Goroka Show Committee finally gets its K700,000

Eddie Mike (left) deputy chief-of-staff of the office of the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill,  handing over the K700, 000 to Chairman of Goroka Show Society Gideon Samuel (right) as committee members look on.Nationalpic by ZACHERY PER

By ZACHERY PER

THE K700, 000 earmarked for the Goroka Show Committee from Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has finally been released.

Prime Minister's deputy chief-of-staff Eddie Mike delivered the money to show chairman Gideon Samuel on Sunday night at Bird of Paradise Hotel.

"It is unfortunate that it took a little while before the cheque came into your hands," Mike told Samuel and members of his committee who were present to witness the presentation.

He said the cheque was made payable to provincial treasury, whom the committee would have to liaise closely with them to draw cash.

Mike encouraged members of the society to follow required procedures as stipulated in the Public Financial Management Act and report accordingly to the source of the money.

Samuel thanked the O'Neill/Namah government for being the first to give such a sum of money.

He said the show belonged to the people and the committee was made up of stakeholders.

"We are committed to ensure the show is maintained as it belongs to the people and we are only here to facilitate for the people," Samuel said.

He said the O'Neill/Namah government was getting its priorities right.

"Please pass on our heartfelt thanks to Prime Minister O'Neill and his government for the money," he told Mike.

Meanwhile, in a local radio talkback show this morning, Goroka MP and Minister for Environment and Conservation Thompson Harokaqveh claimed he rescued the money by taking custody of it when it was first released during the Goroka Show.

He said certain members of the show committee were attempting to cash the cheque but he knew that the money would be misused so he quickly took custody of it.

He said there were certain procedures to follow.

"There are many instances of misuses of government cheques without proper paper work in place," Harokaqveh said.

 "This is not a personal cheque.

"It was written to the provincial government for the show committee."

Morobe leader Utula Samana dies

By MALUM NALU

Firebrand former Morobe politician Utula Samana died at his home at 6-Mile outside Lae in the early hours of today (Sunday).

Lae-based medical doctor Mosey Sao confirmed the death of Samana, from Saigara village in Morobe Patrol Post,

Sao said the cause of death was not known, however, added that Samana had been suffering from the debilitating effects of Parkinson's Disease for the last couple of years.

Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking (tremors) and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination.

Parkinson's disease most often develops after age 50.

It is one of the most-common nervous system disorders of the elderly.

Sometimes Parkinson's disease occurs in younger adults.

It affects both men and women.

Sao said he and other supporters of Samana went to 6-Mile this afternoon and took the body to the Lae International Hospital morgue.

 Samana was a graduate in arts from the University of Papua New Guinea (1974) where he majored in politics and public administration.

Following his work as provincial planner and then premier of Morobe province, in July 1987, he moved into national politics when he unseated Boyamo Sali for the Morobe Regional seat.

Samana was Morobe Regional MP until 1992, when he was unseated by his longtime rival, Jerry Nalau.

He later became Secretary for Department of Agriculture and Livestock and and PNG Ambassador to the United Nations, among others.

Longtime friend and supporter, Paul Itama, said all of his friends and supporters were saddened by the sudden death.

"He was a kwila post for all of us in Morobe," he said.

"He was a very-decisive leader."

Samana is survived by his two wives and children Yaungtine, Nuki, Cher and Galiki.

Morobe provincial government is expected to take over funeral arrangements including a state funeral for Samana.

Former Samana chief-of-staff Ben Micah, now chief-of-staff to Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, is also helping with funeral arrangements.

Yawari’s funeral service to be held tomorrow

By MALUM NALU

The funeral service of former Southern Highlands Governor Hami Yawari will be held at the Hohola Christian Outreach Victory Church from 9am to 2.30pm tomorrow (Monday).

On Tuesday morning, the body will be flown from Port Moresby to Mendi on a charter flight, where it will be received by Southern Highlands provincial government and administration.

Public viewing of the body and paying of last respects will be from 10am to 1pm.

At 1.30pm on Tuesday, the casket leaves Mendi by helicopter to Nipa, where there will be public viewing of the body and paying of last respects.

At 1pm on Wednesday, the casket leaves Nipa by helicopter to Pimaga, Kutubu.

Public viewing and paying of last respects will be from 1.30pm to 4pm.

At 4.15pm, the casket leaves Pimaga by convoy to Yawari's Gesege village, where it will overnight.

Yawari will be laid to rest at his Gesege village in Lake Kutubu on Thursday.

Duma fires another broadside at InterOil

By YEHIURA HRIEWAZI

PETROLEUM and Energy Mi­nister William Duma last Thursday fired another broadside at InterOil Corporation accusing it of misleading major companies interested in the Gulf LNG project.
In what appears to be a tit-for-tat exchange between the go­vernment and the company, the minister accused InterOil of denying major companies access to data about the Gulf LNG project as part of the due diligence.
His comments to Radio New Zealand yesterday followed Inter-Oil's insistence it was still committed to delivering a world-class LNG project in compliance with the 2009 project agreement.
On Tuesday, Duma announ­ced that the National Executive Council on Sept 21 had decided
to terminate the Gulf LNG project because it was pursued by InterOil as a small-scale fragmented project as opposed to the original agreement for a large-scale world-class plant to be operated by an internationally recognised LNG operator.
Cabinet shelved InterOil's plan­ned project after it found the Canadian-based petrol company had deviated from a 2009 project agreement.
But InterOil's chairman Phil Mulacek said he had discussed the government's concerns with Duma and he was still committed.
Duma responded that the agreement stipulated the project involved a "major international LNG operator", something he claimed InterOil was not.
He said InterOil had denied a host of potential operators access to data about the project as part of the due diligence.
"We're not forcing them to go into bed with a particular company. All we're saying is look, these are the options, explore them and do a deal and sell down the equi­ty and develop the project and get on with it,'' he said.
"InterOil for some reason is misleading a lot of people. It's a concern. Papua New Guinea is a small country, we have to be frank with each other."
Meanwhile, Reuters last Thursday reported that InterOil's shares in the New York Stock Exchange sank to nearly a two-year low on Wednesday after it got hammered the previous day.
Shares of the company were trading down 16% at US$38.60 in morning trade on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
They touched a low of US$38.40 earlier in the session.
MKM Partners analyst Curtis Trimble said the PNG government's decision was likely to have little material impact on the company.
He said he expected plans for the LNG project to remain on track.
"Papua New Guinea government has a direct participation interest in the LNG plant.
"It is a major driver of government re­venues and employment growth.
"It would make little sense for the government to make additional difficulties to build the plant at this point," he said.

Government sacks Wagambie as police commissioner

By JEFFREY ELAPA

GOVERNMENT has sacked Po­lice Commissioner Tony Wa­gam­bie, saying it is in the interest of the state and necessary for the stability of the police force leading to the 2012 general election, The National reports.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the sacking was "through no fault of Wagambie" and accused the ousted Somare go­vernment of mishandling the appointment in the first place.
O'Neill yesterday said the decision by the National Executive Council to remove Wagambie was not politically motivated.
Former deputy police commissioner Tom Kulunga will be acting commissioner.
Kulunga is an experienced police officer and was the deputy commissioner (administration).
O'Neill said he had advised the head of state to terminate the appointment of Wa­gambie in the interest of the state.
He said the revocation was done after full consultation with the public ser­vice commission and permanent parliamentary appointment committee.
He said the government's actions were absolutely necessary to ensure stability within the police force over the next 12 months until the general election was over.
The announcement fol­lowed the disbanding of the NCD fraud unit on Tuesday and the replacement of NCD central division commander Fred Seekiot and NCD me­tropolitan commander Supt Joseph Tondop.
Kulunga when asked to comment on the recent developments within the force, said he would not make any statements currently affecting the top NCD command.
He said he had learnt of the decision from news being relayed to him and was yet to receive an official notification from the government and head of state.
A senior police officer said Kulunga should look at issues affecting the police force such as the dis-
banding of the NCD fraud squad and the relocation of the top NCD command.
O'Neill said the former government had appointed Wagambie without concluding the mandatory consultation process with the appropriate constitutional institutions.
He said Wa­gambie was due to retire next July and his appointment was confirmed by the former government for only 14 months, contrary to the Police Act which required that an appointment must be for four years.
O'Neill said Wa­gam­bie's retirement meant a new commissioner would have to be appointed during the crucial stages of the 2012 general election.
He said such changes would most likely disturb the command and control of the police force at a most critical time.
He said he could not put at risk law and order and the peace in the country during the elections due to a change of command and control in the police force.
O'Neill said Wagambie's contract entitlements would be paid out so that he did not lose out on remuneration prior to his retirement next July.
He said cabinet had also directed that names of suitable candidates be submitted to it for perusal.

Papua New Guinea in pictures

By MALUM NALU

SINCE the beginning of this year, Stephen Dupont has been wandering Papua New Guinea, a self-described “nomad with a camera” to capture these moments for posterity. 

The Black Water River, Middle Sepik.-All Pictures @by STEPHEN DUPONT

This world-renowned photographer has this year worked in Port Moresby, Tari in Southern Highlands, Mt Hagen, Goroka, Wabag, Porgera gold mine, deserted Panguna mine on Bougainville, and the Sepik River as far as Black Water Lakes.

Stephen Dupont… ‘nomad with a camera’

A good mate of mine, whom I have known since 2009 when I assisted him and a French TV journalist on a documentary on crime in Port Moresby, Dupont has become well known to many at The National’s office as he wandered in and out to see me.

A church service and flag-raising at Kaningara village, Middle Sepik

Stephen Dupont was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1967.

During the past two decades, Dupont has produced a remarkable body of visual work; hauntingly beautiful photographs of fragile cultures and marginalised peoples. 

Trying to stay out of the rain, Enga Show, Wabag

He skillfully captures the human dignity of his subjects with great intimacy and often in some of the world’s most-dangerous regions. 

Evangelist bush church near Tari, Southern Highlands

His images have received international acclaim for their artistic integrity and valuable insight into the people, culture and communities that have existed for hundreds of years, yet are fast disappearing from our world.

Huli man and son, Tari

Dupont’s work has earned him photography’s most prestigious prizes, including a Robert Capa Gold Medal citation from the Overseas Press Club of America; a Bayeux War Correspondent’s Prize; and first places in the World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the Australian Walkleys, and Leica/CCP Documentary Award. 

Highlands Highway between Mendi and Hagen

In 2007 he was the recipient of the W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography for his ongoing project on Afghanistan.

In 2010 he received the Gardner Fellowship at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology.

Watching the rugby at Kaugere Oval, Port Moresby

His work has been featured in The New Yorker, Aperture, Newsweek, Time, GQ, Esquire,  French and German GEO, Le Figaro, Liberation, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Independent, The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine, Stern, The Australian Financial Review Magazine, and Vanity Fair.

Waiting for a PMV at Mt Hagen market

Dupont has held major exhibitions in London, Paris, New York, Sydney, Canberra, Tokyo, and Shanghai, and at Perpignan’s Visa Pour L’Image, China’s Ping Yao and Holland’s Noorderlicht festivals. 

Mt Hagen

Dupont’s handmade photographic artist books and portfolios are in the selected collections of the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Australian War Memorial, The New York Public Library, Berlin and Munich National Art Libraries, Stanford University, Yale University, Boston Athenaeum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Joy of Giving Something Inc.

Crowd waiting to see the Prime Minister arrive at Goroka Airport, Independence Day, September 16, 2011

He currently resides in Sydney with his family where he splits his production there with assignments and long term projects in the field. 

He is a photographer, artist and documentary filmmaker. 

Welcome singsing dancers on the tarmac at Goroka Airport waiting the PM to arrive, Independence Day, September 16, 2011

This year, he has been on a prestigious fellowship from Harvard University in the USA, called the Gardner Photography Fellowship at the Peabody Museum of Ethonology and Archeology at Harvard.

Mudmen on the tarmac at Goroka Airport waiting the Prime Minister to arrive, Independence Day, September 16, 2011

“My proposal was to do a project on Papua New Guinea,” Dupont says.

“My theme for this project would be around PNG society and detribalisation. 

Supporters of Prime Minister Peter O'Neil waiting for his arrival at Goroka Airport, September 16,  Independence Day, 2011

“In essence, I wanted to look at changes facing the human condition of PNG society today, 2011.

“I was awarded the fellowship to do this project for one year, so the money would help me come back and forth to PNG to complete this work, which would ultimately be a book and exhibition for the Peabody Museum.

Putting on make up, Enga Show, Wabag

“I started in Port Moresby where I focused on the urban environment and the effects of urbanisation on the various tribal communities."

“I wanted to contrast this window into the cities, with a focus on the rural environment, so I travelled to Tari in the Southern Highlands.

Singsing performers at Enga Show, Wabag

“I travelled the Highlands Highway to Mt Hagen and Goroka.

“I covered the cultural shows in Hagen, Goroka and Wabag.

“I visited Porgera gold mine and travelled through Bougainville, and documented the community around the Panguna mine.

Bride price ceremony, Banz, Western Highlands

“I also journeyed up the Sepik River as far as the Black Water Lakes, documenting traditional villages and their people.

 “I’m interested in these changes that are taking place in PNG.

“What I mean is that I’m looking at the effects and impact of globalisation on the society and westernisation on the society of PNG today.

“This can come through with obvious and dramatic new influences on the people, for example, the influx of commercialisation and advertising; the phenomenal advancement and popularity of mobile phones and telecommunications in this country; obviously the boom of mining today, like the LNG project in the Southern Highlands.

A bride price gathering in Banz, Western Highlands

“PNG is seeing a major economic boom in its resources and other resource-related sectors.

“Essentially, this is having a clear affect on the society.

“People are experiencing new and modern technologies like the mobile phone and internet, that people in rural communities never dreamt of before.”

Dupont searched for changes in culture.

“My project is a photographic project so I’m a visual storyteller,” he explains.

“Most of my information and stories need to be shown in the context of my photographs.

“I’m constantly on the lookout for these obvious clashes of traditional cultures and western influences.

“I’m walking the streets and I’m looking for this, whether it is in Port Moresby, or Mt Hagen, or the Sepik or Tari.

“I want to document, for history’s sake, these changes that are taking place in 2011.

“While I was in Tari, I witnessed the phenomenal impact that the simple mobile phone is having on the society there.

“These people in the Southern Highlands, like many other remote communities in PNG, have taken up the mobile phone and worshipped it, like they worship pigs or other valuables.

“The phone has introduced an unheard-of instant communication to friends and families around the country, that these remote communities have never experienced before.

“For the first time, it has brought communities together and in touch.

“In the West, we take this kind of thing for granted, but in PNG, the simple mobile phone network is a revelation.

“There’s nowhere in PNG experiencing these changes so quickly and aggressively as in the Southern Highlands.

“Traditional culture is rapidly changing forever.

“Whether this is seen as detribalisation or progress, it does not change the fact that ancient custom is on the edge of extinction.

“It is this question that I’m most intrigued about as I travel around the country - a nomad with a camera - that I’m trying to capture in my photographs.”

Dupont’s book, Piksa Niugini: The Land of the Unknown, is expected to be published and on sale in 2013.

The dawning of a new day for Ialibu

By MALUM NALU

A powerful new book by Lutheran missionaries Claire and Len Tscharke tells of how they brought the Word of God into remote Ialibu, Southern Highlands, in the 1950s.

The book, ‘The Dawning of a New Day’, launched at Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG headquarters at Ampo in Lae in July this year, is a wonderful account of God’s leading, His blessing and of the turn-around of many Papua New Guineans to go God’s way instead of Satan’s.

 Cover of ‘The dawning of a New Day’

Here were two young novice missionaries taking God’s promises at face value and proving them true in their lives.

The Tscharkes were missionaries in PNG from 1954-1972, Len fondly remembered by many as the founding principal of the famous Asaroka Lutheran High School in Eastern Highlands (that is another story).

The Tscharkes being welcomed home Asaroka Lutheran High School outside Goroka in July this year.

For a period of four years, from 1955-1958, they were the first Lutheran missionaries into the then highly-restricted area of Ialibu.

At the time, Ialibu was quite unknown to the wider world, although a government kiap (patrol officer) had preceded them by some months.

This kiap, Brian O’Neill, became as good friends of the Tscharkes as they brought government services, education and the Word of God to the people of Ialbu.

O’Neill was the father of one Peter O’Neill, who just last month, became Prime Minister of PNG.

“The young patrol officer, Brian O’Neill, who had been sent there by the Government to open up this new region for others to follow, was an Australian man in his mid-20s, full of energy and enthusiasm,” they write.

“We pictured him to be a busy man, conscientious in all that he did.

“The fact that he had already completed the airstrip seemed to suggest that he was a man of action, as only a person with drive and initiative could have achieved what he had done in such a short time.”

One of the most amazing things in the book is that the Tscharkes, who built the first school in Ialibu, wondered if a future prime minister of PNG would come out of Ialibu.

“How long would it be for someone to emerge from a school such as ours to be ready to fill a meaningful role in the forums of the worldwide Church of God or in the halls of the nations of the world?” they write in ‘The Dawning of a New Day’.

“Was there perhaps a future Prime Minister sitting in one of our wooden benches out there in forgotten Ialibu?

“These thoughts did come to us.”

God must have listened to them, albeit more than 50 years later, as Peter O’Neill became Prime Minister of PNG and represented the country “in the halls of the nations of the world” such as the United Nations.

When the Tscharkes entered Ialibu, no other white person had entered this area until then, where the people were still living in the Stone Age.

The Tscharkes lived amongst these people, got to know them well and helped them to a new, a better life, where they know Christ as their Savior.

A good friend of mine, Rebecca Ogann Kiage, who is studying at university in Adelaide and whose guardians are the Tscharkes, recently gave me a copy to read and I couldn’t put the book down until I had completed it this week,

In fact, I was invited to meet the Tscharkes when they came over in July for the book launch as well as visit their old stomping grounds of Asaroka and Ialibu, however, I just missed their flight.

It is a book that every child of Ialibu, Southern Highlands and PNG must read because of its rich historical content, one that will make you laugh one moment, make you cry the next.

The story begins in 1955 when the Tscharkes and their one-year-old son, Terry, got on board a Mission Cessna 172 VHF- AMO and flew off to their new assignment.

Much of what is written in the book is written in diary form, where days and events have been recalled in the order they happened.

It is one big Christian adventure from start to end!

It starts with their arrival, first impressions, settling in, starting a new school, Ialibu becoming a derestricted area, Ialibu becoming a circuit, expansion, changes, consolidation, visit of Claire’s parents, plans for self-government and independence, Ialibu tradition, Kagua becoming a derestricted area, first mission trip to Kagua Valley, growth of Ialibu, first trip to Wiru Taru, Len’s final trip to the Pangia-Tiripini region, and the heartbreak of leaving Ialibu in 1959.

Their first-hand experiences with the people of Ialibu make for fascinating reading.

Many people have, over the years, asked the Tscharkes to record their unque experiences, however, they always said “no” until recently when they decided to publish the book.

“What happened at Ialibu in those early years wasn’t about us at all,” they write.

“Nor was it about the evangelists who played a part in bringing the Gospel to those fine people.

“It was about God and the power that he had invested in His Word.

“We were no more than His voice that he used to create for Himself a people that now follows Him and brings honor to the name of Jesus.

“He wanted those Ialibu people to have a place in His Kingdom, together with every other tribe, nation and tongue.

“And so it happened that He asked us to go there for Him.

“Like almost everyone else at the time, we hadn’t even heard of the place called Ialibu before we were asked to go there.

“In fact, it had only just been listed as a future centre, because of a young patrol officer (Brian O’Neill) who had gone up there to open up a station for the government.

“Before that, there wasn’t even a village there!”

This amazing book is on sale in Port Moresby for K50 from Delma Yore, who can be contacted on mobile 71097679.

In Lae, copies can be obtained from Pastor Greg Schiller at ELCPNG head office, Ampo.

All proceeds from book sales will be used for the Ialibu Pastoral Training Initiative.