River tragedy

TWO students – a teenager and a five-year-old – drowned while nine others suffered injuries when the bus they were travelling in was washed away by a fast-flowing river, The National reports.
The incident happened at around 9pm on Monday at the border of Hagen Central and Anglimp district, Western Highlands province.
An eyewitness said the 15-seater bus was washed away by the Lel River.
It was carrying Michael Pati and his family members from a birthday party in Olgulben.
They were travelling to Wurup.
According to Alois Meringa, who lives near the scene of the accident, the bus was slowly crossing the Lel bridge when the strong river current washed away a 20m section of the road, carrying with it the bus and the passengers.
Meringa said an alarm was raised that night and the nearby villagers rushed to the scene.
Despite the strong current, they managed to rescue nine passengers trapped inside the bus.
He said two passengers – identified only by their first names as Cedric, five, and Wanuga, 18, were washed away.
Wanuga should be doing Grade 10 this year at Kombalopa High School.
The two missing youngsters were from the Okune tribe in the Baiyer district.
They were related to Pati’s wife.
The villagers looked for them on Monday night and continued their search yesterday along the river banks but could not find them.
Among the injured were Pati’s small daughter who broke her leg and a 16-year-old girl who sustained deep cuts to her legs.
A bus crew also sustained a deep cut to his forehead and two wo­men had injuries to their backs.
Meringa said the injured passengers were rushed to the Mt Hagen Provincial Hospital on Monday night.
Some were treated for minor injuries and released while others were admitted.
The water pushed back by a blocked culvert destroyed many food gardens, coffee trees and other properties upriver.
Meringa blamed the incident on poor engineering work carried out by a contractor when it sealed the road from Warakum to Wurup Kaip about 10 years ago.
He said when the Lel River had a wooden bridge, water flowed freely even during floods.
But when the road was sealed, the contractor removed the wooden bridge and replaced it with the culvert which was too small to allow excess water to flow through during heavy rain.
Meringa said they had raised complaints with local MP Jamie Maxtone-Graham and Governor Tom Olga but nothing had been done to fix the problem.
Fellow villager Peter Puri blamed the accident on the negligence of the leaders and contractor.
Puri said if the bridge had been fixed properly, or if the contractor had done his job well, the incident would not have happened.

70th anniversary of Rabaul bombing today

Lest we forget, today is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of beatiful RABAUL, EAST NEW BRITAIN,  in World War 11 by the Japanese.

 Rabaul was bombed on January 4, 1942 followed by Morobe gold towns Lae, Salamaua, and Bulolo on January 21.

To go into detail about the long and bitter fighting that took place between Lae Salamaua and Wau in 1942 and 1943 would fill pages.

Many hundreds of Japanese, Australians, Chinese as well as Papua New Guineans were killed in the two years of fighting.

  I'm going to write a series of articles this year about the 70th anniversary of WW11 in New Guinea, and hopefully, people can start realising that Rabaul, Lae, Salamaua and Wau were just as important - if not more important - that Kokoda.

Climate change treaty in sight at Durban talks

By JAMES LARAKI of NARI

AS we welcome 2012, we also commend world leaders on the comprehensive global treaty on climate change agreement reached for the first time after at talks in Durban, South Africa last December.

NARI team demonstrating the rope and washer pump technology at the Enga Show in 2011. This simple-easy to construct water harvesting technology is being promoted to assist rural communities to source water in the event of a drought.

The two-week long Durban talks attended by more than 190 countries agreed to start work on a new climate deal that would have legal force and, crucially, require both developed and developing countries to cut their carbon emissions.

The terms now need to be agreed by 2015 and come into effect from 2020.

The agreement – dubbed the "Durban platform" – is different from the other partial deals that have been struck during the past two decades, with developing countries, including China, the world's biggest emitter, agreeing to be legally bound to curb their greenhouse gases.

Previously, poorer nations have insisted that they should not bear any legal obligations for tackling climate change, whereas rich nations, which over more than a century have produced most of the carbon currently in the atmosphere should.

Another first is that the US, the second biggest emitter, also agreed that the new pact would have "legal force", a step it flirted with in 1997 with the Kyoto protocol, but abandoned as Congress made clear it would never ratify that agreement.

All of the world's biggest economies and emitters already have targets to cut emissions between now and 2020, when the new deal would come into force.

But many commentators view these targets are voluntary, not legally binding.

The EU and many others fear that voluntary targets are too easy to wriggle out of.

However, the deal did little to address the scale of emissions cuts needed, and environmental groups said this was a huge failing.

Commentators were of the opinion that governments have salvaged a path forward for negotiations, but are under no illusion, saying the outcome of Durban leaves us with the prospect of being legally bound to a world of 4C warming.

This they believe would be catastrophic for people and the natural world. Commentators say governments have spent crucial days focused on a handful of specific words in the negotiating text, but have paid little heed to repeated warnings from the scientific community that much stronger, urgent action is needed to cut emissions."

While all nations are obliged to reduce emissions, how much will global emission be reduced and by when are some unanswered questions that negotiators continue to push them around.

And many commentators are of the view that the ambitions to keep the temperature raise at 4C may be nowhere near to prevent disasters that are likely to occur across the globe.

 Important decisions on implementation of the cuts of emissions, how this burden will be shared between developed and developing countries, and how all this will be enforced are uncertain.

Lord Stern, former World Bank chief economist and author of the landmark 2006 review of the economics of climate change, said: "The outcome of the summit is a modest but significant step forward.

“The decision to move towards a unified system, with all countries having some form of legal commitments, removes an important obstacle and could allow, for example, the US to play a more participative and constructive role in the future."

The agreement reached also ensured that developing countries will soon begin to gain access to billions of pounds in finance from the rich world to help them move to a green economy and cope with the effects of climate change.

PNG, for example needs to understand how we fit into such agreements as the issue of climate change is of paramount to over 80% of the six million- plus people. We need to understand what would be done to achieve the required rate of reducing emission and whether the funding available could cater of the expected cuts.

While it is not clear what exactly rich countries are targeting by establishing this fund, reducing or minimising deforestation is obvious.

 But deforestation may not work well for many developing nations including PNG who depend on it for income.

Many commentators have cited the Cancun Agreements concerning REDD+ (Reductions in Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) as another cause for optimism.

After all, deforestation causes roughly as many emissions globally as transportation does, and the agreements pledge to give developing countries financial incentives to leave forests standing.

If that has to happen, the incentives should march the likely income that would have come from harvesting forest.

 Developing countries need to make a realistic approach to this and work out whether their expected income from harvesting forest can be compensated from the Green Climate Fund.

 Such realistic figures could form the basis of negotiations and should help development of guidelines on how the fund is managed and disbursed.

The outcomes of Durban provide a welcome boost for global climate action.

 They reflect the growing, and in some quarters unexpected, determination of countries to act collectively.

This provides a clear signal and predictability to economic planners, businesses and investors about the future of low-carbon economies.

A number of specific commitments agreed in Durban also indicate that previous decisions on financing, technology and REDD+ are moving to implementation.

The big question many will ask is how this will translate into actual emission reductions and by when?

 Whatever answer will emerge in the coming months, Durban has kept the door open for the world to respond to climate change based on science and common sense rather than political expediency.

Graham Osborne papers (please click to enlarge)

Ila Geno made grand chief

By BOSORINA ROBBY

TWO former parliamentarians and a former police commissioner are recipients of the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu in the 2012 New Year honours list, The National reports.
The award carries with it the title of grand chief.
They are Sinai Brown, former member for Gazelle in East New Britain, Sir Akepa Miakwe a former member for Unggai-Bena in Eastern Highlands and former police commissioner and former chief ombudsman Ila Geno.
The award recognises 20 years of service, achievement, and merit in the highest degree, by citizens.
Geno, who was surprised with the honour, thanked those who nominated him for this highest award, and their confidence in him over the years.
He also thanked his wife and children, senior officers and general duty officers in the police force, especially those in the criminal investigation division.
“I also want to thank my fellow ombudsmen at the Ombudsman Commission for the years we worked together – especially John ToGuata from the police and now in the Ombudsman, Nemo Yalo, late Peter Peraki and judge David Cannings in his capacity as counsel to the OC when I was chief ombudsman,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Brown has been recognised for his services to the community and national and provincial governments through his contribution to the advancement of East New Britain as a minister of state.
Sir Akepa has been recognised for his services to the community through effective leadership in the development of the coffee industry in the Eastern Highlands and as a former state minister.
The Officer of the Logohu (OL) award recognises Hugh Laird (agriculture and rural industries-tea and coffee), David Simon Saungei Nelson (business management and Pangu Pati), Karol Kanawi Popei (health-specialist surgeon), Jeffrey Wayne Ransley (pre-Independence administration Western), Brian Riches (public administration and commerce) and Fr Benjamin Francis Madden, OFM Cap (community and Catholic church in Southern Highlands).
Others recognised are Naomi Polum (education and athletics), David Gole (architecture and humanitarian causes) and Dorothy Huku (community and provincial administration)

Sweep team arrests 2 more

TWO former civil servants face fraud-related charges involving public funds, The National reports.
The Task Force Sweep arrested David Kumalau Pondros, a businessman, and Jeffery Yakopyia, a former assistance secretary in the economic division of National Planning and Monitoring Department.
Pondros was arrested on Dec 23 for allegedly misappropriating K400,000 belonging to the Oro provincial administration.
It was alleged that Pondros received the funds through his company, David Consultants, in the pretext of conducting feasibility studies for the construction of wharves at certain locations in the Ijivitari electorate in Northern province.
Task Force Sweep said in a statement that it was not clear whether Pondros, who was believed to have a primary school teaching and air steward background, had the capacity to deliver such technical. What was apparent was that the funds were instead used for private purposes.
He was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud, one count of false pretence and one count of misappropriation.
He was detained at the Boroko police cell and later released on a K1,500 police bail.
This was the second arrest of Pondros. His first arrest was on Oct 21, 2011, for allegedly misappropriating more than K6 million from the National Planning Department. The case is pending in court.
Meanwhile, Yakopyia, who was an assistant secretary at National Planning when Joseph Lelang was the secretary, allegedly used his position to approve K1,975,006.05 variation claim lodged on behalf of Sarakolok West Transport Ltd (SWT) by its lawyer, Manase  and Co Lawyers.
These funds were paid on top of the initial K7.9 million paid to SWT, a company owned by Eremas Wartoto who was also arrested for not using the funds to rehabilitate the Kerevat National High School in East New Britain, the purpose upon which the funds under the RESI programme were released to the company.
It was alleged that while the initial K7.9 million was diverted for personal use, another K1.9 million was released under fraudulent circumstances to the same company.

Killings mark bleak start to New Year

THREE women were hacked to death while a 12-year-old girl was raped, killed and buried – in a bleak start to the New Year, police say, The National reports.
Nationwide they reported a total of horrific nine deaths
In Manus, an adult and two children under five died in a banana boat accident on New Year’s Eve.
In addition, police said there were two killings in Lae while a student was raped in Central on Christmas Day.
The four women from Eastern Highlands were killed by a fellow tribesman who had been upset over a long-standing land dispute outside Goroka town.
Eastern Highlands provincial police commander Supt Augustine Wampe said the man from Jotu Village, in the Kama area outside Goroka, got drunk before taking a bush knife and chopping to death the three women.
Wampe said the suspect had allegedly been aggrieved by an on-going land dispute and approached 17-year-old Emma Tura and asked for her father.
But the man allegedly did not wait for an answer, swung the bush knife, hitting Tura on her left ear.
Tura fell to the ground and died almost instantly.
Wampe said two other women, Okene Tura and Ina Blackie, who had been inside their house, ran out to find out what was happening.
Wampe said the suspect again swung bush knife at them, chopping Okene Tura on her right shoulder, left ear and on the back of her head, causing her to fall and die.
“The suspect then attacked the third female, Ina Blackie, chopping her on her head and waist, she fell unconscious to the ground and was rushed to the Goroka Base Hospital but died the next morning,” Wampe said.
He said the suspect ran from Kama to the Goroka police station still armed with the bush knife and surrendered to police