Five die in city clash

Enga and Hela people fight over cellphone

 

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

FIVE people have been reported killed over the weekend in Port Moresby in a violent clash between people of Hela and Enga origin, The National reports.

The fight between the two groups reportedly started over a mobile phone at the Gordon market last Wednesday.

Metropolitan Superintendent Joseph Tondop said that unconfirmed reports put the death toll at five with a few hospitalised with injuries.

In related issues:

• The Gordon market is closed indefinitely until the matter is resolved;
• A peace mediation, brokered by police, is scheduled for 9am today; and
• Leaders call for the Vagrancy Act to be reintroduced to curb movement.

Police reported that the fight erupted after a drunken youth from the Hela region refused to give back a mobile phone he had snatched from a woman.

Police said the argument accelerated into an ethnic clash with supporters from both sides joining in and fought using bush knives, sticks and stones, forcing the public to flee in all directions.

Gordon police were earlier outnumbered but were able to quell the tension with the help of police reinforcement from other stations.

The fight erupted again last Thursday forcing the market to close.

Tondop said that the criminal investigation division reported that two people were confirmed death while the other three slayings were yet to be confirmed.

According to reports he received, three people from Tari and two from Enga were killed.

The killings did not happen in one location and the fear was that people were targeted in all suburbs.

According to reports, one person was killed at Gordon, another killing occurred at 5-Mile with another at the Erima wildlife junction.

Sources said another person was killed at Waigani which forced the relatives to retaliate by chopping to death another at Gordon yesterday afternoon as he was trying to jump on a PMV bus.

A source said that another killing occurred at Gerehu yesterday evening, but police could not confirm the killing.

Meanwhile, Tondop appealed to all leaders from both groups to meet at the Jack Pidik Park for an urgent peace meditation starting at 9am today.

He said that the aim of the meeting was to appeal to both sides to stop the fight and help police identify the instigators of the fight from both sides.

People who wanted more information can contact him on his mobile 72648838 or his office on 3244282.

He also said that the Gordon market would be shut for an indefinite period until the conflict was resolved.

Police had warned the public to take precautions as people seemed to be taking law into their own hands by attacking anybody who either spoke Enga or Huli.

 

 

Rust in peace!

The Ramu Ranger was built in Cairns to serve the people in the Middle Ramu and Bogia districts almost 20 years ago by the then Regional Member, Peter Barter.

Rust In Peace...Madang Ranger in Madang Harbour

It was taken over by a local company and ownership disputes resulted in the vessel going into disrepair.
The Ramu Ranger served the people along the Ramu River in the Madang Province and undertook commercial runs to Manam, Kar Kar, Long Island carrying copra successfully.
It now lies in a ship's graveyard in the Madang Harbour as pictured in a state beyond repair along with numerous other wrecks that have also suffered the same fate.

A few more wrecks in the ship's graveyard in Madang Harbour

Throughout the maritime provinces of Papua New Guinea,  similar stories can be told of numerous barges and vessels that were purchased without proper advise being provided resulting in many rusting away through lack of maintenance.
Sir Peter suggested it was time for the national government through the National Maritime Safety Authority to provide an advisory service to assist the provincial governments and MPs purchasing the right type of vessel that can be operated commercially in PNG for the specific purpose intended.

Tingim Laip meeting in Madang

Tingim Laip phase two review has been taking place at the Madang Resort for the past week. Those attending were Tingim Laip project officers and regional coordinators from across Papua New Guinea.



Meeting underway at Madang Resort Hotel

 Key partners include Save the Children, Family Planning International and well as the provincial aids council, all of whom are working with various organisations including the PNG Defence Force, oil palm companies, local level governments and mining companies throughout PNG.
Tingim Laip is the largest HIV prevention project in PNG and has been operating for seven years.
The phase two workshop was launched in Madang in 2009 by the chair of the National Aids Council, Sir Peter Barter.
The meeting in Madang is to review phase two with the priority to consolidate their work and expand new sites beyond the existing 36 sites in 11 provinces.
Tingim Laip is a project funded by AusAID under the coordination of the NAC.
Ms Anne Malcolm from AusAID and Sir Peter Barter attended the meeting where Sir Peter challenged those attending to provide advice for the NAC on various issues, including how the protocol for testing could be changed to suit PNG culture.

Ms Anne Malcolm addressing the meeting

He also said that it was extremely important for everyone to be aware of the need to be accountable as national and international donors had zero tolerance to any mismanagement of funding and that everyone involved with awareness, prevention and treatment used whatever funds are available for the purposes intended.

Blackouts to 2014

By DENNIS ORERE

PNG Power linesman David Shangi insulating the ABC lines to the transformer connecting the Pacific Star Ltd office along Waigani Drive in NCD. – Nationalpic by EKAR KEAPU

POWER interruptions, the bane of all town and city dwellers, may continue until 2014, The National reports.
That is the somber forecast by the only supplier of electricity in the country, PNG Power.
PNG Power chief executive officer Tony Koiri said at a press conference yesterday that PPL did not have the money to fund urgent work to get reliable electricity supply to all centres.
“We do not want to make any excuses for the recent power outages, he said.
“While there has been a separate initiating incident on each occasion, each of these has led to a more extensive blackout.
“This has exposed weaknesses in the system and PPL is taking steps to replace the faulty electronic equipment that, in most cases, is old.
“We acknowledge that such weak spots should have been identified and maintained proactively,” Koiri said.
Power outages were to continue in the main centres, particularly between 9am and 3pm.
Koiri assured residents in PNG that there were promising prospects for a stable electricity system by 2014, but the biggest concern now was the short-term sustenance of power, especially for the major centres where a lot of business activities occur.
Koiri said PNG Power was looking at other energy sources to supply electricity in the long term. The main aim would be to use natural gas to support the current network and meet the demand for electricity.
PPL and the government had initialed a memorandum of understanding to use gas from the Hides reservoir.
The recent outages had reportedly affected Port Moresby and Lae customers.
In Port Moresby, there was a loss of generating capacity at the Rouna 2 hydropower station and Hanjung’s Kanudi power station.
“This apparently caused tripping at the substations at Boroko and Konedobu.”
There was also a fault at the Waigani sub-station transformers, Koiri said.
After the last festive season, excessive flooding brought down debris that clogged the screens and intake gate at Rouna 2.
Rouna and Kanudi are the main sources of power for Port Moresby.
He said PPL has in place business and development plans for capital investment based on projected operational profit and loan facilities.

Classes threatened over mining allowance

By JAMES APA GUMUNO

 

TEACHERS in Southern Highlands have told the provincial government to pay them their mining allowances “or there will be no classes this year”, The National reports.

There are 4,000 teachers in the province.

More than 100 of them gathered at the provincial headquarters building, Agiru Centre, yesterday in Mendi and demanded that they be paid these long overdue stipends.

The allowance was set at K400 a fortnight.

Their demands were contained in a petition, which came at a time when the provincial executive council was also discussing the provincial budget. Governor Anderson Agiru chaired the meeting.

The teachers also threatened that they would not return to their schools until they were paid their mining allowances.

Their demands for mining allowances had started when the first oil flowed out of Kutubu about 18 years ago. However, their pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

Spokesmen Bogom Inua and John Mono said this time they would not listen to the Teaching Service Commission, acting education secretary Dr Joseph Pagelio or the provincial government.

Inua, who holds a diploma in education and had been teaching in Southern Highlands for 40 years, said a teacher’s base salary of K400 was not enough to cater for a family’s needs in these times of sky-rocketing prices.

He said an expected salary increase, based on a memorandum of agreement signed last year, was not effected yesterday.

Mono expressed similar sentiments.

He warned that schools in the province would not resume classes until their demands were met.

Attempts to get comments from the provincial education adviser were unsuccessful.

 

 

Abal in charge of planning committee

THE National Executive Council yesterday directed Deputy Prime Minister and Works Minister and national planning committee chairman Sam Abal to be the government’s focal point for settling all outstanding issues relating to the PNG LNG project, The National reports.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare issued the directive following a briefing yesterday morning by Abal and senior cabinet minsiters and party leaders who are members of the planning committee.

Developer ExxonMobil were also summoned to provide an update regarding the temporary work closure of the Hides 4 conditional plant site early this week.

In assuring the developer ExxonMobil and operator Esso Highlands, Sir Michael reaffirmed that the PNG economy and the future of the people depend on the prject and that the government had got a handle on it.

Both the government and the people, particurlarly the landowners were committed to see its first LNG cargo leave its shores in 2014.

The landowner matters and issues are in-house matters and the government will move to settle it.

Meanwhile, chairman of Hides Gas Development Coporation (HGDC) Libe Parinali was the first to thank Sir Michael in appointing Abal to handle LNG matters.

“We will be working with Sam Abal as it is welcome news and we look forward to progerssing the LNG project.”

“The task now is to streamline the government operations and processes so that our joint venture development partners, financers, customers, people of PNG and most importantly resource owners know the point of contact.

Sir Michael said the key ministerial economic and social sector committees including the ministerial gas project committee were also members of the national planning committee.

In a further directive, the NEC instructed that all outstanding MoA funds relating oil monies owing to landowners companies to be paid as soon as possible.

Other isses pertaining to appropriations such as minsiterial commitments made during the UBSA and LBSA process of negotiations has also been directed for immediate settlement.

 

 

Kasieng's suspension is illegal, says lawyer

By JUNIOR UKAHA

 

Counsel representing suspended West Sepik provincial police commander, Sakawar Kasieng, has notified deputy police commissioner Fred Yakasa that the suspension notice served on his client was illegal, The National reports.

In a four-page letter delivered to Yakasa on Wednesday, counsel Peter Sam told the deputy police commissioner that there were no grounds for the suspension of Kasieng as all the accusations against his client were fallacious.

“I have studied the contents of the purported suspension notice, dated Jan 24, 2011, and wish to advice you that the suspension of Chief Insp Sakawar Kasieng from his position as PPC of West Sepik is null and void and has no effect in law or equity,” Sam said.

He instructed Yakasa to immediately reinstate Kasieng to his former position or risk having a lawsuit filed against him and the state.

“Accordingly, I wish to formally advise you that unless you reinstate Kasieng to his position, he will have no other option but to take immediate appropriate legal action against you without any further notice,” he said.

Sam also said that his client was denied natural justice when the charges were first laid against him as he was not accorded any chance to explain himself to the police hierarchy.   

Kasieng was suspended by Yakasa last week for disciplinary offences which included:

• Releasing statements to the media which were damaging to the constabulary;
• Illegally authorising the closure of the West Sepik police station; and
• Closure of police station tantamount to discrediting the constabulary’s management.

Sam said that Kasieng did not make degrading comments in the media as there were no specific quotes that could support the claim and that he (Kasieng) was only fighting for the rights of his officer who was assaulted by members of operation Sunset Merona.

He added that the accusations that his client had shut West Sepik police station was false because the station remained open during the said date and that there was no discredit to the constabulary as the members of the public were not affected of policing services.