Links
Warning: PNG web sites seem to come and go. The fact of life is that
it costs money to host a web site (try -- http://pngwebhost.com
-- for a good and cheap deal) and there is not much return on the outlay
to most businesses in PNG. If you do click on a link and use the services
or even have some comments to make then please contact the people at
the relevant web site and let them know so they at least know that someone
has gained some value from their efforts. If you are so inclined then
mention that you heard about them from this web site. -- The PNG Gossip
Newsletter.
If links in the newsletter do not work properly, copy and paste the
URL into your browser and press Enter. Be sure to copy the entire link,
as it may wrap to the next line. If this still does not work please
send an email to the newsletter advising of the broken link.
PNG Financial Institutions
ANZ Bank -- http://www.anz.com/png
Bank of Papua New Guinea -- http://www.bankpng.gov.pg
Bank of South Pacific -- http://www.bsp.com.pg
Credit Corporation -- http://www.creditcorporation.com.pg
Finance Corporation -- http://www.fincorp.com.pg
Kina Securities -- http://www.kina.com.pg
National Superannuation Fund -- http://www.nasfund.com.pg
Port Moresby Stock Exchange -- http://www.pomsox.com.pg
Public Officers Superannuation Fund -- http://www.posf.com.pg
Westpac Bank -- http://www.westpac.com.pg
PNG Aviation Links
Ex Kiap Web Site -- http://www.exkiap.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1059&highlight=&sid=948b2c51771dac2457abeca3a1c5b117
Air Niugini, National Airline of PNG -- http://www.airniugini.com.pg
Airlines of PNG -- http://www.apng.com
Airlink -- http://www.airlink.com.pg
Bill Purcell's Site -- http://www.billpurc.com/aviation.htm
MAF Australia (PNG Info) -- http://www.maf.org.au
-- and follow the links. Or try this one -- http://www.maf.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=125
Michie.NET PNG Aircraft Register -- http://michie.net/balus
Online Airline schedule -- http://www.pngbd.com/travel/flights.php
PNG Balus Project -- http://www.balus.gov.pg
TNT Air Cargo -- http://www.tnt.kenmore.com.pg
Other PNG Links
National Geographic -- http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_papuanewguinea.html
International Anglican Women's Network -- http://www.iawn.org/Papua.htm
The New Guinea Tropical Ecology and Biodiversity Digest -- http://www.papuaweb.org/dlib/jr/ngtebd/13.pdf
PNG NZ
Papua New Guinea Community of New Zealand -- http://www.PNGNZ.org
Tourism
East New Britain -- http://www.eastnewbritain.com
Eastern Highlands -- http://www.easternhighlands.com.pg/tourism.htm
Main Government Tourism Site -- http://www.png-toursim.com
and http://www.pngtoursim.org.pg
Milne Bay -- http://www.milnebaytourism.gov.pg
Morobe -- http://www.tourismmorobe.org.pg
PNG Business Directory -- http://www.pngbd.com
PNG Tourism Directory -- http://www.pngtd.com
West New Britain -- http://www.tourismwestnewbritain.org.pg
News Items
Kokoda Track
PNG trekking porter, Brendan Buka, 22 has completed the Kokoda Challenge
in less than 18 hours. Bua took just 17 hours, 49 minutes to complete
the gruelling challenge from Owers' Corner to Kokoda. Another PNG porter,
Wayne Urina, manage to clock a little more than an hour more than Buka's
run and Australian, Damon Goerke, 32, became the first Australian to
finish the track in less than 24 hours, coming third with a time of
19 hours, 28 minutes and 48 seconds. Buka claimed K10,000 for the fastest
time. Trekkers usually take seven to eight days to walk the track.
see -- http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1725250.htm
Papua New Guinea's famous Kokoda Track is just half an hour's flight
from the capital of Port Moresby.
The village of Kokoda is fairly small but it was here, 60 years ago
during World War II, that a bunch of mainly 18 year-old Aussie soldiers
stopped a Japanese invasion by digging in and fighting.
See -- http://www.thegreatoutdoors.com.au/display.php?location=islands&ID=2052
-- for the rest of the story about the Kokoda Track and -- http://www.thegreatoutdoors.com.au/display.php?ID=2118
-- for part two of the story.
42nd Medical Symposium
The 42nd Medical Symposium has been opened by the Prime Minister, Sir
Michael Somare. The symposium is being held at the Divine Word University
in Madang. The theme of the symposium is "Trauma, Emergency
Medicine, Occupational Health and Rehabilitation" -- http://www.medsymp.org.pg/
At Last!
After too many years to remember the now old but never used Motor Vehicles
Insurance Trust hospital located at the back of the University of PNG
Medical Faculty at Taurama has finally been occupied. Fifteen National
doctors have banded together to provide a better health service. They
have managed to secure a Rural Development Bank loan to take over and
equip the hospital. Whilst the 15 doctors hope to be able to keep fees
as low as possible to enable as many PNG people to be able to use the
hospital they have said that still needed to have enough money to repay
the loan and bring in specialist medical equipment and drugs. The new
hospital will work closely with the existing public health service.
Online Airline Tickets
Air Niugini have announced that they will be introducing online bookings
very soon with payment available in most major currencies including
Kina. DataNets, in conjunction, with the Westpac Bank (PNG) are placing
the finishing touches on an Internet banking gateway that will allow
this to happen.
Airlines of PNG already have online bookings for their international
flights but do not accept payment in Kina.
Hiri Moale Festival
The Hiri Moale Festival has received a K30,000 donation from the South
Pacific Brewery to assist in the running of the festival this year.
The Hiri Moale Festival is held on the 16th of September to coincide
with the Independence Day celebrations.
Goroka
Navigational aids at Goroka airport have been vandalised again. This
is not the first time that the Precision Approach Path Indicator Lights
have been attacked by vandals recently. The perimeter fence of the airport
is very poorly maintained and the Civil Aviation Authority plans to
upgrade the fence within the next 18 months.
The road from the airport to the police station in Goroka has recently
been resealed just in time for the National Executive Council meeting
that is currently being held there. Very little else has been done to
improve the look of the town. The Provincial Government building still
can be seen to have many smashed windows with derelict vehicles parked
around the back. Even the road outside the entrance to the only premier
hotel in town, the Bird of Paradise hotel, resembles a badly eroded
bush track.
Sepik River
The Sepik River is Papua New Guinea's equivalent to the Amazon or the
Congo rivers. The mystical East Sepik Province is situated on the North
Coast of PNG.
Want to read more then click on this link -- http://www.thegreatoutdoors.com.au/display.php?location=islands&ID=3221
Fishermen Held
17 Indonesian fishermen have been arrested for illegally fishing in
PNG waters only weeks after PNG soldiers shot dead an Indonesian man
suspected of poaching. Jakarta has accused PNG of using excessive force
after the PNG Defence Force soldiers patrolling a common border fired
on 10 fishermen on the 8th of August 2006. A PNG fisheries officer said
the 17 Indonesians detained were caught 250km inside PNG waters. The
two fishermen injured in the 8th of August shooting, and the seven others
who were with them, pleaded guilty to illegally entering PNG waters
have been fined and returned to Indonesia.
See related articles located at
-- http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=125937
-- http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=18941
-- http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060829.G04&irec=3
Leatherback Turtles
PNG, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands have agreed to protect the endangered
leatherback turtle in the Pacific through joint conservation activities.
Michael Avosa, WWF's Country Programme Manager in PNG has said that
the three governments have showed their commitment to improving the
livelihood of their people through sustainable development and conservation.
Although protected under various national laws and international treaties,
population trends of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)
show alarming rates of decline due to domestic and commercial exploitation
of eggs, development and destruction of nesting beaches, accidental
capture and drowning in fisheries using long line and purse seining
methods, ocean pollution and ingestion of plastic and other garbage.
Bilums
An exhibition titled "Twisting knowledge and emotions. Modern
bilums of Papua New Guinea" sponsored by the Alliance française
de Port Moresby opened at the University of PNG Michael Somare library
recently. Modern day bilums are used to carry almost anything from store
goods to babies. They are a work of art often taken many hours to produce.
see more "How to Make a Bilum" -- http://alex.golub.name/porgera/bilum.html
PNG String Bags -- http://michie.net/pnginfo/bilums.html
PNG Chaos
Australia is gearing up for what many see as the impending collapse
of Papua New Guinea, the colony it gave independence to 31 years ago
and the troubled South Pacific's biggest country.
See -- http://tinyurl.com/e63tn
Political Intimidation
The recently elected member for Chuave, Jim Nomane, was bundled off
in a vehicle belonging to a major political party on his arrival into
Moresby the other day. Several political parties were at the airport
trying to vie for his attention. The Registrar of Political Parties,
Paul Bengo, has said that this may be in breach of the Integrity of
Political Parties and Candidates law as the section of the law provides
that where a political party, an executive, an MP or any person forces,
threatens, intimidates, detains or interferes with the free movement
of an MP in the performance of his duties, is guilty of an offence.
Sporting Millions
Sport in PNG has received an injection of K5 million from the Mineral
Resources Development Company (MRDC). The MRDC has also paid a K10 million
dividend to the government.
European Union
The European Union (EU) will spend K460 million to help fund natural
resource programs and projects around the country between 2008 and 2013.
The EU will also spend another K6 million funding forestry research
within the country.
Lae Investment Boom
The State-owned Malahang Industrial Centre (MIC) at Lae, Morobe province,
is seeing an increase in investments with the recent entry of several
companies into the area.
The Chinese government is expected to build a large tuna processing
and cooling factory over an 8,000sqm of land that had been sitting idle
for many years. The Morobe provincial government-owned Morobe Fishing
Corporation Ltd (Mofisco) acquired the land for K342,000 three weeks
ago. Another company that has bought land at the MIC is Yuwai 29 Ltd,
owned by couple Jane and Noel Edward, who also own businesses in Mt
Hagen, Goroka, Madang and Lae.
They plan to have a large warehouse standing by Dec 31 and will move
their office also to Malahang. The K1.2 million warehouse would be custom-built
abroad and set up within 14 weeks. several other businesses have recently
purchased land at the industrial site.
University of Technology
The University of Technology has held a successful cultural and technology
weekend. The cultural day was followed by a strike by university staff
over their salaries and conditions.
Mobile Phones
The two successful tenderers, to compete with Pacific Mobile Communications
in the mobile phone arena, have been announced. A mobile phone operator
from Jamaica and a joint PNG venture with an Indonesian company will
now have the task of rolling out mobile telephone services to 229 towns
and villages throughout the country including 120 smaller towns and
villages. The tender process took from March until now to complete with
16 companies from within the company and overseas vying for the two
positions.
Bitumen
A local firm in Lae is supplying 40 Kilogram bags of locally produced
asphalt to the Lae City Urban Council. The product meets Australian
standards for cold mix asphalt and will be used to repair roads around
the city. The company has also won contracts with Civil Aviation and
the University of Technology as well as being engaged by the National
Works department for road maintenance.
Coming Events
The Institute of PNG Studies Exploratory Workshop - sometime in September
42nd PNG Medical Symposium is currently being held in Madang and will
finish on the 8th of September 2006 -- http://www.medsymp.org.pg
PNG 31st Independence Anniversary -- 16th September 2006
Hiri Hanenamo Quest and Hiri Moale Festival -- 16th September 2006
Goroka Show, Eastern Highlands -- 16th and 17th of September 2006
Kiwi Ball -- The fabulous ball held by the Kiwi's will be held on the
28th October this year. This year the New Zealanders hope to have a
five-piece band to entertain the crowd
Morobe Show, Lae -- 4th and 5th of November
Ex KIAP Reunion in Victoria, Australia will be held on the 5th of November
at Sandown Greyhounds Tabaret -- http://www.exkiap.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=18&sid=08742471a618eb419d5af702a6bf87bb
Milne Bay Kundu and Canoe Festival, Alotau -- 6th to the 12th of November
2006
====================
PNG Media
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