Links
Bill Purcell's New Website
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/billsview/
Bill, a pilot, has sections dealing with Tok Pisin, PNG Aviation in General
with special areas on Missionary Aviation Fellowship, PNG Airstrips, Humour
and even some airline related humour. It site has more than mentioned above
so my tip is to visit and take a good look around.
His section on PNG airstrips carries the following disclaimer. PNG Airstrip
Data is published only as a guide to pilots in matters helpful to operations,
such as GPS settings, wind characteristics, and surface conditions. The PNG
AIP-AGA is the legal document governing aviation operations.
News Items
Central Province Show
The Central Province Show, will be held at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in
Port Moresby on the 24th and the 25th of August 2002.
Mount Hagen Show
The Mount Hagen Show, Western Highlands Province, will be held between the
16th to the 18th of August 2002.
Goroka Show
The Goroka Show, Eastern Highlands, will be held between the 13th to the 16th
of September 2002.
Kickboxing
A fundraising event was recently held by the PNG Kickboxing Association at
the Airways Hotel, poolside to raise funds towards sending the PNG Kickboxing
team to the World Amateur Kickboxing Championships in Italy from the 21st
to the 25th of August. Stanley Nandex and the team gave an exhibition match.
Hiri Moale Festival
The Hiri Moale Festival is held around the Independence Day in Port Moresby.
Elimination events are scheduled for the Hiri Hanenamo Contest on the 13th
of August.
PNG Independence
PNG Independence Day is the 16th September and events are held around the
whole country to celebrate the event..
Volleyball Titles
The National Volleyball Titles will be held in September commencing on the
19th at the Queen Elizabeth II Park in Rabaul. The park was recently upgraded
for the 8th National Mask Festival and Warwargira.
Voting Facts
The following figures have been compiled by Mike Manning and originally appeared
in the Focus section of the Post Courier on the 2nd of August 2002.
| Region of PNG |
Eligible Voters |
Number of Actual Votes |
| Highlands |
818,586
|
1,582,309
|
| Mamose |
762,460
|
618,332
|
| New Guinea Islands |
374,695
|
255,268
|
| Papuan |
543,013
|
437,734
|
As can be seen from the above table there were
763,723 more people who voted
in the Highlands region than were eligible to vote.
Mike also reported that in some companies as many as 45 percent of the workforce
was not able to vote because their names were not on the electoral common
roll.
New Government
Sir Michael Somare with Bill Skate as the Speaker of Parliament heads the
new government. A caretaker government is currently working out the plans
for a full cabinet and a supplementary budget in a bid to drag PNG out of
the gloom and doom announced before the election of the new government. The
full cabinet should be announced today. (12 August 2002).
Aussie Prime Minister
Mr John Howard, the PM of Australia is expected to pay his first visit to
PNG tomorrow (13 August 2002). Australia provides PNG with financial assistance
of A$300 million every year. It is hoped that with the recent change of government
within PNG that the aid money from Australia will continue to flow. Australian
Defence Force helicopters have been seen and heard flying around Moresby on
the weekend presumably preparing for the security needed by the Aussie PM.
Caretaker Government
- Sir Michael Somare (Prime Minister),
- Dr Allan Marat (Deputy Prime Minister, Justice, Police and Trade and Industry),
- Sir Moi Avei (Petroleum and Energy, Health and Civil Aviation),
- Bart Philemon (Treasury, Finance, Privatisation and Agriculture),
- Dr Puka Temu (National Planning and Monitoring, Provincial Affairs, Works
and Transport),
- Michael Nali (Public Service and Fisheries),
- Gabriel Kapris (Education, Science and Technology, Defence, Forestry and
Housing),
- Sam Akoitai (Mining, CIS and Environment and Conservation),
- Melchior Pep (Communication, Tourism and Culture and Labour and Employment).
The new government should be known by tonight (12 Aug 2002).
CT Scan
The government has approved the purchase of a CT scanner for the Health Department
but unfortunately there is no money available for the purchase. Money is required
to purchase the equipment as well as train the doctors and technicians in
the use of the equipment.
YumiYet Bridge Program
The Somare government will review the former Morauta Government's controversial
K150 million YumiYet bridge program. The 100 bailey bridges are being supplied
all the way from England at a cost of over K150 million. The fast tracking
of the approval process for the bridges raised a great deal of unanswered
questions and suspicion at the time it was highlighted by the Independent
Newspaper.
Parliament Revitalisation
Bill Skate, the new Speaker of Parliament, has said that he will revitalise
the parliamentary committee system. The move has been backed by the Prime
Minister and it is anticipated that the committee system will help to eliminate
the numerous vice minister positions. A code of conduct will also be introduced
for ministers of parliament.
Politics
The Peoples Action Party has a new leader from the ranks of the Independent
candidates. Ex Air Niugini Managing Director and Independent candidate for
Esa'ala is now the leader of PAP. It is expected that more independents will
join PAP as a result.
Telikom Strike
The Telikom workers, who went on strike over the privatisation of Telikom,
are now back at work whilst the executives negotiate with the new government.
Privatisation
Sir Michael Somare has put a stop to the privatisation of government assets
until his government can gain a better understanding of what has gone on.
Several government assets were readied for sale with only days to go of the
previous government.
Hoskins
The Mt Pago volcano near Hoskins has been erupting but fortunately it has
mostly thrown out thick ash with limited flow of lava. The ash has been thrown
as high as 3000 metres into the air. The last time it erupted was between
1910 and 1920. The Hoskins airport that serves Kimbe and West New Britain
has been covered in ash and is closed to aircraft possibly for several weeks.
Schools have also been closed and people living close by have been evacuated
mainly because the ash is highly acidic.
Doctors
The Medical Faculty of the University of PNG (UPNG) is turning out about 40
doctors every year but not all of these new doctors can be absorbed by the
public hospital system. Some doctors are unable to find work whilst others
move on to private practice.
Medicine Handbook
The Medical Faculty of the UPNG has received 350 copies of the Australian
medicines handbook from the Australian Aid Agency (AusAID). The book is widely
used by doctors, chemists and nurses in Australia and should be of benefit
to doctors in PNG. Copies of the book have also been donated to other groups
in the country.
Bougainville
A drive for teachers from all over the country is on in Bougainville. It is
thought that education will help to cement the peace process and return the
island to normalcy. Most of the teachers are expected to take up positions
in troubled areas such as Kieta, Kunua, and Boku etc. The formal education
system in Bougainville collapsed in 1989 and this is the first attempt to
get back to a formal education system.
Oil Prices
An official from the Department of Petroleum and Energy has said that it is
hoped that oil prices do not go down below US$25 a barrel as it would shorten
the life of oil and petroleum companies in the country due to economic reasons.
PNG's crude oil production in July 2002 was approximately 1.23 million barrels,
which is about 33.5 per cent lower than the July 2001 figure of 1.85 million
barrels. The gross value of PNG crude oil exports for July was around US$34
million.
Schoolboy Soccer
The 2002 Orogen Schools Soccer Challenge will be held at the National Sports
Institute, Goroka, Eastern Highlands province from the 22nd to the 27th of
September with the 27th reserved for semi-finals in the morning and the finals
in the afternoon. The Orogen Challenge provides an opportunity for participants
to meet players from all over PNG.
Chinese Arts and Crafts
The National Museum and Art Gallery will be hosting a Chinese Arts and Crafts
exhibition to be opened by the Governor General on Thursday the 15th of August
and go until the 13th of September. The exhibition will feature major Chinese
archaeological discoveries in the 20th century.
National Forest Service
The former Prime Minister, Sir Mekere Morauta, revoked the appointment of
David Nelson as the managing director of the National Forest Service (NFS)
only days before his government lost office. Goodwill Amos had been appointed
as the acting managing director of (NFS) with effect from August 2nd 2002.
The new government has stopped the sale of the August 2nd Gazette that announced
the forestry change so the staff are Forestry are confused as to what is going
on especially since the former managing director has now been reinstated by
the acting Forestry Minister in the interim cabinet. The acting minister comes
from the same province as the reinstated MD and the PM is also from the same
province so the PM is worried that things have to be above board with the
reinstatement. His view is that the reinstatement can only be on an acting
basis.
Air Niugini
An unfounded rumour went around town last week that Air Niugini was to close
its doors forever. This was at the same time that the airline announced that
the deal to replace the Airbus A310 with the Boeing B767 was definitely going
ahead and that all flights to and from Australia would be on a code share
basis with Qantas. The code share means that more passengers will be flying
on Air Niugini, which should mean more of a profit for the ailing national
carrier.
Development Projects
The government of Michael Somare has been urged to initiate major projects
that would result in development in all provinces by the former Speaker of
Parliament, Bernard Narokobi. Mr Narokobi said that Sir Michael must focus
on specific issues like agriculture, mining, human resource development, tourism
and downstream processing.
Open Heart Surgery
The Australian open-heart surgery team is in the middle of performing surgery
on 40 young PNG children, which was almost cancelled due to a lack of funding.
Air Niugini has provided a mix of discounted and free airfreight for equipment
brought up and to be sent back from Sydney. TNT has helped to clear the freight.
Other organisations such as Brian Bell, PNG Power, Pro-Clean Dry Cleaners,
Port Moresby Rotary etc have provided support in kind. One anonymous donor
donated K50,000. The Department of Health, the National Gaming Board, Airlines
of PNG, Malaysian Business Association, the RSL and various individuals have
donated cash toward the surgery for forty individuals.
The cardiac team are all volunteers and pay their own airfares but as you
would expect the equipment needed and the hospital facilities all come at
a cost that needs to be paid for.
People's Democratic Movement
One of the founders of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), Pias Wingti,
has been asked to leave the party. With days to go before the vote for PM
the leader of PDM, Sir Mekere Morauta, resigned and party officials are concerned
that Pias did not do enough for the party to retain the Prime Ministership.
United Party
The MP for Goroka Open, Bire Kimisopa, has been appointed as the new leader
of the United Party. This follows the defeat of former South Fly MP, Gabia
Gagarimambu, who was the previous leader of the party.
Book Week
The launching of Book Week in Port Moresby was delayed due to the election
of the Speaker and the Prime Minister. The guest speaker, at the launch, was
the MP for Moresby South Lady Carol Kidu who reminded the people and the country
of the importance of books as a tool of all trades. Lady Carol reminded all
present that almost half of the PNG population is illiterate and that despite
plans and policies in place to improve this rate is not improving fast enough.
Lady Carol was the only woman elected to Parliament at the recent elections
and it is hoped that she is given a ministry during this term of Parliament.
Library Facilities
Many students celebrating National Book week in the National Capital District
(NCD) lack well-equipped libraries. In fact the majority of primary students
in NCD are using the National Library because of the lack of library facilities
at their schools.
New Library
One of the schools in Port Moresby, Kila Kila primary school, has started
their own library. The school did not have a library prior to book week so
they decided to start their own. Hope Worldwide (PNG) has already donated
books and the school has appealed to anyone who has books or magazines they
don't want to donate them to the school as they will be put to good use.
Drugs in PNG
It has been revealed that since 1998 PNG and Australian police have been investigating
the infiltration of amphetamines into PNG. It is also believed that police
has made the first arrest for amphetamines use in PNG. A man is on K200 court
bail after appearing in the Summary Offences Boroko District Court recently.
Prior to this the only drugs in PNG were thought to be locally grown marijuana.
Mining and Petroleum
Income from the mining and petroleum sectors of the economy has reduced from
1996 to 2001 compared to increases each year from 1990 to 1995. One of the
reasons for the reduction is due to depletion of reserve levels in the existing
oil and gold copper fields. The exchange rate has also declined in recent
years in line with deteriorating prospects for the economy and the relatively
high inflation rate. The US Dollar is now worth somewhere around 24 cents
US.
Air Traffic Control
Grade nine students from Tokarara High School in Port Moresby have been lucky
enough to be able to visit the airport control tower at Jackson's airport
to complement the theoretical science lesson on communication that the students
have been doing. It is hoped that the students gained valuable practical experiences
of what the teachers teach are able to them in the classroom.
Rabaul
The Gazelle Restoration Authority will reconstruct two wharves in Rabaul.
Work is expected to start at the end of November. The World Bank at an estimated
cost of K3 million is funding the project. Cold Storage facilities will also
be constructed along with ice making equipment which will help local fisherman
keep their produce in tip top condition at Rabaul market.
Dauli Teachers College
Gun-wielding locals have closed the Dauli Teachers College in the Southern
Highlands province following attacks on the teachers and students. The locals,
who staged the attacks, were armed with guns, bush-knives and axes. Their
motives are not known, but it has been reported the locals were capitalising
on the political situation in the area.
Wau Troubles
After criminals held up a man and his wife and robbed them near Wau in Morobe
province people fed up with the law and order problem, mobilised and attacked
the suspects. One of the suspects was admitted to the local hospital with
deep wounds to his body whilst the other needed treatment at the main provincial
hospital in Lae with shotgun pellet wounds to his body.
PNG Media
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Some of the above are courtesy of Liz and her friends at the University of
Technology in Lae. http://www.unitech.ac.pg
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