Chinese duo charged with attempted murder

By JULIA DAIA BORE in The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper

Two Chinese nationals (pictured) suspected of shooting businessman Jason Tan at his home in Port Moresby have been charged with attempted murder.

They are expected to appear before the Waigani Committal Court tomorrow.

Changziang Gao, 36, and Xue Zhufu, 38, were arrested in Baruni, in Moresby North West, shortly after Mr Tan was shot at his home at Paga Hill last Saturday afternoon.

Two pistols were reportedly seized.

Five shots were fired at Mr Tan, but only one shot hit him in the arm.

It is understood that he has sought treatment in Australia.

Police are questioning the suspects through interpreters.

Both accused do not speak English or Tok Pisin.

Mr Tan is a long-time resident of PNG and is involved in several businesses.

Papua New Guinea needs a strategy for change

By REG RENAGI

 

Since independence, successive governments betrayed the values that brought Papua New Guinea into nationhood. 

All the early political promises at independence of providing opportunities to the people, taking responsibility and rewarding those who work hard seems to have been forgotten by the government over the passage of time.

 The result today is the people got poorer while the few who got into power in Waigani and their special interest friends got richer.

PNG has some of the world’s richest natural resources and most-resourceful people.

 The country’s natural beauty, culture and lifestyle could make it a great place to live, work, visit and do business.

 Yet, since independence, the country with successive national and provincial governments has mismanaged its assets and squandered its people’s opportunities for a better standard of living and a good quality of life.

 The consequences are high unemployment and underemployment, low incomes, a high tax economy, substantial urban migration, below standard services and a big national debt. 

PNG’s political system is not working effectively for its people.  Waigani is dominated by special interests and an entrenched bureaucracy that has totally failed its life-long mission of serving the people in all conditions.

 Papua New Guineans are tired of the way their country has been mismanaged and are ready for leaders willing to take responsibility to lead the nation to prosperity and growth.

To do this, PNG’s leadership must have a good strategy for change that will transform the whole country for a better future.

 The new leadership strategy must put people first with a plan that will provide avenues for the people to fully engage themselves in many life-changing opportunities.

PNG needs a new leadership approach, realistic vision and a good holistic plan.

 The next new prime minister and administration must start dealing with many basic problems ignored for many years.

 The next government must judiciously apply rational and intelligent policies to traditional resource industries that aim to make PNG competitive and provide solid benefits to all citizens.

 It must foster new and growing industries to create jobs for today and for the next generation.

The new plan for a progressive and transformational government from 2012 should be to grow the economy and provide new job opportunities for Papua New Guineans.

  Its focus must be to put more money into the pockets of those who need it the most.

 It must also target growth in small and medium businesses, tourism, IT, fisheries, forest and the agriculture sector industries. 

The focus should also be placed on receiving more widely-distributed benefits from the development of the country’s natural resources.  

For the future, the government must ensure equality for all citizens by empowering them to equally participating in and benefiting from the country’s development.

 National sovereignty and self-reliance is an important goal to make PNG politically and economically independent with a self-reliant economy. 

PNG must ensure its natural resources and environment is conserved as much

Kokopo international hotel to be opened in April

Picture of new hotel with the original steps of Queen Emma’s residence which have been retained and developed as a tourist attraction. - Picture courtesy of NAMBAWAN SUPER

The historic site of Queen Emma’s residence at Ralum near Kokopo in East New Britain will soon become an impressive three-storey hotel called Gazelle International which will be opened in April this year.
All rooms will have spectacular views over-looking the blue waters of Blanche Bay and looking up to the green hills of Kokopo.
Construction work started early last year on the multimillion kina hotel which is jointly owned by Nambawan Super which has majority shareholding, plus Airways Hotel and East New Britain provincial government.
The owners of the new development have taken into account the invaluable historical significance of the hotel site and have modeled the design of the hotel to reflect as much as possible Queen Emma’s original house.
This included renovating the original steps of the Queen Emma residence as a draw card and a major tourist attraction.
The steps are still located on the hotel property leading towards the golf course.
The hotel will comprise a reception, lobby shop, coffee lounge, restaurant, bar and poker machines all on the ground floor, while a total of 52 rooms make up the two upper floors.
Other amenities will include a resort pool, and a separate conference building which will seat up to about 150 persons.
In recent years, an influx of people have been attracted to Kokopo for conferences and a real need for good facilities have been unavailable to cater for their needs.
The builders for the hotel are Lamana Development Limited while the architect is Peter Kubli of Cairns.
According to the builders, the Gazelle International Hotel is designed to cater for a mix of customers, international tourists as well as conference people and weekenders.
All rooms will have spectacular views over-looking the blue waters of Blanche Bay and looking up to the green hills of Kokopo.

Henry Kila dies

Well-known Papua New Guinea Henry Kila died at 2pm yesterday from a suspected heart attack.

Mr Kila was a well-known insurance man, leading sports personality and a prominent figure in government and private sector relations.

LNG projects open floodgates for massive building and construction boom in Papua New Guinea

The green lights for the two massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Papua New Guinea (InterOil pictured above) has opened the floodgates for a massive building and construction boom to take place all over the country.

The US$15 billion (K42b) PNG LNG project last Dec 8 got the okay from project developers Esso Highlands Ltd, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp and partners Oil Search Ltd, Santos Ltd, Nippon, Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC), and Eda Oil.

Just before Christmas, the Project (Gas) Agreement for the US$6b (K17b) Elk/Antelope LNG project from Gulf Province was signed between the Government and developer InterOil Corp. 

Papua New Guinea is expecting a third massive LNG project to come out of Western province to be developed by Canada’s Talisman Energy.

Prominent building commentator George Tipping, a past president of the PNG Institute of Builders, must have had a crystal ball in hand when he boldly predicted last year that the approval of the LNG projects would be the impetus for a massive building and construction boom never before seen in this country.

“What does the future hold for the building and property industry in PNG?” he said then.

“The following prediction excludes the impact of both Exxon Mobil and Interoil LNG plants and is based on supply and demand and other influences that are occurring now as well as known planned projects.

“Despite the internal impediments of higher interest rates, inflation, hesitation by some PNG investors due to the global economic conditions (GEC), slow National Capital District Commission and utility service providers’ approvals, it is my prediction that the current building and property boom will continue at a high level of activity, particularly for large projects.

“How long will this boom last? That is the hard question to answer.

“My crystal ball suggests we have another three to four years before the boom slows to more-manageable levels.

 “However, if the Exxon Mobil LNG project is confirmed, then we will have a scenario of a much larger building and property boom making the current boom seem small by comparison.”

Port Moresby's fountain of youth

All over Port Moresby, new recreational facilities (pictured)  are sprouting up, thanks to the very visionary leadership of National Capital District governor Powes Parkop.

For instance, at Gerehu Stage Two, a fountain was opened on Christmas night by Mr Parkop to a spectacular display of fireworks.

This was the second such fountain after the first one at Five-Mile.

Last year, two year basketball courts and two volleyball courts went up, which gave young people something useful to keep them occupied.

Towards the end of 2008, playground facilities were set up, bringing so much joy and enjoyment to children.

The NCD Commission spends a lot of money on facilities, and the least we can do, as responsible citizens, is to have a sense of ownership and take care of them.

Such facilities also keep our young people occupied and away from a life of alcohol, drugs, and crime.

Chinese style assassination attempt in Port Moresby

By JULIA DAIA BORE in The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper

 

TWO Chinese nationals have been arrested for attempting to murder a prominent Port Moresby businessman and police yesterday linked the murder attempt to an alleged under-world Chinese triad operating in Papua New Guinea, The National reports.

The suspects currently behind bars at the Boroko are from Fujian province, China.

 Both men cannot speak any English or Tok Pisin although police said one of the suspects worked in a Port Moresby night club while another was unemployed.

Police yesterday also said both suspects’ entry into the country is also under investigations.

The businessman who escaped with injuries to his arm is Jason Tan, the managing director of Erima J-Mart.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Awan Sete told a media conference yesterday Mr Tan was shot at five times as he was driving into his home at Paga Hill in Port Moresby.

Sete said Mr Tan unknowing drove into the driveway of his home.

As he approached his home at about 3.30pm last Saturday, two gunmen concealed themselves in the vicinity and fired five shots at his car.

One bullet from one of the five shots wounded Mr Tan on his arm, Mr Sete said.

The gunmen escaped in a car.

Mr Tan immediately alerted the police and a mobile squad intercepted the suspects at Baruni.

Two semi automatic handguns and ammunitions were found in their vehicle.

Changjiang Gao, 36, and Xue Zhufu, 38, were charged with attempted murder and are awaiting court appearance.

Mr Sete said: “This latest incident confirms the existence of Asian Triad operatives in Port Moresby.”

He said one of the firearms was registered to an individual whom they refused to identify. He said they were checking the ownership of the second gun.

Police are using an interpreter to interview the suspects.

The Chinese Embassy has been informed of their arrest.

He added that this attack comes a few weeks after assassins’ attempt on the country’s Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek, “indicating that criminals are being used to assassinate people. I reassure residents in Port Moresby that all measures would be taken to fight this ugly trend of crime”.

Mr Sete commended his men for the quick response to apprehend the suspects and also called upon the public with any information on the incident to assist the police.

Metropolitan superintendent Fred Yakasa said he was worried about a new trend in crime in which people were being paid to kill.

“It is a frightening situation. It is involving Asians against Asians, or Asians using Papua New Guineans to kill.”

Mr Yakasa said if these two suspects were not caught, people would have pinned the blame of the attack on Mr Tan on Papua New Guineans, and even link it to the anti-Asian emails that have been going around.

“This (murder attempt) could be linked to business jealousy. We have to be concerned about the trend.”

He said they have identified two names of suspects in connection with the attempt on Mr Manek’s life, and were continuing their investigations.