National Alliance looks at 'a range of issues'

THE ruling National Alliance party held marathon meetings, running all throughout last week, to discuss a range of issues, including the referral of its parliamentary leader Sir Michael Somare, The National reports.

The NA council, which included the full executive wing and the parliamentary wing, discussed, among other things, succession issues pertaining to the leadership of the party should the leadership tribunal decide to suspend the prime minister.

Although a leadership tribunal has been named, Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia had left the issue of suspension up to that august body to decide when it meets on March 10 rather than the automatic application of the law which would have meant Sir Michael was suspended at the naming of the tribunal.

That particular decision, as well as the chief justice’s decision to bring in three judges from common law jurisdictions, had not been without controversy among the bench as well as from the wider community.

Succession issues in National Alliance had been an on-going and contentious point of discussion over the years and The National had learnt it had entered a crucial stage now the prime minister was referred and was most likely to be suspended.

While the highlands faction of the NA had the numerical strength in the party, its deputy leader in Don Polye was no longer the deputy prime minister, which is held by Works Minister Sam Abal. This had presented the party with a dilemma.

The NA constitution stated that the successor to the parliamentary leadership would be drawn from the regional deputies.

Next year’s elections also featured high in last week’s discussions and it was expected that a team would be selected following this NA council meeting to take the party and government into the elections next year.

 

 

NPC takes over LNG claims

THE national planning committee (NPC) will, with immediate effect, vet all memorandums of agreement and ministerial commitments relating to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, The National reports,

Deputy Prime Minister and NPC chairman Sam Abal had directed Treasury and National Planning departments to refrain from effecting payment of all outstanding claims by landowner groups.

He said in a statement yesterday that all payments would be screened by the expenditure implementation committee (EIC), the peak bureaucratic-level committee sanctioning all proposals for funding against the various benefit streams for oil and gas, particularly the LNG business grants, MoAs and ministerial commitments.

He said following EIC vetting and approved lists of proposals made, these would then be subjected to final vetting by the NPC.

“The prime minister has appointed me to ensure LNG-related issues are handled properly and I will do that with full participation of all related committee members,” Abal said.

“Except for one or two BDG cases that are subject to litigation, as far as the government is concerned, the case regarding BDGs is closed.

“It has been paid on site and there are no further payments to be made.”

The deputy prime minister said with regards to MoA commitments, “we sympathise with the landowner groups that have waited long”.

“Payment of MoAs will be the government’s most immediate focus and attention.

“Ministerial commitments made within the context of the PNG LNG negotiation and the BSA will be the next to be considered.

“Through NPC, we will seek to settle these claims as soon as possible.”

Abal also reaffirmed his early direction that all payments would be paid on-site in front of the people to whom these monies were intended for in improving their livelihoods and standard of living.

He appealed to landowner groups living in Port Moresby not to complicate issues for the government by resorting to a “confuse and plunder” strategy but return to their people in project areas and organise from there.

“We must cooperate with the government to settle these issues once and for all,” Abal said.

 

 

Borer decreases yield

By ELIZABETH VUVU

 

EAST New Britain’s economy has been devastated by the cocoa pod borer since it first showed up in 2005, deputy governor Boniface Setavo told The National yesterday.

Setavo said cocoa production in the province had dropped from 28,000 tonnes two years ago to 8,000 tonnes – a drastic drop of 20,000 tonnes which he attributed in part to the CPB.

This equated to a loss of income to ENB of around K150 million, he said.

He said CPB had taken a toll on the lives of many rural cocoa farmers who contribute the most to the total cocoa production in the province.

 “This is a disaster quite diffe­rent to the 1994 twin volcanic disasters, but it has an equal or greater impact that has affected many rural farmers who depend exclusively on income from cocoa,” Setavo said.

He said the loss of this revenue had multiple effects on other economies in the province and with such a huge socio-economic effect, it was important that the national government must save the industry by injecting much needed funds.

Setavo also indicated that the World Bank would be injecting much-needed funds for a nationwide CPB eradication programme.

He said these funds must be channelled through the legally established institutions charged with the responsibility of resurrecting the industry.

Setavo supported calls made by the PNG Growers Association to the minister for agriculture and livestock to look into the appointment of a representative board to the Cocoa Board.

He said this board should concern itself with quality control and other regulatory measures and leave the rest of the activities to the other participants in the industry.

ENB currently has a centre point of coordination and implementation of much needed funds for the CPB eradication programme called the provincial CPB committee.

He suggested that the committee should be the focal point for coordination of the different sectors.

Currently, the growers were not seeing much assistance and those farmers receiving some help were being confused by different agencies competing to provide service to them, he said.

Setavo expressed some delight in the farmers’ resilience to CPB and who had learnt and were now diversifying into other short, medium and long term crops.

The province is witnessing the emergence of a diversified agro-based economy based on alternate crops which has been possible through a number of integrated projects including Toriu Headwaters, Illi Stand Alone, Illi Wawas, Suikoi, Memalo and Mukus-Tolo development pro­jects which would see major developments in oil palm, cocoa, balsa and reforestation.

 

Chief justice must resign, says opposition

Namah calls for Injia's resignation

 

Amidst serious dissent within Papua New Guinea's judiciary over the appointment of foreign judges to deal with prime minister Sir Michael Somare's alleged misconduct charges, chief justice Sir Salamo Injia has been called on to quit his job.

Leader of PNG Party and Vanimo/Green MP Belden Namah said that in PNG's national interest, Sir Salamo should resign because he had no trust and confidence in his fellow indigenous National and Supreme Court judges to hear Sir Michael's alleged misconduct charges.

"Sir Salamo's unilateral decision to appoint foreign judges to the prime minister's leadership tribunal is an insult to the intelligence and capabilities of our most loyal, dedicated and learned judges," Namah said.

"It is an act of disturbing distrust and no confidence in the current serving judges, who are held with highest esteem by the wider PNG community.

"It is not only an act of distrust, but undermining the profound statue of the very judges who uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary - the third arm of government.

"By having no faith, trust and confidence in PNG's very own judges, the office of the chief justice has been brought to disrepute, thereby demeaning that office.

"It is no wonder that many judges were angered because there were no consultations among the judges."

On February 21.  2011, Sir Salamo named three pre-eminent retired judges: Australian Roger Gyles as chairman of the tribunal with members, New Zealander Sir Bruce Robertson and British Sir Robin Auld to Sir Michael's leadership tribunal.

Namah said he respected the three eminent judges, but was concerned of PNG's own judges not consulted and considered to be on the tribunal.

As well, he noted with concern the comments by a senior judge, who wanted to remain anonymous that "the decision to overlook our own judges is open to all manner of justifiable criticisms"

"It is justifiable for people to think that our judges are incompetent, biased and bribable.

"I feel insulted - what can the appointed members (of the leadership tribunal) do that I can't?" the judge said.

Namah said the comments by the senior judge were very serious and should not be taken lightly and simply swept under the carpet and forgotten.

"This is because it is generally accepted in PNG that if the other two arms of the government, the executive government and legislature (parliament) are non-functional, the judiciary remains the nation's beacon of hope" he said.

"That hope, trust and confidence of the judiciary is now seriously eroded to the point that the general public is asking whether or not the judiciary has become a rubber stamp of the current Somare government.

"With that backdrop, it is proper for the honorable chief justice to voluntarily resign in PNG's long-term national interest and restore the confidence of the third arm of government."

Has Papua New Guinea descended into dictatorship?

From PAUL OATES

Has Papua New Guinea descended into dictatorship?

PNG's Prime Minister Somare has previously denied he has become a dictator but what is a dictator? Here are a couple of definitions:

Wikipedia: A dictator is a ruler (e.g. absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power ….

Concise Oxford Dictionary: Dictator – absolute ruler … who suppresses or succeeds a democratic government.

The PNG Parliament has been suspended for the third time in a row, an action that has been claimed to be directly contravening the PNG Constitution.

 Surely one can but draw no other conclusion than Parliament has been suppressed.

 But has democratic government been suppressed?

The essence of democratic government is defined in Wikipedia as: 'a form of political organization in which all people, through ….. elected representatives … exercise equal control over the matters which affect their interests.'

The Concise Oxford Dictionary goes a step further: 'government by the people, direct or representative; the politically unprivileged class.

The last definition highlights that the 'unprivileged class', or everyday person, should be actually running the affairs of government through their elected representatives.

However, does anyone really believe that in today's PNG, the unprivileged class or everyday citizen or even their elected representatives actually in control?

 If not, then who is in control of the country?

Quoting from the PNG Constitution:

'211. ACCOUNTING, ETC., FOR PUBLIC MONEYS.

(1) All moneys of or under the control of the National Government for public expenditure and the Parliament and the Judiciary for their respective services, shall be dealt with and properly accounted for in accordance with law.

(2) No moneys of or under the control of the National Government for public expenditure or the Parliament and the Judiciary for their respective services, shall be expended except as provided by this Constitution or by or under an Act of the Parliament.'

In a recently-reported statement, a PNG deputy police commissioner publically identified that half of PNG's annual budget was lost to corruption.                                                       Amazingly, no government minister or representative rose to deny this statement or defend their responsibility to effectively and accountably govern PNG.                                                    Of course with parliament suspended, there could be no forum for this disastrous situation to be debated and fully examined could there?                                                                              So can anyone really say that there is a government in control of PNG at the moment.               If no one is obviously in control of the country then clearly there cannot be an existing dictatorship.
Maybe there is reality, just a vacuum waiting to be filled.

Petromin Haus adds to changing Port Moresby skyline

By MALUM NALU

The magnificent Petromin Haus today.-Picture by MALUM NALU

The changing skyline of Port Moresby continues with the magnificent new Petromin Haus at 2-Mile in Port Moresby, opposite Murray Barracks, which will be opened on Friday by prime minister Sir Michael Somare.
Petromin today gave no costs for the building, except to say that all would be announced at the opening.
“The building was pre-fabricated in Indonesia to Petromin specifications, and delivered, with all furniture and fittings, in containers,” according to the company.
“This includes the cost of land, design, materials, fittings, furniture, and security features.
“The building is one of PNG’s first green buildings, and has many energy-saving features, including climate control, insulated roofing, and reflective glass panelling.
“It is designed to save energy.
“The building was designed to company specifications by a Jakarta-based firm, and was constructed over a period of 10months.
“It is earthquake proof, and the structure is coated in a fireproof material that ensures that despite fire damage, the structure will remain intact.”
Petromin staff began operating from the premises on Jan 3, 2011.
All divisions and subsidiaries of the company are located within the building, except for the Tolokuma gold mine administration, which is still based at Waigani.
Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd is an independent company created by the state of Papua New Guinea to hold the state's assets and to maximise indigenous ownership and revenue gains in the mineral and petroleum sectors.
It is empowered as the vehicle to better leverage the state's equity holdings and encourage more production and downstream processing of oil, gas and minerals in PNG through proactive investment strategies either wholly or in partnership with resource developers.

Red ants wage war on borer

ENB cocoa experts to check on locals’ claim

 

By ABIGAIL APINA

 

A COUPLE in East New Britain has claimed that red ants have played a vital role in tackling cocoa pod borer (CPB) in their cocoa block, The National reports.

They noticed a few weeks ago that the quality of cocoa that was covered with red ants was better than those without ants.

“The quality of cocoa with red ants on them is good and creamy, and we believe this could be a possible solution to fighting CPB throughout the country,” they said.

James and Bonnie Wartovo said they were amazed when they realised the difference when harvesting cocoa in the past few weeks.

Another villager also claimed that ants were fighting CPB in her backyard cocoa block.

She told The National that she had been monitoring her cocoa trees for a few weeks and later concluded, after several harvests, that red ants were fighting the borer.

A scientist at the Cocoa and Coconut Research Institute (CCI), Dr Eremas Tade, said there was a possibility red ants were fighting CPB.

He said black ants were used to fight CPB in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Research showed that biological controls such as black ants were harmless to the pods and deadly to the borers.

He said the claims made by these villagers were important and CCI would send a team to investigate these cocoa trees and to confirm the role of red ants in CPB management.