By STEPHANIE ELIZAH
CIVILIANS in the Konnou constituency of South Bougainville are living in fear as armed thugs continue a killing spree that has been ongoing since 2006, The National reports.
In a most recent spate of killings, two people, including a Grade 6 student of Ugubagohu primary school, are dead and another is wounded and recovering at the Arawa health centre.
South Bougainville police commander Paul Kamuai confirmed armed thugs fired several shots at civilians last Saturday, killing the two people instantly and wounding the other.
He said policemen were immediately dispatched to the area to protect the villagers and investigate the deaths.
Preliminary reports received by police said the gunshot victims were drinking alcohol when the armed thugs shot them in the head and chest and wounded the other on the leg.
Commander of Wissai Liberation Movement Philip Pusua, who travelled to Buka yesterday to report the fatal shooting, said no one knew why the latest shooting deaths had taken place.
He claimed the criminals were followers of former combatant Damien Koike from Mohoroi village in the Tabago area of South Bougainville and alleged they were led by Koike who moved into Leulo village indiscriminately firing shots at civilians before fleeing into the unoccupied Siniminoi and Tonolei jungles.
He said 23 civilians, including women and children, had been killed by Koike’s band of criminals in the Wissai area.
Pusua appealed to the PNG and Bougainville governments and former combatants in Bougain¬ville to protect the people of Konnou.
“I call on the government that we are not fighting a war or have a crisis in the Wissai Konnou area, we are being surrounded by a bunch of criminals, murderers, killing human beings in cold-blood, criminals who don’t have any desire for humanity, people who listen to no men,” he said.
“I want to appeal to the government or the ex-combatants to come up with an appropriate solution or action to address this lawlessness.
“I think it is time we draw a line between political issues and law and order issues, or should there be a law for our government in providing welfare and security for its citizens,” he said.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Somare:Abal will continue top job
PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare said acting Prime Minister Sam Abal will continue to perform the functions and responsibilities of the office of the prime minister, The National reports.
“I have accepted the decision of the tribunal and have served out the period of my two-week suspension from office as prime minister,” Sir Michael said.
“The country is in good hands and, while I am pleased that the period of my suspension is over, I will remain on medical leave until further notice,” the prime minister said in a short statement yesterday.
Abal, who is Deputy Prime Minister and Works minister, had been acting since Sir Michael was suspended.
“I take this opportunity to once again thank all the visitors and well-wishers, including those who are praying for my return to good health and speedy recovery,” Sir Michael said.
The prime minister, who is on medical leave in Singapore, said he had been visited by friend and former Australian prime minister and now foreign minister Kevin Rudd.
“During this period of infirmity, I was fortunate enough to be visited by my former Australian colleague, and now minister for foreign affairs, Kevin Rudd, on his way back from an official visit to the Middle East and Europe.
“We discussed issues surrounding my health and the possibility of a visit by Rudd to PNG in May.
“I reassured him that he is a friend of PNG and we will be looking forward to his visit,” Sir Michael said.
 |
Rudd drops in on PM … Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare got a surprise visit from his good friend and Australian foreign minister (and former Australian prime minister) Kevin Rudd while in Singapore on medical leave. Rudd was on his way back to Australia from duty visits to the Middle East and Europe. During the encounter, Sir Michael and Rudd also discussed the possibility of the latter visiting PNG next month.
|
“The country is in good hands and, while I am pleased that the period of my suspension is over, I will remain on medical leave until further notice,” the prime minister said in a short statement yesterday.
Abal, who is Deputy Prime Minister and Works minister, had been acting since Sir Michael was suspended.
“I take this opportunity to once again thank all the visitors and well-wishers, including those who are praying for my return to good health and speedy recovery,” Sir Michael said.
The prime minister, who is on medical leave in Singapore, said he had been visited by friend and former Australian prime minister and now foreign minister Kevin Rudd.
“During this period of infirmity, I was fortunate enough to be visited by my former Australian colleague, and now minister for foreign affairs, Kevin Rudd, on his way back from an official visit to the Middle East and Europe.
“We discussed issues surrounding my health and the possibility of a visit by Rudd to PNG in May.
“I reassured him that he is a friend of PNG and we will be looking forward to his visit,” Sir Michael said.
Ex prime minister fights for resources
By JEFFREY ELAPA of The National
“TODAY, I propose to transfer wealth to resource owners, to those simple villagers who are blessed with owning a piece of inherited customary land, many of whom remain poor – so they too can enjoy a worthwhile, more satisfying life.”
So saying, governor of New Ireland and former prime minister, and one of the longest-serving parliamentarians, Sir Julius Chan yesterday proposed before a parliamentary committee to turn the mining, oil and gas extraction regime on it head.
He proposes, among others, to:
*Wrestle ownership of minerals and oil and gas back from the state into the hands of customary landowners;
*Devolve resource development powers to the provincial governments;
*Have local companies be licensed to explore and develop mineral and oil and gas resources with management rights extended to foreign firms if no expertise is found onshore; and
*Streamline existing state agencies into two so that one engages in exploration and extraction activities and another being an investment house.
Sir Julius, who moved a motion on May 14, 2009, for a comprehensive review of the Mining Act of 1992, said in a hard-hitting presentation that PNG was a country in “crisis”.
“If we do not correct some serious faults and failures in the way we approach the extraction of resources such as minerals, gas and oil, we will not only continue to fail to deliver progress to our people but will put the very survival of our country at peril.”
He said history had shown that resource-rich nations like PNG did not often do well while resource-poor countries like Singapore and South Korea do very well indeed.
He said this was because of the effects of the “resource curse” linked to resource developments, which drive up the cost of doing business in the country so that all other sectors of the economy suffer while only the resource sector prospers.
While the “resource curse” could be beaten, as had been experienced in other countries, it could only happen in PNG with a quantum shift in the way the resources sector was managed from the legal and policy framework up, Sir Julius said.
He said the past ad hoc and project-to-project approach should be reviewed so that resource landowners and the provincial government take ownership of their resources.
He blamed the current regime on no particular PNG administration but on a historical accident where PNG had inherited an Australian colonial legislation that discriminated against and took ownership of minerals and hydrocarbon resources from landowners and vested it in the administration, later the national government.
From then on, he said, it was “a story of ineptitude, ignorance, robbery and deceit”.
“It is shocking such a story can be told; even more shocking that it is the truth. But, it is the truth.
“We – the state, the people – have been duped. I know it is uncomfortable, but we must face the truth.”
Sir Julius, a former prime minister and the minister for finance, said ownership of the resources by the landowners was important for the equitable distribution of benefits.
He said PNG had been described as a “mountain of gold floating on a sea of oil”, but the truth was that the wealth of the nation was squandered and, in so doing, condemned our people to poverty while others prospered.
“Without mincing words, our country has been systematically giving away its birthright.
“That is not rhetoric; it is literally true.
“We may be pardoned for this at self-government, at independence but, after 35 years, we should have matured.
“The national government either does not understand or does not care that the way it has structured the minerals, oil and gas industries – indeed, the entire renewable and non-renewable resource sector, including fisheries and forestry – is not only wounding the people of this country, it is robbing the state of what should be its legitimate incomes for the development of the country.
“How has this happened?
“Put politics aside. We need to take a bi-partisan approach to correct our mistakes.
“TODAY, I propose to transfer wealth to resource owners, to those simple villagers who are blessed with owning a piece of inherited customary land, many of whom remain poor – so they too can enjoy a worthwhile, more satisfying life.”
So saying, governor of New Ireland and former prime minister, and one of the longest-serving parliamentarians, Sir Julius Chan yesterday proposed before a parliamentary committee to turn the mining, oil and gas extraction regime on it head.
He proposes, among others, to:
*Wrestle ownership of minerals and oil and gas back from the state into the hands of customary landowners;
*Devolve resource development powers to the provincial governments;
*Have local companies be licensed to explore and develop mineral and oil and gas resources with management rights extended to foreign firms if no expertise is found onshore; and
*Streamline existing state agencies into two so that one engages in exploration and extraction activities and another being an investment house.
Sir Julius, who moved a motion on May 14, 2009, for a comprehensive review of the Mining Act of 1992, said in a hard-hitting presentation that PNG was a country in “crisis”.
“If we do not correct some serious faults and failures in the way we approach the extraction of resources such as minerals, gas and oil, we will not only continue to fail to deliver progress to our people but will put the very survival of our country at peril.”
He said history had shown that resource-rich nations like PNG did not often do well while resource-poor countries like Singapore and South Korea do very well indeed.
He said this was because of the effects of the “resource curse” linked to resource developments, which drive up the cost of doing business in the country so that all other sectors of the economy suffer while only the resource sector prospers.
While the “resource curse” could be beaten, as had been experienced in other countries, it could only happen in PNG with a quantum shift in the way the resources sector was managed from the legal and policy framework up, Sir Julius said.
He said the past ad hoc and project-to-project approach should be reviewed so that resource landowners and the provincial government take ownership of their resources.
He blamed the current regime on no particular PNG administration but on a historical accident where PNG had inherited an Australian colonial legislation that discriminated against and took ownership of minerals and hydrocarbon resources from landowners and vested it in the administration, later the national government.
From then on, he said, it was “a story of ineptitude, ignorance, robbery and deceit”.
“It is shocking such a story can be told; even more shocking that it is the truth. But, it is the truth.
“We – the state, the people – have been duped. I know it is uncomfortable, but we must face the truth.”
Sir Julius, a former prime minister and the minister for finance, said ownership of the resources by the landowners was important for the equitable distribution of benefits.
He said PNG had been described as a “mountain of gold floating on a sea of oil”, but the truth was that the wealth of the nation was squandered and, in so doing, condemned our people to poverty while others prospered.
“Without mincing words, our country has been systematically giving away its birthright.
“That is not rhetoric; it is literally true.
“We may be pardoned for this at self-government, at independence but, after 35 years, we should have matured.
“The national government either does not understand or does not care that the way it has structured the minerals, oil and gas industries – indeed, the entire renewable and non-renewable resource sector, including fisheries and forestry – is not only wounding the people of this country, it is robbing the state of what should be its legitimate incomes for the development of the country.
“How has this happened?
“Put politics aside. We need to take a bi-partisan approach to correct our mistakes.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
On a wing and a prayer
By MALUM NALU
Paul Gilma graduated with a degree in tropical agriculture from University of Vudal (now University of Natural Resources and Environment) in 2006 but unlike his colleagues, who settled for cosy jobs in our towns and cities, he answered the call of the wild.
This young man from Nondugl, in the great Waghi Valley of Western Highlands province, decided long ago that he wanted to work in the undeveloped rural areas of Papua New Guinea, serving the people that time has long forgotten.
That dream came true when, after graduation, he joined the Coffee Industry Corporation in Goroka where, with single-minded determination, he worked himself up to the position of freight surety co-ordinator.
This job is not for the meek or faint-hearted, let alone the conniving “paper farmers” of Waigani, as it involves travelling to some of the most-remote and rugged terrain of PNG, where only eagles dare, to ensure that coffee from these areas - that are off the government’s radar – gets transported to market.
There is so much coffee in these forgotten rural areas, estimated at 700,000 bags or almost the entire coffee production of PNG, that just rots away because there is no transport to market.
When Gilma flies in on a wing and a prayer on a tiny singled-engined Cessna 206, flown by dedicated missionary pilots from third-level airlines like Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF), New Tribes Mission (NTM) or Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Aviation, he is in his forte.
He is feted like royalty and the locals – who see outsiders only once in a blue moon – cook up a feast for him.
He spends days, even weeks, with these people, organising freight of their coffee as well as carrying out extension work as he awaits the next available flight to Goroka, which no-one knows when will arrive.
He admits that sometimes, when he is with these rural people, he breaks down and cries, as he thinks about what we people in town have.
“Sometimes, when I talk to these people, I break down and cry,” Gilma tells me.
“Some of these people have never been to town.
“Airplanes are the only means of transport
“We, in urban areas, have access to so many services, and yet, we still complain.
“These little people also contribute to the economy of the country, through their coffee, and yet don’t complain.
“They are my heroes, my driving force.
“Sometimes, I feel that I want to buy a plane for them, if I have the money.“When I go, they say ‘bosman bilong CIC I kam (the CIC boss is here)’, and they cook so much food for me.”
Gilma’s anecdotes could fill a whole book.
“Once,” he recalls, “I flew out to Owena airstrip in the Obura-Wonenara area of Eastern Highlands.
“From Owena, I walked for a day to Aziana airstrip.
“I stayed there for two days talking to farmers, walked back to Owena, and from there walked to Tainoraba airstrip.
“I came back to Owena and stayed there for three weeks, collecting data and organising farmers.
“That was the whole purpose of the trip.
“Sometime later, I flew to Simbari in Obura-Wonenara, where the MAF plane left me, and I walked with a group to Norambi airstrip.
“Another time, I went to Marawaka.
“After that, I went to Andakombi, which is on the border of Eastern Highlands, Morobe and Gulf provinces.
“I went there and gave them two days training in rehabilitation and post-harvest.
“I stayed at Andakombi for one week and came back in an SDA plane.
“Some of these people still go about in their traditional clothing.
“Sometimes, planes don’t even land in these areas, and as a result, coffee just rots away because there is no means of transporting it to town.”
The freight surety scheme has the fully blessing of the CIC board and is successor to the former freight subsidy scheme, which was also run by CIC.
“We identified the need to help rural growers who found it hard to transport their coffee to market,” Gilma explains.
“The programme was first started in 1999 as freight subsidy scheme.
“Back then, the government funded the programme.
“At that time, there was also the ‘Green Revolution’, and PNG Defence Force aircraft were used.
“The government subsidised 40% of total freight costs, and 60% was met by the farmers themselves.
“This was done from 1999 up to 2001, but by then, the money was not enough to cover all coffee-growing provinces in PNG, so subsidy funds were depleted, and the programme came to a halt in 2001.
“In 2002, the CIC board reviewed the freight subsidy policy, and revived it as freight surety or revolving scheme.
“Under this, there was no 60-40; growers themselves had to pay 100% of costs.
“Some farmers had the capacity to take their coffee to market, while others couldn’t.
“Under this scheme, CIC made upfront payment to third-level airlines.
“When farmers asked for assistance, we paid up front, and expected them to pay back the money.
“This is how our freight surety scheme worked.
“This was in place from 2003-2007.”
A spanner, however, was thrown into the works when airlines were not properly reporting coffee shipments, as well as farmers not wanting to pay the surety component, and the programme came to a halt in 2007.
In 2008, it was revived again under CIC’s incentives scheme, and in 2009, the full programme came under Gilma’s wings.
"In 2009, the full responsibility was given to me,” he says.
“We had not been very consistent in the past.
“Some farmers lost interest in the programme.
“There was no information going out to them.
“I had to start from scratch, identifying grower groups and mobilising them.
“We restarted the programme in only Eastern Highlands and Chimbu provinces, with only K200, 000.
“Since I came on board, there has been some difference, especially in volume.
“In 2008, only 23,000kg of parchment coffee was airlifted.
“In 2009, I tried my best to increase the volume, and we increased this to 53,000kg.
“Last year was about the same as we airfreighted about 50,000kg.
“We did not get any new grower groups or spread out to other provinces.”
Gilma has made a submission to the Department of National Planning and Monitoring for assistance, and K500, 000 has been approved for this year and K500, 000 for next year.
“We’re now looking at expanding to all coffee-growing provinces,” he adds.
“We want to delegate responsibilities to all provinces so farmers can access the service.
“We want to get as many growers as possible on board.
“We are also building the sustainability concept.”
Paul Gilma, one of the many unsung heroes of PNG, continues his labour of love for the forgotten rural people of this country.
Paul Gilma graduated with a degree in tropical agriculture from University of Vudal (now University of Natural Resources and Environment) in 2006 but unlike his colleagues, who settled for cosy jobs in our towns and cities, he answered the call of the wild.
 |
| MAF Cessna loading coffee at Owena |
+with+a+village+elder+in+traditional+clothing+at+Andakombi.JPG) |
| Paul Gilma (left) with a village elder in traditional clothing at Andakombi |
That dream came true when, after graduation, he joined the Coffee Industry Corporation in Goroka where, with single-minded determination, he worked himself up to the position of freight surety co-ordinator.
 |
| Paul Gilma...enjoying the call of the wild |
 |
| Coffee at rural Owena awaiting airfreight |
When Gilma flies in on a wing and a prayer on a tiny singled-engined Cessna 206, flown by dedicated missionary pilots from third-level airlines like Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF), New Tribes Mission (NTM) or Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Aviation, he is in his forte.
 |
| Coffee bags being unloaded from an MAF Twin Otter at Aiyura, Eastern Highlands |
He spends days, even weeks, with these people, organising freight of their coffee as well as carrying out extension work as he awaits the next available flight to Goroka, which no-one knows when will arrive.
He admits that sometimes, when he is with these rural people, he breaks down and cries, as he thinks about what we people in town have.
 |
| Paul Gilma...a true champion of our rural coffee growers |
“Some of these people have never been to town.
“Airplanes are the only means of transport
 |
| Coffee growers listening to Paul Gilma at Andakombi, Eastern Highlands |
“These little people also contribute to the economy of the country, through their coffee, and yet don’t complain.
“They are my heroes, my driving force.
“Sometimes, I feel that I want to buy a plane for them, if I have the money.“When I go, they say ‘bosman bilong CIC I kam (the CIC boss is here)’, and they cook so much food for me.”
 |
| Paul Gilma teaching coffee growers about pruning at Andakombi |
“Once,” he recalls, “I flew out to Owena airstrip in the Obura-Wonenara area of Eastern Highlands.
“From Owena, I walked for a day to Aziana airstrip.
“I stayed there for two days talking to farmers, walked back to Owena, and from there walked to Tainoraba airstrip.
“I came back to Owena and stayed there for three weeks, collecting data and organising farmers.
“That was the whole purpose of the trip.
“Sometime later, I flew to Simbari in Obura-Wonenara, where the MAF plane left me, and I walked with a group to Norambi airstrip.
“Another time, I went to Marawaka.
“After that, I went to Andakombi, which is on the border of Eastern Highlands, Morobe and Gulf provinces.
+with+CIC+service+provider+Ekim+Ulato+at+the+headwaters+of+the+Purari+River.JPG) |
| Paul Gilma (left) with CIC service provider Ekim Ulato at the headwaters of the Purari River |
“I stayed at Andakombi for one week and came back in an SDA plane.
“Some of these people still go about in their traditional clothing.
“Sometimes, planes don’t even land in these areas, and as a result, coffee just rots away because there is no means of transporting it to town.”
The freight surety scheme has the fully blessing of the CIC board and is successor to the former freight subsidy scheme, which was also run by CIC.
“We identified the need to help rural growers who found it hard to transport their coffee to market,” Gilma explains.
“The programme was first started in 1999 as freight subsidy scheme.
“Back then, the government funded the programme.
“At that time, there was also the ‘Green Revolution’, and PNG Defence Force aircraft were used.
“The government subsidised 40% of total freight costs, and 60% was met by the farmers themselves.
“This was done from 1999 up to 2001, but by then, the money was not enough to cover all coffee-growing provinces in PNG, so subsidy funds were depleted, and the programme came to a halt in 2001.
“In 2002, the CIC board reviewed the freight subsidy policy, and revived it as freight surety or revolving scheme.
“Under this, there was no 60-40; growers themselves had to pay 100% of costs.
“Some farmers had the capacity to take their coffee to market, while others couldn’t.
“Under this scheme, CIC made upfront payment to third-level airlines.
“When farmers asked for assistance, we paid up front, and expected them to pay back the money.
“This is how our freight surety scheme worked.
“This was in place from 2003-2007.”
A spanner, however, was thrown into the works when airlines were not properly reporting coffee shipments, as well as farmers not wanting to pay the surety component, and the programme came to a halt in 2007.
In 2008, it was revived again under CIC’s incentives scheme, and in 2009, the full programme came under Gilma’s wings.
 |
| Paul Gilma talking to coffee growers at Simbari, Eastern Highlands |
“We had not been very consistent in the past.
“Some farmers lost interest in the programme.
“There was no information going out to them.
“I had to start from scratch, identifying grower groups and mobilising them.
“We restarted the programme in only Eastern Highlands and Chimbu provinces, with only K200, 000.
“Since I came on board, there has been some difference, especially in volume.
“In 2008, only 23,000kg of parchment coffee was airlifted.
“In 2009, I tried my best to increase the volume, and we increased this to 53,000kg.
“Last year was about the same as we airfreighted about 50,000kg.
“We did not get any new grower groups or spread out to other provinces.”
Gilma has made a submission to the Department of National Planning and Monitoring for assistance, and K500, 000 has been approved for this year and K500, 000 for next year.
“We’re now looking at expanding to all coffee-growing provinces,” he adds.
“We want to delegate responsibilities to all provinces so farmers can access the service.
“We want to get as many growers as possible on board.
“We are also building the sustainability concept.”
Paul Gilma, one of the many unsung heroes of PNG, continues his labour of love for the forgotten rural people of this country.
Coffee industry welcomes World Bank project
By MALUM NALU
 |
Coffee Industry Corporation board chairman James Korarome (left) and Rural Industries Council executive officer Graham Ainui (right) lead World Bank officials including project task team leader Mona Sur (lcentre) to Mark Solon Auditorium at University of Goroka where the launching took place.-Picture by MALUM NALU
|
Exporters’ chairman John Edwards, processors’ chairman Jerry Kapka, plantation representative Max Kumbamong, Western Highlands’ smallgrowers’ chairman Peter Kewa and Jiwaka smallgrowers’ chairman James Koimo were united at the launch of the coffee segment in Goroka on Tuesday last week.
“Our coffee industry is slowing down,” Edwards said.
“The PPAP is giving us another chance.”
Kapka, managing director of renowned Kongo Coffee, said a lot of money was going to be pumped into the industry.
“By the time this project is finished, we want to see coffee earn K2 to K3 billion a year,” he said.
“We want credible people to be involved in this project.”
Kumbamong said the government had failed the industry many times, such as the ill-fated national agriculture development plan (NADP), in which millions were alleged to have been stolen by “paper farmers”.
“This is a great opportunity for Papua New Guineans to benefit,” he said.
“Such plans are long overdue.”
Kewa said smallholder growers were facing many problems.
“Prices are not going down to the farmers,” he said.
“We need farmer training.
“We need group marketing.
“This is where World Bank can come in.
“We have to work together and make this industry develop.”
Koimo said the soon-to-be Jiwaka province had set itself an ambitious target of one million bags per year.
“We have set a target of one million bags per year,” he said.
“Jiwaka produce 40% of PNG coffee but is not receiving services.
“I think it’s best that CIC decentralises extension services to the provinces.
“It’s timely that the World Bank has come in and we want you to work with smallholder coffee growers.”
NARI show on May 5
By MALUM NALU
Hundreds of people are expected to converge on the National Agricultural Research Institute at Bubia outside Lae on Thursday, May 5, for the annual Agricultural Innovations Show for 2011 to be staged at its Sir Alkan Tololo Research Centre.
The programme starts at 8.30am and continues for the whole day.
This will be the fifth year of this ‘information exchange and knowledge sharing’ event in which partner and collaborating organisations in agricultural and rural development will display and exhibit their innovations and improved technologies, and interact with farmers and the general public.
The theme for the May 5 event is “Investing in Innovative Agriculture for Prosperity”.
This day also marks NARI’s 14th anniversary.
This year’s show will involve demonstrations and displays of materials and technologies.
NARI will also be officially releasing three improved technologies to the farming community.
There will be a number of government officials, private sector representatives and other stakeholders participating.
Also participating and presenting their activities will be a number of research and development agencies, the private sector, educational and training institutions, extension providers, NGOs, and community groups.
Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Paru Aihi, has confirmed his availability to be the chief guest at the show.
 |
Scientist Michael Dom (centre) showing pig silage with Highlands Pig Farmers’ Association president Moses Pala (left) and Tambul farmer Akilo Purunu at the 2010 NARI Agricultural Innovations Show.-Picture by MALUM NALU
|
The programme starts at 8.30am and continues for the whole day.
This will be the fifth year of this ‘information exchange and knowledge sharing’ event in which partner and collaborating organisations in agricultural and rural development will display and exhibit their innovations and improved technologies, and interact with farmers and the general public.
The theme for the May 5 event is “Investing in Innovative Agriculture for Prosperity”.
This day also marks NARI’s 14th anniversary.
This year’s show will involve demonstrations and displays of materials and technologies.
NARI will also be officially releasing three improved technologies to the farming community.
There will be a number of government officials, private sector representatives and other stakeholders participating.
Also participating and presenting their activities will be a number of research and development agencies, the private sector, educational and training institutions, extension providers, NGOs, and community groups.
Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Paru Aihi, has confirmed his availability to be the chief guest at the show.
Lands Department denies selling land
By JUNIOR UKAHA
THE Lands Department has refuted claims the land on which the iconic First House of Assembly building stands has been sold to a foreign developer, The National reports.
Lands acting secretary Romily Kila Pat said the report in The National yesterday was misleading “as the land in question was never sold, but leased, to the Lamana Development Group by the state to build a replica of the historical first House of Assembly”.
Details of the lease agreement remained unclear but Pat said the place would be turned into a “tourist attraction and not a hotel” as claimed by David Western Construction manager David Kini.
How much the project was worth remained unclear as well.
Pat said the developer was allowed to develop the area under a “special public-private partnership arrangement”.
He said the government had no money to improve the place and decided to relinquish it to the Lamana Development Group to develop on its behalf.
Pat said the land on which the first House of Assembly stood consisted of two separate plots, hence, under the arrangement, the developer would develop the site using its own resources and, after completion of the job, would take as its reward a portion of the land in the block.
Pat said the arrangement with the developer was made a couple of years ago and the then governor-general (Sir Paulias Matane) was fully informed of and approved the deal.
National Museum and Arts Gallery acting director Dr Andrew Moutu, whose organisation was the custodian of the property before its acquisition by the developer, said yesterday The National report was “partly true and partly incorrect”.
He would not elaborate, saying many factors were involved.
A planned interview with him failed as his phone was switched off.
Attempts to get comments from the developer yesterday were unsuccessful.
THE Lands Department has refuted claims the land on which the iconic First House of Assembly building stands has been sold to a foreign developer, The National reports.
Lands acting secretary Romily Kila Pat said the report in The National yesterday was misleading “as the land in question was never sold, but leased, to the Lamana Development Group by the state to build a replica of the historical first House of Assembly”.
Details of the lease agreement remained unclear but Pat said the place would be turned into a “tourist attraction and not a hotel” as claimed by David Western Construction manager David Kini.
How much the project was worth remained unclear as well.
Pat said the developer was allowed to develop the area under a “special public-private partnership arrangement”.
He said the government had no money to improve the place and decided to relinquish it to the Lamana Development Group to develop on its behalf.
Pat said the land on which the first House of Assembly stood consisted of two separate plots, hence, under the arrangement, the developer would develop the site using its own resources and, after completion of the job, would take as its reward a portion of the land in the block.
Pat said the arrangement with the developer was made a couple of years ago and the then governor-general (Sir Paulias Matane) was fully informed of and approved the deal.
National Museum and Arts Gallery acting director Dr Andrew Moutu, whose organisation was the custodian of the property before its acquisition by the developer, said yesterday The National report was “partly true and partly incorrect”.
He would not elaborate, saying many factors were involved.
A planned interview with him failed as his phone was switched off.
Attempts to get comments from the developer yesterday were unsuccessful.
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