THE chairman of the Moran Special Purpose Authority, Tony Kila, has called on the media to report accurately, The National reports.
Kila said some media organisations had failed to report news without fear or favour.
He said ethically, journalists were expected to collect accurate information and balance their stories instead of hearsay and one-sided reports and accounts from people with vested interest.
Kila was referring to a news article published in the Sunday Chronicle newspaper on Sunday and aired on radio last Friday that two policemen were shot when landowners fired shots at each other at the airport.
“There was no policeman hurt or was there any exchange of gunfire between my group and the opposing landowner faction; it was a public shooting which resulted in the wounding of two people who were not party to any issue,” he said.
Kila said the use of guns at the airport was a national security issue as the gun-wielding men shot at the public.
“I’m not happy with the way the two media outlets had reported on the incident because they reported from hearsay without even checking facts with the policemen on the ground.
“Trained journalists should know better as what goes out to the public becomes news which might have greater implications on certain people or groups,” he said.
He called on the PNG Media Council to investigate the two outlets as their reports lacked facts with poor journalism practice and lacked ethical decision-making.
THE recent apprehension by PNG Customs of an oil tanker carrying fuel it had loaded from Bougainville copper mine storage tanks is only one of many illegal operations which both the national and the autonomous Bougainville governments have been called on to look into, The National reports.
A Panguna Landowner Association (PLA) executive said the tanker was only one of many illegal deals being conducted in Bougainville involving Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL) property and machinery.
Lawrence Daveona said far too many of these businesses had ignored or bypassed established rules and procedures for conduct of business.
Consequently, he said, mine lease area people, who have suffered from the crisis, were missing out on benefits.
Apart from the oil tanker business, another lucrative business was the sale of scrap metal from the now abandoned mine and other parts of Bougainville.
Daveona said the association had an on-going understanding with BCL that all scrap metal, left behind as a result of the crisis, belonged to the landowners and they were allowed to enter into any business arrangement with interested foreign or national partners so long as they have the endorsement of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and relevant national agencies.
The approved process was to get a written approval from the PLA and the ABG to conduct such business before permission is sought from BCL.
Once this is sorted out, the final approval must come from national agencies such as Customs, Internal Revenue Commission and Labour where foreign workers were concerned.
Daveona said this process was necessary to ensure any business opportunity concluded would benefit the mine lease area people.
Tired of watching illegal operations going on, PLA had incorporated its own landowners company called Komeri Holdings Ltd. It had also established Panguna Metals Ltd through a joint partnership with UK-based Capital Equipment Supply Co.
Komeri Holdings shareholding included the two factions of Mekamui holding 5% each, 30% which is held by ex-combatants (BRA 20 % and Bougainville Resistance Fighters 10%) and Panguna Landowners Association (60%).
Daveona is confident that the company was ready to proceed to full operational status.
It has BCL approval to carry out its scrap metal operations in the secondary crusher, concentrator and mine pit areas covering the pit, pit workshop and the primary crusher.
The
PNG Cocoa Coconut Institute Ltd has formally released to the cocoa industry a
new technology for farmers to use in improving productivity and reduce the
impact of the cocoa pod borer.
Integrated
pest and disease management (IPDM) involves a series of options (involving
pruning, pest and disease control, shade tree management and resistant
varieties) which form the basis of integrated management strategies to reduce
yield losses from pests and diseases in the cocoa crop.
IPDM
is designed to balance and manage activities in relation to the cocoa cropping
cycle.
While
new planting materials are one component, IPDM technology is equally effective
when it is applied to existing plantings of hybrid or clonal cocoa.
IPDM
is designed to maximise benefits to the farmer by improving the health of the
cocoa plants.
The
new technology was launched together with the PNGCCI’s strategic plan 2010-1019
at Tavilo research station last month.
Department
of Agriculture and Livestock secretary Anton Benjamin, in launching the IPDM,
said cocoa farmers were given renewed hope to maximise cocoa production and he
called on the farmers to accept and implement the new management practices.
DAL Secretary Anton
Benjamin and CCI acting CEO Dr Eric Omuru at the launching at Tavilo
He
said the government had put in a lot of money and resources to eradicate cocoa
pod borer with limited success.
It is now up to the farmers to decide on
implementing the strategies under the IPDM.
Benjamin
believed the IPDM technology was the best so far and its overall success in the
cocoa industry would depend on farmers and all stakeholders.
The
challenge is on all concerned parties including government agencies, provincial
administrations, farmer associations, private sector and others to ensure that
IPDM is successfully implemented.
He
appealed especially to cocoa-growing provinces to take ownership of the IPDM and
play a lead role in introducing the new technology to their farmers.
Benjamin
also commended Papua New Guinean scientists and researchers who worked closely
with experts from overseas to develop the IPDM technology.
“We
have the best scientists and researchers in the region and they work under
difficult situations,” he said.
“We
must recognise the valuable contribution they are making to develop the cocoa
industry in the country.”
Benjamin
also thanked the Australian Government initiative, Agricultural Research and
Development Support Facility (ARDSF), for helping to provide technical
assistance and funding to develop the technology.
PNGCCI
acting CEO Dr Eric Omuru commended his scientific and research staff for their
efforts and believed that the IPDM would have an impact in minimising the cocoa
pod borer.
Cocoa farmers have moved away to other commodity crops, however,
with the new technology they were expected to return and boost cocoa
production.
A farmer and his
two sons study the awareness material on IPDM during the launching
The
PNGCCI was established in 2003 through the amalgamation of the PNG Cocoa and
Coconut Research institute and the PNG Cocoa and Coconut Extension Agency.
The
Cocoa Board and the Kokonas Indastri Koporesen are the shareholding boards each
with equal shares of PNGCCI.
Its
mandate is research, development and extension in cocoa and coconut production,
processing and marketing.
This
mandate requires the institute to play a pivotal role in lifting the profile of
the two industries in providing income and self-employment for rural farmers in
the lowland areas of PNG.
It is estimated that around two million people
depend directly or indirectly on cocoa and coconut products for their
livelihood.
Papua New Guinea has many natural
resources including arable land for agriculture development and can provide a
wide range of opportunities for investors.
At
the same time PNG needs to be committed and positive in its efforts to promote
agriculture investment.
Head
of a visiting Chinese delegation, Lin Rentong, made these remarks during a
briefing with officers from the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and
other agricultural agencies early this week.
Rentong and his team members admire fresh
vegetables on
sale at a roadside market at BrownRiver along the
Hiritano Highway
Rentong said he was impressed with the
potential for major agriculture projects and believed that PNG would one day
become a developed country like China.
He
said PNG needed to utilise its resources through new technology and with
assistance from genuine investors who could move the country forward.
This
country has resources supported by suitable climate and soil conditions which
make it possible for large scale or commercial development especially in rice
and grain.
He
stressed that PNG needed to put in place key infrastructure such as
transportation, roads, marketing facilities, access to water facilities and
others which form part of the development process.
Rentong, deputy director-general of Liaoning provincial
farming and land reclamation bureau, led a team of seven government and
technical officials to seek potential investment opportunities.
During
its three-day visit the team travelled to Vanapa outside Port Moresby to inspect potential rice and
grain sites and held discussions with government officials and PNG-based
companies.
The Chinese officials
inspecting corn at Doa along the Hiritano Highway
During
the meeting with DAL and agricultural sectoral agencies, Rentong said the
Chinese were prepared to assist in introducing new farming technology, conduct
farmer training and establish seed multiplication farms as well as other
activities including farm machinery.
All
they required was land to be made available and conducive environment for
investment.
DAL
secretary Anton Benjamin said PNG was looking at opportunities to develop and
boost its agriculture potential and welcomed the visit by Rentong’s team.
He
said PNG had opportunities in grain production, livestock as well as the tree
crops including coffee and coconut industries, which could be further expanded
in suitable locations with assistance from overseas investors.
Chinese officials check out a lake near Kerea village in the Vanapa area
outside Port Moresby
As in the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, Australia has again caught itself up in a strategic political entrapment situation with the US in a protracted insurgency war in Afghanistan.
It is time new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard review Australia's foreign policy on Afghanistan.
PM Gillard must now not be seen to promote her last two predecessor's same policy of keeping Australian troops in Afghanistan longer than is necessary.
The longer this policy remains unchanged, more Australian troops will die and return home in coffins.
It is time Australia critically reviews her direct involvement in the eight-year war in Afghanistan.
I believe the US military occupation of Afghanistan will end up being unsuccessful as time goes on.
If you do not believe me, then learn from history.
Australia must lean from its Vietnam history.
The Soviet Union lost its insurgency war in Afghanistan.
In 1986, the Soviet generals found to their great disappointment that after seven years no single piece of land in that country had been occupied by a Soviet soldier and the majority of the territory still remained in the hands of rebels.
Soon after, the Soviets withdrew from their Afghan misadventure.
Thousands were dead on both sides, yet the occupation failed to produce a stable national Afghan government.
This same scenario is being replayed in stark contrast.
I am sure Australian military planners know this.
The Australian government must now critically reassess its continued involvement in a volatile situation that has trapped Australia to stay on regardless of what it may mean in a matter of time - total defeat.
This is an insurgency like in Vietnam with no end in sight as to when to pull troops out and go home.
Australia has no real "exit-strategy" and neither does the US.
This may be a poor excuse for Australia that Julia Gillard can correct.
All Australians will be right behind her and this may well win her the federal elections for the ALP this year.
The US and the coalition forces are now eight years into this so-called war against terror in Afghanistan.
The present US strategy is flawed and what happened to the Soviets will also happen again to the US, Australia and the coalition force.
Australia must not be blind to what the US says it is in that country for.
A big part of the problem stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation.
The US seems to ignore the fact that it is its very presence as occupiers that feeds the insurgency in Afghanistan.
This would be the case if Papua New Guinea was invaded and occupied by a foreign force (s).
All diverse groups would put aside their disagreements to unify against a common foe -foreign occupation.
For all its technology know-how, like the Soviets, the US will not win this so-called war against terror.
This is what has happened in Afghanistan.
Australia should by now have worked this very problem out.
The US has got it really wrong.
Adding more US troops will only assist those who recruit fighters to attack US/coalition troops.
The enemy is effectively using the US occupation to convince villages to side with the Taliban.
As in Vietnam when Australia was caught out with the US in a political entrapment, Afghanistan is no different.
With no real workable strategy in Afghanistan, without a vision of what victory will look like, the US is left with the empty rhetoric of the last administration that “when the Afghan people stand up, the US will stand down”.
I believe the only solution to the Afghanistan quagmire is a rapid and complete US withdrawal including Australia too from that country, and the region.
Australia cannot afford to maintain its long involvement with the US in this unnecessary war that is hitting the Australian taxpayers hard with the prospects of more young Australian lives lost.
The continued coalition occupation of Afghanistan will not make Australia any safer.
With that short analysis, I say to Julia Gillard, it's time to pull our Aussie troops out of Afghanistan now.
Village poultry provides a
source of income, improves nutrition and help meet family and social
obligations.
Local
feed resources can be used more effectively for feeding poultry.
Balanced
rations for village birds can be devised from potential feed sources.
Farmers
could also introduce new crops and use pasture species with higher nutritional
values.
Feeding chicken with commercial feed has been
challenging due to rising costs of imported ingredients and feeds.
Alternative feeding strategies are however available.
One approach is to develop concentrate diets for finishing
broiler chickensby blending cheap local feed
ingredients.
Since 2002, NARI has been working on improving efficiency
and productivity of smallholder poultry producers.
One such way is to test locally-available feed
materials that can potentially be used as feed ingredient in poultry diets.
A project on poultry feeding system was developed in
Lae to establish aquality-assured
research facility for Papua
New Guinea to determine the quality of
poultry feed.
A variety of
feed resources from PNG were tested using this facility.
They included maize, wheat, sorghum, sweet potato, sago, cassava, banana
and legume leaves from village crops.
By-products tested were millrun, rice bran, palm
kernel meal, copra meal, tuna offal meal and pyrethrum marc.
Potential
poultry ingredients with apparent metabolisable energy (AME) values ranging
from 12-15 MJ/Kg DM were agro-industrial by-products such as copra meal (15.01
MJ/Kg) and pyrethrum marc (13.63 MJ/Kg)), traditional staples such as cassava
(15.87), sago (15.01) and sweet potato (15.39 MJ/Kg) and grains such as wheat
(12.76).
The AME values of palm kernel meal and copra meal at
30% inclusion were 9.05 and 9.86 MJ/Kg respectively.
Growth of birds was measured for seven days in the AME
unit and fully evaluated over six-eight weeks in the broiler grow-out facility.
Birds (three weeks of age) fed diets for seven days in
the AME unit with low inclusion rates of cassava, sweet potato, palm kernel
meal and copra meal performed well.
Copra
meal-based diets were superior.
Evaluation of
local feed resources over the full growing period of broilers were also
undertaken with diets containing maize, cassava, copra meal, fishmeal and
leucaena leaf meal.
These diets
were compared with a commercial ration comprising mainly imported feeds.
In some trials
feed conversion was superior in the commercial ration.
In other trials there was no difference between the
commercial or the PNG feed-based diet.
Based on this, an alternative feeding strategy was
developed, involving the development of a high protein poultry concentrate
containing fishmeal and copra meal.
The concentrate was fed with up to 70% of high energy
sources such maize, sweet potato or cassava. On-station and village feeding trials
were conducted to evaluate the concentrate feeding strategy.
Meat birds fed with commercial broiler feed
outperformed those fed the concentrate diets but the net income from sale of
live birds was only 5% lower for the concentrate sweet potato diet.
However, the
huge demand for live birds may still make it profitable to use local feed
resources mixed with a poultry concentrate, particularly in remote areas of
PNG.
The project
was extended for another three years with the title ‘Improving profitability of
village broiler production in PNG’ and focused on evaluating the economic
viability of the concept of using concentrate as an alternative means of
reducing broiler finisher feed costs.
The poultry feeding systems project had laid a solid
foundation to assist in the development of the smallholder poultry sector in
PNG, enabling this project to place a much-stronger focus on delivery of
feeding strategies to village farmers through participation of NGO and conduct
of on-farm evaluation trials.
Two energy concentrates – high energy and low energy
- were developed to be used as mashed mixes with cassava and sweet potato,
respectively.
The tubers are
cooked as for human food and mixed thoroughly at about three to one ratio of the
boiled tubers with the concentrates and then fed to birds fresh.
As birds need to have unlimited access to the feed,
the mixed mash should be prepared twice daily and offered to birds to minimise
possible wastage and spoilage.
These best bet feeding options were
extensively tested at village level in lowland and highland areas of PNG and
were confirmed as appropriate and feasible.
Three NGOs were directly involved
in the testing of candidate feeding options and the piloting of best bet
feeding options.
There were the Christian Leaders Training
Centre (Banz), Lutheran Development Service (Morobe) and Ok Tedi Development
Foundation (Tabubil).
Results from all three sites
confirmed findings from the on-station grow-out trial conducted at NARI Labu
that birds fed with 50% sweet potato with 50% low energy concentrate and 50%
cassava with 50% high energy concentrate diets were able to reach market weight
of 2kg or more at 42 days of age. Feed conversion efficiencies of birds on
these test diets were similar to results obtained at NARI.
Growth performance of birds is not affected by
form of presentation of sweet potato component of the diet (mashed or milled).
The best bet feeding options were
again tested on farm in selected villages through contact via our partners.
The trials were conducted in
Madang, Morobe, Eastern Highlands, WesternHighlands and Western provinces.
Overall performance of broilers on the test
diets was good, attaining target market of over 2kg from week five of age.
The sweet potato-based diet compared very well
with the commercial control on end weight.
Economic modeling was also done
on the use of mini feed mills to process these concentrates and the graph below
depicts the projected costs.
It is profitable to also have mini feedmills
using the concentrate concept to minimise production costs.
Based on this research, it is
safe to recommend the two feeding options of using high energy concentrate with
cassava and low energy concentrate with sweet potato for poultry feed in areas
where these staple crops are in abundance.
Madness and troubled mind are qualities of mad artists. Such are the truths about Waigani lawyers and leaders. Pala edict on media freedom and people's free speech is a plot many lawyers and leaders do not know about.
Lawyers who advised the government are very lost. They lost respect and dignity as lawyers. Mole in their midst is a lawyer with the Justice Department. That lawyer worked for Nellie James in 2006. Unknown to this lawyer was that Nellie James was a mole for World Bank. She had in the beginning of that year accompanied a Graeme Hancock to WashingtonDC to negotiate second World Bank loan for PNG.
Another person on that trip was a Philip Samar. He is now in charge of World Bank funds at the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
World Bank created MRA under first loan. Now World Bank wants PNG and Bougainville to revisit mining powers on Bougainville.
Reviewing corporate structure without legal and policy bases is putting cart before the horse. PNG followed exactly the same path and is facing problems already. MRA's corporate plan was done prior to legislation. Bougainville is on a very dangerous path.
MRA is a Trojan horse on Bougainville. It was in 2008 when Bougainville leaders worked with MRA to allow MRA into Bougainville. The infamous Alotau 15 steps pact was a political pact. Legally Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has mining powers. Sections 288 and 290 of the PNG Constitution vests mining powers in the ABG.
President John Momis has a mole in his house. Lawyer for ABG paid for by Australia is working against autonomy. Late Kabui and more recently James Tanis are victims of the Trojan horse.
Plot of lawyer and new Secretary for new Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management Nellie James was to get Graeme Hancock into Bougainville. Now MRA her would be funder of new Department of Mining on Bougainville has advertised for consultants to do corporate plan.
Momis must remove MRA on Bougainville soonest. It is a mad artist with no way out.
