Row over internet domain name

By PATRICK TALU

 

THE European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper (ESBC) has questioned a move by a Chinese industrial group to acquire “Bougainville copper” as their internet keyword, The National reports.

Alex Sturm, ESBC president in a statement yesterday, questioned what China’s real intentions on Bougainville are after an email dated Nov 19 requested ESBC verification on the proposed internet keyword.

The email read: “This is a Network Service Co which is the domain name registration center in Hong Kong, China.

“On Nov.16, 2010, we received an application from MEIHUA Group requesting ‘bougainville-copper’ as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names.

“But after checking, we find this name is in conflict with your company’s name or trademark. In order to deal with this issue better, it’s necessary to send this email to you and confirm with your company whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China. If you did not authorise, please let us know within seven working days, so that we will handle this issue better.”

Sturm had asked why a giant Chinese industrial group was so  interested in acquiring the name of “Bougainville copper” for their own purpose.

“Why are they contacting the European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper and not our company itself or even better, Rio Tinto?

“What are the true intentions of this MEIHUA Group?

 “The European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper had asked these questions to Linda Wang of Hong Kong China Technology Ltd, a domain provider, but did not get any response until now,” he said.

A search on the internet showed that MEIHUA Group is engaged in door manufacturing and in the production of monosodium glutamate, a flavour enhancer, using materials from corn.

 

 

Worthless cheque!

MP pays K10,000 for K12.4m bogus cheque

 

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

MEMBER for Telefomin Peter Iwei followed instructions and paid K10,000 into an account at a bank in Port Moresby, so that an official at the Department of National Planning will release a cheque for K12.4 million, The National reports.

Iwei was told he had until 4.06pm on Nov 19 to pay the money into the account, or the K12.4 million deal would be off.

Iwei identified by name the person who instructed him to pay the K10,000.

He said he really wanted the money for his projects, so he got his wife to pay K10,000 of their own money into this account on Nov 19.

Iwei produced the butt of the deposit slip, which showed the K10,000 being deposited into a Westpac bank account number 600099061. The bearer of that account was a Susan Boga.

Iwei said on Nov 29, he received a fax from the official at the Department of National Planning.

The fax was a Department of National Planning and Monitoring remittance advice, dated Nov 25. It said a cheque number 901973 for K12.4 million was raised in favour of Tatoo Pacific Consultants, a firm that the MP had retained for projects in his electorate.

Of the K12.4 million, K2.4 million was for Telefomin market rehabilitation while K10 million would be for the Telefomin hospital project.

Iwei and his consultant went to the bank, with the photocopied remittance advice, and were told that the cheque was worthless.

He was told that the cheque was bogus, or fake.

He immediately informed National Planning secretary Joseph Lelang to look into this.

“A highly organised syndicate is operating within the Department of National Planning, collecting commission in thousands of kina in return for the release of government development grants.

“This is corruption, and something has to be done quickly.

“There is a lot of leak and stealing in Waigani, and people in the villages are suffering,” he said.

Lelang told The National yesterday a major corruption ring might be operating from Vulupindi House.

“I believe it might involve some of my staff,” he admitted when pressed if people close to him were involved.

Lelang said he had received 10 other complaints regarding a person in the department demanding payment into this account at Westpac before cheques could be delivered to MPs.

“I have written to police to take action on this. I do not know what has happened to date.”

He said it appeared the same person was demanding K30,000 from a company doing a project in Madang before a cheque of K5 million could be released.

A previous complaint from the board of a school in Erima prompted Lelang to call in police, resulting in the arrest of at least three people, two of them employees at Vulupindi House.

This is not the first time Iwei has had issue with public funds at his disposal.

On Monday, he picked up a K1 million cheque for his electorate but lost it in a taxi.

He had still not recovered the cheque.

Iwei had asked the Finance Department to put a stop on the cheque.

 

 

Governor General election ruling set for next Friday

By ELLEN TIAMU

 

THE Supreme Court will hand down its decision next Friday on whether there were constitutional breaches in the election of the governor-general by parliament this year, The National reports.

It heard arguments on Monday and Tuesday from the sponsor of the motion, Morobe provincial government, through its lawyer Alfred Manase and government lawyers.

The issue was whether there were constitutional breaches regarding the re-election of Sir Paulias Matane as the governor-general and, whether, parliament Speaker Jeffrey Nape had breached the constitution when he declared Sir Paulias as duly-elected to serve a second term in June.

Manase said in his argument that the matter was a serious constitutional breach and the Supreme Court should use its inherent powers to declare the re-election of the governor-general void avinitcio and, so, null and void.

He said section 87(5) only gave parliament the power to give the incumbent, Sir Paulias, the authority to re-contest if he had mustered the required 73-vote majority.

Following that, he, along with other candidates, were required to go through a secret ballot. However, that did not happen and Sir Paulias was declared governor-general.

Morobe was also arguing that, by law, the speaker automatically assumed the position of acting governor-general as soon as the incumbent’s term was up, but, that did not happen on May 26 when Sir Paulias’s term of office expired.

Only under circumstances that render the speaker unfit or unable to take up the post, then the chief justice was next in line and, if he cannot, then the attorney-general, the court was told.

Instead, they said, Nape continued as speaker and the following month, on June 25, presided over the election process which, according to Morobe, was unconstitutional.

The five-judge Supreme Court bench reserved its determination to next Friday due to the nature and seriousness of the matter.

 

Pilot on sex charges sues for A$45 million

AUSTRALIAN federal police (AFP) officers concealed evidence and submitted false documents in the prosecution of an Australian pilot on child sex charges, resulting in his wrongful conviction, the man’s lawyers claim.

Fred Martens, who spent 940 days in a Queensland prison after being convicted of the rape of a 14-year-old Papua New Guinea girl in Port Moresby, is suing the federal government for A$45 million, according to AAP.

The 61-year-old was the first to be charged under sex-tourism laws which target Australians who commit sex crimes in Pacific island nations.

However, Queensland’s court of appeal last year quashed the conviction after Marten’s family obtained flight records which proved he was not in Port Moresby on the dates the girl alleged the offence occurred.

In a statement of claim lodged in the Queensland supreme court in Cairns on Monday, Marten’s legal team allege a team of officers from the AFP’s transnational crime unit based in Port Moresby “maliciously prosecuted” their client.

The claim alleges the officer who arrested Martens, Tania Stokes, swore an affidavit claiming department of immigration records proved Martens was in Papua New Guinea on two occasions the girl claimed to have flown with him.

She also submitted a typed record of travel between Australia and PNG by Martens which supported the claim.

The girl claimed she had flown with Martens twice in 2001, in April and September, and that he sexually assaulted her on the second occasion.

However, official immigration records obtained by his legal team under a freedom of information request showed he was in Australia on the first occasion while PNG civil aviation records showed he could not have been with the girl on the September dates.

Martens alleged the prosecution was organised by his ex-wife Raina Martens, with whom he was locked in a bitter custody battle, and the statement of claim alleged she arranged interviews between the girl and police.

The A$45 million damage claim related to the collapse or loss of a number of PNG business ventures owned by Martens as a result of his prosecution and incarceration, including the country’s Royal Flying Doctor Service.

It also said he suffered severe emotional, physical and psychological damage as a result of his prosecution and conviction, including the loss of his daughter Stephanie, who died of malaria in PNG while Martens was awaiting trial.

He believed he would have been able to save her had he not been stranded in Australia with his funds frozen and his passport confiscated.

The federal government will have 28 days to respond to the claim. – AAP

Haircut on Christmas

Bobby Yangom has not had a haircut in all his adult life, The National reports.
This Christmas, the 35-year-old from Yamap in Bulolo district, Morobe, will rid himself of the 135cm bundles of locks that weigh about 1.2kg. He has been growing them since 1990.
He says he dreads the day he will cut them but it is something he has set his mind on doing. – Picture by CHRIS DONALD

Nasfund expands asset base to K2.1 billion

THE National Superannuation Fund Ltd (Nasfund) has expanded its asset base to K2.1 billion, up 19%, during the 12-month period to October this year, The National reports.

Annualised since 1999, Nasfund has grown at an average 29.4% per annum over the 11 years to October making it the fastest-growing superannuation group in the country.

This was disclosed in a brief report in Nasfund’s newsletter for the last quarter of the year released by joint executive officer Ian Tarutia.

Joint-chief executive officer Rod Mitchell told The National the growth was mainly attributed to large increase in memberships and other investments.

He said active contributing Nasfund members were now 138,241, with more than 1,906 employers contributing to the funds.

Tarutia, in his Christmas message, said Nasfund disposed of non-core properties according to board resolution.

He said this investment and risk management strategy recognised that the portfolio required a rebalancing in favour of relatively new construction in the portfolio.

On the new property development, the Edge 63 luxury apartment development is taking shape with the building now coming out of the ground at Harbour City.

“We aim to complete this building by December 2011,” Tarutia said

 

 

MP loses K1million in taxi

By ALISON ANIS

 

MEMBER for Telefomin Peter Iwei has appealed for the return of a misplaced K1 million cheque for his electorate in West Sepik, The National reports.

Iwei told The National yesterday that the cheque, handed to him on Monday for his electorate under the district services improvement programme (DSIP), was misplaced on his way home and he suspected a cab driver for holding onto it.

Iwei said the cheque was written to the Telefomin district treasury operating trust account and was intended for the joint district planning and budget priorities committee to determine the projects to be funded. But, he carelessly left it behind in a taxi, and now wanted it returned.

He explained that on Monday afternoon, between 4pm and 6pm, he got into a white taxi that was parked at a driveway in front of parliament and asked the driver to take him to his house.

“The cheque was in a white envelope that I, accidentally, placed on the dashboard in front of me. I forgot to pick it up when I got out of the taxi,” Iwei said.

He said he knew the identity of the cab driver but did not know where he resided and was appealing to him, or anyone who picked it up, to return it to him.

 “This K1 million DSIP cheque belongs to the people of Telefomin.

“I want it returned to my office immediately so I am appealing to the driver, or whoever took it, to return it to me.”

Iwei said he had written to the Department of the Finance and Treasury to put a stop on the cheque.

“Treasury has received my letter and will advise the bank on this, so they can also stop any transaction from taking place,” he said.

Iwei was one of a number of MPs who were met at one of parliament’s conference rooms by Finance Department officials who had gone there to pay them the K1 million in DSIP funds.

It was unclear why Finance Department officials had decided to bring the cheques physically to parliament to pay the MPs when they could have easily transferred the funds electronically to the district accounts and simply advise the MPs that the funds were safely in the bank.