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P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 7 Nov 2000

PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay
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Also remember that the accuracy of the information in this newsletter should not be relied upon - it is, after all, a gossip newsletter.

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Cabinet Reshuffle

The reshuffle of the Morauta cabinet sees the return of Sir Michael Somare as the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs and Bougainville Affairs.

A regular contributor supplied the following media release to me. Thanks Rick.

MEDIA RELEASE

THE HON. BRUCE SCOTT, MP
Minister for Veterans Affairs
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

MISSING WWII AIRMEN REMAINS RECOVERED IN PNG


The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Scott, has announced that the remains of two World War II Australian airmen have been recovered by the Royal Australian Air Force, 57 years after they were reported as missing in action.

Mr Scott said the remains were recovered near the wreck of an RAAF Beaufighter A19-97 that crashed 40 kilometres south-east of Rabaul on the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

"The aircraft, from the RAAF's Number 30 Squadron, was part of a large force of allied aircraft involved in an attack on Tobera airfield and was last seen climbing to attack a Japanese fighter on the 12th of October 1943," he said.

"The remains, positively identified by RAAF Reserve forensic specialists, are those of Flight Lieutenant Derrick Robert Stone (Pilot) and Flying Officer Edward Burford Morris-Hadwell (Wireless Air Observer), of 30 Squadron."

Both of the deceased airmen are listed on the Monument to the Missing at the Bita Paka War Cemetery, Rabaul, and their remains will be interred with full military honours at Bita Paka War Cemetery, 15 November, 2000. A memorial plaque will also be erected at the crash site.

Flight Lieutenant Stone's wife and daughter have been informed of the discovery although, to date the RAAF has yet been unable to locate or contact any of the family of the late Flying Officer Morris-Hadwell.

"I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the families of these gallant airmen," the Minister said.

"It is always with mixed emotions that I receive the news of these discoveries, however, I understand the sense of relief experienced by families in such circumstances, and I thank all involved in this current operation."

"Every effort has been made to contact the family of Flying Officer Morris-Hadwell, and I hope through this announcement we can quickly locate his next-of-kin," Mr Scott said.

Next-of-Kin of Flying Officer Morris-Hadwell should contact Wing Commander Ron Hodges at Air Force Headquarters on Australia 02 6265 3939 during working hours.

The RAAF will assist family members to attend the funeral at Rabaul.

Plane Hijack

A light plane was hijacked on a flight from Wau to Port Moresby. It has been reported that the plane was carrying gold. The plane was forced to land at Garaina where the hijackers ran away with several boxes of what can only be assumed was gold.

In a knee jerk reaction Air Niugini placed a ban on the shipment of all gold on any Air Niugini flight. The ban lasted little more than a day

Copra Growers

About 300 copra growers are stranded in Madang because the banks will not cash their cheques received from the Copra Marketing Board due to a lack of funds in the account. Some of the growers come from Long Island where a ship only travels once a month. If these growers cannot have their cheques cashed by this week then they will be stranded in Madang for another month.

More complaints have been heard of bounced Copra Marketing Board Cheques. The newspaper showed a report of a young school kid selling copra to pay for his school fees. Others said they were selling copra to pay for graduation presents.

Public Motor Vehicles

A sudden strike by PMV drivers saw many people stranded in Port Moresby recently. The strike was over the alleged harassment of the drivers by police. The police allege that the PMV's in question had smooth tyres and other defects making the vehicles unroadworthy.

Kennedy Road

The Prime Minister, Mekere Morauta, has opened a recently completed Kennedy road in Gordons, Port Moresby. The road cost K1.8 million to build.

Squatter / Settlers

The Governor of Central Province has presented a petition to the National Capital District Commission demanding that all settlements in and around the six-mile dump be bulldozed.

Registration of Births

An overseas consultant has come up with the fact that a huge number of births in PNG are not being registered. The consultant went on to report that about 98 per cent of births were not being registered. That is hardly a revelation when the only place where births can be registered is in Port Moresby.

PNG Tourism

Mr. Rudiger Knospe, the PNG Tourism Authority manager in Europe, has said that the many things that other countries showcased were artificial unlike PNG where there were new things tourists could look forward to every day. He went on to say that law and order in PNG was seen as a major problem in Australia and USA but not in Europe. Mr. Knospe who was in PNG for a meeting met up with 16 Italian and 18 German tourists. The tourist said that they had a tremendous and trouble free time in PNG.

Simbu Government

The Simbu provincial government has had legal action taken against it over a piece of land in the township of Kundiawa. The land was allocated to an ex-MP but the Simbu administrator instructed the MP's business group to vacate the land due to illegal activities that were supposedly being carried out on the land.

Bougainville

The president of the Bougainville People's Congress, Joseph Kabui, has said that the highest autonomy and a referendum on independence is the least Bougainville would accept in the current round of talks with the PNG government.

Port Moresby Water

The residents of some of the suburbs of Port Moresby are again suffering days and days of no water due to the simple fact that the water supplier, Eda Ranu, has paid the electricity company, Elcom, for the electricity use to pump the water to the many hillside storage tanks around Moresby.

Oil Production

Rising oil prices has masked the fall in oil production from a high of 140,000 barrels a day down to 75,000 barrels a day.

Gold Production

An increased output from Lihir and a temporary increase from Porgera gold mine have offset declining gold outputs from Misima and Ok Tedi.

Mining and Petroleum Conference

The PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference is on again from the 4th to the 6th of December. The conference is being held in Sydney, Australia at the city Hilton Hotel. It is hoped that delegates from all over the worlds will be able to meet with the decision-makers and leaders from the mining and petroleum industry as well as the government.

Visit the web-site located at http://www.pnginvestment.cia.com.au for further information or contact Mavis Mitchell - mavis@pngchamberminpet.com.pg

Counterfeit notes

Several counterfeit K20 and K50 notes have surfaced in Manus. An official said it was too early to say where the notes were coming from but since there have been no other sightings in provinces outside Manus the authorities are concentrating their efforts in Manus.

Lae - Bulolo Highway

The Markham river has damaged the road between Wau and Bulolo. The road is under serious threat of being washed away by the river. At Bulolo you can stay at the Pine Lodge where trips to the rain forest and butterfly farm can be arranged.

UPS Price War

now on a toea per VA scale
Computers and Communications -- 46 toea per VA
Enertec -- 58 toea per VA
Daltron -- 58 toea per VA

East New Britain

The province of East New Britain is stepping up its push to promote tourism in order to attract visitors from outside PNG. The tourist operators have geared themselves up to strive for new and innovative on ways to venture into the many untouched areas of East New Britain. In Kokopo there is now at least 10 different guesthouses and resorts to cater for tourists. Kokopo is the commercial and administrative capital of East New Britain.

Adventure minded tourists are able to take a walk to the top of Mount Tavurvur and Vulcan volcanoes so long as the dust and smoke belching from the various vents is not too severe.

Small Business

The government has endorsed a US20 million micro-finance project to boost the small business sector by providing loans to domestic entrepreneurs. It is hoped that the project will help to redress the imbalance whereby foreign companies control a large section of the domestic economy.

Fuel Prices

The Manus governor has reported prices of K900 for a 44 gallon drum of petrol and as much as K1000 for a drum of outboard motor fuel.

New Mobile Phone System

This came in from Rick who supplied the article on the missing airmen. It is to do with the new mobile phone system which was to be introduced in March of this year and it is now anyone's guess as to when it will be actually introduced.

It sounds like (international) roaming will be so expensive - it won't be a realistic option for visitors to PNG. The intent is to sell PNG Kina inserts or cards that are pre-paid. The current provider, Cellnet, cannot lose, if you don't use it there obviously wont be any realistic time frame for a reimbursement, took me 4 months to cancel two long term subscriptions and get some of the bond back. And - you must pay up front.

Besides which, if it is your phone, you have to take out the Aussie (or other country) SIM card and poke in the PNG one. I would not want to be doing that too much!

Accommodation Sites

PNG newspaper sites

Post Courier
http://www.postcourier.com.pg

The National


http://www.thenational.com.pg


 

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Created - 7 Nov 2000
Updated - 18 Feb 2001
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