Coffee board, CEO, still at loggerheads

By MALUM NALU

A united Coffee Industry Corporation board of directors yesterday brushed aside Agriculture Minister Tommy Tomscoll’s dismissal of their recommendation to suspend chief executive officer Navi Anis as “biased, misleading and unsatisfactory”.

Anis, however, told The National from Goroka last night that he had nothing to hide and there was “no shred of evidence” whatsoever about mismanagement, misuse of public funds, and official corruption under his management.

Anis…in the hot seat

Tomscoll, in an eight-page response to the board, directed that he would not entertain its recommendations to suspend Anis because of lack of hard evidence.

His response was published in media, irking the board.

Board chairman Patrick Komba, in a statement surprisingly sent from the office of CIC general manager – industry operations Chris Gimbol, said the decision to recommend Anis was made in November 2012 after serious allegations of mismanagement, misuse of public funds, and counts of official corruption including non-performance.

“We, the board, asked Mr Navi Anis to show cause on some serious allegations involving millions of kina, which he did unofficially, but the board unanimously moved that the explanation from the CEO was no satisfactory, warranting investigations, and therefore we recommended for suspension for external investigations to take place,” he said.

Komba claimed Tomscoll was misled by Anis, and instead of talking with the board, the minister had used the same internal report by Anis verbatim.

“It is almost word-for-word,” he said.

“The contents of the minister’s response are the same as the content we received from Mr Navi Anis in his show-cause submission.

“We are surprised the minister chooses not to have anything to do with the board, as stipulated under various legislations, and allows himself to be misled by one person who is alleged of mismanagement, abuse of public funds, and counts of official corruption.”

Koma said as far as the board was concerned, its decision of November 23, 2012, recommending the suspension of Anis still stood and he was not cleared as stated in the media by Tomscoll.

Navis said all correspondence from the board to him and vice-versa had been given to Tomscoll to make a decision.

“I don’t know if some of these board members read the board papers we prepare for them or they just come to meetings to collect their allowance,” he said.

“In terms of financial accountability, our accounts are fully audited by the Auditor General’s Office.

“Auditors have not found any instance of financial mismanagement or misappropriation.

“There is no shred of evidence about financial mismanagement, and I deny the allegations by the board outright.”

Rich new copper, gold discovery in Star Mountains

By MALUM NALU

Highlands Pacific Ltd yesterday announced a rich new copper and gold discovery in the Star Mountains of Western province, 25km north of the giant Ok Tedi copper mine, at its Kum Kom prospect.

The company said the discovery highlighted the potential for another copper-gold porphyry-skarn system, just 5km north of the Olgal porphyry identified in 2012 that contained a 596m intersection of 0.61% copper and 0.85g/t gold.

StarMountains prospects.-Picture courtesy of Highlands Pacific

Skarns are the high-grade zones which made Ok Tedi such a great deposit and which make Highlands Pacific managing director John Gooding so excited.

“This is another highly encouraging discovery, highlighting the potential copper-gold systems that exist in this important new district,” he said yesterday.

“It is still early days and we need to drill more holes at Kum Kom while continuing to explore at more of our untested targets in the Star Mountain district.

“The reason why we are excited about the identification of skarns is twofold: first their high-grades make them more economically attractive in their own right, and second they can be an indicator of the potential source or host part of the porphyry system.”

 The Kum Kom prospect, approximately 25km northeast from Ok Tedi copper mine,  is the fifth prospect drilled by Highlands in the Star Mountains, the fourth that has encountered copper porphyry mineralisation and the first with skarn-style alteration - often associated with higher grade copper-gold zones.

Assays have been received for the 354m diamond core hole at Kum Kom and assays are pending for a further 480m second drill hole from the same pad position but in the opposite direction. 

Assays for this first Kum Kom drill hole show an initial lower grade zone to 140m before a high grade alteration zone of 22m of 1.42% copper and 0.57 g/t gold. 

Deeper drilling in the same hole below 280m encountered a second zone of 68m at 0.97% copper and 0.37 g/t gold before drilling ended still in mineralisation. 

The hole ended due to the drill hole collapsing while the drilling contractors attempted to recover a length of drill rod lost down the hole.

Drilling in the Star Mountains was suspended in late December due to an unseasonal dry spell which prevented fuel and food supplies being shipped to the Ok Tedi supply town of Tabubil.  

Some recent rains have improved the river depths and it is expected a logistical backlog will be overcome soon with drilling in the Star Mountains to recommence in February. 

In the meantime drilling pad construction and exploration preparations have continued.

The Kum Kom prospect is located on the EL (exploration license) 1312 Nong River, which is about 250 sq km in size.

 Highlands has spent over US$20 million on this lease to date. 

PNG's first speaker of parliament dies

AAP

The first speaker of Papua New Guinea's parliament, Sir Barry Holloway, has died in Brisbane.
Sir Barry, 78, died in Brisbane's Mater Hospital at about 1930 (AEDT) on Wednesday with his family members and former partner, Fua, present.

Sir Barry Holloway

A formidable politician, he first came to PNG as a Kiap, or provincial administrator, in 1953 at age 18.
"He fell in love with the place and its women," said Institute of National Affairs director Paul Barker, who was a friend of Sir Barry.
"He was dedicated and committed.
"He was a strong person for getting services out on the local level. He was a very caring man. As a Kiap, he never let it go to his head."
Sir Barry, along with Sir Michael and Tony Voutas went on to form the Pangu Pati in 1968 and he became speaker of the house of assembly in 1972.
When PNG gained full independence from Australia in 1975, he served as the nascent nation's first Speaker until 1977, before taking on the role of finance minister until 1982.
He ran for the governorship of the Eastern Highlands at the 2012 national election, narrowly losing to Julie Soso, one of the three women members of PNG's 111-member parliament.
Seven months before the election, he told AAP he was considering running again because he wanted to see more services delivered to the people.
Sir Michael Somare's spokeswoman, Betha Somare, said the former prime minister cherished Sir Barry's contribution to PNG and noted his contributions to legislative and constitutional amendments.
"He cherishes the memories of working with Sir Barry for an independent PNG," Ms Somare told AAP.
"Their relationship goes back 48 years and Sir Michael is grateful for Sir Barry's contributions in and out of political life."
Ms Somare said her father would issue a formal statement after he had spoken to Sir Barry's children.
Health Minister Michael Malabag took to Facebook to express his fondness for Sir Barry.
"I have many fond memories of Sir Barry over many years in the course of my career as a public servant and unionist," he said.
"Simply a great man with a colourful background. RIP sir."

Government to streamline procurement process

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has announced that the government’s procurement process is to be streamlined.

 A committee headed by chief secretary Manasupe Zurenuoc reviewed the procurement process of government and found it to be lengthy and cumbersome.

 This often led to government projects being unnecessarily frustrated or delayed, hindering delivery of vital services to the people.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill

 

 The streamlined procurement process was presented last month to the prime minister, who directed finance minister James Marape to implement it without delay.

 The prime minister told Marape he did not want to see any more national Government and aid agency-funded projects delayed.

 “It is imperative that the current procurement process is streamlined and made user friendly. 

"If we do not take this action, there is every chance the 2013 national budget will suffer the same fate of successive budget,” the prime minister said in his letter to the minister.

 In addition, the chief secretary’s   review team has recommended for increases in the financial authority of the Supply and Tenders Boards, and financial authority at the district level for the District Support Improvement Program (DSIP).

 Under the streamlined process, the Central Supply Tenders Board authority financial increased from K10 million to K20 million, the Provincial Supply Tenders Board from K3 million to K5 million, and DSIP from K0.3 million to K0.5 million.

The streamlined procurement process has seven stages, compared to 11 stages of the old one.

 The Office of State Solicitor will be involved in the whole process, and give its clearance before the national executive council (NEC) for contracts requiring NEC approval.

 The prime minister directed minister Marape to finalise the special financial instruction or regulation to effect the streamlined process quickly.

 The streamlining of the procurement process is one of a raft of decisions and initiatives the government is putting in place to ensure the 2013 budget and its key policies are implemented.

 “This is one of a number of steps our government is taking to ensure we are focused and on target to deliver our goals,” the prime minister said.

Western province villages want Ok Tedi mine to continue to 2025

By MALUM NALU

Western province villagers numbering more than 100.000 have unanimously agreed that Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) continue mine operations until 2025, according to managing director and chief executive officer, Nigel Parker.

He said the feasibility study for mine life extension (MLE) was now with government agencies for consideration.

Parker confirmed this yesterday when asked to give the latest on MLE.

“The mine- associated communities, numbering 156 individual villages, located from the mine area down through the Western province to the coast, have all unanimously agreed that the mine continue out to 2025,” he told The National.

Sialowa village on Sturt Island in the South Fly area along the Fly River …villages want OTML to continue until 2025.-Picture by MALUM NALU

“ The community mine continuation extension agreements (CMCEA) were all signed by the nine community region representatives, representing the 156 villages, in early December after a three-year consultation process guided by independent PNG facilitators, government agency representatives, the World Bank, PNGSDPL (PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd, 64% shareholder in OTML)  and observed by two independent external observers.

“The feasibility study for mine life extension is with the respective government agencies for consideration.”

 Parker said last month at the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney that majority of people wanted the mine to continue operations.

Recently, three MPs called for the closure of the mine, citing the site poses both health and environmental risks.

 Parker said this seemed to be at odds with what the communities wanted.

"The communities definitely wants the mine to continue, and are unequivocal about that," he said.

"I am sure the elected politicians have the communities at heart, and if they do get reports coming through of unidentified medical issues I am sure they would react, and possibly that is why they are reacting so much.

"I have personally signed on the company's behalf those agreements and the people are extraordinarily happy with Ok Tedi Mining Limited, with the continuation of the mine.”

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