Residents told to dump rubbish in proper place

By PISAI GUMAR

LAE residents have been warned not to dump household, shop and industrial waste into Bank South Pacific Go Green campaign rubbish bins installed around the area, The National reports.
Most home owners, shops and industrial firms are avoiding paying garbage fees by dumping their garbage into the newly-installed bins or piling rubbish near the bins at nights.
Lae City authority health services manager Jonathan Ipang said people found dumping their waste would be fined according to the type and volume of rubbish they leave.
He said fines for household waste varied between K50 to K100, while fines for industrial and commercial waste ranged from K500 to K1,000.
Ipang said the BSP rubbish bins had been installed for people in the business centres to dump wastes like plastic shopping bags, empty drink cans and containers, paper and similar rubbish.
He said those who chewed betel nut if found spitting into the bins or in public places, they would be fined K20.
"Keeping the city clean is everybody's business that starts in homes.
"We must learn to keep our environment at homes, city and workplaces clean so as not to create illness and diseases that might affect our health and production," Ipang said. 
Through the Go Green campaign, BSP has provided and installed 50 drums throughout Lae city at locations that include Top Town – 7, Market – 8, Eriku – 7,Voco Point and China Town – 6, Malahang and University of Technology gate three each, Salamanda and St Paul's two each, Snack Bar two, Angau Memorial Hospital two and two each in all five health centres around the city.
The monthly garbage bin sticker for low cost houses costs K20, medium K25 and high covenant K30 while K100 per load for companies that have no service vehicles and require LCA to help them.
For those have service vehicles, shops are to pay K80 while companies K150.
But before heading to the Second Seven dumpsite, they are required to collect a dumpsite entry sticker at LCA office.

Once bitten, twice shy at Old Lae Airport

By MALUM NALU

In the past 18 months, the face of the Old Lae Airport has changed dramatically, and in 2010 alone, over 700 containers of project cargo for the LNG plant were stored on the tarmac until ready for delivery to the Highlands.

Containers of project cargo for the LNG project at the Old Lae Airport

Development of the Old Lae Airport epitomises the mind-boggling development Lae is undergoing with all the current resource projects.

The development at the Old Lae Airport worries Jonathan Saing, the vocal chairman of the Ahi Landowners’ Association, which represents the traditional landowners of Lae.

If the Ahi people miss on airport benefits, it will be second time unlucky for them, having first missed out in the 1920s when their land was forcefully taken away from them to build an airstrip during the Wau-Bulolo gold rush.
Saing is growing old; however, his concern for his people of the six Ahi villages of Yalu, Kamkumung, Hengali, Butibam, Yanga and Wagang is what drives him on.
He says the undeveloped lease land (UDL) at the Old Lae Airport has seen so much foul play and corruption among unscrupulous landowners, businesses and politicians.
“The UDL at the Old Lae Airport is a real mess,” Saing says.
“At the rate we are going, we Ahi people, traditional landowners of the Old Lae Airport, won’t have any footprints there.
“This is very worrying.
“I’m sad to say that our young children will be completely lost.
“I stand between the old and the young.
“I want our Ahi clan leaders to be strong and hold on to their land.
“I also want to uphold the wisdom of elders for the good of the young people.”
In March 2009, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court approved an application for a stay order taken by Butibam and Kamkumung villagers against the Morobe provincial government and the State over development of the controversial Old Lae Airport land.
The court noted that the landowners had not been adequately compensated for all the anguish and turmoil they had gone through over the years.
It has long been a sore thumb in Lae as Morobe Governor Luther Wenge and his then administrator, Patilias Gamato, fought a war of words both within and out of court with the villagers.
In Early 2009, things came to a head at the Old Lae Airport when some Butibam women were manhandled and beaten by Lae police.
Village elders from Kamkumung and Butibam, at that time, hailed the Supreme Court decision as a huge victory for their people, whom they said had been robbed of their birthright.
This controversial piece of land has a long and colourful history behind it.
The discovery of gold at Edie Creek above Wau in 1926 sparked off a gold rush which led to the exploitation of the rich deposits of the Bulolo-Watut river system by large-scale mechanised mining.

Lae 1931-32. A Junkers G31 and a Junkers W34 are at centre of picture

The rigours and cost of the eight-day walk into the goldfields and the difficulty of building a road from the coast led to the early introduc¬tion of an aviation service.
The driving force behind the development of the goldfields was Cecil J Levien, a former Morobe district officer who has been described as a “rare and formidable combina¬tion of opportunist, practical man and visionary”.
Levien persuaded the directors of Guinea Gold NL that startling profits would be made by any aviation company that could provide a service to eliminate the arduous walk between Salamaua and Wau.
He secured an option on a small DH-37 plane in Melbourne and engaged a pilot, E A ‘Pard’ Mustar, to bring it to New Guinea.
He then selected Lae as the best place for the coastal airstrip and without bothering to obtain official permission, took on about 250 labourers to clear and level a landing ground under the supervision of Tommy Wright, the foreman of the agricultural station.
The construction of the airfield was perhaps the biggest enterprise ever undertaken at Lae and greatly perturbed the local villagers, who watched amazed as a vast area of bush was torn down and gardens were flattened.
They were in for further surprises when Mustar and his mechanic, AWD Mullins, flew in from Rabaul, where they had been assembling and testing the plane.
Their arrival brought the full power of Western technology home to the villagers with a shock.
The mastery of Europeans, previously seen in their goods and possessions, was now indisputable.
The old Lae airport has played a significant role in the history of the town, Papua New Guinea, and the whole world for that matter.
Mordern day Lae and PNG grew because of the airport
The greatest airlift the world had ever known started from Lae to the Bulolo goldfields in the 1930s.
World attention was focused on Lae in 1937, and continues to this day, when it was the last port of called for the famed American aviatrix Amelia Earhart before she disappeared somewhere over the deep-blue South Pacific ocean.

Date with destiny...Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra at Lae, Morobe province, before her flight into oblivion

Lae airstrip was bombed out by the Japanese on January 21, 1942, however, recovered to become a major player in the development of post-war PNG.
The old Lae airport started losing its thunder in 1977 when Nadzab, an American World War 11 strip, became operational.
Fierce political squabbling over the pros and cons of Lae and Nadzab continued until 1982, when, in an unsolved mystery (just like Amelia Earhhart), the Lae airport terminal was burned down.
Nadzab had taken away its glory; however, Lae continued to be used by Air Niugini and other third-level airlines until 1987.

The old Lae airport in its heyday in the 1970s

Lae continued to be used as the base for the PNG Defence Force Air Transport Squadron until it was transferred to Port Moresby in 1992.
After that, one of the greatest icons of PNG history was literally left to the dogs, and became covered by bushes.
It was only recently that the land was sub-divided for commercial purposes as well as given back to the traditional landowners.
Once bitten, twice shy, and the Ahi people don’t want to be shortchanged for the second time, surmises Jonathan Saing.

Gaming board gives K40,000 to Goroka Show

By MALUM NALU

The National Gaming Control Board is normally a giver in Papua New Guinea, however, today it became the receiver after giving K40,000 to help stage the 2011 Goroka Show next month.
Show committee chairman Gideon Samuel, who is the Air Niugini manager in Goroka, reciprocated with pottery products from Eastern Highlands Cultural Centre in Kainantu.

Goroka Show chairman Gideon Samuel (right) presents pottery products to National Gaming Control Board CEO Simon Sanangke in appreciation for K40,000 sponsorship of this year’s show

Samuel said it was a token of appreciation from his committee and all the people of Goroka and Eastern Highlands for the K40, 000.
Chief executive officer of NGCB, Simon Sanangke, said this would be the fourth year in succession for it to sponsor the Goroka Show.
“We need to promote our culture because we are one of the few remaining countries whose cultures are still alive,” he said.
“Goroka has always been a priority as we felt that they were doing the right thing in terms of developing and promoting our culture.
“This is an asset and has big, big potential in this country.
“I’m sure we can get more tourists if we do the right thing.”
Sanangke said NGCB had been supporting shows and expos all over the country, including K40, 000 each to Enga, Mt Hagen and Goroka shows this year.
Samuel said the K40, 000 was an increase of K20, 000 from last year’s sponsorship.

National Gaming Control Board CEO Simon Sanangke (left) presents K40,000 to Goroka Show chairman Gideon Samuel

“The Goroka Show is a national icon,” he said.
“This sponsorship will go a long way towards ensuring that out culture is passed on to the next generation.
“One of the highlights of this year’s show will be a Pikinini Cultural Show on the first day.
“The NGCB is the biggest sponsor to date and we will ensure that you get a full financial report, which is vital in maintaining our relationship.”
The 2011 Goroka Show will be held at the National Sports Institute over independence long weekend from Sept 16-18, with this year’s to be the 54th show.

LLG president charged with fraud

A LOCAL level government president in East New Britain has been committed to stand trial in the Kokopo National Court on charges of misappropriation and false pretence of about K83,000, The National reports.
Toma-Vunadidir president Henry Ningo, 55, of Rabagi village was charged by police with two counts of false pretence and a count of misappropriation.
Magistrate Samuel Lavutul found that there was sufficient evidence to commit Ningo.
Police alleged that on April 29, 2002, the National Gaming Board made a cheque payment for K83,730 to theToBarip United church and that Ningo falsely represented the church and made a submission to the NGCB's community development programme for funding.
Satisfied that the application had met requirements, the NGCB released the cheque on April 29.
Ningo allegedly did not make an attempt to inform the elders of the church and told them on Aug 15 that if he used the church's account to do his transaction, he would made an undertaking to give K10,000 to the church.
Based on that undertaking, the signatories to the church's account signed the deposit and withdrawal forms and handed over the passbook to Ningo.
He deposited the cheque that same day and it was cleared a few days later when he withdrew K83,598 from the church's account.
Ningo was committed to stand trial on a date to be fixed by the National Court registry.

K700m allocated for free education

By GABRIEL LAHOC

THE O'Neill-Namah government has already put aside K700 million for free education in a separate trust account for the 2012 academic year, Education Minister Theodore Zurenuoc told a crowd in his native Finschhafen last Friday, The National reports.
Zurenuoc announced this to the delight of the people, especially parents and students.
The amount is K100 million more than that which was announced by the former government.
The money is expected to be included in the 2012 budget as it is not budgeted for this year.
He announced that the funding of K4 million for major projects in Finschhafen was already approved and awaiting construction to start.
"The free education fund will be released in early January to all schools," he told the people.
This will alleviate fears expressed by the Catholic Education agency earlier that past administrations have been not delivering education subsidies on time to schools throughout the country.
"Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has assured me that we have the money to pay for the school fees of the children of PNG.
"Parents, you will not pay any school fees next year," he said.
He said this development meant that parents nationwide would save K700 million.
Zurenuoc also announced funding for the district's agriculture programme and road upgrading programme worth K1 million each.
The isolated Pindiu High School in the Hube local level government will undergo a massive facelift with a K3 million funding that has been approved.
The upgrading of Pindiu will be one of the biggest developments to be undertaken in the district because the school is in dire need to upgrade its facilities.
The much needed projects had been prioritised by the joint district planning and budget priority committee after he and his
administration officers visited more than 90% of the communities in the district early this year.

Agiru: O’Neill did not follow process

SOUTHERN Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru said on Monday that Mendi town was under siege because of rushed decisions by Prime Mi­nister Peter O'Neill to reinstate William Powi as administrator, The National reports.
He accused the PM of not following due processes.
Agiru said there was no vacancy in the office of the administrator after Powi's expired.
He said Lawrence Olkoben was appointed by the NEC after all due processes were followed.
He said Southern Highlands had been a no-go zone and that he had restored normalcy in the province in the past four years.
"No action in Waigani or wherever should put off course the Southern Highlands," Agiru said.
Agiru said Southern Highlands was host to the LNG project and these were critical times.
"Gas in the province is still under my feet while Mendi town is under seige by youths."
Agiru said at no stage was he contacted by this government on what was going on in his province.
"The greatest theft of power happened when the Grand Chief's government was illegally removed.
"We have traditional customs, values that we must uphold including respect for the elderly and the sick," he said, adding the seven MPs from the province were still with Sir Michael's government.

Police took sides in Mendi, locals claim

MOBILE squad 9 from Tari in the Hela region is now in charge of security at the 7-storey Agiru Centre in Mendi town, Southern Highlands, The National reports.
The armed policemen were called in after Mendi police personnel were allegedly taking sides in the clash involving the supporters of two acting provincial administrators – William Powi and Lawrence Olkoben – on Monday.
Some members of the provincial executive council told The National yesterday from Mendi that they would lodge a formal complaint with the Police Commissioner Tony Wagambie.
The PEC members alleged that instead of acting neutrally, police allegedly sided with one faction and fired several shots at the other.
Council president for Nipa-Basin and chairman for LLG and district affairs David Navur said they kept some empty shells fired by police.
Navur, who claimed to speak on behalf of other PEC members in the province like Andrew Kit, chairman of law and order, Joe Kunukun (chairman Works and Transport), Benny Putari (chairman education) and Ailo Arapa (chairman Community Service) said the incident happened in front of the people and they were in a process of compiling statements from the witnesses.
He said it was a serious matter and they would take it up with the appropriate authority for disciplinary actions and also sue the state in court for damages.
Navur claimed that two men seriously injured from bullet wounds were taken to Mt Hagen General Hospital on Monday afternoon.
He said nine other people who received  bullet pellets were treated at the Mendi General Hospital on Monday and discharged.
He said those  injured were with Olkoben.
Navur was not sure how many people from other side were injured.
He said more than 30 other people sustained minor injuries from missiles exchanged between the supporters.
Meanwhile, he said both Powi and Olkoben didn't enter the Agiru Centre yesterday and police from Tari were protecting it.
Provincial police commander Teddy Tei could not be reached for comments.