Links
The Golden Years
http://www.keithbuxton.com/ -- this
Website is dedicated to Papua New Guinea and includes information on Keith
Buxton's forthcoming book "The Golden Years" which spans the years
1956 ~ 1988. Many of these recollections give a wonderful insight into the
humour that was so prevalent in P.N.G. with both expatriates and indigenes
alike !
Port Moresby Golf
http://www.pomgolf.org.pg -- The
home of the Port Moresby Golf Club.
FPCD
http://www.fpcd.org.pg -- Foundation
for People and Community Development (FPCD)
The Foundation for People and community Development Incorporated is a local
non-profit NGO based in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. FPCD Inc
programme officers conduct workshops, training, awareness raising and provide
backup support to programme participants throughout the country.
Miscellaneous PNG Websites
Haus Poroman
The web site for Haus Poroman, P O Box 1182, Mt Hagen, PNG is --
http://www.hausporoman.com.pg -- Haus Poroman translates to "House
of Friends" and is the only place to stay if you are visiting Mt Hagen
and wish to experience the atmosphere that is Papua New Guinea.
University of PNG
http://www.upng.ac.pg -- Quoting from
the website -- The diversity of Papua New Guinea's uniquely rich cultures
and traditions, many tribes and over 800 languages, flora and fauna (10 %
of which is endemic), coupled with a famous slogan, "The Land of the
Unexpected" is enough an urge to visit this website. The University of
Papua New Guinea is your window to learn about the unique characteristics
of this strikingly beautiful vibrant and colourful country that is not only
rich in natural resources but also rich in the culture of her mostly Melanesian
people.
News Items
Bilum Paintings
I am Dominique Martin, artist and ex resident of PNG, painter of the then
well known "bilum paintings". I have left the country eight years
ago and I have had almost no contact with PNG in the meantime. I have renewed
contact recently with some old friends who told me that bad copies of my paintings
have been sold under my name in Port Moresby and especially at the Ela Beach
craft market ever since I left. Any painting sold under my name in PNG in
the last 5 years, unless purchased directly from Walindi Plantation Resort,
are UNAUTHORISED FAKES and I would like everybody in Port Moresby to know
this. Please pass on the word. (Walindi Resort -- http://www.walindi.com)
Thank you in advance.
Dominique Martin
Kick Boxing
Stanley Nandex has retained his professional South Pacific Championship title
after soundly defeating Nick Barnes from Queensland, Australia in a title
defence fight held in Melbourne Australia. This is his fourth fight as a professional.
His next fight will be the main event in Melbourne on the 28th of April.
Karl Wagels
As mentioned in the last edition of the PNG Gossip Newsletter Captain Karl
Wagels has had his last official flight as a captain in PNG. Captain Wagels
has flown more than 20,000 hours with over 30 years of flying experience in
PNG. His flying career spanned more than 40 years.
Illegal Rounding
Notice that the new RH Hypermarket is employing rounding for cash customers
doing away with the necessity of carrying one and two toea coins. I do not
think the customers have been warned about this dubious practice. The central
bank has not announced that one and two toe coins are no longer legal tender
so it would be interesting to find out why RH Trading is dong this?
Civil Aviation
An expert in Australian aviation - Mr Doug Rosa, has replaced the suspended
civil aviation secretary, Miria Ume. Mr Ume has been the subject of much controversy
during his term as the head of the Civil Aviation Authority.
Madang Settlements
The following is a reproduction of a letter that was found by a reader on
the DWU notice board and thought it deserved further viewing. The letter is
copied and reproduced here. I understand the letter was sent to the Post Courier
and relates to the present state of affairs in Madang in relation to the provincial
government's handling of the settlements question.
-- Quote
Wanem Kain Gavman, Wanem Kain Bikman.
The provincial government and the police are doing all they can to stifle
lawful debate and legal protest over James Yali's determination to remove
all settlers from Madang town. At a meeting last Sunday settlement residents
were told the evictions would commence on March 9 and that any resistance
would be dealt with severely. Bulldozers would be used to summarily remove
houses and gardens from all settlement areas. Armed police and soldiers would
be on hand to enforce the eviction order and they will have the authority
to use their firearms. The meeting was told that a protest march planned for
next Wednesday 19th will not permitted to approach the provincial government
offices and would be dispersed by police and defence force personnel.
Where are the people's elected representatives in the midst of all this
controversy? Aloysius King, Madang Open member, who found it convenient to
be on hand at the DWU graduation ceremonies the previous week and who grandly
handed out K10,000 pledges to the DWU Tourism faculty, was yesterday nowhere
to be seen. Peter Barter, who was voted in by the people of the Madang Regional
electorate as their representative, but who now chooses to follow a personal
agenda elsewhere could only admit that he had no current information, when
last week he was asked about the planned evictions.
And what about the member for Raikos, James Yali, who has claimed the
Governor's crown by default and now thinks he has a mandate from the people
to do whatever he thinks fit without discussion. When does Mr. Yali intend
to stand up before the collected Madang community, with all its diversity,
and detail his vision for all to hear and judge?
If Mr. Yali thinks that he can continue to act without accountability
he should think again and quickly. If he thinks he can control people and
events through the use of force and threats of force then he should read his
history. And if Mr. King and Sir Peter think they can pretend that it's all
happening to someone else's electorate they should check their maps, and their
calendars. Governments change.
-- End Quote
Kerevat Prison
Seventeen prisoners have escape from the Kerevat Jail. The 17 escaped from
the prison by using bolt cutters when the guards were busy preparing lunch
for them.
Filariasis
The Gold miner Placer Dome Group has committed itself to help eliminate the
tropical disease filariasis on the Milne Bay Island of Misima. Placer Dome's
Misima mine has assisted with a three-village research program in 1996 that
demonstrated that positive blood levels dropped by 67 percent to 3 percent
after a single drug treatment.
Wau - Bulolo Highway
The highway that goes between Wau and Bulolo will be moved away from the Kumalu
River. When the river floods it throws huge rocks downhill destroying everything
in its path. Police are unable to traverse the section of the road where the
damage has been done and people travelling along the route have to hop off
one bus and carry all their goods across the damaged section to buses waiting
on the other side.
Highlands Highway
The parliamentary member for Chuave in Simbu Province has called on the government
to bypass the Daulo Pass section of the Highlands Highway. Landslides and
other associated problems has made the MP suggest an alternative route through
Unggai to Unggai-Bena electorate and Siane Valley to Chuave.
Gulf Province
The main double storey admin building of the Gulf Province in Kerema has been
destroyed by fire. The fire is believed to be the work of arsonists. The entire
history of the Gulf Province and all the present day admin files / records
have been destroyed.
Francis Ona
The PNG Government has appealed to the elusive Francis Ona, the leader of
the Bougainville rebels, to join in the efforts to restore lasting peace to
the island.
Mangroves
Villagers along the coast have been urged to replant mangroves. Many of the
mangroves around Port Moresby have been uprooted for firewood and to build
houses. As a result the marine life is dying out. Gum trees along the highways
leading out of Port Moresby have also been cut down for firewood.
Wet Season
The wet season appears to have hit Port Moresby full force. Several suburbs
have reported extensive flooding. Many security fences collapsed with huge
amounts of rubbish building up and the water pushing on this to help wash
the fence away. Unsecured shipping containers also caused much damage when
they decided to go sailing down the road perhaps looking for their ship home.
Much of the flooding has been blamed on the city council for not maintaining
the drains especially when the wet season has been anticipated for many months.
Heavy Rain
Heavy rain in areas outside Port Moresby has called havoc. Power disruptions,
landslides, burst riverbanks and destroyed gardens have hit the highlands.
Many people processing coffee have lost everything. One coffee producer has
lost almost K150,000 worth of dried parchment coffee (45 tonnes).
Erap Village
Villagers from around the Erap and Wampar Local Level Government region of
Morobe are being threatened by the heavy rain and flooding. The main village
that is affected, Bobong, is only about 30 minutes drive from the provincial
capital of Lae.
Southern Highlands
The supplementary elections in the Southern Highlands haven't got off to a
very good start with several days being lost when nomination forms were locked
away in an office. Polling officials from the failed elections last year closed
the office demanding payment for their services. It is anticipated that the
action by the officials will speed along the payment process so the fresh
elections are not delayed by too much.
Rice Price
The price of rice has decreased by 10 percent due to the slightly stronger
Kina but the price of other goods such as Tinned Fish and Bully Beef will
not decrease. Some of the suppliers have not fully applied price increases
from last year so this will stop the rises for the time being.
Rural Development Bank
The Rural Development Bank has a new executive chairman recently appointed
by the National Executive Council. The new Chairman, Rupa Mulina, was the
former managing director of the PNG Banking Corporation.
Port Moresby Power
The National Capital is again facing load shedding. The excuse this time is
that the heavy rainfall has caused flooding damage to the Kanudi power plant
and the water intake screens for the hydro scheme have been blocked by debris
being washed down by the heavy rain.
Port Moresby Water
The ongoing claim for compensation over land used to build the dam at Sogeri
that supplies the water for residents of Port Moresby has seen the presentation
of a log of claims and a 30-day deadline. Some of the claims date back to
1957 when the dam was built. The landowners also want a 35 percent holding
in PNG Power and the same in Eda Ranu, the company responsible for supplying
water to Port Moresby. The total of the claim is in the order of billions
of Kina, which raises the question whether it would be easier to move the
National Capital, somewhere else.
Rape Suspect Nabbed
Last week, during a torrential downpour, in Port Moresby a bus carrying nurses
and other hospital workers capsized no doubt helped along by poor road conditions.
A number of young people who came under the guise of helping the stranded
bus dragged one of the nurses to an area not far from the local police station
and proceeded to gang rape the nurse. Police, acting on information received
from one of the many people disgusted over the incident have managed to arrest
one of the suspects.
Motupore Turtle Rescue
Two undersized protected green sea turtles have been returned to the sea after
being nursed back to health by officers at the University of PNG Motupore
Research Island after receiving spear wounds from fishermen. The university
officers were helped by staff from the Department of Environment and Conservation.
The turtle were confiscated from fishermen Koki market in Port Moresby.
Police Fees
The Police Commissioner has declared money paid to the police for security
escorts illegal. The fees could be construed as bribery and corruption. Many
businesses in PNG have often had to pay for fuel for police vehicles or even
provided vehicles for police to get to a crime scene.
Vanimo Hospital
Pregnant women, sick children and patients requiring surgery are in serious
trouble if they wish to attend the Vanimo General Hospital. The hospital does
not have an operating theatre, children's ward or a labour ward. K1 million
is required to build an operating theatre in the West Sepik provincial capital.
Illegal Weapons
Weapons that are meant to be disposed of on the island of Bougainville are
finding there way onto the black market. Some weapons have been sold for thousands
of Kina and most are destined for trouble spots within PNG. It has been reported
that over 300 Defence Force weapons and ammunition are missing and most of
these are supposedly on Bougainville.
Tinputz
Approval has been given for the establishment of a Provincial High School
for Tinputz to be located on the Teapasino Plantation on the North Eastern
section of Bougainville Island.
Coffee Trade Fair
The third PNG Coffee Festival and Trade Fair is set to get underway on the
2nd and 3rd of May. The festival will be held in Goroka at the Raun Raun theatre.
It is expected that between 30 to 40 singsing groups from around PNG will
perform at the festival. For more information pleas contact png.gold@global.net.pg
Suspended MPs
Five Members of Parliament have been suspended for various reasons and will
take no part in the current parliamentary session. Andrew Kumbakor (Nuku),
Bernard Hagoria (Yangoro-Saussia), Mao Zeming (Tewae-Siassi), Michael Nali
(Mendi) and Peter Yama (Usino-Bundi) will still receive salaries and entitlements.
National Broadcasting Corp
The National Broadcasting Corp (NBC) has bought a fogging machine to help
contain the threat of malaria amongst staff in Port Moresby. Many people are
upset because the money would be better spent fixing transmitters and other
broken broadcasting equipment around the country. The NBC has announced that
it will rent out its barbeque facilities to the general public at the Port
Moresby five-mile site to help raise money.
Australian Aid
Australian Defence Force Aid will not be increased this year due mainly to
the increased spending by the Australian Defence Force on a possible campaign
in Iraq. Joint military exercises between PNG and Australia will also be limited
this year.
UPNG Professors
The Public Accounts Committee has raised concern that the awarding of the
title "professor" to non-academics was an abuse of an academic title.
Five executive deans at the University of PNG have been giving the title of
professor despite the fact that they have not attained professor status at
an academic level. The quality of work carried out by the executive deans
is not in question just the title they are using.
Loloata Resort
The popular resort just outside the boundaries of Port Moresby is celebrating
its 25th birthday. http://www.loloata.com
Marylebone Cricket Club
A Colts Cricket Club team and a combination cricket team are being prepared
to take on a side from the famed MCC - Marylebone Cricket Club, England. The
English tourists will have their first match against a Colts side on the 8th
of March followed by other matches against the Chairman's XI and Motu Koitabu
/ Central teams.
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