Wewak tsunami costs at K5 million

Boram hospital shut, items worth K5million lost

 

By GABRIEL FITO

 

BORAM General Hospital in Wewak, East Sepik, has suffered damages running to about K5 million as a result of the Japan tsunami last Friday, The National reports.

The damage cost also included medical drugs and hospital equipment stolen by looters when the hospital’s power generator blacked out when the low-lying Boram peninsula, where the hospital is located, was pounded by metre-high waves.

Hospital CEO Dr Louis Samiak said yesterday they had scaled down services following the serious damages caused to key facilities.

The hospital was temporarily closed except for emergencies, the labour ward, surgical ward, the operating theatre and the special care nursery.

He said the hospital’s standby generator, kitchen, laundry and dispensary, located on the western end of the hospital, suffered most of the damage as the huge waves swept through the hospital ground, knocking down gas cylinders, other equipment and stocks of medicine at the pharmacy.

PNG Defence Force soldiers from Moem barracks yesterday helped the hospital staff in cleaning up around the hospital, including the dispensary area.

The low-lying section of peninsula where the hospital is normally bears the brunt of tidal surges that hit the coastline from time to time.

Samiak said before the waves hit on Friday night, all patients were evacuated to higher grounds.

He said opportunists took advantage of the power blackout by breaking into the storeroom and dispensary and stole medicine and equipment.

Samiak said 61 patients now at the hospital were surviving on biscuits and soft drinks because proper meals could not be prepared .

He said the hospital was also faced with shortage of drugs after the pharmacy was soaked and ransacked by opportunists.

East Sepik deputy provincial administrator technical services Benjamin Warakai visited the hospital and asked for a detailed report on the damage caused.

Samiak said yesterday that the provincial works department had completed a report on the damages and it would costs K5 million to restore all hospital services.

Australian aid worker carjacked in PNG

• From: AAP
• March 15, 2011 3:36PM

ANOTHER Australian aid worker in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby has been carjacked at gunpoint.

The female AusAID employee was returning home on Sunday night with a female friend when robbed by four men, at least two armed with firearms.

According to a widely distributed email, sent to Australian officials by security personnel, there were no injuries.

"The offenders attempted to keep the driver in the vehicle.

"The driver refused and pushed past them and ran down the hill to the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

"This particular location has experienced a number of reported carjackings in recent times," the email read.

It is the third Australian and fourth person working for the Australian aid program this year to be robbed near their home in the popular diplomatic and expatriate area, Touaguba Hill.

But numerous PNG citizens have told AAP they are also suffering a spike in violent carjackings across the city.

Last month, an Irish female media adviser with PNG's national radio station and a male Australian law and justice adviser were attacked separately on the same road.

A week before, an Australian aid adviser was carjacked and suffered "serious injuries" in an attack.

Australian High Commissioner to PNG Ian Kemish at the time met senior police to raise concerns over the carjackings.

The spate in Port Moresby is being blamed on a shortage of police, lack of political will and numerous police being deployed to protect a massive ExxonMobil resource project.

The Economist magazine regularly ranks Port Moresby as one of the five worst cities in the world to live because of violent crime, corruption and the absence of basic infrastructure.

Last November, a young group of Australian volunteers travelling in Madang, on PNG's northeast coast, was carjacked, tied up and robbed, with one woman raped.

Putting pearls before swine in Papua New Guinea

By MALUM NALU

 

Last Sunday, Papua New Guinea saw yet another case of a non-government organisation, which tries so hard to bring hope and change lives of people in this country, falling victim to a senseless case of robbery which only brings more shame to the country.

It only leads us to ask ourselves what PNG is coming to when we steal from, rape and murder people who come in to help us, literally biting the hand that feeds us.

Pearls before swine refers to a quotation from Matthew 7:6 in the discourse on holiness, a section of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, implying that things (such as pearls) should not be put in front of people (or in this case, swine) who do not appreciate their value.

Thieves broke into HOPEworldwide (PNG's) 3-Mile office in Port Moresby and stole medical equipment, computers and staff belongings, and trashed the office.  

HOPEworldwide (PNG) is a Christian non-government organisation founded in 1994, whose mission is to bring hope and change lives by providing medical, educational, and social services to underprivileged Papua New Guineans. 

Those who know HOPEworldwide (PNG) country director, Tessa Te Mata, will know that she has made huge personal sacrifices to help the disadvantaged in PNG, including a well-paid diplomatic job to head up a small NGO with very few resources but full of people with great hearts.

"What is PNG coming to when thieves rob those who try to help the most-helpless?" she asked angrily when surveying the wreckage at the office.

 This is the third security incident in less than a week for HOPEworldwide (PNG).

 Last week, two of HOPE's staff at the 9-Mile clinic were attacked by a member of the public.

 Patients fled in terror and staff were traumatised by the incident. 

Nine-Mile is one of the busiest clinics in Port Moresby.  

HOPE also operates a HIV/AIDs outreach and counselling clinic - Helvim Bilong Yumi Project - at Lawes Road clinic. 

Operations were temporarily suspended last week after the husband of one of the main clinic's staff was car jacked in the car park. 

"HOPEworldwide (PNG) is not a rich organisation" Te Mata said.

 "We survive on donations and grants from overseas and here in PNG. 

"We barely have enough each month to pay our staff. 

"Yet, every year, our staff have to endure robberies and attacks, sometimes at gun point. 

"Every year, thousands of people depend on HOPEworldwide (PNG) for medical treatment and awareness about HIV/AIDs, diabetes and TB; we sponsor hundreds of children who would not go to school otherwise; we help dozens of farmers earn a living; and we have put millions of library books into schools across the nation. 

"Stealing from us is stealing hope and help from people like this."  

Te Mata called on the public to remember the work of faith-based organisations, NGOs and volunteers who work tirelessly for little or no pay. 

 "There is poverty and hardship in PNG," she said.

 "But instead of robbing each other we need to help each other.   

 "NGOs are here to help communities. 

"But communities need to help us too: do not shelter the heartless cowards who did this and do not buy cheap medical equipment or computers off the street because that encourages them to keep stealing.

"One day it might be your child or your mother we can't help because of break-ins like this."

It seems that, in PNG, we are self-immolating because of such animalistic behaviour by the lowliest of beasts.

The HOPEworldwide incidents add to a growing list of murders, rapes and robberies of NGO staff, overseas volunteers and church workers.

In one of the most-notorious cases, which made headlines around the world, an Australian youth ambassador on a surfing break in Madang was raped last November.

The victim was with three other Australians who had travelled to Madang's North Coast Road looking for surfing spots.

The four were carjacked, robbed and then taken to a secluded spot where they were bound to trees and the female raped.

Last month, a spate of car-jackings in Port Moresby gave rise to a climate of fear among some Australian officials, so much so Australia's High Commissioner to PNG, Ian Kemish, met with police chiefs to discuss their concerns.

One of these incidents included a male aid adviser working in PNG's National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) who suffered "serious injuries" in an attack in January during a car-jacking that required him to be flown to Brisbane for treatment.

In Manus, a Japanese volunteer was stoned by drunken youths in 2009, and had to return to his country to undergo brain surgery.

In February 2009, a team of foreign Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) doctors and nurses who were offering their services free of charge in Tari, Southern Highlands province, were evacuated after two of them were attacked by a drunk.

The world-renowned U.S. Peace Corps ceased operations in Papua New Guinea in 2001 due to security concerns.

And the list goes on, and on, and on.

Very soon, PNG will be ostracised from the rest of the world, as they will not want to put their pearls before swine like us.

Somare awaits fate as panel adjourns

By ILYA GRIDNEFF

AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent  

A three-member tribunal hearing allegations of misconduct by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare has adjourned to consider its final decision.

Tribunal chairman Roger Gyles today adjourned the hearing, then said it hopes to decide Somare's fate this week.
If the tribunal uncovers issues related to financial statements, the penalty would not be decided until next week, Gyles said.
The fourth day of the leadership tribunal in Port Moresby heard closing submissions from both sides relating to 25 allegations that Somare failed to lodge his financial records as far back as 20 years ago.
Somare told the court on Monday he had lodged his returns every year and suggested staff might have lost some records that were missing from the Ombudsman Commission.
But the commissioner who initiated the original investigation alleged that Somare had failed to lodge or did not lodge complete forms or did so late and thus breached his responsibility as prime minister.
On Monday, the tribunal decided not to suspend Somare as PNG leader for the duration of the trial.
On Friday last week, Somare's health was of concern after a brief breathing problem, and this week he was using a walking-stick.
Every day of the trial the packed courtroom has been a who's who of PNG's political elite, with numerous cabinet ministers supporting the prime minister, who's been at the forefront of the country's politics for over 40 years.

Cowards rob HOPEworldwide(PNG)

“What is Papua New Guinea coming to when thieves rob those who try to help the most helpless?” HOPEworldwide(PNG) Country Director, Tessa Te Mata asked angrily yesterday  when surveying the wreckage at their 3-Mile office in Port Moresby.
Thieves broke in on Sunday and stole medical equipment, computers and staff belongings and trashed the office.
This is the third security incident in less than a week for HOPEww(PNG).
Last week, two of HOPE’s staff at the 9-Mile clinic were attacked by a member of the public.
 Patients fled in terror and staff were traumatised by the incident.
Nine-Mile is one of the busiest clinics in Port Moresby.
HOPE also operates a HIV/AIDs outreach and counselling clinic (the “Helvim Bilong Yumi Project”) at the Lawes Road clinic.
Operations were temporarily suspended last week after the husband of one of the main clinic’s staff was car jacked in the car park.
“HOPEworldwide(PNG) is not a rich organisation” said Ms Te Mata.
“We survive on donations and grants from overseas and here in PNG.
"We barely have enough each month to pay our staff.
"Yet every year our staff have to endure robberies and attacks, sometimes at gun point.
"Every year thousands of people depend on HOPEworldwide(PNG) for medical treatment and awareness about HIV/AIDs, diabetes and TB; we sponsor hundreds of children who would not go to school otherwise; we help dozens of farmers earn a living; and we have put millions of library books into schools across the nation. Stealing from us is stealing hope and help from people like this.”
Ms Te Mata called on the public to remember the work of faith based organisations, NGOs and volunteers who work tirelessly for little or no pay.
“There is poverty and hardship in PNG.
"But instead of robbing each other we need to help each other.
"NGOs are here to help communities.
"But communities need to help us too - do not shelter the heartless cowards who did this and do not buy cheap medical equipment or computers off the street because that encourages them to keep stealing.
"One day it might be your child or your mother we can’t help because of break-ins like this.”

HOPE worldwide (PNG) is a Christian non-government organisation founded in 1994. Our mission is to bring hope and change lives by providing medical, educational, and social services to underprivileged Papua New Guineans.

Prime minister justifies his 1994-97 returns

By JULIA DAIA BORE and JACOB POK

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday said he has never had any other salary than his parliamentary salary ever since he entered parliament in 1968, The National reports.

He told the leadership tribunal investigating him that each year he had compiled his annual returns himself and denied failing to submit his annual returns of 1994 and 1995 to the Ombudsman Commission as claimed by the Ombudsman Commission.

Sir Michael maintained that he submitted all his returns from 1994 to 1997.

“I have always filled my annual statements every year all by myself. I know for a fact that I have fulfilled my obligations to fill my annual returns and submitted them to the Ombudsman Commission,” he said when cross-examined by the prosecuting lawyer, Pondros Kaluwin.

Sir Michael also maintained that he never received any income from his only business, a plantation he owned in Wewak.

“I have been living on a parliamentary salary from 1968 up until today; I do not have any other extra salary for any other businesses except for transport and travel allowances which are parliamentary benefits.”

He maintained all throughout the cross-examination that he had submitted all his returns.

However, Sir Michael said he fell behind in submitting his returns when he moved offices from being prime minister to being in the opposition and then having to move from Port Moresby to Wewak to be East Sepik governor.

The tribunal heard this was when he engaged family friend and accountant Glenn Blake to assist him with his overdue 1997-98 and 1998-99 annual returns.

The request was made in 2000, he added.

“If you indeed submitted the 1994 to 1997 statements of returns, then they would then be in the Ombudsman Commission’s file, is that right?” was Kaluwin’s final question to the PM, who said: “Yes, that is correct.”

Blake, who took the witness stand soon after, said he had filled out the OC’s required annual returns forms following the way previous forms had been filled up.

Asked if that was the first time he had filled these forms, he said “yes”.

Asked why he had not stated “nil” or “not applicable” where there was no required information, leaving blanks on the forms, Blake said he did not think that was required of him.

He added that when he left them blank, he had thought that they meant that there was no information for him to fill out on that space.

These included the parliamentary salary figures of the prime minister which, Blake insisted, he had great difficulties obtaining despite numerous attempts.

The tribunal continues today.

 

 

Prime minister defeats suspension

By JULIA DAIA BORE and JACOB POK

Legal eagles of the prime minister’s defence team Justine Wohuinangu (left), Ian Molloy and Kerenga Kua leaving the Waigani National and Supreme Court premises after they successfully convinced yesterday’s leadership tribunal that Sir Michael Somare should remain in office as prime minister for the duration of the inquiry. – Nationalpic by AURI EVA

SIR Michael Somare remains the prime minister of PNG for the duration of the leadership tribunal hearing alleged misconduct in office charges against him., The National reports.
This was the decision of the tribunal yesterday morning whose members conferred and agreed that the prime minister remains in office pending the final outcome of the tribunal, which seemed likely to conclude before the end of this week.
The two tribunal members who agreed on this decision were chairman Roger Gyles and Sir Bruce Robertson while Sir Robin Auld “reserved” his decision.
The decision was announced to a packed courtroom one at 11am yesterday following a 35-minute adjournment to reach that verdict on the issue of the PM’s suspension.
This became another first in the history of leadership tribunals in Papua New Guinea.
No other leader, covered under the leadership code, had come this far and remained in office while a leadership tribunal had proceeded with investigating allegations of misconduct in office against the incumbent.
All leaders have been suspended by automatic operation of the law upon the chief justice naming a tribunal but, in this specific instance because of some legal doubts raised over the standing of the prime minister, the chief justice, when naming the tribunal, had said the matter of suspension or not would be left to the tribunal to decide.
This – it did yesterday – creating a precedent and history.
Meanwhile, the prime minister, his accountant Glenn Blake who assisted him in filling out his annual returns forms and Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek took the witness stand later in the morning and in the afternoon and gave their accounts to support their arguments before the tribunal.
Manek was in support of the referral of the prime minister while Sir Michael stood in his own defence, supported by Blake.
Prosecuting lawyer Pondros Kaluwin had, at the start of the tribunal last Thursday, called on the tribunal to immediately suspend the prime minister pending the duration of the tribunal hearing, arguing that the tribunal had the discretion to do so under section 142(6) of the constitution.
The tribunal agreed with the parties to deal with the matter on
Monday, which was yesterday.
Yesterday, while the tribunal agreed with the discretion aspect of their role and commended Kaluwin for acknowledging this, adjourned at 10.22am for 35 minutes and returned at 11am to rule that “there will be no order of suspension” on the prime minister which, effectively, meant that Sir Michael will remain the prime minister throughout the tribunal.
He will perform all functions and powers of the prime minister.
The final outcome of the tribunal would, ultimately, determine the fate of Sir Michael.