Papua New Guinea economy grew 8% last year

THE PNG economy is estimated by the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) to have expanded strongly by around 8.0% last year, in line with the projection made in the last September’s monetary policy statement (MPS), The National reports.

The growth is mainly attributed to increase in the building and construction, transportation, storage, communication, manufacturing and commerce sectors.

The increases in these areas were associated with the current construction phase of the LNG, which has affected the rest of the economy.

The increase in the building and construction sector was also associated with public investment on infrastructure and new building projects as well as those undertaken by the private sector.

Government funding has increased as well as the production of non-mineral export commodities due to increased prices.

The economy continued to expand rapidly in spite of the delay of the Ramu nickel-cobalt (NiCo) mine.

This year  the economy is projected to grow by around 9.5% , driven by increased activity in the mineral sector and a pick-up in the construction of the LNG project.

The manufacturing, commerce, transportation, storage and communication,  agriculture, forestry, fisheries,  finance and other service sectors are also expected to contribute significantly.

The growth in the mineral sector is anticipated upon  the commencement of the Ramu NiCo and increased production at existing mines, which would more than offset a decline in petroleum production.

The increase in the manufacturing and commerce sectors will be based on the pickup in construction activity and higher prices of export commodities, respectively.

The growth in the transportation, storage and communication sector is driven by the transportation sub-sector, reflecting increased activity in shipping, air and land transportation, associated with higher passenger travel and cargo haulage.

BPNG expects the economy to continue to grow next year and 2013, but at a lower rate.

This is due to the completion of the construction phase of the LNG project, especially in 2013.

The growth will be driven mainly by the full year production by Ramu NiCo and increased production of gold at the Lihir, Hidden Valley and Simberi mines.

High prices and production of non-mineral export commodities will also contribute to the growth.

 

 

Ban triggers fuel shortage

By PATRICK TALU

 

THE ban on heavy vehicles using the Poreporena Freeway led to a major fuel shortage in the National Capital District yesterday, The National reports.

Streets around service stations were jam-packed with vehicles, causing major traffic snarls around the capital city that turned rush-hour into a crawl.

The rush to fill up came about after major supplier InterOil said trucks contracted to distribute fuel from its Napanapa oil refinery would not use alternative routes into Port Moresby.

InterOil retail marketing manager Jimmy Son said last night its contractor, East West Transport, refused to use the alternative routes proposed by the police.

Son said its retail distributors around town, Koki and Ela Beach were not affected by the supply shortage.

East West Transport was contacted to comment but referred inquiries to Steamships Trading Company, adding that they do not talk to the media.

Attempts to check with Steamships were unsuccessful as no one was answering the phones.

However, operators of two service stations confirmed the shortage.

Their tanks were empty and their pumps locked, forcing frustrated drivers to join the gridlocked traffic.

Security guards at the stations said they had run out of supplies at 3pm.

Other fuel station like Lahara, Gordon and Hohola faced similar situation.

The worst traffic bottleneck was at the 5-Mile service station.

Vehicles queued from the 5-Mile roundabout towards Boroko and down Boroko Drive.

At the 4-Mile roundabout, vehicles were moving at snail’s pace.

Some commuters outside of Port Moresby like Tubusereia, Gaire and other places had long waits, with no guarantee they would get to fill up.

Others brought jerry cans and plastic drums to get extra supplies and added to the frustrating first come first served fight for fuel.

Attendants were overheard telling customers, “em laspla fuel nau. Em pinis, em pinis,” (this is last lot of fuel. When it runs out, this is it).

The ban also hit other major wholesalers and retailers in Port Moresby.

TST logistics manager Babu Muthaya said the freeway ban made it difficult for them to transport empty containers to the wharf.

 

 

Freeway ban on trucks lifted

By ANGELINE KARIUS

 

THE ban on heavy vehicles using the Poreporena Freeway was lifted at noon yesterday, The National reports.

The consensus was reached between transport operators, transport authorities and police in a stakeholders meeting.

Government sector agencies, including the Department of Transport, police, National Road Authority and the Department of Works met in a separate meeting.

All vehicles weighing more than 40 tonnes would now use the left lane.

Policy and planning deputy secretary Philip Habon said certain regulations would have to be met while accessing the Poreporena Freeway.

He said, for the meantime, operators were advised that trucks should carry a load limit of between 40 and 43 tonnes, maintain a speed limit of 60kph and 30kph downhill, erect road signs and establish media awareness.

“Any vehicles exceeding 43 tonnes will be taken off the road,” he said.

The long-term plan will be to buy a weigh machine station to ensure trucking companies and operators follow these rules.

“This would require sourcing of funds to bring in such machinery into the country,” Habon said.

He said all trucking companies should join the Road Transport Association so that such issues could be taken up by relevant authorities to address.

 “Driver behaviour, road designs and vehicle defects were the culmination of different factors that came into play,” he said.

“Police have a duty to protect lives and property over an extended period of time.

“They had every right to do what they did.”  

National Road Authority chief executive officer Roy Mumu said the reconstruction of the safety concrete slab by NCDC “will undergo review by NRA and Department of Works”.

He said he hoped that road signs would be re-erected along the Poreporena Freeway and that they would be observed and taken care of by road users and the public.

“More consultations with the industry and government agencies will continue in future,” he said.

Governor-General to okay by-election for Kundiawa-Gembogl

By ZACHERY PER

 

THERE will be a by-election for the vacant Kundiawa-Gembogl seat in Chimbu soon, The National reports.

The Electoral Commission will announce a tentative by-election schedule as soon as Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio’s consent is obtained.

Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen yesterday broke his silence over the Kundiawa Open seat left vacant following the death of late member of parliament Joe Mek Teine in April.

“Section 106 of the Constitution states that when an office of an elected member of parliament becomes vacant, an election shall be held to fill the vacancy,” Trawen said.

“For the vacant Kundiawa seat, I have to give enough time for the family and the people of Kundiawa to meet their customary obligations in mourning the death of the late member before I announce dates for a by-election as the mourning period has now lapsed,” he said.

Trawen was responding to media reports that certain community leaders in the electorate have urged acting Prime Minister Sam Abal not to conduct a by-election out of respect to the late member of parliament.

“This manner of requests and assurance is inappropriate and unconstitutional because any person deciding against the conduct of elections is, in fact, breaching the requirements of the Constitution,” Trawen said.

 “The seat does not belong to factional groups of people within the electorate; it belongs to the people of Kundiawa and there is no power given to any person to stop the conduct of elections as required under section 106 of the Constitution,” Trawen said.

He said for an election to take place, the vacancy must take place at a time outside of the 12-month period before the fifth anniversary from the time the writs were returned for the last elections.

Trawen pointed out that the writs for the last elections in 2007 were returned on July 27, 2007, but the Kundiawa Open seat became vacant in April 2011.

“We are not yet into the 12-month period, the seat has become vacant before the 12-month period and, therefore, a by-election must be conducted.”

 

Goroka’s maverick empowers Central province

By MALUM NALU


People from remote Kokorogoro village in Inland Rigo, Central province, were empowered in a big way when Goroka maverick Barclay Kaupa dropped in.
The Goroka-based soap maker was brought in by non-government organisation, ChildFund PNG, to teach the villagers about making soap at a weeklong workshop from May 22-27.



Barclay Kaupa and Fiona Fandim with happy and empowered villagers

 This was under ChildFund’s water and sanitation programme.
Kaupa, true to style, not only taught 25 participants from four villages about making soap but also showed them how to produce their own jam and peanut butter using local products, rebuild their inland fish farming project, and the gospel of self-reliance.

Empowered...Inland Rigo villagers washing their hands with soap they made themselves

I wasn’t surprised as Kaupa, a good friend of mine for many years, has always been a true champion of self-reliance and independence.
“Under ChildFund’s water and sanitation programme, we taught the villagers how to make soap using caustic soda, oil and water,” he says.
“We also taught the villagers how to make jam and peanut butter using local ingredients.

Pineapple and pawpaw being sliced to make jam

“I also told them about the self-reliance approach in community development.
“I told them that we are imprisoned by our attitude problem.
“This is the biggest problem affecting Papua New Guinea’s development.
“The government should step in and support such small initiatives.
“We are importing almost everything in this country.
“We can add value to many of our products, create jobs, and reduce poverty and law-and-order problems.
“The government has been preaching about downstream processing, but next to nothing has been achieved.”
Fiona Fandim, water and sanitation project officer with ChildFund, so was impressed with Kaupa for going that extra mile.
“We were so impressed,” she says.
“It was a very successful training and people were much empowered by it.
“We brought Barclay in specifically to teach people about making soap, however, he also taught them about making jam and peanut butter, inland fish farming, and self-reliance and community development.”
ChildFund is a children-focused NGO which has programmes in education, health, youth HIV/AIDS, food security and livelihood, water and sanitation, and community development.
I know Kaupa from my years in Goroka from 1998-2002, when my late wife and I were regular customers of his for fresh honey, as well as homemade soap and detergent for the house, and can vouch for their quality.
Despite being a Grade 10 dropout in 1984, Kaupa’s extensive use of the Goroka Public Library and the University of Goroka Library – through a lot of reading – helped him to start his honey and soap business.
Kaupa ran Jauka Honey, a small honey and soap-making set-up at Kama in Goroka, until business was affected by the bee mite about three years ago,
In May 2005, he was named as best small business by the Small Business Development Corporation at the PNG Coffee Festival and Trade Fair and pocketed the K800 first prize.
Reading was the secret to the sweet success of his honey and soap-making business.
Kaupa, from Lapeigu village outside Goroka, completed his Grade 10 at Asaroka Lutheran High School in 1984 – with no offers for further education or employment.
“When I left school,” he tells me in a 2005 interview, “I felt that I was helpless and hopeless.
“I felt out of place and I used to spend all of my time in the garden growing vegetables.”
In 1986, the disillusioned young man managed to secure a job with Lamana Wholesale in Goroka, a job he held until the company wound up in 1990.
“The little money that I saved, I used to buy off a couple of beehives from a wantok,” Kaupa says.
“This was a completely new area into which I was venturing.
“I went into libraries in Goroka, where I read a lot of books about beekeeping.”
He had a coffee plot at Lapeigu, and soon realised that he could have a sustained cash flow all year round, if he grew coffee and raised bees together.
Towards the end of 1996, the young beekeeper approached Benny Jauka, the owner of Gamesano Trading in Kama, for assistance to get the honey project off the ground.
“He saw that it was a good idea,” Kaupa says.
“I helped in the shop until September 1997, when with Mr Jauka’s assistance, the Westpac Bank approved my loan, which I used to buy honey-processing equipment from New Zealand through the Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
“We started honey production in December 1997.”
Jauka honey was distributed mainly in Goroka and Lae, where – through Rabtrad – was distributed by Andersons Foodland stores nationwide.
In August 1998, the innovative Kaupa ventured into soap production using bee wax.
It was trialed in the hauslains of Goroka by the people who mattered – mothers – and they gave it the thumbs up.
“It took us six months to carry out experiements to find out which soap was best for the hauslains,” he recalls.
Thus was born the Nokorowa Soap.
The soap proved to be a big hit in Goroka, and was distributed throughout the highlands.
“The bar of soap sells fast,” Kaupa says.
“People realise the quality; it lasts and it saves them a lot of money.
“One bar of Nokorowa Soap is equal to three of four bars of other soap brands that you buy in shops.
“However, we need money to improve the quality of our soap.“The vision is there, but we need help so that can go into mass production and supply the whole country.”
Towards the end of 1999, Kaupa ventured into yet another product, the Nokorowa Soap Powder.
The soap is ground up into fine powder, and then packed and sold as a grassroots alternative to the familiar Omo and Cold Power.
Nokorowa Soap Powder is now a familiar sight in the shops of Goroka.
Kaupa is a fervent believer in self-reliance and independence, and speaks out strongly against the handout mentality.
“We believe in self-reliance,” he says.
“We believe that we can do it ourselves.
“If our ancestors could survive for over 50,000 years doing things themselves, why can’t we do things ourselves?
“Be independent rather than depending on outside assistance.
“If we in PNG want to be really independent, why can’t we do things ourselves?
“Be independent rather than depend on outside assistance.
“If we in PNG want to be really independent, let’s do things ourselves; there is still hope.
“Our grandfather experienced real independence, not like these last 30 years.”
Kaupa says the education system, which makes dropouts out of young men and women, is largely to blame for many of the social ills of today.
“The system has created many of the problems we currently have, such as crime and poverty.
“However, I believe that without formal qualifications, you can succeed if you read a lot.
“I read a lot in the libraries, obtained more information, did more research on honey and that’s how it all started.”

Barclay Kaupa can be contacted on mobile 72486527.

Bougainville firm gets Canadians to develop oil and gas

CANADIAN petroleum company Morumbi Oil and Gas has entered an agreement to develop oil and with Bougainvillean landowner company Isina Holding Ltd, The National reports.

In a statement released at its website, Morumbi said its wholly-owned subsidiary Isina Mining & Development has executed a letter of intent (LOI) to become the development partners of choice of Isina Holding on the mineral rich island of Bougainville.

Isina Holding is a landowner company represented by 15 villages over traditional land on the island.

According a statement on Tuesday, it is the first time in the history of Bougainville that an area recently aggressively opposed to mineral explorations, had formed its own development company and invited a foreign partner to jointly explore and develop mineral resources located on their traditional land.

The company’s chairman Stephen Shefsky and chief executive officer Mark Brennan participated in the signing ceremony which took place at Tunania village on the Isina Lands on the east coast of Central Bougainville.

The current LOI covers about 5,000ha that extends from east coast up over and beyond the Crown Prince Range.

Bougainville, although long regarded as having great gold and copper potential based on early works done by German explorers, has a unique history with respect to mining in that no exploration has been carried out since the 1906s.

Morumbi said satellite imagery, together with results of a German government sponsored Aeromag geochemical survey over Bougainville carried out by the federal institute of geosciences and natural science in Hannover, Germany,  and published in 1990, together with the 2007 discovery of extensive alluvial fields in the creeks and river of Isina that were now being worked by villagers, singled out this area for high-priority exploration programmes for gold and copper epithermal and porphyry deposits.

Under the term of the LOI, IMD paid K10,000 on execution and has agreed to pay a fursther K3,000 per month to Isina Holdings help fund certain programmes.

 

Angry truckies

Freeway ban hitting city businesses hard

 

By ANGELINE KARIUS        

      

TRUCKING companies in Port Moresby reported yesterday that the move to stop heavy trucks using the Poreporena Freeway had adversely affected their operations, The National reports.

Several firms had told business clients they would discontinue services until an alternate route, free of obstacles, was found.

Representatives from trucking companies confirmed yesterday that most of their operations were affected as a result of the ban.

Deputy police commissioner and operations commander Fred Yakasa last week issued the ban following a spate of fatal accidents on the steep incline where drivers of heavy vehicles had lost control or where brakes had failed.

Most company representatives met with NCD traffic police after responding to a letter by Chief Sgt Philip Koliadi that measures would be taken according to the directive issued by Yakasa.

The letter, dated May 30, stated that NCD traffic division would carry out the awareness and enforce the ban by diverting all motor vehicles considered heavy or carrying loads.

The ban had meant diverting heavy trucks through the central business district creating considerable traffic congestion.

According to Koliadi, most (companies) said that alternate routes suggested including Gerehu to Baruni, 2-Mile and Kilakila were too long or the roads were in such bad condition.

He said the ban might force companies to increase their fleets and volume of goods transported.

“These could pose potential road hazards to public safety due to most residential houses along the 2-Mile and Kilakila roads while Gerehu and Baruni could prove vulnerable to criminal elements,” he said.

Koliadi said other factors needed looking into included driver inexperience and inattentiveness, overloading and vehicle defects (brake failure).

A meeting between all relevant transport stakeholders would be held today and would include Department of Transport, NCDC and police.

Physical inspections on the road showed a number of heavy vehicles was still using the freeway but a greater number was going through 2-Mile.

Motor Vehicle Insurance Ltd (MVIL) director Dr John Mua said the bottom line for the ban was to save lives.

He said police had the authority to impose the ban. 

He said MVIL was committed to paying compensation but had taken proactive actions to promote safety.

“The highest payment in compensation per annum was K24 million,” he said.