James Paton, ©2013 Bloomberg News
Sunday, December 08, 2013
PM: PNG mourning Nelson Mandela's death
Statement from Prime Minister Peter O'Neill
The
Government and People of Papua New Guinea join with me in mourning the passing
of the most influential and inspirational statesmen of our time, the first
democratically elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.
President
Mandela ended the cruel apartheid era in South Africa – an era during which he was
unjustly and harshly imprisoned for more than two decades – and by his
leadership and his example he unified a racially divided nation to create the
modern, democratic and multiracial South Africa of today.
Of all his many qualities, it was perhaps his unlimited capacity for forgiveness that stands out most of all. And he especially forgave those who mistreated him most of all.
It was his absolute forgiveness of the apartheid government that imprisoned him, and treated him unjustly and harshly for so long, that laid the foundations for the transition from decades of undemocratic apartheid rule to a robust democracy in a very short period of time.
His influence for good on our World continued as strong and as wholesome as ever in his retirement from public life – and it will continue as strong as ever even after his passing, when we remember the struggles he endured, and his fellow freedom fighters endured, just to gain the freedom and democracy we all too often take for granted.
Under President Mandela’s leadership, South Africa returned to the Commonwealth of Nations, and provided ready leadership for the developing nations of the World.
We mourn his passing, but we will always be in admiration of his leadership, his courage under enormous pressure, and the wonderful inspiration he has provided for so many, for so long.
The World is a better place for the life and times of Nelson Mandela.
To his family, and to President Jacob Zuma and the People of South Africa, the Government and People of Papua New Guinea extend sincere sympathy at the passing of the founder of modern and free South Africa, and the finest statesmen of our time.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Of all his many qualities, it was perhaps his unlimited capacity for forgiveness that stands out most of all. And he especially forgave those who mistreated him most of all.
It was his absolute forgiveness of the apartheid government that imprisoned him, and treated him unjustly and harshly for so long, that laid the foundations for the transition from decades of undemocratic apartheid rule to a robust democracy in a very short period of time.
His influence for good on our World continued as strong and as wholesome as ever in his retirement from public life – and it will continue as strong as ever even after his passing, when we remember the struggles he endured, and his fellow freedom fighters endured, just to gain the freedom and democracy we all too often take for granted.
Under President Mandela’s leadership, South Africa returned to the Commonwealth of Nations, and provided ready leadership for the developing nations of the World.
We mourn his passing, but we will always be in admiration of his leadership, his courage under enormous pressure, and the wonderful inspiration he has provided for so many, for so long.
The World is a better place for the life and times of Nelson Mandela.
To his family, and to President Jacob Zuma and the People of South Africa, the Government and People of Papua New Guinea extend sincere sympathy at the passing of the founder of modern and free South Africa, and the finest statesmen of our time.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Growing ADB-PNG partnership supports service delivery
ADB
The
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Papua New Guinea’s growing
partnership is based on improvements in service delivery capacity, a forum was
told in Port Moresby last Friday.
The event provided updates on ADB projects and programs in
PNG and discussed potential challenges and opportunities that will be faced by
the PNG Government and its development partners in 2014.
“ADB’s activities in PNG have grown considerably over recent
years. ADB is now PNG’s second largest development partner with a portfolio of
$1.1 billion with 22 active loans, 17 grants and 2 private sector loan and
equity operations,” said Noriko Ogawa, Deputy Director General of ADB’s Pacific
Department.
The forum was told that ADB assistance is supporting the PNG
Government’s growing investment in transport and renewable energy
infrastructure and is complemented by targeted interventions to support rural
health delivery, public financial management, microfinance and private sector
development.
With infrastructure recording a 46% increase in funding in
the 2014 Budget, the real challenge for the next year will be one of
implementation and delivery, the ADB said. In response to these implementation
challenges, ADB is working with the Government to deliver its support through
larger and longer-term approaches that help create predictable sources of
finance for executing agencies, encourages long-term investment planning,
supports higher quality project preparation and provides partner agencies with
resources to recruit and build-up local staff capacity over an extended period.
As of November 2013, disbursements for ADB supported
projects in PNG totaled $152.3 million, up from $91.7 million in 2012.
Papua New Guinea joined ADB in 1971. It is ADB's largest
partner in the Pacific in terms of loans for public and private sector
development.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in
Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally
sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned
by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2012, ADB assistance totaled $21.6
billion, including cofinancing of $8.3 billion.
PNG a nation with huge and diverse energy sources, low access to electricity
Lighting
up 70 percent of PNG households by 2030 is challenging, but achievable
Deliberations last Thursday at the stakeholder’s consultation workshop on the guiding
principles for the Papua New Guinea national plan (NEROP) to electrify 70
percent of households by 2030, and consultations on the electricity industry
‘rules of engagement, under the Third Party Access Code and the Grid Code,
ended on a positive note that these can be achieved.
The
Third Party Access Code provides the terms and rules for private generators to
connect to Power PNG Limited (PPL) transmission systems and sell power to PPL
and other customers. The Grid Code specifies a set of technical rules that will
govern the connection to, use and operation of the country’s transmission
system, and sets performance and safety standards for transmission equipment
and operation.
Participants
at the consultation workshop unanimously acknowledged that PNG has broad and
diverse energy options that if harnessed through the right approach and
attitude, and with the right cost and investment structures in place, the goal
to light up rural and remote parts of the country that had been in in dark for
so long is possible.
Papua
New Guinea Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, when opening the consultation
workshop on the National Electrification Rollout Plan (NEROP) Wednesday,
admitted that the country had done very well on the energy sector in the last
40 years, but said it is time to turn things around.
The
Government reiterated the importance of encouraging the participation of the
private sector in delivering the vitally needed investments to deliver a
reliable and high-quality electricity supply to all in PNG.
The
workshop’s keynote speaker was Eddy Njoroge, a former Managing Director and CEO
of Kenya Electricity Generating Company who oversaw key developments that now
result in Kenya providing electricity connectivity from 8 percent in 2003 to 26
percent of its households in less than 10 years.
Sixty
percent of households in Kenya have access to electricity, and the country is
working to achieve a 100% electricity access rate by 2020.
The
attendees and relevant sector institutions present generally voiced strong
support on the way forward in respect of the proposed organizing principles
to guide the preparation of the NEROP; as well as the
proposed scope and detailed design of NEROP’s operational pillars required for
implementation.
The attendees also welcomed the introduction of the Third Party
Access Code and the Grid Code, which encourage private sector investment in the
industry by setting out the rules for connecting to and use of the power grid
by new generators and which, together, will bring about greater clarity and
transparency for investment decisions by private sector participants and for
third parties other than PPL wishing to supply customers.
Several
other presentations were made on areas of interest and the kinds of options
that can be considered for successfully rolling out the NEROP, including the
options for sustainable financing lessons learnt from the 20 year experience of
the State Government of Queensland.
Development
partners, including the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
are providing support to Government in the areas of policy development,
capacity building, and improvement of the necessary generation and transmission
infrastructure.
World
Bank Director for Sustainable Energy, Vijay Iyer highlighted the importance for
the Papua New Guinea people and government to own and drive the program
together, adding that development partners like the World Bank Group and ADB
stand ready to support national efforts.
Mr.
Iyer congratulated the PNG Government for putting in place important policies
for energy development and for strongly supporting electricity issues which
will have huge development and economic impacts in the areas of education and
health, especially for women and children.
He
said there is strong evidence to show countries that moved up the energy ladder
have improved outcomes in living standards.
ADB
Country Director for Papua New Guinea Marcelo Minc said the active
participation of attendees at the workshop reflected the high profile the
energy sector has in the development of Papua New Guinea’s economy.
“As
ADB’s activities in Papua New Guinea scale up, we look forward to expanding our
support to the energy sector in close coordination with our development
partners,” said Mr Minc.
Mr
Minc also highlighted the importance of government ownership of NEROP which
will deliver affordable, reliable energy to the people of Papua New Guinea.
Friday, December 06, 2013
US expert: PNG has a long way to go in battle against corruption
By MALUM NALU
Papua New Guinea has a long way to go in the battle
against corruption, according to a visiting American anti-corruption expert,
Robert Cerasoli.
Cerasoli, an expert in anti-corruption, rule of law,
ethics, and has experience serving as inspector general in the US government,
said this during a public lecture at the Institute of Public Administration in
Port Moresby yesterday on the topic "What does it mean to be an Ethical
Public Servant?".
 |
| Robert Cerasoli |
The objective was to discuss the importance of
ethics and professionalism in public service and highlight the role civil
servants play in advancing democracy at a crucial time for PNG.
“Resources to achieve the goals (of government) are
limited,” he said.
“Public servants are stewards of these resources.
“And they must ensure that these resources are used
to achieve the goals effectively and efficiently as possible.
“They are the ones to prevent fraud, misuse and
squandering of the resources of their government, the squandering of resources
of Papua New Guinea.”
Cerasoli said over the last few days he had talked
to several people in government and media, and the general perception was that
corruption was a problem in the country.
“And, like many nations that I go to in Africa, the
people say, ‘there is a culture of corruption’.
“Well, I don’t believe that, I don’t think you
believe that.
“I think it’s a more-complicated story.
“I don’t think the people here, by nature, are
corrupt.
“It doesn’t work like that.
“If we believe that we have the original sin of
corruption in us all, then all is lost.
“So what does that mean? Where do we go from here?
How do you think corruption starts? How has it become so insidious?
“Many people, public administrators in the field,
have a difficult time defining corruption.”
Top Australian radio jock visits PNG
By MALUM NALU
A top Australian radio presenter who has close links
with Papua New Guinea is impressed at relations between the two countries.
Radio Australia breakfast show presenter Phillip
Kafcaloudes, who is here for the 40th anniversary of National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC), said he was surprised at the amount of goodwill
Papua New Guineans showed towards Australia.
 |
| Kafcaloudes interviewing PNG’s oldest surviving journalist Biga Lebasi outside The National office on Wednesday.-Picture by MALUM NALU |
“I would have thought that there wasn’t good will
towards Australia,” he said.
“Look at sports here - rugby league, rugby union,
cricket, netball, even AFL and soccer - all the sports that Australia loves,
PNG loves.
“What I hear also is that if Australia is playing
some other country, people go for Australia.
“I’m really surprised by that.
“I thought they’d say ‘we were a colony of yours,
get out and leave us alone.”
“But everywhere, there seems to be goodwill towards
Australia.”
Kafcaloudes said despite all the negativity about
PNG, the people were completely different.
“On the
surface you see people who are remarkably happy, given all these other issues,”
he said.
“I find that very surprising, but that’s probably
the perception we get overseas that PNG is dangerous, or that PNG in general
has a real corruption issue.
“The fact that people are as happy as they seem to
be and are welcoming says a lot about PNG people, despite all the problems
they’ve got.”
This is Kafcaloloudes' second time in PNG, having
first been here 11 years ago as a journalism trainer at Divine Word University
in Madang.
He has joined in celebrations this week at NBC
including being a guest presenter and interviewing some of the famous voices
like current managing director Memafu Kapera and Justin Kili.
“It’s
fascinating to go into the same studios that they had 40 years ago,”
Kafcaloudes said,
“Equipment is much newer but the place is the same
building: the ABC.
“I was talking to the managing director of the NBC,
losing money
“From what I saw, the presenters were very lively,
were very interested, I was very impressed.
“And I was very impressed with the entire media
organisations.
“I know there are issues with training of
journalists, it’s hard, especially when there was so much training 30 years ago
or so.
“I’ve been reading the papers and the quality and
the freedom of the media is there.
“It’s good, very good.”
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