Links
Wewak Guest House
A new web site developed by Michele at bluefin consulting ltd
is now online advertising the Wewak Guest House --
http://www.wewakguesthouse.com
PNG Orchids
If you are interested in PNG Orchids then I suggest visiting -- http://www.orchidspng.com
-- this is another web site with layout and design by Wolfgang H. Bandisch.
Taklam Guest House
The Guest House, actually it is now called Taklam Lodge and Tours, was originally
located in Rabaul but was relocated to Kokopo after the twin volcanic eruptions
destroyed Rabaul in 1994. They commenced operations in 1990 offering a home
away from home service. A web site is located at -- http://www.taklam.com.pg/
Misc Sites
Port Moresby Rotary -- http://www.pomrotary.org.pg
Rotary adopt a village -- http://www.ram.com.pg/adopt.htm
Satellite Image of PNG -- http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/Australia/satellite_image.html
PNG Department of Health -- http://www.health.gov.pg
Telephone Management
If anyone is in PNG and looking for a good telephone management system for
their Ericsson, Telikom Oki, Panasonic, NEC or possibly other PABX then I
suggest taking a visit to MATRYX -- http://www.matryx.com.pg.
-- This PNG system boasts over 100 customers within PNG. The company can also
offer web development and various IT services. It is also associated with
the PNG Business and Tourism Directory located at -- http://www.pngbd.com
PNG Folktales
One Thousand One Papua New Guinean
Nights:
Folktales from Wantok Newspaper
Translated and Edited by Thomas H. Slone
One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights is a two-volume collection of folktales
that were originally published in Papua New Guinea's Wantok newspaper. The
folktales were in Tok Pisin, the Pidgin English language of Papua New Guinea.
The two-volume collection presents the complete set of over 1000 folktales
published between 1972 and 1997. The book represents one of the largest general
collections of Papua New Guinean folktales and it is worthwhile getting a
copy. All of Papua New Guinea's provinces and approximately 35 percent of
Papua New Guinea's 800 language/culture groups are represented. The first
volume includes the introduction and 550 folktales; the second volume includes
the remaining folktales, indices, a glossary, a set of maps and a gazetteer.
The folktales have been extensively indexed by author, village, original language
(or culture group), province, flora and fauna, and folklore motif.
The book is available directly from the publisher at -- http://THSlone.tripod.com/masalaipress.html
and from Amazon.com -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?tag=abibliogrofmelan&keyword=slone+papua&mode=books
barnesandnoble.com -- http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=slone+papua
and bamm.com -- http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?type=keyword&find=slone+papua&x=6&y=6
Further information about the book and a couple of sample stories can be
found at -- http://THSlone.tripod.com/1001PNGnights.html
A sample story from Milne Bay, reprinted with permission of the author, can
also be found at -- http://michie.net/pnginfo/1001.html
Thomas H. Slone is a staff scientist at the University of California at Berkeley.
News Items
Police Brutality
The Internal Securities Minister, Bire Kimisopa, has called on human rights
groups to carry out an investigation into police brutality. He said that people
in police custody have rights even when they were in jail. Ha also said that
they must be guaranteed their rights irrespective of any crimes they may have
committed.
Civil Aviation
Visitors to the Jackson' airport at Seven-Mile in Port Moresby should now
be greeted by nicely trimmed lawns and gardens. Boroko Motors have donated
a lawn mower and a brush cutter to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It
must be mentioned that the CAA slugs every outgoing, international passenger
with a K60 airport facilities charge before being able to leave the country
so it is a wonder that the authority can not buy its own equipment to do the
job. Many air travellers are already upset with the authority because often
there is not even any toilet paper in the toilets at the airport.
Plastic Bags
The government has made another sudden announcement stating that the sudden
ban on the importation of plastic bags will now take effect from the 1st of
April and not January as originally stated.
Ramu Highway
A landslip has blocked an unsealed section of the Ramu Highway, which goes
from Madang to Lae, in a mountainous area of the highway near Igirue in the
Usino region. People travelling by vehicles, who are stranded on one side,
are now walking to the other side and catching transport to their various
destinations.
Tsunami Help
A PNG-based company, Hevi Lift (PNG) Ltd, has been engaged to assist in the
transportation of relief supplies in the tsunami affected areas of Indonesia.
The Sri Lankan community in Port Moresby has mobilised and has been behind
many fund raising activities. One of the many activities was a curry night
at the Taro and Kari Restaurant near the Holiday In on Saturday night (last
night). Many items were auctioned off including PNG Olympic memorabilia -
Athens 2004 Track suit and carry bag. Several thousands of Kina were raised
by this event and there was also a cheque presentation for another event -
a cricket match held at the Lloyd Robson Rugby League ground. The auction
saw a fierce rivalry amongst the people present and along with the skills
of the auctioneer, Simon Anakapu, prices quickly soared. A small bottle of
Johnny Walker Black label went for over K700.
The Sri Lankan community has set a target of K100,000 as a minimum they expect
to raise to help victims of the tsunami.
Kokopo Post Office
Post PNG will build a new post office at Vunapope in East New Britain province
to serve the town of Kokopo and surrounding areas. Post PNG will continue
to operate the New Rabaul Post Office located in the old Rabaul bakery.
Air Niugini
Air Niugini has announced that they will be purchasing another Dash 8 aircraft
due to the awarding of a contract by Oil Search Limited based at Moro. This
will bring the total of Dash 8 aircraft to four. One of the Dash 8 aircrafts
will be converted to a freighter configuration as required by the Oil Search
contract. The start date for the contract has been set for the 1st of March
2005.
After the signing of the Pacific Islands Air Space Agreement between PNG
and the Pacific Islands countries Air Niugini will now have to be ready to
face competition in an open market. Pacific Island countries now have access
to travel freely in PNG air space and land at any designated airports. Under
this agreement local airlines such as Airlines of PNG and Airlink are free
to compete on the main trunk routes previously heavily restricted for use
by Air Niugini. Some experts are concerned that Air Niugini will increase
prices to the same as the third level airlines. Air Niugini currently has
a huge capacity advantage over the other operators and despite the opinions
of critics has been able to use this capacity to keep prices lower. Air Niugini,
like the other operators in teh country, relies heavily on the value of the
US Dollar for the maintenance and purchase / lease of aircraft.
Television Station Sale
PANGTEL, the authority responsible for licensing the use of airwaves within
PNG, has come to an agreement with the new owners of the local television
station - EMTV. There were concerns that PANGTEL would not allow the transfer
of the licence to the new Fiji based owners of the station. EMTV has been
owned for the last 17 years by Media New Guinea limited a wholly owned subsidiary
of one of Australia's media and leisure groups, Publishing and Broadcasting
Limited. Fiji TV bought the only free to air TV station in PNG for a reported
AUD$2.1 million.
Absurd Claim
A group of people, who have already received a K100,000 out of court settlement,
have now reinitiated court action for K10.4 million against the government
of PNG. The National Court judge who is hearing the case wants answers as
to why a claim has been made for a case that has already been settled over
a year and a half ago.
Minj Police
The Minj District Court has declared the Minj Police Barracks unhygienic.
All policemen staying there have been advised to vacate the premises. There
are a total of 40 houses and 10 rooms for single police in the barracks. Police,
who are from the Minj area, have already moved out to live in their villages
but 17 officers from outside the area have been left to find their own accommodation
after the court decision.
Mutineers
Eleven solders, which were imprisoned for being at the heart of the Moem
barracks mutiny in Wewak in March 2002, have been released on parole. The
decision by a meeting of the Parole Board has been relayed to the Correctional
Services Commissioner for action. The solders, along with five other prisoners
to be released on parole, have been serving at various prisons around the
country.
HIV/AIDS
The Chinese government has agreed to give a total of K2.1 million to the
government of PNG to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Chinese government
are also interested in helping with sport in PMG.
Tourism Board
In typical PNG fashion the board of the Tourism Promotion Authority has been
changed with the previous board members having to read about the changes in
the newspaper. It has been reported that the term of the previous board had
expired but no notice had been given to the previous appointments. It is believed
that most previous members have now been advised by telephone and that an
official letter is hopefully in the mail.
Rabaul Head Tax
Residents and businesses operating out of the old Rabaul town will have to
pay head and corporate taxes to the town authority this year following the
passing of the Town's tax laws recently. The amendment to the tax bill has
been submitted to the Inter-Government Relations Minister for approval.
Cuisine Melanesia
A new restaurant and coffee has opened in the First Heritage Building near
the Holiday Inn. The restaurant called the Cuisine Melanesia will cater for
tourists and other people wishing to sample the culinary delights of Melanesia.
Some of the dishes on offer will be wallaby (magani), deer, chicken, beef,
pork and duck meat.
ECP Immunity
The immunity offered to the Enhanced Cooperation Programme (ECP) police has
been tested with the first Australian policeman being fined for a minor accident
involving his car and the car of a politician. A spokesman for the Australian
Assisting Police says the fine (US$400) has been paid by the policeman to
have the politician's car fixed.
Casual Workers
It has been claimed that many orgainsations are abusing the caual labour
system by employing people as casual labourers for long periods of time. Some
casual labourers claim to have been working for the same company for many,
many years with out ever getting on the permanentt pay roll. Casual Labour
is supposed to fill short term positions where the period of work will be
for less than one week. The Attorney General and Consultation and Implementation
Monitoring Committee Law and Justice Sector Chairman has said that on the
seventh day of work a casual labourer should be engaged on the normal pay
roll and start accruing all the benefits associated with being a permanent
worker. Most establishments in PNG work a six-day week.
West New Britain Bridges
A ceremony has been held to mark the opening of six new bridges in West New
Britain province. AusAID funded the bridges under the Australia-PNG program
at a cost of K7 million.
Languages of PNG
The National or official languages of PNG are Hiri Motu, Tok Pisin and English.
The number of languages listed for Papua New Guinea is 832. Of those, 823
are living languages and 9 are considered to be extinct.
For information on the languages a visit to -- http://www.sultry.arts.usyd.edu.au/ling/research/papuan2.html
-- will start you off in the right direction. Another interesting article
is located at -- http://www.krysstal.com/langfams.html.
-- It deals with language families and mentions the Rotokas
language - Rotokas is spoken in Papua New Guinea on the Island of Bougainville
by approximately 4,300 people and it has the fewest sounds of any language,
11 (compared to the 44 or so of standard English). These 11 are made up of
five vowels and six consonants: A, E, I, O, U, B, G, K, P, R, T. - can you
imagine that - a language with only 11 sounds. Six of those are used in the
name of the language.
It has been reported that PNG has one language for every 900 square kilometres
of the country or roughly one language for every 350 square miles for those
readers who don't use the metric system.
TV Programming
Some of the questions that I often get asked is - "what sort of television
do you watch?"
I'll list some of the stations that we are able to receive.
Along with our local TV station EmTV -- http://www.emtv.com.pg
-- we have
HBO
Cinemax
National Geographic
Star Movies
Star World
Star Sports
BBC
Country Music
Cartoon Channel
Discovery Channel
Nickleodeon
Hallmark
ESPN
Fashion TV
etc
Australian Channels (ABC, GWN, SBS, Central)
Some people have access to other channels and still can't find anything decent
to watch.
Bill Purcell
Bill Purcell, who owns this site --http://enterprise.powerup.com.au/~billpurc/index.htm
- is a pilot who has flown many, many hours in Papua New Guinea. For all of
you who have lived in PNG and dealt with Pidgin he has a short article on
that very subject at -- http://enterprise.powerup.com.au/~billpurc/tokpisin.htm
Bougainville
The constitution for Bougainville has been released back to the Bougainvilleans.
The Bougainville Copper Project -- http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/bougainville1.html
-- by Peter Goerman. -- A plea from the webmaster of this particular website
-- "please send us your photographs and your comments for publication
on this website. Share your memories of Bougainville with the rest of us".
The following pages by Peter Goerman are also of interest --
http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/samoatrip1.html
http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/pigeon.html
http://www.riverbendnelligen.com/dearall5.html
PNG War War II Timeline
1942
January 23, 1942, Japanese capture Rabaul and Kavieng in the Bismarck Archipelago,
invade Bougainville in the Solomons.
May 8, 1942 Allies win Battle of the Coral Sea.
July 21, 1942 Japanese landing near Gona, New Guinea, starts Papua Campaign.
1943
January 22, 1943 Campaign for Papua, New Guinea, ends.
March 2-4 1943 The Allies defeat the Japanese in the Battle of the Bismarck
Sea.
September 4-16 1943. Southwest Pacific forces recapture Lae-Salamaua, New
Guinea.
October 2, 1943 Australians seize Finschhafen, New Guinea.
November 1, 1943 South Pacific forces invade Bougainville.
December 26, 1943 Southwest Pacific troops invade New Britain at Cape Gloucester.
1944
February 20, 1944 Reduction of Rabaul completed with Japanese abandonment
of it as an airbase.
February 29, 1944 Southwest Pacific forces begin invasion of Admiralty Islands,
Bismarck Archipelago.
April 22, 1944 Southwest Pacific forces land at Aitape and Hollandia, New
Guinea.
May 27, 1944 Southwest Pacific force lands on Biak Island, New Guinea.
PNG Media
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