Cisco: Internet service too costly

Source: The National, Monday, March 25,  2013 

 

 THREE executives from Cisco Systems, a leading global network communications company, have decried the high cost of internet service in Papua New Guinea as they pitched for more competition in the information technology sector.
They said that a strong competition brought down the cost of the internet service.
“When you have strong competition among IT companies, you bring down the price,” according to Tim Fawcett, Cisco’s general manager for government affairs and policy.
Fawcett was in Port Moresby last week with two other Cisco executives Jonathan Dixon, general manager for media and communications and James Pickering, service provider business manager.
Based in San Jose, California, Cisco is the No 1 network communications company in the world.
Cisco executives brought up the high cost of the local internet service during their dialogue with the representatives from the government, civil society and business.
Among those who attended the dialogue included Minister of Communication and Information Technology Jimmy Miringtoro, National Information Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) CEO Charles Punaha, Telikom CEO Charles Litau, acting secretary for Trade, Commerce, and Industry Gerard Dogimab, and the executive director for Transparency International PNG Emily Taule.
Fawcett said that with more competition, more people would get access to the internet while at same time new investment equities were opened.
“That’s fantastic for communities, fantastic for a country, and more importantly, fantastic for creating jobs.”
The networking technology that Cisco provided transformed how people connect, communicate and collaborate, according to Fawcett.
The Cisco visit was aimed at exploring how it can work more closely with PNG’s government and business community and to provide insights into best practices on national infrastructure projects.  
The United States supports PNG’s efforts to use technology to promote the growth of business and innovation, and to foster inclusive, sustainable, and transparent economic growth, Fawcett said.
He said affordable internet access was an economic driver that had transformed how companies around the world did business.
Through free, on-line courses offered by some of the world’s leading universities, the internet also provides educational opportunities that are not bound by borders and distance.  
During their visit last Thursday, the executives engaged more than 100 computer science students and faculty at Don Bosco Technical Institute.
Their message to students was: “Don’t underestimate the power of innovation.”
Pickering encouraged students to think of ways to “creatively change the market” by getting more involved in technology and innovation.
Dixon said: “You are the creative future of this country, allowing more of you to access online and using your creativity to create new business opportunities is important … we would like to be part of that journey with you.”
 

Clinical trials to start on new Papuan Taipan anti-venom

By MALUM NALU

The National

Monday, March 25, 2013

 

Several years of hard work for a small group of Papua New Guinean researchers, led by an Australian scientist, may soon result in development of a new treatment for one of PNG’s most neglected public health problems.

Clinical trials of a new Papuan Taipan snake anti-venom will start in May, 2013, and it is hoped this anti-venom will save hundreds of lives every year.

Williams and Prof Worrell at the clinical trial office at the Port Moresby General Hospital.-Nationalpic by MALUM NALU

PNG has some of the highest snakebite rates in the world and in some parts of Central, the mortality rate is several times higher than malaria, tuberculosis and pneumonia, largely because of a lack of interest in the problem.

This has made access to safe, effective treatment scarce and unaffordable.

The high cost of imported Australian anti-venoms has made it increasingly difficult for the PNG government to meet the demand,  and has contributed to the existence of a black market in these products,  which often sees them stolen from hospitals and sold illegally for up to US$3,200.

In 2011, researchers from the University of PNG collaborating with scientists from the University of Costa Rica and the University of Melbourne’s Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) and Nossal Institute for Global Health, announced the successful pre-clinic testing of a new, low-cost Papuan Taipan anti-venom, that not only offers a sustainable solution to the problem, but provides the opportunities for PNG to eventually produce its own anti-venoms.

They show that the new anti-venom, manufactured by the University of Costa Rica’s Instituto Clodomiro Picado, effectively neutralises the lethal effects of Taipan venom in laboratory tests, and is suitable for human trials.

Leading snakebite expert, Professor David Warrell, who is in the country to help set up the trials, appealed to snakebite victims to take part in the trials.

“The most-important thing to emphasise is that we have a new candidate anti-venom, whose performance in laboratory tests and animals is very, very promising, and which we are confident will be the answer to the long-term problem of Taipan bites in PNG,” he said.

“We have to do clinical trials before we can launch this new antidote for snakebite with complete confidence.

“It depends on patients with snakebite coming in as quickly as possible to the hospital so that we can care for them, and that we can advance medical knowledge at the same time.”

Project coordinator, David “Snakeman” Williams, said legal agreements between all parties concerned had to be put in place before trials could start.

“We expect that all of that will be done over the next three weeks,” he said.

“Our aim is to start formally recruiting patients into the clinical trials around the beginning of May.”

World expert calls on PNG to recognise snakebite problem

By MALUM NALU

The National

Monday, March 25, 2013

One of the world’s leading snakebite experts has called on the Papua New Guinea government to give snakebite the high priority it deserves.

Professor David Warrell, the world’s leading clinical toxinologist, principally famous for his work on prospective studies of snakebite in tropical developing countries, including PNG, made the call last Friday as he is in the country to set up clinical trials for a new anti-venom for the deadly Papua Taipan at Port Moresby General Hospital.

The Papuan Taipan is responsible for nearly all serious snakebites in Central, NCD and Eastern part of Gulf.-Picture by DAVID WILLIAMS

He also holds an appointment as Professor Emeritus of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Oxford.

Project coordinator, David “Snakeman” Williams, estimated that about 200 people per year died from snakebite in PNG per year, but this was those who came into hospital, and the figures were much, much higher, as those who died were from rural areas, particularly Western province, who do not have the luxury of health services.

“David Williams and I and other well-meaning figures, who are devoted to this country can plead the cause of snakebite, that more resources should be provided, that snakebite should be given higher priority in the public health agenda of PNG,” Prof Warrell told The National.

“That’s all very well, but I don’t think it will be taken very seriously as a problem until a very senior Papua New Guinean, perhaps the minister for health or other health official, or even the prime minister, points out that this is a very serious and unusual medical problem facing the country.

“It’s a problem that affects some of the poorest people in the country, the rural people, and very-valuable people such as the farmers.

“I don’ think that this problem will ever be given sufficient attention in PNG until the Papua New Guineans themselves take this on, and protest and proclaim, that it is an important health issue.”

Williams said about 3,500 people were bitten by snakes around PNG per year, of which 1,400 actually become ill.

“Of the 1,400 who do actually get sick, we know that at least 200 of them die every year right around the country,” he said.

“That’s just the ones who get to a health centre.

“If you’re in Western province, roughly five people die outside hospital for every one person who dies in it, so if you have 50 deaths in a year in Western province health centres, probably another 250 people die in villages, in canoes along the river on their way to health centres, or being carried through the jungle.

“Even here in Central province, we’ve done some village-based surveys where we go and ask the ward councillor and health workers ‘how many cases do you know of where somebody has died who didn’t come to the health centre, and there’s probably three times more people dying outside the health centre than actually dying in the health centre.”

OK Tedi will stay in PNG, says prime minister

By Eoin Blackwell, AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

THE government of Papua New Guinea is still considering extending the mining lease for OK Tedi Mining Ltd under a new management structure, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says.

Mr O'Neill said last week's media reports quoting him as saying the lease would not be extended when it expired at the end of 2013 were wrong.
"There is no divorce with OK Tedi. OK Tedi is in PNG and we will continue our engagement with them," he told reporters in Port Moresby on Sunday.
"I said the partnership between the owners of OK Tedi - that is the PNG government and the PNGSDP (PNG Sustainable Development Project) - that partnership will not continue," Mr O'Neill said.
The PNGSDP, which owns 63.4 per cent of OK Tedi, and is worth $1.4 billion, was set up by mining giant BHP when it withdrew from the project in 2002 after it reported the mine was responsible for causing major environmental damage.

"By 1st January 2014, if the mine life's extended, OK Tedi mine will be managed under a new structure," Mr O'Neill said.
He said the government would only consider extending the lease after consultation with the people and government of Western Province, where the mine is located in the Star Mountains.
PNG's National and Western Province provincial governments jointly own a 36.6 per cent share in the mine.
Mr O'Neill has previously criticised the PNGSDP as being run by BHP via remote control.
"BHP divorced us long ago, we simply didn't realise that," he said on Sunday.
"It's time for them to move on, that's precisely what this government is doing."
Late last year Mr O'Neill ordered economist and former PNGSDP chairman Ross Garnaut be banned from PNG after the latter implied the government would not spend the PNGSDP money wisely.
In November former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta took on the chairmanship of PNGSDP.
Mr O'Neill has just returned from a three-day trip to Japan where he held talks with Prime minister Shinzo Abe and promoted PNG to investors.
Japan is a major importer of Liquefied Natural Gas and PNG's behemoth, $16 billion, Exxon Mobil lead gas project is expected to go online in 2014.
On Sunday evening Mr O'Neill is expected to greet Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is making an official trip to Port Moresby.

Strange days, fur sure

 By Michael Pascoe

Sydney Morning Herald

 It's not just the Labor Party capable of strange days indeed – US department store Neiman Marcus has been done over by the Federal Trade Commission for selling real fur as faux.

There might be something profound about the way the world has turned when a top flight retailer is passing off the real thing as fake. Next authorities will raid Hong Kong's Ladies' Market to drag away a stall holder guilty of stocking genuine Louis Vuitton handbags.

Michael Pascoe

And it's not just Neiman Marcus being a little strange. The Herald Tribune reported two other retailers were selling genuine fakes, so to speak. Perhaps the most pleasing sentence in the story is: “The FTC also charged that The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. claimed that a rabbit fur product had mink fur, and failed to disclose where the fur came from for three fur products.”
I'm no furrier, but I'd guess the fur came from rabbits.

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However, the world turning upside down is not confined to rabbits dressed as mink and non-faux faux fur. Earlier this month, The Sydney Morning Herald reported university deans more or less claiming they don't run dud faculties with low standards. As Mandy Rice Davies might suggest, they would say that, wouldn't they?
The key sentence this time was: “According to government figures, only 20 per cent of those starting undergraduate teacher training courses each year had ATARs of less than 60.”
Note that it's not “20 per cent managed an ATAR of 60” – it's 20 per cent scored 59 and lower. Well that's a relief – only one in five teacher training freshers was apparently incapable of doing much more than putting their name on the top of their HSC papers. How, therefore, could anyone doubt the high standards demanded by our august tertiary institutions, heavily subsidised as they are by taxpayers?
But then it gets serious. While the Australian government was auditioning on Thursday for a minor job with Ashton's Circus (they were turned down), real news was breaking to our north: Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister reportedly announced his government would seize control of the $1.4 billion sustainable development fund set up by BHP in 2002 as a gift to the Papuan New Guinea people with a structure designed to try to pre-vent it being seized by the politicians of a country rated by Transparency International as one of the world's most corrupt – ranked 150th out of 176.
This is the latest act in a saga of both tragedy and generosity. The Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program represents by far the biggest act of corporate philanthropy in Australian history. It was the compromise worked out by Paul Anderson when he was running BHP between the need to end the downriver pollution caused by Ok Tedi and the PNG government's determination to keep the mine operating.
When Anderson personally reviewed the studies commissioned by his predecessors of the Ok Tedi mine's impact, he found it morally impossible to continue to operate the mine. The initial plan was to effectively fill the hole in, a scheme that would allow mining to continue for a little longer without polluting the river, giving PNG time to adjust.
But with Ok Tedi being the government's biggest source of revenue, Port Moresby would have none of it. The mine would continue to operate as long as it was profitable. Anderson nonetheless believed BHP could not ethically keep mining, so its majority stake was gifted to the people of PNG through the PNGSDP structure, a Singapore-based corporation with PNG government representation on its board, but not dominance.
New PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill last year began his push to take control of PNGSDP. Steadily rising tensions broke surface when PNGSDP chairman Professor Ross Garnaut was banned from entering PNG after he very gently stated the obvious about the country, that it was “tempting for political figures to think of better ways of using it right now rather than putting it into long-term development”.
Thursday's development - O'Neill announcing that Ok Tedi's lease would not be renewed upon its expiry next year, that the PNG government would own and operate the mine and that “we will restructure the PNGSDP with our own people managing it, not by strange people who live beyond and do not know our needs” – would be a sorry conclusion to a magnificent effort to ameliorate an environ-mental disaster.
There was hope that O'Neill becoming Prime Minister would help lift PNG and much of the new government's rhetoric has been encouraging about removing some of the infrastructure bottlenecks holding this complex country back. Certainly a good government could indeed put the PNGSDP funds to good usage, but good government to the benefit of all the people have not been the rule in PNG. Despite fabulous natural resources, delivery of services in many areas has gone backwards.
Giving O'Neill the benefit of the doubt, the tragedy here might not be what his administration might do with the money, but whatever crew takes over from him. It's a tough job standing between a politician and a bag of money the world over, including Australia.
When the PNGSDP was set up, it was envisaged that it would ultimately be controlled by the PNG government. The timing and attempted safeguards could not be ensured a decade ago. The structure has at least preserved a large proportion of Ok Tedi's wealth for the people. In the end, it is indeed theirs to deal with.
To have the structure end in rancour and high dudgeon though, bodes ill. Australia's nearest neighbour and major destination of Australian aid funds has a great many problems as well as potential.
And where's the Australian government been as this unfolded? Somewhat busy working up a circus act. Standby for some sort of reassurance from Canberra about maintaining faux fur standards and that the future of education here is in good hands.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/strange-days-fur-sure-20130322-2gjlh.html#ixzz2OM56qRCs

Neill spruiks PNG resources to Japanese investors

By Jemima Garett of ABC

  Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has told investors in Tokyo that his country is well placed to become a strategic supplier of Japan's long-term energy needs.

Japan is the world's biggest importer of Liquid Natural Gas and Papua New Guinea's second largest aid and trade partner.

Photo: Mr O'Neill says Papua New Guinea is well placed to become a strategic supplier of Japan's long-term energy needs. (AFP: Ness Kerton)

Prime Minister O'Neill says the start of shipments from PNG's huge ExxonMobil-led LNG project next year will herald an "unprecedented" period of gas exports to Japan.
Mr O'Neill has urged Japanese investors to get more involved in the booming gas and mining industries, as well as other sectors.
He also told them to seriously consider taking on local joint-venture partners and contractors.
Mr O'Neill and a delegation of ministers and senior officials are on a 3-day visit to Japan at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Critical stage

The prime minister says PNG is at a critical stage in its development as a nation, especially in the mining petroleum resources.
"The record capital spending now under way in the petroleum sector will slow significantly from this year unless we bring new projects to the approval and development stages soon," Mr O'Neill said.
"My government is fully committed to that happening, but we don't just want projects that have an export focus alone...We need the right mix of more LNG projects.
"I know some Japanese firms have an interest in this area and have been consulting relevant partners and government.
"I urge you to work with us to make it happen."

Government minister charged with bribery and corruption

Source: The National, Monday,  March 18, 2013 

 

By ADRIAN MATHIAS

A MINISTER in government was on Saturday arrested and charged with bribery and corruption in relation to last year’s national elections.
Higher Education, Research, Science  and Technology Minister David Arore was charged in Popondetta following investigations into bribery and corruption against two returning officers in the Ijivitari and Sohe electorates in Northern, provincial police commander Supt Victor Isouve said yesterday.
Arore was released on K1,500 bail late Saturday and is due to appear in court today to answer to three charges.
The charges relate to official corruption, treating and bribery, Isouve said.
He said during the national election last year, allegations of bribery and corruption were made against two returning officers, Paul Kamani in the Ijivitari electorate and Elliot Damuni Tale for the Sohe open.
Isouve said a task force team, including CID detectives from NCD, was sent to investigate the allegations that led to charges against the two officers on one count each of official corruption, abuse of office and accepting gratification on duty.
“This case is still before the Popondetta Committal Court for a ruling on whether or not there is sufficient evidence to commit these two to stand trial in the next sitting of the National Court in Popondetta,” he said.
Supt Isouve said during the course of the police investigation, evidence implicated the MP for Ijivitari.
Arore was questioned by police over allegations he facilitated airline tickets, travel allowances, meals and lodging at the Grand Papua Hotel in Port Moresby for the two returning officers.
Isouve said Arore had voluntarily come to the Popondetta police station with his lawyer Tony Sua of Paul Paraka Lawyers, and police executed a warrant of arrest.
“The minister was then invited for a formal record of interview with the police,” Isouve said.
Arore, 39, is from Koruwo village in Afore and is member for Ijivitari.
Isouve said under the law, all three are innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law.