P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 23 Nov 2002

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay
Welcome to the Papua New Guinea Gossip - 23 Nov 2002

A very special welcome is extended to any new readers. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please use the contact form.

C O N T E N T S

 

Articles for this newsletter

To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter -- please use the contact form

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 20 - 21 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

 

 

Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
Tok Pisin
English
Monin Good morning
Apinun Good afternoon
Gut nait Good night
Tenk yu Thank you
Em hamas? How much is that?
Mi laik baim I would like to buy
Toilet We? Where is the toilet?
Halpim mi plis Help me please
Nogat No
Mi no laikim I do not like it
Yumi go we? Where are we going?
Kai Kai Food
Ka Car
Mani / Moni Money

Want to find out more about Papua New Guinea? Try searching at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo and http://www.michie.net/png_faqs. The PNG Business Directory at http://www.pngbd.com is also an excellent place to look for PNG information.

For those who are not so familiar with the geography of Papua New Guinea I suggest taking a look -- http://maps.google.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.



Links


Tree House Village web-site is now up and running -- http://www.treehouse.com.pg
The Tree House Village is about 15 minute along the scenic Buluminski Highway from Kavieng in the New Ireland province. If anyone wants further details then please write to Tree House Village PO Box 351 Kavieng, PNG. Phone +675 984 2666 / facsimile +675 984 2693 or email albeck@global.net.pg

The main building (tree house) is a three story traditional building starting five metres up a huge 200 year old callophylum tree on the edge of a lagoon. The Balus Bar and the Raintree Restaurant are located on the first floor.


Papuan Philatelic Society -- http://www.communigate.co.uk/york/pps/index.phtml

Postal history of British New Guinea -- http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/bng.stamps/

Post PNG website -- http://www.postpng.com.pg/home.html


Tourism Sites

Air Niugini -- http://www.airniugini.com.pg
DIVErsion Dive -- http://www.diversionOZ.com/epngdive.htm
Lonely Planet Website -- http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/aust/png.htm
Madang Diving -- http://www.madangdiving.org.pg
Melanesian Tourist Services - http://www.meltours.com
MV Golden Dawn -- http://www.mvgoldendawn.com
New Ireland Tourism -- http://www.discovernewireland.com.pg
Niugini Art -- http://www.global.net.pg/niugini-art
Tourism Promotion Authority -- http://www.pngtourism.org.pg
Trans Niugini Tours -- http://www.pngtours.com


Communication Related Companies

ConXions PNG -- http://www.conxions.com.pg
TE PNG -- http://www.tepng.com
PACOM -- http://www.prosec.com.pg/pacom. They offer a vehicle tracking device (SigTec MobiTag) which has helped to stop a few thieves in their tracks. A PDF file is available from that website.

PACOM grew from a requirement of its parent company to have good reliable communications. From these first steps PACOM have gone from strength to strength. They can even boast having a Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL/NATA) Calibration centre.



 


 

News Items


Warangoi Power



The hydroelectric scheme at Warangoi, in East New Britain, has been threatened by the Baining landowners who have decided to take up a fight for a better deal for the use of their river and land.




Police Hats



> my name is David Poole I am 37yrs old and work as a navigator flight
> planner for Air New Zealand my hobby is collecting police hats and I
> would love a Royal PNG Constabulary one to finish my
> collection...well actually 2 would be better but one is better than
> none. Do you have any contacts I could try...we do have some PNG
> pilots coming thru work at the moment as they are leasing one of our
> Boeing 767s but I haven't been able to see any of them yet. I can
> trade with a NZ police helmet or Aussie hat or else something from
> NZ that they maybe interested in or even pay for one if possible. It
> has to be the visor hat not a baseball type and one that is complete
> with badge and obviously not damaged. Thanks very much for your time
> and I hope I hear back from you
>
send mail to dpoole@pnggossip.com




Quote



Thanks to Mark Wilson I can now say that the following quote can be attributed to Douglas Casey (1992)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.




Fuel Prices



Fuel prices are on the rise again. This time both petrol and diesel have increased in price.




School Fees



The price of educating children at International Education Agency run schools has increased. The cost for early learning to pre-school will now cost K15,000 per annum, Prep school to Grade 6 - K21,000, Grade 7 to grade 8 - K23,000.




Koiari Landowners



The Koiari Landowners are set to receive a payment of K250,000 from the Government. This is part payment of K2.7 million that is owed to the landowners of the Sirinumu dam where Port Moresby gets water from for human consumption and hydro electricity generation.




National Roads



A National Road Authority is to be set up to oversee the improvement of all roads in the country. It is hoped that the Authority will be a self-financing government agency initially responsible for the rehabilitation of the Highlands Highway.




Oceania Championship



14 athletes have been named by the PNG Athletics Union to travel to Christchurch in New Zealand for the Oceania Championships in December.




Morobe Police



The operation of police in Lae could grind to a halt if money can not be found to pay for fuel and other operational costs over the Christmas period.




National Capital Water



Eda Ranu, the authority responsible for National Capital District's water supply, has a new executive chairman. He is Mr. Eno Daera, a founding director of Siule Real Estate in Port Moresby.




Ombudsman Commission



A reader has commented that that money used recently to bail out the Ombudsman Commission at Deloittes Tower should really have been paid to another company for debts outstanding for a longer period of time at their old building. The Ombudsman Commission is still renting the old building at Garden City from Ray White Real Estate.




Copra Production



The new minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Moses Maladina, has said that copra producers throughout PNG must raise copra production. 80 percent of all people involved in the production of copra are small village growers.




Defence Force Armouries



Three new modern armouries are to be built for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) by AusAID in a bid to improve security of military weapons in the country. The armouries similar to three already built in Port Moresby will be worth about A$2 million




PNGDF Retrenchment



It has been reported that the retrenchment exercise being carried out by the PNG Defence Force is progressing well. The Australian Government has provided A$40 million towards the exercise.




PNGDF Vehicles



> I am trying to get some images of general service vehicles used by the
> PNGDF, particularly Land Rovers in Army service. Regards Brenton R.
> O'Brien (send email to bobrien@pnggossip.com)




Buin Hospital



The Buin District Hospital requires the services of a specialist doctor. The hospital is the referral centre for South Bougainville. The sole doctor, who works in the hospital, leaves next month for Moresby to complete his residency.




Western Highlands



Paias Wingti, the Governor of the Western Highlands, has officially launched a K3 million road upgrading program for the province.




Air Niugini



The National Airline has been plagued by faulty aircraft and cancelled flights. To make matters worse people who were previously board members of Air Niugini still expect to be carted around on a director's discounted fare and then get upset when they are off loaded to make way for full fare paying passengers.

Air Niugini has just taken delivery of another F28 4000 series from the defunct Flight West Airlines in Australia. The plane has had a thorough going over in Australia and should be able to be in service with the national airline for the peak period over Christmas New Year.

Air Niugini sources have warned of a possible increase in airfares due to the costs of aviation fuel and aircraft parts all of which are pegged to the US Dollar.

A rumour is saying that Air Niugini now has a new board of directors. Replacing the Joe Tauvasa led board appointed after the demise of Sir Michael Bromley immediately after the elections. The new board is headed by Joe Tauvasa but with different members to the one he has been leading recently.




Price Increase



Merchants have been warned not to take advantage of the fall in the Kina by increasing prices, even prices of old stocks. Marking up the prices of old stock is deemed illegal but this does not seem to have stopped many of the shops increasing prices overnight.

The price of flour has risen by 12 percent. It is not known what effect this will have on the cost of bread and other products that use flour.

Besta Tinned Fish is set to rise as well. The company located in Lae imports almost all the ingredients for the brand of tinned fish that it sells around PNG.




Yahoo



If anyone is using a Yahoo account to receive this newsletter I suggest that you review the following page -- http://subscribe.yahoo.com/showaccount.




Rural Development



The parliamentarians are set to receive K250,000 under the Rural development Program (RDP) before Parliament rises for Christmas. Wish I could get a Christmas present like that. I wonder how the government can afford such a gift when public servants are not being paid on time, prisoners aren't being fed, the Highlands highway is in a mess, the road works in Moresby are half completed and have been that way for weeks plus a whole lot more all due to a lack of money?




Gas Project



A critical countdown is now on for the players in the US3.5 billion (K15.3 billion) Papua New Guinea to Queensland gas pipeline to commit to the next phase of the long-delayed project. The Government intends to set up two new subsidiaries of the Mineral Resources Development Corporation (MRDC); one responsible for holding the Government's equity in the gas project, and the other in oil and petroleum.

They are:

1. Eda Gas
2. Eda Oil

The Queensland, Australia Government has said that it supports the PNG Gas project and wants to see it get off the ground.




Pre Paid Web Access



For visitors coming to PNG and wishing to have an Internet Connection Daltron have pre-paid web access available starting from K66 for 10 hours up to K154 for 40 hours. The customer is not charged a connection fee or any other monthly fees. Users are, however, charged a fee by the telephone company for access as well. For more information please contact sales@daltron.com.pg or visit their website at http://www.daltron.com.pg




Internet Service Providers



Daltron -- http://www.daltron.com.pg
Data Nets -- http://www.online.net.pg
Datec -- http://www.datec.net.pg
Global Technologies -- http://www.global.net.pg




Cassowary



Some information on the cassowary that is now considered endangered. Cassowaries, smaller than the ostrich and emu, can grow to be up to 2 metres (6 feet) high and weigh as much as 60 kg (130 pounds). There has been a report from here (PNG) of one weighing 86 Kilograms. They defend themselves by kicking with dagger like claws on its toes. A kick from a cassowary can rip open a human's stomach. They are a flightless, swift-running, pugnacious forest bird. Their plumage is dark and glossy and the head and neck unfeathered. The head bears a horny crest. They are fast runners, attaining speeds up to 50 kilometres (30 miles) per hour. The female Cassowary lays a clutch of four to ten eggs. The male Cassowary incubates the eggs

Cassowaries feed on fallen fruit, but will eat almost anything, including birds, dead rats, reptiles, and even fungi that they might find on the ground. Unlike most seed eating birds, which swallow grit to help in grinding up the food in the stomach, the cassowary's stomach appears to massage the flesh off the seed. Many of these seeds excreted are still viable and in fact may benefit from the scarifying effect of the bird's stomach. Cassowaries are important disperser's of seed of the larger fruited forest trees, which may be deposited many kilometres from where they were picked up. The survival of these plants is apparently intricately bound with the survival of the cassowary.

It is believed that Europeans sighted the first cassowary when one was taken back to Amsterdam, Holland, where it arrived in 1597 and was presented to the Holy Emperor Rudolf II as a gift and was put on public display for some years. One bird at Healesville Sanctuary in Australia has been recorded as living to 61+ years.




Computer Companies in PNG



Able Computing -- http://www.able.com.pg
Daltron -- http://www.daltron.com.pg
Data Nets -- http://www.datanets.com.pg
Datec -- http://www.datec.com.pg
HT PNG (formerly High Tech Industries) -- http://www.hightech.com.pg/
Global Technologies -- http://www.global.net.pg



Kick Boxing



A grade seven 14 year old girl, Cathy Karo, has won the Miss Highlands regional kickboxing contest held in Kundiawa recently. World Kick boxing champion Stanley Nandex presented her with her medal.




British Week



Connect UK in association with the British High Commission has planned a British cultural celebration starting on the 22nd of November and going through to the 11th of December.




Australian Aid



The leader of the Australian delegation to the 14th PNG-Australia Ministerial Forum, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, has said that Australia was prepared to provide some "reprioritisation" to the tune of K100 million if PNG's financial reforms proved successful.


This means that the PNG Government will now have to concentrate on its "home grown structural reform program", consistent with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund guidelines.




2003 Public Holidays



Thanks to PNG Business Directory -- http://www.pngbd.com for supplying the following dates for Public Holidays in 2003.

1st January, Wednesday - New Years Day
18th April, Friday - Good Friday
19th April, Saturday - Easter Saturday
20th April, Sunday - Easter Sunday
21st April, Monday - Easter Monday
9th June, Monday - Queen's Birthday
23rd July, Wednesday - Remembrance Day
16th September, Tuesday - Independence Day
25th December, Thursday - Christmas Day
26th December, Friday - Boxing Day




Bendigo Books



About 40,000 books have arrived from Spring Gully Primary School near Bendigo Victoria, Australia. The books are a donation from the staff and children at Spring Gully and were flown in by an Australian Air force Hercules.




Tari - Southern Highlands



A high level AusAID delegation from the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby and Canberra were taken on a tour of the trouble-torn Hela region in the Southern Highlands Province recently.




Wewak Housing



42 houses in Wewak have been identified by the National Housing Commission for give away to the tenants. tenants will have to pay any outstanding rental and a K450 statutory charge before being given title to the houses they are occupying.


 





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-- THE END --

Some of the above are courtesy of Liz and her friends at the University of Technology in Lae. http://www.unitech.ac.pg

If you can add to this list then please use the contact form.





Created 23 Nov 2002
Updated 23 Nov 2002

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