Papua New Guinea's Lega Siaka named in Australian Prime Minister's XI to take on England

International Cricket Council

Siaka will become just the fifth overseas player to represent the PM’s XI for the annual one-day match next week

Lega Siaka fields

 

​Papua New Guinea cricketer Lega Siaka has been named in the Australian Prime Minister’s XI for the annual one-day match next week.  Siaka, 22, will become just the fifth overseas player to represent the PM’s XI when he takes the field against England at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on January 14.
  Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel announced the side on Monday.  The squad contains past and present Australian international representatives and a number of the country’s rising stars.
  Former Australian international Mike Hussey will captain the side, which also includes New South Wales speedster Pat Cummins and Victorian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.
  Siaka’s selection is an exciting opportunity for the emerging talent and highlights the continuing development of cricket in Papua New Guinea.  A right-handed top-order batsman and leg-spin bowler, Siaka is rookie-listed at the Melbourne Renegades for this season and is playing for Victorian Premier Cricket club Essendon.  In Papua New Guinea’s inaugural ODI series against Hong Kong in Townsville in November last year, he scored 109 in the second match of the two-game series.
  CA National Selection Panel chairman Rod Marsh said Siaka’s selection for the Prime Minister’s XI match was exciting.
“This match is a special fixture on the Australian cricketing calendar and a magnificent tradition,” he said.
“We are also excited about 22 year old batsman Lega Siaka, contracted to the Melbourne Renegades in the KFC T20 Big Bash League.
“Lega scored a century for Papua New Guinea in their first ever one-day international series in November when they defeated Hong Kong, and he is a confident young batsman who will excite the fans.
“His selection highlights PNG’s growth as a cricketing nation.”
Cricket PNG General Manager Greg Campbell, himself a former Australian international, was equally thrilled with Siaka’s selection.
“2014 was a big year for PNG cricket,” he said.
“We just missed out on qualification for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, jumped to 16th in the world rankings and won our first ever ODI series.  Lega was a critical part of that success with big runs at the top of the order, he is dynamite in the field and his inclusion in the Prime Minister’s XI is just reward for a fantastic 12 months.”

PNG prime minister Peter O'Neill continues legal challenge against leadership tribunal

By ABC Papua New Guinea correspondent Liam Cochrane

            

Photo: Peter O'Neill initially welcomed the public prosecutor's request for a Leadership Tribunal. (ABC)

Lawyers for Papua New Guinea's prime minister Peter O'Neill will question the jurisdiction of a tribunal set up to investigate allegations of misconduct in office.

Mr O'Neill is accused of bypassing proper procedures to secure a $1.3 billion loan from the Australian branch of UBS Investment Bank to buy Oil Search shares for the PNG government.
He initially welcomed the tribunal as a chance to clear his name but has since mounted legal challenges against proceedings.
A leadership tribunal is an ad hoc body that has the power to dismiss, suspend or fine leaders found guilty of misconduct.
Justice David Cannings on Tuesday upheld a move by Mr O'Neill's legal team to have the three leadership tribunal judges made a party to a National Court case currently involving the prime minister.
The inclusion of the judges - from PNG, Australia and New Zealand - would reduce the "multiplicity of cases" related to the controversial government loan, Justice Cannings said.
The case is part of a wider challenge by the prime minister over whether public prosecutor Pondros Kaluwin has the power to refer him to the leadership tribunal.
"My client is insisting that the public prosecutor did not properly exercise his constitutional power," Queensland QC Mal Varitimos said.
Mr O'Neill, who is due to face the tribunal on January 26, has denied wrongdoing.
He said the loan was approved by the cabinet-like national executive council and was in the best interests of Papua New Guinea.
His lawyers argue that the tribunal should not sit until other constitutional matters regarding the UBS loan are resolved in separate cases.
They are seeking a stay on the tribunal hearing and an interim injunction against the public prosecutor.
Lawyers for the public prosecutor argue that the challenge is an attempt to frustrate the work of the tribunal.
The National Court will resume on Wednesday to hear submissions from the prime minister, the public prosecutor and the tribunal judges.
Four members of parliament were referred to leadership tribunals in 2014.
In 2011, then-prime minister Sir Michael Somare was found guilty of misconduct and suspended for two weeks

NEC to declare emergency along Highlands Highway

Prime Minister's Media

 

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says immediate action is needed to repair sections of the Highlands Highway and to have a proper design and construction approach for the length of the highway.
He said the National Executive Council would discuss declaring emergency and call-out for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force Engineering Battalion to make urgent road repairs and upgrades.

O’Neill made the announcement during an unannounced personal inspection of the highway from Mendi to Lae over the first weekend of the New Year.
He has further issued a stern warning to contractors to do their job properly or face legal consequences.
“The time for talk is over, we have had enough consultation and negotiation and people who use the highway expect action,” O’Neill said after the inspection.
“I have seen with my own eyes the problems that continue to undermine the movement of people and goods along the Highlands Highway.
“I am extremely disappointed that critical sections of the road are not maintained and this needs to be addressed immediately.
“We have now identified a series of problems and contractors are being ordered to get  repairs done immediately.
“Where contractors cannot or will not take action the government will deal with them through legal channels.
“In some areas we will look to our fine engineers and soldiers in the Defence Force to come and get this highway moving effectively.”
O'Neill also made the point that while there were some contractors who were failing to fulfill their commitments, there were other contractors doing very good work and he commend them for their efforts.
“Looking ahead, the Government will implement a long-term management program for the Highlands Highway that will effectively administer maintenance into the future and engage only credible contractors.”
O'Neill said as part of urgent repairs, the 40-meter corridor that is mandated for the highway will be enforced, and he advised all people who have settled illegally within the corridor to move to a proper place before work starts.
“The Government will always address genuine landowners with genuine claims, but we will not tolerate claims that are unnecessary and are putting the public at distress when they travel up and down the Highlands Highway.
“It is the people right to travel freely and on good roads and this Government will make sure that happens.”
O’Neill said it was important for him to have a first-hand view and experience of the highway, and his visit took many people by surprise as he moved along the road without ceremony or fanfare.
“I spoke with communities right along the Highlands Highway and heard from them the hardship people have been facing because of problems due to road maintenance.
“This highway is a lifeline for so many people to trade, to seek medical help, to study and to visit relatives.
“We will fix the problems along the highway and I am going to come personally every month to ensure work is carried out.
“Some of the major issues along the highway that need immediate attention include the border area between Southern and Western Highlands and the borders between Simbu and Western and Eastern Highlands.  These are a few of the areas on which we are expecting immediate action.” 

Papua New Guinea: Witch hunts displacing dozens as women flee villages to escape murder

By Ludovica Iaccino

January 5, 2015

Papua New Guinea is witnessing a rise in internal refugees as dozens of women accused of practising witchcraft are fleeing their villages fearing for their lives. 

In an interview with Radio Australia, Ruth Kissam, youth coordinator for the Western Highlands provincial government, said that witch hunts in the country are a serious problem and "a matter of national urgency. 

A woman shows her scars as a result of an attack after being accused of being a witch(Youtube screenshot)

 

"This is something that is spreading and it is causing people to flee from their villages," she said. 

Kissam said the recent case of four women in a remote village in the Enga province, who are at risk of being killed after being accused of sorcery, is not an isolated episode. 

"People have left their villages because they know they will be killed. In a way, they are refugees.

"The worst thing is that witchcraft accusations are spreading also in villages where people never believed in the existence of witches, but they are now becoming some of the worst perpetrators throughout the country." 

Kissam explained that the majority of people who persecute women over alleged sorcery are "young men who don't have much to do. Probably they are looking for acceptance within the society or probably they are under the influence of some substances. 

"Most of these men are disenfranchised and they are targeting marginalised women who cannot stand up for themselves". 

According to Helen Hakena, chair of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee, witchcraft is often used as an excuse to kill somebody over jealousy.

"Jealousy is causing a lot of hatred. People who are jealous of those who are doing well in life resort to what our people believe in - sorcery - to kill them."

Kissam's warnings came as Anton Lutz, a Lutheran missionary in the Highlands region, told Radio Australia that at least 25 women accused of witchcraft were killed in the past 10 years among the Hewa people, who "are well known for murdering women."

Lutz also explained that in many remote villages in the Highlands there are no police and killers are not prosecuted. 

Witch hunts have been rising in the country since 2009, when officials recorded a surge in the homicides of women accused of sorcery. 

In 2013, the case of a 20-year-old woman who was stripped naked, tortured and burnt alive after being accused of being a witch sparked worldwide outrage prompting the government to repeal the 1971 Sorcery Act, according to which accusations of sorcery can be used as defence in a murder trial.

However, one month later, another woman was tortured and beheaded. 

In April 2014, six people – including two children – were murdered in Sasiko village over witchcraft accusations.

Fiji tops happy list out of 64 countries, including Papua New Guinea

Dawn Gibson

Fiji Times Online

 Saturday, January 03, 2015

A 2014 HAPPINESS poll conducted jointly by WIN/Gallup International and Tebbutt Research this year has placed Fiji at the top of its tally, ahead of 64 other countries polled.

The survey took into account the views and beliefs of 64,002 people from 65 countries globally, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
It found Fiji to be the number one country for happiness at 93 per cent.
It detailed that 82 per cent of people reported saying that 2015 would be a better year than 2014, 68 per cent said 2015 would be a year of economic prosperity in Fiji and that if there was a war involving Fiji, 94 per cent of people surveyed said they would be willing to fight for their country.
The Fiji survey was conducted by Tebbutt Research in December 2014 with a sample of n=1000 people aged 18 years and over nationally.
"It is amazing to see that Fiji still leads the happiness index — it is true that Fiji is where happiness finds you. Fiji is outstanding when compared to global countries in terms of its optimism and confidence for the future," said Tebbutt Research principal Caz Tebbutt following the results.
Tourism Fiji shared similar sentiments to Ms Tebbutt, saying that the positivity of such a ranking was great news.
"Being ranked as the happiest country in the world portrays Fiji in a very positive light, especially in light of the many abysmal events (natural disasters, freak accidents and political upheavals) which have given rise to uncertainty for travellers to Fiji," said the company's global public relations manager, Patricia Mallam.
"It's important to acknowledge that safety and hospitality play a key role in determining the final decision of where to go and what to do with one's leisure time.
"So, if a destination has been ranked by credible independent surveyors (WIN/Global Surveyors) as one of the happiest, it would speak volumes of the nature of the people in the host country."

Couple killed in PNG for allegedly practising sorcery

Radio New Zealand International

In Papua New Guinea, an elderly couple from Okapa block at Six-Mile settle in the capital's northeast was brutally killed on New Years Day for allegedly practising sorcery.

Metropolitan Superintendent Andy Bawa told the Post Courier that the murders of the couple are inhumane, unwarranted and unacceptable.
He said the suspects are understood to be from the same block as the couple and investigations are being carried out.
Bawa said the bodies are now at the Port Moresby General Hospital morgue.
Sorcery-related killings had been frequent in the Highlands region last year but this is the time first time such killings have been reported in the capital Port Moresby.

PNG authorities unable to find bodies reported in abandoned tuna fishing boat freezer

By ABC PNG correspondent Liam Cochrane

Updated Fri 2 Jan 2015, 4:54pm



 The abandoned fishing boat Liao is believed to have been set on fire by the crew after it ran aground (Supplied)     

 



              

Three human bodies reportedly left in the freezer of an abandoned fishing vessel in Papua New Guinea may have been removed and replaced with three metre-long tuna, according to a journalist who accompanied police to the site.

The fishing vessel was abandoned on a remote island in the far east of PNG's waters in early December and locals reported seeing three corpses "of Asian appearance" inside a freezer.
But when police and government officials travelled to the site this week, they found three huge tuna on trays in the freezer, which had been damaged by fire.

"The fish that were there looked like [they] had just recently been burned - you could still see blood on the fish," said Stephanie Elizah, a senior journalist working with the Autonomous Government of Bougainville's media bureau, who was part of the assessment trip.
"The information doesn't add up," she said.
"The young kid that went into the freezer area [initially], he noticed an ankle, it was decayed but it was still in the shape of a foot and was wrapped in black wrapper.
"You're talking about a community that [has been] eating fish all their lives and they know the difference between a fish and a human body."
It is unclear if the initial reports of human bodies were incorrect or if the corpses had been removed and replaced with the tuna.
"No one has come up and said whether they burnt the ship or they maybe retrieved the corpses and buried [them] somewhere," Elizah said.

Photo: The Chinese-flagged Liao Yuan Yu 68 ran aground at Paona Island in Bougainville in December (Supplied)

     

The ship has been identified as the 48-metre Chinese-flagged Liao Yuan Yu 68.
The western and central pacific fisheries commission website lists the Liao Yuan Yu 68 as a long-line tuna ship belonging to Liaoning Goldenstar Ocean Fishing Co. and licensed until March 2016.
However, Tumor Boise of the national fisheries authority told the Post-Courier newspaper the vessel was unregistered and had been engaged in illegal fishing.
Elizah said PNG police believed the ship made a distress call in June 2014 while in French Polynesian waters, saying there was an electrical fire on board.
It is not clear how it ended up at Paona Island, an uninhabited wildlife reserve that is part of the Nuguria group of atolls, more than 200 kilometres north of Bougainville.

An assessment team was sent to investigate the boat after locals reported discovering three bodies in its freezer (Supplied)

 

Elizah said the upright position of the ship suggested it had not drifted aground.
"It was deliberately rammed into the reef, it showed that the ship was manned when it ran into the reef," she said.
She said residents of nearby islands had salvaged at least 19 200-litre drums of fuel from ship, but there are concerns fuel could leak from a separate compartment.
Elizah said the ship was mostly stripped of belongings and equipment, asides from bags of rice, instant noodles and bottles of water with Hawaiian labels.