Daewoo International demonstrates confidence in Papua New Guinea economy

Office of the Prime Minister
Papua New Guinea

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill  has welcomed Daewoo’s ongoing commitment to Papua New Guinea. 
During a courtesy call by the Daewoo International’s president, Byeong Eal Jeon, and senior executive vice-president, Jeong Hwan Park, O'Neill, accompanied by the Minister for Public Enterprise and State Investment, Ben Micah, thanked the company for its enthusiasm for expanding operations in PNG.

From left are Byeong Eal Jeon, Minister Ben Micah, Byeong Eal Jeon, and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill 

O'Neill said Daewoo was a major international company that recognised the investment and business potential of PNG and was seeking to deepen involvement in the economy.
“Our door is always open to international investment and the introduction of new technologies and processes," he said.
“Companies like Daewoo bring with them knowledge that has been gained around the world that can then provide solutions to challenges faced in a geographically diverse country like Papua New Guinea.”
Jeon provided an overview and presentation of current projects Daewoo is currently operating around the region and would like to further expend in PNG.
These include engagement in power generation, the construction of modular housing and transportation infrastructure.
“Mr Jeon has provided an assurance that Daewoo’s operations in Papua New Guinea will work accordance and national standards and environmental requirements,” O’Neill said.
“It is important that our people can physically access electricity, and that this energy is provided at a cost that is affordable to families. 
“Keeping costs down also expands the revenue base for energy providers and we ask all related companies to be aware to ensue they factor affordability into their business plans.”
Jeon advised PM O’Neill that Daewoo International was looking forward to presenting proposals to the Government on future major infrastructure projects as these open to tender processes.

Prime Minister reassures nation of increasing preparedness to deal with security incidents

Prime Minister's Media

 

Following the armed siege that occurred in Sydney overnight, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has provided reassurance that Papua New Guinea’s capacity to deal with a range of threats continues to increase in the face of a changing global security environment.

“It is only natural that around the world right now people are asking if their domestic security services are effectively equipped to deal with a range of potential threat scenarios,” PM O’Neill said.

“As we have seen over the past day and night, no country in the world can be thought to be immune from such brutal acts, and even with the high skill level of New South Wales police, the safety of all people cannot be guaranteed in such a complex situation.

“The range and form of security threats facing the global community has changed in recent years, and security services of all nations take into consideration both domestic and international factors.

“Every country is different, and while Papua New Guinea does not face the same security threats as countries such as Australia or the United States, we must continue to be vigilant.

"Internal training has been improved through ongoing mentoring to raise the capacity of our security services.

"Direct training is further being undertaken by Papua New Guinea’s police and military personnel in Australia, the United States, Israel and other partner countries.

“This improves the capacity for our police and military to deal with a range of potential threats including hostage situations.

“Funding for law and order continues to increase each year and we are in a much better situation than a few years ago.

“Papua New Guinea’s security capacity and preparedness will continue to evolve particularly as we prepare to host global events including APEC."

 
 
 

Papua New Guinea’s condolences for Sydney siege victims

Office of the Prime Minister

Papua New Guinea

 Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has written to Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbot  to convey the nation’s sympathy following the death of two hostages in an armed siege in Sydney overnight.
“It was with great concern that we have seen events unfold relating to the armed siege at Martin Place in Sydney overnight,”  O’Neill said in the letter.
“On behalf of the people of Papua New Guinea, I express our deep condolences to the families of the victims of this siege who died in such tragic circumstances.
“The innocent victims of this tragedy were in the prime of their lives and their loss is felt around the world.
“We further express our concern for the survivors and the torment they feel as they seek to come terms with what has occurred.
“Papua New Guineans stands with our Australian brothers and sisters and share the grief your nation is experiencing today.
“It is at times such as this that people and nations unite in common purpose to work together for a better world that is free of such brutal acts.”

Christmas in Lae

Newcrest Mining targets Papua New Guinea prize

          

by: Kim Christian

From: Herald Sun

December 15, 2014 9:00PM          

 

NEWCREST Mining says it expects to cut costs by splitting the development plan for a major offshore project into two stages. 

         


Newcrest Mining chief executive Sandeep Biswas. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

The Melbourne-based gold mining heavyweight says it is planning to target the higher value part of the ore body in the first stage of the Golpu gold and copper project.
A pre-feasibility study for stage two of the project, in Papua New Guinea, will be ­updated.
The estimated capital outlay for the first stage over the life on the mine is $US3.1 billion ($3.8 billion).
A joint venture project with Harmony Gold Mining, Golpu was originally forecast to cost $US4.8 billion.
“By targeting the high value core of the ore body first, we have increased the ­economic returns from the mine by being cash flow ­positive earlier in the life of the mine,” chief executive Sandeep Biswas said.
“Progressing stage one to the feasibility study stage aligns with Newcrest’s strategy of profitable growth through low-cost operations.”
Both the stage one feasibility study and stage two pre-feasibility study are expected to be updated by the end of the month. Production at stage one is forecast to begin in 2020, with annual output expected to peak at 320,000 ounces of gold and 150,000 tonnes of copper in 2025.
Production for the original project was forecast to peak at 550,000 ounces of gold and 330,000 ounces of copper.
The Golpu deposit forms part of the Wafi-Golpu project, 65km from Lae.
The PNG Government has an option to take a 30 per cent stake in the project, which would reduce Newcrest and Harmony’s 50 per cent shares to 35 per cent.
Newcrest shares closed down 5c at $10.67 on Monday — a performance marginally better than the wider market.
Shares in the group were trading at about $8.60 early last month but have climbed in line with the gold price, which is finding favour as a safe haven while other commodity prices broadly slide.
Gold was trading at $US1216.92 an ounce on Monday, compared with less than $US1150 early last month.

Papua New Guinea approves 50 applications from Manus Island asylum seekers but resettlement delayed

By Liam Cochrane
ABC       

December 16, 2014, 8:24 am

    

 

Papua New Guinea has approved 50 refugee applications from the 1,000 men on Manus Island, but is yet to resettle anyone.

PNG's foreign minister Rimbink Pato said the assessment of asylum applications on Manus Island was going "full speed on every front".
"Fifty asylum seekers have been determined genuine refugees," Mr Pato said.
He said the men will be resettled in PNG but that has been delayed by the lack of a policy framework.
While a permanent policy has been under review for months, an interim plan has been announced.
Papua New Guinea will give refugees 12-month bridging visas and help them find jobs but the longer-term prospects for refugees are not clear.
Australia is funding a new immigration detention centre near Port Moresby that PNG officials say is for asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected and are being deported.
There have been no reports, so far, of negative assessments.

Papuan bishop decries witch hunts, violence against women

By Antonio Anup Gonsalves

Wabag, Papua New Guinea, Dec 15, 2014 / 02:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A bishop in Papua New Guinea last week condemned the witch hunts which take place in the country, where many residents believe in sorcery and those accused of practicing it – mostly women – are attacked and murdered by mobs.


Indigenous Papuans performing a traditional dance. Credit: Diocese of Daru-Kiunga.

“I encourage all our citizens not to get into this bad habit of accusing innocent and defenseless people of sorcery, resulting in torturing and killing,” Bishop Arnold Orowae of Wabag, capital of Enga province in Papua New Guinea's highlands, said in a Dec. 9 statement.
“This is a moral evil that should not be practiced,” he added.
Nearly all of Papua New Guinea's population is Christian, and 27 percent is Catholic, yet many Papuan Christians integrate indigenous beliefs and practices into their religious life.
Some indigenous Papuans do not believe in misfortune and accidents, and attribute them to sorcery, while the accusation can also be used for revenge or envy. Amnesty International reports that women are six times more likely to be accused of sorcery than are men.
Bishop Orowae said the accused are often women who are “vulnerable and defenseless, and people run around aimlessly taking pleasure in accusing, torturing, and even killing them.”
“No one is there to defend these defenseless women,” Bishop Orowae lamented. “It is saddening to hear and experience such brutal killings.”
In August, the country's Institute of National Affairs told Pacific Beat that much of the sorcery-related violence is committed by young men in “power plays” in their rural communities.
“In this age and time we cannot continue to act and behave like barbaric people who have no respect for life and who kill to protect their territories,” Bishop Orowae stated.
Witch hunts begin at funerals of the deceased, or the bedside of the ill, Richard Eves, an anthropologist with the Australian National University, told The Diplomat, an Asia-Pacific current affairs magazine, earlier this year. The magazine noted: “With limited medical or scientific understandings of health and illness, communities find few alternative explanations to counter their deeply embedded fear of supernatural evils.”
Bishop Orowae said: “People are still ignorant and would not want to accept that people can die at any time through sickness or damage done to their body. Even healthy people can die of sicknesses.”
“Where does this come from?” he asked. “It is either pure jealousy, or it is used as a means to accuse people for revenge.”
Bishop Orowae, who is president of the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands bishops' conference, reminded local residents that “respect for life should be in the conscience of all people regardless of who that person is.”
“We have laws of the country that govern us,” he stated. “We have the Christian faith that also determines our way of life in following Jesus, proclaiming his truth and living his life.”
Papua New Guinea's 1971 Sorcery Act criminalized the practice of sorcery, and accepted the accusation of sorcery as a defense in cases of murder, but the act was repealed in 2013.
Its appeal, however, was accompanied by a new law which included sorcery-related killings among crimes penalized by capital punishment, as well as aggravated rape and armed robbery.
Despite this, witch hunts and the murder of supposed witches continues, with many police failing to stop the violence; the country's Constitutional and Law Reform Commission estimates 150 sorcery-related deaths annually. Many cases go unreported due to non-collaboration with officials, and fear of reprisal.
In light of this trend, Bishop Orowae thanked local administration and police for recently saving three defenseless women from mob violence in Teremanda, a village of Enga province.
“God has given us this life as a gift and we should respect it, and only God can take it back,” Bishop Orowae further explained. “He does not give us permission to take away the lives of others, even the unborn, the disabled, the criminals, the unwanted, the sick.”
In January, the Church in Papua New Guinea held a seminar to tackle the epidemic of sorcery-related violence, at which Fr. Franco Zocca, an Italian missionary and sociologist, told attendees that “only scientific enlightenment and a massive education effort can help overcome sorcery beliefs” in the country.
Fr. Zocca has coordinated a four-year research study on sorcery in Papua New Guinea. The aim of the conference was to explore the Church's attitude toward magic and sorcery, as well as data collected by the Melanesian Institute, which studies indigenous cultures in the region.
The Church is working to provide education and catechesis to indigenous Papua New Guineans to help them overcome superstitious beliefs.
“It gives a bad image of this country and its people,” Bishop Orowae concluded. “Let’s promote the good side of our lives and country, and do away with the bad practices.”