We'll defend Manus to the hilt: PNG

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

PAPUA New Guinea's government will "defend to the hilt" a legal challenge being brought against the Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island.

Lawyers acting on behalf of PNG Opposition Leader Belden Namah are seeking to have the Manus facility declared unconstitutional and will ask the court to temporarily stop asylum seeker transfers until it has made its final decision.

The asylum-seeker detention centre at Manus Island is facing a court challenge in Papua New Guinea. Source: AAP

But Attorney-General Kerenga Kua says the government has not been served with any court documents notifying them of the challenge in the Court of Human Rights on Tuesday morning.
"We are informally aware of its existence and of the need for tomorrow's scheduled mention in court. Somebody will be attending as a friend of the court to find out what's going on," Mr Kua said.
"If we haven't been served, nothing can happen, it can't be heard and we want to be heard ... we will defend this to the hilt."

Loani Henao, of Henaos Lawyers, who is bringing the challenge on behalf of the opposition, says the government was served with the documents on February 2.
"The government's lawyers have acknowledged that," he said.
"They have filed a notice of an intention to defend."
There are 274 detainees at the temporary Manus facility - including more than 30 children - living in conditions that have been widely criticised as inhumane.
Mr Kua has argued the site is legal under the nation's immigration law, which grants power to the immigration minister to set up a processing facility.
Mr Henao says that's unconstitutional.
"The memorandum of understanding between Australia and PNG is unconstitutional on the basis that it allows the PNG government to bring in asylum seekers from a foreign country, and the minute they put their foot on PNG territory, they are arrested," he said.
"We're saying every person - whether you're a national, PNG citizen or a foreigner - when you come into the country you have your personal liberty guaranteed under the constitution.
"They were made to come in and then were arrested."
Mr Kua has in the past rejected the definition of the site as a detention centre.
"We are providing them with a place to live," he told AAP in January.
"It's not a detention centre, as people call it.
"There is no law in our country that authorises us to establish a detention centre. But under our migration act, the minister can set up a processing facility."
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently labelled the centre unlawful.
The agency released a damning report on February 4 slamming conditions at the facility - which mostly comprises tents - and called for the transfer of children there to be suspended.
It said the situation was at odds with Australia's international obligations, and children should not be transferred there until all appropriate legal and administrative safeguards were in place.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who visited the site in late January, said children were witnessing self-harm and suicide attempts by adults.
The Australian government announced a deal with New Zealand on Saturday to send 150 refugees a year across the Tasman from centres such as Manus and the one on Nauru.
The court hearing is expected to start at 1030 (AEDT) on Tuesday before Justice David Canning in Port Moresby.

The ‘paper farmers’ of PNG

This article first appeared in The National Weekender on Friday, February 8, 2013

The Department of Agriculture and Livestock needs a complete overhaul, writes MALUM NALU

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill admission last week that bogus farmers swindled up to K300 million from the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) fund from 2009 to 2011 is a sad story of con artists stealing from the genuine, hardworking farmers of PNG.

All pictures are of fresh vegetables being sold in Goroka Market, Eastern Highlands, by genuine farmers.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

Further to this, revelations that the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) overspent its budget by K40 million last year, raises questions whether or not it should exist at all – in this, Peter O’Neill’s ‘year of implementation’.

I have grown up with agriculture, have worked within the industry for the Coffee Industry Corporation, and have covered it widely over the last 25 years as a journalist.

Nothing, however, has been more saddening than the saga of the “paper farmers of Waigani” and the non-performance of the DAL.

In my wanderings around the country, I have stories about these insidious, grim reapers using their ill-gotten funds to buy expensive new vehicles, drink beer and play pokies, and even campaign for the 2012 elections.

Back in 2009, one of the best-ever former secretaries of DAL, Mathew Wela Kanua, warned at the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Committee’s national development forum that the NADP should be abolished.

At the very same forum, vice minister for agriculture and livestock Jimmy Simitab, dropped a bombshell when he declared that his department was no longer capable of running agriculture in PNG.

More than three years later, and with millions of kina lost to the “paper farmer” con artists, it now looks to me that the government should have listened to the words of Kanua and Simitab.

A number of speakers at the 2009 forum questioned where the funds for NADP in the last two years were and what the programme had achieved.

Kanua fired a broadside at the NADP as well as the DAL, which he formerly headed, saying that it should be abolished.

In a no-holds barred comment at the forum, Kanua said it was the overwhelming feeling of the agriculture sector that it was getting nowhere, despite the massive K1 billion to be poured into the NADP over the next 10 years at K100 million annually.

Kanua, who was outspoken in his fight against corruption at DAL during his tenure as secretary, also bluntly told the forum that the DAL should be abolished as it was unproductive.

“It is worrying and it is sad that we are getting nowhere,” he said.

“It seems to be an overwhelming concern from the agriculture sector that we are getting nowhere.

“What are we going to show for the K1 billion?

“What are we going to have in 10 years time to show for it?”

Kanua said this money should be spent in partnership with the private sector to grow agriculture in PNG.

“That was the reason why we created the National Agriculture Development Plan,” he said.

“When I left the department, I said that it should be closed, because it was completely incapable.”

Simitab made the frank admission that DAL was incapable of running the much talked about NADP and all overriding functions should be taken over by the National Agriculture Council (NAC).

The minister recommended the establishment of the NAC as the apex body in agriculture be given high consideration by the forum and the CIMC.

Simitab said one of the most-important recommendations of the Public Sector Review and Monitoring Unit (PMRSU) in 2005 was an overhaul of the DAL; however, this had not been implemented over the last five years.

“The findings of this review remain unimplemented, hitherto, the sad state of affairs in DAL over the last five years,” he said.

Simitab said it was perceived that the NAC, once legislated, would recognise existing commodity and statutory bodies, with overriding powers to maintain and sustain the NADP.

“In fact, the national government, in approving and adopting the NADP in March 2007, had directed that a further institutional and legislative reform be undertaken to improve the management of the sector with NADP,” he said.

“Given the state of reforms that have occurred in agriculture to this point, it is obvious that DAL is neither a capable nor an appropriate ‘lead agency’ without an entity such as NAC as its apex body.

“The suggestion that NAC be chaired by the minister for agriculture and livestock, with membership of no more than 10 people appointed by the head of state on advice, has great merits, on a number of fronts.

“First, it will act independently of all agencies of the sector, and has links to DAL only for policy and technical guidance.

“Secondly, it will establish its own sub-sectoral liaison mechanisms to capture development resource requirements of each sub-sector as well as from each district, for budget purposes and for monitoring and evaluation.

“Thirdly, the entity shall provide a one-stop-shop for investors, and coordination of donor support for agriculture.

“Finally, it shall provide an effective mechanism for the policy coordination of the sector, and the management of annual fiscal support for agriculture through NADP.”

Simitab said the concept of an ‘agricultural council’ being an apex body for the sector was not a foreign concept as it had already been practiced in several emerging Asian economies, including Taiwan and South Korea.

Magical Tambul, Western Highlands, on the foothills of the mighty Mt Giluwe, is one of my favorite places in the country where the ‘bestest and freshest’ vegetables in PNG grow.

In fact, it is the single biggest producer of fresh vegetables in the country such as potatoes, broccoli, cabbages and cauliflower.

In March 2011, while in Tambul for the National Agriculture Research Institute field day, I bumped into Tambul-Nebilyer MP and then civil aviation minister, Benjamin Poponawa.

He says the lessons of the massive corruption involved in the NADP must never be repeated if 
agriculture in PNG is to prosper.

Poponawa has, in the past, been blunt in his anger at NADP funds being stolen by “paper farmers” in Waigani who may have never touched a fork or spade in their lives.

“We already know the experience of the NADP,” he said.

“The people who ran the NADP did not think about the people, rather, about filling their own pockets.”

Poponawa called on the government not to forget about agriculture, despite the massive resource developments in the country such as gas, minerals and oil.

“Agriculture will be with us all the time,” he said.

“Gas, oil and gold will run out.

This week, visiting ANZ CEO, Mike Smith, talked about the enormous potential for PNG agriculture in the ‘Asian Century’.

No “implementation”, however, Mr O’Neill, in the face of ‘paper farmers’ and the farce that is the DAL!

Will horror force Papua New Guinea to protect its women?

By: Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific Editor 
 The Australian

FEW people in Papua New Guinea die, however elderly or frail, without someone in their often vast extended family or neighbourhood muttering darkly: "Em I no indai nating." ("They didn't just die.")

In this world view, there must be a reason beyond the mere physical. The shadow world of spirits is ever-present - and available for manipulation by those with the arcane keys.
These are sanguma men or meri - male or female sorcerers, people who for the most part conceal their skills cunningly.
There are benign sorcerers, who are available to help heal, improve food garden productivity, obtain good exam results or, of course, lure an attractive person to fall in love with you - for a consideration, of course. Some offer a tariff list.
In a remote world lacking scientific explanation, in which life could be brutish and short, it was natural that people sought not only a way to understand how their world worked, but also to find a way to take a measure of control over it.

But that magic retains the degree of influence it does in PNG disappoints the mainstream churches, which claim the allegiance of most of the seven million population, and points to the failure both of the education system and of economic development. The shocking death this week of Kepari Lanieta, 20, from Porgera in Enga province, the mother of an eight-month-old baby, has riveted the country.
A six-year-old boy had died after complaining of stomach and chest pains in hospital in Mount Hagen, the largest city in the Highlands.
His relatives, who come from the same area as Lanieta, pointed the blame at her, branding her a sorcerer, invading her home, torturing her with a hot iron bar, stripping her naked, tying her up, setting her alight and throwing her on a rubbish heap.
Passers-by photographed the scene with mobile phones.
Appallingly, such sorcery killings remain comparatively common in PNG. Although the perpetrators often seek admiration for their crimes, few end up in court.
No one has yet been charged in Mount Hagen, even though PNG police commissioner Tom Kulunga described the murder as "shocking and devilish", and "totally unacceptable in the 21st century".
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has also spoken out forcefully against such "barbaric killings", pointing out that it is usually "women, the old and the weak" who are the targets, the scapegoats for ignorance, fear and revenge.
It took the rape and murder of a 23-year-old Indian student in a New Delhi bus to galvanise parliament and the justice agencies to take crimes against women seriously.
Is it possible that Lanieta's brutal killing could trigger a similar popular campaign in PNG, which could lead to appropriate legislative and educational reform, and to a tough response from the police and courts?

Papua New Guinea: Mass Insanity . . .

Jillian Page

The Montreal Post

 

I’m shaking my head after reading yet another article about the depths to which people stuck in warped superstitious belief systems of the past will sink:
CBC Newsworld has a report out of Papua New Guinea about a young woman accused of witchcraft who was stripped, bound and tortured and then burned alive in front of hundreds of witnesses.
Apparently, CBC is reporting, “Some of the hundreds of bystanders took photographs of Wednesday’s brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were published on the front pages of the country’s biggest circulating newspapers, The National and Post-Courier.”
To quote an old Bruce Cockburn song: “If I had a rocket launcher, I would retaliate . . .”
Stupid, stupid, stupid, ignorant people! But they do know how to use cameras and to light fires.
Moral of the story: stay far, far away from Papua New Guinea, unless you can cast a spell on the imbeciles there and make them disappear.
Just sayin’ . . .
Jillian

Hindus urge strong legislation In Papua New Guinea for sorcery related killings‏

Written by Albany Tribune

February 7, 2013

Shocked by the reported brutal torturing and burning alive of a young woman on sorcery accusations on February six, Hindus are urging Papua New Guinea to come up with a strong legislation to deal with growing sorcery-related killings.
According to reports, a 20-year old mother of one was burned alive in front of hundreds of people in Papua New Guinea on the accusation of using sorcery to kill a boy aged six years.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that this barbaric act was highly unacceptable in the 21st century world.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, suggested Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to take this issue seriously and besides tougher legislation, also launch an educational campaign in the country. Papua New Guinea religious leaders should also help in raising awareness, Zed added.
Moreover, Papua New Guinea also needed to do serious soul searching on the treatment of women, Rajan Zed noted.

BHP Billiton versus Papua New Guinea

By Luke Hunt

The Diplomat

From the halls of political power in Port Moresby to the corporate boardroom of BHP Billiton in Melbourne, a battle is emerging over the continued mining for copper and gold at the Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea’s far western Star Mountains.

Ok Tedi mine

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is warning his government might not extend the life of the mine, once licenses expire later this year, unless BHP agrees to some changes to the terms of ownership. O’Neill has also requested assurances over environmental safeguards.
Environmental issues plagued the project in the 1980s, and the Australian miner reported that mining operations had caused major environmental damage to the Fly River in 1999.
Ownership of the operation was then restructured with BHP’s 63.4 percent stake placed in the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP).
The governments of PNG and Western Province hold the remainder of the balance in PNGSDP, a trust headed by economist Ross Garnaut. The trust effectively indemnified BHP Billiton against environmental damage while PNGSTD acted as the mine’s operator.
BHP took a step back from the operations while the fund amassed $1.4 billion to be set aside for the people of PNG. Garnaut said that this “was going to be certainly the largest act of corporate philanthropy”. Control of those funds has been cited as a core issue, although O’Neill has denied this.
Garnaut recently retired, and BHP’s practice of appointing three of the seven board members has ceased, giving room for the PNG government to have a larger say. This led to charges that BHP has not done enough to protect the environment and O’Neill has said he’s not convinced the mine is worth it.
He went so far as to say that BHP needed to shed its “colonial era” mentality.
The dispute has a familiar ring.
Mining has provided PNG with one of its few steady income streams. The Ok Tedi Mine contributed more than 25 percent to the government’s bottom line, while plans are well advanced for a massive expansion of the industry over the next two decades.
However, around the region the argument over environmental damage and the distribution of wealth from the mining industry – with little trickling down to those living in the immediate vicinity of a mine – has been heating up, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines.
In PNG, there seems little to gain by pointing the finger.
O’Neill is well liked and his government is considered a breath of fresh air in light of the corruption and political infighting that plagued previous governments. Of equal importance, BHP is among the world’s largest miners, but it has also been a heavy promoter of sustainable development since the 1990s.
How these two resolve this dispute should become a focus for governments around the region who are obviously attracted to the wealth a mine can generate, but who also fear a voter backlash over environmental and wealth distribution issues.

United Nations denounces "sorcery" crimes in Papua New Guinea

GENEVA (Reuters) - A woman was burnt alive in Papua New Guinea this week after townspeople accused her of sorcery, the United Nations said on Friday, citing the "heinous crime" as part of a growing pattern of vigilante attacks on people accused of witchcraft.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on authorities in Papua New Guinea to investigate such crimes and bring their perpetrators to justice.
A 1971 law defining sorcery as a crime in the South Pacific nation should be repealed, Pillay's spokeswoman said.
"We are deeply disturbed by reports of the torture and killing of a 20-year-old woman accused of sorcery in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, on February 6," U.N. human rights spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly told a news briefing in Geneva.
Kepari Leniata was burnt alive in front of a crowd by relatives of the 6-year-old boy whom she was accused of using sorcery to kill, she said. Attempts by law enforcement officials to intervene failed.
"We note with great concern that this case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea," Pouilly added.
The U.N. human rights office was able to document a case of five people, three of them women, who were tortured for 20 days and killed last November after being accused of using sorcery to kill others in Jiwaka province, she said.
"We think it is clearly under-reported, because many of these cases happen in rural areas and go unreported. It is clearly deeply rooted," she told reporters.
Rashida Manjoo, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women, met victims of sorcery during an investigative mission to Papua New Guinea last March. Widows or other family with no family to protect them are particularly vulnerable to such attacks, she said in a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
"I was shocked to witness the brutality of the assaults perpetrated against suspected sorcerers, which in many cases include torture, rape, mutilations and murder. According to many interviewees, sorcery accusations are commonly used to deprive women of their land and/or their property," she wrote.
The country's Constitutional Law Reform Commission has held consultations on the 1971 Sorcery Act and called for its repeal but has yet to present its report to the parliament, Pouilly said.
"We welcome the proposal by the Constitutional Law Reform Commission to repeal the Sorcery Act and we call for a stronger legal response to such killings," she told Reuters.