to suit the lifestyle of young executives or a family.
Each unit is designed to take full advantage of the views while offering safe, convenient and comfortable living.
Ela Vista will have 24-hour security, back-up power and water supply through a centralised property management team appointed by developer, Glory Estate Ltd. Common facilities like street lights, landscape and rubbish disposal will also be taken care of by the team.
Managing director Lee Teck Kong said that earthworks and infrastructure work began early this year.
“About 70% of the earthwork has been completed and construction of the first phase units will start soon,” he said,
Mr Lee added that the initial offering of 26 units of one, two and three-bedroom apartments was taken up in two weeks.
“We are very encouraged by such a good response and we will in due course put more units out for sale,” he said.
Mr Lee said that the development was a good investment for the individual and even a trust fund because he was convinced it would offer good capital gain and return on their investment.
Enquiries may be made to Glory Estate Ltd on telephones 238818/3112249 or email gloryestate@gmail.com
The
Over 65 pastors, 207 evangelists, 504 male elders, 600 female elders, and over 24,000 followers witnessed the ceremony.
The Church has its own Head Bishop, Church executives, three Ecclesia (District) Pastors, and seven Circuits (with their presidents).
Ecclesia centers were identified for the establishment of respective offices.
The MLC is a homegrown church.
It believes in self-sustainability and is based on a strong believe that giving is better than receiving.
The premise of our belief in MLC is the strengthening of the family.
The Lord must be invited into the lives of the family.
The husband and wife must provide space in their lives for Jesus.
The family is the foundation of all organisations, including villages, congregations, circuits, ecclesia, and the Church.
The other two Lutheran Churches in PNG must be recognised as sister Churches.
All these churches are based on a single doctrine.
The philosophy is the same for all Lutheran Churches throughout the world.
After all the rejections, difficulties, denials and embarrassments,
Christian members firmly believe that this church was constituted on a solid foundation because of the many sufferings prior to its establishment.
This is a unique church because of its origin as a local
The church aims to expand and be vibrant in its ministry in PNG and abroad.
The Church has over 30, 000 registered members throughout
MLC-PNG aims to operate alongside the
The
The website was created by David Ulg Ketepa - a pioneer student from the church who studies in the
Friends, partners, and members of the
The
By GELAB PIAK
It is evident enough to sum that all events that have occurred signal a country sinking into itself.
This is the grim reality that faces PNG today.
It also is uncertain now, whether the PNG we know of today will be existing, as provinces seek autonomy, peoples seek realisations of new provinces, plus infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms are broken down, and the cause-factor of all these is an incompetent bureaucracy, a very-corrupt government and a Prime Minister who doesn’t want to let go of his grip on power.
The Government is facing a vote of no-confidence and some of its members have moved over to the Opposition, claiming the Government is so corrupt that it suppresses their rights (other Government MPs) and is not delivering services.
The Government has adjourned Parliament to November, but in doing so has breached section 124 of the
As a result of that, the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, his Treasurer Paul Tiensten and Parliament Speaker Jeffery Nape have been referred to the Ombudsman Commission, which says there is a possibility of prosecuting them.
The Government, not so long ago, announced a K500 million deficit, and defended it as an insignificant deficit.
However, it shows that the Government has over spent; hence it has mismanaged the country’s budget, as argued by Bart Philemon, respected former treasurer and Lae MP.
It is also questionable, however, with so many mines in
Government policies nowadays do not tend to be of or in the people’s interest anymore, thus due to this there are many explosive issues waiting to blow up.
Some Government policies need to be amended, for example, the Mining Act of PNG needs to be amended, or the landowners of Ramu Nickel Mine, Pogera Gold Mine, Harmony Gold Mine or any other mining areas for that matter will keep causing trouble (by strikes, compensation claims, etc) for the developer-company because the Mining Act gives 70% of the stake to the developer and leaves the land owners with less.
This is a definite daylight robbery to the people of
Over the years, up till recently, there has been a breakdown in service delivery.
The education system is failing thousands of Papua New Guineans.
Every year thousands of students from primary schools, high schools and secondary schools throughout the country fail.
It may seem entirely their own fault, but it is partly the government’s fault too because the government fails to provide adequate stationeries and text books (some rural schools do not have text books on all the subjects they teach), libraries, and teacher-transport logistics (many schools that are far out manage to scrape through the year with only one or two teachers manning the school).
In some places school buildings are rundown, thus schools are closing, as such is the case for the
While schools in Morobe, Oro and Miline Bay Provinces were also facing closure due to delay in the release of Government subsidy.
However, countless other schools in rural areas, where education is direly needed, have closed over the years without mention in the media.
The health system of
This year the Health Minister, Sasa Zibe, described the health system as “bloody useless”.
While the HIV epidemic sweeps PNG, the health services are in a slow constant decline.
This will be a tragedy in the years ahead, as HIV/AIDs is reaching into villages and many (villages) do not have aid-posts or the aid-posts were shut down and the next town is always kilometers away.
It is scary, considering the fact that whole villages could be wiped out.
Whilst there is an ever-growing shortage of drugs and a never ending story of warehouses dumping away undistributed stocks, there seems to be no funds to distribute them.
It is saddening that PNG holds the highest mortality death rate in the world.
Many of these cases come from rural aid posts, usually due to lack of medicine or equipment.
The Police Force of PNG or the Papua New Guinea Royal Constabulary is at the brink of collapse, as claimed by the Police Commissioner Gari Baki, that the police force needed about K2 billion to fully function, be operational and purchase much-needed equipment, as criminals are becoming more sophisticated and better equipped with weapons the police don’t have.
Lately the police have turned to “shoot to kill” tactics, whether approved by the Government or not, to quell any violence or uprising.
The Police Force is now cornered because due to the Government’s policies the people (e.g the unemployed) are now turning to crime as a means of survival.
For example, many men and even women are selling marijuana to make a living.
However, on the other end, police are ordered to kill anyone, even in a protest, as demonstrated in the recent Asian lootings, when four people were shot by police.
There is doubt about the justification of using such lethal force in that given situation.
Deep down in the social saucepan of PNG, in the dark hearts of the settlements (squatter/shanty towns), there is growing frustration and anger towards the Government.
The rich and greedy life style of politicians has created a divide between the rich and the poor, it has created classes among Papua New Guineans, and the divide is getting wider and wider.
The divide between the rich and poor, corrupt politicians, two sets of laws issue and the lack of development and delivery of services all contribute to a hot brewing social saucepan waiting to blow off its lid.
As such, PNG is a state in crisis.
Only because of the cooperate sector, the businesses and by the grace of God, PNG seems to be ticking, otherwise we’re gone past dead.
And to think that the Botanical Gardens once had a pool !
What the Botanical Garden used to look like
Theatre Lae 1973
Lae 1973
Lae market in the late 1960s
Lae Catholic Church 1973
Lae 1973
Lae 1970
Another view of Lae 1973
4th Street and section of Lae shopping centre
4th street Lae, 1973
Another view of 4th street, Lae