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Anglican Church
The Anglican Bishop of Port Moresby Diocese has left the country today (4 Dec 2000). Bishop Michael Hough, Mother Bennita, Michael and Sarah flew to Cairns this morning to meet up with their eldest daughter, Rebecca, before returning to Victoria in Australia. His parting words were that he would return at some later date. It will be hard to fill the position of Bishop with some one of such a high calibre as Bishop Michael.
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage has finally been increased from K22.96, which was set in 1992, to an amount of K62.40 a week for the year 2000. The minimum wage will increase by a further K6 in 2001 and 2002. It is hoped that this minimum wage will give an average family of a husband, wife and 3 children sufficient money to live on for a week.
Transparency International
TI has welcomed the announcement that the Privatisation Commission was willing to discuss further the concept of introducing the integrity pact in the privatisation process. TI member, Mike Manning, said it is vitally important that that the public is completely satisfied the privatisation process of public assets is clearly transparent at every stage.
National Provident Fund
The government is to bail at the NPF to the tune of K60 million which may not be enough to see a write down of the fund.
It has been claimed that two politicians have gained financially from the controversial sale of land at Waigani.
Water Supply
The National Executive Council has given its approval to a US$15 million loan from the Asian Development Bank for a water supply and sanitation project. Mendi, Wabag and Kerema will benefit for the water supply project whilst Alotau, Madang and Mount Hagen will receive benefit from the sanitation part of the project. The project, scheduled to start next year, should see an improvement in the health and quality of life for many urban people.
Coconut Water
PNG is set to join the race for coconut water after a United Nations patent was granted to the Food and Agriculture Organisation. The patent is for a new process that allows manufacturers t bottle coconut water that is biologically pure, very tasty and full of the necessary salt, sugar and vitamins demanded by sweating urban joggers and serious athletes.
Mendi
Police in the southern highlands are well prepared for the coming festive season.
Roads and Bridges
Australia and PNG have just signed an agreement over the jointly funded national roads and bridges project. The project, expected to cost K104 million over a three year period, will cover roads and bridges in West New Britain, Sandaun, Milne Bay, East Sepik and New Ireland Provinces.
Erima Bridge
The bridge at Erima was finally opened after many months of motorists having to go the long way around whilst the new bridge was constructed.
4-Mile Bus Stop
The new terminal located just down and across the road from the Boroko bus stop has been opened. The K2 million terminal is expected to provide services to the thousands of commuters who travel along Waigani Drive and Hubert Murray Highway every day.
4-Mile Roundabout
The new roundabout at four mile has also bee n opened at a cost of K3.2 million. The roundabout has replaced the four-mile traffic lights and hopefully will make the intersection a lot safer.
Radio Sandaun
The Vanimo radio station has been off the air since August due to an accumulated, unpaid electricity bill of K32,000 some of which dates back to the emergency broadcasts after the tsunami that hit Sissano in 1998. The radio station plays a very important role in the province especially around this time of year when school students are travelling back to their villages after the end of the school year.
Tabubil
Recently the people of villages near the mining township of Tabubil celebrated the launch of their own catering company to serve the mine site.
Privatisation
The Privatisation Commission has closed tender for Project Managers to help privatise Telikom, Post PNG, Elcom. Water Assets, Harbours Board, Investment Corporation etc.
Air Niugini - Privatisation
Deloittes have finished their initial investigation and are now writing up the results. Airlines such as Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Air Services plus other airlines have shown a keen interested in the outcome of the results.
Housing Corporation
The National Housing Corporation is bankrupt owing between K18 to K20 million.
Government Internet
The government has committed K500,000 towards connecting national government departments to the Internet.
Civil Aviation
Is it true the Civil Aviation Authority is thought to have every make of generating set ever made at Jackson's airport? None of the are compatible with each other in fact the two main generating sets at the airport are soon to be changed because the third generating set, which was supposed to be fitted at the same time as the other ones, is not compatible. Can you imagine the amount of money that must be tied up in spares for all the different types of equipment?
I am also told that the taxiway lights put in a little more than two years ago by Fletcher Morobe have just been ripped out and replaced.
Chief Ombudsman
The position of Chief Ombudsman expires on the 31st of December and the job has been advertised in the local press.
Education
A Catholic Auxiliary Bishop located in Mount Hagen has said that the education system is declining partly due to many teachers and public servants not being willing to commit their time and responsibility to the education system. Other factors were a decline or lack of infrastructure, poor attendance by teachers and ill performance by administrators.
School Fees
It has been tipped that the school fees for 2001 will increase but the amount has not yet been calculated. This will hit hard the many parents who depend on cash crops such as copra, cocoa and coffee to pay school fees.
Marine Safety
It would appear that a Japanese owned company has bulldozed the marine radio antennas use for monitoring ships at sea. Telikom, the operators, had no idea of what was wrong until they paid a visit to the site. I believe that PANGTEL the licensing authority were unaware of what was happening.
It is believed that anything up to 400 coastal boats would rely on the coastal radio service as a safety net because they can not afford the more expensive equipment used by GMDSS.
National Disaster and Emergency Service
I believe that the NDES is going through a bad stage at the moment with most if not all of their radios off the air or working at very limited capacity.
Kupiano High School
Health inspectors have closed the high school saying it was unfit for human occupation. The closure meant an early graduation for this years grade ten students. The school has also had to operate throughout the year without teaching materials and office stationery.
Lea Lea Primary School
The Japanese Government has assisted the people of Lea Lea by building two new double classrooms and housing for the teachers. It also purchased desks, chairs and water tanks to the value of $US95,000
Internet Cafe
Another Internet Cafe has opened in Moresby. This one is located at the old Meridian Motors Building diagonally opposite to Stop 'n Shop.
Youth Camp
The Korean government recently funded eight young PNG people to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Corporation youth skills camp. The Korean Ambassador said he hoped it would help to add to the important relationship Korea already has with PNG.
Mount Hagen
The Mount Hagen General Hospital, which is the highlands regional referral hospital, recently opened a new outpatient and emergency department which was built at a cost of K750,000. At the same time the Health Minister donated two vehicles to the hospital
Bus Crash
A 15 seater bus rolled over three times near Mount Hagen and killed three of the passengers. It was reported that the driver was attempting to dodge potholes when the bus veered off the road.
Kapuna Hospital
The hospital and nursing school located in Baimuru, Gulf Province has received a cash grant of K170,000 from the Japanese government to help build new facilities and to buy new communication equipment.
Legal Training
55 new legal people have been admitted to the bar to practice law.
Shipping fares
Passenger shipping fares between Lae, Oro Bay and Alotau will start again after being halted for almost 2 months.
The fare between Lae and Alotau return will cost K192 whereas to travel between the same towns using Air Niugini would cost almost K700
Cheap boat fares between Lae and Rabaul have seen most of the Air Niugini flights between the two towns go out almost empty whereas previously it was very difficult to get a seat on flights in either direction.
Tourism
The PNG Tourism and Promotion Authority has estimated that presently tourists bring in about K225 million each year.
The PNG Tourism and Promotion Authority has warned that it will not allow tourists to visit parts of the country if attacks on tourists continue. At the moment foreign governments are stating that PNG is a bad place to visit when it fact it is only isolated incidents that are causing major concerns.
Milne Bay
The PNG Tourism and Promotion Authority Chief Executive, Richard Kassman, has congratulated Milne Bay for taking a lead in addressing problems that affect the growth and development of Tourism with in the province.
Milne Bay Media Centre
The National Broadcasting Corporation and the Government of Milne Bay have agreed to fund a media and disaster coordination complex. The Milne Bay Government is committed to ensuring maximum mass coverage of information to the people. The project is estimated to cost K1 million.
Legal
A three-year plan, costing K2.5 million, is to be initiated by the Department of the Attorney General to improve delivery of legal and justice services.
Police
AusAID has financed investigative training throughout the country for police. The training was targeted at the detectives and investigators who had already done basic and advanced detective courses within the Momase and Highland Regions.
Police and community leaders have received two weeks of training dealing with people skills and conflict resolution at the Mamose Regional Training Centre.
Pearl Farm
Niugini Pearls Limited, managed by Alun Beck, has set up a multi million Kina pearl farm on the island of Ungan in the Tigak group near Kavieng. The company is now breeding 30,000 stock pearls and undertaking seeding experience. It is hoped that the shells will be expanded to 100,000 in the near future.
Agriculture
The European Economic Union is providing a K1 million grant for new agricultural income generating projects. The project will be spread over five years with annual allocations of K200,000.
Tokua Airport
Another rumour I have heard recently is that the runway lights at Tokua are down because the electrical contractors used insulation tape rather than heat shrink tubing sleeves on the electrical connections.
New Hanover
K1.5 million is available for work on the first ten kilometres of the New Hanover Island Ring Road which should begin this month.
Bev Kirkland
It is believed that a subscriber to the newsletter has gone missing somewhere in PNG. If anyone can give me an update on Bevan Kirkland then please send an email to png_news@michie.net. I understand that he was last located near Tabubil earlier this year.
Bougainville
Triplets have been born to a middle aged mum on Bougainville. The first of the three boys weighed 2 Kilogram with the next being 2.8 Kilogram and the last 2.9 Kilogram.
Wheat Mill
The Governor General opened the country's first wheat mill. The mill, located in Enga province, produced its first 50 kilograms of locally processed flour from locally grown wheat during the opening. The wheat project is another initiative of the Chinese government.
PNG Cabinet
- Prime Minister - Mekere Morauta
- Deputy PM - Michael Ogio
- Agriculture - Muki Taranupi
- Bougainville Affairs - Michael Somare
- Communications and High Technology - Sir John Kaputin
- Corrective Institutions - Henry Smith
- Culture and Tourism - Samson Napo
- Defence - Kilroy Genia
- Education - John Waiko
- Environment and Conservation - Herowa Agiwa
- Fisheries and Marine Resources - Ron Ganarafo
- Foreign Affairs - Michael Somare
- Forests - Michael Ogio
- Home Affairs - William Ebenosi
- Housing - Chris Haiveta
- Justice - Andrew Baing
- Labour and employment - Charlie Bemjamin
- Lands - John Pundari
- Mining - Michael Laimo
- Petroleum and Energy - Tommy Tomscol
- Planning - Moi Avei
- Police - Gabia Gagarimabu
- Privatisation - Vincent Auali
- Provincial and Local Govt Affairs - Iairo Lassaro
- Public Service - Philemon Embel
- Rural Development - Andrew Kumbakor
- Trade and Industry - John Tekwie
- Transport and Civil Aviation - Bart Philemon
- Works and Implementation - John Kamb
PNG newspaper sites
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