'Government parked K5 billion in bills with banks’

By JEFFREY ELAPA

 

THE government has parked more than K5 billion in treasury bills with commercial banks which has cost the state dearly in steep banking fees, opposition spokesman of finance and economic matters and Lae MP, Bart Philemon told parliament yesterday, The National reports.

He revealed this in questions directed at acting Prime Minister Sam Abal.

Philemon wanted to know why the government had banked revenue earned from high commodity prices with commercial banks rather than with the central bank which offers far lower rates to manage the fund.

He suggested that this practice was in breach of the Public Finances Management Act as well as due processes.

He added that the commercial banks received 5%-6% interest for managing the treasury bills which the central bank has to pay the banks while the interest paid to government was a mere 1%-2%.

Philemon said the central bank might have paid as much as K4 million to the commercial banks for managing the treasury bills.

"This is the biggest scam played by the government," he said.

The former finance and treasury minister said treasury bills should be held with the central bank as the authorised agent for all treasury bills. He said it appeared this established process had been bypassed the responsible departments and their political heads.

Philemon said that it was a poor decision by the ministers and the government to abuse all due financial management processes.

Abal said judgment of the performance of the ministers is the responsibility of the prime minister and it is not something for the parliament to know.

"I will not go into the discussion on the performance of the ministers as it has nothing to do with parliament," he said.

He said that the decisions to park the treasury bills are government policy decisions and directives and it was not done for any personal interest, adding that the government has approved it through the policy guidelines.

From a land of milk and honey

Caption: Milk, eggs, cream and yoghurt produced by EBC Farm at 6-Mile, Lae.-Picture by MALUM NALU

 

By MALUM NALU

 

Not many people may know that a farm just outside Lae has for years been supplying the city with fresh dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt.

It proves that Lae, and Papua New Guinea for that matter, is truly a land of milk and honey, as visitors to the recent NARI Agricultural Innovations Show found out.

Apart from these, the Evangelical Brotherhood Church (EBC) Farm at 6-Mile along the Highlands Highway also supplies fresh eggs, chicken, cattle, pigs and other livestock to residents of Lae.

The EBC was founded in 1974 in cooperation with the Swiss Evangelical Brotherhood Mission and one of its main activities to help spread the Word of God is through teaching young people about farming, which it does successfully at 6-Mile.

"We sell our dairy products on the farm at 6-Mile as well as supermarkets and hotels," says sales representative Charles Mark.

"We supply Melanesian Hotel, Lae International Hotel, Huon Gulf Motel, Yacht Club, bakeries, Papindo 8/6, Papindo Eriku, Pelgens, Andersons Foodland, Food Mart and others.

"At the farm, we have chicken, cows and pigs.

"We also have fish."

Bauka Blue: the true taste of Aiyura Valley

Caption: Marey Yogiyo displaying her Bauka Blue coffee at the recent NARI Agricultural Innovations Show.-Picture by MALUM NALU

 

By MALUM NALU

 

One of the upcoming brands of coffee in Papua New Guinea is Bauka Blue Kofi, produced entirely by a dedicated group of women from the beautiful Aiyura Valley, Eastern Highlands province.

It may not yet be in the big league of Chimbu's Kongo Coffee, Goroka Coffee from Eastern Highlands or Sigri Coffee from Western Highlands, however, is steadily developing a loyal fan base among missionaries at neighbouring Summer Institute of Linguistics, Kainantu, Bintangor Supermarket in Goroka, as well as SVS Stores.

Bauka Blue Kofi comes from the green rolling hills of Aiyura Valley, backed by beautiful blue mountains 1,200-1,800 metres above sea level in the Obura-Wonenara district of Eastern Highlands province.

The surrounding mountains are covered with tropical rainforest and beautiful morning fog, home to more than 114 species of birds identified so far out of 852 different types of birds found in PNG.

Of the 42 species of birds of paradise in PNG, four have been identified on the ridges around Aiyura.

Up to 50 different birds are frequent visitors to the shade trees, coffee gardens and secondary forest along the water ways.

Perfect environment for a perfect, environmentally-friendly Bauka Blue Kofi.

Marey Yogiyo, wife of coffee personality Jon Yogiyo, took part in the recent NARI Agricultural Innovations Show in Lae.

"We started it in 2000 as a women's coffee, involving ladies around the area where we live at Aiyura," she says.

"We realised that ladies spend a lot of time making and producing quality coffee, however, when everything was done, the men take the coffee to market and get all the money.

"We decided to do it ourselves.

"We help ladies.

"We pay school fees; attend to health problems.

"The ladies are happy to work together."

After picking, processing and drying, women of the Bauka group take their coffee to Arabicas in Goroka for roasting.

"I want to show farmers that we can make and drink our own coffee," Yogiyo says.

"Why should we work so hard and give it to somebody else?

"Bauka coffee is unique from other coffees because it is a single origin.

"Single origin means it comes straight from the block, from Aiyura."

Yogiyo says Bauka women have not yet secured overseas markets; however, that is not an impossibility.

Guava woman of Lae

 Edith Babul displaying Indian guavas at her stall at the recent NARI Agricultural Innovations Show in Lae.-Picture by MALUM NALU

By MALUM NALU

One of the most-popular stalls at the recent NARI Agricultural Innovations Show was that of woman farmer, Edith Babul, who runs Ngalonzua Farm at 16-Mile along the Highlands Highway outside Lae.

Her Indian guavas, some of them as big as young coconuts, sold like hot cakes on the day.

"I started my farm in 1992," Babul says.

"In 1995, I started growing Indian guavas, having my first harvest in 2000; however, I thought the demand wasn't there, so I only sold at Munum market.

"After that, I started selling at the main market in Lae, and now I have contracts with Papindo, Food Mart, Payless, Coronation school and some other Asian supermarkets.

"Business is going so well that I've also gone into oranges, water melons and soursop – a natural cure for cancer – which I supply on a regular basis to Angau hospital.

"I'm also into livestock like pigs, ducks and chickens."

Babul, a member of PNG Women in Agriculture, urges women to get into farming rather than sitting around gambling, chewing betelnut and wasting time.

"Farming is much better than sitting around doing nothing, gambling, etc," says the former Coral Sea Hotels' employer, originally from Northern province, but married to a local man.

"I now have 4,000 guava trees.

"Now I'm working for myself."

Rich soil gives East New Britain robusta distinct taste

 

ROBUSTA coffee produced in the lowland volcanic rich soil of the East New Britain has distinct cup characteristics from that produced in other parts of Papua New Guinea, The National reports.

Senior quality control officer of the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) Ltd based in the Lae export office, Rose Romalus revealed this when speaking to ENB coffee corporative executives and CIC staff in Buana in the Toma local level government (LLG) recently. 

"Any ordinary coffee drinker can tell a big difference between the Robusta coffee produced in ENB and Robusta coffee from other areas of PNG," Romalus said.

She said the ENB Robusta coffee had higher cup characteristics, and could fetch higher prices in the world market.

Chairman of the East New Britain Coffee Growers Cooperative Association (ENBCGCA) Chris Malaibe and ENB smallholder coffee growers association chairman John Kapia Waratopo expressed that more coffee training and awareness programmes were needed in the province to complement the increasing interest among the local farmers to venture into cultivating coffee as an alternative cash crop apart from cocoa and coconut.

They said the farmers needed more training to manage their coffee gardens well and produce quality coffee.

 Malaibe said some farmers were planting both Arabica and Robusta in one garden which posed the possibility of mixing the two varieties while processing them, as such mixing of coffee would degrade the cup quality of a specific variety.

CIC is promoting ENB, New Ireland, Milne Bay, East and West Sepik, Madang, Gulf and Oro as new growth areas for coffee extension programmes to contribute to the overall coffee production in PNG.

According to the ENB technical officer Jacob Morre, a total of 6,000 growers with more than two million coffee trees (both Robusta and Arabica) were recorded in the four districts of Gazelle, Kokopo, Pomio and Rabaul last year.

MP: Millions in Wewak funds ‘lost’

A TOTAL of K16.2 million of public funds, earmarked for Wewak district, has been misused and misapplied, Wewak MP Dr Moses Manwau has claimed, The National reports.

Manwau asked during question time if Finance and Treasury Minister Peter O'Neill was aware of an audit report of the funds from the Wewak district being misused and misappropriated.

He asked what penalties would be given to those who were responsible for the abuse of the public funds.

"The decentralisation functions of the treasury without proper and skilled management team to handle finances in the district is causing havoc to the effective delivery of goods and services in my district," he said.

He said that a 2010 audit report indicated a total gross misuse, misapplication and prudently usage of public money for 2008 to June 2010 of more than K16.2 million.

He said that another independent audit report was also done and the report was with the Office of Rural Development. It also revealed misuse of the funds.

Manwau said later, after parliament was adjourned to 10am, that last November, he got K2 million from his DSIP funds and deposited the funds into the district treasury but they had all been used up without his knowledge.

He said there was only K40,000 in balance and he did not know where the rest of the money had gone without the knowledge of the district budget priority committee.

"The district treasurer and the district administrator are the signatories to the district funds which are basically for services in the district and I am not a signatory to the district treasury accounts," he said.

However, O'Neill replied that he was not aware of the audit but the matter was serious and he would respond after having a look at the audit report.

He said there must be transparency and accountability at all times when dealing public funds.

Garia queries use of DSIP

 

THE buying and owning of earthmoving equipment by districts under the district service improvement programme is questionable, Chimbu Governor Fr John Garia says, The National reports.

He said during question time that although the DSIP funds were a good initiative of the government to provide goods and services to the people, "there is a concern for the districts that used the funds to buy earthmoving and working machinery".

He said if the machinery was used to develop the district, then "it was not a problem but so far many machines brought by the district are engaged in road and construction work in other districts and provinces and making money and not serving its purpose".

He said machines bought through the DSIP were for the development of the district and it should be specifically used for that purpose.

He said such machinery should not be owned by individuals and "cronies of members who will claim it if the member finishes as happened in many cases".

"Who is going to be responsible for the machines and who will own the machines after the term of the member finishes?" Garia asked.

He said there should be some form of progressive report on how the DSIP funds were used and which district was performing exceptionally well in terms of service deliver using the funds.

He said by doing that the government "can actually see how each province is performing so the funds can be given to them".

Garia said if any district did not perform, it should not be given any funds because "they cannot prove that they can deliver to the people".

"It would be a waste of public money giving it to them."

The question was not answered after the Speaker, Jeffrey Nape, ruled that the governor's questions were statements.

Member for Menyamya, Benjamin Philip admitted services were restored and development was taking place in his district after the government introduced DSIP.

He commended the government for the initiative, which he said had complemented the service delivery programmes in his district.