PUBLIC servants wishing to contest the 2012 general election must submit their resignations by this week to meet the six-month deadline required by law, The National reports.
The Minister assisting the Prime Minister on Constitutional Matters, Wake Goi, said the law allowed public servants to resign six months before the issue of writs.
"I want to inform public servants intending to contest the 2012 national elections that by law, they have to resign from their jobs to contest," Goi said.
He said public servants intending to contest must submit their resignations by this week to meet the Oct 27 deadline.
"As intending candidates, you have to do the right thing now to contest the election," Goi said.
He revealed that polling for the four highlands provinces of Chimbu, Western
Highlands, Enga and Southern Highlands would be conducted on the second week of the polling period.
He said this would allow security personnel monitoring the polling in other regions to be redeployed into the four highlands provinces to ensure security for a trouble-free election.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Casino hotel under threat
By BOSORINA ROBBY
THE South Korean developer of the multi-million kina Port Moresby Casino Hotel was yesterday given a 10-day notice to show cause why its contract should not be terminated, The National reports.
Work came to a standstill at the end of last year as the developer, CMSS (PNG) Ltd, went abroad to raise funds.
CMSS signed a contract with the government in 2008 to finance, build and complete the project within two years.
However, there have been various delays and complaints in the past eight months regarding the project as some K22 million in landowner funds was invested in the project.
Reliable sources told The National last night that under the contract, CMSS was supposed to invest US$72.8 million (K164 million) as part of its equity for a 90% holding in the casino project, but that was disputed by CMSS last night saying “not US dollars”.
Two Kutubu oil landowner companies – Petroleum Resources Gobe (PRG) and Petroleum Resources Moran (PRM) invested K11 million each in the project – each for 5% equity.
PRG chairman Philip Kende confirmed their investment and complained of government’s inaction in co-ordinating and monitoring the project.
THE South Korean developer of the multi-million kina Port Moresby Casino Hotel was yesterday given a 10-day notice to show cause why its contract should not be terminated, The National reports.
Work came to a standstill at the end of last year as the developer, CMSS (PNG) Ltd, went abroad to raise funds.
CMSS signed a contract with the government in 2008 to finance, build and complete the project within two years.
However, there have been various delays and complaints in the past eight months regarding the project as some K22 million in landowner funds was invested in the project.
Reliable sources told The National last night that under the contract, CMSS was supposed to invest US$72.8 million (K164 million) as part of its equity for a 90% holding in the casino project, but that was disputed by CMSS last night saying “not US dollars”.
Two Kutubu oil landowner companies – Petroleum Resources Gobe (PRG) and Petroleum Resources Moran (PRM) invested K11 million each in the project – each for 5% equity.
PRG chairman Philip Kende confirmed their investment and complained of government’s inaction in co-ordinating and monitoring the project.
 |
| Petroleum Resources Gobe chairman Philip Kende at the Port Moresby Casino Hotel construction site yesterday. He is concerned about landowner investment in the project and wants a review of the agreement.-Nationalpic by YEHIURA HRIEWAZI |
He wants a complete review of the project agreement.
CMSS managing director and owner Jimmy Kim said yesterday he had written
his response to the show cause notice which would be delivered today
to the government.
It is understood he was also consulting his lawyers yesterday.
He complained bitterly about the government failing in its part as well and admitted the delay in the project.
“I am not running away, I will complete the project … “Yes, I admit there is delay, but work did not stop,” Kim said.
However, a visit to the site by The National yesterday afternoon proved otherwise.
Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel said his departmental head Steven Mera delivered the notice to Kim on Monday.
Abel said the developer should prove that it was still able to recommence and complete the project within the terms of the agreement.
He said one of the provisions was the time-frame for the completion of the project.
“The state injected prime land into this project.
“The developer’s obligation was to build the hotel within a specified time-frame.
“After 12 months, we are not seeing anything as outlined in the project agreement,” Abel said.
“As it is, the provisions allow us to terminate the project as we see fit, which we are doing now.”
He said the government was concerned about the interests of the Gobe and Moran landowners and other investors who had contributed capital.
Abel said so far, more than K33 million in investors’ funds had been spent on the project, while the state had contributed the land and related building board requirements plus a 10-year tax holiday.
He said should the developer fail to act on the notice, the state would terminate the agreement and publicly invite expressions of interest from other investors or consortiums capable of partnering with the state and shareholders to complete the project.
Abel revealed that there had already been unofficial expressions of interest should the CMSS fail to comply.
“It should cost roughly between K30 million and K60 million to carry on the work at the hotel site because the cost of materials has gone up and there is still a lot of work to do.”
The Mineral Resources Development Company, which is the custodian of landowner funds, has already engaged an architectural firm to conduct surveys on the unfinished building.
MRDC managing director Augustine Mano said last night the Krammer Group was engaged to check the structural integrity of the building and conduct quantity surveys to establish how much money had been spent on the building and how much more would be needed to complete it.
“We have engaged an independent professional firm who does the work so that will give us the comfort.”
Meanwhile, Abel is undecided on whether a casino will be part of the project at 4-Mile.
“The government is not in favour of the casino but we are not going to remove it.
“We will just ensure that it is managed under strict guidelines,’’ he said.
“The casino is not intended for the public, so restrictions will be put into place such as people may have to pay subscription fees or produce passports to enter.”
He said the focus was on the accommodation part of the project and its immediate completion to give investors a just return for their money.
“What I’m saying is, should we have a new agreement, the issue of the casino can be reviewed and decided by the new partners to either keep it or not.
“As yet, we have not applied for nor received a casino licence from the National Gaming and Control Board.
“The options are open,” he said.
It is understood he was also consulting his lawyers yesterday.
He complained bitterly about the government failing in its part as well and admitted the delay in the project.
“I am not running away, I will complete the project … “Yes, I admit there is delay, but work did not stop,” Kim said.
However, a visit to the site by The National yesterday afternoon proved otherwise.
Commerce and Industry Minister Charles Abel said his departmental head Steven Mera delivered the notice to Kim on Monday.
Abel said the developer should prove that it was still able to recommence and complete the project within the terms of the agreement.
He said one of the provisions was the time-frame for the completion of the project.
“The state injected prime land into this project.
“The developer’s obligation was to build the hotel within a specified time-frame.
“After 12 months, we are not seeing anything as outlined in the project agreement,” Abel said.
“As it is, the provisions allow us to terminate the project as we see fit, which we are doing now.”
He said the government was concerned about the interests of the Gobe and Moran landowners and other investors who had contributed capital.
Abel said so far, more than K33 million in investors’ funds had been spent on the project, while the state had contributed the land and related building board requirements plus a 10-year tax holiday.
He said should the developer fail to act on the notice, the state would terminate the agreement and publicly invite expressions of interest from other investors or consortiums capable of partnering with the state and shareholders to complete the project.
Abel revealed that there had already been unofficial expressions of interest should the CMSS fail to comply.
“It should cost roughly between K30 million and K60 million to carry on the work at the hotel site because the cost of materials has gone up and there is still a lot of work to do.”
The Mineral Resources Development Company, which is the custodian of landowner funds, has already engaged an architectural firm to conduct surveys on the unfinished building.
MRDC managing director Augustine Mano said last night the Krammer Group was engaged to check the structural integrity of the building and conduct quantity surveys to establish how much money had been spent on the building and how much more would be needed to complete it.
“We have engaged an independent professional firm who does the work so that will give us the comfort.”
Meanwhile, Abel is undecided on whether a casino will be part of the project at 4-Mile.
“The government is not in favour of the casino but we are not going to remove it.
“We will just ensure that it is managed under strict guidelines,’’ he said.
“The casino is not intended for the public, so restrictions will be put into place such as people may have to pay subscription fees or produce passports to enter.”
He said the focus was on the accommodation part of the project and its immediate completion to give investors a just return for their money.
“What I’m saying is, should we have a new agreement, the issue of the casino can be reviewed and decided by the new partners to either keep it or not.
“As yet, we have not applied for nor received a casino licence from the National Gaming and Control Board.
“The options are open,” he said.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Australia's "racist" visa policies against Papua New Guineans to be on talkback radio tomorrow
Why does the Australian High Commission continue to treat the people of Papua New Guinea like "shit" when it comes to issuing visas?
We want answers from Australian High Commissioner Ian Kemish!
You can have your say at 10am tomorrow - Wednesday, September 28 - on FM100's Talkback Show when SIMON MERTON – who has singlehandedly been fighting against the AHC for its blatantly racist visa policies towards Papua New Guineans – will be on air with host Roger Hau'ofa.
You can be assured of fireworks as the long-suffering people of PNG vent their frustration at the AHC!
Numbers to call are 323 3777 and 323 3999.
Student bashed to death in East New Britain
A STUDENT at the Kokopo Business College died on Sunday after being severely bashed up by four others, The National reports.
Provincial police commander Sylvester Kalaut said an East Sepik student was in custody for questioning while three others, also students, were still at large.
He said student Gary Bosa of Central and Bougainville parentage, died on Sunday after he was taken to hospital.
Kalaut said Bosa was attacked by the four students when he was returning to the male dormitory from a nearby bottle shop at 9pm last Friday.
After he was attacked, Bosa accompanied one of his friends to Kinabot stage 2 to avoid further assaults that night.
But when he returned to the campus on Saturday while under the influence of alcohol, the four students went to his room and assaulted him again.
Kalaut said Bosa's roommate noticed later that Bosa had not woken up nor changed his sleeping position.
He was taken to the Vunapope Hospital on Sunday but died on arrival.
Kalaut said his officers were investigating the death and a post-mortem examination would be conducted soon.
Police suspect that the motive for the assault was related to an arson case which happened on the campus three months ago.
KIalaut said Bosa was the student who had triggered a riot on campus three months ago after he was attacked.
He said senior staff at Kokopo Business College told him yesterday that Bosa was recently suspended for one year over an alcohol incident.
Kalaut said three of the four suspects were students who had been suspended in relation to the arson suspected.
22 seats reserved for women, United Nations told
PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill says the government plans to have more women take an active role
in national affairs and the economy, The National reports.
It was part of the message he delivered last Friday at the United Nations general assembly in his first address to world leaders.
"I believe that women play a critical role in all facets of development, therefore, the government
has recently passed the first vote on a parliamentary bill that will provide for 22 reserved seats for women to contest in the national election in 2012 besides contesting for any of the existing 109 seats," O'Neill said.
He said PNG appreciated the push by multi-lateral partners such as the Asian Development Bank
and the World Bank on gender equality.
And he urged them to support PNG's financial institutions and positively discriminate in favour of women by specifically allocating 10% of all funds without risk to be lent to women entrepreneurs to develop small and medium-sized enterprises.
"The good news is that many studies confirm the fact that women are good entrepreneurs, but even better when properly supported," he said.
"We note the recently adopted San Francisco declaration by Apec countries last week under the leadership of the United States of America.
"This is a major step forward in supporting women in business and is a powerful tool for women of Apec member countries like mine to effectively participate in business and the economy of our country.
"We will encourage our women in Papua New Guinea and urge the wider Apec community to take advantage of opportunities created by the declaration," the prime minister said.
in national affairs and the economy, The National reports.
It was part of the message he delivered last Friday at the United Nations general assembly in his first address to world leaders.
"I believe that women play a critical role in all facets of development, therefore, the government
has recently passed the first vote on a parliamentary bill that will provide for 22 reserved seats for women to contest in the national election in 2012 besides contesting for any of the existing 109 seats," O'Neill said.
He said PNG appreciated the push by multi-lateral partners such as the Asian Development Bank
and the World Bank on gender equality.
And he urged them to support PNG's financial institutions and positively discriminate in favour of women by specifically allocating 10% of all funds without risk to be lent to women entrepreneurs to develop small and medium-sized enterprises.
"The good news is that many studies confirm the fact that women are good entrepreneurs, but even better when properly supported," he said.
"We note the recently adopted San Francisco declaration by Apec countries last week under the leadership of the United States of America.
"This is a major step forward in supporting women in business and is a powerful tool for women of Apec member countries like mine to effectively participate in business and the economy of our country.
"We will encourage our women in Papua New Guinea and urge the wider Apec community to take advantage of opportunities created by the declaration," the prime minister said.
O’Neill tells United Nations: Papua New Guinea on target
 Caption: Prime Minister Peter O'Neill addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York City last Friday. |
| Caption: Prime Minister Peter O'Neill addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York City last Friday. |
PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill has told the United Nations general assembly that Papua New Guinea had achieved some of its national millennium development goals, The National reports.
Addressing world leaders for the first time since taking up office last month, O'Neill said since the publication of the inaugural MDG report in 2004, PNG had produced two MDG progress reports – a summary report in 2009 and a more comprehensive report last year.
He said the reports showed that PNG was able to achieve some of the national MDG targets, especially on poverty reduction and child mortality.
On poverty reduction, he said the country got the informal sector involved in cottage industries with growing access to microfinance services at user-friendly and affordable rates.
In terms of primary education, PNG was progressing well with the enrolment of children in Grades 1 to 6 increasing significantly by 53%, he told the assembly.
"This is a marked improvement and will increase the literacy rate in the long term," he said.
O'Neill told world leaders that PNG had welcomed and formalised the "One UN – Delivering as One" concept in 2006 as a model self-starter country.
He said PNG continued to benefit from a strong UN presence through its delivery of various development programmes.
"This has unified all the efforts of the separate UN agencies under one budgetary framework and monitoring and evaluation process,'' he said.
He said a new country programme for PNG to begin next January would target governance,
social justice, health, education, gender, environment, climate change and disaster management.
He said the government had recently announced a free education policy from elementary Grades 1 to 10, and subsidised fees from Grades 11 to university next year.
On health, O'Neill said PNG aimed to address key areas such as improving immunisation programmes, providing a clean and safer water supply, centralising the purchase and supply of drugs, maternal and child mortality, malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.
InterOil failed to honour agreement, says department head
IN a double-pronged charge, the government has launched a direct attack against PNG's only oil refiner and promoter of the second LNG project, InterOil, The National reports.
"When the department issues directions or requests for information in relation to Licence conditions or as required by the Oil and Gas Act and a Licence holder does not comply, this is non compliance and this is undermining the laws of the country," Rimua said.
"The department also expects that any investor that has a contractual obligation with the State must ensure it honours its obligations."
While Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma announced a cabinet decision to "reject the Gulf proposal", department head, Rendel Rimua expressed concern at InterOil's "inability to comply with the requirements and obligations set out in the InterOil refinery project agreement for NapaNapa refinery".
Rimua said the refinery was set up to produce refined petroleum products for the Port Moresby's market with provisions to extend to other parts of PNG.
He said: "Big companies like Shell and BP exited the retail petroleum industry in late 1990s and early 2000s while InterOil set up the refinery to fill the gap created by the departure of these companies to continue supplying refined petroleum products.
"The national government saw the need for a refinery to address the above situation; hence it negotiated and subsequently entered into a project agreement with InterOil to set up the refinery.
"The primary objective of the refinery project agreement was for InterOil Ltd to buy crude oil from the Kutubu oil fields operated by Oil Search Ltd, then process the crude oil to produce and supply refined petroleum products for Port Moresby and the rest of the country.
"The department has reason to believe that InterOil Ltd is not complying with the intent of the project agreement signed between the company and the state.
"The department is concerned that InterOil Ltd has not been able to provide details of the volume of refined petroleum products produced at its refinery at NapaNapa since it commenced operations in 2004 despite numerous requests for them to provide the information.
"In light of the above, the department understands InterOil Ltd has not been buying crude oil from the Kutubu oil fields and the department believes InterOil has been importing refined products and is possibly reblending them again for distribution in the country, away from the agreement signed."
Rimua also said InterOil Ltd refinery project was not complying with the pricing mechanism established by the National Executive Council for Import Parity Pricing (IPP) formula.
According to Rimua, InterOil sought a review of IPP formula in 2007 claiming it was making losses on its refinery business.
The state undertook a review and came up with an interim IPP formula but InterOil Ltd had issues so it was revised again and the state finalised the formula for implementation in 2010 but Rimua said he was informed that InterOil "has not been complying with the revised IPP formula".
The InterOil refinery operates under Petroleum Processing Facility Licence (PPFL) No. 1 under the Oil and Gas Act.Rimua said the refinery was set up to produce refined petroleum products for the Port Moresby's market with provisions to extend to other parts of PNG.
He said: "Big companies like Shell and BP exited the retail petroleum industry in late 1990s and early 2000s while InterOil set up the refinery to fill the gap created by the departure of these companies to continue supplying refined petroleum products.
"The national government saw the need for a refinery to address the above situation; hence it negotiated and subsequently entered into a project agreement with InterOil to set up the refinery.
"The primary objective of the refinery project agreement was for InterOil Ltd to buy crude oil from the Kutubu oil fields operated by Oil Search Ltd, then process the crude oil to produce and supply refined petroleum products for Port Moresby and the rest of the country.
"The department has reason to believe that InterOil Ltd is not complying with the intent of the project agreement signed between the company and the state.
"The department is concerned that InterOil Ltd has not been able to provide details of the volume of refined petroleum products produced at its refinery at NapaNapa since it commenced operations in 2004 despite numerous requests for them to provide the information.
"In light of the above, the department understands InterOil Ltd has not been buying crude oil from the Kutubu oil fields and the department believes InterOil has been importing refined products and is possibly reblending them again for distribution in the country, away from the agreement signed."
Rimua also said InterOil Ltd refinery project was not complying with the pricing mechanism established by the National Executive Council for Import Parity Pricing (IPP) formula.
According to Rimua, InterOil sought a review of IPP formula in 2007 claiming it was making losses on its refinery business.
The state undertook a review and came up with an interim IPP formula but InterOil Ltd had issues so it was revised again and the state finalised the formula for implementation in 2010 but Rimua said he was informed that InterOil "has not been complying with the revised IPP formula".
"When the department issues directions or requests for information in relation to Licence conditions or as required by the Oil and Gas Act and a Licence holder does not comply, this is non compliance and this is undermining the laws of the country," Rimua said.
"The department also expects that any investor that has a contractual obligation with the State must ensure it honours its obligations."
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