Links
http://www.nari.org.pg/
-- This is a new website for the National Agricultural Research Institute.
http://www.pngbd.com -- PNG Business and
Tourist Directory
Are you a coin or bank note collector then a visit to the website run by the
Bank of PNG at http://www.bankpng.gov.pg may interest you.
Help is needed to develop the Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.michie.net/png_faqs.
The list of FAQ's has been growing but has slowed down despite the fact that
there are still many unanswered questions. The FAQ's are searchable down to
a relevant page but then a viewer needs to use their own web browser to search
the located page. i.e. most browsers allow you to do a "find in page"
-- Control "F" search.
http://www.tis.ac.pg/
-- Tabubil International School
http://www.pngbuai.com -- PNG BUAI (Papua
New Guinea Books Useful Articles & Information) seeks to provide a virtual
home for a growing collection of research level electronic material on and
from Papua New Guinea.
News Items
PNGDF
The PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) maritime unit has done well during a recent
joint exercise between the PNGDF and their Australian counterparts. For two
weeks three PNGDF patrol boats, HMPNGS Tarangau, Seedler and Dreger and two
Australian navy vessels, HMAS Dubbo and HMAS Whyalla, took part in Exercise
Paradise.
Travel Delays
It always seems to happen every festive season - planes break down and passengers
are disrupted. Some of the horror stories would make you cry. Air Niugini
operates out of Moresby as its main hub. This means that many people transit
through Moresby but in actual fact get stuck in Moresby for a day or two or
three. Some families have to catch 3 or more planes to get home or match an
airline timetable with a weekly boat schedule. This is almost impossible in
the non-peak period and unachievable in the Christmas period.
One of the "newer" Air Niugini aircraft had problems
with oxygen bottles recently so it was out of service for a while making for
pure bedlam at Jackson's airport. Many of the airports can not be flown into
of a night time so even though a plane may be fixed before darkness a catch
up flight is often planned for the plane to arrive at the destination at first
light the following morning this then pushes the rest of the schedule for
that day out as well. Even the "newer" planes are not so new.
Some of the passenger delays are caused by the fact that
due to the Civil Aviation Authority not maintaining runways to the necessary
standard Air Niugini planes have to carry more fuel for safety reasons so
fewer passengers can be carried. For example, I have been told that planes
flying to Rabaul need to carry enough fuel to get to Rabaul and if they can
not land there then they have to have enough fuel to fly all the way back
to Moresby because the alternate airports in the Rabaul area can not take
an F28. I am afraid it is too complicated for me and probably the poor airline
passengers who have to suffer especially when their friends let them know
that there were seats free on the flight they couldn't get on.
Missing Air Tickets
Education authorities in the province have allegedly misused airline tickets
to the value of almost a quarter of a million, earmarked for teachers in Chimbu
province. The Chimbu Governor, Father Louis Ambane, has ordered the provincial
administrator, Joseph Dorapar, to mount an immediate investigation into the
alleged financial misuse. About 60 teachers from provinces outside of Chimbu
are missing their tickets home for Christmas.
PNG Built Yachts
The Bavaria Yachtbau Company has assembled a 36ft yacht weighing 4.5 tonnes
in Port Moresby's Fairfax harbour. The parts took two months to ship from
Germany and only three days to assemble it. Another yacht, 2ft longer, is
expected to be assembled early next year. The yacht comes in three separate
pieces consisting of the rudder, keel and the mast.
Border Problems
Tension is high on the Indonesian (Irian Jaya) side of the PNG / Indonesian
border after a recent skirmish between Indonesian soldiers and OPM (Free Papua
Movement) rebels. Villagers from PNG are steering clear of the border in fear
of an outright clash between the two. An influx of villagers from the Indonesian
side is expected in the future.
PNG Defence Force Commander, Peter Ilau, has assured the
nation that the skirmish on the border by armed guerrillas and Indonesian
soldiers was now quite but is still of serious concern to PNG.
Two Mile Settlement
The settlers at two-mile in Port Moresby have clashed with soldiers from Murray
Barracks over the wounding of a soldier recently. After the soldier was wounded
the two-mile hill area was closed for half a day while police attempted to
defuse the tension.
Settlement Clean-up
The station commander of the Badili police has been tasked to establish who
should continue to live in the Two-Mile settlement area of Port Moresby. The
police commander, community policing officers and officers from the Department
of Social Welfare and Development, NCDC health office, Health Department and
Lands Department will work in the settlements by going to each house to identifying
who worked in Port Moresby. Police statistics reveal that many criminal activities
have occurred in or near the settlement in recent months.
Settler Policy
The Metropolitan police chief has said that a national policy on settlements
should be established. He said it appeared that there was no policy on law
and order and people thought that they could settle anywhere they wished.
Under the proposed settlement policy there should be laws that allow landowners
or the State to lease land to people who want to settle on land in or near
the city instead of people illegally squatting on land.
Measles Outbreak
An outbreak of measles at Henganofi in the Eastern Highlands Province has
claimed 17 babies so far (more deaths are confirmed at this stage). The outbreak
has been attributed to a lack of a viable Mother-Child-Health (MCH) clinic
over the past five to six years where newborn babies are vaccinated. This
is due to the fact there are no vehicles for the health sector in Henganofi,
the shortage of measles antibiotics and essential drugs and the very poor
road conditions in the area.
Mutiny
Out of the 27 soldiers charged with mutiny at the Moem Barracks in Wewak,
East Sepik uprising in March this year 24 have been charged. All 27 soldiers
had pleaded not guilty to charges of mutiny arising from incidents between
March 8 to March 23. The maximum penalty for mutiny is death under military
regulation.
During the mutiny the
- I Block and the ComCentre building were set on fire,
- the Commanding Officer's residence was broken into and set on fire,
- the officers' mess was broken into and a substantial amount of property
were stolen,
- the armoury and magazine were broken into and high powered automatic military
weapons were taken without lawful authority and used to overthrow and resist
lawful authority.
The barracks were taken back from the renegade soldiers on March 23 2002.
The three soldiers, who had already served their short nine-month sentence, are now under threat by the other soldiers. The soldiers who did not take part in the mutiny are upset that the sentences were too lenient.
Bougainville
The PNG Defence Force is finally withdrawing completely from the island of
Bougainville. Since the Bougainville uprising in 1989, it had cost the PNG
government on average more than K2 million to keep troops on Bougainville,
sometimes as many as 1000 soldiers at any one time, especially during the
peak of the crises.
Bougainville Home-brew
The Women's Forum on Weapons Disposal (WFWD) on Bougainville has noted that
the widespread abuse of home-brew on Bougainville, mainly by men of all ages,
is threatening the weapons disposal program on the island.
Fuel Prices
The price of most fuel has risen yet again. The new price for diesel and other
fuels are:
diesel users paying an extra 8.3 toea per litre -- K1.74 per litre
kerosene will pay an extra 0.5 toea per litre -- K1.43 per litre
Aviation gas (avgas) will now pay K1.60 per litre, a decrease of 14.1 toea.
Petrol - no increase in price. K2.04 per litre
Land rates
Statutory organisations that were previously exempted from paying land rates
will now have to pay from next year. The organisations concerned are the PNG
Harbours Board, the Kopra Industri Koporesin, Cocoa Industry Board, Oil Palm
Industry Board, Coffee Industry Corporation, PNG Forest Authority and the
Water Board. Also if they get more than 60 days behind with their payments
they will be charged an 8 percent interest rate.
Privatisation Commission
The Privatisation Commission, now called the Independent Public Business Corporation,
was given a bill of K6.8 million by KPMG International Projects Group for
work in relation to the privatisation process but KPMG could not say how much
of that was for the Pacific Finance Group of companies. The PNG Banking Corporation
that is currently under investigation was a member of the Finance Pacific
Group of companies.
Medical School Support Program
AusAID has signed an agreement worth K3.2 million for the Medical School Support
Program. The K3.2 million program is a continuation of the previous AusAID-sponsored
Medical Officers and Nurses Allied Health Program (MONAHP), which ends this
month. The program is aimed at improving the quality and importance of doctor-specialist
care and public health professional training in PNG.
Enga Province
The governor of Enga has started a new program to pay school fees for the
top five Grade 10 students who will continue with Grade 11 next year. The
Enga Provincial Government had put a halt to the subsidy of school fees but
has committed to continuing to subsidise school fees for tertiary students.
Air Crash
Eight people have died in an plane crash in the Madang province. The victims
included former Madang Governor and Rai Coast MP Stahl Musa, the Deputy Governor
of Madang Joe Tola, the Madang administration officer Paul Madu and Provincial
Works Co-ordinator Saun Yaboi. The Deputy Governor and his party had flown
to the Rai Coast in a light aircraft to open a new airstrip at Guhu on the
Finnestere Range. They were taking off from the airstrip to return to Madang
after the ceremony when the plane crashed into a cliff. Investigations are
continuing into the cause of the plane crash.
Ombudsman Commission
Referring back to an item in a previous newsletter one of the readers of this
newsletter, who signs his email as "height of confidentiality",
says that the foreign diplomat's wife who was working for the Ombudsman Commission
is long gone. In fact long before the Commission moved out of the offices
at Garden City, Boroko. I believe the Commission still owes money on that
rental as well as the new offices down town in Deloittes Tower.
Finschhafen
A road between Lae and Finschhafen has been reopened. Three businessmen assisted
in the maintenance and clearance of the road. The villagers of Burum, Kuat,
Pindiu and Bukawa villages in the Morobe province have now been called upon
to look after it.
PNGBC Sale
Te Commission of Inquiry into the privatisation of Finance Pacific and the
PNG Banking Corporation (PNGBC) has been told by the Director of KMPG (PNG)
that the Central Bank had restricted Westpac Bank's bid for the PNGBC. It
has been reported that before the tenders closed the Bank South Pacific (BSP)
did not show any interest yet the BSP is now the owner of the former PNGBC.
The BSP made its interest known on Sept 26, 2001, well after the deadline
lapsed.
Wosera-Gawi
The MP responsible for Wosera-Gawi, East Sepik has said that he will have
a provincial high school built in his electorate in 2004. Unfortunately no
funds were allocated in the 2003 national budget for the purpose. He is hoping
that some funding will be made available in the East Sepik Provincial budget.
Southern Highlands
For ease of administration the Southern Highlands Province has been split
into three major districts. It will recommended to the National Executive
Council that an administrator and two deputies is appointed for each of the
eastern, western and central sections of the province. This, it seems, will
make them almost like mini provinces with their own treasury and their own
public service, law and order committees etc.
Hidden Valley
A Special Mining Lease (SML) for the Hidden Valley Gold Project in Morobe
Province should be granted in time for the project to start midway through
next year.
Gas Project
The gas project between PNG and Australia has been dealt a blow. Australian
Gas and Light, who had said they would buy gas from PNG, has now said that
it is unlikely to buy gas from the PNG gas project. Exxon Mobil, the project
operators, have assured PNG that they remain confident that sufficient customers
will sign up soon to enable the front-end engineering design (FEED) to begin
in early 2003.
Micro Credit
A Women's Micro Credit Scheme project has been successfully implemented in
the Morobe Province. Under scheme all districts in the province received K20,000.
In the Lae district alone 472 projects have been successfully funded under
the Scheme, these projects range from the sale of ice blocks and handcrafts
to rabbit farming and other informal sector activities.
NARI Website
A new website has started to promote the National Agricultural Research Institute
it is can be found at http://www.nari.org.pg.
NARI is a publicly-funded statutory research organization, established by
the National Agricultural Research Institute Act 1996 of the Independent State
of Papua New Guinea, for conducting applied and development-oriented research
on food crops, alternative food and cash crops, livestock and resource management
issues
PNG Media
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Articles for this Newsletter
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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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PNG Gossip Newsletter Archive
22
Sep 2002