Remain vigilant: Yakasa

THE public has been reminded to remain vigilant while in their homes and in their movement around the city while police are carry out operations to recapture seven of the remaining most wanted criminal still on the run and the more than 40 escapees who broke for freedom during separate jail breaks from Bomana last year, The National reports.

National Capital District metropolitan commander Chief Supt Fred Yakasa yesterday issued the warning while commending the public for their assistance in the recapture of the five dangerous fugitives, including most wanted bank robber William Nanua Kapris. So far out of the 12 that escaped last month, four of whom were caught in the vicinity of the city in the past week since.

Oliver Ben was the first of the escapees to be caught. He was found in the hills near Sogeri on Jan 22.

When asked if police had any new and reliable leads to the whereabouts of suspects still on the run, Mr Yakasa said he could not comment more on the ongoing NCD police operations to hunt down remaining escapees.

Mr Yakasa referred The National to seek comments and the latest brief from NCD and Central province police commander chief Supt Awan Sete and NCD Police Operations commander Raphael Huafolo.

Attempts to get comments from both Mr Sete and Mr Huafolo were unsuccessful.

 

Australia approves 650 fruit pickers from Papua New Guinea

PNG among 2,500 Pacific Islanders to work on Aussie farms

 

THE Australian government has approved 650 fruit pickers from Papua New Guinea to work in farms in Australia this year, The National reports.

Australia foreign affairs minister Steven Smith, in his letter sent to his PNG couterpart Sam Abal last month, said the Papua New Guineans would be among the 2,500 Pacific Islanders allowed to work in farms in Australia.

Mr Abal told The National yesterday from Hoskins airport, East New Britain province, that a task force had been set up within his ministry to establish provincial coordinators who will work closely with the churches, police and community leaders to identify good, young energetic men and women to work in Australia.

“The recruitment will be conducted in all the 22 provinces in the country, including the new Jiwaka and Hela provinces.

“The provincial coordinators to be set up this year will be working closely with churches, police and community leaders to identify Grade 10 and 12 school leavers with good character and record, no criminal record, disciplined, law abiding and hard working citizens to go and work in Australia,” he said.

Mr Abal said: “We want good people to work and establish a good reputation to convince the Australians to recruit more Papua New Guineans.

“We cannot blindly send all the 650 workforce down because this is the number of people allowed by the Australian government but what is the demand of the farmers.

“This we have to find out first before the fruit pickers are sent to Australia.

“Those selected will go through some form of training before they are sent off to Australia.”

He said his department was responsible for the recruitment and that no else or agents were appointed to carry out the recruitment.

“When demand for fruit pickers is high, we will engage a private company to take charge of the whole operation after two years,” he said.

Mr Abal advised the people not to listen to private consultants, companies or individuals claiming to represent his office and collecting fees and promising them jobs in Australia.

 

Partnership in rice extension

Caption: DAL rice extension coordinator Verave Gavali (right) and JICA’s senior advisor - rural development Akamatsu Shiro during the consultation with NARI in Lae last week.-Picture by SENIORL ANZU

 

By SENIORL ANZU of NARI

 

A smallholder rice development initiative, promoted through the “model farmer” concept by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) and the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) is set to kick-off in the Manus and Milne Bay provinces come 2011.

 This will be an extension of the village-based rice development programme to rice-growing provinces of PNG following its success in Madang and East Sepik provinces when it was first implemented between 2003-2008.

But this extension phase would involve greater collaborations with other technically-oriented organisations such as the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in order to address technical problems such as pest and disease which were encountered during the initial phase.

This was revealed in Lae last Thursday when a technical team from DAL and JICA visited NARI to seek its technical input.

DAL and JICA are promoting local rice production through the model farmer concept in which skills and knowledge are transferred to farmers in a multiplier effect fashion at village level to address for food security.

The concept is pursued by a newly-established Rice Extension Unit under DAL’s Food Security Branch.

Rice extension coordinator Verave Gavali said while the programme was a success in Madang and East Sepik, there were some technically-oriented problems such as pest and disease, soil, climate and other agro-ecological issues.

Therefore, he said DAL and JICA wanted partnership with NARI and other organisations to work together in expanding the programme so that such problems were also addressed.

JICA rice research techniques instructor Tatsuo Fujita said they would also be interested in NARI for varietal selection and farming systems research.

A senior JICA volunteer, Noboru Iwano, who has been involved in rice development in PNG for the last two years, said he had observed pest and disease as a major problem and NARI’s input was needed.

Mr Iwano added that the consumption of rice was high in PNG and all stakeholders should work in collaboration now to increase production locally.

NARI acting director-general Dr Sergie Bang said the institute would work with DAL and JICA in terms of research and development of rice.

Dr Bang said NARI had a rice and grain project which could team up in the programme in the areas of pest and disease, seed varietal selection, farming systems research and other ecological issues.

Other collaborators targeted in the programme include the Lae-based ROC Taiwanese Technical Mission to PNG and Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA), a Japanese eco-technical training centre based in Kokopo.

 Both organisations are also involved in local rice production. 

Under the programme, rice development is undertaken through model farmer approach as an extension to smallholder households.

Hundreds of farmers in Madang and East Sepik were trained as model rice farmers who in turn trained other farmers in their districts and villagers between 2003 and 2008.

These model farmers were also exposed to overseas training in various aspects of rice production.

Some of these models have also indicated to share their knowledge, skills and experiences to other rice farmers in the country.

The Carbon Cowboy rides again

From PAUL OATES

(A very illuminating report on this person was recently aired on Aljazeera TV)

The Post Courier reports that the well known 'Carbon Cowboy', Kirk Roberts of Nupan (PNG) Trading Corporation has galloped into the Papuan Gulf, fresh from his 'roundup' in the PNG Highlands. Previously, Mr Robert's reported 'modus operandi' involved obtaining the local people's Power of Attorney on the understanding that Mr Robert's Corporation will then sell the local people's forest as carbon credits or carbon sinks on the open market.
Apparently these 'credits' can be traded on the open market to electricity producers elsewhere in the world who use this credit to justify their
continued business as usual and yet claim they are reducing their emissions due to 'emissions trade offs'. A worrying factor to some is the lack of any
details being provided by Nupan as to how any income generated from selling these credits will be distributed or what Mr Roberts and his backers will
get for their efforts.
PNG has yet to legislate any regulations to govern carbon trading and the Office tasked with this activity has since been disbanded due to printing
millions of Kina worth of now claimed, false Carbon Credits with the PM  Somare's signature on them. The PM claimed these 'credits' were forgeries
and after copies were leaked to the press, the issuer then said they were only drafts. Somare has now moved to reorganise government control over this activity by creating a new office within a government department yet nothing appears to be happening.
On another blog site operated by Emmanuel Narakobi, some young, educated PNGians are asking Mr Robert's supporters some important questions like 'who are all these scientists' and 'where is the money coming from'?
All those who have seen how easy it can be to initially hoodwink the local village people with claims of wealth for very little effort will form their
own views about this new activity. No one would suggest PNG people are unable to sort out the sheep from the goats however this may be initially
difficult in the villages, where there may not be a lot of opportunity to gain a full picture of what the true situation about world Carbon Trading
may be.
Previous reports in the local news appeared to suggest that a prominent NA politician had been given K200,000 to 'assist' with this activity. The PNG
government is now for some reason, apparently either unable or unwilling to help their people with this determination. Now why would this be one is
tempted to ask?
So presumably, the Carbon Cowboy will ride off into the sunset with a thick wad of 'Power of Attorney's in his hip pocket and very little security for
those who signed them left behind. What is worrying is that the Post Courier reports that 'Australians' are organising this activity.

Japan-PNG relations take a turn for the better

Japan-Papua New Guinea relations take a turn for the better next month with the opening of the new PNG Embassy building in Tokyo and the commencement of twice-weekly Air Niugini flights from Port Moresby to Narita.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare will open the new PNG chancery on Wednesday, Mar 31, the same day that Air Niugini launches its second weekly Port Moresby-Narita flight.

Charge d' Affaires Dennis Bebego said from Tokyo today that the PNG Embassy in Toky was currently in the process of finalising arrangements for the formal opening and naming of the newly-constructed building by Sir Michael.

"This is a significant national event and is a realisation of the national government's commitment to the tune of K20 million towards this chancery project," he said.

"It is historic in that this would be the second building to have been constructed and owned by the government to house its overseas diplomatic mission; the first being the PNG High Commission building in Canberra.

"The construction of this chancery, which began in May 2009 with a groundbreaking ceremony performed also by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, was completed in December last year and the building formally handed over on Jan 19, 2010.

"It is now scheduled for formal opening on Mar 31, 2010, when Prime Minister makes an official visit to Japan.

"A large entourage of guests and VIPs from PNG as well as Japan will attend the event."

Mr Bebego said the commitment by the government to this project was recognition of the important and maturing relations between Japan and PNG – "a relationship that in recent times has gone to a higher level, with the recent involvement of some high profile Japanese companies in the PNG LNG project".

Sweet and proudly made in Bulolo

By PISAI GUMAR

 

Bulolo MP Sam Basil proudly posing with jars of honey harvested in his electorate in Morobe province.

This is Bulolo’s second harvest in two years after the visionary politician brought down established honey trainers from Goroka, Eastern Highlands province, to teach his people about beekeeping and honey production.

The first harvest after four months last year was less than 200kg while this second harvest is more than 300kg.

The 20-litre containers in the picture are packed with sweet Bulolo honey and the cardboard boxes as well.

Mr Basil also designed a logo for the jars.

On top, it states: “Bulolo Golden Honey”.

In the middle is a picture of a honey bee, the PNG Made logo and Bulolo district logo.

At the bottom, it reads: “Pure honey from natural flowers on the gold land.No additional additives.”

Last Thursday, The National reported that Eastern Highlands provincial beekeeping coordinator Tella Loie was in Bulolo to assist honey farmers with their harvest.

Bee farming is a project that falls under Mr Basil’s district support improvement programme (DSIP).

The hives matured for harvest in just four months from being established which has excited Mr Loie and his Eastern Highlands team.

“The results were very exciting, unexpected and greatly impressive,” he said.

Mr Basil is preparing to present each jar of 250g, 500g and a 2kg in the coming March session of Parliament.

He will be presenting the jars of honey to the Prime Minister, Agriculture Minister, other MPs and the Department of Agriculture respectively.

Mr Basil has urged his colleague MPs to invest into honey production because the country had wasted its flora and fauna which could be useful for the honey industry.

Apart from that, it could also have some indirect benefits such as employment opportunities, food security, education and income generation.

It has been estimated that PNG produces 40 tonnes of honey valued at K400, 000 that is consumed annually.

PNG consumption, however, is estimated at 200 tonnes and valued at K2 million annually, which is heavily subsidised by imports mainly from Australia.

Mr Basil said if only the agriculture department were in union with the political will of MPs, the bee market would be captured by promoting locally-produced honey in the rural areas or districts in the country.

 

Attempted assassination of Ombudsman not as grim as the national silence

From Nasfund Newsletter

On December 11, 2009, something fundamentally changed in Papua New Guinea. One of the most important institutions of State, the Ombudsman Commission was sent a message.

That message was delivered by an attempted assassination on the Chief Ombudsman himself, Chronex Manek.

Having attended a round of functions, he was followed only to be met by three gunmen as he attempted to enter the gates of his house.

A bullet meant for his heart missed him by a few millimeters.

Let us be under no illusion about this attempted assassination. Chronex Manek was attacked for what he represents and for attempting to fulfill his role under the mandate of the Commission.

This brazen attack should concern everyone who believes in accountability, the rule of law and independence of institutions.

There can be no room for vigilantes who feel that intimidation and avoidance of potential scrutiny can be dealt with by violence.

 The attempted assassination is a direct attack on this country's future, its attractiveness for investment and its reputation.

  It is an attack on the people of Papua New Guinea.

Surprisingly and worryingly there has been little to no reaction from members of Parliament or civil society to this matter.

Have we become so fatigued by corruption, maladministration and abuse of the system that this episode is just but another to skim through briefly on our read of the daily newspapers?

 Is this what we have now come too?

This episode must not be forgotten.

The Government and the police must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. Failure to do so, turns this country backwards, tears at the constitution and makes a mockery of our democracy.

This is not a direction any of us wish to see.