Gordon Market shakes off ‘bad boy’ image

 By MALUM NALU

Gordon Market, notorious for being one of the filthiest and most crime infested in Port Moresby, is looking to shake off that ‘bad boy’ image.

In an amazing transformation in the space of a few days, the local community and police have joined forces to clean the market of betelnut sellers, marijuana and home brew dealers, prostitutes, pick pockets, and drunkards who terrorised innocent men, women, and children.

Community and police working together…Insp Mosinakave (centre) with Gordon Market vendors, goers, and his men at the entrance.-Nationalpics by MALUM NALU

Gordon ‘home boys’, men who were born and bred in Gordon and now raising their own families, could no longer sit back and watch the safety and wellbeing of their wives and children being compromised.

“Our wives and children were harassed, they didn’t feel free,” spokesman James Tore told The National.

“Drugs and liquor were sold just like any other item in the market place.

The outside of Gordon Market looking spic and span.

This shop front, opposite Gordon Police Barracks, was known for being one of the filthiest betelnut markets in the city.

Innocent men, women, and children can now go to Gordon Market without fear of being harassed.

‘This forced us to go and see NCDC if we could start this clean-up campaign.

“They agreed to help and support us, and from there on, we started cleaning up.”

Trying to clean Gordon Market is no mean feat, especially trying to tell a hardened betelnut vendor, or marijuana and home brew dealer, to pack up and leave.

The Gordon ‘home boys’ needed help, and when they needed it most, in stepped Inspector Mark Mosinakave and his young and enthusiastic crew from NCD Police Beat Patrol.

“We wanted to show our presence in the area because Gordon Market is infested with thugs,” he said.

“It has a very bad image.

“We want to help clean up the place, to tell the people that what they do is bad for the city.

“Gordon Market is in the heart of the nation’s capital so we have to keep the place clean for visitors, as well as for ourselves.

“We’ve been carrying out patrols, telling vendors to go and sell their stuff at the right places.

“It is really filthy, especially the betelnut.

“Gordon is supposed to be a fresh produce area, but betelnut is creating so much filth around this area so we’re trying to stop vendors from selling betelnut.”

Mosinakave said his men and the Gordon ‘home boys’ started foot beats at 5.30am till 6pm every day, and although a tough job, the rewards were there with the place being much cleaner, and smiles on the faces of women and children.

“A lot of people are giving positive comments about our presence here at Gordon and the volunteers coming in to help us keep the place clean,” he said.

“This is our home, Port Moresby.

“Let’s help each other and take care of our city.”

Torres Strait looms as a new route for asylum seekers escaping PNG

By Matt Wordsworth

ABC

 

Off the far northern coast of Australia, another front line is opening up in the political battle over asylum seekers.

The plan to send all new arrivals to Papua New Guinea was supposed to the stop the boats, but there are growing concerns that it could simply provide a new route for people smugglers.
The Torres Strait at its northernmost point is only four kilometres from the mainland of PNG, and this sparsely populated frontier has been a well-known smuggling route for drugs, guns and people for years.
However, the remote and sparsely populated islands are understandably difficult to monitor. A checkpoint on Australia's northernmost island, Boigu, is the boat ramp. There are no scanners or sniffer dogs here.
Two federal government officials greet any arrivals, record names, and look over cargo for signs of pests and disease.
It's a casual affair because nearly all visitors here are from just across the water in PNG, about seven kilometres away.
Owing to centuries-old family links, the Australian government allows villagers from 13 settlements along the PNG coast free movement in the region, and they make the trip every week to bring their goods to market.
The Torres Strait Island Regional Council representative for Boigu Island, Dimas Toby, oversees the operation.
The markets are vital to the prosperity of families on both sides of the border, but the proximity of the two countries has become a concern given the Federal Government's recently announced "PNG solution".
"Mr Rudd made that proposal and the decision - having the processing and detention in Manus Island," Cr Toby said.
"Boigu and Saibai are sort of the doorway for internationals to come in. We've had [arrivals] in the past that came through here as individuals and a group."

'A concern it will become a backdoor into the country'

Most of the visitors to Boigu are perfectly legal, and across the region it is estimated there are about 50,000 crossings of people a year between PNG and Australia.
But with the only requirement for an international journey being a tinny and a drum of petrol local journalist Aaron Smith says there are widespread reservations about the PNG solution.
"A lot of the regional leaders up here are concerned," he said.

"We do have a pretty porous border up here. Just on one of the treaty villages on the island of Saibai, about four kilometres from the PNG mainland, that border has about 26,000 crossings a year to that one island.

"A significant percentage are not illegal immigrants. They're mostly PNG nationals, but there is a concern it will become a backdoor into the country."
Those fears were realised on Saturday when two Somalis were detained on Boigu Island. They were flown to Cairns and immigration officials will send them on to Manus Island in PNG for processing.
Just a day earlier, another two suspected asylum seekers were intercepted off nearby Saibai Island.
It takes the total number of irregular maritime arrivals in the Torres Strait so far this year to 10, which already matches last year's total. In 2011 there was just one. In 2010 there were none.
"There's not a racket going on as far as I've heard," Mr Smith said.
"It's more just opportunist people who are really keen to get out here and live in Australia."

Air, sea and land patrols monitor movements in the area

The crew aboard the Customs vessel, the Jardine River, is the front line of defence against illegal entry to Australia through the Torres Strait.
It is a big patch to cover for the two boats in service - almost 50,000 square kilometres.
Senior officer Gary Don is normally stationed in Cairns but spent three years serving on Thursday Island.
He says there are three other vessels like the Jardine River, 12-metre cruisers with a fly bridge, in use across the country - one in Western Australia, one in Darwin and one in Gove.

 On a patrol with ABC's 7.30, Customs stopped one international vessel – a yellow-hulled yacht.

Crew member Hannah Lockhard hailed the sailor on the radio while coxswain Leo Leoni stood on deck, notebook in hand, taking details of the boat.
The lone sailor on board, an elderly gentleman who emerged from below deck squinting in the sun, squawked a reply over his radio.
"They just talked to that guy on the radio," Mr Don said.
"He first pulled into Cairns a few days ago. He's now heading off to Darwin. It's a Belgium-registered vessel.
"His English language isn't that good but it's been cleared into Cairns so we don't have a great deal of interest. His details all check out."
According to the Customs department, there are just 13 staff in the entire Torres Strait with another six available at short notice in Cairns in what they call a flying squad.
There are two helicopters and two boats.

Concerns about Customs' resources in the region

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman does not believe it is a big enough contingent for the Far North.
"The idea that 13 officials are enough to police 270-odd islands and thousands of square kilometres of sea area is preposterous," he said.
"So Kevin Rudd, if he wants the PNG solution to work, needs to properly close the border and ensure only those people who are legit can get across."
Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said there has not been a jump in irregular arrivals.
"I know that Premier Newman has been trying to scare everybody up here, let me give you the facts," Mr Clare said.
"The fact is, that last year 10 people crossed from PNG across the Torres Strait and 10 people have made that same journey this year.
"The difference now is that everybody that crosses the Torres Strait without a visa will get flown to Manus Island. No one will be processed here, no one will be settled here. That's the difference."
On Boigu Island, Dimas Toby is more concerned about what he says have been recent cutbacks at federal agencies servicing the region.
"We've experienced that over the past couple of years there's been cuts to customs on Thursday Island, cutbacks on fisheries," Cr Toby said.
"There's fewer patrols. If you are looking at the asylum seeker problem I think we really need to step up on security and give the Torres Strait region the assurance that we're safe."

Ship's cargo bound for PNG mums

ADAM ROBERTS

14/08/2013

Fairfax NZ News

 

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When a $5 million, Nelson-built, multipurpose boat arrives at a remote Papua-New Guinea village soon, it will come with vital equipment collected to save the lives of women during labour.
The Soroptimist International Nelson Club has spent the last three weeks collected donated goods to send with the Morobe Rainforest, a vessel built by Challenge Marine for the remote Papua-New Guinea village of Lae.
Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific is running a project, Birthing in the Pacific, aimed at the fifth United Nations' Millenium Development Goal of improving maternal health.
Worldwide, the organisation has raised $471,000 for improving birthing outcomes in Papua New Guinea.
But the local branch has made a more direct contribution to the cause.
Project organiser Raylene Cresswell said the idea came about three weeks ago, when Soroptimist member Wendy Logan heard the vessel was about to leave for Papua New Guinea empty.
They decided to ask Lae what it needed, and collected a list of medical and birthing supplies. Money came from the wider organisation, as well as donations from local groups.
Advertisements in the newspaper and on the radio in Marlborough and Nelson followed, and soon the group had donations from the public streaming in.
Mrs Cresswell said the response had been "absolutely tremendous" and "overwhelming".
"I hope those girls in Papua-New Guinea are ready."
The gear included 2000 pairs of rubber gloves, as in Papua-New Guinea doctors were often forced to use plastic bags, and other simple items, such as drinking mugs and used clothes.
In Papua New Guinea, one in four women died in childbirth, and there was only one midwife for every 1000 births.
Soroptimist International of Nelson president Rachael Taylor said the whole group had quickly been inspired by the project.
"As a woman in New Zealand you take things for granted. You go into hospital where things are quite safe.
"In Papua-New Guinea they have to travel days to get to hospital over water or hills."
Although it was not yet clear when the vessel would sail, donations had closed, Ms Taylor said.

 

Study details ‘severe’ brutality against women in PNG

Savage attacks occurring in two-thirds of all families

AFP

Published: August 13, 2013

Sydney: Women in poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea suffer "severe brutality" with violence, including savage attacks involving knives, axes and whips, occurring in two-thirds of all families, a new study said on Tuesday.

Based on interviews in Central Province's Rigo district, the report by Australian charity ChildFund detailed extreme acts of violence including a woman who had her lower lip bitten off by a stranger and one whose infant son's unconscious body was used as a weapon against her.

Although there was no official government data on violence against women and children in the rugged Pacific nation, ChildFund said it was widely reported to occur in two-thirds of PNG families and "the incidence is likely to be higher than two in three".

One study cited by the charity in its report found that half of all women would be raped in their lifetime, and another reported that 86 per cent were beaten during pregnancy.

Of those seeking medical help after being raped, half were younger than 16, one quarter were younger than 12 and one in 10 were under eight years of age.

ChildFund interviewed 37 women in four villages and 14 men for the case studies used in the report.

"Most women interviewed during our field research in Rigo district, Central Province had experienced violence, and not one claimed to have a husband who had never beaten them," ChildFund said.

The case studies included a woman whose one-month-old baby was punched unconscious by her husband and his body used as a weapon against her. The baby survived the attack.

Another, Helen, had her lower lip bitten off in a random attack in the capital Port Moresby.

"Sometimes when I sleep, I dream he will come to me and I am really scared about it. I think he is coming back again," she said.

At the city's Family Support Centre, ChildFund said they saw women with chunks of skin, cheeks, noses and ears missing after violent biting attacks, as well as injuries from spears, bush knives or machetes and whips.

PNG's government enacted harsh new laws earlier this year making sexual and other crimes against women punishable by death after a spate of violence including the burning alive of a young mother accused of witchcraft, the beheading of another, and the rape of two foreigners.

Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has labelled PNG's sexual and domestic violence a humanitarian crisis, with epidemic levels of abuse unique outside of a war-zone or state of civil unrest.

The group has said that violence is inherent in the way the population resolves disputes at a tribal, family and interpersonal level. The extremely low status of women in the country is also a factor.

PNG ranks 134 out of 148 countries in the 2012 UNDP Gender Inequality Index, and 156 out of 186 in the Human Development Index — the lowest in the Pacific.

Life expectancy is low, at 61 years for males and 65 for females. Infant mortality is high, and maternal mortality is the highest in the Pacific, among the highest in the world.

Currently, 37 per cent of the population lives in poverty, and less than half of school-age children are enrolled in classes.

MSF estimates that 70 percent of women in PNG will be raped or physically assaulted in their lifetime.

PNG corruption under scrutiny

AAP

 

There is too much talking and not enough fighting against corruption in Papua New Guinea, the Chief Secretary to government says.

Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc has told a forum on PNG's proposed Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) the nation's government is willing to fight corruption head on.
"The fight against corruption is not new," Sir Manasupe said in a statement.
"The talks about corruption have been going on for far too long.
"We hear about people stealing from the government or misusing funds but from today onwards we will take a serious step in having corruption brought to an end."
Sir Manasupe was addressing a meeting in Mt Hagen, in PNG's Western Highlands, on Thursday.
In the 1990's a proposed ICAC failed to gain majority parliamentary backing.
The government of Peter O'Neill was elected on a mandate to tackle corruption and fix the nation's ailing infrastructure.
In 2011 it set up Task Force Sweep to investigate corruption at the department of National Planning, but its purview was soon extended to cover other departments.
Task Force Sweep Chief Sam Koim last month told the Australian based Development Policy Centre an ICAC must evolve slowly, as a new anti-corruption institution had potential to "divert government attention away from existing agencies, or cause territorial conflicts (between agencies)".
However an ICAC could work if it was properly integrated into existing government systems and reflected local values.
Last year Mr Koim said about half of PNG's 7.6 billion kina (AUD$3.5 billion) aid budget between 2009 and 2011 had been lost to corruption. In October last year he called Australia PNG's "Cayman Islands" for stolen funds. In February his office in Port Moresby was ransacked.