UNHCR to scale back PNG operations

By FIRMIN NANOL,  Port Moresby
ABC
 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced it will scale back its operations in Papua New Guinea, citing the growing expense of looking after refugees from the Indonesian province of Papua.
The UNHCR has been providing protection and support to refugees from the Indonesian province of Papua for the last 28 years, including access to jobs, education and integration into PNG communities.
The UNHCR has signed an agreement formalising its transition of powers and responsibilities to the PNG government.
UNHCR representative, Walpurga Englbrecht, says the organisation is scaling back its operations due to financial constraints and other evolving refugee and humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and Africa.
Ms Englbrecht says the UNHCR is happy the PNG government will continue to look after the refugees.
''It is a very positive step, the signing of the memorandum of agreement," Ms Englbrecht said.
"It just shows the willingness of the Papua New Guinea government to further locally integrate the West Papuan refugees."
An estimated 8000 refugees live in PNG's Western province, most of whom had fled neighbouring Indonesia in the mid 1980s.
The PNG government says it will support in processing their permissive residency certificates and repatriate them if they wish to return.

In Port Moresby today

By MALUM NALU

Here are some pictures of my wanderings around Port Moresby, not today, but yesterday, Saturday, January 19, 2013.
We have moved to our new place at 8-Mile, outside the city, so you will notice that a lot of pictures are from that side.
Enjoy.

Crusing up the freeway.-Pictures@MALUM NALU

Lawes Road

Sir Hubert Murray Stadium

Crusing down the freeway

View from Spring Garden Road, Hohola

Spring Garden Road, Hohola

View of Waigani Drive from the freeway

Geauta Drive, Gordon, today, between Unagi Oval and Boroko Foodworld

Kennedy Road, Gordon

Gordon Market

Roadside scenery driving out of the city

Boinatuna Market, 8-Mile

I love the sight of the rain trees at 8-Mile

My baby Keith (c) having lunch with his cousins Lavao Nalu (l) and Juanita Gamoga at our place at 8-Mile

Part of the new estate we are living in at 8-Mile

New roadside market going up at 8-Mile

This and below: My daughter Moasing (l) and her cousin Lautuo having some fun along our street, 8-Mile, As you can see in the background, there is still a lot of work going on in this brand-new estate, and we are just pioneers.

This and below: Part of the new estate we are living in at 8-Mile

Lae MP Loujaya Toni to upgrade facilities in her electorate

Minister for Community Development, Religion and Home Affairs and Member for Lae Open Loujaya Toni has awarded Hardware Haus a contract to upgrade the facilities in her electorate.  Among the facilities to be upgraded are the following:  Bumbu Police Barracks, nurses’ quarters at Angau Memorial Hospital as well as Angau Memorial Hospital in its entirety. 

Loujaya Toni

 "We are honored that the Minister Toni has chosen Hardware Haus to support this important upgrading programme of her electorate.  

"This contract is a key step forward in our business strategy to deliver our efficient service in the areas where we are present.  

"It also symbolises an important step towards renewing our nation’s trust to its political leaders," said Richard McGuiness, chief operating officer of Hardware Haus. 

 Adds McGuiness: “We are delighted to be working with Minister Toni to deliver the improvement and development of her covered areas.

"This project is a great example of the ongoing level of investment in Lae and the improvements that are arising as result. 

"This project will see our Lae-based teams and Minister Toni’s team work very closely. 

"It demonstrates Hardware Haus' strength as a company sharing expertise and resources across national boundaries and it also confirms our position as a leading hardware contractor in Papua New Guinea.”

Eldan to supply tyre plant to Papua New Guinea

January 18, 2013 by Editorial Staff 

Recycling International

Papua New Guinea: Eldan Recycling is preparing to deliver a complete plant to Papua New Guinea for converting all kinds of tyres - including truck and huge mining tyres - into rubber granulate.

Dubbing it a 'really exciting project', Eldan estimates production will average 4 tonnes per hour, yielding a 0-4 mm rubber granulate that is 99.9% free of textiles and steel. 
"Papua New Guinea is not a big market, but nevertheless they need durable recycling equipment," comments Dr Toni Reftman, Eldan's managing director.
 "We are very proud to have been chosen for this project that shows our capacity to meet customer requirements on all continents."
Full-scale production will start in the next couple of months and an installation team is currently in the process of getting the production line ready, according to Dr Reftman.
 The set-up will ultimately include various items of recycling equipment manufactured at Eldan Recycling's production facility in Denmark.
For more information, visit: www.eldan-recycling.com

SES partners with O3b to provide Internet capacity to Digicel to expand cellular network services across Papua New Guinea

ST. JOHN, Channel Islands & LUXEMBOURG: O3b Networks and SES  announced yesterday that Digicel has contracted capacity on SES' NSS-9 satellite and O3b's Medium Earth Orbit fleet to provide high quality internet bandwidth for their cellular network in Papua New Guinea. 

Under the multi-year agreement, the fast growing mobile phone network provider will use the C-band capacity on the NSS-9 satellite at 183 degrees East and the O3bTrunk service to continue to deliver high-quality voice and high-speed mobile data services to its customers across Papua New Guinea.

"As a long-term partner of Digicel, we understand their business needs and are pleased to meet them again by collaborating with O3b Networks," said Ferdinand Kayser, chief commercial officer at SES. "The contract with Digicel is a fine example of how geostationary and Medium Earth Orbit satellites complement each other to offer a unique connectivity solution. 
"The comprehensive coverage of the NSS-9 satellite, coupled with the high throughput and low latency offered by the O3b constellation, will enable Digicel to provide reliable and cost-efficient cellular network services to their customers in Papua New Guinea."

"Digicel is an innovator in mobile services in the Pacific region. O3b is pleased to support their ongoing innovation with a cost-effective solution to extend coverage with O3b's high capacity, low latency satellite transport," said Steve Collar, CEO of O3b Networks.
John Mangos, CEO of Digicel Papua New Guinea, commented on the agreement, “We at Digicel are continually looking to ensure the best possible customer experience by innovating and delivering the best technology to our customers across the Pacific region. 
"We look forward to working with SES and O3b Networks to expand our network capacity to service our growing customer base in Papua New Guinea.”
SES and O3b Networks will be at PTC 2013 from January 19 to 23. 
SES' vice president of Asia-Pacific Glen Tindall will participate in a roundtable 
"Broadcasters and the Carrier ID Initiative" on January 20 at 11am. 
Steve Collar will speak at the Executive Insight Roundtable "Improving Efficiency and Expanding Horizons” on Monday January 21 at 11.45am.

####

About O3b Networks Ltd.
O3b Networks Ltd. is a global satellite service provider building a next-generation satellite network for telecommunications operators, Internet service providers, enterprise and government customers in emerging markets. The O3b system will combine the global reach of satellite with the speed of a fiber‐optic network providing billions of consumers and businesses in nearly 180 countries with low‐cost, high‐speed, low latency Internet and mobile connectivity. O3b Networks’ investors are SES, Google, Liberty Global, HSBC Principal Investments, Northbridge Venture Partners, Allen & Company, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Sofina, Satya Capital and Luxempart. O3b Networks is headquartered in St. John, Jersey, Channel Islands.

About SES
SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 52 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.
SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.
SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) holds participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. Further information under: www.ses.com.

Nautilus' Solwara 1 deep-sea project in limbo

By Adrian Pocobelli

Northern Miner

After last year’s funding dispute with the government of Papua New Guinea , Nautilus Minerals  is continuing to suspend development of its erstwhile flagship Solwara 1 deep-sea mining project. 
The company had been developing a high-grade, copper-gold deposit at 1,600m depth in the Bismarck Sea, within the territorial waters of PNG.
The sea floor massive sulphide deposit has an indicated resource of 1.3 million tonnes grading 7.2% copper, and an inferred resource of 1.5 million tonnes at 8.1% copper.
Production had been scheduled for late 2013, but in June 2012, Nautilus announced that the government had not met its contractual agreement to cover 30% of development costs, a figure that had reached US$23.5 million in January 2011. 
The PNG government countered that Nautilus had failed to meet its obligations under the agreement, meaning it could cancel the contract.
Few specifics of Nautilus’ alleged shortcomings were made public, apart from the company saying that the dispute concerned an equity-options agreement. 
An email sent to PNG’s Mineral Resources Authority seeking comment was not answered.
Nautilus continued developing Solwara 1, despite the government’s stance that the joint-venture partnership had been nullified, and later claimed a further US$51.5 million for costs that were incurred up to September 2012, resulting in an estimated US$75 million in unpaid liabilities. Although the company sought to negotiate a settlement, the PNG government opted for arbitration, and appointed former Australian Chief Justice Murray Gleeson to oversee the dispute.
On Nov. 13 Nautilus changed course, announcing in a conference call that it had stopped building new equipment for Solwara and laid off 60 staff to preserve capital.
In a telephone interview, interim president and chief executive Mike Johnston said that Nautilus still hopes for a positive outcome.
 “We are committed to Papua New Guinea and the Solwara 1 project, and we’re confident that this dispute will be resolved. 
"But having said that, we have a number of options around the world that we can look at.”
The company says the project is more than halfway finished, with pumps, subsea connectors and a half-built riser and hoister. 
Johnston estimates offshore development would cost $450 million, and notes that the equipment, which is wholly owned by the company, is portable, meaning the company can recoup some of its losses if Solwara 1 remains in limbo.
Following news of the postponement, Nautilus’ share price dropped from 72¢ to 35¢ and bottomed at 27¢ on Dec. 7. 
On Jan. 7, the stock bounced back to 58¢ in response to a threatened, semi-serious 97¢ per share bid by disgruntled shareholder Michael Bailey. Major shareholders include Metalloinvest Holding, Anglo American (AAL-L), MB Holding and Teck Resources (TCK-T, TCK-N).
Nautilus has $90 million in cash with further assets in Tonga, where it plans to mine polymetallic nodules the size of golf balls — rich in copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt — that lie at depths below 4,500 metres. 
The company is also continuing an exploration program with funding from the Tongan government.
Nevertheless, the disappointment of Solwara 1 is a setback for deep-sea mining, with industry observers taking note of the project’s economic viability.
Solwara 1 faces opposition from environmentalists, who believe deep-sea mining could pollute surrounding waters, poison food supplies and harm the ecosystem. 
A report by Helen Rosenbaum for the Deep Sea Mining campaign states that “Foremost in people’s minds is the fear that PNG is being used as a laboratory for the experiment of seabed mining, and that insufficient research has been conducted on deep-sea ecosystems and the impacts of seabed mining on marine species and coastal communities.”
The Solwara 1 project is 30km from the coast of PNG, while the proposed extraction area stretches 110 metres. 
The PNG government granted the company an environmental permit in December 2009 and a mining lease in January 2011.
Nautilus has responded to concerns about the environmental impact, but opposition is growing from activists, who appear to have been encouraged by local politicians.
Johnston is still optimistic about the company’s prospects and the emerging industry. 
“We firmly believe in deep-sea mining,” he says. 
“There are an enormous number of resources on the sea floor. 
"Seventy percent of the planet is covered in water. 
"Reports conducted by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) put the tonnage of metal in the ocean on par with all the known reserves on land.”
ISA is an international organisation that was established by the United Nations in 1982 to manage rights to mineral resources on the ocean floor, establishing contracts with governments and private enterprises to explore the ocean seabed. 
On Oct. 31, Russia signed a 15-year contract with ISA to search for polymetallic sulphides in the Atlantic Ocean, while on Aug. 31, companies from China and Japan applied for similar exploration permits in the western Pacific Ocean.
Johnston believes Canada could do more to encourage deep-sea mining at home. 
“We consider ourselves the leader,” he says. 
“We’re a little disappointed by the Canadian government and their (hesitance) to support companies like us. 
" Canada is the leading light of the industry, and it needs to take some of that leadership offshore.”

Denver firm helps power Papua New Guinea hospital

Worldwide Engineering reaches out with overseas missionary project

By Bruce Dunbridge
Correspondent

Charlotte Observer

Paul Finch, project manager for the power station being constructed for Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua, New Guinea, pauses for a photo with some of the local laborers working on the construction of the canal being built to supply water for the project.

When the power station at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital, in Papua New Guinea, was destroyed in a flood, the hospital was forced to rely on power supplied by the government.
But daily brownouts – power reduced due to inadequate supply – and blackouts were damaging hospital equipment. 
Recognising the need for a more reliable power source to keep the equipment in good operating order, a missionary who had been serving the area contacted Hugh McKay, a retired civil engineer and a trustee of Denver Wesleyan Church.
“As a civil engineer doing work for Christian mission organisations around the world, I knew that I was in a good position to be able to help,” says McKay, 78. 
“I asked Michael Kaiser, the current owner of the company I had worked with, if they could help us with the project and they readily agreed.”
That company, Worldwide Engineering, is located in Denver.
 “As Christians, the current owner and myself have always operated the business on Christian principles,” McKay adds.
 “Some of our mission projects are paid for, but only in sufficient amounts to cover our expenses.”
Worldwide Engineering did the engineering, design and on-site project management, with funding provided by an incentive grant, similar to a US aid programme, from the Australian government.
McKay in turn requested help for the project from long-time Denver Wesleyan member Paul Finch, 58, a contractor who has been active in local and overseas missionary projects. 
Finch acted as construction foreman for 90 days, from September to November last year.
“I would have stayed longer,” Finch says, “but 90 days is the maximum time allowed on a volunteer visa. 
"While I was there, my wife, Cathy, was holding down the fort in Denver.”
Construction of the power plant required building of a dam across a nearby river and a 3/4-mile, cement-lined canal to bring water to the station.
 “During the three months I was there, working on the early stages of the project,” says Finch, “the power went out on average once a day.”
The canal is now 90%complete after six months, using local manual labor. 
“You have to be a jack-of-all-trades to be able to assist the local labor force in what to do and how to do it,” Finch says.
 “I also operated the only piece of equipment they had, a backhoe.”
Completion of the project is anticipated to take place by early 2014. 
However, McKay points out, “Building the power plant is important but secondary to the main purpose of our being there, which is to minister to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the people of Papua.”
Finch adds, “I asked permission to bring with me some Christian-themed films, together with the equipment to show them, in order to introduce the local population to Christian values and the message of the Gospel.”
“The folks in charge said yes, but then I remembered that most of the local churches have no power. "God reminded me that my pastor had a small, suitcase-size generator. I brought that along in my luggage.”

Bruce Dunbridge is a freelance writer.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/18/3791106/denver-firm-helps-power-new-guinea.html#storylink=cpy