Ending the year in style on Fisherman's Island

Story and pictures by  MALUM NALU

On Sunday, Dec 28, 2014, my elder brother David and his children invited my children and I for a day cruise to Daugo (Fisherman's) Island off Port Moresby.

Also joining us were his tambu (sister-in-law) Geno and her kids, as well as our cousin Yapi Delabu, all the way from our home at Butibam village in Lae.

Maus Wara on Fisherman's Island

 

Sun, surf, and sand



Boats galore



We had a wonderful time, leaving the yacht club at about 10am on the BAT vessel Maus Wara, didn’t try out the fishing unfortunately, and then ended up at the island where we swam and enjoyed lunch.



With my daughter  Moasing and niece Lautuoc



My son Jr and niece Lautuoc
 

Building sand castles

 

Family having fun



The kids had a great time swimming, playing on the sand, and taking pictures with their GoPro camera, which produced some unbelievable shots (I have to get one for the New Year).

GoPro shot 1 by VELEKIRI NALU

 


GoPro shot 2 by LAVAU NALU

 

 



My baby son Keith





My daughter Moasing and me



I took along my still and video cameras as well to capture these moments for posterity as well as post pictures live to Facebook for family and friends to see.

Twas great to see the large number of expatriates on Fisherman's Island enjoying the sun, surf, and sand in bikinis, and freely talking and mixing with the locals, even buying and eating cooked fish.

 

 

A game of beach volleyball.

Fun in the sun

Good to see the large number of expatriates

 

It made me wonder why Papua New Guineans, including leaders, are taking their holidays overseas and in other Pacific countries.



Endless white sandy beaches bring the words of one of my favourite poems to mind

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky....
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
- Mary Stevenson

 

Big brother David, nephew Vele, cousin Yawi, niece Zarin (back), and cousin Yapi



My son Jr



Historically, Fisherman’s (Daugo) is an abandoned WW11 strip, which until some years ago was used by trainee pilots from Port Moresby.

By 1944, Port Moresby had six airfields.

 Jackson was the largest, and was named after Australian ace pilot John Jackson, leader of RAAF Squadron 75, who was killed in a dogfight against Japanese planes over Port Moresby on April 28, 1942.

Wartime airfields in the area included the following:Kila Drome (3 Mile) Airfield for fighters and bombers; Ward Drome (5 Mile) Airfield for heavy bombers and transport planes; Jackson Airport (7 Mile) Main airfield still in use today by Air Niugini; Berry Drome (12 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base near Bomana; Schwimmer (14 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Durand Airstrip (17 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Rogers (Rarona, 30 Mile) Fighter and medium bomber base; Fisherman's (Daugo) Emergency landing strip on off shore island

After 4pm, after a lot of fun in the sun, surf, and sand, and lots to eat and drink, it was homeward bound.

Homeward bound

View of Port Moresby from the sea on Sunday afternoon. Note that Paga Hill to the right of this picture, the controversies of which I've written a lot about this year, is shaved bare for a multi-million dollar housing estate.

Along the way, we passed Gemo Island, which is one of a number of abandoned gun emplacements, bunkers and fortifications during WW11, and the site of a hospital for leprosy and tuberculosis patients from 1937-1974.

It looked so quiet but would tell so much if it could talk.


Gemo Island

 

These were constructed by Australian Engineers in 1944, but never used, then abandoned after the war: Basalisk Battery Largest, three gun battery to the west of Moresby; Paga Hill Battery Gun battery and radar set location hill outside Moresby; Gemo Island Battery Gun position on offshore island, overlooking the east; Bootless Bay Battery Gun position at Bootless Bay; Boera Battery Gun position west of Port Moresby.

A great was to end 2014 in style.

 



Me and Captain Martin at the wheel



 

PS: A Happy New Year 2015 to readers of this blog and thank you for all your support in 2014.

 

Three bodies found in freezer of suspected illegal fishing boat off Papua New Guinea

By PNG correspondent Liam Cochrane

Updated about an hour agoMon 29 Dec 2014, 7:46am



Photo: Illegal fishing is a growing problem in the Pacific. (ABC News, file photo)

 

Three human bodies have been found packed amongst tuna in the freezer of a fishing vessel that ran aground on a remote island of Papua New Guinea.

The suspected illegal fishing vessel was found on December 10 at Paona Island, a 45-minute boat ride from Fead Island, which is 200 kilometres north of Bougainville.
Due to the remote location, authorities had only begun launching an investigation mission to the area.
"Local reports coming from the area are that there are three dead bodies in the ship's fridge with some fish they have caught," said Franklin Lacey, Bougainville disaster coordinator, who is leading the investigation team.
Mr Lacey said the deceased were of Asian appearance and may have been crew members.
The identities of the bodies or the ship had not yet been established.
"The occupants of the boat, when it ran aground, they tried to burn it but it did not get ablaze – it's only the top part of the ship that's been burnt," Mr Lacey said.
Mr Lacey said the freezer containing the corpses was still working.
"We've been giving a warnings to the locals not to get the fish from the fridge, which they normally do with other ships that run aground," he said.
Illegal tuna fishing is common in the area and the crew was believed to have fled to a "mothership", acting as a hub for smaller vessels.
An assessment team was expected to leave Bougainville for the remote island on Monday and hand a report to the country's National Maritime Safety Authority, which will lead the recovery of the bodies and the vessel.
"We'll leave it to the NMSA to do the rest, because they could get the fish and dead people off and bury them somewhere," Mr Lacey said.

New Bougainville time zone takes effect today

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville will move its clocks  forward by one hour on December 28, 2014.

A new time zone, to be known as Bougainville Standard Time, has been adopted by the Bougainville House of Representatives. 

The new time zone is 11 hours ahead of co-ordinated Universal Time, which means Bougainville will be one hour ahead of the rest of Papua New Guinea.

The change will happen at 0200am on December 28, 2014, when all clocks in the Bougainville region will move forward to 0300am. 

From this date onwards, when it is noon in Bougainville, it will be 1100am in the rest of Papua New Guinea. 

All persons travelling to Buka or Kieta  will need to forward their watches by one hour, to align with Bougainville time.

 Similarly when leaving Bougainville and traveLling to the rest of Papua New Guinea, travellers will need to move their watches back by one hour.

Air Niugini is also in the process of updating its booking systems and timetable information to reflect the above, for all flights to/from Buka and Kieta operating from December 28 onwards.

Race for stake in NBPOL most intense plantation deal

Saturday, 27 December 2014

By: HANIM ADNAN

The Star

As of Dec 22, the plantation group has a market capitalisation of RM5.4bil.

 

     

THE most intense cross-border oil palm plantation deal this year has to be the race for a major stake in London Stock Exchange (LSE) listed New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) based in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
NBPOL was coveted by many regional plantation companies given its credentials as a fully integrated palm oil producer with 135,000ha of brownfield assets, 12 mills and one refinery each in PNG and Liverpool as well as the largest sugar cane and beef producer in PNG.
As of Dec 22, the plantation group has a market capitalisation of £997.82mil (RM5.4bil).
Initially, the NBPOL’s stake up for grabs was the 49% stake owned by Malaysia’s Johor Corp plantation investment arm, Kulim (M) Bhd, which saw competitive bidding from seven potential planters, whereby four believed to have been short-listed.
It is also believed that intense bidding war took place between two government-linked companies, Sime Darby Bhd and Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) for Kulim’s stake in NBPOL.
In the end, lady luck favoured Sime Darby as the conglomerate was chosen as the preferred party to negotiate for Kulim’s equity stake in NBPOL in July.
The plantation conglomerate also had a 60-day exclusivity period to decide on the proposed acquisition.
Upon the expiry of the exclusivity period under the exclusivity agreement between Sime Darby and Kulim on Sept 28, Sime Darby made an announcement to Bursa on its decision to abort the NBPOL deal but it did not disclose the details.
This sudden turn of event has sparked market talk that it could paved the way for other suitors including FGV to acquire the NBPOL stake.
On Oct 9, Sime Darby sprung another big surprise to launch a conditional general offer (GO) to acquire all shares in NBPOL at £7.15 per share or £1.07bil in cash.
The GO will be subject to Sime Darby receiving a minimum acceptance of 51% of the NBPOL shares, an assurance that the offer will not be contrary to PNG’s national interest, and meeting the regulatory requirements by the LSE, the Port Moresby Stock Exchange, the PNG government and Bursa Malaysia.
The latest development is that Sime Darby has extended the offer period for the takeover of NBPOL from Dec 18, 2014 to Jan 20, 2015.
NBPOL’s shareholders owning 58.7% of the shares, including Kulim, have accepted Sime Darby’s offer.
Sime Darby expects the exercise to raise about RM2.75bil. The privatisation of NBPOL will also see the PNG plantation group delisted from the UK bourse.
Meanwhile, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV)is also a no stranger to mega plantation deals particularly in the past two years. FGV upped the ante this year by setting its sight on Asian Plantations Ltd (APL) listed on the LSE’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and also, NBPOL.
FGV, however, failed in its bid to acquire NBPOL after an intense bidding process.
Undeterred, FGV reverted to its earlier plan by launching an offer to buy APL for £2.20 (RM11.50) per share, or RM628mil in total, in late August.
The offer became unconditional on Oct 13 after FGV secured valid acceptances of 93.9% APL’s issued shares.
On Nov 11, FGV went on to delist APL from LSE’s AIM market after the plantation group completed its purchase of APL shares.
Hence, with the delisting of APL on AIM, FGV will be working towards integrating APL into its wholly owned subsidiary, according to FGV group president and CEO Datuk Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah.
APL owns 24,622ha of oil palm plantations through its five wholly-owned estates in Miri and Bintulu, Sarawak.

Four women, 13 children at risk of murder in PNG after being accused of witchcraft, missionary says

ABC

Updated Fri 26 Dec 2014, 10:45pm



 

A group of four women, along with their 13 children and grandchildren, are at risk of being murdered in Papua New Guinea after being accused of witchcraft, a missionary says.

Anton Lutz, a Lutheran missionary in PNG's Highlands, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat that while details are still coming in, the church, government and NGOs are trying to see if they can help.


Photo: People stand by while fire burns on a pile of rubbish in Mount Hagen, near where a woman accused of witchcraft was reportedly killed in 2013. (AFP/Post-Courier, file photo)      

He said a "witch-hunter" pointed them out when villagers were investigating a measles outbreak which has killed several people.
"A witch-hunter, as it were, travelled from a village called Wanakipa ... to the place where these women were and to identify them," he explained.
He said their lives are in serious danger.
"This is happening in the Hewa language [group], which extends between the northern part of Hela province and the western part of Enga province," Reverend Lutz said.
"It's a very large group and they are well known for murdering women."

'Over 20 accused witches killed in recent years'

Reverend Lutz said he knew of at least 25 women who were killed over the past 10 years after being accused of sorcery in the western part of the Hewa language group, with no arrests being made.
He said it is difficult to get the authorities to help, because the community is only accessible by one airstrip and reports have only just emerged about the imminent killings.
"It's an extremely remote part of this country," he said.
"We're still trying to notify the authorities and we're waiting for calls back from the police right now."
But the missionary said accusations of sorcery and retaliatory violence against women are not unique to remote, undeveloped areas in PNG.
He pointed to last year's killing in Papua New Guinea's third-largest city, Mount Hagen, where Kepari Leniata, 20, was burnt alive after being accused of sorcery.
The young woman was from an area believed by many in PNG to be hotbed of witchcraft.
"And she had run away from her village because she had been accused of this witchcraft thing and she escaped here," he said.
"But she was actually murdered [in Mount Hagen] based on accusations from [her hometown], which is where this story is unfolding.
"So it's a very real risk that sort of extends right through the highlands.

Accusations becoming more widespread

Reverend Lutz said the accusations of sorcery are becoming more widespread.
"For instance, I live in the Enga province, in the eastern part of it, and there are no traditional beliefs about this kind of witchcraft," he said.
"But, because of the movement of people ... those who have never believed in these kinds of things before are now hearing these stories and believing in them."
Last year, a conference on sorcery in Melanesia heard the belief in the power of others to cause harm using supernatural powers is deeply ingrained in the region.
"We consider it a very troubling phenomenon that really goes to the heart of the international human rights framework as a human right violation against women's right to life," said Nancy Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regional representative.
"A right not to be tortured and also to lead a life without violence.
"These are issues that we are aware of exist in many countries, but her feel that it is inadmissible that by virtue of cultural practices, women's right to life is being violated."

Cue completes sale of assets in PNG to National Petroleum Co. for $7m

By  Cue Energy Resources Ltd.

Press Release

|Friday, December 26, 2014

 

Cue Energy Resources Limited (CUE and the Company) announced  the sale of its interests in Papua New Guinea to the National Petroleum Company of PNG for $7 million. CUE received $7 million in cash via the sale of 100% of the shares in CUE’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Cue PNG Oil Company Pty Ltd, effective Nov 20, with the sale proceeds substantially exceeding the book value of the assets. The sale follows a strategic review of the company’s PNG assets and immediately allows CUE to realize value from its share of the declining reserves and contingent gas resources and releases CUE from a potential substantial well commitment of up to $10 million, delivering a material saving over the short to medium term. The sale aligns with the company’s strategy of operating in lower cost areas with near term development options and enables CUE to re-allocate capital to other opportunities more closely aligned with its strategy, including the recently increased 100% participating interest in the Mahakam Hilir PSC and farm-in to the highly prospective Mahato PSC, both located in Indonesia. Commenting on the transaction, CUE CEO David Biggs said, “The sale of our interests in PNG, together with the recent announcements of our increased participating interest in Mahakam Hilir PSC and farm-in to Mahato PSC demonstrates CUE’s focus on delivering its strategy of effective capital allocation to core areas in support of CUE’s future growth.” “We are very excited about our increased position in Indonesia and the proceeds from the sale of the PNG assets allows CUE to add value for shareholders in a more meaningful and immediate way.” Biggs sai The asset interests sold by the subsidiary are: PDL 3 - 5.568892 percent SE Gobe Unit - 3.285646 percent PRL 9 - 14.894 percent PRL 14 - 10.94 percent

- See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136517/Cue_Completes_Sale_of_Assets_in_PNG_to_National_Petroleum_Co_for_7M#sthash.GKi9goP1.dpuf
 

Papua New Guinea among must-visit destinations in 2015

Source: Vietnamplus

Papua New Guinea ranked fifth on the list of five must-visit destinations in the world next year, according to the travel online agency Destinia.com.
Dubai, the most populous city　in the United Arab Emirates, is at the top of the list, followed by Namibia,  Burma, Vietnam, and PNG.  
The travel site said that Vietnam will celebrate National Tourism Year 2015 under the theme "Connecting world heritage" in the central province of Thanh Hoa, to celebrate the cultural legacy of the country.
All the provinces and cities with UNESCO recognised world heritage sites and practices will host various artistic and cultural performances and events during the year.
At present, Vietnam is home to 22 world heritages recognised by the UNESCO, including two natural heritages, five cultural heritages, nine intangible cultural heritages, four documentary heritages, one geological heritage, and one mixed heritage.