From left are Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce & Industry (POMCCI)
vice president Ken Dunn, Treasury and Finance Minister Peter O’Neill and
BACA coordinator Val Salama look as British High Commissioner David
Dunn shakes the hands of POMCCI president Ron Seddon before passing on
the cheque for K85,000.
.
The British High Commission has continued its partnership with the anti-corruption body Business Against Corruption Alliance (BACA). British High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, David Dunn, said the UK government was pleased to be able to partner BACA for a second year and to help in its efforts to tackle corruption. BACA, is run by business for business and provides its members with concrete advice, best practice and support to more than 100 like minded companies who have chosen to make a stand against corruption. “Ensuring that the PNG investment climate is transparent, fair and an equal playing field for all is critical for the PNG’s future development,” he added. BACA is an initiative of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce (POMCCI), the British High Commission and the PNG Chapter of Transparency International (TIPNG).
It was established in 2009 to provide anti-corruption awareness, education and support to its membership and their employees.
A recent independent study undertaken by BACA revealed that in the last 12 months 24% of its members have suffered losses between K10,000 to K50,000 from corrupt activities and that 100% favour a confidential whistle blowing service. The British High Commission’s support for BACA is part of a global UK commitment to fight corruption and encourage fair trade. In support of this UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced primary legislation aimed at toughening up further anti bribery and corruption legislation. The new UK Bribery Act will ensure that the UK stays at the forefront of the battle against corruption and will legally empower British authorities to insist that UK companies operate to the highest standards and that they are able to held accountable not only for their activities in the UK but abroad as well. For more information on how you can join BACA and its activities please email baca@pomcci.org.png .
Like many other Papua New Guinean children of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s era,
I grew up on a constant diet of radio and the voice of that great National
Broadcasting commission icon Peter Trist.
Trist, for those who came in late, was the man behind those famous NBC drama
and radio programmes of that bygone era.
The great Peter Trist
In those days, before video killed the radio star, Sunday night dramas were
a must and every time one of those popular dramas came on, entire families
would be huddled around their radio sets.
Many fine actors emerged on radio drama, some from staff of the NBC, others
from auditions, including my good mate David ‘Buffalo’ Haro in Lae, Cecily
Kekedo, Joseph N’Draliu, Pauline Beni Hau’ofa, Kilore Susuve, Alofa Vaki,
Douglas Gabb, Memafu Kapera and – possessing one of the richest radio voices –
the late Sevese Morea.
Trist was also the man behind the famous school broadcast programmes of that
era, including the unforgettable Peter, Kinibo and Dagu, in which he
played the villain Doriga.
The NBC cupboard, sadly, is now bare of those iconic radio programmes.
On Tuesday last fortnight, I had the long-overdue honour of meeting my childhood
hero at the University of PNG campus, where he presented a paper at a two-day
book workshop in which he discussed the influence of the inimitable Ulli Beier
and his wife Georgina on PNG playwriting, poetry prose, performance and
publications in the 1960s and 1970s.
Now aged 74, Trist first came to PNG in 1957 and left in 1984, and has not
been back since.
As we sit down in the UPNG forum, his old stomping grounds which he first
came to in 1966, memories of another day come rushing back.
I am also a product of UPNG, having first come here in 1986, but that was
many years later after Trist had left.
“I first came to PNG in 1957,” he tells me.
“I worked with the Australian administration in those days as a clerk with
Customs and Department of Native Affairs.
“In 1966, Dr John Gunther (then vice-chancellor of UPNG) invited me to come
out and join the administration staff of the university.
“He said that he knew that I’d done a lot of theatre work in Moresby.
“I did the first integrated production with Papua New Guineans and
Australian expatriates at the old arts theatre in town.
“It was a product of Gilbert and Sullivan, HMS Pinafore.
“That was controversial and some of the white members resigned in protest, arguing
‘where would the natives get dressed for the show’?
“I issued an ultimatum that unless the Papua New Guinean actors were
welcomed, I would refuse to direct the show.
“The play went ahead and was a great success, with mixed audiences enjoying
the show.
“Jon Bili Tokome and Cecily Kekedo were among the cast.”
It was then decided that Trist could go ahead and establish a Drama and Arts
Society at UPNG.
In 1974, he joined the NBC, and thus began an unforgettable era in the
history of PNG radio.
“The (NBC) chairman at that time, Sam Piniau, asked me to form the Drama and
Features Department,” Trist remembers.
“I wanted Papua New
Guinea material and actors and musicians.
“I arranged for the NBC to pay these artists for their contributions.
“Therefore, it was on a professional, rather than amateur basis.”
The NBC was persuaded to have a clear motivational “carrot” to promote
people to send scripts with payments for any scripts used in broadcasting.
There was also payment for actors taking part in radio drama.
Trist remembers that on the day of their “open audition”, after a newspaper
advertisement, a long line of hopeful, would-be actors, stretched from the NBC
studios almost to Boroko.
Local playwrights such as Russell Soaba, Benjamin Umba, Pius Tikili, Roslyn
Bobom, Norah Vagi Brash and the very-prolific John Kolia contributed.
A memorable drama serial based on actual historic events was Albert
Toro’s The Sugarcane Days.
This told the story of Molen, who was kidnapped as a young man by the
notorious ‘blackbirders’ and conscripted into virtual slavery on a Queensland sugar
plantation.
Toro told the events from the perspective of Molen, as an old man,
remembering the trials of his servitude as a ‘kanak’.
The great Bougainvillean actor, the late Jon Bili Tokome, played the role of
Molen, with strength and sensitivity, while Roslyn Bobom was equally memorable
as his mother.
“Cultural programmes were contributed by Ulli Beier at the institute of PNG Studies
on topics such as music, folklore, art and customs,” Trist says.
“They were scripted and broadcast.”
Folklore in Melanesia, for example, was a six-part series examining themes
in Melanesian myth on topics such as death, creation, the moon, the coming of
the Europeans – presented by Beier and Karkah Kais – and was
dramatised with acted sequences.
Scripts for this series, and for others, were produced by the institute. Arts in the Third World, The World through Poetry, and Worship
through Music were other successful NBC/IPNGS co-productions.
“I left Papua New Guinea
in 1984 to return to Australia
to care for my ageing parents,” Trist says.
“In Australia,
I continued to direct and produce plays to encourage young people to express
themselves through theatre.”
I ask Trist what are the highlights of his 27 years in PNG.
“Highlights would be the formation years at the University of PNG
and to witness the very first graduation of qualified Papua New Guineans,” he
says.
“It was John Gunther’s vision to get this place going.
“This is my first time back since leaving in 1984, so you can imagine the
emotions running through me.”
Trist says that to rekindle those glory days of radio drama and programmes
in PNG, there must be strong corporate support.
“It’s time for corporate support,” he says.
“You Papua New Guineans are among the most-creative people in the world.”
ADDRESSING THE annual conference of the Institute of Internal Auditors in Port Moresby last Friday, PNG Ombudsman John Nero raised the prospect of recovering misappropriated funds.
Mr Nero said leadership tribunals should be empowered to order their restitution.
"As it is, a leader can steal millions of kina and is not be obligated to pay back even though found guilty by the tribunal," he told the conference.
"The public prosecutor, in consultation with the police, (needs to) invoke certain provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act where a guilty verdict is recorded to commence recovery of stolen assets in-country or abroad.
Mr Nero went on to say there was a need for permanent leadership tribunals whose membership could comprise retired judges and magistrates, accountants, lawyers, engineers, business people and the clergy, so members could be drawn at short notice.
This would obviate the strain on judicial and magisterial services in terms of cost and stress on court programs.
He said the chief justice, in consultation with the chief magistrate, should appoint a leadership tribunal within 30 days of receiving a request from the public prosecutor.
Earlier this year the government of the Maldives Republic faced a similar problem of recovering misappropriated government funds that the former Maldives president (who himself had taken over from a kleptomaniac) had reportedly used for personal enrichment.
The previous president, Mr Gayoom, who had held power for 30 years, has now had his extravagant life style audited.
The audit report said in part: "An estimated $9.5 million was spent buying and delivering a luxury yacht from Germany for the president; $17 million was spent on renovations of the presidential palace and family houses. Mr Gayoom built a saltwater swimming pool, a badminton court and a gymnasium, and he bought 11 speed boats and at least 55 cars - including the country's only Mercedes-Benz."
The new Maldives government has asked the World Bank and the UN to help in recovering the funds, said to amount to $US 400 million.
In PNG's case, misappropriated funds recovered could be available for health, education, law and order or any one of a number of areas that desperately need assistance.
An effective audit of trust funds would be an excellent place to start. Bulolo MP Sam Basil recently highlighted the operations of government trust funds as an area needing to be audited and tightened up.
I wonder what might be revealed by an effective audit of government expenditure. Surely those charged with safeguarding PNG's public monies must urgently give thought to Mr Basil's and Mr Nero's suggestions. Who knows, perhaps the PNG Chief Justice, if he were to be sent a copy of this article, might consider these suggestions as a practical way forward? Just the thought that audits will definitely be initiated on Trust funds and those who have been guilty of misappropriation will have to repay the monies and be charged might stop or least slow down the currently reported haemorrhaging. Positive action must start somewhere.
THE government has maintained the disposal of mine tailings from the Ramu mickel mine is done in an “environmentally safe and socially responsible manner”, The National reports.
Mining minister John Pundari, commenting on the outcome of a week-long stakeholders meeting in Madang on the deep-sea tailings placement system (DSTP), said it (the system) was the right approach.
In a statement yesterday, Pundari said the government was confident given the body of evidences from various environmental reports and assessment on the possible environmental impact assessment carried out by internationally reputable scientific organization.
He also noted the continuing efforts towards ensuring the proper disposal of tailings from the mine.
“We must appreciate the financial risk undertaken by the Chinese enterprises to invest in PNG in a project that is technically difficult to develop when no other investor was willing to undertake the challenge,” Pundari said.
He said the government further believed that the environmentally responsible development of the Ramu nickel mine using DSTP technology offered the people of RaiCoast and the people of Madang an important opportunity to develop their communities and enjoy the economic benefits that large-scale mining projects had brought to other parts of the country.
“In parting, it is unfortunate that such a volume of study and information was available even before 2003 when MCC first carried out its due diligence study before taking a decision to invest in PNG,” Pundari said.
“It appears that these studies (dating back to 1988 and beyond) were not an issue for contention until MCC’s involvement in the project,” Pundari added.
A DAWN fire
gutted a shop at Eriku in Lae, Morobe, yesterday as hundreds of opportunists
ransacked adjacent shops and took off with thousands of kina worth of
goods, The National reports.
Looters watching and waiting to raid the
neighbouring Raumai 18 wholesale as fire continues to destroy Lotus Trading at
Eric Woo in Lae yesterday morning.
The fire,
which started at about 5.30am, razed through Lotus Enterprise and, by 6am,
hundreds of people, mainly looters from the nearby settlements of Boundary Road,
Buimo, the Miles and Kamkumung, had gathered.
Outnumbered
police and security guards fired teargas into the air to get the pressing crowd
away from the shops’ front, all in vain eventually.
It was not
long before the looters broke their way into the two neighbouring shops, PC Woo
and Raumai 18, and, in the process, reportedly raping a woman shop assistant.
Members of
the fire brigade, who are about a kilometre away, arrived more than a hour
later after flames had engulfed the building and could do very little to save
anything.
Lae’s
iconic trading companies PC Woo, Papindo, Pelgens and Andersons are all on the
same block, adjacent to each other.
More
onlookers and opportunists arrived at Eriku as soon as the PMVs began operating
at 6.30am.
Looters
were seen carrying knife wounds and other injuries apparently suffered while
breaking into the shops to ransack them.
All manner
of goods, from cartons of tinned foods, bags of rice, frozen goods, household
electrical goods, white goods and clothing accessories to cartons of beer, were
removed.
Eriku’s
surrounding streets were dotted with people unabashedly scurrying to get home
with their stolen cargo.
Although
Guard Dog and Pacific Corporate Security guards were outnumbered at the other
shops, they bravely prevented the looters from entering Papindo, Pelgens and
Andersons supermarkets.
Crowds of
men were also dispersed by police mid-morning at shops near the main market,
Voco Point and TopTown, with the morning
melee at Eriku forcing many businesses and schools to close for the day.
By dusk
yesterday, the threat of more shop break-ins at Eriku was imminent with
hundreds of men still milling about belligerently.
Many
workers, who would have caught public transport through the Eriku bus stop, had
to demand employers to drop them off at home out of fear.
Soldiers
from Igam Barracks had to drive into town, armed in a troop carrier, to take
their children and spouses home last night.
ALL protesting Bank South Pacific workers will return to work today after the bank agreed to raise housing allowances for many of them.
The BSP management reached an agreement with the workers’ union yesterday, and a memorandum of understanding was signed to end the strike.
The striking workers, who had gathered at the PNG Trade Union Congress headquarters, agreed to return to work today after union executives informed them of the outcome of their meeting with BSP.
A joint statement by BSP and the union said the agreement brings to rest resolution eight of the nine outstanding “parked items” arising out from the 2007 consolidated industrial agreement.
The meeting between BSP and the union yesterday was chaired by Francis Hau from the Department of Labour.
The statement said the only remaining issue, housing allowance, would be determined through the industrial arbitration tribunal process. But, as a sign of good faith, BSP had offered a further 10% increase on housing allowances for all Grade 3 to Grade 8 staff.
BSP chief executive officer Ian Clyne said in a separate statement that the industrial action by BSP staff was illegal but assured the staff that no one would be terminated for participating in it, if all staff return to work immediately.
The bankers walked off their jobs work last Thursday, affecting the general services provided by the bank. Many of the ATMs ran out of cash yesterday, and customers stood for hours in lines waiting to be served.
A mother, Doris Okoli, said BSP guards were sending five customers into the bank at a time to be served.
“Standing in the queue with the unpredictable Port Moresby weather is really a terrible experience for me and most of the customers,” Okoli said.
Have you thought of the role of the 39th in the Kokoda campaign? They faced the Japanese at Isurava until the 2/14th arrived. They were relieved. That does not mean they go all the way back to Ower’s Corner but retire until called forward again.
The 39th stayed at Isurava. They had the back seat position. In the withdrawal, the next we see them is at the rest house above Isurava. They are not dug in but
on the track where we find Con’s Rock.
We find that they were intended to move to Eora Creek camp to be rearguard. That probably did not mean they engaged the enemy but waited to see if Japanese
arrived first by outflanking.
Then they would engage. They may have had a role in advising the Field Hospital to move out if the radio link had been cut. But the first soldiers to arrive were AIF. That means that the 39th could move out.
It is a puzzle as the where the 53rd were. Surely in the advance of the Japanese, all troops would move together. Either they had already gone or were held up. Did they move out by an alternative route?
The next duty of the 39th was to do the same at Kagi. This would have been more difficult as there were two ridge lines down which the Japanese could move.
Reports are that the 39th watched the American fighter aircraft strafing to Japanese. That is a puzzle. If the Japanese were down so close to Efogi, where were the 2/14th and 2/16th? Perhaps the strafing was higher up the range.
But once the AIF arrived, the 39th could move out again. This time they moved over Brigade Hill and down to Menari. Is it possible they were to do the same at Menari? It is always possible that the Japanese could outflank. There had been an airdrop of supplies at Menari.
That may explain why they did not dig in on Brigade Hill with any stragglers from the 53rd.
We know the time frame of their arrival at Menari as the 2/27th had arrived and 39th had handed over weapons and ammunition. Why did this happen?
Several friends state they were not disarmed. Were the 39th unable to carry heavy loads because of illness? What of the 53rd? It would take the 2/27th half a day to get to Mission Ridge. Were they short of ammunition? Don’t forget the air drop at Menari.
The 53rd really are a puzzle. Where were they during all this? We know they combined with the 55th. Where was the 55th at the fall of Brigade Hill? Did the 53rd go straight through?
I am just looking at small scenarios on Kokoda and trying to understand.
In this analysis, I base my description on the fact that the 39th had to be ahead of the 2/14th and 2/16th down the track. So they took off as soon as the AIF arrived at Eora Creek and Kagi. Perhaps they found a better site at Mission Hill. That is where I believe they saw theAmerican aircraft strafing the Japanese.
