Bumpers punched up for Hohola league

By MALUM NALU

The Freeway Bumpers B Grade side come rushing off the paddock like they’ve won the grand final of the Hohola off-season rugby league competition.
Garbed in their brand-new uniforms, courtesy of Vitis Industries, they’d just delivered a lethal knockout punch, head the competition and look primed to take out the grand final in a couple of weeks time.
They come out singing and chanting to their benefactor, Vikki Mossin, director of Vitis and herself a street-wise girl who was raised in Hohola.
On this Saturday morning, Feb 19, Mossin finds herself surrounded by muddy football players and diehard fans.

Vitis director Vikki Mossin (left) with Freeway Bumpers B grade players in their brand-new uniforms after yesterday's crushing victory in Hohola off-season rugby league.-Picture by MALUM NALU

Boys from the mean streets of Hohola 3 along the freeway, who would otherwise be involved in mischief, had it not been for such sporting competitions.
Vitis is the maker of popular alcoholic beverages such as Coffee Punch and Vanilla Punch so, suffice to say, they’d concocted the Bumpers into a storm in the tea cup of the Hohola competition.
“On behalf of the management and staff of Vitis Industries, we’re happy to come out and sponsor a community-based team,” Mossin says.
“We’ve bought two sets of jumpers for A and B grades, shorts, socks, canvas and an esky.
“The cost is met by Vitis Industries to the tune of about K7, 000.”
Bumpers’ manager David Wambun says both A and B sides are doing well in the 16-team competition, which is played alongside the popular Lareva Market.

Vitis director Vikki Mossin (left) shows off the new uniforms with team manager David Wambun

“The B grade is leading the competition,” he adds.
“A grade is in fourth place.
“We have approached a couple of companies for sponsorship assistance, however, have not received any response.
“Vitis Industries responded immediately, and positively, something for which we are grateful for.
“We hope to reciprocate by winning both grand finals.”

Power blackouts to continue in Port Moresby and Lae

By MALUM NALU

The new Kanudi gas turbine power station, which is expected to be operational by the end of this month, and helping to alleviate ongoing blackouts in Port Moresby.-Picture courtesy of PNG Power

Residents of Port Moresby and Lae will have to put up with ongoing electricity blackouts in the short-term, according to PNG Power chief executive officer Tony Koiri.
He said this in an exclusive interview last Friday in relation to the frequent blackouts in both cities.
They have been experiencing a spate of blackouts since last year, resulting in business houses and individuals losing million in business and private property such as electrical appliances, as well as experiencing security problems and many others.
Koiri said while the blackout problem in Port Moresby would be somewhat alleviated by the end of this month with a new gas turbine at the privately-owned Kanudi power station in Port Moresby, Lae residents would have to be patient as the main station at Yonki in Eastern Highlands, Ramu 1, needed a complete refurbishment, similar to what was done at Rouna 2 outside Port Moresby.
He said K50 million would be needed for refurbishment at Ramu 1 as PNGPPL looked to set up a new power station at Malahang in Lae to replace the outdated Milfordhaven station.
No time frame for refurbishment work at Yonki, or when the new power station at Malahang would be built, were given,
Koiri said Port Moresby currently needed 100 megawatts of power, however, only 54 MW was currently being supplied by Rouna, Kanudi and Moitaka power stations.
“The main contributing factor is the huge growth in demand of electricity with all the developments,” he said.
“Growth is running at about 10% (electricity demand) per annum.
“That’s the highest.
“On average, when you look at the past 20 years, the growth rate was about 2.5%
“This is a five-fold increase in electricity demand over the last two years.
“We never envisaged that the growth would be that much.
“All our planning was based on very conservative estimates.
“A lot of cities around the world don’t even have 10% growth, maybe in countries like India and China, but not the others.
“We need to quickly look at what generations options we have.
“Things like, for example hydro projects, take about four years to bring on line.
“Large thermal power stations take about two to three years.
“For us, this can’t solve our problems, so we go for expensive options like putting up gas turbines, like the one installed at Kanudi.
“We are hoping that this comes on line at the end of February.
“As far as the city is concerned, we are meeting demand now, but for us to properly manage the huge power supply system, we need to build up redundancy.
“We need about 24 megawatts of additional supply reserves to properly manage the power supply system in the city.
“With the gas turbine in February and redundancy units, we should have enough to meet demands, at least for the next six to eight month.
“By the end of this year, PPL needs to put in an additional 30 megawatts of diesel generation, just to meet increased demands and to have the reserves that we need.
“In the long term, we are looking at developing Naoro/Brown River hydro project which will give us 80 megawatts.
“We are anticipating, come 2015, for the power station to be up and running.
“We are also hoping that by 2014, some gas from the first LNG project will be made available for power generation.
“With these two projects, power supply in the city of Port Moresby will be secure from a generation point of view.
“Obviously, network type improvements will have to be invested in, including upgrading, and new lines.”
Koiri said in Lae, the main problem was that PNGPPL’s main station at Yonki, Ramu 1, needed a complete refurbishment, similar to what was done at Rouna 2.
“We are about to sign a contract with a company for K50 million as soon as financing arrangements are in place,” he said.
“The refurbishment project should take two years.
“Short-term solutions to the ongoing power outages in Lae are required.
“We are investigating acquisition of a new power station at Malahang.
“The power station will be sufficient to meet all of Lae’s requirements.
“We need to put that out quickly.”
“The issue of funding is now being discussed with patrons like Nambawan Super, in conjunction with IPBC.”
Koiri said PNGPPL was hoping to sign a memorandum of understanding with Nambawan Super this week for some assistance.

Once here, they can cause a lot of trouble

By JOHN PASQUARELLI in The Australian

February 19, 2011 12:00AM

IN 1978, Malcolm Fraser established the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs, which had Petro Georgiou as its director for 1980-85. In the blink of an eye, the multicultural die had been cast and, while ordinary Australians didn't know it then, their once stable and ordered society would never be the same again.

Those Liberals and Nationals who supported Fraser share the responsibility and the shame for selling out mainstream Australia, betraying those whose safety and security is supposedly the chief priority of all politicians.

Between 1975 and 1982 Fraser oversaw 200,000 migrants arriving from Asian countries, including nearly 56,000 Vietnamese refugees as well as 2059 boatpeople also from Vietnam, who arrived without permission and without documents. Fraser gave us the double whammy when, in 1976, his government allowed thousands of Lebanese Muslims in despite his own immigration department warning against this.

In a short time, Labor's immigration minister Al Grassby and then Fraser, striking at the heart of the core Australian society of Anglo-European heritage and the First Australians, laid the foundations for a multicultural industry. It quickly attracted a vast circus of academics, students, politicians, journalists and the chattering classes with its departments, committees, boards and faculties.

Hot on their heels were the self-appointed spokesmen for ethnic groups, cunning enough to understand the rush for the ethnic vote by MPs and the taxpayer-funded hand-outs that accompanied this disgraceful direction in politics.

The Labor Party was quickly out of the starting gates with its branch-stacking of Muslims in Sydney's west, exposed by Paul Keating's revocation of Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali's deportation order.

Multiculturalism spread like wildfire. Ordinary Australians were denied any opportunity to debate the policy that would change their nation irreversibly. Just to question multiculturalism brought accusations of racism from practically every politician and journalist in the land.

In 1996, Pauline Hanson arrived on the scene and said what she thought about issues such as multiculturalism, foreign aid and the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Hanson gave the mainstream a voice.

John Howard dropped the multicultural portfolio, nervously confirmed by Labor after last year's election but Chris Bowen dropped a bombshell a few days ago when he announced the restoration of the portfolio and full-on multiculturalism, including anti-racism strategies and other mechanisms that will require taxpayer dollars. Politicians and the media live mainly in safe, leafy suburbs, away from dangerous ethnic ghettoes that were once white working-class suburbs. Who cares for those who have been killed by ethnic criminals who are the direct product of multiculturalism?

Australians now face a new era of uncertainty, and who will defend them against those who are determined to destabilise more than 200 years of cultural history? Labor is in tatters, but would an Abbott government be any better given the multicultural apologists that abound in the Coalition?

John Pasquarelli is a former Papua New Guinea territorial MP and an adviser to Pauline Hanson.

Whopping K500 million for Bougainville

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

BOUGAINVILLE has received a massive K500 million from the national government to use in key infrastructure projects over the next five years, The National reports.

The government’s assistance was aimed at reviving the economy of the strife-torn region.

An agreement was signed in Port Moresby yesterday between the Autonomous Bougainville Government and PNG government to seal the deal.

Also included in the agreement were resolutions to transfer several national government powers, including education, health, lands, forest, and agriculture and teaching service.

Earlier, the ABG had demanded that the national government pay the K30 million (K15 million each) for the 2009 and last year’s budget allocations before they could agree to sign the agreement.

However, an agreement was reached and the K500 million financial package would be paid to Bougainville starting next year in K100 million per year installments.

 The arrangement was outside of the national government budget.

Projects to be covered under the restoration and development financial package included the reopening of the Aropa airport, Arawa hospital, Buka airport and the relocation of the administration headquarters from Buka to Arawa.

Co-chair and Deputy Prime Minister Sam Abal, when announcing the K500 million package, said the agreement signalled a new chapter for PNG and the ABG to develop the region.

He said the Bougainville people had suffered a lot during the 15-year crisis and the PNG government was doing what it could to restore peace and harmony through this infrastructure financial package.

Abal also invited international donors and investors to provide counterpart funding to also assist Bougainville through it restoration period.

President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville John Momis, as co-chair, said the meeting was a success which had dealt with situations confronting Bougainville.

“Today can be described as a cultural paradigm to mutual understanding and, if we can manage the cultural momentum, then we can address the challenges faced by Bougainville and the K500 million financial package is welcome news in Bougainville.”

 

Parliament to meet for a day

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

PARLIAMENT will be recalled for a day’s sitting next Friday to swear in the governor-general-elect, Michael Ogio, The National reports.

Cabinet sources said the government’s only agenda would be the swearing-in of Ogio. The house would then adjourn to May.

At the moment, Ogio could not assume the office of the governor-general or present his credentials to the queen until he had been sworn in.

This will be the second time parliament would be recalled, since it was adjourned (to May 10) last November, to deal with matters concerning the office of the governor-general.

Parliament was first recalled on Jan 11 after the Supreme Court voided the election of Sir Paulias Matane and ordered parliament to meet within 40 days to elect a new governor-general. Ogio was elected on Jan 14 beating rival Sir Pato Kakaraya 65-23. Eight votes were declared informal.

Parliament was ill-advised and elected to resume in May. However, realising that Ogio could not take up office until he was sworn in, arrangements had been made for the house to meet next Friday.

Speaker of parliament Jeffery Nape is acting governor-general.

Upon his election as GG, Ogio automatically lost his political representation as member for North Bougainville and minister for higher education, science and technology in cabinet. The ministerial portfolio had been vested in the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare

 

 

Explain K4 billion 'daylight robbery'

The National Editorial - Thursday, February 17, 2011

 

ACTING Deputy Police Commissioner operations Fred Yakasa again gave us a stark reminder of corruption in Papua New Guinea when he said on Tuesday that a mammoth 50% of its budget annually is lost to fraud.

This works out to a whopping K4 billion a year, which Yakasa bluntly said had gone into the hands of corrupt public servants and senior bureaucrats, many of whom he alleges have invested these gains overseas.

On top of that, PNG fails to collect more than half of the taxation revenue that is due to it.

Internal Revenue Commission has admitted that hundreds of millions have been lost through tax evasion, false declarations and companies hiding their books from authorities.

Hundreds of millions are lost annually through non-compliance by companies in submitting their tax returns while IRC, because of capacity constraints, limits its checks to major corporate entities operating in the country.

Yakasa’s words should be taken note of by every citizen of PNG if we want to see our country develop.

We can only hope that the recent meetings in Crowne Plaza between the acting Prime Minister Sam Abal and senior public servants from Waigani and the provinces will stop this daylight robbery of public funds.

Apart from fraud, there is an element of ineptness among public servants, which they cover up with meetings, workshops, and meaningless junkets, exploiting their travelling allowance without achieving any results to better the lives of our people.

The most critical issue the Somare government must address is the performance of the public service, and especially that of the heads of government departments and agencies.

 The minister and secretary of National Planning and Monitoring, the first assistant secretaries as well as all heads of associated agencies, and the minister and secretary for Finance and their line managers have to explain the K4 billion fraud allegations.

Are the allegations true or false? We must know and they are the only persons who can answer these questions.

Each one of them is affected by and stands accused by the words of Yakasa: “PNG has the wealth to provide each and every one of us with first – world quality of life.

“Where does the money go?

“It disappears into the pockets of corrupt public servants; it disappears into real estate properties in Australia and Vanuatu, into bank accounts in Singapore and it disappears in the form of minerals and timber in foreign ships that foreign businesses have bribed our politicians to avoid paying for.”

If the accusations are false then the onus is on the relevant senior public servants and their political leaders to come out and defend the good names of their various offices.

The nation’s top planners admitted last December that there was a highly-organised syndicate operating with the bureaucracy who preys on recipients of government cheques.

They included public servants, bank workers and police personnel who may have milked the state of millions of kina over the years.

These people cannot be operating in isolation. Somebody must know of somebody involved in this. Why is nobody speaking out?

Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) recently expressed disgust at the collapse of the government’s financial management systems as Public Account Committee reports clearly showed a complete lack of accountability within the public service.

TIPNG says that it was very sad to learn from that from the 1,000 enquiries carried out by the PAC into the operations of various government agencies, hospital boards, and trust accounts most have not complied with lawful requirements.

The PAC has sounded the alarm bells and the national executive council must address this situation as the highest priority.

We understand the various PAC reports have been sitting with the NEC gathering dust, if this is true then this is indeed an indictment on the members of the NEC.

It is totally unacceptable that government, and particularly the NEC, turns a blind eye to reports submitted by the PAC.

From the point of view of the people, when government does not bother to respond to theft and malpractice, it becomes an accomplice of those who are stealing and misusing the people’s resources.

This state of affairs suggests the government has no respect for the people it is sworn to serve and is certainly not serious about ensuring that proper procedures and regulations, particularly the Financial Management Act, are adhered to by all agencies in a transparent manner.

Lack of action by the government continues to feed and encourage more unlawful practices, translating into non-delivery of goods and services for the ordinary people.

 

Farewell to a hero

By KEVIN TEME

PAPUA New Guinea rugby league star Aquila Emil epitomised rugby league as an ambassador, as a mentor, a leader and a player, The National reports.

Pallbearers and former Kumuls Stanley Haru (from left), Joshua Kouoru, Ronald Tovue, Kera Ngaffin, Philip Boge and Richard Wagambie with the cacsket of the late Aquila Emil during the funeral service at at Reverend Sioni Kami Memorial church in Port Moresby yesterday.-Nationalpic by EKAR KEAPU

And as his son, Junior Aquila Emil made his way to the altar (pulpit) to read his father’s eulogy, he broke the hearts of the congregation who shed tears freely at the funeral service at the Reverend Sioni Kami Memorial church yesterday.
For some they had seen him as an inspiration to their own lives.

Widow Marieta (second from right), eldest son Aquila Emil Jr  and eldest daughter Vavine (left) weep as members of the great 1992 Kumuls carry the casket of Aquila Emil into church

Fighting back tears, Junior said: “My dad was a great mentor, he gave his best a father could ever give and he would always support us.”
“The death of my father will leave a lot of pain in our hearts but he had left many lessons for us to learn and many memories that we will never forgot.
“We thank God that you had been a wonderful father to us,” Junior said.

Aquila Emil's casket against the backdrop of grieving family members

NCD Governor Powes Parkop, who attended the funeral, said: “He was a true ambassador of rugby league and his charisma will be a turning point for all.
“They should put their differences aside and work for the common good of the game Emil loved. Emil had done that so we must continue to carry on the good work he had left.
“He is a true ambassador not only in rugby league but for his family and those who were around him,” Parkop said.
Parkop was among others, including former PNG Rugby Football League chairman Albert Veratau, the PNGNRL Bid team, former PNG Kumuls coach John Wagambie, who flew in from Alotau, former Kumuls mentor Mark Mom and the chairman of selectors Arnold Krewanty who attend the church service.
The others were Stanley Haru, Richard Wagambie, Philip Boge, Kera Ngaffin, Joshua Kouru, Ronald ToVue, Charlie Wabo, Jessie Joe, Nigel Hukula and Johnson Kuike.

Former Kumuls Joshua Kouoru (left), Tuksy Karu and Ronald Tovue laying wreaths on the casket of the late Aquila Emil yesterday

Emil’s death had inspired many within the rugby league fraternity, his family, friends and those around him.
His fame in the rugby league arena would leave a lasting legacy and footprints in the hearts of the rugby league administrators, players and, more importantly, the upcoming juniors.
Many spoke highly of him as one of the best league players of all-time. One of the best coaches in PNG and a former teammate Adrian Lam in memory of Emil has named his junior scholarship programme, the Aquila Emil scholarship scheme under the banner of the Adrian Lam Foundation.

Junior rugby league players whom Emil helped to develop pay their last respects

The late Aquila Emil’s body will be flown out to his village, Meteui, New Hanover, New Ireland, today.
His death had also brought everyone within the PNGRFL together for the first time since the in-house conflict surfaced in 2009.
Emil has shown the light for all PNGRFL stakeholders to work together for the good and development of the game.
He would be keen to see the work he left behind continue to develop so that the nation could love watching andreading about rugby league

Till we meet again...Aquila Emil's inlaws from Babaka village sing a last song of goodbye