P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 2 Apr 2002

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay

Welcome to the Papua New Guinea Gossip - 2 Apr 2002. A very special welcome is extended to any new readers. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please e-mail them to giaman@pnggossip.com

I have been having trouble with the main PNG Gossip Newsletter site located at http://www.png-gossip.com -- if you are also having problems then please visit the mirror site at http://pnggossip.com likewise if you are trying to send email to any of the @png-gossip.com email addresses and the mail bounces back then please try the @pnggossip.com addresses.

Articles for this newsletter

To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter -- please e-mail your contribution to pngnewsqueue@pnggossip.com

Remember that this mailing list is mainly meant for people who have an interest and already know a little bit about the people and geography of Papua New Guinea. The PNG Kina, which is mentioned from time to time in this newsletter, is currently worth around 25 - 26 United States cents but varies on a daily basis.

If you are really keen on finding out what the Kina is worth a currency converter for most world currencies can be located at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/moni.html

For those who are not so familiar with the geography of Papua New Guinea I suggest taking a look http://maps.expedia.com and then click on the find a map option. Go to this link for a quick start to a link to a map of Port Moresby. http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/pom-map.html

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

Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
banis = fence
banis = ribs
banis = wall
banis bilong susu = brassiere, bra
banisim = enclose
banisim = fence in
bus = bush
bus = country side
bus = forrest
bus, bikbus = jungle
busnaip = bush knife



Links

Warning: PNG websites seem to come and go. The fact of life is that it costs money to host a website and there is not much return on the outlay to most businesses in PNG. If you do click on a link and use the services or even have some comments to make then please contact the people at the relevant website and let them know so they at least know that someone has gained some value from their efforts. If you are so inclined them mention that you heard about them from this website. -- The PNG Gossip Newsletter.

If any reader is interested in seeing some photo's of Papua New Guinea then I suggest taking a visit to http://www.ioa.com/~tatanua/home.html where you'll see pictures from the Goroka show, pictures of Kanengara village men in traditional celebration costume and a Haus Tambaran in Guvenmas village under construction as well as another couple of pages related to PNG



If you are into diving then I suggest a visit to http://www.walindi.com or http://www.febrina.com

I don't think I have any readers from Japan but if you can read Japanese then take a look at http://www.air-niugini.co.jp - you may need to load special add in files so that your PC can display Japanese correctly.

For information about the beautiful island of Wuvulu - the home of the first Miss PNG, Eva Arni - take a visit to http://www.wuvulu.com. For a history of the Miss PNG contest take a trip to http://www.niugini.com/misspng/history.htm.

Another Miss PNG, Mispah Alwyn, rates a mention at http://www.geocities.com/zekezoeh/links_missasiapacific.html along with other PNG ladies who have contested the Miss Asia Pacific Quest.

Of course the quest is run by and to help the work of the Red Cross in PNG. This site is about the PNG Red Cross http://www.ifrc.org/docs/rascas/pgrascas.asp

An interesting diary about PNG can be found at http://people.smartchat.net.au/~jdgilbert/pngdiary.htm






PNG Forums and Discussion Websites

PNG Directory Forum - http://www.pngwebdirectory.com/forum Free Speech Forum -- http://www.voy.com/5575 Wantok's Forum -- http://www.niugini.com/wwwboard Another area with a lively discussion about PNG is the Professional Pilots Rumour Network located at http://www.pprune.com - I believe that you can read but not participate unless you are a member.




Ericsson PNG

Ericsson PNG has bought out most of Alcatel splitting up some of it with Pacom. Ericsson will be moving from their existing premises into the Alcatel building as soon as the sale is finalised.




Internet Service Providers




Online South Pacific

I mentioned last issue that Online South Pacific had many Points of Prescence (POP) around PNG and now I see that they are opening a POP in Mt Hagen very shortly. Also in Port Moresby they have POPs located in the downtown CBD as well as in Boroko. An interesting field which they cover is the distribution of the internet using High Freqency (HF) radios. I believe that the speed is often not much faster than 2400 bps but that is more than adequate for people who do not normally have access to any telephone communications whatsoever. http://www.online.net.pg or http://www.datanets.com.pg




PNG White Pages

PNG Telikom has a new website which is a great improvement on the old one. Customers can now report faults over the Internet. Telikom has also placed a copy of the white pages on-line. Like the printed copy of the white pages it still has numerous mistakes and wrong numbers but it is quite good to use and very helpful in finding that elusive number. It is well worth a look at http://www.telikompng.com.pg




Telephone Management

If anyone is in PNG and looking for a good telephone management system for their Ericsson, Telikom Oki, Panasonic or NEX PABX then I suggest taking a visit to MATRYX http://www.matryx.com.pg. This system has over 100 customers within PNG. The company can also offer web development and various IT services.




The Rubbish Dump

This is a good example of taking instructions literally, it happened sometime in Port Moresby.

The boss of a business said to one of his boys "Take my vehicle and pick up all the rubbish out the back, take it all to the dump and burn it"

The boss wondered why it was taking so long for his vehicle to come back but the worker had only been doing what he was told.

He took the vehicle and the rubbish to the dump and burnt it, both the rubbish and the vehicle!!

More tales can be found at http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cove/9183/




Fokker F28

Air Niugini has a new second-hand F28 4000 series aircraft from Flight West in Australia. It should be ready for service very soon. It is anticipated that the plane will retain its Flight West name of Bobby Gibbes. Wing Commander R. H. (Bobby Gibbes) DSO, DFC and BAR - World War II Papua New Guinea Pioneer, Aviator, Farmer and Entrepreneur is what is painted on the side of the Flight West F28.

RH Gibbes

Another F28 4000 series aircraft will be arriving in June this year. Both aircraft are newer than all of the existing Air Niugini F28 1000 series fleet whilst many of the components from the older aircraft are interchangeable with the new planes.

For airline buffs the old registration of this plane was VH-EWC. With Air Niugini it will be registered as P2-ANR.




Easter Cross

The PNG Defence Force Signal Squadron has raised the Easter Cross on top of Signal Hill thanks to a donation of about K2000 from Super Value Stores. The money was used for electrical wiring and lights.




Parliament Session

The current session of Parliament has ended until June. The current members of parliament will after the 4th of April be able to go on the campaign trail for the coming elections.




Mobile Telephones

It is hoped that Telikom PNG will be able to get the digital mobile telephone network up and running before the privatisation of Telikom takes effect. It is also hoped that they will be able to negotiate agreements with overseas networks for global roaming to be effective in and outside of PNG. The current analogue system seems to work with nothing else and is becoming less reliable not that it was ever that reliable in the first place.




Zumin Bridge

The Zumin / Garia Bridge along the highlands highway in Morobe province has been washed away. This has severed the link from Lae to the Highlands. Enterprising youth are charging travelers for the use of truck inner tubes to transport goods across the river.

Companies such as the Porgera Gold Mine that depend on the Highlands Highway, are bracing for the worst as they source much of their supplies from Lae. They now are looking at Mt Hagen as a source.




Brother John

Brother John at Dove travel has been admitted to hospital. Brother John is the first person that any church traveler goes to for the best transportation fare in PNG and often around the world.




Julius Chan

Sir Julius Chan, the founder of the Peoples Progress Party and a former Prime Minister of PNG will contest the New Ireland Regional seat in the coming elections. Some of the opponents Sir Julius will be facing are the current governor, Paul Tohian and also Ian Ling Stuckey. His son, Byron, will be contesting the Namatani open seat.




Employment

It has been estimated that there are over 50,000 young people looking for work in PNG.




Women Doctors

The University of PNG school of Medicine and Health Sciences have encouraged women students to apply for courses leading to a profession in medicine as there are far more men than women doctors in PNG. Since the school opened in 1961 only a few women have graduated in the profession.




Lost Aid

Due to bureaucratic red tape a French aid donor has cancelled an aid project worth K8 million. The project was an electrification project of the rural area around Lufa in the Eastern Highland province.




Teacher Shortage

A shortage of teachers has been highlighted to the Morobe provincial government. Some of the shortage is due to the fact that teachers assigned to the rural areas are not getting the support they need including better housing.




Gerehu Housing

The Prime Minister, in a ceremony held recently, has given several tenants of National Housing Corporation property at Gerehu title to their houses. One of the tenants lodged his application for title in 1983. The titles will be able to be handed down to the children of the tenant as well.




Cancer Ward

The 66-bed cancer ward at the Port Moresby General hospital is without beds, basic equipment and staff. At a recent ceremony the PNG Cancer Society presented a refrigerator to the empty ward. The problems facing the ward are no different to the problems facing every hospital around PNG.




Power Blackouts

Port Moresby has suffered yet another round of unannounced blackouts.




Pacom Communications

Pacom Communications have a web site located at http://www.prosec.com.pg/pacom. They are the sole Motorola distributor in PNG. They deal with VHF, UHF handheld and vehicle radios, HF SSB long-range communications equipment and Cellular and Satellite phone equipment.




Electoral Roll

After much hard work it has been decided by the politicians that the 2002 electoral roll will only be used as a supplementary roll to the 1997 roll. Time has run out as far as the politicians are concerned whereas the electoral commissioner says he is ready for the coming elections.




Trans Niugini Tours

http://www.pngtours.com - is the website of TRANS NIUGINI TOURS, some people say it is the leading inbound tour operator in Papua New Guinea. In addition to being an inbound tour operator they also own and operate a series of world famous Wilderness Lodges in PNG. They own and operate their own mini coaches in Port Moresby, the Highlands, and Madang. They operate their own boats on the Sepik and in Madang. They also have their own aircraft, which link the various Lodges. Take a look at their website and learn a bit more about the tourist side of PNG.




Tufi Dive Resort

http://www.tufitelita.com/index.html -- This website looks after the interests of the Tufi Dive Resort and Telita Cruises.

Quoting from the website - Tufi is located on the northern side of the mainland of Papua New Guinea and approximately 250 kilometres due east of the capital, Port Moresby. It lies between Lae in Morobe province and Alotau in Milne Bay Province on the tip of Cape Nelson in Oro Province and it is accessible only by sea and air.




Malaria

If you have ever had malaria or think you may have then visit this web site -- http://www.rph.wa.gov.au/labs/haem/malaria

Clinically diagnosed malaria is still the leading cause of outpatient presentations, the second leading cause of admissions and the second leading cause of death within PNG. In the year 2000 statistics reveal that there were over 1.5 million suspected cases of malaria, which lead to 617 deaths. Almost 225,500 blood films were examined and 36 percent showed malaria parasites.

Areas above 1600 metres tends to be too high for malaria but between 1200 and 1600 metres there are intermittent cases of malaria being reported with death rates being high due to a lack of immunity in the population.




MV Golden Dawn

http://www.mvgoldendawn.com -- Diving PNG on the elegant live aboard MV Golden Dawn offers the finest dive sites and diving in Papua New Guinea. PNG dive itineraries include the Eastern fields in the Coral Sea, Milne Bay and Northern PNG, Wewak. Wreck diving and technical diving opportunities abound with nitrox and re-breathers aboard.




School Crossings

The National Safety Council has sponsored "School Crossing" flags for schools around the National Capital. I remember many years ago a court case was lost on a technicality because the crossing should be called "Children Crossing" simply because schools cannot cross the road!




Danish PNG Association

http://home.worldonline.dk/~csv/ - This is a site set up by the Danish - Papua New Guinean Friendship Association to promote intercultural understanding through public meetings and cultural exchanges between the two countries. They are committed to maintaining an atmosphere in which both cultures are equally important and able to learn from each other.




Grass Roots

For older PNG expatriates and ex-expatriates I am pleased to be able to say that after an absence of too many years to remember Bob Browne's Grass Roots character has made a re-appearance in the Post Courier daily newspaper -- http://www.postcourier.com.pg. Of course, in typical Grass Roots fashion, it appears that he has only come back for the elections! Or as Rootsy says the "Greatest game of all ia Poli-tix!!" One of Mr. Roots's previous books is also on sale with some of the proceeds going to charity.




Hiri Moale Festival

The launching of the Hiri Moale Festival and Hiri Haneneamo contest are set to be launched by the Prime Minister next week. The festival is held over the PNG Independence weekend in September.




Tourism Sites




Accommodation Sites




National Language

Does PNG have a national language from the 800 plus languages within the country? No! English makes a half-hearted attempt, Pidgin goes a long way and Motu sneaks in on the Central side of PNG. Now it seems that none of these main languages have to be spoken by foreigners wishing to work in PNG nor do they have to have a command of any of the other 800 plus. The Trade and Industry Minister told Parliament recently that English was not compulsory for foreigners who want to do business in PNG. Chris Haiveta disputed that stating that the new labour laws clearly stated that English was a must for foreigners who wanted to do business.




MS Simulator

Here is a website that amongst other Microsoft Flight Simulator files are the necessary files for the Air Niugini Fokker F28 4000 and Air Niugini A310 300 series jet aircraft -- http://www.map.net.nz/AFS2K/Jets/Jets.htm




Mount Hagen

Mt Hagen is running short of fuel at several service stations. If they do not receive deliveries this week then most of them will be out completely. The problem has been caused by the Zumin bridge being washed away in Morobe province.




PNG media related sites

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If you can add to this list then please send email to PNG-News@pnggossip.com


I have been having trouble with the main PNG Gossip Newsletter site located at http://www.png-gossip.com -- if you are also having problems then please visit the mirror site at http://pnggossip.com likewise if you are trying to send email to any of the @png-gossip.com email addresses and the mail bounces back then please try the @pnggossip.com addresses.

Created 2 Apr 2002
Updated 12 Apr 2002
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©2002 - 2008 Gia Mann