From PAUL OATES
What comes first, the chicken or the egg?
There is an interesting article in today's The National about Australia's aid to PNG.
The PNG Foreign Minister's is reported to have claimed that much of the Australian aid given to PNG was wasted on consultants and advisers rather than health and education.
In response, Australia's Foreign Minister has stated that Australia will conduct a review of those adviser's effectiveness with partner governments.
This review will be jointly undertaken by AusAID and partner governments.
"Australia was committed to providing 'most effective' and 'value for money' advisers", Mr Stephen Smith is reported to have said.
However before some heave a collective sigh of relief that something is finally being done to answer years of criticism and reported inaction, let's first examine the statements from both Foreign Ministers in more detail.
There is no denying that PNG's Foreign Minister has an excellent point.
Some overseas advisers and consultants are reported to have been paid fabulous amounts by AusAID.
Reports of so called 'boomerang aid' have been around for years and refer to the 'giaman' (false) process whereby Australian consultants are paid in tax free dollars by the Australian Aid program and therefore PNG does not accrue any benefit.
In the newspaper article, it is claimed that local PNG experts are not available and therefore, overseas consultants have to be recruited.
But why are local experts not available?
Could it be that they can't get past the recruitment process or haven't the managers of aid programs thought about training PNG people to actually be able to do the work involved?
Many educated PNG people must now find employment overseas as the political appointment system is reputedly severely affected by the 'wantok' (fellow language speaker) process or just plain nepotism and corruption.
The old idea that, "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys", has somehow been morphed into the notion that if you pay someone a lot of money you are bound to get good results.
Wrong!
In this case, the only results AusAID have reputedly achieved have been to clearly increase a few foreign bank accounts.
Over many years, PNG's governments are not entirely squeaky clean however, when it comes to funding health and education.
These programs are the direct responsibility of the PNG government and that responsibility can't just be shifted to Australia's overseas aid program, as the report intimates.
A recent enquiry into PNG government finances revealed horrendous discrepancies in how most government departments are managed or mismanaged as the case appears to be.
Lastly, it is reported that those being held responsible for the overseas aid programs (AusAID and partner governments), are to 'review' their own programs.
Well that's a relief.
For a moment one might thought that someone independent and other than those responsible for the problems were going to conduct the review.
Phew!
We almost might have uncovered some problems areas that neither AusAID nor their 'partner governments' might want the taxpayer to know about.
Whoops!
That would be a recipe for change.
______________
Aust to PNG: Aid review in order
By YEHIURA HRIEHWAZI in Brisbane
THE Australian government is committed to reviewing effectiveness of its aid to Papua New Guinea to get "value for money" following its complaints that a lot of the money was wasted on consultants.
A post-budget statement released by Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith on Tuesday night gave details of its aid commitments to Indonesia, Africa and the Caribbean nations.
However, it made no mention of aid support to PNG except in reference to its continuing commitment in helping reducing deforestation and carbon emission.
Smith said Australia was committed to conduct a review of advisers' effectiveness with partner-governments. While PNG is a partner and the PNG aid component was expected to be over K400 million, Smith did not make any indication of it.
PNG used to be the largest overseas aid recipient until recently when Indonesia had become the focus of Australia as its strategic development partner while PNG hummed the tune of aid reduction and self-dependency. In the 2010-11 budget handed down by the federal government on Tuesday night, Smith said Australia aid commitment to Indonesia over the next four years will be A$323 million (K804 million).
In direct response to PNG Foreign Minister Sam Abal's recent outburst that much of Australian aid to PNG was "wasted" on consultants and advisers instead of the needy areas of health and education, Australia was committed to providing "most effective" and "value for money" advisors.
"In 2010-11, AusAID will undertake a review jointly with partner governments on the use of technical advisers in the aid programme.
"The review will seek to ensure each adviser is the most effective, value-for-money response to meeting agreed need and priorities," Smith said.
Reacting to Abal's criticism against the boomerang aid last month, Australia's parliamentary secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan said Australian consultants and advisers brought to PNG crucial skills that were often not available locally.
"Australia and PNG jointly decide on the areas of focus of the Australian aid program.
"The PNG government frequently requests Australia to provide technical experts to advise PNG government departments, and approves these appointments.
"These advisers bring crucial skills that often do not exist locally," spokesman for McMullan told The National via email from Canberra.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Agriculture training for mine impact students
Hellen Komkombe, Carolyne Tambarie and Emma Apool attend to the kaukau plot during one of their practical sessions
Lihir girls Hellen Komkombe, Carolyne Tambarie and Emma Apool checking on the vegetable plot at the college
By SOLDIER BURUKA of DAL
A group of young people from faraway New Ireland province are making use of their time at the Highlands Agricultural College in Mount Hagen.
The 10 students from the Lihir gold mine area are studying basic agriculture farming and are pleased with their own efforts so far.
Four of them are females who are Grade Eight school leavers and six are males, of whom four are Grade 10 leavers and two are Grade Eight leavers.
With them is another female, a Grade 10 leaver who is doing her second year.
The students are thankful to their sponsor, Lihir Sustainable Development Organisation, for recognising the importance of promoting agriculture in the mine impact areas on the island and encouraging school leavers to be trained in basic agriculture farming.
The 10 students enrolled in the six-month agriculture training program in February this year.
They said that landowners in the past concentrated mainly on mine-related activities, but were now realising that mineral resources were only for the short-term and that agriculture remained as the backbone of the economy and the people’s livelihood.
With that in mind, the landowner company took the important step and sponsored the group to be trained at the Department of Agriculture and Livestock-operated agricultural college.
Although far away from their island community, the Lihir students are now used to the cold climate and have settled in well and concentrating on their certificate in agriculture farming course which covers crop production, livestock production (including piggery, poultry, small ruminants and cattle), rural life development, project management and communications.
The group will graduate next month.
The students said they were aware of the mine impact on the people’s lives and realised that such major development also had its disadvantages.
Because of the people’s concerns for their future livelihood, the landowner company placed its trust in its young people and wanted them to be trained as agriculture workers so that they could promote and create awareness on agriculture rehabilitation and expansion.
The company has its hopes pinned on the school leavers to create opportunities in agriculture farming for the mine impact communities.
The students upon their return will also look at potential crops like coffee, aquaculture and vegetable production on a bigger scale.
“As school-leavers we realise that the only way to help our people is to teach them about agriculture farming,” they said.
“We also realise that often many students think of getting office jobs or going to universities, but we must think about helping our own community at the grassroots level.
“It is our duty to help the people who have been affected by the mine development in the past couple of years to resettle and participate in meaningful agriculture activities.”
Another group of students from the Porgera gold mine impact areas in Enga province, sponsored by their MP Philip Kikala, is also studying at the college.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
NARI to establish resource centres in Abau
By
Deputy Prime Minister and Abau MP Sir Puka Temu has approved K38, 000 from his electoral funds for the establishment of a series of resource centres in the district.
The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) will establish the centres.
The approval was made during a special joint district planning and budget priority committee (JDPBPC) meeting for Abau district held in Kupiano on April 21.
While approving the funds, Sir Puka expressed his appreciation towards NARI’s research-for-development (R4D) initiatives in his district over the recent years.
Sir Puka also expressed concerns that soil productivity had been declining in villages in the Aroma local level government (LLG) and asked NARI scientists to develop soil improvement programmes in Aroma.
During the meeting, Clifton David Gwabu of NARI’s Southern regional centre at Laloki in Central province presented the resource centre budget to Sir Puka and JDPBPC members.
Mr Gwabu thanked Sir Puka and his committee members and assured them that the funds would be used for continued R4D work in Abau through the resource centre concept.
While updating on NARI’s past, present and future development plans in Abau, Mr Gwabu revealed to date NARI’s presence was in Merani in the Cloudy LLG and Maopa and Egalauna in Aroma LLG but now, with the funding, NARI would extend its work to Amazon Bay LLG in addition to further expansion in other parts of Aroma and Cloudy Bay LLGs.
Mr Gwabu said NARI was currently piloting an agricultural innovative project called Life Long Learning for Farmers (L3F) in Abau district, which upon its success, would be extended to the rest of Central province.
The budget was presented at the request of Isoa Damai, the business representative of Abau JDPBPC, who is also the leader of Merani farmers who are working through NARI’s resource centre network.
Mr Damai invited NARI to put a budget proposal together because since the start of NARI’s work in Abau in 2007, there was no direct funding assistance from the district.
He said collaboration and partnership was now being strengthened.
UNRE goats tagged
By VERONICA MANUK of UNRE
Goats at the
The ear tagging and numbering kit was donated by a
The kit consisted of tags, an applicator and marker pens which are used to secure permanent identification of individual goats.
Mr Kingan said the ear tags and the markers were of high quality and the inked numbers should last longer than printed numbers.
The goats are now increasing in number so that provision of such resources is crucial to daily management, routine husbandry practices, stocktaking and recording of weights and breeding success.
The current population is 40 animals: 19 are breeding females, six young females, six males selected for breeding and nine marketable males.
It is planned that the herd should reach and be maintained at 30 breeding females and six males at any one time, plus animals not yet weaned.
A suitable market weight is reached after about six months of growth.
Marketable animals are sold at K3 per kg liveweight.
Young female goats give birth for the first time at about nine months and thereafter at six to seven month intervals.
About half of the births give single kids and half give twins.
With the assistance given by Mr Kingan, the goats will be monitored and the breeding programme maintained to ensure continuous reproduction and a steady flow of animals, eventually both male and female, for sale.
While there have been many enquiries for female goats for breeding, the farm will not sell be selling any female goats as yet.
All females will be kept until the numbers reach the target for a viable herd.
Some losses due to dog attack and misadventure have occurred but these problems can be overcome.
The efforts of people like Mr Kingan are helping to create good resources for teaching, research and income generation for the University.
This contribution to the academic livestock section and the farm is greatly appreciated.
Wep Kanawi confirmed as National AIDS Council Secretariat director
National AIDS Council chairman Sir Peter Barter today (Wednesday, May 12, 2010) announced the appointment of Wep Kanawi as director of the National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS).
The announcement was made following the National Executive Council’s recent decision to appoint long-serving public servant Kanawi as NACS director in its third meeting of 2010, making the appointment effective as of May 4, 2010.
Mr Kanawi has been NACS acting director since July 2009.
“I am delighted that Wep (Kanawi) has now joined us as director of NACS,” Sir Peter said.
“I would also like to thank the Government for the endorsement and the Minister for Health and HIV and AIDS Sasa Zibe for his high level support.
“Wep (Kanawi) is bringing a wealth of both academic and public service experience to the post and will continue to rebuild NACS credibility and develop strong and effective partnerships with all stakeholders.”
Before joining NACS, Mr Kanawi was formerly the provincial administrator for Manus province and the chairman of the provincial AIDS committee.
He has worked in the public service since the 1960s and has been appointed by the Government of PNG to head several focal Government Departments including the National Investment Development Authority, Department of Commerce, Department of Industrial Development, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Personnel Management.
Mr. Kanawi also graduated with a law degree from the
MrKanawi is thankful of his appointment: “I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and I am honored by my appointment and I will do my best for the country and my people.”
New computer lab for University of Goroka
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By KATE GUNN of UOG
Monday, May 10, 2010 saw the official opening of a new computer laboratory for post-graduate students at the
A total of 53 computers and 32 flat screen monitors were donated by the International Development for Computer Education (IDCE) and the Kyoto Computer Gakuin (school) in
Sixteen of these are being used for the post-graduate students’ computer laboratory at the UOG, now officially named the KCG Lab after the Kyoto Computer Gakuin who not only helped to procure the donated computers and flat screen monitors but prioritised the UOG’s request for the items.
Acting Vice Chancellor of the UOG David Avei-Hosea commented at the opening that UOG had received many benefits over the years from JICA’s support in the areas of volunteering, infrastructure, language, culture and computers.
Mr Avei-Hosea said: “Fourteen years after establishing the school of post-graduate studies the dream of computers for post-graduate students is finally taking place.”
In a formal ceremony held on campus, the KCG Lab was officially opened by Mr Takeshi Shiratsuki co-ordinator of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) programme in
Mr Shiratsuki said the occasion was a good way to acknowledge each other, make new relationships and also to develop PNG more.
Mr Shiratsuki asked those present to continue to support the JICA volunteer programme.
The new KCG computer laboratory will now help to ease the problem of access to computers and the Internet for UOG post-graduate students on campus.
Prime Minister calls people of Papua New Guinea 'longlong' and 'sadang'
From The National Editorial
Chief of all ‘longlong’ and ‘sadang’
THE people do rightly demand and they do deserve an apology from Prime Minister Sir Michael Thomas Somare.
He must also retract the public outburst he made in Parliament where he described last week’s demonstrators as “longlongs” and to members of the media as “sadang”.
He, of all people, should never call any member of the PNG public “longlong” or “sadang”.
“Longlong” in Tok Pisin means mentally retarded or depraved while “sadang” means the devil or satan.
In the final analysis, if the people be “longlong” and “sadang”, he, as prime minister of the nation, is the chief of them all.
This demonstration, for all it is worth, cannot be said to have been organised or carried out by “longlongs”.
It was peaceful.
It was people speaking their mind and assembling peacefully to do so in accordance with the constitutional provision which gives them that inherent right.
It is not language that is fitting for a prime minister to level at his own people.
For two score and four years through nine national general elections, the “longlongs” of
That tremendous achievement, for which glory and praise have been lavished upon the man, most assuredly, is the achievement of the people of
The Pangu Pati and its diehard supporters and stalwarts, and now the National Alliance party, its executives and faithful members in Parliament and outside, have done their level best for their leader who Sir Michael is. Theirs too is part of the story of the four decade milestone reached by Sir Michael.
Many
This would hardly be thanks for all the hard work and dedication given by these people to the man we call the Grand Chief.
When Australian immigrations asked Sir Michael to take off his sandals at an Australian airport, the ordinary people of PNG felt the insult deepest. They made no secret of it and spoke up in every public forum. They stood for their Chief, one who would now deign to grant them the title of “longlong”.
It is time the Chief got to know his people better. Unlike what he has told Radio
Classrooms, health centres, roads, bridges, local government council chambers, public service houses and much more are in tremendous need of maintenance and many more new ones need to be built.
Mothers and children continue to die in great numbers from very easily preventable diseases. Crime persists. There is a gun culture that now appears a norm in our society.
We must begin to wonder whatever has happened to the billions of kina generated by our resource boom in copper, silver, gold, oil, forestry, fisheries and our combined agricultural commodities over the years.
Wisely applied, these billions would surely have lifted the general population up from the pits where they now wallow to be described as “longlongs” by their own prime minister.
If the people remain ignorant and pitiful, if they remain unhealthy and uncouth and ill-mannered, and many other undesirable attributes, then much has to do with their minders – the leaders of this country.
He cannot call his own people “longlong” without it reflecting upon his own leadership.
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