Links
National Anthem
Chris Luxton has advised that the following is a link to a working
version of the PNG National Anthem -- http://www.navyband.navy.mil/anthems/ANTHEMS/New%20Guinea.mp3
-- visit Chris's web site at -- http://hometown.aol.co.uk/pngcpluxton/Prayers.htm
ABC Australia
Postcard from Port Moresby - A transcript from "Correspondents
Report" aired recently on Australian ABC Radio can be found at
-- http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2006/s1567614.htm
-- please take the time to read the article.
Luke Lucas
Luke Lucas has the following contribution to the newsletter. It will
be of interest to all Territorians and those that have high speed access
to the Internet. Many people will remember Luke from the time when he
was the PNG Electoral Commissioner and the owner of Agnes Cooking Pot
in Boroko.
quote --
I just put two videos on my website under the heading "Videos"
which feature all the songs by Larry Daniels, one time night club owner
in Port Moresby. Songs such as; Kai kai the buai, Streets of Mt Hagen
etc.
These files are not small but that's the only way I could get the music
out.
Luke
-- end quote
If you are interested then the following URL's will be helpful --
http://lukesnewplace.com/streetsofmthagen.exe
and
http://lukesnewplace.com/kaikaithebuai.exe
Wantok Radio
Wantok Radio -- http://www.wantokradio.net
-- has remote FM translators in Ialibu, Goroka, Kainantu, Lae, and Rabaul.
A few weeks ago there was a significant lighting strike that hit the
EMTV tower on Burns Peak. That strike knocked out the satellite uplink
equipment for Wantok Radio. Wantok Radio is happy to report that things
have been cleared and the network is back on the air. This outage did
not affect the short-wave broadcasts on 7120 kHz. Wantok Radio Light
is also broadcasting on 93.9 FM in Port Moresby.
PNG Chancery
The visiting Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Sir Rabbie recently
performed a groundbreaking ceremony on a plot of land allocated by Solomon
Islands for the PNG Chancery in Honiara. Full story is available at
-- http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault2.php?urlpinaid=20069
Les Eastcott's Daughter Replies
Much has been written in the local papers about the Vice Chancellor
of the University of PNG. Much of it is obviously biased and some of
it totally wrong. The Professor's daughter makes an attempt to set the
record straight. The letter is too long to be reproduced here but it
can be found on the PNG Gossip web site at -- http://pnggossip.com/news/gs0602a.html
Alotau
Napatana Lodge is Alotau's first eco lodge. They offer timber bungalows
on the bay and an open air bar and restaurant. I am told that the prices
are very reasonable. They are able to offer weekend tours and village
based activities as one of their specialties. For more information contact
-- grettak[@]daltron.com.pg
Misc Links
Management Consultants -- http://www.2kmc.com
Department of Treasury and Finance -- http://www.treasury.gov.pg/
Bank of Papua New Guinea -- http://www.bankpng.gov.pg/
Internal Revenue Commission -- http://www.irc.gov.pg/
Government of PNG online (other agencies) -- http://www.pngonline.gov.pg/
SIL PNG -- http://www.pnglanguages.org
M. I. Rent A Car -- mirent_acar[@]yahoo.com
News Items
UniTech Expertise
The Lae City Council will now be able to draw on the expertise of the
University of Technology after Morobe deputy governor Utika Siserta
put pen to paper and signed partnership agreement between the two bodies.
The agreement will enable the university's expertise in various technical
fields such as surveying, engineering, planning, architecture and marketing
compete at commercial rates with Lae businesses through Unitech's business-arm,
UniTech Development Consultancy Ltd.
Wapenamanda Flights
Eng Governor, Peter Ipatas, has given a K50,000 cheque to Air Niugini
to subsidise airfares for passengers using the Wapenamanda airport.
He has now urged the people of the province to use the service instead
of flying to Mt Hagen and catching public transport from there. Another
cheque for K1 million was presented to the provincial Works division
for the Wabag town sealing and a further K20,000 to the Kompiam Baptist
Hospital to subsidise MAF flights bringing in sick patients from the
rural areas to the hospital. Because many public servants have refused
to work in the province Mr Ipatas also presented K165,000 to the board
of Wabag General Hospital as special allowances and incentives to attract
medical officers to come and serve at the hospital.
Embezzlement
Another former MP is facing embezzlement charges. Former Anglimp South
Wahgi MP Kuk Kuli has appeared before the National Court to face charges
of allegedly misappropriating a substantial amount of money belonging
to the National Gaming Board. The ex-MP applied for money from the Gaming
Board to buy ambulances for his electorate but instead he purchased
five vehicles for his own use. One of the vehicles was used as an ambulance
and sent to his electorate. The whereabouts of the other vehicles are
not known.
UNICEF Report
Women leaders in Arawa, Bougainville have criticised the United Nations
Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) findings on school-aged girls having
sex with businessmen. The women leaders said the report was biased and
"taken out of context" without consultation with the women
leaders and non-government organisations
NasFund
The National Superannuation Fund (NASFUND) has declared a profit of
32.8 percent with 29 percent of that going back to members of the fund
for the year ended 2005. The fund has warned members not to expect the
same rate next year. The success of the fund last year has been attributed
to the emergence of Bank South Pacific as the main bank in PNG.
Former Prime Minister and Member for Moresby North West and PNG Party
leader Sir Mekere Morauta has applauded last year's National Superannuation
Fund results attributing the outstanding results to the financial sector
reforms initiated by his government.
Casino Raid
A raid on a Port Moresby based casino in late December, 2005 has found
over 500 items associated with gambling. The "casino" was
previously raided in April 2005.
Telikom PNG
It has been reported that Telikom PNG is set to sign a $US100 million
(K321.54 million) deal with a new group of "southern partners"
to start new underground telephone cabling work in the country. The
partners include Telecom New Zealand and Australia's telecommunication
companies Telstra and Optus. Telikom PNG would contribute $US6 million
(K19.29 million) as part of funding component. Telikom's communication
system was initially designed to cater for 20,000 customers, however,
the facility was now overloaded with 75,000 customers and urgently requires
an upgrade.
Telikom Cable Vandalism
An ex Telikom worker accused of having attempted to cut telephone cables
at Koki in the National Capital District has appeared in court. The
accused, along with other men, damaged several cables that threw business
houses and banks into chaos and cut all telephone services into and
out of the country for two consecutive days. It is estimated that the
damage to the cables cost Telikom around K700,000 for repair works and
loss of revenue during the two-day telephone blackout.
Tractor Trip
Ten villagers from outside Goroka have had to endure a tractor ride
that saw them leaving their village at 8 am and arriving in Goroka at
11 pm just to be able to sell coffee beans. The Government is pushing
the "green revolution" and using the PNG Defence Force Air
Wing to transport produce around the country but obviously this is not
enough when coffee growers will spend 15 hours on a tractor just to
move 25 bags of parchment coffee for sale. The road conditions were
reported as being terrible even for a tractor. the villagers have over
1000 bags of coffee sitting back in the village so they plan to do many
more trips on the back of the tractor.
Medical Waste
City authorities are alarmed at the dumping of medical waste from the
Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) at the Baruni tip. The incinerator
at PMGH has not worked properly since 2002 and medical waste that has
not been incinerated properly has been dumped. Some of the rubbish has
also been buried at the hospital.
Grand Chief
The Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare who can also call himself the
"Grand Chief" due to the awarding of the title under the Order
of Logohu, has said that he will lead his National Alliance party to
the 2007 general elections. He has hinted, however, that he may step
down after reaching his 40th year in politics. That is due to happen
in 2008. The Grand Chief will turn 70 on the 9th of April.
Strip Shows
It has been claimed that so long as a man or women does not expose
their "private parts" then strip shows, mud wrestling, wet
t-shirt competitions and calendars girls are all legal activities at
night clubs in PNG.
Election Awareness
It has been announced that limited preferential voting (LPV) awareness
exercises and electoral roll registration will continue throughout the
country in March. The electoral boundaries report will also be presented
to Parliament this week. It has also been reported that the number of
voters on the PNG common roll was inflated with some provinces having
more than double the number of eligible voters recorded.
PNG Power
The recruitment of an overseas officer to become the CEO of PNG Power
has been revoked. The chairman of the power utility has also resigned.
Mr Lawrence Solomon is currently acting as CEO at PNG Power. PNG Energy
Workers Union has welcomed Mr Jeffreys' resignation and the revocation
of the new CEO as a "double victory" for PNG Power workers.
Air Niugini
The chopping and changing continues at the national airline. The person
appointed to the General Manager Marketing position has not turned up
and the position has been readvertised in the local papers. The General
Manager Engineering and Supply Manager were given their marching orders
last week and the CEO position is being filled on an acting basis by
the General Manager Finance. With the elections coming it is tipped
that politics will most likely play a big part in who is appointed to
run the airline. The airline has returned a profit recently and given
past experiences it will be time for politics to take control again.
Airlines of PNG
Airlines of PNG is currently giving the National Airline, Air Niugini,
a run for its money by competing on the Port Moresby - Cairns sector.
Prices are being advertised at K99 for a one way fare. As with all advertising
usually done by Air Niugini and Airlines of PNG the price advertised
is without taxes, fuel surcharges, insurance surcharges etc. The actual
one-way price is about K360-K370 for one way and K940 for a return fare.
The price does fluctuate a bit due to variances in the Kina to Aussie
dollar rate.
Breath Alcohol Tests
It is rumoured that one of the major domestic airlines is giving employees,
including pilots, random drug and alcohol tests. This should be applauded
and while probably not enforceable in a court it can slot easily into
company rules and anything that makes the travelling public safer should
be adopted by all the airlines.
Defence Force
The Defence Minister Mathew Gubag says that the Defence Force has a
"zero tolerance" level policy on personnel who break the laws
of the country. He said the recent arrest of two soldiers from an infantry
battalion did not portray the true image of the defence force. He also
said appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against the soldiers
as soon as the outcome of their court cases was known. The soldiers
allegedly used PNGDF hand-grenade and firearms.
PNG Defence Force Armouries
The PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) Commander, Peter Ilau has said that the
armouries belonging to the PNGDF have been strengthened making it impossible
for firearms and related items to end up in the wrong hands. He also
said the hand-grenades and firearms used by the two soldiers in the
article above where old and no longer used by the PNGDF. He said they
might have been leftover from the conflict on Bougainville.
Ammo Seizure
Security and police have confiscated more than 1,500 rounds of live
ammunition at Mt Hagen from a passenger from Port Moresby. The ammunition
was hidden in two tubes and neatly packed in a patrol box and an empty
beer cartoon and then shipped to Hagen Police have detained a suspect
from the Mul district of the Western Highlands province in connection
with the incident. Police are baffled at how such a large quantity of
ammunition could get past the scanning equipment in Port Moresby. Hagen
police believe that the live ammunition could be stolen from the PNG
Defence Force armoury.
Morobe Province Roads
Along with most other provinces and the National Capital District roads
in the Menyama district of the Morobe province have deteriorated to
a stage where normal motor vehicles are being damaged just by being
driven down them. Many people growing crops now find that due to the
poor quality of the roads they can do nothing other than watch their
crops rot because vehicles cannot come to transport the goods to market.
K500,000 Robbery
A person suspected of being involved in the K500,000 robbery of the
PNG Electoral Commission headquarters last November has been found dead.
Police say that they do not know the cause of his death but they believe
that he was possibly killed by his fellow gang members to silence him.
The body of the suspect was recently found at the Tahira boating centre
just outside Port Moresby.
Gas Pipeline Projects
It has been estimated that more than K8.3 million will be required
to fund the construction phase of the PNG Gas Pipeline Project. About
the same amount will be spent during the operational 30-year life of
the project. As a direct result of the project going ahead 42 bridges
will require attention this includes 15 new bridges, 22 bridges will
need to be modified or rebuilt and five existing bridges will need to
be replaced altogether.
PNG Media
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