P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 6 Nov 2003

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay

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Papua New Guinea Gossip Newsletter


A very special welcome is extended to any new readers. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please e-mail them to giaman@pnggossip.com

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Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
Tok Pisin English
Jenueri January
Februeri February
Mars March
Epril April
Mei May
Jun June
Julai July
Ogas August
Septemba September
Oktoba October
Novemba November
Disemba December

 

 

Remember that this mailing list is mainly meant for people who have an interest and already know a little bit about the people and geography of Papua New Guinea. The PNG Kina, which is mentioned from time to time in this newsletter, is currently worth around 28.5 - 29 United States cents but varies on a daily basis.

If you are really keen on finding out what the Kina is worth a currency converter for most world currencies can be located at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/moni.html

Want to find out more about Papua New Guinea? Try searching at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo and http://www.michie.net/png_faqs. The PNG Business and Tourism Directory located at http://www.pngbd.com is also an excellent place to look for PNG information.

For those who are not so familiar with the geography of Papua New Guinea I suggest taking a look http://maps.expedia.com and then click on the find a map option. Go to this link for a quick start to a link to a map of Port Moresby. http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/pom-map.html

Also remember that the accuracy of the information in this newsletter should not be relied upon - it is, after all, a gossip newsletter.



Links

PNG Religious Sites



Anglican Church of PNG -- http://portmoresby.anglican.org
Catholic Church of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands -- http://www.catholicpng.org.pg
Pioneer Bible Translators -- http://www.pioneerbible.org.pg
Religious Television Association -- http://www.rtapng.com.pg
Ukarumpa Alumni -- http://www.ukarumpa.net
Ukarumpa Mission Station -- http://www.ukarumpa.com
United Pentecostal Assemblies of PNG -- http://www.upcpng.org

 


 

 

News Items

Quote



Here is a quote sent to me by a friend in USA. (Thanks Sharon)
"Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition."
Timothy Leary



PNG World 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.



Kokopo Power



A power station is planned to be built at Ulagunan village in Kokopo. It is hoped that this will help to relieve some of the problems people are experiencing with power in the area. A groundbreaking ceremony has already been held at the village between village elders, members of the provincial government and staff from PNG Power.



Buka



Rampaging villagers protesting over the rape and strangulation of a 14-year-old schoolgirl have destroyed the police station on Buka Island. A policeman from Morobe province is in a critical condition in the Buka hospital after the villagers attacked him. Police were holding the suspect and would not release him to the villagers. The suspect is also in a critical condition after being attacked by relatives of the rape victim. The angry villagers took over the whole town and the outnumbered police could do little to stop the crowd.



Migration Office



The Port Moresby office of the Department of Foreign Affairs has been broken into and equipment used to produce passports stolen. This will most likely cause problems for people without passports expecting to travel overseas for Christmas. The Department is attempting to get equipment from overseas to lessen the problem. Staff have indicated that it is possible that the thieves either had keys or were very, very good because there was little evidence of a forced entry to the office. It is feared that the equipment will be sued to make false passports and this would reflect on the acceptability of PNG passports by overseas countries.



Air Niugini



As reported in the local PNG newspapers Australian noise regulations will stop the current Air Niugini F28 (4000 series) aircraft from operating into Australia beyond the first of April 2004. It has been rumoured that the Air Niugini Board of Directors has endorsed a recommendation by Air Niugini management to have the Fokker 100 become the preferred replacement for the F28 Cairns service. This endorsement is subject to technical approval as well. The F100 is a bigger aircraft than the present F28 and can take between 90 and 100 passengers as well as having additional cargo capacity. Air Niugini has also announced that as part of its re-fleeting campaign two Dash 8 aircraft will be arriving in the country very soon to replace the remaining F28 (1000 series) aircraft just in time for the Christmas period.



Air Niugini Profit



At a recent cocktail party to celebrate the thirtieth birthday of Air Niugini it was unofficially announced that the national airline will be able to announce a K45 million profit for the year. Recently all staff in Port Moresby and long serving staff members from the provinces were hosted to a big birthday party at the Airways hotel in Port Moresby. It is rumoured that the K10,000 budgeted for the drinks tab was spirited away in a matter of minutes.



TV Programming



One of the questions that I get asked frequently is - "what sort of television programs 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 also have access to several satellite broadcasters such as -

+- HBO
+- Cinemax
+- National Geographic
+- Star Movies
+- Star World
+- Star Sports
+- BBC
+- Country Music
+- Cartoon Channel
+- Discovery Channel
+- Nickelodeon
+- Hallmark
+- ESPN
+- etcetera
+- Australian Channels (ABC, GWN, SBS, Central)
Some people have access to other channels and still we can't find anything decent to watch.
For more information please pay a visit to http://www.hitron.com.pg who offer microwave and cable redistribution of satellite services or visit the Tolec Electronics in Lae website -- http://www.tolec.com.pg



New Notes



The Bank of PNG has announced the introduction of new plastic K20 notes to replace the existing paper notes. The new notes have many features to prevent counterfeiting. The bank has recently been caught out for the introduction of magnetic coins for the 5t, 10t 20t and K1 coins. This has broken many vending machines that use a magnet to detect fake coins. The new coins have provided hours of fun for many families and an opportunity for many people to learn about magnetism as well. The new K20 notes have been introduced to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Bank of PNG. PNG now has magnetic coins and plastic notes. At least Monopoly has stuck with paper notes.



Melbourne Cup



The great Melbourne Cup horse race has once again managed to stop the country. Many bumper-to-bumper traffic jams were seen around the many bookmakers on race day. I would say that most offices ran Melbourne Cup sweeps and many staff would have disappeared to the bookies to place a bet on a sure thing.



Governor General



The battle between the government and the Ombudsman Commission is still going on with the Commission saying that the results of the election of the new Governor General should not be announced to the Queen until the court process has made a decision. The Supreme Court has now ordered that next Thursday's swearing-in ceremony of Governor General-elect Sir Albert Kipalan in Parliament be put on hold. This is to allow the court to determine the substantive matters in the special reference brought by the Ombudsman Commission challenging the validity of Sir Albert's election.



Enga Province



The Enga provincial government has indicated that it would transfer ownership and management of all its education and health institutions to Christian Churches. Churches have contributed a lot to social services in Enga. The Gutnius Lutheran Church owns one hospital, two health centres and more than 10 aid posts, four high schools and more than 50 primary schools. The Catholic Church runs two health centres, three vocational centres and more than 20 primary schools. The Seventh Day Adventist owns one main hospital, one high school and more than 10 primary schools.



Supplementary Immunisation



The Supplementary Immunisation Activity program has been launched in Manus at Lorengau market where hundreds of people witnessed the launch. The program is very important and everyone is urged to bring their children to be immunised when medical teams arrive in the various villages in the province.



Mendi



The tiny town of Mendi needs another bank. The Southern Highlands Governor has invited commercial banks in the country to open a branch in the town. The Bank South Pacific currently only has eight tellers serving the whole town and surrounding areas. Fights have recently broken out amongst customers sick and tired of the push and shove in the queues whilst waiting for service by the bank.



Hagara Primary School



AusAID has come to the rescue of the Hagara Primary School in the National Capital by providing the funding for a total of 110 new desks designed by the school at a cost of almost K50,000. Prior to this there were as three to four students sitting at desks originally designed for two students.



Nasfund Savings and Loans



The National Superannuation Fund (Nasfund) has created an organisation called the Nasfund Contributors Savings and Loan Society (NCSLS) to help complement the benefits offered by the Nasfund under the Superannuation Act 2000. The new NCSLS will have a separate management and eventually its own board to that of the Nasfund.



Telikom PNG



Villagers of Yambo Village in the Bukawa area of Morobe Province are set to receive payments form Telikom for the use of Mount Lusambu. This is after a court ruled out a long outstanding claim by two other clans over the mountaintop site. Mt Lusambu is also known as Mt Wideru.



Lae Local Level Government



The residents of Lae owe K8 million in taxes and charges the Lae Local Level Government (LLG). The Lae LLG generates 95 percent of its revenue from internal sources while the other five percent comes from the national and provincial governments. Some residents owe money going back for over 10 to 12 years.



Oil Search



The Oil Search third quarter output is above forecasted figures. The figures were six per cent above what ABN Amro Morgan and Kina Securities Limited have forecasted for Oil Search.



Malaysian Prime Minister



Much debate has been seen in the letters to the editor columns of the local daily newspapers in PNG over the visit by the Malaysian PM. Many declaring the visit as a success and others saying to watch out and beware of what has transpired. No matter what side of the fence you sit on you can not deny that the recent two-day visit by Dr Mahathir Mohamad to PNG will be the final state visit by the man responsible for much of Malaysia's success story. Trade between the two countries is still low compared to other trading partners in the region. Two-way trade over the last decade totalled K563.8 million in favour of Malaysia. PNG imports from Malaysia for the same period were worth K454.4 million compared to exports of K1.9.2 million.



Miss PNG Red Cross



The final judging and the announcing of the winner of the 2003 Miss PNG Red Cross Charity Quest will take place at the Grand Palace Restaurant in Port Moresby on Saturday evening the 8th of November.

The following girls are contesting the Miss PNG Quest -

Mary Efi - Central (Miss Highway Automotive)
Helen Stephen - Milne Bay (Miss Milne Bay)
Cynthia Asi - Central (Miss MRDC)
Christine Oa - Central (Miss NCDC / Central)
Stella Lamboku - Central / WNB (Miss PriceWaterhouseCoopers)
Sibona Bogahenao - Central (Miss RH Supermarkets)
Alice Solomon - Chimbu (Miss Skala / Evoluxe)
Jenny Sourang - Manus (Miss Vanimo Beach Hotel)
Baia Kidu - Central (Miss Warehouse Nite Club)



Previous Red Cross Winners



The following people have won the title of "Miss PNG"



Human Trafficking



The Federal Police from Australia have warned that PNG risks the potential to be exploited in the global problem of human trafficking. It has been said that PNG is an easy target because of its close proximity to Australia and any person could easily pick up PNG on the world map and say "I can get to Australia through PNG". This could account for the increasing numbers of illegal arrivals in PNG in the past few months. People smuggling usually involved highly orchestrated syndicates within the region.



Bukawa Floods



It has been reported that two children have died in a disaster attributed to the effects of floods in the Bukawa area of Morobe province. Both deaths, one infant and a five-year-old child, are reported to have occurred due to the severe shortage of food in the area. For many weeks now, over 4,000 people who reside on the banks of the Buhem, Buresong and San Francisco rivers have been wrestling with massive flooding that has ruined food gardens in the area. It is not only food that is causing problems but even basic medicine is very badly needed as there are no health services in the area. There are no health aid posts within a 40-kilometre radius of the affected villages. The floods have affected some 1,073 families numbering 4,826 individuals.



HMPNGS Dreger



Her Majesty's PNG Ship Dreger has celebrated its 16th birthday. The Australian Shipping Industries at Coogee, Western Australia built the Dreger in 1987. The commanding officer at the time was Lieutenant Peter Ilau who is now the Commander of the PNG Defence Force.



PNG Rehab Centre



The PNG Rehabilitation Centre has received a gift of a camera and a radio cassette recorder thanks to Chin H Meen in Port Moresby. It is anticipated that the equipment will be put to good use in raising awareness of the disabled in PNG.



Port Moresby Power



The residents of Port Moresby have had to suffer more power blackouts because the road leading to the Moitaka power station is too rough for tankers to cart in diesel to the power station. PNG Power has had to resort to load shedding and power restrictions. PNG Power says it is the responsibility of the National Capital District Commission to repair the road and the Commission has said it refuses to shoulder the blame , saying it was the responsibility of PNG Power as it has its power station located there. It has been estimated that the road needs at least K10,000 spent on it to be fully upgraded.



Bill Purcell's Website



http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/billsview/ is the address for Bill Purcell's Website. Bill, a pilot, has sections dealing with Tok Pisin and PNG Aviation in General with special areas on Missionary Aviation Fellowship, PNG Airstrips, Humour and even some airline related humour. This site has more than mentioned above so my tip is to visit and take a good look around.

His section on PNG airstrips carries the following disclaimer. PNG Airstrip Data is published only as a guide to pilots in matters helpful to operations, such as GPS settings, wind characteristics, and surface conditions. The PNG AIP-AGA is the legal document governing aviation operations.



Defence Force Gym



The gymnasium at the Defence Force Murray Barracks has been refurbished after many years of neglect due to lack of finance. The gym was used during the 1969 South Pacific Games so it also has some historical significance for the country as well as the Defence Force. The Chinese Government help with the refurbishment and the supply of training equipment.






PNG Media


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-- THE END --

Some of the ways of saying "that's all" are courtesy of Liz and her friends at the University of Technology in Lae. http://www.unitech.ac.pg

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Created 6 Nov 2003
Updated 16 Nov 2003

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