Reaping what we sew

Empowered…Jeris Kundin, Tan Maki and Anna Karapi hard at work at the PNG Garment and Textile Development Institute
From left are Jeris Kundin, Tan Maki and Anna Karapi while at back are SBDC women in development officer Maria Kalap and business development manager Nathan Timo
Anna Karapi, Tan Maki, SBDC women in development officer Maria Kalap and Jeris Kundin

By MALUM NALU

BY now, a country like Papua New Guinea should have a thriving clothing industry, however, this is not the case and we continue to import clothes from overseas as well as rely on expatriate tailors.

We are also being inundated by an avalanche of second-hand clothes.

This status quo, however, may soon become a thing of the past with the intensive training received by three women from rural areas of the country.

It comes at a time when there is more support being given to women through such organisations as PNG Women in Business, and when the first PNG Women in Business Expo was staged in Lae earlier this year.

The three women, two from Jiwaka area of Western Highlands province and one from Eastern Highland province, were brought to Port Moresby by the Small Business Development Corporation for the express purpose of furthering their clothes-making skills at the PNG Garment and Textile Development Institute.

The SBDC, for the record, is also the major supporter of PNG Women in Business.

From the beginning of February to the end of May this year, the three women have been undergoing intensive training at the institute, which the SBDC hopes will reap handsome rewards by them going back home and training more women.

The SBDC paid for their travel, training and daily living costs in Port Moresby, and to put the icing on the cake, paid for two industrial sewing machines worth K3, 100 each which they will take home with them to teach more women.

Having lunch with them at a Port Moresby restaurant last Friday, their enthusiasm was infectious, as they spoke of their ambitious plans to empower their fellow womenfolk.

Take the case of Tan Maki, a sewing trainer at Kuling Star Vocation Centre in Minj, who has only been educated to only Grade Five level.

“I am very happy at receiving this training,” she says.

“I have learned everything there is to know about making clothes over the four months.

“We have learned many things such as how to make school uniforms, long trousers and shirts for men, as well as six-pocket trousers.”

Anna Karapi, from Isametoka village in Goroka, is an informal sector businesswoman who is already making clothes.

“I sell clothes and sell them at Goroka Market, everything from meri blouses for all occasions to skirts and tops,” she says.

“I sell at Goroka Market and in town to working-class ladies.

“Over the 16 weeks, I have learned many new things and am now more advanced in sewing, especially in things like designing, pattern making and then construction of garments.

“When I go back, I will be able to attend to all orders.

“I’m a church group leader as well and teach many Adventist ladies.

“With these new skills, I will be able to help them even more and it’s not only my church members I am talking about, but other denominations as well.

“I will also be able to help mothers in rural areas.

“Apart from that, I will also be running my small business.

“I’ve already got big plans to expand.

“I will teach my son how to design and cut, and the wife will be trained how to construct the garment.

“What I have learned will not be wasted, and I say this because there is no tailoring company in Goroka.”

Jeris Kundin, like Maki, is a sewing trainer at Kuling Star Vocational Centre in Minj.

“I have been teaching vocational students for a long time about sewing,” she says.

“When I go back, I will teach the women how to make long trousers for their husbands.

“We have many students learning about sewing at Kuling Star.

“We will be able to attend to whatever orders placed such as six-pocket trousers, industrial wear, corporate uniforms and industrial wear.

“We will be able to sew everything from children’s wear to men’s wear to women’s wear.”

SBDC business development manager, Nathan Timo, explains it’s all about empowering women from rural areas.

“A lot of women are getting into sewing and tailoring, and this particular project is all about empowering women in rural areas to improve livelihood, create employment opportunities and alleviate poverty,” he says.

“We are empowering women in rural areas so that they can help other women.

“SBDC brought them here and paid for their return airfares, lodging, course fees and a small living allowance.

“SBDC is also providing them two industrial machines.”

Karapi wants Papua New Guineans to support their cause by stopping from buying second-hand clothes, and for the government to give more support to the country’s clothing industry.

“For four years, I’ve stopped from buying second-hand clothes,” she says.

“Second-hand clothes are making women so lazy.

“This training we have received is very good.

“The government must support our clothing industry.”

The philosophy of ambiguity

From PAUL OATES

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:
 Please enjoy and understand the following

1. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANISATION.

2. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

3. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

4.  IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

5. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

6. IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

7. CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

8. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

9. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

10. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

11. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

12. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

13. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

14. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

15. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

16. WHY ARE HAEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HAEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?

17. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

18.  IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DO THEY BECOME DISORIENTED?

19. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

It's a big worry

From PAUL OATES

It's a big worry
The US President has just sent the clean up bill for the current disastrous oil spill to BP. Apparently it's BP's responsibility to pay even though they were given permission to drill in US waters.
So if, as is likely, given the results of the Papua New Guinea government's own environmental impact study and similar examples elsewhere (e.g New Caledonia), there is an environmental disaster from the Ramu nickel mine pumping millions of tons of toxic waste into the pristine sea off Madang, who would be held responsible? Who could be sued by those who may end up poisoned and hungry when their marine food stocks are destroyed? Who could wind up being responsible if the overland tailings pipe ruptures and spills toxic waste over farming ground and people's crops?
Clearly the owners of the Ramu mine would say that they were operating under the approved permit issued by the PNG government. Clearly the PNG government would also say that they were not to blame as they were relying on their own appointed and responsible representative not to issue an approved permit unless there was no likelihood of there being any disaster.
So who would end up holding the parcel? Who might end up being held personally liable and sued by the mine's owners, the government and his own people for being directly responsible for untold misery and potential deaths in his own country.
It's all rather a big Wari .. err. ..worry for any person who may have issued an ill considered permit.

A healthy occupation?

From PAUL OATES

In the news today is a report that the US President has sent an account to BP for the clean up of their recent oil spill disaster.

So what happens if this sort of thing occurs in Papua New Guinea?
Considering that there is a US involvement in the LNG project, would the US be guilty of having one law for themselves in their own country but concerning a foreign company and another for their own operations in another country?
Where is the equity in this debate? If there is an environmental disaster over the poisonous tailings from the Ramu mine being pumped out into the ocean, clearly the mine's owners will not be held to account under the recently passed legislation because they met the requirements of the government permit they were given.
This is a classic example of when responsibility is in the eye of the beholder. Is the US government to blame for letting BP drill in their own waters without suitable safety provisions? Clearly the US President doesn't think so.
So where does that leave the PNG government if there is an environmental disaster from the Ramu mine's waste being pumped into the sea? Would the person who issued the permit without the necessary checks and safety provisions then be able to be personally sued by those who were disadvantaged or affected?
The PNG government has now effectively abrogated the mining company's responsibility should there be a disaster. A disaster that has apparently already been predicted in the government's own environmental impact survey on the project.
Issuing future permits under these provisions may not be a very healthy occupation.
______________________________ __________
White House to send BP bill over oil spill
From correspondents in Washington
From: AFP
June 04, 2010 10:12AM

THE White House has slapped BP with a $US69 million ($82 million) bill and demanded prompt payment for the first installment of government expenses incurred in the effort to halt the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Officials today also said they would keep billing the British energy giant for all associated costs from America's biggest-ever environmental disaster, under a US law requiring oil firms to pay for cleanups.
"The Obama administration today sent a preliminary bill for $US69.09 million to BP and other responsible parties for response and recovery operations relating to the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill," the US Government said.
"The administration will continue to bill BP regularly for all associated costs," the statement, issued by the oil spill incident centre said.
"The administration expects prompt payment and will take additional steps as necessary to ensure that BP and other responsible parties, not American taxpayers, pay all of the costs associated with the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill."
The White House said BP was given until July 1 to pay the full $US69 million ($82 million).
The total includes $US29 million ($34.46 million) for federal agencies to support operation of ships, aircraft and boats, and for environmental monitoring and related costs; $US29 million ($34.46 million) for National Guard expenditures; $US7 million ($8.32 million) for costs incurred by states for monitoring, oil removal and other expenses; and $US4 million ($4.75 million) for Defence Department support.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the total accounts for 75 per cent of the incurred costs to date.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990, enacted after the Exxon Valdez oil disaster in Alaska, made oil giants liable for cleanup costs resulting from spills and is being used by the administration to hold BP's feet to the fire.
Mr Obama has also vowed to hold BP responsible if it is found that the company broke any laws before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in Apri l.

First pictures of Roz Savage arriving in Madang today

Roz Savage arrives in Madang

By SIR PETER BARTER

 

 Roz Savage arrived in Madang this morning at 0800.  

She was met by flotilla of more than 100 traditional canoes, bilased in PNG style and PNG Flags. 

 More than 5000 men, women and children, many in traditional dress lines the entrance of Dallman Passage and Kalibobo Village waving to Roz as she moved slowly into the dock at the Madang Resort.

 On arrival she was met by customs, immigration, and quarantine and officially cleared and then welcomed by the Governor Sir Arnold Amet. 

 Literally hundred of people shook hands with Roz most of whom had pictures taken.

 Sir Peter welcomed her, explained the purpose of her visit and Roz then spoke saying she chose Madang on the advise from Jean Michel Cousteau who visited Madang in the 80's with his Father, Jaucque Coustoeu the famous family known for their underwater research and filming, both of whom spent several months at the Madang Resort with their famous vessels making a film. 

  Roz spoke of the million of strokes and together she had crossed an ocean, she went on to tell the people that they too could make a contribution by many people doing small things to look after the environment.

She told the crowd that during her stay over four weeks she would visit schools, meet the students and talk to them about protecting the planet, our only planet!

Numerous people presented bilum bags, yabob pots and other gifts as an appreciation and the formal welcome was done by children from Milne Bay and students of Krangket Island.

 

Peter Barter

Just what Papua New Guinea needs

From PAUL OATES


Just what PNG needs in the bush. I wonder if they can be introduced ASAP?. I read somewhere that any country that has something like 22% ownership of mobile phones will never become a dictatorship due to good and fast communications.
______________________
(in today's on line news)
Nokia unveils pedal-powered phones
 a.. From correspondents in Helsinki
 b.. From: AAP
 c.. June 03, 2010 6:12PM
THE world's top mobile phone maker Nokia today released details of four new cheap phone models and a battery charger powered by the energy generated from riding a bicycle.
The charger, which can be fitted into any Nokia phone with a 2mm charger jack, uses a dynamo to generate electricity from the movement of the wheels, Nokia said in a statement.
 "Bicycles are the most widespread means of transport in many markets around the world, so this is just one more benefit to be gained from an activity people are already doing," Alex Lambeek, Vice President at Nokia, said in the statement.
The price of the charger kit, which also includes a holder for securing the phone to the bicycle, will vary according to market, but in countries like Kenya, where the product was introduced today, it would be around 15 euros ($22), a Nokia spokesman said.
To begin charging, a cyclist needs to travel around 6km/h, and while charging times will vary depending on battery model, a 10-minute journey at 10km/h produces around 28 minutes of talk time or 37 hours of standby time, the spokesman said.
The faster you ride, the more battery life you generate. The charger is set to become available through selected retailers and the company's online store before the end of the year, Nokia said.
The four new phones it also introduced in Kenya today target developing markets, a key growth area for the Finnish company, and also contain features designed for the needs of people in countries where access to electricity is limited, such as a six-week battery standby time.