Passenger ferry runs aground in Bialla

By ELIZABETH VUVU and LESLIE OMARO

FERRY operators Rabaul Shipping have hit the headlines again after its ferry, mv Kimbe Queen, ran aground on a reef in Bialla waters, West New Britain province, yesterday morning, The National reports.
The incident comes just 20 days after its sister ship the mv Rabaul Queen sank in heavy seas off Finschhafen, Morobe province, claiming at least 180 lives.
The mv Kimbe Queen, which departed Lae on Sunday, took on passengers in Bialla on its way to Rabaul when it ran aground.
The number of passengers on the vessel is yet to be confirmed.
Police said all the passengers were safely evacuated with the assistance of boats provided by the Hargy Oil Palm Industry Company.
No injuries were reported.
The ship was refloated later in the day during high tide and returned to the Bialla wharf.
West New Britain police and National Maritime Safety Authority officials plus WNB disaster officials were at the scene with Rabaul Shipping managing director Peter Sharp.
New Guinea Islands divisional police commander Supt Anton Billie confirmed the incident and said he was waiting for a report from provincial police commander Thomas Reu who was in Bialla.
The vessel departed Lae on Sunday with 30 passengers bound for Kimbe.
It berthed at Bialla wharf until yesterday morning.
At around 6am, it began its journey to Rabaul after taking on 26 passengers.
National Maritime Safety Authority chief executive Chris Rupen said Rabaul Shipping vessels were by-passing Kimbe, the normal stopping point between Lae and Rabaul, for Bialla.
He did not give any reason.
An NMSA inspector based in Kimbe had gone to Bialla, which is a three-hour drive from Kimbe, to investigate and report back, Rupen said in an email.
Three weeks ago, the Kimbe Queen, with about 170 passengers on board, was forced to abandon its journey to Port Moresby from Alotau, because of bad weather

MPs exchange punches

By JEFFREY ELAPA

A DISAGREEMENT in parliament yesterday ended with a brawl outside the debating chamber, leaving Sumkar MP Ken Fairweather nursing a bloody face, The National reports.
 Housing Minister Fairweather and Middle Ramu MP Ben Semri, a former fisheries minister now sitting with deposed prime minister Sir Michael Somare’s group in the middle benches, had a heated exchange over the lack of services for the people. Both represent electorates in Madang province.
It was sparked off when Fairweather interrupted Semri’s speech to parliament.
Semri was speaking on issues involving Middle Ramu Block One, saying his people needed services when  Fairweather broke in to ask what he was going to deliver to the people in Middle Ramu.
Semri made a rude hand gesture at Fairweather who responded by standing up and trying to remove his tie while calling Semri out for a fight before walking out of the chambers.
An angry Semri then shocked parliament when he shouted out: “You white bxxxxxd.”
Lae MP and Public Service Minister Bart Philemon raised a point of order and asked Semri to withdraw his unacceptable parliamentary language, which Semri did.
Deputy Speaker Francis Marus said leaders should be mindful not to use unparliamentary language.
Deputy Prime Minster Belden Namah also described the language as unprofessional and should not be used against each other by MPs.
Semri told parliament he had been angered because Fairweather had tried to remove his tie for a fight.
Fairweather returned to the chamber a few minutes later as parliament began voting on the bill to create 22 reserved seats for women.
Semri walked out of the chamber with other MPs who did not want to vote on the bill.
When parliament adjourned, Semri waited for Fairweather on the second floor of Parliament House and blindsided Fairweather with a punch which saw the Sumkar MP suffer a minor cut to his face.
Both men then removed their ties and exchanged punches for a couple of minutes before other MPs stepped in to separate the two members of parliament.
Earlier, an argument had also developed between Semri and Higher Education Minister David Arore but
was defused by other MPs

5 coffee groups cleared to build factories

Five new coffee grower groups have been granted permits to build factories by the Coffee Industry Corporation board.

They are East New Britain Coffee Growers Corporative Association, Enga-based Kompiam Co-operative Society Ltd, Eastern Highlands-based Logia Wago Coffee Management Services, Chimbu-based Neretere Coffee Ltd and Mt Hagen-based Rokel Wet Factory.

Workers from Arabicas Ltd threading green bean coffee bag

Workers from Arabicas Ltd showing off green bean coffee

Another notable achievement was by Goroka-based Hanu Coffee Producers, which advanced from permit to build a dry coffee factory to a dry processing license.

“License and permits were approved for these coffee companies after a full inspection by the CIC coffee inspectors of their facilities,” said CIC CEO Navi Anis.

“These included funding, land, coffee supply of at least 50 to 100ha and management expertise were considered appropriate in line with CIC guidelines and recommendations made to the CIC board.”

He urged coffee companies to comply with the license and permit agreements and advance to higher levels of the coffee business.

Meanwhile, a total 121 licenses and permits for various coffee businesses were approved for 2012.

They include six manufacturing companies, 17 exporters, 49 dry processors, 37 wet processers and seven permits to build a factory were renewed.

A total of 23 licenses were not approved due to non-compliance issues, however, Anis said the companies could re-apply in March 2012 once all compliance issues were rectified.

License and permits for the respective coffee companies were issued to them by the CIC starting last week.

Coffee dealers warned about illegal deals

The Coffee Industry Corporations is has reminded dealers to refrain from illegal dealings in 2012.

Acting manager for industry regulation and compliance, Michael Waim, said CIC was aware of various illegal deals, including trading of stolen coffee to purchasing of green bean coffee by non coffee-exporting companies.

 Women sorting out coffee beans in a shed used by exporter, Monpi Coffee, in Goroka last year.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

He said under the CIC Statutory Functions and Powers Act 1991, “a person other than a registered coffee dealer who conducts a business of buying or selling; buying and selling or trading in unprocessed coffee is guilty of an offence”.

“The penalty is a fine not less than K1, 000 and not exceeding K5, 000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both,” Waim said.

He said CIC coffee inspectors were doing routine checks on factories and people buying green beans and one way of detecting illegal coffee traders was through delivery dockets.

Waim urged dry coffee processors to adhere to processors guidelines to install distoners (stone removers) and densimetric (sort out defects) tables in their factories.

Board chairman James Korarome, during a coffee processors’ and exporter’s meeting last year, called for production of quality coffee to raise the profile of PNG as a quality coffee producer.

Korarome said if registered coffee companies were caught involving themselves in illegal dealings, they would be fined K100, 000 or have their licenses revoked.

‘LNG construction work makes good progress’

Oil Search Ltd announced yesterday that 14,300 people were employed by the PNG LNG project at the end of last year, including some 8,600 Papua New Guineans.

About 1,000 women were among those employed at the project, 94% of whom were Papua New Guineans.

The US$15.7 billion dollar project, which is due to be completed in 2014, is entering the peak period of construction with ongoing work at all sites extending from Hides in the Southern Highlands and the pipeline route through Gulf Province and via Central province as well as at the LNG plant site, just outside Port Moresby.

By the end of last year about 130km of the 400km offshore pipeline had been laid.

Over 100km of onshore pipeline had been welded with route clearance and pipe laying underway.

The first phase of the gas tie-in at the Kutubu central processing facility and construction of a new control room was completed with laying of a new sub-sea pipeline underway.

Oil Search managing director Peter Botten said mechanical completion of the offshore and onshore sections of the pipeline would be completed this year, with additional work at the LNG plant site and elsewhere.

He said recent political developments had not hampered development activities, which have continued uninterrupted.

“We look forward to working with the new government following the elections planned for June 2012,” he said.

Oil Search shares rise sharply as K435 million profit announced

Oil Search shares rose sharply by 2.7% or 16c yesterday to A$6.71 (K15.344) after the company announced after tax profit had risen 9% to US$202.5 million (K435 million) last year with total revenue up 26% to US$732.9 million (K1.57 billion).

Despite rising from a recent low of A$6.39 on Feb 16, in the wake of a US$33.2 million revenue impairment report because of an exploration write off in Iran’s Kurdistan region, the shares are still lower than the A$6.81 it hit following the Jan 24  release of the company’s December quarterly report.

If the impairment charge, which cannot be written off against PNG corporate tax, was excluded the underlying net profit would have risen by an impressive 64% to US$235.7 million.

The PNG government was a major beneficiary of the big increase in Oil Search profits with corporate tax paid last year rising to US$237.4 million (K509.4 million), up from US$91.6 million (K196.6 million) in 2010.

The profit report, which came with a string of positive announcements, could see the share price rise again to a peak of A$7 a share, which was reached early last year.

Oil Search has enjoyed a steady gain since trading at less than A$1 in 2003, hitting A$4 in 2006 and trading between A$4.50 and A$7 a share since then.

Among the positive news announced by Oil Search managing director Peter Botten were:

·         The PNG LNG Project, in which Oil Search has a 29% stake, remains on track for first export in 2014;

·         The LNG consortium will be able to decide on feasibility of LNG plant expansion from current gas fields by late this year or early next year;

·         Oil Search will undertake record spending in PNG this year with an estimated in-country budget of US$2.2 billion on projects related to the LNG project and the company’s largest ever exploration and appraisal programme;

·         Despite planned shutdowns connected with the PNG LNG Project, oil production this year was forecast to remain at the current level of 6.2 million to 6.7 million barrels oil equivalent with next year’s production at similar levels due to successful development, appraisal and exploration drilling;

·          At the Taza license area in Iraq’s Kurdistan, Oil Search will spud a wildcat well in the middle of this year, targeting a prospect that could hold up to one billion barrels in place.

 Botten said construction work would progress this year on various elements of the PNG LNG project, including work at the LNG plant site, mechanical completion of the onshore and offshore gas pipeline, completion of the Komo airfield near Hides and completion of associated gas plant and modification programs at the oilfields and refurbishment of the Kumul crude export terminal.

He said drilling had commenced on the P’nyang South-1 well.

It will be followed by the Trapia exploration well with drilling at Hides expected to start in the middle of this year.

Assessment of a likely increase in reserves at Hides and prospective discoveries at P’nyang South and Trapia will enable ExxonMobil, the LNG operator, to decide by late this year or early 2013 whether there are adequate gas reserves to proceed with construction of a third train, and possibly fourth, train at the LNG plant site near Port Moresby.

Inland fish farming in high demand

By SOLDIER BURUKA of DAL

Aquaculture (fish farming) is one of the main activities carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock’s Agriculture and Resource Development Centre (ARDC) at Erap, outside Lae.

The interest in the inland fish farming programme is high and there is still very high demand for fish fingerlings to be supplied to farmers in many rural communities.

Aquaculture section field assistant, Karl Pewa, does some cleaning up of the fish tank. Facilities need to be improved, he says

DAL staff checking on one of several large fish ponds at Erap station

The ARDC, under the department’s food security branch, is working hard to meet the demand despite lack of adequate skilled manpower and funding resources.

However, the department is determined to continue working to maintain the aquaculture programme because of the demand and interest still shown by farmers in many rural communities.

Recently,  farmers from as far as Oro and Milne Bay provinces have requested for fingerlings to be supplied.

Officer-in-charge of ARDC, Ario Movis, says despite the constraints, the centre is still trying its best to cater for the many requests from the farmers.

He said inland fish farming was still an attractive agricultural activity and people realised that it was important for protein purposes and income-earning as well.

Movis and DAL’s Northern Regional caretaker director,  John Javes, both agreed that ARDC was in a good location along the highway connecting other provinces and such agricultural programs needed to be fully sustained to provide services to the farmers.

They said current rundown facilities at the centre needed upgrading and more funding resources.

They said that hatchery facilities in the aquaculture development section must be improved for continuation of the breeding programme for fingerlings to meet the high demand.

Inland fish farming or aquaculture has attracted a lot of interest and many farmers are keen to set up small ponds to breed fingerlings and grow carp, trout and other types of freshwater fish.