The call of the Saruwaged

A dog-eared copy of Fear Drive My Feet, which is essential reading for all students of PNG history

By MALUM NALU

The rugged Saruwaged Range of Morobe province came into prominence again last Dec 30 last year when a Cessna 185 crashed there, killing a family of six people, and again highlighting its unforgiving terrain.

Walking the Saruwaged has been a goal of me and my good friend, Michael Kari from Manus province, whose father served with distinction there during the dark days of World War 11 and is the star of Peter Ryan’s best-selling book Fear Drive My Feet.

I have already walked Kokoda and Black Cat Trails, and it has largely been through my efforts, through numerous magazine and Internet articles, that the Black Cat has now become an internationally-recognised tourism icon.

Next up is the Bulldog Trail linking Gulf and Morobe provinces, and of course, the Saruwaged.

Kari and I have been talking about trekking the Saruwaged since 2004; however, our logistics and finances have not yet fallen into place, unless, of course, Morobe leaders and the provincial administration can sponsor an expedition.

The Saruwaged Range (also Saruwared, Sarawaket or Sarawaget) is a mountain range on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe province, north-eastern Papua New Guinea.

The range is dominated by the Saruwaged Massif which is capped by the two peaks of Mount Bangeta and Mount Saruwaged.

The Saruwaged Range runs into the Finisterre Range to the west and together they form a natural barrier between the Ramu and Markham valleys to the south and Vitiaz Strait to the north.

Streams flowing from its southern flanks feed the Markham.

The Germans, during their years of administration in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, made several exploratory trips into the range.

Early European ascents of Sarawaged Massif include those by the missionary Christian Keyser in 1913 and Charles Lane Poole in 1925.

Ascending to these summits would be likely to depend on finding a way through thick tropical rain forest.

I first became a fan of Fear Drive My Feet – a minor classic of World War 11 - way back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when it became a hit radio play on the National Broadcasting Commission.

Fear Drive My Feet, written by Peter Ryan and first published in 1959 by Angus & Robertson in Sydney, describes the factual adventures of one man in the struggles of 1942 and 1943 in the savage country of the Huon Peninsula area of Morobe province (then district).

As an Australian soldier of 18, Ryan, who is still alive, was sent out alone and untrained, to conduct intelligence patrols for months on end, deep in the jungles of Japanese-occupied New Guinea.

Without heroics, his book describes the hardships and dangers of such a life, though they did not blind him to the stupendous beauty of the country and the nobility of its native peoples.

Peter Allen Ryan was born on September 4, 1923, and educated at Malvern Grammar School.

He joined the Victorian Crown Law Department but left in 1941 at the age of 18 to enlist in the Army.

For 18 months, he worked on special intelligence work in PNG behind Japanese lines, winning the Military Medal in 1943 and being mentioned in dispatches.

In addition to numerous press articles and book reviews, Peter wrote several books including Fear Drive My Feet (1959), Redmond Barry (1972), William Macmahon Ball: A Memoir (1990), Black Bonanza: A Landslide of Gold (1991), Chance Encounters: AD Hope (1992), Lines of Fire: Manning Clark and Other Writings (1997) and Brief Lives (2004).

Fear Drive My Feet, rarely out of print over the last 40 years, is a classic story of the darkest days of WW11, when Australia itself stood in deadly danger.

James Kari, who is the son of Sergeant Major Kari – one of the heroes of Fear Drive My Feet – wants the Saruwaged Range not to be forgotten and must become recognised like the Kokoda Trail, Black Cat Trail and Bulldog Trail.

He also wants an expedition undertaken to recreate that done by his father and Ryan over 60 years ago.

Fear Drive My Feet is a captivating factual narrative of the author’s and Kari’s experiences between Wau, the vast Markham Valley and the towering Saruwaged Ranges during the dark days of WW11.

Other places like Lae, Salamaua, Port Moresby and the infamous Black Cat, Bulldog and Kokoda Trails come into mention in this book that all ardent students of PNG history must read.

Ryan was only 18, Kari 20, when they were part of the 2/5th Australian Commando Company in patrol and observation work behind Japanese lines in 1942.

The Manusian was a giant of a man – standing over six feet tall – and his exploits are well documented in the annals of Australian military history, including the killing of several Japanese.

As Ryan describes him: “He was as black as coal, six feet tall and so broad that he filled the whole entrance…his skin was smooth, glossy and hairless, and you could see the magnificent muscles that rippled underneath it.”

Apart from Kari, many other Papua New Guineans are mentioned in the book, and it is my fervent hope that the younger generation of those mentioned have read or will take time to read this book to understand the misery of war.

They include Watute and Dinkila, who made an excellent deduction from the way the Japanese were moving, that they were preparing to evacuate Lae.

Another notable character is Buka, whose real name was Ure but because he came from somewhere in Bouganville he was called Buka, and who went stampeding, stark naked, around a village threatening to shoot all the men in a case of temporary memory loss.

Dinkila comes into the story after Kari as a cook, but eventually takes over Ryan’s life, as he decided what his boss should wear and eat.

One day, the Japanese made an air raid and before he could jump into the safety of the trenches, Dinkila fell into a toilet pit.

His body stank terribly that Ryan asked if he had soiled himself, however, Dinkila replied: “Master, me hearim bomb ‘e come, now we fall down long haus pekpek.”

There is constant mention of Singin, tultul of Wampangan village, who constantly helped Ryan’s group.

Singin is the father of tourism personality Erigere Singin, former Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG secretary Fua Singin, and Prime Minister’s advisor Sumasi Singin.

Legendary patrol officers Leigh Vial and Ian Downs, who made significant contributions during peacetime and war, are well mentioned.

Fear Drive My Feet fords you across the Markham River, sweeps you across the Markham Valley, and lifts you on to the mountains of Boana and the mysterious Saruwaged Ranges and beyond.

It is a work of non – fiction but will captivate you just like any of the best novels.

The narrative is captivatingly built up and it culminates with the dramatic escape in the final chapters.

A riveting read!

Do not promote denial and rebellion

SUSUVE LAUMAEA writes about the media gag in Papua New Guinea

 

WHEN vital institutions of democracy and freedom become inaccessible, the people who are supposed to be served by those institutions sink into either a life of denial or develop a culture of rebellion. PNG leaders must not promote denial and rebellion by what they say and do.

 Lately there have been emerging signs of both despair and revolt as more and more conscious Papua New Guineans become restive over the mediocre legislative performance of our National Parliament, government’s haphazard public services delivery system or the lack of such, allegedly endemic growth of a corruption culture in all facets public service and government administration and deterioration of most vital services and infrastructure.

 The “people’s anger” over the Maladina Constitutional and Organic Law amendments and the “no-go zone” imposed on the media by a certain court presided over by a certain senior PNG judge hearing the court case of a notorious jail escapee and alleged serial “high stakes” robber are candid examples of the State quietly but deliberately chipping away at the foundations of democracy and freedom in PNG.

 The people’s anger is a cry against denial – a cry that must be heard and acted upon decisively and assertively.

 The flip-side of inaction to the people’s cry is more rebellion by citizens against State, against commerce and industry and against foreign investment. The gag on the media to report a high profile court case was not just an ill-advised set of circumstances.

It was a naughty thing to do.

 The lack of constructive parliamentary debate for the  Maladina legislative initiative prior to it reaching the “third reading” stage in Parliament, the absence of constructive executive interventions to soften the harshness and oppressive nature of the legislation and making a court inaccessible by the media to report the infamous “Kapris or Kapis court case” are indicative of three of the highest institutions of democracy in PNG actively denying freedom of expression, freedom of information and every citizen’s right to know what goes on within the harrowed halls of the three vital pillars of democracy in this country.

The legislature, the executive and the courts are the first, second and third estates of democracy – not necessarily in that order. The media is the fourth estate.

 All four estates must work constructively and gainfully in unison in order for institutions and practices of democracy and freedom for all to flourish in PNG. That has not been the case for a long time.

The media – an important pillar of democracy – has often times been made to be the whipping-post of the shortcomings of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

When the media exposes public officeholders in the three vital estates of democracy for corruption, self interest, harshness and oppression, the fourth estate is hunted down, singled out as unworthy and threatened or penalised.

The media’s role is straight-forward.

 Its guiding principle is Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The media’s role is to campaign for and safeguard media pluralism, independence and diversity of views.

PNG’s Constitution has a provision explicitly dedicated to Freedom of Expression as a fundamental human right and as a cornerstone of our constitutionally guaranteed Bill of Rights – found in the Preamble of the National Constitution.

That’s been in place for 35 years.

Used correctly, the media is supposed to champion the cause of freedom of expression, including freedom of information as a fundamental human right that is also central to the protection of other rights.

Freedom of expression allows people to demand the right to good health, to clean environment, to memory and to justice.

It makes electoral democracy meaningful and builds public trust in administration.

It strengthens mechanisms to hold governments accountable for their promises, obligations and actions.

It provides checks on state accountability and thus prevents corruption which thrives on secrecy and closed environments.

Suppression of Freedom of Expression is tantamount to suppression of all other freedoms and human rights.

The combined Maladina and Kapris-Kapis court case “fiasco” are situations that Papua New Guinean believers of democracy, freedom of expression and human rights do not need.

The proponents of initiatives that seek to deny the people of their basic and fundamental human rights have no place in the decision making abodes of our nation. They should be run out of those institutions and run out of town too! 

This columnist shall not be delving too far into the merits and the demerits of the Maladina legislative initiative.

That’s neither self-censorship nor self-denial of freedom of expression.

 It’s because this scribe is acutely conscious of the ethical fact that the Maladina legislative initiative has now become a court matter wherein the Ombudsman Commission – on behalf of itself and on behalf of the people of PNG – has made a court reference which challenges and seeks interpretation on the harshness and oppressiveness of the intended constitutional and organic law amendment, that albeit, seeks to limit the scope of the performance of the Ombudsman Commission in the performance of that institution’s pursuit to right the wrongs of corruption and Leadership Code breaches.

The initially expressed intent and spirit of the Maladina legislative amendments was to strengthen the “power and teeth” of the Ombudsman Commission to deal with a “very swollen” corruption culture within and outside the government system and clamp-down on leadership infringements.

But the letter of law of Esa’ala MP Moses Maladina’s amendment legislation did not reflect the “power and teeth” equation.

What happened?

Why seek to restrict the powers of the Ombudsman and the independence of that organisation?

What is the hidden agenda?

Why spin a credible story of beefing up a champion organisation – albeit the people’s watchdog -- involved in the full time job of fighting and being vigilant against corruption of people’s power and authority and against corrupt leaders, public officials and businessmen and women of all shades of colour of the rainbow when the hidden motive, intent and spirit were not quite the same as that public uttered? 

There is an old saying which goes something like this: “You can fool some people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

 The message in this old gem for Maladina the politician and his kind, government ministers, public officials in the public service proper and state enterprises, PNG and foreign businesspeople with corrupt and deceptive attitudes and tendencies is simple: “You can fool some Papua New Guineans some of the time but you cannot fool all the Papua New Guineans all the time.”

Isn’t Maladina’s legislative initiative political and legislative corruption and deception at worst?

Corruption has become a dirty word – and rightly so too.

It has to be attacked vigorously by the forces of anti-corruption.

 Corruption marginalises the people into classes of haves and have-nots and it universally impoverishes nations.

As corruption is allowed to permeate into the entire fabric of our nation, more and more people will become poor, hungry, malnourished, sick and diseased, illiterate and peripheral spectators to a minority class of powerful political and economic do-gooders.

With due respect to those “very few” citizens that earned their happiness, health and wealth honestly and by sheer hard toil, there is much to be said and suspected of later day so-called PNG millionaires.

It can’t be about “being smart and thinking out of the box” nor can it be about sheer hard work or running and persevering with an opportunity that eventually pays off handsome financial rewards.

Though speculative, there has to be an element of corrupt inducement somewhere that enables relatively obscure people are know to have been chronically poor and then suddenly the person becomes “flashy and flush” with cash, acquires a latest expensive tinted-glass four-wheeler and surrounds oneself with previously-hard-to-get model look-alikes.

Wow!

 It cannot be windfalls from the inheritance left behind by a rich aunt.

It cannot be accrued landowner benefits because clans share them unless one has corruptly taken the lot and “escaped” to Port Moresby leaving behind in the bush a whole lot of illiterate clanspeople who are ignorant of the ways of the modern monetary system.

Corruption includes PNG public officials receiving from foreigners  bribe money and other forms of valuable gifts such as luxury watches, a car, clothing, vouchers for supermarket shopping, paid trips for leader, public official and  their families to exotic foreign destinations.

There are many other forms of corruption and bribery but it involves two people – a giver and a taker.

The taker is usually someone after lucrative government contracts, for example, or a lobbyist seeking to have a particular law enacted that would ultimately lead to reaping infinite monetary and other benefits in the future.

As Papua New Guineans, we must begin to seriously and constructively rise as one and begin to fight this disease called corruption.

The power of all of us united together as one to wage war on corruption in high places or against forces that corrupt the political and economic sectors of our country shall be awesome.

Do not let corruption stand in the way of our national happiness, health and wealth.

• The author is a veteran award-winning PNG journalist. He welcomes comments and feedback from readers. Call him, or send an SMS text to Susuve Laumaea on (675) 720 13870  or send an email to slaumaea@gmail.com

 

Legend of the Sepik River crocodile hunter

John Pasquarelli

John Pasquarelli as a young kiap (patrol officer) in the Sepik in 1960

JohnPasquarelli in Papua New Guinea in 1965 trading for a shield from a local man

John Pasquarelli campaign poster from 1964

Newspaper cutting from 1964, in which John Pasquarelli fires a broadside at the administration, for neglecting the high incidence of tuberculosis in the Sepik district

A John Pasquarelli crocodile-hunting expedition along the May River in the 1960s
John Pasquarelli painting of Sepik lad, Nirinu, with a traditional shield
John Pasquarelli painting of Motukea Island outside Port Moresby

John Pasquarelli’s best-selling book The Pauline Hanson Story by the Man Who Knows

Since the end of last year, I have been quietly corresponding with legendary Sepik river crocodile hunter and Member of the First Papua and New Guinea House of Assembly in 1964, John Pasquarelli.

That has been since he sent me an email asking for regular PNG political updates as well as my political allegiances, and we have since become good friends, although we have never met each other personally.

I have asked Pasquarelli to write an article about him, given his role in the history of PNG politics, and he said to take my time as there was no rush.

Pasquarelli was on the political scene before Michael Somare, beat Somare’s father Ludwig Somare Sana for the Angoram Open seat in 1964 and was around before current Angoram MP Arthur Somare was even born.

He has sent me old photographs and newspaper cuttings of his days as a crocodile hunter and as PNG House of Assembly.

One thing I discovered about Pasquarelli, 72, who has often been called a “racist” and was political advisor to Pauline Hanson before she sacked him in 1996 and founded the infamous One Nation Party in Australia, is that he has a strong and controversial view on anything to do with politics in PNG.

For instance, when his longtime PNG mate, Morobe bush pilot Richard Leahy, crashed last December in the Saruwaged Ranges with six people being killed, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge threatened to have Leahy charged with manslaughter and deported from the country.

“If I am a racist,” Pasquarelli told me in typical dry Australian style, “this Wenge is ‘king of the castle’.”

His book, The Pauline Hanson Story by the Man Who Knows, of which Pasquarelli has sent me a copy, is a fascinating look into the fish-and-chip shop lady who was elected as Federal Member for Oxley and touched a vital nerve among Australian voters.

“Regarding One Nation, Pauline Hanson sacked me before she formed One Nation,” he says.

“I told her to remain an independent and not to form a party – see my book.”

His views about PNG are forthright and hard-hitting; although it may be 46 years since the then 26-year-old Pasquarelli first entered PNG politics and carved a niche for himself.

“It was obvious that PNG law and order was starting to come apart in the early years after independence and this was confirmed to me when I returned to PNG in 1990,” he tells me frankly.

“PNG has huge problems with lack of proper law and order, AIDS and massive corruption at all levels of government.

“China is gaining great influence in PNG, Fiji, Solomons and you know the story about selling your soul to the Devil

John Pasquarelli has been around and he is remembered wherever he's been, be it the far-flung reaches of the Sepik River in PNG or pubs stretching from Melbourne to Mooloolaba to Kalgoorlie.

In his wake are a string of strained relationships.

Pasquarelli makes enemies.

People say he is abrasive and domineering.

They remember language and attitudes that are racist.

But most of all, they remember that he's big.

The temptation is to look at his size and hard-edged Kojak appearance, and dismiss him as an archetypal right-wing thug.

Tempting, but wrong, because the 72-year-old Pasquarelli also is articulate and shrewd.

He’s a gifted artist and writer.

He's highly energetic and entrepreneurial.

He’s a capable organiser.

He was a member of the first PNG House of Assembly when he was 26.

He understands politics and the media.

Pasquarelli's grandparents migrated from Italy and settled in Queensland at the turn of the century.

His father, Joe, a doctor, brought his wife, Marie, and two young sons to Colac in the early 1950s and worked as a partner in a local practice and later in Collins Street, Melbourne.

Pasquarelli says his father went to university with celebrated surgeon Edward "Weary'' Dunlop and assisted him in surgery.

During the war, while Dunlop was a prisoner, Joe Pasquarelli worked in a field hospital in PNG.

Pasquarelli says that Dunlop, a POW surgeon, referred to his father as a great doctor in a book he inscribed.

He gave the book to his nephew.

John Pasquarelli and his younger brother, Leon, attended high school in Colac and John apparently was expelled in fifth form.

He finished his schooling in Ballarat.

In the late 1950s, Pasquarelli began a law degree at Melbourne University.

“In 1957/58/59, I studied law at Melbourne University but dropped out and went to Coober Pedy opal fields, where I found opal,” he tells me.

“My medico father had served in New Guinea during WW11 and he suggested I go to PNG.

“I was recruited as a cadet patrol officer, studying at Australian School of Public Administration (ASOPA) at Mosman, then to Moresby in1960, where I was posted to Angoram on the Sepik

“I didn’t last long in the administration and resigned after crossing swords with a German Catholic priest who was stationed at Marienberg, downstream from Angoram.

“The famous Johnny Young became my mentor.

“Young was a marine engineer who had left Samarai for WW1 when he was only 17.

“He survived and ended up at Angoram.

“He was a native labour recruiter and trader, who went bush during WW11 with his loyal Sepiks and ended up in Brisbane interpreting aerial photos.

“Young advised me to go croc shooting and trading and helped me financially

“I started shooting on the Ramu and then the upper reaches of the Sepik.

“I set up trading posts at Ambunti, May River and then Amboin.

“Initially I was shooting myself and had some good bois I had trained and who were licensed to use shotguns.

“We used rifled slugs, and my team also used spears and later we used baited hooks in the lagoons – flying fox as bait.

“As things developed I then started buying skins from villagers.

“I supplied torches for spotlighting and salt to preserve the skins.

“As well I looked after village outboard motors and supplied petrol as well.

“Skins were sold to buyers from Europe and Australia.

“I was bitten through the left hand by a six foot croc and I still have the scars.”

Pasquarelli tells me that he entered PNG politics because of what was happening in Africa during the 1960s.

“I was in politics at Melbourne University and and took my interest to PNG,” he remembers.

“I could see what was happening in Africa where black despots took over after colonialism.

“I stood for the Angoram Open Electorate and won in 1964.

“Michael Somare’s father was one of my opponents.

“My term ended in 1968.

“I decided against running again as I was sure that PNG was heading down the wrong track.

“I endorsed Peter Johnson who still lives in Wewak and he was elected 1968-1972.

“I then built the world-renowned Karawari Lodge at Amboin and it still stands but the huge tourist boom I predicted for PNG never eventuated and I lost a lot of money on that venture

“I left PNG in 1979 and lived for a while in the Phillipines.

“I returned to Sydney in the early 1980s and worked for a while as an insurance investigator, renovated the odd house

“I returned to PNG in 1990 and worked on some oil exploration projects – was last in PNG 2000.

“In 1990, whilst at Kikori, I suffered my first attack of Meniere’s disease and this disrupted my life until well after 1996.”

Pasquarelli tells me that his best memories of PNG were of the times in the 1960s and early 1970s before independence.

“I also became very interested in primitive art and artefacts I collected are safely stored and on display at Basel Museum, French National Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, etc,” he remembers.

“I am supposed to be an expert on Oceanic art.

“As an MP I supported the Sepik people in respect of agricultural development and I had the Haus Tambaran at Kanganaman declared National Cultural Property."

Sam Basil's impassioned speech

From PAUL OATES

I refer to a recent speech made in the Papua New Guinea Parliament and copied below.
In an eloquent and heart rending appeal to the PNG Parliament,Mr Sam Basil, MP for Bulolo, has clearly enunciated why today's PNGis on a slippery slide to disaster.
Mr Basil is to be congratulated for having enough guts to highlight what is wrong and the insight to determine what must be done to pull PNG back from the abyss.
But will his country's law enforcement agencies hear this heart felt plea and do something positive about the parlous state of their nation?
That is the burning question that as yet remains unanswered.
Continuous inaction by the Police, Public Prosecutor, the Ombudsman Commission and the national courts has been highlighted as a basic reason why PNG's national governance continues to decay.
The challenge has now been issued. Will you, the members of the relevant PNG authorities now take up this challenge or will you turn away from your people in their hour of desperate need?
People of Papua New Guinea. The decision time is now.
Your country's future and your children's future is now in your hands.
Will you continue to ignore what you know is wrong or will you stand up for what you know is right and just?
Mr Basil has led the way. It is now up to you to follow?
__________________________________________________

Bulolo MP Sam Basil weighs in on penalising the disfranchised in a
parliament debate
__________________________________________________

Thank you Mr. Speaker for allowing me to participate in this debate session.
Many a times, people always ask whether there are two sets of laws when it comes to doing justice to all. Yet again on today's paper we see concerns raised again with the heading '' Laws for Rich & Poor.
"Mr Sam Kewa of Western Highlands was sentenced to 12 months in prison for stealing a bilum and a K7.80 packet of Lamb Flaps. He will pay dearly for his criminal actions his reasons for stealing may all begin from a hungry stomach or to feed his poor family.
Mr Speaker, many Papua New Guineans mainly small people will continue to submit to the Laws of this land while people of high profile continue to live their normal lives without fear of the laws of this land thus pushing the scale of corruption into unprecedented records.
Stealing a K100,000.00 some 20 to 25 years ago can easily spark a nationwide march & petition but sadly today a K100 Million can be easily reported as misappropriated or missing by the PAC, Auditor General or some expensive finance inquiries and the nation just watches and mumbles over it and forgets the next day.
Most times mainly the politicians and the departmental heads who are entrusted to safe guard the wealth of this nation are the ones who steal from the very vault which they guard, many a times in collaboration with private businesses.
Mr Speaker, sadly to this day many leaders now have a lot to answer for but seems to be immune to the rule of law while the lower class of people are the only ones answerable to the laws of this land.
The rule of law which is the foundation of a civilised society demands that all persons are equal before the law. The law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, not the reverse.
The "law should govern", and those in power should be "servants of the laws.
This is central to democracy and PNG has adopted that system through our Constitution. When it comes to arresting and charging persons suspected of committing a crime, the Police have an unfettered discretion to do that.
Mr Speaker, The Constitution, particularly section 197 (2), empowers the Police to perform their duties without any control or direction from any other person outside of the Police Force insofar as its functions to lay, prosecute or withdraw charges in respect of offences are concerned.
The Courts have held that the decision to lay a charge by a policeman or policewoman investigating the crime is an unfettered discretion without direction, interference or orders from any other policeman or officers whether of the same or of a superior rank.
Whether the alleged persons are high or low profile, every body is equal before the law and they all have to be dealt with the same way. Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. The Police can proceed by way of Summons or by way of warrant of arrest and the Criminal Code Act, the District Courts Act and the Arrest Act all provide for the procedures in respect of different crimes.
The Police know what to do but they are not doing it. A person's innocence is still yet to be proven but that does not stop the police from making arrests or issuing summonses to appear and answer questions relating to charges.
Mr Speaker, One of the factors that is usually a counter to the policy of freedom to prosecute suspected criminals including leaders and politicians is the fear of being sued for malicious prosecution. However, malicious prosecution and defamation suits cannot surface or succeed if the Police do their lawful duty without malice and within the bounds of law.
Therefore, if malicious prosecution is the reason for not arresting and charging the accomplices to the crime, then it is an unreasonable and a cover-up excuse. Furthermore, the excuse for malicious prosecution is very shallow because in many other civil suits, the Police department is the worst offender which costs the State in millions of Kina.
Section 7 of the Criminal Code Act provides that every person who aides another person in committing an offence is also the principal Offender and so the same charges should apply to the rest of the accomplices to the crimes that has been committed.
Mr Speaker, If other ordinary persons named in the crime can easily be picked up from the street and charged, why not the Politicians & Departmental Heads. Their culpability is very high in that they are the leaders and that although the allegations are unproven and remain as mere allegations, the fact that there is evidence that these allegations have arisen tells a story of a worsening level of corruption and the public and the respective law enforcement agencies, particularly the Police cannot ignore those concerns.
The Police continuous inaction and silence and allowing high profile crimes to fade with time without justice being done is nothing but a recipe for disaster. Such is an element that is directly corroding the foundations of democracy which is the rule of law.
Mr Speaker, The Civil society is fed up of the complete disregard of lawful duties of the Police. One can safely say that bribery and other forms of corruption are encroaching and weakening the functions of the Police Force as an independent body.
A number of cases are still pending for investigations and prosecutions involving very senior members of parliament, departmental heads and various business people including the organised Mafia Activities that are operated by Asians, very well known to Police yet nothing is done about it.
Mr Speaker, the Ombudsman Commission, the public prosecutor and the police force are funded by the tax payers money and must in return execute their rightful duties. The failure by these law enforcement agencies can only form an opinion by the public of the existing two sets of laws, one for the rich & powerful citizens and one for the majority mainly the poor & the marginalised citizens.
Mr Speaker, the outgoing Chief Magistrate Mr. John Numapo has made headlines in the print media recently claiming that the Magisterial Service has been Politicised went almost unchallenged.
This claim alone automatically brings into question the independence of our Judiciary System in Papua New Guinea, I am not surprised at all because many political cases are now hanging in the air.
Those who are believed to have broken the laws are still and proudly executing their duties while doing injustice to many others before them who have been penalised severely and are now on the street and in their villages.
Institutions that their existence may be in question are still functioning while the nation awaits their verdict. One may ask, Has our Judiciary system already compromised?
Mr Speaker, Let us turn the spot light back into your play ground The National Parliamentary Services. We all understand that greater financial powers of the parliamentary services are vested in the speaker of this honourable house.
Three years of appealing have gone answered, during this sitting I have been fanning myself because three years now I haven't have air conditioning in my office while I cannot find lawyers in within parliament to help give advice on the implications of many bills on notice papers.
Mr Speaker, The Prime Minister has taken charge of some questions raised regarding the house matters but hasn't come back to this floor to tell us his remedies and as we all know money alone cannot fix this house but the rats must be fumigated too unfortunately the fumigation company ran out of active pesticides as the pests have developed resistance. It is a common knowledge in within parliament that a K2m of parliament funds has been spent
annually for two external law firms while we do not have access to in house lawyers.
Mr Speaker, surprisingly on this week's paper there was a lawyer potential candidate dishing out cash in donations to various groups makes me wonder whether that cash is from some of the parliamentary funds.
I know nobody will answer to all the concerns that I have raised in this debate but as I have always say if the Ombudsman Commission, the Police Force, the Public Prosecutor and other law enforcing agencies cannot do their respective role this nation will decay into corruption and eventually a failed state.
If nobody can apply justice then I commit this debate of mine to God to intervene so God please help Papua New Guinea.

Old friends reunite

By VERONICA MANUK of UNRE


Third-year University of Natural Resources and Environment agriculture students Levi Wartowo and Moy Dawa (pictured above) were recently reunited with friends they thought they would not see again until June this year.
The two students recently crossed paths again with old acquaintances, Professor and Bursar, the two bulls that the students had carried out teethering on while they were on six weeks industrial work experience at Warangoi Cattle Station at the end of last year.
The bulls were moved to the University’s Vudal Farm and when the students learnt of this, they wasted no time in going to visit them.
Their practical last year involved maintenance of fence lines, planting pastures and weed control.
Field supervisor John Kamut also taught them cattle handling and cattle training techniques.
In teethering, they used bamboo to make a hole through the nostrils of the bulls and tied a rope for control.
Both students appreciated the knowledge and skills they gained and had hoped to return to Warangoi during the semester break in June to learn more.

Ramu mine debacle

From PAUL OATES

Based on information on the website below, it now appears the Papua New Guinea government knew about the effects of the waste disposal process of the Ramu mine yet chose not to release the report.
Exactly what does that say about the PNG government?
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http://ramumine.wordpress.com/

Ramu Nickel Mine Watch
May 13, 2010

Secret government report says mine dumping flawed

An unpublished report commissioned by the PNG government from the Scottish Association of Marine Science, states that the submarine tailings disposal by the Ramu nickel mine could have widespread environmental impacts.
The PNG government has refused to release the report findings, but a copy was given to a surprised Deputy Prime Minister, Puka Temu, by Rai Coast landowners on Monday when they also presented him with a 7,500 signature petition against the marine dumping.
The SAMS report says the mine waste will not lie dormant on the sea floor, as claimed by the Chinese State owned Ramu mine, but will be widely dispersed in the Vitiaz Strait, notably towards Madang and Kakar Island and across Astrolobe Bay
The publication of these findings will also come as a serious embarrassment to Madang governor, Arnold Amet, whose home village is on Kakar Island.
The Report also assesses the environmental impact of marine waste dumping at two other PNG mines, Lihir and Misima, and finds there has been significant damage.
For Lihir the report finds "an unambiguous demonstration that ongoing DSTP has major impacts on the abundance and community structure of meio- and macrofauna, extending to water depths of at least 2020 m".
While at Misima, "significant tailings impacts are still apparent 13 years after the cessation of DSTP".