PM pays tribute to Narokobi

THE death of former diplomat, politician, lawyer and author Bernard Narokobi is a loss of one of the country’s exemplary leader who never lost touch with the aspirations of the Melanesian people, Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has said, The National reports.

“Mr Narokobi was a humble man who dedicated his life to the development of a legal regime that incorporates Melanesian values.

“His life work was to ensure that our values are entrenched in all aspects of modern PNG life.

“His service to PNG was outstanding and is reflected in the offices that he held throughout his professional life.

“Mr Narokobi was a lawyer, writer and philosopher, Member of Parliament, and for the most part, was party leader of the Melanesian Alliance Party.

“Even before becoming an MP, Mr Narokobi played a significant part in the Constitutional Planning Committee that put together PNG’s National Constitution,” Sir Michael said.

He said Mr Narokobi held important positions such as speaker, leader of the opposition, and attorney-general.

“He also played a role in the Bougainville talks against secession in 1975 and later during the crisis in 1989.

“In 1996, Mr Narokobi joined me and a small group of parliamentarians to go into Bougainville at the height of the crisis to negotiate the release of hostages in Laguai.

“He was an exemplary leader and took his role as an elected representative of the people literally and seriously.

“He was a humble man who did not lose touch with the aspirations of the Melanesian people.

“I first met Mr Narokobi in Brandi Intermediate Primary School.

“He was the second intake of students when he attended my class.

“Even then, I could see that he had a great appetite for learning and showed great potential.

“I am pleased to have been a part of his life and will always remember him and his contributions to this country.”

 

 

 

Oro oil palm growers to hike output

By SHEILA LASIBORI

OIL Palm growers in Oro province aim to produce 180,000 tonnes of fruit this year, following last year's low output, according to the Popondetta Oil Palm Industries Corp (Opic), The National reports.
Last year, the growers harvested only 130,000 tonnes out of the targeted 170,000 tonnes, mainly due to the devastation caused by Cyclone Guba in 2007 where about 98ha of oil palm land was lost, Graydon Hanguru, field manager for Opic, said.
He said another reason for the low harvest was the non-distribution of fertilisers to growers since 2007.
That year, about a third of the growers were supplied fertilisers, then there was nothing for both 2008 and last year.
This year, they have restarted distributing fertilisers where three divisions (Sorovi, Igora, and Ilimo) have been covered with the remaining two divisions to be supplied soon.
The price per tonne of the harvest this year has been: January, K191.90/t; February, K194.58/t; and this month, K211.33/t.
Mr Hanguru said the way in which growers were paid their cheques had been changed to avoid long queues at the only bank (Bank South Pacific).
There was an inflow of people into Popondetta who emptied shelves in shops, he said.
"This was a big change we did to reschedule the harvest time and the day for issuing cheques to the growers," he said yesterday.
The growers were grouped into two zones: Zone one consisted of Sorovi, Saiho, and Ilimo which started the first harvest on Jan 4 and got their cheques the following Friday.
Zone Two (Igora and Aeka) followed suit which harvested on Jan 11 and received their cheques the following Friday.
"So what is happening now is that we are trying to get them to harvest according to their schedules ... we are paying them every Friday," Mr Hanguru said.
He also said the Asian Development Bank -funded smallholder agriculture development project (SADP), or the in-filling project, was two years behind schedule.
"It is an in-filling project and not a new development," he said, adding they were preparing for SADP.
So far, it had recruited lands and environment officers who were currently undergoing basic training at Hoskins in West New Britain province.

Gas project 'enormous challenge'

BEING a massive project in a small economy, the PNG liquefied natural gas concern has become an enormous challenge.

And the usual trouble with a big resource project for a small economy is that if the revenue is not carefully managed, the project could end up giving very little to boost the domestic economy’s growth, Roger Donnelly, chief economist of EFIC said on Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that the project would increase gross domestic product (GDP) by 15% to 20% and the national income by 6%.

Mr Donnelly was speaking in  Port Moresby during the economic outlook seminar.

The event is  part of a series of activities marking the Australia week 2010.

Also present was Bank of PNG Governor Loi Bakani and Australian High Commissioner to PNG Ian Kemish.

Mr Donnelly, who claimed to have been watching the changes in the PNG economy over a decade, said PNG’s record showed it did not have a good track record for growth despite having some of the biggest resource projects.

“Now, there is no reason in principle why resource wealth should keep you poor,” he said this as he acknowledged that the PNG Government was aware of those issues and responded with the medium-term fiscal strategy.

During his opening remarks, Mr Kemish called on the Australian government to keep attuned to the changes that were happening in PNG especially in line with the many resource projects.

He said the societies of both countries changed over time but while they evolved, it was important to maintain the relationship between them.

“This is a good time at the time when Australian businesses are showing interest for PNG particularly the State of Queensland … the contacts on both sides are also positive.”

Mr Kemish said Australia would support PNG and restated the A$500 million (K1,213 million) loan from EFIC announced last December towards the costs of the US$15 billion (K40 billion) LNG project.

Digicel offers cheap handset

DIGICEL PNG has introduced another model of its Coral cell phone brand into the PNG market.

In a statement, Digicel said the latest Coral 640 (picture) , now selling at K49, was a new line of sleek cell phone handsets accessible to all consumers exclusive to Digicel.

Digicel chief executive officer John Mangos said: “Digicel strives to provide innovative and better products and services that encourage affordable and effective communication for all.

“Cheaper phones and call rates now mean that more people will enjoy the true beauty of affordable communications both within the country and overseas.

“With the introduction of the Coral range of handsets, we take communications a stage further, thus making cell phone technology even more accessible to the most ordinary Papua New Guinean back in the village.”

He said Digicel would continue to bring the best communications in terms of better coverage, new products and services to the most remote parts of PNG.

Coral 640 is available in a combination of glossy-black and maroon colours.

Papua New Guinea Parliament votes itself into irrelevancy

From PAUL OATES

The Papua New Guinea Parliament in its one-sided vote on the Moti Report has now voted themselves into irrelevance, virtually becoming Somare's proverbial rubber stamp.
 In an action reminiscent of the outstation clerk (Kuskus) stamping outgoing letters, one can easily imagine the so called 'Father of the Nation', mentally ticking off the dismissed issues.
Commission of Inquiry, (Kilim wanpela), Moti Report, ('Kilim tupela'), Taiwan millions, ('Kilim tripela') , Kapis escape assisted ('Kilim popela'), Parliamentary democracy, ('Kilim paipela'), etc.

Somare's father, presumably a bastion of the law, must have said to a young Somare, "Michael, whatever you start, make sure you finish it!".
Pastaim igat wanpla tisa,
Itok, "Nau mi lukim ples klia,
Bai mi baim ol lain,
Na stap longpla taim."
Tasol husat igiaman yumi a?

Dying kicks of Papua New Guinea democracy

From PAUL OATES

The last dying kicks of PNG democracy are effectively being stamped out before our very eyes.

Those of us who have seen a young country on the edge of becoming great can only to shake our heads in disbelief. There is now no effective way of stopping the inevitable takeover of a dictator except by force. Who would have thought that in our own lifetime, we who have helped people come out of the Stone Age to enjoy the benefits of a modern way of life have now left them to be sidelined and almost totally ignored by their own leaders?

Australia will rue the day it sat on its hands and did nothing to help the PNG people prevent this from happening. DFAT, AusAID, their antecedents and all the Australian governments since the Second World War ended have effectively put their heads in the sand and ignored reality. Millions of words and thousands of reports that have kept Australian public servants in Canberra in permanent work for decades and yet have been as much use as the proverbial 'tits on a bull'. Millions of dollars in overseas aid have effectively been wasted on programs that have no long term ongoing planning and are merely window dressing and an excuse for almost total ineptitude and moribund inaction.

What does it take to get results out of Canberra? Clearly nothing. Its not possible to motivate a force field that exists on another planet.

No wonder the Indonesian President yesterday felt compelled to lecture our politicians as they sat in Parliament on matters affecting our own region. He at least can see that our leaders haven't got a clue about what to do.

Why is Somare fearing the Moti Report?

From PAUL OATES

Why is Somare is reacting so badly to the tabling of the Moti Report in the PNG Parliament?
Here is an extract from page 84 of the Moti Report prepared by: Chairman and Commissioner Honourable Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, CSM, OBE, Supreme Court Judge, of Papua New Guinea, General (rtd) Anthony Huai, CBE, Deputy Chairman and Commissioner, and Mr Daniel Liosi, Commissioner 13 December 2006 to 16th March 2007.
"We recommend the following persons be investigated and charged for conspiracy: Prime Minister Somare, Chief Secretary Joshua Kalinoe, Chief of Staff Leonard Louma, Director General of OSCA, Joseph Assaigo, Defence Force Chief of Staff and acting Commander, Colonel Tom Ur, Barney Rongap, Colonel Viagi Oala, Joint Operations Commander Chester Berobero, Lt Col. Ron Hosea, Mr Job Kasa, Executive Officer to Mr Kalinoe."
It all comes down to who do the people of PNG trust? Their Chief Justice at the time or the current PM?
Who is prepared to make a stand for justice in today's PNG? It's finally time to sort out who will defend PNG against those who seek to destroy the very fabric of the PNG nation.