Treasurer hits back at K112million claim

FINANCE and Treasury Minister Peter O’Neill has brushed aside claims by National Planning secretary Joseph Lelang that a total of K112 million was paid out to shore up government support in the face of a vote of no-confidence against the Somare government, The National reports.

He described the comments as “misleading and irresponsible”.

Lelang, in an alleged letter to Minister Paul Tiensten last Dec 6, stated that political directives were issued to the department to honour certain government commitments in 2010.

He claimed the department was advised to find money and make necessary payments irrespective of its source.

Lelang stated that on Aug 12 last year, the department was directed by O’Neill, who was Public Service Minister and acting Treasurer, at Havana Club in the presence of Tiensten and Patrick Pruaitch, to release K51 million from the development budget to shore up coalition numbers in view of an impending vote of no-confidence expected last November.

He claimed another K33 million was raised, upon direction by Tiensten and Public Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare, for presentation at the inauguration of the proposed Hela province in Southern Highlands.

Lelang said in the letter that from political direction, a total of K28 million was paid to 14 provincial governors when, in fact, the governors were entitled to only K1 million under the provincial service improvement programme; which meant each governor was paid an extra K1 million or an extra K14 million collectively.

He also claimed that a total of K98 million was dished out on unbudgeted projects following directions from the minister for finance and treasury and the prime minister’s office.

Funds were allegedly drawn from the district service improvement programme (DSIP), business development grants (BDG) and infrastructure development grants (IDG).

O’Neill, however, said he was disappointed that a person holding a senior position in the public service would make media statements that were not based on facts, were outrageous and damaging to the government.

He said the government had done its best to fund all projects submitted by MPs, depending on the availability of funds and irrespective of which side on the floor of parliament they sit.

“The projects listed in the news story are some of the projects identified under Resi (rehabilitation of education sector infrastructure), district and provincial roads, health programmes and growth centre projects which are appropriated in the 2010 budget.

“The government did not push these projects to MPs to buy their support. That is not true.

“Many of these projects came direct from the districts and were submitted to Lelang and the Department of National Planning. But, they were sitting there because of Lelang’s long absence from office, and his inability to deal with them in a timely manner.

“It became very frustrating, and that is why he was given directions to deal with the projects.

“At no time was he told or directed to breach the Public Finance Management Act. If he did, he chose to do so on his own accord and he should be dealt with.”

O’Neill said for the projects identified, cheques were written to the appropriate district treasury accounts with instructions that normal procurement processes and public accounting requirements be followed.

He said no cheques were written to any member of parliament.

“As secretary of national planning, it is Lelang’s responsibility to identify and fund projects, monitor and ensure they are implemented.

“He has failed in his duty and is attempting to pass the buck.”

O’Neill said Lelang was stepping away from his responsibilities and making political statements, breaching his employment conditions, and using false and misleading information to attack the government.

He said an independent audit would be done on the implementation of the 2010 development budget.

Main shooting suspect meets police

Warring Tari and Enga people settle for peace

 

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

A MAN, wanted by police for questioning in relation to the killing of former PNG rugby league player and junior rugby league development officer Aquila Emil, turned up at the Boroko police station yesterday and was questioned but no formal charges have been laid, The National reports.

NCD metropolitan superintendent Joseph Tondop said the man could be charged after all investigations and interviews were completed.

The man complied with a request by police for him to voluntarily turn up at the Boroko police station at 1.30pm yesterday with his lawyers.

The suspect had earlier called The National to suggest that he was attending to a traditional obligation in his village but that he would cooperate with police when he returned.

He denied any involvement in the shooting of Emil and told The National five or six other people were involved.

Police are continuing their investigations.

Emil died from a bullet wound to his upper body, discharged at a close range, in the early hours of last Friday morning near the new Lands building after he came out of the Lamana Hotel.

Meanwhile, superintendent of police operation Jim Namora said the people of Tari and Enga residing in Port Moresby had decided to make peace.

He said leaders from the Hela region invited him to a meeting and told him that they were prepared to make peace and would meet at the Boroko police station this morning.

Namora said police knew the identity of those involved in the five killings reported during the ethnic clash and would make arrests soon, however, he called on leaders from the two groups to bring the suspects forward today and surrender them to police.

The ethnic clash occurred two weeks ago.

 

 

World food prices at historic high

By JAMES LARAKI of NARI

FAO Food Index for January 2011. The index measures monthly changes in international prices of a basket of food commodities. Source: www.fao.org

World food prices surged to a new historic peak in January this year, following rising trend for the seventh consecutive month, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
And the recent catastrophic weather around the globe could put yet more pressure on the cost of food, an issue that has already contributed to spark protests across the Middle East.
The Index, a commodity basket that measures monthly changes in global food prices averaged 231 points, topping the peak of 224.1 recorded during the last food price crisis in 2008.
This is the highest level since FAO started measuring food prices in 1990.
 Prices of all monitored commodity groups registered strong gains in January, except of meat, which remained unchanged.
FAO has warned that the new figures clearly show that the upward pressure on world food prices is abating and these high prices are likely to persist in the months to come.
This trend of high food prices and the likely food shortages in the world offer PNG a real golden opportunity to be food secure and self reliant.
Besides, PNG should take advantage of the situation and improve on its agricultural productivity and production, especially in the food and livestock sectors.
This is possible as PNG has suitable climatic conditions and genetic diversity to produce a variety of food crops and access to improved far
World leaders and international organisations are already raising concerns with the current trend.
World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, urged world leaders to ‘put food first’ and wake up to the dangers of rising food price inflation.
"We are going to be facing a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices" he said
FAO Director-General, Jacques Diouf, said the rapid increase in hunger and malnourishment since the food crisis of 2008 reveals the inadequacy of the present global food system and the urgent need for structural changes.
Some countries are likely to ban food export, especially for major commodities such as grains and cereals and essential oils.
High food prices also are likely to put upward pressure to the domestic inflation in both developed and developing countries.
People are going to be badly affected from riots and protests, a scenario that is already unfolding in the Middle East.
Farmers are likely to go on strike in opposition to governments’ imposition of new export tax regimes in order to safeguard domestic food security.
This will affect millions of people in all parts of the world.
During the last food price crisis in 2008, the World Bank estimated that some 870 million people in developing countries were hungry or malnourished.
The FAO estimates that number has increased to 925 million.
The causes of increase are many, including tight supplies, unfavorable weather conditions, diverting land to non-food production (especially biofuels), and rising demand in emerging economies.
The bottom line reason appeared to be that the world has been consuming more food than it has been producing.
Simply the world is not efficient enough in producing agricultural outputs, especially food commodities.
Also to be blamed is the long-term policy of encouraging cash crops and industrial crops at the expense of food crops.
However, most importantly, the world is not investing enough in agriculture.
The sector is grossly underinvested and underused.
It is often misplaced in policy decision making and development investments.
And Papua New Guinea is very much in this category.
FAO stated clearly that the key to long term food security lies in boosting investment in agriculture.
“The food and economic crisis will have severe impact on millions of people in all parts of the world.
“The global food import bills could pass the one trillion dollar mark in 2011, a level not seen since food prices peaked in 2008.”
Papua New Guinea should make use of this opportunity not only to produce enough for her own consumption but also for export to needy countries.
In doing so, PNG could establish new food trade relationships and niche markets.
Once established, it would be easier to continue and maintain such exports.
The time is right for us to make this happen.
PNG has the advantage because of its huge resource base and potentials which are yet to be explored.
This nation has just six million people with enormous agricultural resources such as vast land mass, fertile soils and favourable climate for various types and kinds of crops.
Papua New Guinea has a rich bio-diversity and a variety of food species, fruits and nuts, and cash crops.
Farmers can grow various crops including cereals and pulses together with a range of livestock species.
There are also abundant land and bio-mass, creating opportunities for bio-fuels as well.
Papua New Guinea has made modest advances on the technology front in terms of improved varieties and practices for a range of agricultural commodities and environments.
There is a huge potential in applying modern bio-technology, processing techniques and value adding, and linking farmers to markets.
Much of these can be achieved through science and technology with appropriate policy and capacity development.
This also means that there must be favourable policies towards agriculture with adequate investment.
The global food crisis is a real golden opportunity for PNG not only to be food-assured and self-reliant, but also be prosperous by being efficient in agricultural production, down-stream processing and exporting to the rest of the world.
And we must not allow this opportunity to go by.

Mutterings of a Mid-Aged Mutt

Check the blog of my good mate, South African man and former PNG resident, Barry Greville-Eyres, http://barrygreville-eyres.blogspot.com/  for some interesting anecdotes of life in PNG and abroad!

Marijuana farm raided

Members of the police mobile squad 11, based in Enga, were among a police unit that raided a marijuana field (pictured) at Apipas village in Wapenamanda early last Friday morning and arrested four people, The National reports.
They uprooted 200 matured plants grown at the back of a house and confiscated 10kg of dried marijuana, neatly packed and stored in the house ready for sale.
Police estimated the drugs’ street value at K300,000.
Police had acted on a tip-off by local leaders.
The marijuana plants were farmed about 30m away from an international school.

Man 'feeds on' infant in Tabubil

A WEEK-old baby was allegedly eaten by his adopted father last Thursday night in what appeared to be a cult-related sacrifice, Tabubil police have said, The National reports.

Tabubil police station commander Sgt Damas Tapea and provincial police commander Chief Insp Peter Philips confirmed that a man, in his 30s, from Tari, Southern Highlands, was in police custody after allegedly eating his adopted daughter.

Frightened neighbours told police that the man had walked into the family home at their Old Wangpin settlement at around 10pm and strangled his Telefomin wife and grabbed the infant by the legs and started biting her face as she slept.

Neighbours told Tabubil police that they were only made aware of the incident when the baby started crying followed by screams from the mother pleading for help.

The man was allegedly heavily intoxicated with alcohol and marijuana when he committed the act, police said.

“From reports I have, the man, Rex Paijawi, was dead drunk when he ate the baby,” Philips said.

According to the PPC, the neighbours pleaded with Paijawi to release the child but he rejected, saying: “God told me to eat the child before the child eats me.”

Philips said neighbours than hit Paijawi with hammer, planks and sticks in the hope that he would drop the baby, but he did not respond.

Philips said the child was eventually removed from Paijawi when local police wrestled him to the ground.

Ex-Kumul icon shot dead outside Moresby hotel

THE PNG sporting community is reeling from the death of rugby league legend Aquilla Emil, who was shot dead last Friday outside a Port Moresby hotel, The National reports.

Emil’s killer, another well-known Papua New Guinean, who, until recently, was holding onto an important government office, remained at large.

Emil was gunned down with a pistol at close range at about 3am following an argument outside the Lamana Gold Club where both men had spent the evening.

Police claimed that the argument started when one of them collided with the other’s car outside the hotel.

NCD metropolitan superintendent Joseph Tondop confirmed the killing, saying police were carrying out investigations.

Aquila, 44, leaves behind his wife from Babaka village in Central with six children – three boys and three girls.

From Umbukul village in New Hanover, New Ireland, Aquila was, until his death, a development officer with the National Rugby League bid team.

Tondop said it was not known whether the killing was premeditated or they had been past stand-offs between “the suspect” and the deceased.

He said that it was also not known whether there were others involved in the killing of Emil, a former PNG Kumul player and rugby league icon.

The top police boss in NCD, while reluctant to give details of the activities of his men in relation to the incident, said they would track down the killer and have him questioned and arrested. 

“Police are aware of the incident and are taking it seriously.

“Normal police process will be followed and, once all evidence relating to the killing are put together, police will make arrests,” Tondop said.  

He said from the gunshot wound, it looked like the deceased was shot with a pistol at close range.

However, he could not disclose whether or not the firearm used in the killing was licensed to the suspect and whether or not the suspect was already in police custody for interrogation.

Meanwhile, Port Moresby General Hospital accident and emergency coordinator Dr Sam Yokopua confirmed the death yesterday but said he would need to verify with his officers on duty last Friday morning to give a full report about the cause of death.