MP Wau pressed trigger, say locals

Police probe Sunday’s highway shooting

 

POLICE in Chimbu have begun investigations into a shooting incident allegedly involving Kerowagi MP Guma Wau, The National reports.

The incident happened last Sunday evening at Simgau village along the Urinigle section of the Highlands Highway.

A man from the Waugla tribe, 50-year-old John Agaundo Bongro, was shot and is now recovering at the Kundiawa General Hospital.

Acting provincial police commander Albert Korin yesterday confirmed police action and said they had identified 21 witnesses.

“As soon as the paperwork is ready, we will bring the MP in for questioning, which is a normal police investigation procedure.

“I am confident that police would complete the investigation by this weekend,” Korin said.

However, Wau has denied using a firearm and said he was nearly robbed of K120, 000 by youths who set up the roadblock.

The money was to pay for a road pro-ject in his electorate.

Wau said five youths, allegedly under the influence of homebrew, saw him driving up the hill towards Kundiawa with his family and four other boys.

He said one of the youths, armed with a big stone, stood in the middle of the road and blocked his vehicle.

Wau recalled: “After stopping my vehicle, a youth who lived close to my wife’s village in Waigar, about a kilometre away, and other youths came out of their hiding in some bushes, swore at me and a fight broke out with the youths in my vehicle.”

He said only stones and sticks were used, not a pistol as claimed (See related story).

Korin said police would talk to all 21 witnesses and establish who actually pulled the trigger resulting in a man being shot.

“When this is established, a formal arrest will be made.”

Korin told The National from his Kundiawa office yesterday afternoon that although tension remained high between Wau’s tribe and the Wauglas, both sides had agreed not to take the law into their own hands.

He said the villagers had cooperated with police to see justice take its course.

But, relatives of Bongro, the man hospitalised, have brushed aside the MP’s claims of a roadblock and an attempted K120, 000 robbery.

Camilus Dangma, Waugla tribal leader and the victim’s elder brother said: “There was no roadblock.

“There was only a group of boys on the roadside swearing at each other as the MP drove by.

“The MP swore back and was leaving when his wife uttered defamatory remarks which angered the bystanders.

“That caused the problem that led to Wau firing the

shots,” Dangma said.

According to reports, two sets of shots were fired, the first to disperse the crowd and the second allegedly wounded Bongro (See separate story).

Kundiawa hospital senior doctor John Tonar confirmed Bongro had sustained a gunshot wound on his leg.

Meanwhile, it is understood that Chimbu provincial administrator Joe Kunda had instructed Kerowagi district administrator Guma Kowane to impound all government vehicles and explained why three vehicles were allegedly used to transport the MP’s tribesmen to Urinigle village.

Police hope to wrap up their investigations by this weekend.

 

Pod borer's K1.5m goes into pockets

MORE than K1.5 million from the K7 million, allocated by the national government to combat the Asian cocoa pod borer outbreak in the country, was misappropriated between 2008 and last year, The National reports.

An internal audit and investigations conducted by the Kokanas Indastri Koporesen and the cocoa board revealed massive institutionalised corruption and misappropriation of public funds allegedly by the directors and managers of the PNG Cocoa Coconut Industry Ltd.

A copy of the audit and investigation report obtained by The National showed that dubious payments were made from the CCI main account No.191061 while some of the payments were double-dipping.

According to the report, the acting executive manager corporate services was paid cash totalling more than K38,000 between March and December 2008, which were deemed “excessive”, especially for personal use.

Auditors also found that a deputy chairman was paid more than K13, 000 but the monies were not used for the purposes intended for.

The report said another lot of payments, totalling K7, 500 made to Department of National Planning workers, were found to be dubious in nature as they were undocumented.

A total of more than K200, 000, made to a workshop in Palmalmal, was also found to be excessive and could not be justified.

“The payments were dubious in nature and they were made intentionally to defraud the institute,” auditors said in the report.

 

 

Coalition removes Maladina petition

THE petition against the Maladina amendments, presented to five opposition MPs on May 4, is now back in the hands of the Community Coalition Against Corruption (CCAC) and its partners, including Transparency International-PNG (TI-PNG) and civil societies, The National reports.

Copies of the petition, carrying more than 20,000 signatures opposing the changes to the Organic Law on the duties and responsibilities of leadership and the Constitution, was handed back to CCAC yesterday by Bulolo MP Sam Basil at the request of the coalition.

Coalition members and concerned individuals met yesterday and agreed to withdraw the petition from the opposition leader’s office, where it has been kept, and taken back to the provinces for further action.

PNG Media Council president Joe Kanekane said CCAC saw fit to retrieve the petition after the government decided against accepting or discussing it in Parliament.

Kanekane, who spoke on behalf of TI-PNG chairman Peter Aitsi, who is overseas, said despite the public’s widespread support, the petition was refused by the clerk of Parliament who said it was against parliamentary standing orders.

“CCAC is dismayed but not surprised that the clerk had refused to accept the people’s petition against the Maladina amendments.

“The petition had sat in Parliament with no avenues for it to be presented on the floor of Parliament.

“That is why we have taken back the public petition to say loudly that we will not go quietly,” he said.

Kanekane said the voice of the people could not be and must not be silenced.

“CCAC wanted a complete withdrawal of the proposed amendments to the Organic Law and a repeal of the constitutional amendments and calls for public support to take strength in the withdrawal of petition and continue to fight at the community level.

“This must be the way forward if there is to be a meaningful public consultation on the issue.

“The threat of the amendments being passed in this sitting without the consultation is too great a chance to take,” Kanekane added.

 

New Zealand's new high commissioner to Papua New Guinea

By MALUM NALU

 

New Zealand has a new high commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Marion Crawshaw (pictured), who presented her letter of introduction to Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare last week.

She takes over from Niels Holm, who left officially on May 27 after three years in PNG, to take up a new post as official secretary to Government House.

“New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are close friends and I’m delighted to be representing New Zealand here at a time when exciting opportunities are being realised, “Ms Crawshaw said.

She has a background in the areas of trade and economic development and security policy.

 “During my time here I’ll be keen to encourage more business engagement from New Zealand companies in Papua New Guinea,” Ms Cranshaw said.

“There are good opportunities here which are not being realised.

“I’m also going to be taking a close interest in our aid programme and the ways in which it is aligned to Papua New Guinea’s development strategies.

“Economic development and social development go hand in hand.”

Ms Crawshaw is a career diplomat who has previously been posted as deputy high commissioner to the Solomon Islands, deputy representative to the OECD in Paris, as well as to Suva and Rome. 

She was seconded to New Zealand police as national manager policy, where she established New Zealand police’s policy group. 

Most recently Ms Crawshaw was the director of the knowledge services division of the ministry of foreign affairs and trade, developing a programme of knowledge management projects for the ministry.

Ms Crawshaw’s personal interests include collecting New Zealand and Pacific art, gardening and handcrafts.

“I already have a few pieces of PNG art and handcrafts from previous visits here and I’m looking forward to adding to that,” she said.

“I’m also aware of the rich variety of plants from Papua New Guinea and will be adding to previous high commissioners’ plantings at the high commissioner’s residence.”

 

Papua New Guinea tax Reform, not overseas aid

From PAUL OATES

In the Papua New Guinea news, there is an article by Isaac Nicholas that quotes the results of a European Union funded geological survey. The survey data apparently revealed potentially large mineral deposits in the PNG Highlands. The minerals mentioned were copper, gold, silver, zinc, chromium and nickel.
"The mineral potential is very high based on the results we have so far," GEOMAP chief geologist Dr John Aspden was quoted as saying. "Eight mining companies, including Barrick, BHP and Rio Tinto have bought the data which is strategic information needed to mine the resources."
EU acting head of delegation Dr Ray Beese said the project was to help the PNG government identify the mineral potential of the country.
In a news article in January 2010 written by journalist Mohammad Bashir, geologist Jerry Barry is quoted as claiming he estimates the Ramu Nickel mine is worth more like $US34 billion and not $US1.7 billion the mine's 85% ownership was reputedly sold to foreign owners for, by the PNG government.
On the 4th of February 2010 the website Ramu Mine Watch claimed the Lihir Gold Mine profited by US$500 million in one year alone yet paid no taxes to Papua New Guinea. "The Ramu Nickel operation which is owned and operated by the Chinese will dwarf the Lihir gold mining operation in its size but all the signs are that it will be an even bigger financial disaster for Papua New Guinea",  the article said.
In an article by Probe International dated 11th of May 2010, it repeated a claim by African leaders that "the African continent lagged behind most other parts of the world when it comes to tax collection."
African Development Bank President Kaberuka is quoted as saying, "Tax to GDP percentage in Africa is still the lowest at only 7 per cent."
The Probe article also highlights "Other leaders in the developing world have made similar remarks. Late last year, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Finance and Revenues Shaukat Tareen admitted that if the government fixed the nation's broken tax system, it would not be forced to accept foreign aid from Western countries."
Finally the Probe reports says:"Their remarks also echo those of Dambisa Moyo, the former Goldman Sachs economist and author of the last year's best-selling book "Dead Aid". Moyo argued that foreign aid is not only ineffective in promoting development, it is an impediment to it. In regards to taxation, she said that foreign aid displaces domestic revenue from taxation-and does so with terrible results.
"Foreign aid programmes, which tend to lack accountability and checks and balances, act as substitutes for tax revenues," she wrote. "The tax receipts this releases are then diverted to unproductive and often wasteful purposes rather than productive public expenditure (education, health infrastructure) for which they were ostensibly intended."
The breakdown of the tax system, Moyo wrote, can have serious political ramifications, as "the absence of taxation leads to a breakdown in natural checks and balances between the government and its people."
So where does that leave the people of Papua New Guinea and their taxation system?
Sadly lacking for want of government scrutiny and at the apparent mercy of the impact of overseas aid, one would assume.
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African leaders call for tax reform, not foreign aid
Probe International
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A number of African leaders are now saying that foreign aid is no longer the only answer to economic development of the continent. Instead, they are calling for reform of the tax system, pointing out that Africa currently has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world.
Speaking at a conference at the World Economic Forum on Africa, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Mozambican President Armando Guebuza and African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka, admitted that the African continent lagged behind most other parts of the world when it comes to tax collection.
The former Rwandan Finance Minister and now African Development Bank President Kaberuka stressed that, although the continent needs to find ways to attract more foreign investments, it must also learn to finance its own operations and development programmes through tax collection.
"Tax to GDP percentage in Africa is still the lowest at only 7 per cent," he said.
Tax-to-GDP ratio is the ratio of tax revenues to gross domestic product, and is widely used as a measure of the state involvement in national economies. A very low tax-to-GDP makes it difficult for countries to raise funds internally to pay for government operations, forcing them to rely on outside financial assistance such as aid, which hampers public accountability and, ultimately, economic growth.
Reforming the tax system, said Mr. Guebuza, would help to ease the continent's dependence on handouts from foreign donors.
"We know what we want.we know how to get it," he said, stressing that a heavy reliance on foreign aid can no longer be the continent's solution to development.
Other leaders in the developing world have made similar remarks. Late last year, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Finance and Revenues Shaukat Tareen admitted that if the government fixed the nation's broken tax system, it would not be forced to accept foreign aid from Western countries. His comments came in the wake of street protests by citizens and heated debates by lawmakers in the country against a $7.5-billion aid package from the US, known as the Kerry-Lugar bill.
Their remarks also echo those of Dambisa Moyo, the former Goldman Sachs economist and author of the last year's best-selling book "Dead Aid". Moyo argued that foreign aid is not only ineffective in promoting development, it is an impediment to it. In regards to taxation, she said that foreign aid displaces domestic revenue from taxation-and does so with terrible results.
"Foreign aid programmes, which tend to lack accountability and checks and balances, act as substitutes for tax revenues," she wrote. "The tax receipts this releases are then diverted to unproductive and often wasteful purposes rather than productive public expenditure (education, health infrastructure) for which they were ostensibly intended."
The breakdown of the tax system, Moyo wrote, can have serious political ramifications, as "the absence of taxation leads to a breakdown in natural checks and balances between the government and its people."
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Ramu Mine Watch
February 4, 2010...11:08 am
Will the Ramu mine be another big rip off - just like Lihir?

With community outrage over revelations about the true size and value of the Ramu nickel deposit  still simmering, figures released by the Lihir gold mine in New Ireland province, Papua New Guinea, which delivered a US$500 million profit in 2009, reveal the extent to which other mining companies are profiting from their extraction operations.
The Lihir gold mine produced a record 853,000 ounces of gold in 2009 - boosting Lihir Group Ltd's global production to over one million ounces for the first time (LGL also mines gold in Queensland, Australia and in Cote d'Ivoire in Africa, although the Lihir mine accounts for some 75% of total gold production).
The Lihir mine is also one of the lowest cost mines in the world, according to the company. Total cash costs of the Lihir groups mining operations in 2009 were US$397 per ounce.
With the gold selling price averaging at US$1,000 per ounce during 2009, the company figures reveal that the mine was delivering a profit of over US$600 per ounce of gold produced - over US$500 million in total.
A profit of over US$500 million in one year from one mine - yet the company pays no taxes in Papua New Guinea.
Perhaps it is no surprise that PNG is ranked as one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world - despite its enormous natural resources which include oil, gas, copper, timber and tuna as well as gold, silver and nickel - when it allows overseas companies to quite literally steal its gold .
The Ramu Nickel operation which is owned and operated by the Chinese will dwarf the Lihir gold mining operation in its size but all the signs are that it will be an even bigger financial disaster for Papua New Guinea.

January 29, 2010...2:57 pm
Ramu Nickel mine "broad daylight rape" of PNG

A leading Papua New Guinea geologist says the Ramu Nickel mine has been massively undervalued and is another example of the "broad daylight rape" and exploitation of Papua New Guinea's resources.
He claims the US$34 billion mine has been sold to the Chinese for just 5% of its true value.
"Sadly, the [PNG] government is continuously under selling multi-billion-dollar resources because it lacks analytical skills" says geologist Jerry Barry in a story by Mohammad Bashir in today's Post Courier newspaper. This lack of knowledge and skills is further compounded by greed and ignorance says Barry.
Mr Barry calls on the government to "act radically and swiftly in changing the current trends in order to maximise realisation of the natural resources for PNG" he says.
Mr Garry estimates the Ramu Nickel mine is worth $US34 billion and not $US1.7 billion as is commonly reported..
"For brevity, Ramu laterite deposit contains 1.44 million tons of nickel and 0.143 million tons of cobalt . At today's buoyant prices of 9US$/lb for nickel and 20US$/lb for cobalt, the in-situ value of contained nickel and cobalt in the Ramu project stands at about $US28 billion and $US6 billion, respectively. So the actual value of Ramu nickel cobalt project is $US34 billion or K92 billion at today's prices".
Mr Garry, who has worked with many international exploration companies added that the mine will produce in excess of 31,000 tons of nickel and 3300 tons cobalt annually for a period of 20 years (with the potential for up to 30 years).
"The worth of these metals produced annually may exceed $US750 million subject to fluctuating metal prices and production capacity. This is somewhat equivalent to well over K2 billion every year at today's exchange rate and metal price," he said.
Mr Garry said sadly, 85 per cent of the ownership of the Ramu mineral resource was sold to MCC, the Chinese state owned enterprise for a mere 5 per cent ($US1.7 billion) of the total value of this mega resource.
"To set the record straight, the present value of Ramu mine is worth about $US34 billion (K92 billion) and not $US1.7 billion (K4.6 billion) at today's price but unfortunately very little if not none will be reflected in long-term tangible development in PNG"
******
Post Courier News
Wednesday 16th June, 2010

Firm for LNG cash

Govt sets up company, separate from IPBC to control LNG windfall

By ERIC TAPAKAU

LOBBYING is intensifying for the positions of chairman and chief executive officer of Papua New Guinea's newest state entity -­ Kroton No.2 Limited.
The National Executive Council recently approved the separation of Kroton No.2 Limited from the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) entity to manage the country's windfall from the Liquefied Natural Gas project.
The Government's view is that its LNG equity is too large and important to remain within the normal IPBC portfolio and that it needed an independent board and management so it could contribute effectively in its role as the joint venture partner as well as looking after the Government involvement in the project.
It is likely Papua New Guineans will be appointed to these two top positions however, with the significance of the PNG LNG project active consideration is being given to these positions before to their appointments are announced.
LNG projects are new to the country and the top management teams of the company will have to properly understand the operations of such a project.
The State has a 19.6 per cent interest in the PNG LNG project led by Esso Highlands Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and 16.6 per cent will be held by Kroton No. 2; an additional 2.8 per cent is held on behalf of landowners by the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) Ltd; and 0.2 per cent by Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd through its subsidiary Eda Oil Ltd.
The overall $US15 billion (K40 billion) cost of developing the PNG LNG project, which excludes shipping costs, will enable PNG to export 6.6 million tonnes of LNG annually to customers in China, Japan and Taiwan.
Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said cabinet recently endorsed the establishment of Kroton No. 2 Ltd as the fully functional petroleum company with the appropriate resources to adequately represent the State's interest in the PNG LNG project.
Total revenue to the country through different interests would be in the vicinity of K25 billion over the 30 year life of the project and this will increase if the project reports an additional profit after an agreed period of time.
Sir Michael said since Kroton No.2 Ltd was wholly owned by the State, through the General Business Trust, it was imperative that Kroton played the leadership role in the commercial development of the hydrocarbon industry in the country.
"To facilitate this, cabinet has endorsed the functional separation of Kroton No.2 Limited from the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) to allow the former to develop into a national hydrocarbon development corporation while IPBC focuses on value-adding and management of the General Business Trust," Sir Michael said.
"IPBC will remain as shareholder in Kroton No.2 Ltd until the maturity of the existing funding arrangements with the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi. Thereafter, the shareholding will be reviewed."
Minister for Public Enterprise Arthur Somare, the Department of Public Enterprise and IPBC have been directed to speed up the necessary logistical requirements to enable the office to be fully functional and report back to the NEC. Landowners from Hides and Portion 152 yesterday called on the Government to consider them directly on the board of Kroton and they also wanted the chairman of the board to come from the landowners.
"The Government has been unfair on us all this time and we are requesting the Government to seriously consider us by allocating up to 50 per cent of the seats on board if possible," they said yesterday.
******
The National 16 Jun 10
Highlands boasts high mineral content: Survey
By ISAAC NICHOLAS

A EUROPEAN Union (EU)-funded geological survey has found relatively high mineral potential in the country's highlands region.
The survey, covering Eastern Highlands, Chimbu, Western Highlands, Enga and Southern Highlands, was conducted by GEOMAP and the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
GEOMAP is a five-year EU-funded project that is part of the mining sector support programme (MSSP) launched in 2006.
The survey data, presented by EU officials to Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Abal, showed 48 elements including copper, gold, silver, zinc, chromium and nickel among other minerals.
EU acting head of delegation Dr Ray Beese said the project was to help the PNG government identify the mineral potential of the country.
He said the project also included certain parts of Sepik and Madang, covering 40,000sqkm the last four years.
Beese said the geological survey in the Wabag area revealed quite interesting potential of copper and other minerals.
GEOMAP chief geologist Dr John Aspden said the survey was to help provide information to the mining sector.
"Eight mining companies, including Barrick, BHP and Rio Tinto have bought the data which is strategic information needed to mine the resources.
"The mineral potential is very high based on the results we have so far," Aspden said.
"Because of Porgera, Yandera and Frieda mines, the survey worked in between these areas to identify new potential mineral deposits," he said.
Abal, who is also Wabag MP, said he was alarmed by the number of prospects available in the highlands.
"We want to participate in mineral wealth and this kind of information is vital.
"The geological survey map gives the people and government a big advantage to plan ahead on how to participate in the projects," Abal said.
"We welcome the EU support that will give investors the opportunity to do desk-top analysis on the data."

Top marks for Air Niugini woman pilot

Air Niugini’s Cadet First Officer Rhoda Jane Ilave at the controls of the Dash 8 100 series that she is licensed to fly. She is one of six PNG women pilots flying for Air Niugini.

By BOSORINA ROBBY in The National

MEET 21-year-old cadet first officer Rhoda Jane Ilave, who recently graduated from Air Niugini’s cadet training course for pilots and engineers, and an awardee of the Sir Donald Anderson Trophy for female pilots in Australia.

The trophy, sponsored by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, is awarded annually to three women pilots with the highest aviation exam results over the past year.

Ilave is probably the first female pilot in Papua New Guinea to receive the honour in recognition of her outstanding academic achievements in professional aviation studies by female trainee pilots.

She received the award last week.

Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri said yesterday Ilave’s achievement was not just for Air Niugini but also for PNG.

“Young Rhoda has made everyone proud, her family, Air Niugini, the airline industry and PNG in general,” he said.

Ilave was studying second year medicine at the UPNG Medical Faculty when she decided to apply for the Air Niugini cadetship programme in 2008.

Inspired by her elder brother, who is also a cadet pilot with Air Niugini, Ilave did very well in her studies at flight school in Australia in the 18 months she was there.

“She did very well in both her theory classes and practical tests. She passed all seven commercial pilot licence examinations in five months and accomplished brilliant results, scoring 100% for one examination, 95% and above for five other examinations and 88% for another,” Kumarasiri said.

“In the same year, she completed her seven Airline Trasport pilot licence examination in two and a half months, scoring 97% in two examinations and more than 80% for other examinations,” he said.

The cadetship programme is open to Grade 12 and above students with excellent results in all areas, particularly in physics, mathematics A and English.

Since 1989, the cadetship has seen at least six young people every year to be trained at various pilot training schools, the current being at the Professional Pilot Training at Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.

Kumarasiri said Air Niugini invested millions of kina annually in training young pilots and engineers whose results were commendable and comforting for the airline and its valued customers.

Graduating last December, Ilave is now one of six female PNG pilots with Air Niugini.

Ilave said she was quite shocked to win the award but was grateful for the tremendous honour.

“It’s really good and I am glad the Australian Women’s Pilots’ Association does such things to recognise females and to encourage them.

“The cadetship is a good thing that Air Niugini does for young people to decide for a career in aviation.

“I now look forward to a promising career with Air Niugini and to progress onto bigger aircraft in the future,” Ilave said.

Fire guts Madang landmark

MADANG town’s landmark office and shopping complex, the Kagasten Building, was burnt to the ground last night, The National reports.

The fire, which started at the ground floor at about 6pm, gutted the entire building by 7pm.

Firemen and 20 student seamen from the PNG Maritime College could not save the building but managed to stop the fire from spreading to other shops, including the double-storey Papindo shopping complex.

A policeman at the scene said he suspected an electrical fault at a shop on the ground floor could have triggered the fire, which quickly spread to the other rooms.

It brought the entire two-storey building down within an hour.

The building housed two shops on the ground floor while the first floor had the Day and Night Surgery private clinic, office of the anti-HIV/AIDS group, People Living With Higher Aims Inc, among other occupants.

Police could not ascertain if there were people inside the building when it caught fire.