The magic of Kokoda Track

By NEWMAN CUTHBERT

Communications & Marketing Officer

Kokoda Track Authority

The Kokoda Track (Trail) produces some amazing views and often times it unfolds before you and allows you to admire it than fades as you watch.

Whether it is rainbows that seems to cut through the forest canopy or the sound of the wind that  whispers your own name as you pass, the track has a way of wiping away the  aches and pains of  a tough trekking day.

But it is where you will sometimes feel closer to our maker and when the going gets tough at certain locations along the entire 96 km of the Kokoda Track, he has ways of making us pause, rest and admire his creation.

 

And in the stillness of the mountain track he makes it known that he is our God as he brilliantly choreographs his own creation that even the most renowned artist of any generation could not possibly capture in its finest details on canvas.

 

For it was on this track in our time that he took back many lives that he gave.

 

You all have a great day.

 

Pictures by Kokoda Track Authority Operations Manager VOLKER SCHOLZ

 

Tragic end for lady cop

Caption: End of the road ... Mt Hagen General Hospital officers carrying a body bag containing the remains of wanted robber Pawa Moni from a stretcher on Saturday morning. Monitoring the transfer is a policeman.

Wanted robber blows himself and policewoman up

A POLICEWOMAN was killed when a suspected bank robber and killer accidentally blew himself up with a hand grenade while being arrested in Mt Hagen last Friday night, The National reports.

Three other policemen were also critically injured in the explosion inside a police vehicle at the Wamp Nga fuel station in Western Highlands province.

The man, wanted by police for a string of criminal offences, including bank robbery and murder, was identified as Pawa Moni, 35, from Kelua 2 village, outside Mt Hagen city.

The policewoman was identified as Selly Mol, 25, from Waghi bridge in the North Waghi district.

She was married to Tony Taia, a teacher from Kerowagi district, Simbu province.

Ms Mol leaves two children, her first born son David, two, and four-month-old baby girl Kala.

Western Highlands police commander ACP Simon Kauba said on Saturday morning Moni was wanted for robbing Bank South Pacific’s automatic telling machine (ATM) in Lae in 2006 and the murder of a security guard last year.

The Guard Dog Security officer was killed during an armed robbery at the Mainland Holdings office in Dobel.

ACP Kauba said Moni was also wanted for breaking into the office of Niugini Oil in Mt Hagen a few years ago, fleeing with K41,000 in valuables and cash.

He said Moni had gone into hiding until Friday when he was spotted in a PMV bus at the petrol kiosk.

Following a tip-off between 6.30pm and 7pm, ACP Kauba said the nightshift policemen and Ms Mol rushed to the fuel station and ordered Moni out of the bus.

“They put Moni into the police vehicle but they failed to search him properly,” ACP Kauba said.

Ms Mol then got into the front seat with the driver, Const Donald Mata.

“Moni jumped from his back seat, took out a hand grenade and struggled to escape through the front side of the vehicle where Ms Mol was seated.

“In the struggle, the hand grenade’s pin came off.

“Const Mata then opened the door and jumped out.

“Unfortunately, he and the other two policemen at the back were all critically injured,” ACP Kauba said.

He said Ms Mol could not make it out on time and she was also killed in the explosion with Moni inside the police vehicle.

ACP Kauba described Ms Mol as a dedicated policewoman and “we are all very sad to lose such a dedicated member of the force”.

He said Chief Sgt Pius Nukundi, First Const Paul Pora and First Const Mata were admitted to Mt Hagen General Hospital’s surgical ward in critical conditions.

Moni’s remains were removed from the police vehicle on Saturday morning and sent to the hospital mortuary.

The Mt Hagen general duty counter was closed on Saturday morning for a few hours after explosion.

Curious Mt Hagen city residents and villagers, who heard about the incident, turn up at the scene in droves to get a closer look at the body in the police vehicle.

Police barricaded the main road between the Wamp Nga fuel station and International Education Academy (IEA).

The road was cleared to traffic after Moni’s remains were removed at about 10am

Women impress Sir Michael

THE Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has praised the women of Papua New Guinea for staging the first-ever Women in Business expo in Lae, The National reports.

And he pledged the Government’s support to ensure women participate meaningfully in businesses to improve the living standards of their families.

Sir Michael travelled to Lae to officially open the three-day expo telling the women who had traveled in from all corners of the country to ensure they speak with “one voice” in business.

“I am pleased to see many women getting involved in small businesses,” Sir Michael said before touring the exhibitions staged by the women.

As he moved from tent to tent, the Prime Minister could not help but marvel at the quality of the products the women produced.

He saw soap being produced from coconut oil, candles, various oils, clothing tailored by the women in far away bush land, fish grown by women in far away places such as Mt Wilhelm, mats woven by Gulf and Central province women, garden produce such as giant yams from Finschhafen and many more.

He told the women to forget about their differences and work as a united team in developing businesses to help themselves and their families.

The Prime Minister said he was impressed with the initiative taken by the women to showcase products they themselves had made with their own hands.

He said last year, the Government approved K10 million to help women start small-scale businesses through the National Microbank.

Sir Michael said the government would consider increasing financial support to ensure women had access to more funds to develop their small businesses.

He also pledged to talk with his deputy, Sir Puka Temu, to make a portion of land that the women want in Port Moresby available to them to build a centre for their training and various business activities.

The matter was raised at the official opening by the founder of PNG Women in Business Janet Sape.

On Saturday night, Commerce and Industry Minister Gabriel Kapris assured the women he would work closely with the Prime Minister to see women get increased financial support to develop small- to medium-scale businesses.

Mr Kapris said he was pleased to see women going into downstream processing producing goods such as soap and oils and the government would look at how it could help those women expand such businesses.

 

Parkop launches new 'united' party

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

NCD Governor Powes Parkop has launched a new political party, United Democratic Front, that aims to put an end to corruption, weed out the old political culture of power-play and to chart and a new path of change for future generations, The National reports.

The new political party was launched at the Parliament State Function room on Saturday with more than 500 people with K100 registration to become founding members.

The party has been registered with Investment Promotion Authority but the mooted party name that will be confirmed before the elections is Social Democratic Party.

The State Function room was filled with more than 500 people from all walks of life and ethnic groups crammed together knee to knee sitting down to witness the occasion and be a part of the new movement.

Another 100 more were not allowed in because of space limitations and waited outside the main gate.

The registration of 540 people to form the new party also fulfills two requirements of the Organic Law on Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC) for a minimum of 500 members and K10, 000 registration with the Office of the Registrar.

“On July 23, 2007, we made a break when you elected me as governor which shows your desire for change,” Mr Parkop said, adding that Port Moresby made a loud statement at that time and if Port Moresby could change than PNG would change.

“We need change; we have to put an end to our political culture and leadership culture.”

Mr Parkop said currently, politics was about power play and politics of convenience and gave an example of the Prime Minister announcing to make a reshuffle because some ministers had not performed or were allegedly involved in scandals.

“If Sir Mekere Morauta and Bart Philemon are genuine, they can talk to the Prime Minister and remove and invite the Opposition into Government.”

He said this was not happening and the Opposition was talking to the same ministers facing the axe to move a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister.

“We have to weed out this old political culture. Parliament is too much about power politics, power-play and politics of convenience.”

He said the message out there now was people want change and the creation of the new party was the vehicle to drive that change.

Mr Parkop said Papua New Guinea was not a poor country and had been abundantly blessed by the Creator.

“Papua New Guineans themselves have to be blame for squandering what the Creator has blessed us with.”

He gave examples of countries that lack resources but have flourished including South Korea and Singapore.

“This country is at the cross roads. We have now the LNG project that will bring in huge money but what are the tangible benefits. That is the biggest challenge.

“Are we going to build a better life and future with all our resources? Are we going to leave a legacy for our children? What will we leave for our next generation?”

Mr Parkop said the country needed good quality leadership who could look after all the wealth and ensure this was invested properly for the future.

He said the country currently had three major problems: leadership, management and attitude.

“We need humble, honest and quality leaders and the time to vote following money is over.

“What we want is a movement, a unity of people to go out and identify new honest, quality leaders into Parliament and this new political party will ensure this happens.”

K300m World Bank loan to back women credit

 Loan funds for SMEs, says Kapris

 THE Government is close to finalising a K300 million loan with World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund  (IMF) to help develop small to medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Papua New Guinea, The National reports.

Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Gabriel Kapris revealed this at a dinner hosted by the Morobe provincial government in honour of the delegates to the Women in Business expo held in Lae from Friday to today.

He said money from the loan would be available through commercial banks for lending to SME business owners, adding that it was now finalising the risk guarantee scheme with banks.

Mr Kapris said SMEs needed funds to support their development and low interest loans with long-term repayment arrangements were known to be the appropriate way for the small-to-medium size businesses to develop.

He said specific activities such as women in business or agriculture were some of the packages that the Government felt would address this issue.

Apart from K300 million loan being negotiated, Mr Kapris said under his ministry the Small Business Development Corp (SBDC) had placed nearly K2 million as credit guarantee fund with selected banks as security for small businesses that had viable proposals that need funding.

The Government has also allocated K40 million to the SBDC for SME and provided training for Papua New Guineans to run businesses.

A study into the difficulties faced by SMEs has identified appropriate technology as one of the areas that needs to be developed to ensure growth of enterprises in PNG.

Mr Kapris said information technology was also important in securing markets for products of the SMEs, adding his department was devising a list of negative and positive activity to guide small-scale businesses to get them through the first difficulties of doing business.

He highlighted yet again that PNG was a difficult country to do business as there were so many obstacles faced by those who venture into business.

These concerned transport infrastructure, water, power, telecommunication facilities among many other difficulties faced by businesses especially small businesses.

WIB seeks to develop women's microfinancing

THE PNG Women in Business (WIB) and City Mother’s Business Foundation (CMBF) aims to set up a microfinance regime solely for women, according to PNGWIB president Janet Sape, The National reports.

Mrs Sape, who is also the CMBF president, said stringent policies in getting loans from financial institutions prevented many aspiring businesswomen from venturing into small-to-medium (SME) businesses.

She made the comments during the launch of the inaugural WIB expo in Lae at the weekend.

Mrs Sape has urged the Government to assist with the creation of the institution and to legislate a policy that would allow K1 million from the annual K10 million district service improvement programme (DSIP) to be allocated to women’s project.

She said this would enable women to participate equally in business activities.

Mrs Sape said the expo was one of their programmes in partnership with the Small Business Development Corp (SBDC) under the Commerce and Industry that hoped to address issues faced by women entrepreneurs in the country.

It was also an opportunity for women to showcase their various businesses and demonstrate to the Government they have the potential to contribute to economic development, she said.

The expo is also an implementation of the SME policy under the medium-term development policy.

PNGWIB patron Sir Nagora Bogan described the expo as “a milestone for women to move forward and contribute economically”.

He challenged the women to have trust in themselves and take responsibility of their goals as it was crucial for women to be equal partners in the development of the country.

But Sir Nagora said it was also the responsibility of the Government to address policy issues that would address women’s concerns.

 

Here's the story the Post-Courier refuses to run

BY KEITH JACKSON

OBSERVERS OF the media in PNG are scratching their heads and wondering what the link is between carbon trader Kirk Roberts and the Post-Courier newspaper.

It’s not just that the Post-Courier runs stories favourable to Mr Roberts’ activities. Of real concern is the newspaper’s apparent refusal to publish stories that question his activities, even when they are backed up by the PNG Government.

PNG Attitude has been told by a reliable source that a Post-Courier editor has been quizzed on this seeming lack of fairness and balance in its coverage, but brusquely fobbed off questions and criticism of what seems like a badly flawed editorial policy.

Earlier this week the PNG Forest Authority placed an advertisement in the Post-Courier which announced that Roberts’ ‘carbon trading’ activities were under investigation.

Just two days later the Post-Courier ran another uncritical front-page story, which one reader described as “a ridiculous and nonsensical pro-Roberts piece”.

Anyway, thanks to Sky News which did manage to pick up the story, here it is:

'Carbon cowboy' in PNG legal spat

Australia's self-proclaimed 'carbon kingpin' Kirk Roberts is being investigated by a PNG government agency for allegedly misleading villagers in deals he hopes will net millions.

Mr Roberts, a former disqualified Australian horse trainer who also ran a Philippines cock-fighting business, once said he was 'the most beneficial foreigner' for PNG and has travelled across the country promoting carbon trading.

Mr Roberts shrugs off widespread criticisms and is adamant he represents numerous landowner groups who want lucrative carbon projects developed under a voluntary system.

But PNG authorities are worried Mr Roberts is undermining existing forestry laws, possibly misleading landowners in remote areas all while exploiting PNG's lack of national carbon trade legislation and policy.

East Pangia, in PNG's rugged Southern Highlands region, is the latest focus of various conflicting opinions that have flared as Mr Roberts promises what many villagers call 'sky money' - because he appears to be selling air.

PNG's Forest Authority managing director, Kanawi Pouru, has taken out a newspaper advertisement reminding Mr Roberts and landowners that East Pangia has already been allocated for logging.

Mr Pouru told AAP the Forest Management Agreement was one of 10 agreed projects identified for development by PNG's government in 2002.

'Roberts' operation obviously raises concerns for us,' he said.

'Our lawyers believe we have grounds to proceed against any moves that prevent an already existing forest plan.

'A commercial agreement with landowners has been entered.

'They can't sign rights away then reassign them to someone else like Roberts.

'We are not against carbon trading but we are being cautious because there is still a very high risk involved and so many rules that have not been sorted out.

'We need to understand the business first.'

The East Pangia FMA still existed and the logging operation would commence as soon as the agreement was executed next month, Mr Pouru said.

'(Mr Roberts) is being investigated and will be dealt with accordingly,' he said.

Last week Mr Roberts was in East Pangia mapping out a carbon project.

He did not answer (emailed) questions regarding the landowner's sudden switch from forestry to carbon trading, or the scientific credibility of his team.

Kuson Waku, a local landowner representative, told PNG's Post Courier newspaper: 'I want to benefit from all the forest.'

The story, supporting Mr Roberts' carbon trading plan, was accompanied by a photo of two locals each holding dead bush rats and tree kangaroos, with a possible implication that wildlife was under threat from logging.

PNG's Department of Environment and Conservation, Environment Ministry, NGOs and the environmental-law community have all raised concerns about Mr Roberts.

But Mr Roberts is no stranger to controversy.

Last year he was linked to the sacking of a top official after receiving dubious 'sample' carbon credit documents. And Mr Robert's company Nupan is tied to an ongoing government investigation of PNG's embattled, mismanaged and now bankrupt Office of Climate Change.

Adelaide-based company Carbon Planet, eyeing a potential billion dollar carbon trading market, in 2008 gave Mr Roberts $1.1 million for projects in PNG but now refuses to comment on their relationship with him.

In December last year, Carbon Planet's founder and chief operating officer Dave Sag walked out of an SBS television interview when asked about Mr Roberts and their PNG deals.