Somare plots to silence critics: Namah

Leader of PNG Party Belden Namah has expressed grave concern over a directive from Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare for his arrest for being critical of the government’s handling of high-profile scandals and controversies involving some very senior parliamentarians.

Namah, who was informed at the weekend of the highly-confidential directive for his arrest, said Sir Michael should not use State institutions, including the police force to silence leaders and citizens who openly criticised him and his government over important national issues and events affecting Papua New Guinea and its citizens.

“It is becoming evidently clear why the Prime Minister has decided to tribalise the three disciplined forces by appointing three men from his own East Sepik province to head the PNG Corrective Institution, PNG Defence Force and the Royal PNG Constabulary,” Namah said.

 “The Somare plot is now being executed to silence leaders and citizens who are critical of Sir Michael and his cohorts using state law enforcing agencies.

“It is a very dangerous and frightening new strategy devised by the Prime Minister, never done by any Prime Minister since independence, to silence people thereby denying the democratic and constitutional rights of PNG leaders and citizens who speak out against the Government on issues affecting the nation.

“Leader of the Opposition Sir Mekere Morauta was not wrong when he described the tribalising of the three disciplined forces, a clearly dictatorial and desperate act heading towards ‘Mugabe land’.

“I’m aware of the Prime Minister’s plot to have me arrested.

It is not because I have broken any laws or the Constitution of PNG.

And also, it is not because I am indifferent with the law. It is merely because I have been most vocal and critical on corruption and some very controversial decisions that are rampant in the current Government.

“It is common knowledge that corruption in PNG has reached an unprecedented level, but this Prime Minister has failed to address it head on, starting from his own backyard.

“I’ve never tried to seek relief from the courts to prevent the Ombudsman Commission and the Public Prosecutor from performing their constitutional mandated duties like Sir Michael over his referral for allegedly not declaring his annual returns.

“There is also a very serious allegation before police of from NGO activist Noel Anjo of his alleged kidnapping ordered by Sir Michael.

“Anjo also alleged that Sir Michael punched him three times and even wringed him neck.

“Mr Anjo was lucky to have been rescued by two named duty policemen.

“Mr Anjo also alleged that he was subject to both verbal and physical harassment from Lady Veronica Somare and other relatives at Mirigini State House.

 “Why have the police not acted on this very serious allegation of kinapping of Mr Anjo and taken Sir Michael and Lady Veronica for questioning?”

Namah called for an independent commission of inquiry into this allegation.

Namah was also critical of Sir Michael’s perceived personal interest to have him arrested.

“What offence have I committed that warrants a directive from the Prime Minister or the National Executive Council for my arrest?” he said.

Namah said he was reliably informed by highly placed sources within the cabinet and police force of such a directive.

As well, the former PNG Defence Force officer said he would not be silenced by the executive directive for his arrest and would continue to criticise the government and its leadership for its actions and suggest alternative policies in addressing national issues and problems affecting the country.

James all geared up for Miss South Pacific title quest

By JASON GIMA WURI

MISS Papua New Guinea’s bid to win the Miss South Pacific title will begin this weekend in Port Moresby, The National reports.

Miss PNG Rachel Sapery James sweating it out at the gymnasium in preparation for the week-long Miss South

Pacific title quest that begins in Port Moresby at 4pm tomorrow

Rachel Sapery James will be joined in the South Pacific title contest by 10 other participants from around the Pacific who are arriving today and tomorrow for the week-long event.

The winner will be crowned Miss South Pacific 2010.

James told The National yesterday that she would use the Miss South Pacific quest to spread three key messages.

“First is unity as a country to move forward.”

Quoting from a phrase used by Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu, James said: “The Bird of Paradise needs both its wings to fly, or the familiar saying: United we stand, divided we fall.”

She said her second message would be on education, “which is crucial in building our human resource capacity develop our country”.

James added: “And, finally, sustainable development, environmental awareness and conservation to live in a healthy and safe environment and have healthy and strong communities for the future.”

She said the pageant was also an opportunity to showcase and promote the country and its people.

“As a region, we need to stand strong and united.

“We need to give more opportunities for cultural exchanges, sharing success stories of achieving our goals for development and give ideas to each other to grow as a region.

“As a young aspiring PNG woman, I believe I have a lot to offer the South Pacific community if I were to be crowned Miss South Pacific.

“I see myself as a bridge between two worlds, bringing advanced modern innovative technology and knowledge of science and tools available to improve the lives of the vast majority and enhance our region.

“I see this also as an avenue to put PNG on the map.

“Even though we are the biggest nation in the South Pacific, there is very little spotlight and attention in comparison with other countries like Fiji and Tahiti.

“Thus, I will endeavour to promote our great country and its uniqueness for sustainable tourism,” she said.

“It will also be a great honour to be crowned Miss South Pacific on home soil.

“I am calling on all Papua New Guineans to support me, even if it means to vote for me via the internet, as we will be doing it all for PNG,” James added.

James is 26 years old and comes from New Ireland.

Besides the Miss PNG title, she also bagged the Miss Humanitarian and Miss Patron’s Choice during the Miss PNG quest.

The Miss South Pacific contest will be staged at the Lamana Hotel and Sir John Guise Indoor Complex starting tomorrow at 4pm.

Gas project eyes more fuel output

ExxonMobil, partners: Initial production could be larger

 

EXXONMOBIL Corp and its partners in the PNG LNG project are likely to produce more fuel than they initially expected during the first phase of the project, online publication Bloomberg Businessweek has quoted analysts as saying, The National reports.

The venture initially may produce 6.9 million metric tonnes of LNG from two units, up from the 6.6 million tonnes previously projected, according to Credit Suisse and Citigroup Inc analysts who cover Exxon’s partner, Oil Search Ltd.

The Hides field drilling campaign next year is likely to underpin an expansion of the project to a third processing unit, Sydney-based Credit Suisse analyst Sandra McCullagh said after a visit to the project site.

A final investment decision on the next stage may occur in 2012, she said.

ExxonMobil and partners approved the development of the project almost a year ago.

The venture may double the size of Papua New Guinea’s economy, Port Moresby-based Oil Search has said.

Government projections released during the handing down of the 2011 budget this week say that the economic growth will be over 20% from 2015, the first full year of export.

First exports are due in 2014, barring any disruptions. A third plant may begin in 2016, McCullagh said.

“We are increasingly confident Oil Search has additional growth opportunities that may boost earnings,” she said.

Oil Search rose 2.3% to A$6.67 at the 4.10p.m. close in Sydney yesterday, compared with a 0.3% increase for the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index.

An additional unit, or train, producing 3.5 million tonnes of LNG annually, may cost about US$5 billion, Citigroup’s Mark Greenwood in Sydney wrote in his report.

 

 

Nape: I will fight charge

NATIONAL parliament Speaker Jeffrey Nape has vowed to take on the opposition in court, saying he will vigorously defend the case brought against him, The National reports.

After trying for weeks to woo Nape’s support to push through a notice for a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare in parliament, the opposition attacked Nape after realising they would not succeed.

The opposition leaders filed a criminal complaint in court, summoning Nape to answer for alleged breach of the constitution on July 20.

The claim was in relation to Nape presiding over the proceedings of parliament on July 20 and certifying four legislations when he was the acting governor-general.

Nape issued a statement yesterday, saying: “I have been advised by my lawyers that the court action instituted against me by Sir Mekere Morauta is fundamentally flawed in a number of aspects which I will challenge in court.

“Firstly, as a veteran politician and lawmaker, Sir Mekere should know that, as a member of parliament and a party and witness to the case, I cannot be served with court papers within three days to or after the date appointed for parliament to sit. That is prohibited under the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act,” Nape said.

“Parliament was set to reconvene on Tuesday, Nov 16. I was served with court documents on Wednesday (Nov 17), one day after the time appointed for parliament to sit. That is clearly illegal.”

He said he would vigorously deny that section 95(4) of the constitution was breached.

Nape said Sir Mekere was abusing the court process by seeking criminal penalties and sanctions against him in aid of a civil claim for civil remedies against him in court.

“That is unlawful and highly improper.

“Sir Mekere is, in fact, usurping the powers of the police and public prosecutor by seeking criminal sanctions against me. There is no basis for this.

“That is a politically motivated action and Sir Mekere should be experienced enough to leave political issues outside of the judicial process to stop wasting the time of the people’s court.”

Nape was supported by Esa’ala MP Moses Maladina, who said the criminal proceeding was defective.

Maladina said any criminal proceeding should be brought by the state and its instrumentalities, and not individuals.

He said under section 6 of the Parliamentary Privilege Act, any member of parliament cannot be called in as witness three days before and after the parliament sitting.

Sources in Waigani said the move against the speaker showed the frustration felt by the opposition in its bid to remove Sir Michael in a vote of no-confidence before the “window of opportunity” closed.

“The opposition has been courting Deputy Prime Minister Don Polye, United Resources Party leaders William Duma and Anderson Agiru and Nape.

“And, the answer they got is ‘no’ from these leaders,” a source said.

 

 

Ex-soldier walks away with K91,000

By JULIA DAIA BORE

 

A RETIRED soldier who waited for so many years to get his entitlements from the Defence Force has been paid K91,000, The National reports.

Another ex-soldier received K50,000, the lowest paid out up to yesterday.

Both were among 14 already paid, out of 334 ex-servicemen who would be paid a total of K12.3 million for the years spent serving the force.

The pay-outs began on Tuesday, with K200,000 already paid out to the ex-servicemen.

Facilitator in the pay-out exercise Col Paul Mai confirmed yesterday that the payments were taking place at Murray Barracks in Port Moresby.

He said because of no public listing on who was among the 334 eligible recipients, only 14 people had turned up these past few days.

Mai was hopeful that more would turn up today following newspaper advertisements listing the recipients.

The National Executive Council had sanctioned the pay-outs in decision No.159 of Aug 5 this year. However, the cheque payments were not processed until funding was made available recently.

PNGDF chief of staff Capt (navy) Alois Tom Urr had instructed on Monday that following NEC approval after screening the status of each group, 334 ex-servicemen were listed for payments.

Workers from the office of the attorney-general were assisting PNG personnel with administering the pay-outs.

Urr also directed that “the payments will not be released to a third party, including lawyers”.

“In the event where a serviceman has died, his next of kin with proper identification will be paid.

“No payment will be made if there is confusion and conflict over the identification of an ex-serviceman or his dependants. In such cases, the cheque will be returned to the AG’s office to be administered through the public curator’s office,” Urr said.

Security has been tightened at the pay-out station.

 

 

Somare: IPIC funds safe

PUBLIC Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare yesterday gave a full disclosure of the government’s funding of the liquefied natural gas project, saying the money, in a quarantined account, is safe and payments are on track, The National reports.

The minister was forced to give the disclosure in a media statement released yesterday, following a story published in the Post-Courier on Wednesday.

Somare said there was absolutely no truth in the Post-Courier story, which said that the government had lost A$300 million recently because it converted US dollars to Australian dollars in relation to the exchangeable bond issue with International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

“The story is pure fiction because, as pointed out to the Post-Courier before its report, IPBC has not made any currency conversion recently,” the minister said.

The Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC) concluded an agreement with IPIC in November 2008 to raise A$1.681 billion.

The exchangeable bond deal with IPIC was approved by the national executive council.

The transaction was concluded in March last year, and the funds were deposited in a quarantined bank account in Singapore for use as and when payments were due for the government’s share of the LNG project.

Somare said most of the funds from the IPIC transaction were converted at the time to US dollars with a portion retained in Australian dollars to cover the interest costs of the loan.

A sum of A$1.285 billion was converted to US$828.3 million at the prevailing exchange rate in March last year.

PNG LNG equity payments to the present time had amounted to US$525.5 million, while interest earned on funds totalled US$0.287 million and A$20.7 million.

The cost of the exchangeable bond transaction was US$18.7 million while the “coupon” payments on the exchangeable bond totalled A$135.6 million.

The net balances remaining in the quarantined accounts following these transactions and payments were US$493.7 million and A$262.4 million.

Somare said: “The details of these transactions were audited by the auditor-general for the year 2009.

“This accounting process has already been undertaken for 2009 when the funds were first received and placed in an escrow account and government payments made for sunk costs in the LNG project as well as for ongoing cash calls.”

Somare said he considered it highly improper for the Post-Courier, and any other media, to make false claims on issues of national importance, but it was even worse when news stories were based on fictitious information and unreliable and uninformed sources.

He urged the national media to take a more responsible approach, especially when it came to issues that were critical to social and political stability and future economic growth and prosperity.

 

 

MPs duty to protect PNG's interest: Namah

Leader of PNG Party Belden Namah has reminded members of parliament not to loose focus of their prime responsibility to act in the best interest of their people and the nation.

Namah said all elected leaders in government and opposition were duty bound and had moral obligation to rise, oppose and depose the current scandal-plagued Somare regime.

“Together with parties in the opposition and government defectors, PNG Party will continue to seek support from concern members for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister,” he said.

Namah was responding to statements by National Alliance party president Simon Kaiwi who criticised opposition attempts to topple this government through a vote of no-confidence in the Prime Minister. “Simon Kaiwi has turned himself into a one-eyed monster, which sees only NA and the Somares,” he said.

“He has no right to question the opposition.

“His position as NA president gives him no right to question the opposition’s legitimate role to question government on important national issues and concerns.

“Presidency of NA is not an elective position.

“He is not equal to members of parliament.

“As such he cannot question the rights of elected leaders to question the government.

“Who is running the government? The elected prime minister, the unelected prime minister or Simon Kaiwi?”

Namah said it was the opposition’s legitimate right to question the government and hold it accountable for its actions and policies.

 He said that Kaiwi should be telling his political masters in the government of its dismal failure to provide basic and essential services to the people.

As well, Namah said the government should stop pretending, come out clearly and inform the nation of how it spent the K5 billion in various trust accounts.