ICCC to monitor Roots Rice prices

By BOSORINA ROBBY

 

TRUKAI Industries’ Roots Rice brand will be monitored over a period of five years to make sure there is no unjust price increases on the staple grain, Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) said yesterday, The National reports.

The move was arrived at following an extensive price regulatory review on the product by ICCC last year.

Price monitoring on this brand began on Jan 1 and will end on Dec 31, 2015, ICCC said, adding that it would also monitor the brand’s ex-factory gate prices and sea and road freight charges.

According to the 2010 rice industry pricing review final report on the regulated segment of the market, Trukai’s Roots Rice products accounted for more than 70% of the overall sales in the domestic market.

The ICCC, which promoted competition, fair trade and regulation of prices of certain goods and cervices, said only this brand would be monitored to ensure that there were no unjust price increases.

It said Roots Rice was traditionally consumed by low to middle income earners and is currently the leading brand in the market.

“Any price changes would automatically lead to price increases of other rice brands,” the watchdog said.

The PNG rice market showed many of the characteristics of an effectively competitive market but ICCC would continue to monitor them, especially Roots Rice.

In 2005, the ICCC undertook a comprehensive review into the price setting arrangements for rice products.

Following this, then Treasurer Peter O’Neill determined that prices of Roots Rice should be monitored under the provision of the prices regulations Act and the ICCC Act 2002.

This is stepping away from price setting regulation to a price monitoring approach, which is light-handed approach used by regulators.

This ended last Dec 31 and contributions from stakeholders, interested parties and the industry had concluded that the methods used before would continue.

These and the wholesale and retail charges are all currently declared as monitored goods and services under the provisions of Section 32A of the PR Act.

However, ICCC is giving Trukai Industries a chance to apply for the lifting of    price monitoring regime on Roots Rice products based on evidence “that competition in the rice industry is good”.

The ICCC will now use Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) medium grain index as its main rice price guide and would also maintain the use of existing Australian bureau of statistics (ABS) index to monitor Roots Rice prices.

Any significant changes between Roots Rice and FAO would be reviewed by ICCC in comparison with ABS index and information on the world-wide supply and demand balance.

The ICCC considered that at this point, the overall welfare and long term interest of PNG was best served by retaining a degree of oversight of the flour and rice markets, given the staple nature of these products.

The decision to maintain a degree of oversight in these markets was related to the ICCC’s concerns regarding the general cost of living, which is rapidly increasing more than the wages.

 

Basil and Michaels are new recruits for PNG Party

 Bu M  Bulolo MP Sam Basil and Tewaii Siassi MP Vincent Michaels have joined the PNG Party.

 

Basil was formerly with People's Progress Party while Michaels was with New Generation Party.

They move in the footsteps of fellow opposition MPs Konie Iguan (Markham) and Bonnie Overa (Okapa) who moved ahead of them late last year to join the PNG Party.

"The move now brings to four the number of our faction into PNG Party," they said. 

"There are many reasons why we have decided to leave our party to make this move but we will outline just a few here.

"We believe that there are too many political parties, both registered and deregistered out there, just enough to make almost every members of parliament as party leaders with a handful of party members - just like too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

"There should be at least four or five major political parties in Papua New Guinea because every man and his dog now owns a political party which in the future must be discouraged.

"Every political party must demonstrate and work towards institutionalisation with better policies and management in place.

 "We urge the public and political advisors to help by not encouraging MPs and political aspirants to create new political parties at will, adding to the unprecedented number of political parties we now have in the Commonwealth of Nations.

"The National Alliance Party has demonstrated a working political institution which has remained in power for over eight years now, creating political history.

"The political leadership of Sir Michael Somare and his kitchen cabinet has eroded the ability and the credibility of the single and the biggest political party in power today, and must be challenged, if not now, then in the 2012 elections.

 "In doing so we believe that like the law of the universe,   greater mass creates its own gravitational field that can attract and in order to match and fight the National Alliance,  we must build up to their level and capacity to match them on the battlefield and there is no other better way than this.

"Papua New Guinea, since gaining Independence in 1975 with over a million population, now has over 6.5 million people and we acknowledge here that there are many smart and dedicated people out there too - people who have the heart for this nation and one day can become our political leaders too.

"Our political party system must be seen to evolve as well to see a generational change in political leaderships.

"We say this with no regret because we totally think differently from the old guard, and there are many reasons out there which we need not to elaborate here.

"While at that, we would like to acknowledge the bold move made by Hon Sir Mekere Morauta to allow the PNG Party's leadership into the hands of younger generation leaders like Hon Belden Namah.

"Sir Mekere Morauta, being younger then Sir Michael Somare, has set precedence and demonstrated that PNG Party will now evolve with the younger generation MPs which he will be also be part of as a mentor.

"We urge our founding fathers to do the same because from the 6.5m population, there are many aspiring young, bright and upcoming leaders who will be passing through this parliament one day, therefore, a new culture of political evolution must be adopted.

"We need our founding fathers as mentors now from behind while they are still alive, and not from their graves, because it will be a great loss to the nation if they leave without mentoring the younger generation leaders.

"We would like to acknowledge Hon Bart Philemon and Sir Julius Chan respectively as great leaders of this nation, and will still maintain our close working relationship with them, in within opposition ranks and towards the 2012 general elections.

"Our exit from their leadership is to fight a fight that we all share, but we see it from a different angle, and it is to build a formidable political force while taking into consideration our political future.

"We cannot take on National Alliance from many smaller, fragmented political groupings, because we will just repeat the 2007 general election results again come the 2012 general elections.

"There are times when we humble ourselves our egos and our pride to mass up to match our opponent and this is just what we are simply doing.

"To our supporters around the country, I urge you to think the same because we all share the same sentiments and this is the best option we believe in and have taken."

Let's respect and follow the Constitution and laws

Statement by the Leader of the Opposition Rt Hon Mekere Morauta KCMG MP

 

 

The Supreme Court, in ordering the recall of Parliament, has given the Government and all Members of Parliament an opportunity to make amends, to correct illegal decisions and unlawful practices. 

I appeal to all Members of Parliament to seize this opportunity.

 Let us start 2011 in a way different from recent years.

 Let us start by respecting and following the Constitution.

Three constitutional issues are of relevance to the sitting of Parliament that commences on January 11, 2011:

1.      Election of the Governor-General

2.      Motion of No Confidence

3.      Parliamentary Sitting Days

If the people of Papua New Guinea are to respect the institution of Parliament and Members of Parliament as individuals, it is imperative that Members of Parliament insist on the Constitution being respected and followed in relation to each of these immediate issues during the January 2011 session.

 

1.      Election of the Governor-General

 

The Constitution and the Organic Law on the nomination of Governor-General set out clearly the procedures for Parliament to follow in election of a Governor-General. 

As the Supreme Court has found, in its nullification of the proceedings of June 25, 2010, when the Somare Government announced the appointment of Sir Paulias Matane as Governor-General, the Somare Government breached the Constitution and the Organic Law.

I briefly explain the process to be followed so that members of the public will be able to assess whether the acting Speaker and the Government this time follow, or again break the law, in the conduct of Parliament in this session.

Those seeking to be elected as Governor-General must meet the qualifications set out in Section 87(1) of the Constitution.

A nominee must be a citizen who is:

·        Qualified to be a member of Parliament or remain as a member of Parliament in accordance with Section 103 of the Constitution; and

·        A mature person of good standing who enjoys the general respect of the community.

 

We should note in passing that the third qualification implies that the nominee is not meant to be a party-political nominee, in the way that the National Alliance has unashamedly declared its allegiance to an individual candidate – to the point of jetting delegations around the country carrying bags of rice.

 The second and the third qualifications also imply that the nominee should not be a person who has been found to have broken the law.

Section 88(2) of the Constitution states that the Parliament shall nominate a person for appointment as Governor-General by:

·        A simple majority vote; and

·        In an exhaustive secret ballot.

The process is as follows.  The Speaker (or, in this case, the acting Speaker) must:

1.    Notify the Members of the Parliament of the need to elect a Governor-General;

2.    Fix a date (within 10 days of the notification to Parliament of the vacancy) for the conduct of a ballot to decide the person nominated by Parliament to fill the vacant office; and

3.    Call for nominations to fill the vacancy.

The Organic Law on the Nomination of the Governor-General prescribes a form that the Proposer of a nominee is to fill.

 The Proposer must be a Member of Parliament, and 15 other Members of Parliament must sign the form as supporters of the nominee. 

No Member can support more than one candidate, and the nominee must also sign the form accepting the nomination.

The proposal form must be handed to the Clerk, before the time fixed for the ballot. 

The Clerk has the discretionary power to accept or reject proposal forms that are defective or where he reasonably believes that a proposed candidate is not qualified to be nominated and appointed Governor-General.

There is an argument current in legal circles that Sir Paulias Matane is not qualified to be nominated in January 2011, because he illegally occupied the office of Governor-General from May 26, 2010, illegally received benefits, and failed to vacate Government House by midnight on December 13, 2010, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

Even if the Clerk accepts the nomination of Sir Paulias, the proposal has to be in the correct form.

The Clerk must furnish the (acting) Speaker with a list of all candidates for election, so the Speaker may declare the names to the Parliament. 

On the day fixed for the election the Clerk must distribute to each member present in the Parliament a ballot paper in a form he approves.

The ballot is to be an exhaustive secret ballot.

Should Sir Paulias be nominated correctly, and should his nomination be accepted by the Clerk, as a former Governor-General he would still have another step for qualification for the ballot. 

An absolute majority (73) Members of Parliament must agree for him to be eligible to serve a second term.

 

Should 73 Members of Parliament agree for Sir Paulias to be eligible to serve a second term, the Parliament would then proceed to the exhaustive secret ballot, as set out in Sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Organic Law.

 If 73 Members do not agree to Sir Paulias contesting again, his name cannot be put forward in the ballot.

It is in the interests of the people for the Acting Speaker and the Government to allow the Clerk to fulfil his lawful duties and for Parliament to follow the process set out under the Constitution and the Organic Law to elect our next Governor-General at some point during the next 10 days.

It is a secret ballot.

 I appeal to all Members of Parliament to use wisdom and their conscience to vote for a candidate who does not represent narrow political or regional interests, a candidate who is known to be a law-abiding “mature person of good standing who enjoys the general respect of the community”.

 

2.      Motion of No Confidence

 

The second issue of relevance to the January 2011 session of Parliament is the tabling of a motion of no confidence.

The Opposition has publicly announced its intention of forwarding to the Acting Speaker a motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister Michael Somare in a manner which entirely conforms with Section 145 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament.

In October and November 2010, I wrote to Speaker Jeffrey Nape requesting clarification of the fact that a Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order 130 and the Constitution must be delivered to the Clerk by the Private Business Committee for inclusion on the Notice Paper.

Speaker Nape’s written reply was:  “As a motion of no-confidence is allowed under the Constitution and is of a substantive nature, the Private Business Committee has a very clear obligation to deliver it to the Clerk.” 

The Speaker further stated that “once the procedural requirements [of Standing Order 22(3)] are met, the Committee clearly has no legal authority to impede the process thereafter”.

It is the view of the Opposition, supported by legal advice, that the Private Business Committee has no power to determine whether a Motion of No Confidence should or should not be voted on. 

The power to make that decision is vested in Parliament, and Parliament alone – not the Speaker, not the Private Business Committee.

Section 11 of the Constitution states that the Constitution is the Supreme Law.

 It is therefore not possible for the Private Business Committee to determine a Motion of No Confidence in a Prime Minister to be of “a parochial nature”. 

Given the primacy of the Constitution, the Private Business Committee must determine that such a Motion is “a matter of national importance”.

 

That is the legal position. 

In addition, there is a very compelling case for a Motion of No Confidence to be tabled as a matter of national importance in January 2011.

In December 2010. the Public Prosecutor wrote to the Chief Justice requesting the establishment of a Leadership Tribunal to hear charges of misconduct in office against the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

That Leadership Tribunal will be established once the Courts resume after the Christmas recess. 

Once the Tribunal is established and the Public Prosecutor then refers the matter to the Tribunal, Michael Somare must, by law, vacate the office of Prime Minister.

 It is not a question of temporarily handing over to a favoured person to “act” while the Tribunal hears the case. 

There will be a vacancy in the office.

The Opposition’s proposed Motion of No Confidence in Prime Minister Somare will state numerous grounds for the people’s loss of confidence in Michael Somare as Prime Minister. 

His failure to submit Leadership Returns for 10 years is only one of the numerous failures cited. 

Others include his wilful breaking of the Constitution and other laws, as set out in the Ombudsman Commission’s Report and the Defence Board of Inquiry into the Moti case; his contemptuous treatment of Parliament by disallowing debate, frequent adjournments and illegal decisions, as the Supreme Court found in the appointment of Sir Paulias as Governor General in June 2010; to name a few.

It is impossible for any person to argue that a Motion of No Confidence in a Prime Minister who has been referred by the Public Prosecutor to the Chief Justice to face leadership charges is not “a matter of national importance”.

I reiterate: A Speaker, Acting Speaker, Private Business Committee, a Prime Minister, Acting Prime Minister or Leader of Government Business, does not have the legal power to prevent tabling of a Motion of No Confidence in the Prime Minister, if it conforms to the provisions of Section 145 of the Constitution and to relevant Standing Orders of the Parliament.

By allowing Parliament to vote on the Opposition’s proposed Motion of No Confidence in Prime Minister Michael Somare, the (acting) Speaker and the Government have a second opportunity in this session of Parliament to demonstrate to the people that they no longer intend to wilfully breach the Constitution.

 

3.      Parliamentary Sitting Days

 

The third issue that the Government has the opportunity to make amends on during this session of Parliament is the duration of the session and subsequent sessions from now to August 2011.

Section 124(1) of the Constitution prescribes that “the Parliament shall ... meet ... for not less than nine weeks in each period (of twelve months)”. 

In 1999 the Supreme Court ruled that the meaning of “nine weeks’ in this context was 63 days and that the ‘parliamentary year’ commenced on the day after the return of writs following a general election.

In the current Parliamentary year, which commenced on August 07, 2010, Parliament has sat for only FOUR days.

In the 2008-2009 parliamentary year, Parliament sat for only 31 days, less than half of the prescribed 63 days.

In the 2009-2010 parliamentary year, Parliament sat for only 35 days, 28 days short of the required 63 days.

When the Government adjourned Parliament on November 25.  2010, the date set for resumption May10, 2011.

Even if Parliament were to sit for FOUR days every week of the 12 weeks from May 10 to August 7, Parliament would only sit for 47 days, making a total of 51 days – again short of the required 63 days.

 So when the Government adjourned Parliament in November to May, it was again in deliberate breach of the Constitution.

We all know the reason that the Government did not want to sit for the first 5 months of this year – to avoid a possible vote of no confidence.

Even when on December 10, 2010, the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to sit within 40 days, the Government tried to avoid this and requested the Acting Speaker to go back to court, arguing that the Court did not have the power to recall Parliament.

The Government’s intentions in this challenge to the Supreme Court were nakedly clear – they wanted to defy the court order so as to avoid recalling Parliament – so as to avoid a vote of no-confidence.

The Acting Speaker’s application to the Supreme Court was dismissed with a very stern statement and strong criticism of the intentions behind the application.

In ordering the recall of Parliament, the Supreme Court has given the Government a third opportunity to demonstrate that it is finally prepared to start respecting and following the Constitution, by allowing Parliament to sit for a considerable period during this session, and by setting the date for the next session early in the year, so that Parliament might sit for a minimum of 59 days from January 11 to  August 5,  2011, and meet the constitutional requirement of 63 sitting days during the current parliamentary year.

 

Conclusion

 

 This session of Parliament gives the Government and all Members of Parliament three explicit opportunities to show the people that Members of Parliament do respect and obey the laws of our country. 

There are clear provisions laid out in the Constitution for the three issues I have raised which are pertinent to the current sitting of Parliament, namely:

·        election of the Governor-General;

·        voting on a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister; and

·        No early adjournment of Parliament.

 

I appeal to all Members of Parliament to ensure that we make amends to the people by abiding by the Constitution in relation to each of these issues.

The first casualty of war is innocence.welcome to 2011

By MALUM NALU

 

“The first casualty of war is innocence” is a famous catch-phrase from the 1986 Oliver Stone film, Platoon, which is about a young recruit in Vietnam who faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

Fast forward to 2011, in Papua New Guinea, and we see those words ringing true in just about every town and city, and even the rural areas, as we deal with ubiquitous ethnic violence.

 We in PNG can rightfully paraphrase the above to “the first victim of ethnic violence is innocence”.

Innocent men, women and children are being needless affected by the wave of ethnic violence sweeping this country.

A new year, a new decade, but there seems to be no respite from this evil in a country which we like to preach of as “Christian”.

Even our VIPs are not exempt from this vicious never-ending circle of gloom, doom, despair and no hope brought about by this ethnic violence.

On Monday last week, a state minister’s high covenant family home at 4-Mile in Lae, Morobe, was burnt to ashes during an ethnic clash.

Yesterday, in Port Moresby, the home of former Kiriwina-Goodenough MP William Ebenosi was razed in a fight between Goilalas and Taris which he had nothing to do with.

Public Service Minister and Esa’ala MP Moses Maladina, who was born and raised in Lae, was not at home.

Maladina, his siblings and parents grew up in that humble abode and are very much a respected family in Lae, however, they were not spared in that moment of madness.

Police said the incident happened at about 3.30pm after they had contained a nasty gun battle that morning.

The two-hour gun battle, allegedly between settlers from Mt Hagen in Western Highlands and the Lufa people from Goroka residing at 4-Mile, marred what had been a peaceful festive season in the Morobean capital.

In Port Moresby, two people are dead and two have been hospitalised after an ethnic clash erupted between the Goilalas of Central and Taris of Southern Highlands in Port Moresby over the weekend which escalated into the early hours of yesterday.

Tension in the area was high with traffic was diverted and motorists told to take the Freeway into Downtown area with no access into the 2-Mile and Badili areas.   

Police said the ethnic clash began between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday and continued into Monday morning.

They said a Goilala man was killed and as a result, Goilala people in the Koki area retaliated and killed a Tari man yesterday morning.  

Two casualties were bystanders had parts of their limbs chopped off.

One was a Chimbu woman who had her left arm severed, and a male whose foot was completely chopped off.

A number of houses and properties were destroyed in the fight, including that of former Milne Bay politician William Ebenosi.

Last Saturday, many people including school children and mothers received injuries to their bodies at Waghi Bridge in Western Highlands’ North Waghi district when supporters of an MP and a former MP clashed.

The people of North Waghi reportedly  turned up in a big numbers at Waghi Bridge last Saturday morning to welcome former MP, Dr Fabian Pok,  to present  prize money to winning teams of a local competition he sponsored during the festive period.

Suddenly, like the horsemen of the apocalypse, supporters of North Waghi MP Benjamin Mul came from Nondugl in a 10-seater vehicle Toyota Land Cruiser, stopped their vehicle at the market, chased the people and caused destructions to the market.

One of Mul’s supporters allegedly started an engine of a 15-seater bus and tried to run over the people.

The other supporter and a local businessman went to the grandstand built inside Kerepa Primary School and attacked women in traditional dress with stones.

A youngster is reported to have received a deep cut on his head from a stone missile, just one of the many innocent women and children.

Opposing tribes are now on the verge of going to war because of last Saturday’s incident, which also does not bode well for the volatile Highlands and all of Papua New Guinea for that matter, with the 2012 elections just over around the corner.

Then again, “the first casualty of war is innocence”.

No help for Manam islanders

By MALUM NALU

 

Displaced Manam islanders will be left to fend for themselves for the seventh year in 2011 despite K15 million approved by the national executive council last year to help resettle them, according to a well-placed government official attached to the Manam resettlement taskforce and National Disaster Committee.

The source said this was because the government could not make a firm commitment as to what the national executive council wanted and what its medium-term development plan (MTDP) under the department of national planning and monitoring supported.

The MTDP highlights quite clearly that “vulnerable and disadvantaged people will have the support they require from the government, service providers and the general public for meeting their right to a minimum standard of living”.

The source said last year, the NEC approved K15m to help resettle Manam islanders over a five-year period; however, this seemed to have gone unheeded by national planning and monitoring.

“Clearly, the Manam issue should no longer be treated as a disaster-related matter but a development issue because the state is now working towards the resettling of more than 15,000 persons and it is dealing with the rebuilding of people’s livelihoods,” the source said.

He said that early last year, when tensions flared up between Bogia landowners and displaced Manams because of over-crowdedness and other social problems, NEC intervened by setting up a task force.

He said the NEC directed that the K15m be to:

• Assist the national government to identify suitable resettlement land;
• Liaise with various leaseholders as well as traditional landowners; and
• Purchase suitable land for the permanent resettlement of Manams.

“During the course of establishing the Manam task force, a draft resettlement plan was then completed and circulated to selected agencies and donours for their immediate feedback,” the source said.

“A field visit followed and this was sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, National Disaster Office and the Office of the Centre for Humanitarian Refugees.

“After the field visit to one of the main Manam care centres, adequate feedback to finalise the document was made and that actually progressed the resettlement plan to a public investment programme (PIP) at K15m over a five-year period

“A PIP submission was then forwarded to the department of national planning and monitoring by the team leader of the task force and acting chief secretary, Manasupe Zurenuoc.

“If the PIP had been approved, then more interested donours like AusAID, World Bank, UNP and others who showed interest would have been invited to participate through counterpart funding or technical assistance,”

The source added: “How long will the Manam people be allowed to suffer because of some bad policy and budget decisions?

“Obviously, one would say that not too many consultations had been carried out by department of national planning and monitoring on the Manam resettlement issue, because the MTDP clearly reflects the issues relevant to Manam, and yet, it is not captured at all in the 2011 development budget.”

Meanwhile, former politician and Madang businessman Sir Peter Barter, who has helped the Manam people for 45 years through seven volcanic eruptions, said the whole sad saga would never have happened not it not been for a litany of inept politicians and ineffective public servants.

“I’m disgusted, absolutely disgusted,” he said.

“I strongly believe that the Manam people have been abused by the government.

“The whole thing is absolutely disgraceful.

“There are problems all over the place.

“It’s a breach of human rights.

“Very soon, the United Nations Human Rights Commission will bring it up in Geneva.

“It’s aggravated by people who will not help.

“I suggest that the prime minister (Sir Michael Somare) go and sit down with the Manam islanders and the landowners.

“It’s a story which should never have been necessary to tell.

“It should have been resolved six years ago.”

Illegals in Australia

By JOHN PASQUARELLI

The prophets of doom predicted that Australia would be reduced to a gigantic dustbowl – instead there is water, water everywhere with tragic results in many areas. 

A trickle that fast became another form of flood is the arrival on our northern shores of  'illegals',  causing our immigration department to become bogged down as it fails to cope with the increased processing and paperwork, resulting in other important areas of administration being neglected. 

As the Greens and their mates moan and wail,  Australian taxpayers are facing very serious problems further down the track,  created by a recent High Court decision.

 Mamdouh Habib has been granted compensation by the Gillard government for his alleged mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay and we may never know the amount of this handout. 

With trendy civil libertarian  lawyers circling the High Court decision like slavering wolves,  Christmas Island and other detention centres may well achieve Guantanamo-type status down the track with detainees sooled on to lodge claims for undisclosed compensation against Australian taxpayers. 

As news of Habib's payout is circulated on the internet and the mobile phone network,  people smugglers will no doubt advise their clients of the added attraction of taking a voyage to 'Hotel Australia'.

First encounter with the sea

Students Martin Gaso (left), Jason Olpa and Rachael Zarlo collecting sea water at the Esplanade in Lae last Friday to take back to their people in Tabib, Southern Highlands.

Story and picture by BENBERT WASA

THREE students from the remote Tabib village in the upper Lai valley of Mendi-Mulhiu district, Southern Highlands, have seen the sea for the first time last Friday when they travelled down to Lae to spend their holidays, The National reports.
Jason Olpa, Martin Gaso and Rachael Zarlo said they were shocked to see the waves splashing onto the shores, thinking the sea would chase them.
They said the ocean should have covered all the places since there are no mountains covering places like in the highlands, but they said: "God made it to be as it is."
Their uncle Joe Kinjul, who had been in Lae for a long time, said it was mostly the educated people who know about the sea while the majority were still wishing.
After sometime standing far away from the shoreline, the children moved closer with some anxiety out of fear of being hit by the waves while trying to collect the salt water to taste.
They said they were scared and happy, at the same time, that they will take bottles of the salt water back to their people in Tabib.
Gaso said it was an experience of a lifetime and he wished to return and visit the rolling waves.
"It is through education that it bring us to see the sea," he said.