BSP decries fraud guideline

 By FRANK SENGE KOLMA

THE largest commercial bank in PNG has decried new regulations imposed on banks by the police fraud squad to stop fraudulent payments, The National reports.
Bank South Pacific yesterday said guidelines from the fraud squad's financial intelligence unit were "actually aimed at abrogating the responsibility and liability of the government in terms of ensuring good governance".
Answering questions from The National, BSP chief executive officer Ian Clyne said the application and enforcement of the guidelines would result in extra cost to banks which would naturally pass on to government. 
He said government development projects around the country would be delayed for unnecessarily long periods while audits were conducted by banks to ensure payments for each of the pro­jects were legitimate. 
"While well-meaning, the guidelines are unlikely to achieve their objective of reducing fraud associated with government contracts and payments, and may well lead to a reduction in development and infrastructure pro­jects," Clyne said.
Clyne said: "Government road, school, health, electricity and water projects will be delayed for months, regularly stopped to await milestone payments or simply not done.
"For banks to 100% comply with these guidelines, they will need to engage or recruit a large number of lawyers, civil engineers and auditors.
"This is simply not the responsibility of commercial banks."
At the same time, he said government officers would have their private bank details examined on a regular basis even if they had acted properly and professionally. 
"The banks would pass on all additional costs to the government and/or the company and could involve many thousands of kina."
He said the guidelines effectively transfer government's oversight and checks and balance responsibilities to commercial banks and the Bank of PNG.
"The lack of public debate on the FIU's assertion that 25-40% of all government payments are defrauded is a concern."
Clyne said it was the responsibility of the auditor-general, attorney-general and all government department secretaries and the Ombudsman Commission to ensure there was transparency and accountability in all government transactions.
Clyne said the new regulations would seriously hinder the go­vernment's ability to effectively undertake and deliver public service projects as banks will now be required to undertake stringent checks before making payments to contractors and suppliers.
Some of the checks included:

• Validating the tender document and process to ensure all documentation follows all rele­vant government regulations;
• Checking that no public servant associated with the process has received any financial benefit which will require a check of personal bank accounts;
• Ensuring the selection of the successful contractor or supplier is done on a transparent and independent basis. That the owners of these entities have not made any strange payments during this period to third parties close to the government again requires checking company and personal bank accounts;
• Ensuring that the contractor or supplier delivers the project or goods in line with the contract specifications and that requires specialist engineering verifi­cation which will have to be conducted on site all over PNG (this is not a normal banking service);
• Identify and check the people receiving payments are entitled to such payments in terms of their employment or ownership of the contractor or supplier; 
• Payments must be made on set milestones and deliverables, which means that this audit process has to be undertaken by a bank several times for each project to validate each indi­vidual milestone payment;
• Every payment cleared by the bank must be signed by two verifying bank officers; and
• These officers and the banks are liable on an on-going basis if, at some time in the future, it can be proven that a fraud or overpayment has occurred, even if the bank has made an enormous effort to validate the transaction.
  

Clyne said: "The conse­quen­ces are obvious and conside­ra­ble. 
"Any company or individuals, who tender for government contracts, will have all milestone or contract payments delayed by several weeks, if not months. 
"Contractors may suffer severe financial cash-flow problems as they must fund the whole project and pay wages, among others, and then wait until the banks have finished their full file compliance review. 
Should banks not be willing to accept the risks and liabilities associated with auditing and processing government cheques and payments of this type, they will simply refuse to negotiate these government payments which would have very serious ramifications for both the government and the banking sector.
The FIU's regulation is initially aimed at all transactions of K2 million and above. 
Clyne claimed the FIU regulations were "not" based on any international "best practice" precedence. 
They are "not" enforced in this way in other democratic countries. 
He also expressed concern that the potentially damaging regulation had been in force since last month but had largely been ignored by the government and businesses.

Polye: Come and get me

By ZACHERY PER

MEMBER for Kandep Don Polye, who insists he is still the National Alliance highlands party deputy leader, says those who want to oust him should do so at the caucus meeting, The National reports.
He arrived in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, yesterday for the NA highlands caucus meeting.
He told the NA regional leaders that he was in Goroka to conduct the caucus meeting as required by the party constitution.
"If they want to remove me, this is their chance," Polye said. 
"They must come to this meeting and follow the proper procedures in the party constitution to remove me.
"But, if they do not come, I, Don Pomb Polye, will remain the deputy leader of NA in the highlands."
He said that any breaches of the party's consti­tution would set a bad precedent for the party.
"Therefore, I followed the constitution as the regional deputy leader to call the meeting," he said.
Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal was last week elected by the party's parliamentarians to replace Polye. 
Polye yesterday thanked the highlands party provincial executives who met him at the airport, saying they were also committed to seeing the party's constitution maintained and followed.
He said the faction supporting Abal was trying to use the parliamentary process to remove him.
Polye said this was not the correct process in the party constitution.
Party executives Joyce Grant, John Timberambe, NA highlands president James Kond and NA MPs Sailon Beseo (Kainantu) and David Arore (Ijivitari) accompanied Polye to Goroka.
Provincial executives in the highlands region came with party members to the caucus meeting in Goroka.

Police burn 14-Mile compound

By JUNIOR UKAHA

A COMPOUND belonging to the Central provincial government at 14-Mile, outside Port Moresby, was burnt down by police because residents there were suspected of harbouring criminals, The National reports.
Central police commander, John Maru, said the place was known as a "transit point" and a haven for drug traffickers who smuggled drugs from Goilala to sell in Port Moresby.
He said based on community complaints and police intelligence information, Central police moved in and razed the home.
A senior officer at the 15-Mile police station said the building had been condemned but the tenants, mostly of Goilala origin, illegally settled there and harboured drug traffickers, making money out of the trade.
"This is a hideout for notorious criminals," Maru said.
"This is the reason why police needed to get rid of the property. 
 "We want the place to be free of thugs and law-breakers," he said.
The tenants said police did not explain why their homes had been razed.
Amei Evarista, who lost her home and all her property including K180, was unhappy with the police action.
"They should have explained their action," she said.
"I have lost my home and my belongings in the fire." 
Tenant Chris John denied that they harboured criminals and that they did not know what the police were talking about. 
"Eight units have been burnt down and 10 families are affected," John said.
He said they were now living in make-shift shelters and were asking local MPs to help them relocate elsewhere.

Officials told to report to census director

By ALISON ANIS

National Statistician Joseph Aka has advised all census officials, including provincial coordinators nationwide, to report directly to the census director and publicity division at the National Statistical Office in Waigani, The National reports.
An official said Aka met with the census management and coordinating team yesterday and advised them that the two divisions would be the central point for reporting and sourcing information on the population count.
"Aka has advised that any queries or information on the counting from now on would be accessed only through census director Hajily Kele and publicity officer Peter Maime," the officer said when asked to comment on the status of the head count in the Southern region. 
"The counting in the Southern region, including NCD, has progressed well while the mop-up will depend on how fast checks are performed and information is finalised."
He said reports from all provinces in the Southern region had been submitted to the two divisions, which would go through the data to make final assessments and see if a mop-up was needed.
Mop-up operations are under way in many parts of the country as reports reaching NSO in Port Moresby indicate an encouraging outcome.
Kele said 94% of training and enumeration had been completed in all the 334 LLGs.
This is despite a few hiccups on accessibility given the remoteness of some parts of the country and slow accounting procedures for allowances.
"These are inevitable in an event as massive as the national census, although they are being addressed," she said.
Deputy census director Boe Douna said every­one in the country would be counted and assured census workers that what was owed to them in allowances "will eventually be paid".
This week the NSO is concentrating on getting materials and workers into at least eight remote and difficult areas – five in West Sepik, two in Gulf and one in Morobe.
It is anticipated that all of them will be covered by the end of the week.
The NSO advised that any queries on the census should be directed to census officials on the toll free numbers: 180 2055, 180 2036 and 180 2093

Opposition queries political interference on policing

The Opposition today called on Police Commissioner Anthony Wagambie and acting Prime Minister Sam Abal to come clean and explain why there was an intervention to stop police from laying charges against a national parliamentarian.

The Opposition's call, led by deputy leader and Member for Bulolo Sam Basil, follows information from police insiders that following complaints and investigation, an MP from the Highlands region was on the verge of being charged with carnal knowledge.

"Our informants were very particular and specific that police top brass acting on instructions from the Office of the Prime Minister caused the police who had carriage of the case to stop from bringing the MP in and charging him with carnal knowledge," Basil said.

"This is a very serious matter.

"The Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the Commissioner of Police are constitutional offices.

"And there is a long standing tradition of separation of powers and functions in our Westminster democracy between various constitutional offices,  especially when it comes to the enforcement of law.

"Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal must explain why such instructions were issued from the Office of the Prime Minister.

"Police Commissioner Anthony Wagambie must equally and more particularly explain why he allowed the constitutional office he heads to succumb to political dictates on this matter.

"They must explain what special circumstances, and under what laws or regulations if any, they saw fit to intervene in what on the surface amounts to normal exercise of police duties to enforce law and order.

"These type of actions fuel public perceptions that in application of law and enforcement of law, there are two sets of laws – one for the ordinary people and another for the 'big man' or elites, privileged and wealthy citizens.

Basil said that the Opposition - as an alternate Government - would be watching this case very closely as it fitted the National Alliance led government's brand of politics and governance where laws enacted by representatives of the people were flaunted, bent and broken at whim and will of a privileged few.

"That is why, as an alternate Government, we are appealing to other MPs,  especially in Government back benches to come out of them before they end up in the same mould," he said.
"We must form an alternative Government that understands, appreciates and allows the exercise of separation of powers, functions and enforcement of laws and regulations.
"This is important if we want to see good governance in the country."

Papua New Guinea’s greatest show on again!

Caption:  The world-famous Asaro Mudmen have always been a feature of the Goroka Show

By MALUM NALU

The Goroka Show, one of Papua New Guinea's greatest tourist attractions, will be held on September 16, 17 and 18 at the National Sports Institute.

It will coincide with the country's 36th independence anniversary celebrations.

This is certainly good news as the Goroka Show, first inaugurated in 1956 and the oldest in the country is well known internationally.

Goroka's was the first show in PNG, was reputed as "the best", and that reputation must be maintained.

The 54th Goroka Show has the theme 'Unity'.

This was confirmed at the launch of PNG's longest-running cultural festival, which was first staged back in 1956, at a function attended by sponsors and potential sponsors in Goroka on last Wednesday night.

"Last year, we had a record of 800-plus tourists and that is attributed to the ongoing internet marketing through our website, www.gorokashow.com  courtesy of Goroka Chamber of Commerce and Industry," said organising committee chairman Gideon Samuel.

In 1956, former kiap (patrol officer) Bob Cleland writes in his memoirs, no one had seen a show before, until this one staged at the National Day Park.

"The organisers of this one, with no precedent to guide them, copied the pattern of a typical Australian country show," he remembers.

"Exhibits of every aspect of the district, equestrian events, a woodchop, foot races, a motorcycle gymkhana, marches – plenty to look at and action all day.

"The five buildings along the side of the hill housed displays by schools, government departments, businesses in town, missions, etc.

"The three buildings on the far side of the 'ring' were devoted to exhibits from the three sub-districts in the Eastern Highlands: Chimbu on the left, Kainantu middle and Goroka on the right.

"The aim was to show all the features, produce, and industries of the sub-district.

"I was a patrol officer at Kainantu at the time, and the district commissioner had approved his staff spending (not too much!) time in organising and setting up our exhibit.

"Most of the European population of Kainantu (about 20) travelled to the show and when we won the district competition, we couldn't resist rubbing it in to the other two sub-districts!

"The local villagers were curious and plenty of them turned up to see what it was all about, but there were no singsing groups.

"In subsequent shows, the singsing groups with plenty of encouragement from the government and organisers, turned up in force.

"The Goroka Show, and then the Mount Hagen Show in the 1960s, became singsing spectaculars and drew large numbers of international tourists.

"Both continue to this day."

The town's population at that time of the first show, 55 years ago, consisted of a growing number of Europeans, labourers and policemen.

It was held at the National Day Park - normally the football ground and cricket pitch - opposite the town's main market.

Organisers encouraged community involvement with invitations extended to schools as far as Wabag to enter children's exhibits.

There was also a large agricultural section.

Village people brought in garden food and the Agriculture Department set up other displays.

One of the most-impressive displays was a map of the Territory of Papua New Guinea, made up of red and green coffee beans mounted on a 15 - foot long trellis.

It won the District Prize!

 In subsequent shows after 1956, European visitors flew in large numbers for the first time into Goroka.

All private accommodation was stretched to such a limit that even the 'A' School - now the Public Library - was converted into a dormitory.

Large numbers of chartered aircraft parked in neat formation at the airport itself was a first, and in itself, a sight to be seen.

The most-memorable part of the show was seeing the different groups in their colourful attire, together for the first time.

No villager had ever seen such a congregation of various tribes in one place.

The group that made the most impact on the crowd was the Asaro Mudmen.

Spectators were said to have fled, terrified at the sight of the mud - coated bodies and the large, grotesque masks.

The art of the mudmen's ritualistic dance was unknown outside their own clans until that moment!

Goroka, and later Mount Hagen, became centres where Europeans could meet and mix with a variety of native cultures.

Men of tribes that were once sworn enemies brushed shoulders in the market place or served side - by side in the local government councils.

For the tourists, these presented a unique spectacle.

The people walked in from more than 200 miles away, climbing over mountains 10,000 feet high.

Months beforehand, officials arranged for plots of sweet potatoes to be planted at intervals along the paths the visitors would take - a precaution against the raiding of gardens and possible bloodshed.

Tourists came for all over the world.

They were submerged in a vast concourse of natives, numbering well over 100,000; most of them wearing the traditional plumes and skirts of beaten bark, and carrying their spears and bows and arrows.

To accommodate "foreign" tribesmen, the show authorities built "long houses" measuring hundreds of yards from end to end.

After the display or produce and sporting events, the stamping feet, the paint and feathers, the "whoom-pah, whoompah" of the wooden trumpets - it was incongruous to see under a headdress of cassowary plumes, a balloon of bubble gum suddenly pop from the mouth of a dancer; a group of warriors bargaining with tourists for a fee of 20 cents before they would pose for a photo.

White men and women wandered unconcernedly among the crowd.

The Kenyan leader Tom Mboya, who visited the Goroka Show in 1965, confessed: "The sight amazed me.

"Nowhere in Africa would Europeans dare to walk among so many natives without a policeman or soldier in sight.

"Yet, tens of thousands of these people had not seen a white man before the war.

"Twenty years ago, neither Goroka nor Hagen existed."

WHO monitors transfer of TB cases to PNG

THE World Health Organisation is looking into monitoring the transfer of tuberculosis clinics from the Torres Strait to Papua New Guinea, The National reports.

The decision by the Australian and Queensland governments to move the clinics has been criticised by TB specialists who fear the move could exacerbate the spread of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Until July, the Australian government had been paying the Queensland state government to treat PNG nationals but Queensland Health said the funding was inadequate and it could not cater for more TB patients.

Last month, a spokeswoman for the Australian health department said its priority was to help PNG improve its own health services so that patients did not need to cross the Australian border.

The World Health Organisation denied reports it was intervening but in a media statement said it was actively involved in discussions with the PNG government.

WHO said that with appropriate planning and additional financial support, it believed PNG "will be able to manage TB cases and, as services improve, PNG will handle the more complex multi-drug-resistant form of the bacterial infection".