BSP eyes hi-tech Eftpos payment

By BOSORINA ROBBY

 

BANK South Pacific is preparing to roll out a new product that will give convenience and safety to customers, The National reports.

This will be made possible through the use of a new wireless technology

through the gadget called electronic fund transfer at point of sale (Eftpos) or “point of pay” terminal.

Already in use in some centres in the Pacific, the new concept is faster and easier to secure.

It is expected to be operational later this year.

BSP chief executive Ian Clyne yesterday said this Eftpos machine would be more advanced in that customers could pay for their shopping and also make deposits.

He said at the moment, this wireless concept was being trialed, and was  successful, in Fiji.

Now, it is here in PNG where a team of experts are working to get it connected to all BSP branches and agencies nationwide.

Clyne said a wireless Eftpos machine costs US$750 (K1,969), which BSP would be bringing specially for the rural areas through its BSP  rural programme.

The programme is community-oriented in which communities were to take ownership of , and be responsible for, the upkeep and safety of the agency whilst getting services from it.

Clyne said the focus this year would be on 90% of retail mass market customers who would be encouraged to bank with ATMs and Eftpos machines and to only visit main branches for loan applications and creation of new accounts, among many others.

He said the use of modern telecommunication advances such as cell phones would allow BSP to harness the wireless Eftpos, which was one of the many services BSP was introducing this year through retail banking.

BSP was also looking at using cell phones to make payments which would allow greater access to rural communities to basic payment and banking services.

BSP today has more than 2,900 Eftpos machines in the country and would be increasing the units to 6,000 in a few years time.

BSP Fiji would be increasing from 120 to 1,500 and BSP Solomon Islands would go from one to 100.

Clyne said the cost of all these new services and improvements would be substantial.

He stressed that this was an investment they were making in the name of service to Papua New Guinean society.

 

 

Police begin election planning

POLICE will begin planning for next year’s general election next week, acting Deputy Commissioner in charge of operations Fred Yakasa said yesterday, The National reports.

He said an election planning conference, focusing on police election requirements and budget, had been scheduled for Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, from next Wednesday through Friday.

Yakasa said careful and advance planning was vital in ensuring a peaceful, safe and secure 2012 general election.

Pre-election operations were expected to start in April with police visiting potential problem areas, gathering intelligence and conducting general election security awareness.

The police operations chief said from these, a final election security operations plan would be drafted and prepared for execution.

“The plan will include a detailed budget submission to the government for pre-election security operations and the election proper,” he said.

Yakasa said the final plan would include the mobilisation of all resources required for the elections next year.

Individual provincial police commanders were tasked to develop their own election security plans during the commissioner’s annual conference in Lae last year.

They were told to take stock of their resources including manpower, collect intelligence and conduct major pre-election operations.

“Each commander is expected to provide an assessment of what they require per division per province for a peaceful, free and fair election next year,” Yakasa said.

He stressed that all planning should be completed this year.

Yakasa also warned rogue police personnel to improve on their performance and maintain discipline.

He said the Royal PNG Constabulary had set its focus on improving discipline and the fight against crime in all four regional centres, improving security at major resource project sites, reviving and adequately resourcing the police highway patrol unit, improving community policing and police welfare issues.

“The police management is also devising plans and monitoring devises to apprise individual members of the force,” Yakasa said.

He said these measures were necessary because internal investigations had revealed that some policemen had not made any arrests in their entire career while others had not even prosecuted a case.

“Under the new monitoring system, each member will have a daily, weekly and monthly quota of arrests to make and will also be required to prosecute their cases in court.

“Disciplinary actions will be taken against those who do not perform to expected standards, including termination,” Yakasa said.

“It is time for us to earn our wages and provide the policing service the people of PNG deserve.”

 

 

Iamo condemns Deloitte's report

By JAYSON GIMA WURI and FREDDY MOU

 

THE Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) secretary Dr Wari Iamo has condemned an email circulation that was leaked out this week regarding the second report from Deloitte, an international consultancy firm, The National reports.

The report alleged that DEC had misused donor funds deposited into its biodiversity trust fund and compliance with procedures was “at a very low level”.

The report further claimed that 73% of the spending from the trust fund in 2008, the year of its audit, was for “unauthorised purposes”.

It said K223, 000 from the biodiversity trust fund, used for advances to DEC staff in 2007 and 2008, was completely unaccounted for (including K9, 000 for overseas travel).

The report also stated that no bank reconciliations for the Biodiversity Trust Fund had been done for the previous seven months and all the reconciliations for the previous year, used incorrect opening balances.

“There were no monthly reports made by DEC to the Department of Finance on any DEC trust accounts, despite it being a statutory requirement,” stated the report circulating through emails.

However, Iamo said that he commissioned the report in 2008 as a component of the institutional reform process developed through the DEC new strategic directions.

“The report was not done as a requirement of any donor or government initiative, it was an internal report.”

He said the purpose of the report was to

determine whether financial management systems within the department needed to be improved.

Iamo said he was managing the transition of the department to a statutory authority which would allow the development of competitive remuneration and the recruitment of suitably qualified persons to the finance area.

Meanwhile, Bulolo MP Sam Basil described the department as untrusted and called on Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare to sack Minister for Environment and Conservation Benny Allan and the secretary following the report.

“The recent visit and statements made by the minister and his secretary after visiting Hidden Valley has proven to us that their position has been compromised; so if they can be branded as untrustworthy and irresponsible by a reputable accounting firm, then it is to the best interest of all Papua New Guineans that they be sacked immediately by the prime minister without delay,” Basil said.

Community-based advocacy group ACT NOW! had also called on Allan to investigate claims of financial mismanagement and misuse of trust funds as stated in the Deloitte report in his department.

“The minister needs to tell the people of Papua New Guinea what he is doing about these serious allegations,” ACT NOW! programme manager Efferey Dademo said.

“The government is calling on the international community to give billions of kina for deforestation measures, yet the evidence suggests DEC cannot be trusted with donor funds.”

Southern Highlands villagers murder policeman

Corpse dumped into Kagul River

 

By DAVID TERRY of police media

 

A YOUNG policeman was murdered and his body thrown into the fast-flowing Kagul River in Kaupena along the border of Western Highlands and Southern Highlands at about 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, The National reports.

Police confirmed yesterday that 25-year-old probationary constable Isaac Mambi, from Katiloma village in Kagua, Southern Highlands, was attacked by more than 50 knife-wielding tribesmen who mutilated his body and threw it into the river.

Another policeman, identified as James Wali from Kopiago, also in Southern Highlands, escaped with axe wounds. A police high-powered A2 rifle was stolen.

LNG operations officer Snr Insp Michael Tilae said four policemen and five security guards, manning the checkpoint at the Paunda power plant, were alerted by informants of bootleggers trying to smuggle liquor into Southern Highlands by crossing the river on foot.

The policemen and security guards went to investigate by trekking downstream.

When they confronted the suspects, villagers numbering more than 50 gathered around them and one threw a snake at Mambi, which startled him.

Police witnesses at the site said when he tried to brush away the snake, he was attacked and his weapon retrieved.

His colleagues fired warning shots but the assailants continued to attack Mambi with knives, before throwing his corpse into the river.

Police reinforcements went to Kaupena yesterday morning and arrested four people including the driver and crew of a vehicle suspected of smuggling the liquor.

Police investigations are continuing.

 

 

A tribute to Aquila Emil

By MALUM NALU

A couple of hours before his fatal shooting, former Kumul rugby league superstar Aquila Emil held his elder daughter, Vavine, 20, and they both wept.

A memorial banner for Aquila Emil which was made by his former rugby league team mates

Father and daughter had not been on talking terms for some time, but as God would have it, they finally made peace just before his time on earth was through.
Tomorrow never came, as Emil had his life so tragically cut short, and Vavine must now face this world without him.
Emil’s elder sister, Margaret Worri, remembers that all of last week, he had been with her.

Sister Margaret Worri

“That’s the thing that haunts me so much,” she tells me at Emil’s haus krai (house of mourning) today.
“It was more or less a reconciliation time with his children.
“On the Thursday (Feb 3) before he was killed, he drove here to our house and said he was hungry.
“He asked me about my children, and even offered to pay school fees for his nephews and nieces.
“I said my children were fine.
“He then asked me to go with him.
“He asked me to do him a favor.
“He said he had not been talking with his daughter.
“He asked me to go and talk with his daughter.”
Brother and sister drove to DHL, where the daughter Vavine worked, and after much coaxing by her aunt, the reluctant daughter agreed to talk with her father.
“They hugged and cried,” Worri recalls.
“I told her not to be hard on her dad.
“I told her to appreciate dad and thank God.”
Emil dropped off his sister at her home, where she gave him K50, and he drove off into the sunset.
“At 3am on Friday (Feb 4), they called me and told me that he was at the emergency ward,” Worri adds as tears start rolling.
“We went to the emergency ward and there was blood all over.
“I could not believe what I saw.
“Doctors and nurses were trying to resuscitate him.
“His heart was still beating, but then, he took his last breath and closed his eyes.
“I found it hard to cry.
“I touched him all over and then I broke down.
“The saddest thing is that he spent his last couple of days with me.
“He had love for his children, for his brothers and sisters.
“He is gone but his legacy will live on.
“He did not die for nothing.
“Aquila was a peace-maker.
“He was not a violent person.”
Dad is also not coming home again to Jr Aquila, 23, a student at IBS; Martha, 16, in Grade 8 at Babaka Primary School; Rupa Penias, 12, in Grade 7 at Babaka; and Tau Vaitas, 10, in Grade 5 at Babaka.
More so, his soul mate, his beautiful wife, Marieta, from Babaka village outside Port Moresby, who still cannot get over the initial shock of his killing.

Widow Marieta Emil and eldest son Jr Aquila

“I love him so much,” she says as she fights back tears.
“He was a good father.
“He never beat up the children or argued with me.
“He always cooked for us.”
Emil was born in April 1967 on the idyllic island village of Umbukul, New Hanover, New Ireland province, the fifth in a family of five boys and four girls.
Their father was a devout Christian and pastor of the United Church, who passed away last year, while the mother passed away some 20 years ago.
“Aquila was known as Temerem, a village name,” Worri remembers.
“His other nickname in the village was Gurumasi.
“Out of all my brothers, he was probably the shortest.
“He was exactly like our dad.
“I saw that dad loved him more than us.
“He had a special place in his heart for the little man.
“Aquila was a great cook.
“Aquila and I were so close; however, we were also the worst of enemies
“It happened that he gave me a black eye once over a plate of rice.”
Younger brother, Albert, says he learnt so many things such as spearing and diving for fish from Emil.
“I learned so many things from him,” he says,
“Whatever I was supposed to learn from dad, he taught me.”
Emil did Grades 1-6 at Umbul Primary School, Grades 7-10 at Utu High School in Kavieng, and in 1983 went to Malaguna Technical College in Rabaul where he studied printing.
After Malaguna, he came to Port Moresby, signed up with the PNG Defence Force and had a short stint along the PNG-Indonesia border, before returning to Port Moresby and rugby league stardom.
The livewire “little man” from New Ireland electrified the Lloyd Robson Oval starting from 1988 onwards for Port Moresby Brothers.
Those were the halcyon days of club football in PNG as the artful dodger strutted his stuff for Brothers against legendary teams such as Kone Tigers, Paga Panthers, Magani, Wests, Tarangau, Defence and the likes.
I was a fresh-faced cadet reporter out of university, at Niugini Nius with the inimitable sports team of Jack Metta and Ronald Bulum, and Emil gave us some of the greatest live shows that PNG has ever seen, that we often ran out of superlatives to describe him.
Later, after Niugini Nius closed, I teamed up with Post-Courier and The National and covered many games around the country with Emil starring for Port Moresby Vipers in the inter-city rugby league competition and also international games for the Kumuls.
In 1993, during the World Sevens in Sydney, Vipers, captained by Emil, Wests’ magician Tuksy Karu at pivot, and players par-excellence such as fullback Philip Boge, Mark Agi and Daroa Ben-Moide demolished highly-fancied NRL teams and shocked and entertained the rugby league world.
They proved all critics wrong and made it all the way to the finals.
The same boys were part of the best-ever Kumul side that nearly caused the upset of the century when they almost beat the seemingly-invincible Australian Kangaroos in Townsville in 1991.
The Kumuls were eventually beaten 34-14, but it was the best-ever result for the Kumuls, considering it was not the usual cricket scorelines we have today.
The halves combination of No. 6 Karu and No. 7 Emil demolished the Australian combination of Laurie Daley and Allan Langer, while Hanuabada fullback Philip Boge blew Michael Hancock off the paddock with a solid tackle which saw him carried out on a stretcher.
Emil’s life was taken in a moment of madness last Friday; however, the memories will never die.
And the most-touching thing is that his wife and family have forgiven the alleged killer, saying God himself will be the judge.
“We will forgive and let God himself be the judge,” Worri says.
“We come from a humble, Christian family and we were brought up in a loving way.
“We will maintain that.
“I know that if dad was here, he would say the same thing.”

Relatives displaying the memorial banner at the haus krai today

Digicel becomes major sponsor of PNG's premier rugby league tournament

The newly titled Digicel Cup tournament will provide rugby league in PNG with a major boost, following the announcement of a new partnership with PNG-NRL, which sees Digicel become title and major sponsor of the country’s premier semi-professional rugby league tournament.

The significant sponsorship investment by Digicel will include the provision of communication services to the tournament organiser and teams as well as a major marketing and promotional campaign, which will help to take the country’s favourite rugby league tournament to a new level. 

Digicel is committed to supporting the PNG-NRL’s stated ambition of growing the footprint of the tournament and bringing in new teams and new host cities across the country.

The inaugural 2011 Digicel Cup will kick-off in early May and feature 10 teams, increasing from nine in 2009, playing 18 weeks of round robin action with five exciting games each weekend to look forward to.

The major PNG-NRL sponsorship sees Digicel become one of the country’s biggest investors in rugby league. 

Digicel’s unrivaled nationwide network offers mobile coverage in all seven cities and surrounding areas that will feature in the 2011 Digicel Cup

Digicel PNG CEO, John Mangos said: “Digicel is passionate about the development of sport in PNG and rugby League is the sport of the people.

“As PNG’s leading mobile service provider, there is a natural fit for us with the country’s premier national tournament which engages with hundreds of thousands of fans right across the country.

“We look forward to working in partnership with PNG-NRL board and the participating franchise teams to support their ambition to grow this wonderful tournament further and make provide even bigger and better league action.”

Don Fox, chairman of the board of PNG-NRL, welcomed Digicel as the tournament’s new title sponsor.

“Digicel’s sponsorship is fantastic news for the tournament, for the franchise teams and for all rugby league fans across country.

“The inaugural Digicel Cup, which will see 10 teams compete for the country’s most-coveted title looks set to be even more exciting than ever. 

“Digicel will be very welcome partners on our board and we look forward to their assistance and support over the next few years.”

PNGNRL bid gets on Broncos' shorts

PAPUA New Guinea, through its PNGNRL Bid team, will fork out more than K700, 000 as a minor sponsor for Brisbane Broncos in the upcoming NRL season, The National reports.

The move had expanded PNG’s horizons and, seemingly, its chances of success by opting to go into partnership with the glamour NRL club in a deal that would see the government-backed pro-ject effectively buy advertising space on the Broncos uniform (shorts).

Newly-elected Broncos chief executive Paul White, along with the club’s development manager Marty Roven and general manager of commercial operations Terry Reader, flew into Port Moresby yesterday to finalise a shorts sponsorship deal with the PNGNRL bid team worth about A$250,000 (K700,000) a season.

The visitors were holding talks with PNGNRL Bid board members Powes Parkop (NCD governor) and Philemon Embel (Sports Minister) over the deal.

The package, when confirmed, would see the country’s NRL bid aspirations use the famous Broncos club as a springboard to better name recognition in Australia’s NRL market.

“We are using Broncos as a medium to promote the bid and, at the same time, learn from them how to promote PNG-NRL franchise in preparation for the NRL expansion exercise,” Parkop said.

“The PNGNRL Bid team needs necessary skills on how to run a franchise, and could not go past Brisbane.”

But the new development had come at a cost with the preemptive resignations of the bid’s strategic adviser Paul Broughton and general manager Beverly Broughton.

The husband-and-wife team called it quits after what they described was a “conflict of interest” situation where Paul’s concurrent position as an executive of the Gold Coast Titans franchise had placed him in direct opposition to the proposal.

Broughton claimed the deal was put together at his back and he did not favour a marketing drive for NRL inclusion over funding for player, coaching and infrastructure development.

“Once I found out that the negotiations were going on, I immediately resigned because it was a conflict of interest because of my role with the Titans,” Broughton said.

 “(The Broncos) have made a commercial decision and they are going to be paid money for doing it.

“But, I could never do it against my own club.

“(The PNG bid team) knew I did not favour that type of progress to enable them to secure a licence.”

Sources within the bid team, however, have countered Broughton’s assertions, saying he had been aware of the impending deal months in advance and was also a part of the planning process which agreed that branding would play an essential role in marketing the country’s bid.

Funding for the shorts’ deal would come from the K20 million allocated by the national government to the PNGNRL Bid team. It was meant for the team to work with partners to secure a licence for the PNG team in the world toughest rugby league competition in Australia.

The National has been informed that the deal had been signed but was yet to reach the NRL commercial and marketing division for registration. NRL director of commercial and marketing Paul Kind could not be reached for comments.

However, a sports administrator in the country has described the move by the bid team as hypocritical and shallow.

He said the bid had yet to show one tangible result for all the monies poured into the project (see back page).

He said the Broncos joining forces with the PNG bid team could harm the chances of the consortium rallying for a second club in the city.

Former Broncos backer Craig Davison was behind a bid for a second Brisbane team to enter the NRL if the incoming independent commission to run rugby league decided to expand the competition.

The PNGNRL Bid logo would make its first appearance on the Broncos’ shorts when they play their opening trial of the pre-season against Gold Coast at Wynnum on Saturday night.

The Broncos were yesterday adamant the commercial association had no connection to the bid for a rival Brisbane team headed by Davison.

“This deal has been in the pipeline for nine months but we are on our way there as we still have to finalise some details,” White said in a statement.

“It will be an exciting partnership for both parties.

“For the Broncos, it will be a formal link into the one country in the world where rugby league is the national sport. And, it will also provide a link for Papua

New Guineans and their favourite team, the Brisbane Broncos.”

The group behind a potential second Brisbane club would hold its official launch at Suncorp Stadium on Feb 21, unveiling ambassadors and sponsors.