Links
http://svc015.wic118dp.server-web.com/www/html/1509-home-page.html
-- The Law and Justice Sector website has been developed to provide easy access
to information and services provided by the agencies and partners within the
sector. The sector strategy focuses on the implementation of positive change
associated with the many aspects of law and justice within PNG. A shortcut
to the site can be found at -- http://www.lawandjustice.gov.pg
http://www.justice.gov.pg -- The Department
of Justice and Attorney General delivers a diverse range of services that
contribute to a just, safe and secure social environment for all people living
and working in Papua New Guinea.
http://www.datec.net.pg/~phowley/
-- Restorative Justice - Papua New Guinea Style web site
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/misc/b3recs1.pdf
-- Australian Report on PNG Aid (Post Courier)
http://www.pngonline.gov.pg -- Papua
New Guinea Government Online
http://www.upng.ac.pg -- University of
PNG
http://www.bankpng.gov.pg -- Bank
of Papua New Guinea
http://www.pngembassy.org -- Embassy
of Papua New Guinea to the Americas, Washington, DC
http://www.pngtourism.org.pg --
Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority
http://www.unitech.ac.pg/ -- Papua
New Guinea University of Technology Home page
http://www.pngbd.com/ -- Papua New Guinea
Business Directory and Tourism Information
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/papua_new_guinea.html
-- PNG Maps, County Maps, Historical Maps
News Items
Coming Events
2004 Mt. Hagen Western Highlands Squash Open -- 1st - 3rd October
Goroka District Women's Awareness Project -- From the 27th to the 30th of
September.
Air Niugini
The replacement Air Niugini Fokker F100 painted in Air Niugini colours will
have its first commercial flight on the 27th of September 2004. The currently
leased Alliance plane, which is painted in Alliance colours, will be returned.
The F100 was again called into service after the Boeing B767 was delayed in
Auckland by Air New Zealand maintenance after a fault in one of the engines
could not be fixed and had to be replaced. The F100 did several flights to
and from Brisbane ferrying passengers to Australia.
2005 Public Holidays
The following public holidays have been announced for 2005.
- New Year's Day -- Saturday 1 January
- Good Friday -- 25 March
- Easter Saturday -- 26 March
- Easter Monday -- 28 March
- Queens Birthday -- Monday 13 June
- Remembrance Day -- Saturday 23 July
- Independence Day -- Friday 16 September
- Christmas Day -- Sunday 25 December
- Boxing Day -- Monday 26 December
- Special Holiday -- Tuesday 27 December
Trade Facilitation Programme
PNG is one of 11 nations that have signed a memorandum of understanding to
establish a Regional Trade Facilitation Program. The program is aimed at reducing
the high costs of trading in the region over the next five years. The following
nations in the region have signed the agreement - Australia, the Cook Islands,
Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands and
Tonga.
Fisheries College
Thanks to K18 million worth of funding by AusAID students attending the National
Fisheries College in Kavieng, New Ireland Province cam now enjoy better, upgraded
equipment while doing their courses. Under the project approximately K9 million
was used on infrastructure development including a modern seafood processing
facility, K5 million was spent on technical development and K3 million in
fees for fisheries students.
Japanese Aid
Since Independence Japan has given about K2.3 billion in bilateral assistance
to PNG. This makes Japan the second largest donor to PNG after Australia.
PNG is the largest recipient of Japanese aid compared to other South Pacific
islands nations.
Japan has recently given K12 million to upgrade bridges in the Eastern Highlands
province. 12 bridges will be upgraded under the aid package and work on five
of the bridges will start this year - the first phase of the program. Engineers
have already completed feasibility studies and design of the bridges.
AOG Church
The Assemblies of God are building a bigger Church in the Port Moresby suburb
of Gordons. The new Church replacing one built in 1976 will house over 5,000
worshippers. It is expected that the building will cost K1.4 million. The
building is expected to be completed in June 2005. Work on the Catholic Church,
St Joseph's is proceeding. The building has been flattened and it looks like
that work has started on the new work.
Rabaul
Eviction notices have been issued to more than 30 people living in government
houses in Rabaul East New Britain province. The National Housing Commission
(NHC) issued the eviction notices earlier this month. The NHC claims that
the occupants have only been caretakers of the properties with no legal tenancy
agreement since the volcanic eruption 10 years ago. The NHC is concerned that
the houses were rendered unliveable by the eruption and could fall down at
anytime. The NHC wants the caretakers to move out so that they can contract
out the repair of the properties to commercial organisations.
Neurosurgeon
PNG's first neurosurgeon, William Kaptigau, is ready to takeover at the Port
Moresby General Hospital (PMGH). The current neurosurgeon from China is set
to leave the country in October. He has donated a set of instruments worth
K10,000 to Dr Kaptigau. The surgical unit at PMGH is not fully set up and
it will be necessary to still refer some cases to overseas hospitals for surgery.
Plastic Surgeons
A team of plastics surgeons from Australia have scheduled a visit to Port
Moresby General Hospital this week. A specialist plastic surgeon will be at
Port Moresby General for two weeks. A similar team will be at Angau Hospital
in Lae early next year. The group has previously visited Port Moresby and
Angau hospitals.
Port Moresby General Hospital
Port Moresby General Hospital has received orthopaedic equipment valued at
thousands of Kina. The donation of the equipment came from a visiting team
from Western Australia consisting of three surgeons, an anaesthetist and a
technician under the AusAID funded tertiary health services project.
Border Facilities
The government has allocated K4 million to upgrade border infrastructure
facilities between the PNG Indonesian borders. Up until now it has not been
possible to drive a vehicle from Vanimo in PNG to Jayapura in Indonesia because
of a lack of Quarantine facilities at the border crossing. Part of the K4
million upgrade will see a house built for Customs and Bond, a vehicle wash
down facility, better designed signage, repairs to the generator as well as
repainting of existing facilities etc. The road from Watung will also be upgraded.
Canoe Festival
Milne Bay is preparing for a Canoe Festival to be held from the 5th to the
8th of November 2004. Please contact Tim Seeto at Alotau Enterprises (+675
641 1246), Eimi Kigolena at the Milne Bay Visitors' Bureau (+675 641 1503)
or Gretta Kwasnicka on telephone number +675 641 1290 or facsimile +675 641
0588 for more details.
At the moment many villages are building traditional canoes using traditional
methods even to the point where only traditional languages are allowed to
be spoken - no English, no Tok Pisin etc. Rather than present the winners
of the various canoe races with imitation plastic cups / trophies bought from
a store winners will receive carved shields and trophies.
Apart from canoe racing there will be the usual version of cricket played
by the Trobriand Islanders, traditional dancing, bicycle races and choir competitions.
A possible highlight of the festival could be the raft race. The design of
the raft is up to the individual competitor but the organisers have specified
that a raft is a square, flat shape and not canoe shape and can be made of
anything, including tyres, drums, bamboo, balsa or other bush materials. Contestants
are allowed to have ammunition on board to put off competitors but nothing
sharp, hard or dangerous is allowed.
Mt Hagen Crime
Serious crime cases in Mt Hagen have dropped in the past eight months according
to the provincial police chief. The Chief Superintendent believes that it
has to do with the good working relationship between the Mt Hagen City Authority,
community leaders and the police.
State Assets
It has been estimated that the state needs to spend between K1.5 to K2 billion
on state owned entities to bring them back to what they were in the past.
The money would be needed over the next five to ten years in order to revive
failing assets to an acceptable level.
World Top City
Melbourne has retained its most liveable city title and Port Moresby has
been voted as the most unliveable city. Many in Port Moresby will disagree
with that but negative publicity travels faster than positive news. All expatriates
living in PNG have lived elsewhere and many have travelled extensively. What
makes them want to stay in the world's most unliveable city? Port Moresby
must have something going for it? I am sure that it would have to rate higher
than Melbourne for being a friendly city. It must also be ranked higher for
accessibility to high-level officials. where else can you go to a restaurant
and sit on the table next to the Prime Minister or the Governor General? Security
in Melbourne would mean that you wouldn't even get in the same restaurant
unless you were and invited guest.
The highest ranked US city was Honolulu in 19th, while New York was 51st
and Washington was the lowest of 16 American cities in the survey at 57th,
mainly due to a higher risk of terrorism giving it a worse overall score.
London was equal 45th, along with Los Angeles, Madrid and San Francisco. The
Iraqi capital Baghdad was not included in the survey.
Crime Rate
Michael Mayberry, the PNG Chamber of Commerce President has said that the
crime level in Port Moresby is small compared to other cities in the world.
He said most crimes committed were opportunistic in nature and not a regular
phenomenon. He said it was unfortunate that residents tended to exaggerate
any incident and underplay positive developments happening in the city.
Reader Input
A reader, Robert, has made the following comment on the "Mining Loss"
article in the Independence Issue. -- http://pnggossip.com/news/g040916.html#ml
Quote
Actually, it is even worse than you describe: The funding put in jeopardy
is not a loan, but a GRANT. Thus, if you want to translate its value into
loan terms, it is worth about 10 times as much. The condition to transform
the department into an agency was requested in order to ensure efficient implementation
of this very large programme: The EU only wanted to finance a single senior
technical advisor (in place since about a year), BECAUSE the government needs
to develop its own capacity to continue regulating the much larger and more
profitable (and much more environmental friendly) industry after the programme
ends in a few years. To be able to pay competitive salaries to the highly
specialized staff required, the agency route is the only way to go. Fisheries
gave a good example, on which basis an improved law for the mineral resource
agency should see the light of the day as soon as possible. NB: Mining is
by far the major source of foreign exchange for PNG, and has the potential
to support the development of the country for many, many decades to come.
P.S. The prime minister of PNG, who signed the financial agreement, committed
to creating the agency with his signature.
End Quote
Thanks for the update Robert.
Menyamya Droughts
Menyamya district in Morobe province is running short of water due to a long
running drought that is affecting some parts of the country. Many water tanks
have run dry and services in the district have had to be scaled down as a
result. For example the health centre can only treat emergency cases while
the sick have had to be sent home. The dry weather pattern is seriously affecting
the people who live on the savannah areas of the district.
Crocodiles FAQ's
How much is the crocodile industry worth to PNG each year?
The crocodile industry earns the country between K3 and K5 million through
crocodile skin exports and helps to sustain the livelihood of many people
in the lowland areas.
What are the restrictions placed on the export of crocodile skins from PNG?
There are no restrictions other than the belly skin of the crocodile must
be 18 - 51 centimetres.
PNG pollution
Two new reports about a gold mine in the jungles of PNG have presented vastly
different versions of the social and environmental conduct of a major South
African mining group. If the latest account from Oxfam International is accepted,
the owners of the remote Tolukuma gold and silver mine have polluted a nearby
river with toxic waste to the point of endangering the lives and health of
local villagers. for more on this important topic [please visit -- http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=143&art_id=vn20040924092335327C308111
-- This article was originally published on page 4 of Daily News on September
24, 2004 -- http://www.dailynews.co.za
Windjammer Hotel
It has been rumoured that part of the Windjammer Hotel in Wewak, run by Sir
Hugo, has burnt down. It is believed that the older section closest to the
beach burnt down on Friday night.
Hiri Queen
A young lady from Pari village has been crowned Miss Hiri Hanenamo for 2004.
Mary Toa took out the crown with Miria Gaimu Ikipu from Hanubada taking out
the runner up title. Kari Madaha took out the title Miss Hetura title. (Miss
Friendship)
Mobile Network
The PNG mobile phone network has been expanded with Wewak coming on line
recently. Six centres now have access to the mobile network. They are - Port
Moresby, Lae, Madang, Goroka, Mt Hagen and of course Wewak. It has been estimated
that there are currently about 37,000 mobile phone subscribes in PNG. {Pacific
Mobile hope to expand this to over 300,000 subscribers by 2007. Econet have
said that if they get to purchase Telikom PNG they will ensure that mobile
users in PNG have access to a global roaming network. Presently PNG mobile
customers travelling overseas have to either buy a top up card sim for each
country they visit or make arrangements with one overseas mobile supplier
for global roaming.
Scrap Metal
Engineers from Germany will be in the country soon to establish whether a
site in Lae is suitable to build a state of art scrap metal recycling plant.
It is hoped that the recycling plant will be able to eliminate much of the
scrap metal waste that is currently too expensive to get rid of by sending
it overseas for processing. The plant will cost approximately K80 million
to build and Lae has been selected because of its central location connecting
the Momase, Highlands and Islands regions of PNG. It is hoped that foundation
work will start in March 2005. Once completed an estimated 250,000 tonnes
of scrap metal per year will be processed over a ten-year period. It has been
proposed that after five to ten years another plant will be set up in Port
Moresby to cover the scrap from the Southern Region of the country.
It has been estimated that over 200,000 pounds of unexploded bombs left over
from the Second World War in PNG have been disposed throughout the country
in the past 29 years. The total weight of unexploded bomb recovered so far
would have been enough to decimate a city the size of Port Moresby. It has
also been estimated that there could be as many as 1,000 more bombs yet to
be discovered around the country. The unrecovered bombs are a risk to lives
and property as well as being a security risk. With advice and assistance
from bomb disposal experts the recycling plant will be used to render these
into scrap metal.
PNG Police
In one newspaper item the Governor of Chimbu province has said that he will
improve the conditions of the police force and in another article it has been
hinted that the government will cut funding to the police force by 10 percent
in the coming year.
PNG Media
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