Prime Minister: I will step aside

By ISAAC NICHOLAS
PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare has confirmed that he will step aside if the chief justice appoints a leadership tribunal.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stressing a point to journalists yesterday. – Nationalpic by EKAR KEAPU

“Should a tribunal be set up, I will step aside in the interim as prime minister,” he told a media conference yesterday in Port Moresby, The National reports.
And, he officially confirmed Wabag MP Sam Abal as the new deputy prime minister – the man who could be acting prime minister as early as next week.
“However, I would like to make it clear to the public that this case is not a criminal case,” he said of the 2006 decision of the Ombudsman Commission to refer him to the public prosecutor for failing to submit returns or acquittals of his pay, as required of all public office holders, between 1993 and 1998.
When Sir Michael was referred by the Ombudsman Commission to the public prosecutor in 2008, he appealed against that in the National Court.
He also sought to restrain the public prosecutor from asking the chief justice to set up a tribunal until the substantive matter against the Ombudsman Commission was dealt with.
However, last week, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, allowing acting public prosecutor Jim Wala Tamate on Wednesday to notify Sir Michael that he would ask Sir Salamo Injia, within three days, to appoint a tribunal.
Sir Michael yesterday said the dismissal of the appeal did not affect the Supreme Court application challenging the Ombudsman Commission’s referral, which is the substantive matter before the court.
He said, as a citizen, he had every right to pursue the matter in court and he would only step aside when a tribunal was appointed.
Sir Michael said: “It is an administrative issue that my lawyers are addressing in the Supreme Court.
“I cannot make comments that will be seen as an attempt to influence the courts, however, I do take exception that an alleged administrative breach can be confused with cases that are criminal in nature.
“My substantive case is pending in the Supreme Court but I respect the decisions taken by the office of the Ombudsman Commission, public prosecutor and the chief justice.”
The prime minister made a brief statement on his referral when confirming a reported cabinet reshuffle in which Sam Abal was appointed deputy prime minister and minister for works.
The media briefing was done after Abal was sworn in by acting Governor-General Paul Tiensten at Government Haus.
Sir Michael had the support of Abal, Internal Security Minister Mark Maipakai, Public Service Minister Moses Maladina and Lagaip-Porgera MP Philip Kikala, who were present.

Wenge: Prime Minister should consider retirement

By ELLEN TIAMU

 

MOROBE Governor Luther Wenge says Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare has achieved many milestones during his illustrious career as a politician and, with current steps by the public prosecutor to refer him to a leadership tribunal, it will only be proper that he retires from politics, The National reports.

Speaking to reporters in Lae yesterday, Wenge said Sir Michael had become a national icon and his name was synonymous with the country’s attainment of independence, making him deserved of the title of grand chief because he was the chief of chiefs.

The Morobe governor said the prime minister had served in politics for more than 40 years and was the longest serving politician in the Commonwealth nations.

He became a leader and stayed a leader through the democratic process and was a nationalist who stood for all things PNG, Wenge said.

“As a Papua New Guinean, I am one of his greatest admirers although there are some issues that we differ on.

“He has done his part for the country and has led the nation to many great achievements, the recent being the Vision 2050 policy,” he said.

The prime minister, Wenge said, had done his part and should now step down from politics and allow other capable politicians to take Vision 2050 and run it.

“Sir Michael has had an outstanding political career and, for him to be dragged through the court system is belittling, so, my suggestion to him will be to step down from politics.”

Wenge’s comments followed media reports that Sir Michael would be referred to a leadership tribunal for not submitting his annual financial returns, hence, breaching the Leadership Code.

 

Somare: Abal is new deputy Prime Minister

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday confirmed Wabag MP Sam Abal as the new deputy prime minister, replacing Kandep MP Don Polye, The National reports.

He announced the changes in a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle, ending speculations in some sections of the PNG media that Polye was still second in charge.

It was swap positions for the two – Polye taking foreign affairs and immigration and Abal also assuming the works ministry.

Other changes Sir Michael made official yesterday were Sir Arnold Amet as attorney-general and justice minister; Ano Pala – agriculture and trade; Fidelis Semoso – Bougainville affairs; Moses Maladina – public service; and Francis Potape – transport and administrative services.

The prime minister made the announcement at a media conference at his Morauta Haus office soon after Abal returned from Sydney, Australia, where he was attending the 11th Mining and Petroleum Investment conference.

Among those present to witness the occasion were Mark Maipakai, Maladina, Enga Governor Peter Ipatas and newly appointed vice-minister for planning Philip Kikala.

Before the announcement, Abal was sworn in as deputy prime minister at the Government Haus by the acting governor-general, Paul Tiensten.

Uniting the Ahi people of Lae

By MALUM NALU

The Ahi villages - Wagang, Yanga, Butibam, Hengali, Kamkumung and Yalu are all located within and around Lae – the industrial city of Papua New Guinea.
Lae is Papua New Guinea’s second largest city and the industrial and manufacturing hub of the country.
It has the largest port facilities and is the gateway to the Highlands.
The Lae gateway and the Highlands Highway is the lifeline for over 50% of the population of PNG who rely on the port of Lae and Lae town for supplies.
Exacerbated by the huge urban drift from the Highlands region, the town cannot absorb the inflow and settlements abound with all the associated ills that such a diaspora brings. Crime from muggings to murder abound and fueled by homebrew, marijuana and alcohol, the hospitals overflow from the rampage of weekend desperation, of disaffected, disengaged youths and communities that have been wearing the brunt of neglect for too long.
Along with the expansion and development of Lae, the traditional Ahi villages are also being forced to accept new changes and influences brought about by the changing socio-economic conditions.
The changing socio-economic conditions have placed a high demand for land on the Ahi communities.
This has seen most of the traditional land being taken away.
Land was taken earlier by missionaries, then the colonial government and recently the state and industry.
The attractions of urban life along with government’s and industry’s demand for labour has also attracted Papua New Guineans to migrate to Lae in search for work and better living conditions.
This unfortunately has created a need for more land.
Consequently, customary land which used to be hunting and gardening land has all been replaced with buildings, factories and urban settlements.
Without gardening or hunting land, most inhabitants of the Ahi community are now forced to adopt and embrace the cash economy.
I know this only too well because I am from Butibam village, have grown up in Lae, and have watched as the lifestyle of my people has completely changed.
It is something, needless to say, that is very painful to me.
The economic changes around Lae also bring with them many tangible and intangible social problems which affect the Ahi communities.
Tangible social problems include unemployment; law and order issues; drug abuse; alcohol problems; and school drop-out rate is high.
Intangible social problems include breakdown in moral standards; lack of ethics in community leadership – a recipe for corruption which affects the management of church groups, clans and businesses owned by the people; community disharmony; and breakdown in the family unit.
Amidst the gloom and doom, despair and no hope, has come an angel of hope in the form of Riback Stevedores Ltd.
The inaugural Ahi Festival, a major cultural and sporting event involving the six Ahi villages in and around Lae, will be held at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae from Dec 12-17.
It is an initiative of Riback Stevedores, the major employer of Ahi men and women from the six Ahi villages of Wagang, Yanga, Butibam, Hengali, Kamkumung and Yalu and has their full support.
Sporting events include basketball, volleyball, netball, soccer, touch rugby and a number of other fun games for the kids.
The Ahi Festival – with the theme Promoting Education Through Sports & Culture - is aimed at raising funds for the establishment of an Ahi resource centre, an education facility which will have a library, computer laboratory and conference and workshop facilities.
“The Ahi Festival is an initiative of Riback Stevedores Ltd and has the full support of the Ahi community,” explains Riback general manager Peter Boyd.
“The company believes that the effects of the social problems facing the Ahi community can be wide-ranging in size anywhere from local effects on a family or a village to the Lae community and even the entire society.
“The company therefore wants to do its part in helping the Ahi community to help themselves to take a lead now in working towards addressing some of their social problems.
“We hope other members and stakeholders of the Lae community can also join in and help the people of Ahi in their endeavours to create an educated and orderly community that can co exist peacefully with others in the wider Lae community.”
Boyd said the social problems of the Ahi community could be addressed only if the community could unite and work together in search of solutions with the support of strategic partners.
“The Ahi Festival can be a powerful tool to unite the Ahi community,” he added.
“It can also create awareness of the social issues and promote a team approach with key stakeholders to address the socials problems with the view to minimise its crippling effects on the people of Ahi – the current generation and also the future generation.”
Some of the main objectives of the Ahi Festival include:
• Promoting community unity;

• Promoting and preserving Ahi culture;

• Creating awareness on social Issues and assistance available; and

• Showcase local talents in culture, sports, music and business.

“Education of the children of Ahi is therefore important,” Boyd said.
“Without land and other natural resources, the human resources must be trained and developed if the Ahi community is to survive and live in peaceful co-existence with every other Papua New Guinean and the wider Lae community.”

Production issues of sweet potato needs addressing

By JOSEPHINE YAGA of NARI
The adoption of interventions or introduced innovative agricultural practices is being absorbed in a rapid pace as demand for food and cash crops increases.
Hence continuous use of arable land leaves less or no time for fallow periods to replenish soil fertility and this is leading to land degradation
Amongst the foods cultivated, sweet potato accounts for 63% of the dietary energy of the population and is becoming the mainstay of the country's food security.

Participants Singis Ketti (left) and Dulcie Fonny gathering sweet potatoes after harvest.  Behind them are groups of sweet potatoes piled on the mounds where they were dug

Current production is more than three million tones per annum and is worth an estimated $A700 million.
Not withstanding the dominance of the crop, both to the subsistence economy and increasingly as a cash crop on domestic markets, the crop has been facing production problems.
Apart from climatic factors such as El Nino events, which causes major but temporary fall in production, farmers and scientists, have noted a gradual decline in yields and the quality of tubers, the cause of which is not always obvious.
This decline has implications on food security.
A number of pests and diseases, along with crop physiology issues have been identified which may be involved in the decline.
Main research issues in PNG include the causes of apparent yield decline over time for some cultivars, the influence of soil moisture extremes on crop growth and yield and of soil moisture by nitrogen interactions, management of cultivars by villagers including cultivar replacement and soil fertility management.
Due to its importance in PNG, sweet potato features prominently in the National Agricultural Research Institute’s (NARI) strategic plan.
There are currently five research projects being undertaken by NARI.
The projects are based on on-farm variety testing and dissemination, crop improvement through cleaning of planting materials (in tissue culture), management of major pest and diseases and management of soil / water for improved productivity.
Improved marketing opportunities through improved post harvest management and product development remains the priority now for NARI, to maximise benefits to farmers.
Farmer awareness and training on best management practices and availability of improved clean and improved drought tolerant sweet potato varieties have been conducted in the highlands and the lowlands to help farmers identify quality planting materials and address areas resulting to low yield.
One of such training ended last week in which participants, mostly women from 12-Mile, Huon Gulf district in Morobe province, received certificates of achievement after completing three months (theory and practical) of training under a project titled “the use of pathogen tested planting materials to improve sustainable sweet potato production in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands”.

Participants of the sweet potato training (women dressed in red) displaying their certificates of achievement. The certificates were presented by  NARI information and knowledge programme director Dr Pikah Kohun (left)  and senior agronomist Elick Guaf

The project is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Australia, and the Centre for International Potato, Peru.
The objective of the training was to promote the sustainability of sweet potato production and post-harvest management through best practices in the sweet potato production by starting with using clean planting materials for good yield.
Virus and disease free sweet potato or pathogen-tested vines were collected from screen houses at the NARI Momase regional centre, Bubia, and distributed during the practical sessions.
The plants were planted and over three months with good management practices including good size mounds, drainage, cuttings per mound, spacing of plants, timely weeding, hilling up and timely harvest were thought and practiced.
No fertiliser or animal manure was used in this training to improve yield.
“Selection and distribution of clean materials is very important and we are also planning to train farmers on best practices in the production of other staple crops under the NARI information and knowledge programme,” said Elick Guaf, NARI’s senior agronomist.
Sweet potatoes grown in the lowlands take more then four months to mature but planting early maturing clean materials and using best management and production practices promote crops to mature in only three months with quality and increased yields.
NARI released 79 sweet potato varieties suitable for the lowland conditions of PNG.
These included four lowlands drought tolerant varieties previously released by NARI as a drought-coping strategy.
All these cultivars have acceptable yields with good market and consumer appeal.
They also have a range of other positive traits such as good tuber shape and colour (including orange tuber flesh colour with a high beta-carotene content), high dry matter content, good processing characteristics, firm flesh texture after boiling and preferred degree of sweetness which allow the growers and end users to choose the variety that best suits their needs or preferences.

Al Wahda thump Hekari United in opener

Reigning UAE Pro League champions advance to quarter-finals of Fifa Club World Cup

 

UAE’s reigning Pro League champions Al Wahda overcame a nervy start to beat Hekari United from Papua New Guinea 3-0 in the opening match of the Fifa Club World Cup presented by Toyota at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night, Emirates 24/7 reports.

It was a historic win for the Abu Dhabi-based side on the world stage, banishing bitter memories of last year’s tournament for the host nation when Al Ahli of Dubai suffered a shock defeat at the hands of another side from Oceania Auckland City.

Fifa president Joseph Sepp Blatter graced the ceremonial opening of this annual tournament being held in UAE for the second time turning the attention of football fans once again to the region which is celebrating the awarding of organising the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

Al Wahda did not disappoint with a clinical performance on the field against a motley group of amateur footballers from the Pacific islands representing Oceania confederation in this six-team competition.

Brazilians Hugo and Fernando Baiano struck within the space of four minutes before the interval to virtually seal the fate of Hekari in this playoff match while substitute Abdulraheem Jumaa added the icing to their victory with his 71st minute goal to the delight of the nearly 24,000 mostly Wahdawi fans who created a lively atmosphere to this momentous occasion.

Al Wahda qualified to meet Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma FC of South Korea in a quarter-final on Saturday.

Hekari United surprised the hosts when they threatened to score off the first corner of the match in the fifth minute. Fahad Masoud stood in the way of a pin point header at the near post from Pita Bolatoga.

But this was the only sight of goal the visitors had thereafter until a fine left-footed drive was stopped by a diving Adel Al Hosani in the 81st minute.

Al Wahda controlled the pace and pattern of the game without having to actually step on the accelerator although national star Ismael Matar must be kicking himself after failing to get on the scoresheet being wide of the target on at least two occasions.

Hekari stopper Simione Tamanisau denied Baiano twice in quick succession after 15 minutes. The gaunt Brazilian shot straight to him after doing well to control a lobbed pass from Magrao in the first instance while a minute later a thundering drive from the edge of the box following a fine break by Hugo was blocked by Tamanisau.

On the half hour, a lovely move initiated by midfielder Mahmoud Al Hammadi saw Matar making a dummy run before put clear by Baiano but the UAE striker’s effort only managed to clear the far post.

Al Hammadi who along with Masoud weaved through the Hekari defence time and again, combined beautifully to break the ice for Al Wahda in the 40th minute.

Masood crossed to Al Hammadi who played it back for Hugo to drill it into the right corner with a left-footed strike from outside the box.

Four minutes later, Baiano deservedly found the net when he rifled in from close range between the keeper and the near post after Masood split the defence with a perfect through ball which gave Al Wahda a 2-0 lead at the break.

After the turn around, Baiano triggered another scoring opportunity by providing a long ball to Masoud who put Matar through. But his effort trickled wide of the far post despite a desperate lunge by Baiano.

Hekari stopper Tamanisau parried away a fine left foot volley from Al Hammadi in the 55th minute.

Hugo masterminded Al Wahda’s third goal when his cross across the face of goal beat a diving Tamanisau for Jumaa to bundle it home. Jumaa, who came in for Masood, fluffed a chance two minutes later when his chip over the keeper was off target.

Baiano and Matar were taken off late in the game while substitute Modibi Diarra going close twice in the last ten minutes of the game.

Inability to account is a big issue

By JAMES WANJIK

 

 Papua New Guinea leaders, both elected and appointed, have accountability problem.

 Sovereignty of PNG is at risk.

Politicians and bureaucrats are lost and confused.

 They run our country but they operate as raskols.

 They keep telling us to wait till 2050 to be wealthy.

 Making money and cargo their priority, leaders work for big businesses with deep pockets.

It is no coincidence leaders do not want to account.

 Look at Somare’s case.

He has gone to court to nullify an investigation by the Ombudsman Commission.

 Though leaders are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, no leader has paid attention to the role of the Ombudsman Commission.

 Is it a Public Prosecutor?

No.

 So, why is it that, it is the Ombudsman Commission that has taken on the leaders, even after it has referred its findings to the Public Prosecutor?

 In recent times, the courts have taken the fray.

They have played politics on the bench.

 Time and again we read in the print media about judges making observations about politicians.

It shows bias.

 Many leaders are gutless to take on the judges.

 Judges are lawyers with high ethical and moral code of conduct but are they now?

 PNG had a very good start at Independence in 1975.

 Only a mere 35 years on our courts have become a place for leaders playing politics.

 Supreme Court is worse.

 Making laws under the guise of interpreting them have been the biggest blunder.

 A very good example is Patrick Pruaitch’s case.

A judge of the Supreme Court made it his business to raise an issue that was not an issue before the lower court or even the Leadership Tribunal.

He took it upon himself to make law on the bench.

That is, other leaders, whose Leadership Tribunals have been appointed prior, are still in office, performing leadership duties, while Patrick Pruaitch had been ordered by the Supreme Court to refrain from performing official duties.

 Which law did Patrick Pruaitch breach to be treated differently from other leaders?

 Why have not the Ombudsman Commission and the Supreme Court been consistent and fair?

 Leaders are not accountable.

 Bureaucrats are not accountable.

And if judges are going to follow suit, then we, the people, must wake up and demand, all our leaders, both elected and appointed, to account.

 May God bless PNG.

 

 

James Wanjik

Port Moresby

 08^th December 2010