Talasea man guilty of manslaughter

A WEST New Britain man, in his 30s, from Garu village, Talasea, has been found guilty of manslaughter by the Kimbe National Court, The National reports.

Joe Tuka was an oil palm worker charged with killing fellow worker Hali Beki, from Morobe.

The court found that Beki’s death arose from a fight between two groups of people at Daliavu Plantation, in the Talasea area of West New Britain, on Sept 30, 2008.

 Tuka was alleged to have killed Beki by punching him in the head during a confrontation between the Tuka and his brother-in-law, and the Beki and his nephews.

The state was of the opinion that Tuka threw the first and lethal punch and that Beki did nothing to warrant being punched and did not respond to Tuka’s blows.

The defence, on the other hand claimed that Tuka, although present at the scene, did not throw any punches and that Beki was punched by the brother-in- law Mark Orio.

   Meanwhile, the court, having heard the two arguments in the preliminary assessment, stated: “The medical evidence suggests that the deceased died due to a heavy blow to the head. The state’s evidence which was that the deceased was punched on the nose twice – first by the accused and then by Orio – was consistent with the medical evidence.

The evidence of the defence witnesses – that the deceased was punched in the head by Orio, not by the accused – was also consistent with the medical evidence.

There was no evidence, or suggestion, that the cause of death was anything other than the blow(s) to the head inflicted in the altercation.

“Whoever punched him in the head killed him. The question is: Was it Orio? Tuka? Or both?” Justice David Cannings said.

Cannings, who presided over the case last June 16 and then completing it on Jan 20, with his final decision the next day found Tuka, guilty of manslaughter.

 He said: “Making a decision on whether an accused is guilty in a case where diametrically different versions of events are presented is not a simple matter of deciding who to believe.

“The court might tend to believe the version presented by the state witnesses but still find the accused not guilty if it is not convinced beyond reasonable doubt.  However, deciding who to believe is a good place to start the decision-making process and, in this case, I believe the state witnesses.” 

Cannings added that the defence witnesses “gave inconsistent evidence about whether the Morobeans were armed.        

“The contentions that they were armed and that there were six of them are not believable as neither Orio nor Tuka were injured,” he said.

 

POMSoX growing

THE Port Moresby Stock Exchange Ltd (POMSoX) recorded another good trading year due to strong economic growth driven by the multibillion kina LNG project, which is creating genuine opportunities for most businesses across all sectors of the economy, The National reports.

According to its year-end market performance market report, the market was expected to rally this year in connection with forecast strong economic growth and countrywide boom in the resource sector.

POMsox recorded a 118% rise in its total market capitalisation to close at K109.5 billion as of Dec 31, from K50.1 billion at the beginning of last year.

The significant increase in market capitalisation was a result of Newcrest Mining listing last September which contributed K76 billion in capitalisation.

However, the total number of market transactions recorded throughout the year dropped 5.4% to 5,846 from 6,182 in 2009.

The home-listed stocks led the way with higher volume of market activity.

During the year, the Kina Securities Index (Ksi) reached a high of 7,562.29 points and closed the year at 7,430.43, up 9% from 6,816.26 points posted during the same period in 2009.

Meanwhile, the exchange’s investment awareness and education programme continued to play a key role in educating our Papua New Guinean investors.

This programme would be expanded to include an advance seminar programme for investors.

 

 

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.