TUFI ON 2015 WORLD LIST: PAGE 3
KILLINGS INCREASING, SAY POLICE: PAGE 7
READ STORIES ON PAGE 4
WATCHDOG TOLD TO INVESTIGATE: PAGE 9
THE engagement of PNG Defence Force soldiers and the police in the state of emergency (SOE) declared by the Government to recoup outstanding electricity bills continues to come under fire.
Last week former attorney general and SinasinaYongamugl MP Kerenga Kua described their engagement as unconstitutional and the Government’s actions illegal as the declaration of an SOE only applied to a national crisis or emergency.
Over the weekend
Opposition Leader Don Polye expressed similar sentiments and decried the use of the two discipli-
nary forces as “debt collectors” for the cash-strapped State-owned PNG Power Limited.
Papua New Guineans also took to social media to slam the Government over the decision by the National Executive Council to use the PNGDF and the Royal PNG Constabulary to fix a commercial problem.
But SOE controller Captain Tom Ur (retired) in a statement released yesterday assured the public that the security forces will not be debt collectors and will only be used in the event of opposition or threats against those tasked to force compliance.
CONTINUED PAGE 2
ITIS tragic that it is always the weak and the vulnerable that end up becoming the victims of witchcraft and sorcery-related killings.
Women, widows and even children conveniently become victims of witchcraft and sorcery-related assaults that have often turned deadly in the Enga Province. Consequently the provincial police commander, acting superintendent George Kakas, has appealed to Engans to fight foreign concepts such sorcery or sanguma (as it is known locally) and not accept them into their traditional lifestyles. “I suggest that if these people want to believe in something supernatural, I urge them to go to church and believe in the good Lord above and they will find their answers there and not some concocted abomination created from the figment of one’s imagination or from some foreign and evil culture,” Mr Kakas said.
But it is a mammoth task that comes with a lot of responsibilities which Mr Kakas alone cannot shoulder; he would need the help of everyone including the Enga provincial government, the churches, civil society and Engans.
It appears information on the legislative reforms, which were pushed through by the Government in 2013 that led to the enactment of laws that now ensures tough penalties for sorcery-relate deaths, has not trickled down to the villages and the communities in Enga where the practice is prevalent. Consequently, the practice of wrongly accusing the vulnerable for crimes that they did not commit continues unabated in Enga as well as the other Highlands provinces.
And due to the isolation of the communities and the rugged terrain that they live in in the Highlands provinces, the women, widows and children remain vulnerable to various acts of violence. The violators know that the long arm of the law cannot stretch that far, enabling them to get away with murder. We can only hope that a villager, who refuses to accept the status quo and appreciates the individual rights of other Papua New Guineans, will do the right thing and report to the relevant authorities. But why should we continue to sit on our laurels when there are Papua New Guinean lives at stake?
Authorities should embark on a massive awareness campaign in Enga and the other Highlands provinces in partnership with the churches, civil society and the provincial government. They would highlight the dangers of witchcraft and sorcery-related killings and how their actions could see them sent to jail for life or slapped with the death penalty. It is not too late to go down that path to save lives.
The arrival of a New Year enables us to make a personal commitment to fight against and condemn sorcery-related killings in PNG. There are Papua New Guineans who have lost a friend or a member of their family to this despicable crime, while there are others who are in danger of losing a loved one this year unless we take action, condemn the practice and demand immediate action by the authorities. This evil has grown in recent years due to our ignorance and failure to take meaningful action, let us take that step now and save a Papua New Guinean life.
Index
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A SENIOR National and Supreme Court judge has expressed concern that there is conflicting Supreme Court authority on the timing of suspension of a leader under the Organic Law following the Public Prosecutor’s decision to refer a leader to a tribunal. Justice David Cannings made these comments last Thursday, suggesting that the authorities tasked under section 19(1) of the Constitution of the Independent State Of Papua New Guinea to make applications to the Supreme Court should consider making an application on this issue.
“My suggestion is that perhaps one or more authorities are tasked to make applications to the Supreme Court under Section 19(1) of the Constitution for the opinion of the Supreme Court on any
question relating to interpretation or application of a provision of a constitutional law, might consider making such an application to resolve the issue on the timing of a suspension. That issue might then be brought before the Supreme Court at the same time as the other references.”
He highlighted some Supreme Court decisions as examples, like in Patrick Pruaitch MP v Chronox Manek (2010) SC1052 where the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Nicholas Kirriwom, Less Gavera Nanu and Catherine Davani in their ruling “are of the opinion that the suspension of the leader under
section 28 is automatic and it comes into play even before the tribunal convenes and receives the charges and statement of reasons”. Other subsequent cases that followed this ruling are Patrick Pruaitch MP v Chronox Manek (2011) SC1093 and Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare v Chronox Manek, John Nero and Phoebe Sangetari (2011) SC1118.
At this stage, there are conflicting authorities on whether a leader should still be in office until a tribunal meets and the statement of charges are handed over to the tribunal members for which the leader is referred.
FROM PAGE 1
“THE SOE into electricity services is much more than outstanding bills,” Mr Ur said.
“There is massive illegal connections around the country involving business houses and people, especially in the provinces and
the settlements in the major cities including the urban suburbs.
“My mission under the state of emergency on electricity is to improve electricity services to all who needs it with complete compliance with Papua New Guinea laws.
“My objectives are to iden-
tify the leakages within PNG Power, deal with public or private sector doing illegal connection of power, deal with private power producers not complying with the law and get government departments to pay their power bills on time.”
The rights of citizens as well as business houses will
not be affected during the SOE period, added the SOE controller, who was previously the PNGDF chief of staff.
It is understood the former soldier and State Enterprise Minister Ben Micah will be on FM100 this morning to give more details on the SOE.
Section 19(1) authorities might consider making application to resolve issue on suspension timing ...
PAPUA New Guinea’s Tufi
Tribal Homestays is one of the world’s top 26 tourist and travel destinations for this year, according to the Lonely Planet’s One World Tourist destination.
As it is written to attract tourists worldwide, Lonely Planet stated that Tufi, carefree and far away from the world, was one of PNG’s bestkept secrets.
“On the stunningly beautiful Cape Nelson, where steepsided rias penetrate the land like the fingers of a grasping hand, this picturesque spot has a more relaxed atmosphere than any city in the country,” Lonely Planet said.
“The cape was formed by
The bottom line
ancient eruptions of its three volcanoes and the lava that flowed down into the sea creating the rias, for which the cape is now famous.”
Tufi has been voted and listed among world tourist destinations in the United States, Italy, Costa Rica, Equador, Singapore, West Iceland, South Africa, Argentina, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and Spain, to name a few.
The latest classification may see an increase in tourists to Northern (Oro) Province, notwithstanding the current politics that is still evident in the province’s leadership.
Lonely Planet features in a list of 26 of the ‘World’s Hottest New Experiences for 2015’
featuring the most exciting experiences around the world from the observation desk at One World Trade Center in New York to a yellow submarine tour to explore the sealife in Argentina.
Lonely Planet’s destination editor for Great Britain, James Smart, details that already interest have soared on all these 26 countries detailed and an update will be given later in the year.
While highlighting that the newest discovery of the remains of Richard III captured the world’s attention in 2013 and the recently opened state-of-the-art visitor centre is a must-visit for history fans this year, Smart also
mentions that apart from the beautiful cape that has made Tufi one of the most recommended destinations, diving is also one of Tufi’s great attractions.
“There is consistent 30mplus visibility and one diver we met said ‘there are more fish than water out there’,” Mr Smart wrote.
“Maloway, Cyclone Reef and Marion Reef are memorable, and the muck diving under Tufi wharf is exceptional.
“Nearby are some WWII ships easily accessible in shallow water, while the famous B17 ‘Black Jack’ bomber is down the coast.
There are direct flights to Tufi from Port Moresby.
THE Drum last Friday on the sorry state of the roads in west coast Namatanai, New Ireland has made its way onto social media. It seems there are other roads within the area in the same condition, compelling locals to ask whether they have an MP.
ALL eyes have been on East New Britain in recent years over the increase in incest cases. But a Southern region MP continues to escape public scrutiny despite being in an incestuous relationship with his biological daughter.
FIX EM
ALL Open MPs get K10 million annually as part of their District Services Improvement Program (DSIP) grant. Surely the Namatanai MP can allocate portions of that grant to road maintenance in his electorate.
IT IS over a year now since the recall of PNG’s top diplomat to Fiji, Peter Eafeare. The Fiji government disputed Eafeare’s appointment as the dean of diplomatic corps before he was pulled out by Port Moresby in late 2013.
DRAINS
LAST year Fiji had issues with the election of the former PNG diplomat Dame Meg Taylor as the PIF secretary general. Both governments have issued statements downplaying reports of a rift. But does the 14-month gap in confirming a posting to Suva confirm things aren’t right?
AND on a more positive note EMTV news presenter Meriba Tulo has been put on notice. The Bougainvillean has fans in the Fiji Islands, who get to see him in action when Fiji TV runs a replay of EMTV’s 6 pm news bulletin.
TOO CLOSE
A SCRIBE who had her children in the national capital for holidays nearly got them intoxicated when she mistakenly mixed cordial with white wine. She forgot she placed the wine in the fridge and only the cordial’s funny colour saved her the embarrassment.
THE former Bougainville chief secretary Chris Siriosi has been appointed CEO for the newly created Office for Bougainville Referendum. But the top bureaucrat has indicated he’s yet to consider the offer and will go on holidays first.
PENGEE: thedrum@spp.com.pg
Cultural diversity is one of the strengths Papua New Guinea’s tourism industry has not fully utilised yet.
BY BENJAMIN KUMAN
OPPOSITION Leader Don Polye, pictured, says the declaration of the state of emergency (SoE) for police and army to collect money owed to PNG Power is unconstitutional.
Mr Polye said in a statement yesterday that at least three conditions must warrant a declaration of a state of emergency, including an act of war against Papua New Guinea by a foreign power.
The second is civil unrest and the third a natural disaster like a sudden volcano eruption that directly affects lives of people, which needs immediate government intervention.
“This situation of debt collection does not warrant for a state of emergency (done) with a sinister motive and I call on the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and State Enterprises and State Investment Minister Ben Micah to be responsible, you are doing something that is unconstitutional, you are also doing something that is not logical and by doing so, you are killing every system of governance.”
Mr Polye said the money owed PNG Power – K130 million to K300 million – was a small amount which could be collected through normal administrative functions of the entity.
He said he feared that the Government may use PNG Power’s insolvency case as an excuse to sell 50 per cent of the public utility’s shares to people or organisations with vested interested.
“PNG Power has not exhausted all the avenues yet to recoup this debt,” he said,
BY JEFFREY ELAPA
THE people of Mubi valley in the Lake Kutubu area in Southern Highlands have raised concerns that their lives have been affected as a result of rock dumping into the Mubi River.
The Mubi villagers, numbering eight villages that live along the Mubi plains, claimed that continuous flooding and water-borne diseases were prevalent in the area during heavy rain after rocks were dumped into the Mubu River.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL:
Opposition Leader Don Polye says the declaration of PNG Power’s state of emergency is illegal. This situation of debt collection does not warrant for a state of emergency, he says.
ACTS: An act of war against Papua New Guinea by a foreign power, civil unrest and a natural disaster, like a sudden volcano eruption that directly affects lives of people, will warrant the declaration of a state of emergency.
adding the management should take defaulters to court to pay in what should be “a simple and straight forward process.”
Mr Polye said there were commercial ways of dealing with outstanding debts of utility organisations like PNG Power, Telikom PNG Ltd, Water PNG and Eda Ranu.
He said all it required was for the service provider to discontinue their services and demand payment.
He also said the Government should restructure and strengthen the administrative systems of State-owned entities so they could operate effectively.
TREES play important roles on earth. They provide oxygen to breathe, firewood to cook food, homes for animals as well as shelter from the wind, rain or sun. With the bundle that this man is carrying, one can assume that he is trying to build a makeshift shelter.
They said the rocks were dumped when a certain company built the Kutubu access road by Chevron Niugini in the 1990s.
Chevron Niugini is an American company whose PNG interests were sold to Oil Search and it left soon after United States declared War in Iraq, also in the 1990s. They said in the process of building the Mubi Bridge, rocks were felled into the river, disturbing its normal flow and blocking the inlet of the water.
The Mubi flows into a cave a few metres from the bridge and during heavy rain, the river swells back and floods the valley, covering all food gardens, homes and also disturbs their daily lives like hunting and searching for food like sagos.
The villagers claimed that also after the flooding, many water-borne diseases have affected their lives, something that has never been experienced before.
They are calling on the Department of Environment and Conservation to look into the issue as it is affecting their lives.
MADANG MP Nixon Duban
has a K5 million question for Madang Governor Jim Kas. He wants the governor to explain how he had spent the money, earmarked for Madang district, in his Provincial Services Improvement Program funds.
Mr Duban, who is Petrole-
um and Energy Minister, said he was planning legal action against Mr Kas to explain how he has been expending the district’s component. Mr Kas could not be reached for comment.
Mr Duban said there were issues in the provincial headquarters that needed attention, including the prolonged closure of the intensive care
unit of the Modilon General Hospital.
Hospital executives, including the chief executive officer Sister Christine Gawi and board chairman Fr Jan Czuba, had said it had never been the intention of authorities to keep this vital section closed.
Both officials had said funding cuts had forced the unit
to remain closed.
Mr Duban said the governor had been working in isolation when he should be consulting with them on the spending of the PSIP in all districts.
The Minister said he was disappointed at being snubbed at the provincial assembly meeting last month to pass the province’s budget.
DEPUTY Opposition Leader
Sam Basil has slammed State Enterprises and State Investment Minister Ben Micah for failure in providing leadership to State-owned enterprises, including PNG Power Ltd.
Mr Basil said the state of emergency is declared for critical issues, including disasters, armed conflict, breakdown in law and order and important events.
He said in the case of PNG Power’s debts, Mr Micah did
The bottom line
not have to resort to emergency laws but simply sack the chief executive officer and replace the board.
“It is a fact that the major defaulters or non-paying users of power are the Government departments and institutions disciplinary forces.
“Secondly, PNG Power needs to be proactive to remove trees and branches and clear and fix electricity poles which are some major causes of blackouts,” he said.
“The simplest action for the minister and Government to take is to get the power bills of departments, agencies and institutions to Department of Treasury to pay whatever is due and make arrangements if the arrears are more than the current annual appropriation for utility bills.”
Mr Basil said debts could be settled through commercial arrangements, adding that all businesses and homes have prepaid meters and it was in-
cumbent on PNG Power to use its officers or contracted entities to disconnect power until arrangements are made to pay or, alternatively, issue summons.
In the event of illegal connections, similar actions should be taken, including arrest and charge under the Criminal Code.
For State-owned enterprises to use the state of emergency laws to conduct its business was unfair to the other busi-
ness and consumers who follow correct procedures.
“I would assume the Minister will use his new powers to also identify the many business and people who use generators at their own costs to supply power and the losses and damages caused by poor supply of power to the people of PNG.
“I am not sure why he is using K4 million of State funds to collect revenue for PNG Power,” Mr Basil said.
THE liquefied natural gas carrier that was custombuilt for the PNG LNG Project has been official christened as MV Papua at the Hudong-Zhongua shipbuilding yard in Shanghai, China.
During the ceremony, Linda Babao, the wife of the Prime Minister, gave the blessing and cut the rope to break a bottle of champagne on the bow of the vessel H1670A as the traditional seafarer’s christening.
Papua New Guinea
Ambassador to China
Christopher Mero highlighted the importance of the occasion and the contri-
YOUTH-FOCUSED finan-
cial literacy is important for young people in the country to ensure they are well equipped to make informed and wise choices when it comes to spending and savings.
Whilst highlightin g the need for a more accurate data on financial literacy rates in the country, Maholopa Laveil, cadet researcher at the National Research Institute, also emphasised the importance of having a financially literate youth.
“A youth-focused financial literacy is achievable if it can be incorporated in the upper primary and secondary school curriculum, an alternative strategy that will target the youth age group,” he said.
Mr Laveil suggested that if financial literacy is included into the current curriculum and incorporated with the personal development (guidance) subject, after four years of study, students will have the opportunity to become financially literate, equipped with basic financial skills when they leave formal education.
ISSUE: The liquefied natural gas carrier that was custom-built for the PNG LNG Project has been official christened as MV Papua at the Hudong-Zhongua shipbuilding yard in Shanghai, China.
CEREMONY: During the ceremony, Ms Linda Babao, the wife of the Prime Minister, gave the blessing and cut the rope to break a bottle of champagne on the bow of the vessel H1670A as the traditional seafarer’s christening.
AMBASSADOR: The Papua New Guinea Ambassador to China is Christopher Mero.
bution the ship will make to Papua New Guinea’s export of LNG to the world.
He said the resources sector in Papua New Guinea makes a huge contributor to the economic and social
wellbeing and development of Papua New Guinea.
“We now have a Papua New Guinea workforce with knowledge, skills and the capacities and provide us with a rich depth of talent
pool to draw from for the future development of the country,” Mr Mero said.
“The PNG LNG Project is certainly having a major impact on our country.
“We hope the experience we gained in dealing with ExxonMobil and its partners will be utilized meaningfully to reach our full potential and also to capitalize on the many opportunities that lie ahead.
“Let me take this opportunity to convey on behalf of the Government and people of Papua New Guinea, our sincere appreciation and gratitude to ExxonMobil for your contribution to our
country becoming a major gas exporter.
“I would also like to thank the many concerned parties involved, in particular the shipbuilder, HudongZhonghua Shipbuilding for delivering a worldclass vessel that will carry Papua New Guinea’s gas to China.”
Mr Mero also extended his thanks to the owners of the vessel who have given the name “Papua” to one of the largest and most modern ships built in China.
The vessel is a 172,000 cubic metres LNG carrier, measuring 290 metres in total length.
“Coordination between the Centre of Excellence for Financial Inclusion (CEFI), the Department of Education and other related agencies should certainly drive the goal for financial inclusion in the years to come,” Mr Laveil said.
“The objectives for educating the general public, particularly the youth, lie in a holistic approach.
“This should see the active coordination and participation of different government agencies and NGOs.”
He said the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) initiative has been promoted primarily to offer the high number of high school leavers that have missed out on tertiary education an opportunity to engage in business activities for income creation and employment generation.
PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has condemned the tragic loss of life that has occurred in the series of terror-related incidents in France over recent days.
Mr O’Neill also conveyed sympathy to the people of France at this difficult time.
“We are shocked and saddened by the attack that occurred in Paris on Wednesday that was followed by hostage situations overnight,” he said.
“In a world that today seems so full of violence,
the thoughts and prayers of Papua New Guineans are with the families of the victims of these attacks, and with the French people at this time of distress and deep sadness.”
Mr O’Neill said the attack at the start of the crisis on the office of the magazine Charlie Hebdo was particularly alarming and had deep implications for freedom of expression around the world.
“I know our media fraternity in Papua New Guinea will be acutely
aware of this horrific attack, and will lament the tragic loss of their international colleagues.
“Free speech underpins our way of life in free countries.
“These are terrible and callous acts of violence and we hope that perpetrators who remain at large are brought to justice as soon as is possible.”
Also, a German newspaper in the northern port city of Hamburg that reprinted Mohammed cartoons from the French
satirical paper Charlie Hebdo was the target of an arson attack early yesterday, according to AFP.
The regional tabloid daily, the Hamburger Morgenpost, had splashed three Charlie Hebdo cartoons on its front page after the massacre at the Paris publication, running the headline “This much freedom must be possible!”
Two people were detained, while state security has opened an investigation, police said. See more on page 33
Because of their size, parents may be difficult to discipline properly. – P J O’Rourke
– The Leaf Chronicle
SORCERY or witchcraft, once unknown in Enga Province, is spreading like wildfire into all the districts of the province, targeting women, especially widows, and children are the cause.
In the past generations, Engans solve their problems through dialogue or open physical confrontation, not through witchcraft, or sanguma, as has been the growing trend in recent times
Sorcery has now become a big law and order problem, Enga’s police commander George Kakas said at the weekend, adding there was an increase in the number of Engans being branded sorcerers, accused of deaths which have occurred naturally or through accidents.
Acting Superintendent Kakas said the “sorcerers” were mainly poor middle-aged or widowed women and their children who could not fend for themselves.
“In recent cases in Wabag district alone, I had to personally intervene with my men to save six women and a child who were on the verge of being burnt alive on a pyre, tortured to death or drowned in the river,” he said.
“In all these instances, all the accused were accused of stealing the hearts of their victims while they are still alive, causing them to die.
“The latest incident was in Lakemanda village (my maternal village) in Wabag where a woman and her child were accused of stealing the heart of a grade 10 student who had fallen off a Pandanus tree and was impaled on a sharp coffee tree
THREE detectives from Port Moresby are now in Lae, Morobe Province, to investigate the Moanna Pisimi shooting and the murder of a Thai national, acting Deputy Police Commissioner and Chief of Operations Jim Andrews said last week.
Mr Andrews said the officers were deployed on Wednesday afternoon on Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki’s instructions.
The team is headed by Director of Crimes Chief Superintendent Peter Guinness, a very experienced detective who has a wealth of knowledge in homicide investigations.
At a glance
SOCERY: A type of magic in which spirits, especially evil ones, are used to make things happen.
WITCHCRAFT: Witchcraft (also called witchery or spellcraft) broadly means the practice of, and belief in, magical skills and abilities that are able to be exercised individually, by designated social groups, or by persons.
CONCERN: Women and children are the ones practising the art and have been targeted for the deaths of locals in rural communities in Enga.
stump,” he said. Supt Kakas has appealed to Engans not to allow the imported belief of sorcery, or sanguma, to wreak havoc on the social fabrics of a sorcery-free tradition of the Engan culture that was handed down from generation to generation.
“How could simple village women and children take out a heart of a living, breathing person, when this can only be performed by specialist heart surgeons in surgery in modern hospitals in developed countries?
“I urge them to go to church and believe in the good Lord above and they will find their answers there and not in some concocted abomination created from the figment of one’s imagination or from some foreign and evil culture,” Supt Kakas said.
The provincial police chief also warned that those involved in kangaroo courts and extra-judiciary killings over sorcery claims would face the full force of the law.
THIS tree house is surely a sight to see and was spotted sitting in the middle of the Laloki High School grounds just outside Port Moresby. It is a tree house from Koiari in the Central Province and was used in the past by the local people. Picture: TARAMI LEGEI
Moanna Pisimi was allegedly car-chased by police and security guards and later found dead inside her car on January in Lae’s back road in Malahang Industrial Centre.
Mr Andrews said the Thai national, identified as Tiam Tan, was found dead inside his home at Eriku on January 1. He said Mr Vaki issued orders for Port Moresby-based detectives to investigate these two cases amid growing accusations from members of the public, who blamed Lae police for Ms Pisimi’s death.
Mr Andrews appealed to the public, especially subscribers on social media networks, to refrain from circulating defamatory and unsubstantiated comments against the police. He said onliners should remain calm and allow the investigation team to complete their job.
Meanwhile, Mr Andrews said newspaper comments by Australian Federal Police Commander Assistant Commissioner Alan Scott yesterday that the AFP would stay out of the Pisima shooting probe should not be misconstrued by readers who did not understand the AFP’s deployment status in PNG.
He said the AFP were deployed in PNG only as advisers and not in active front line policing duties, but they were required to work with the RPNGC to provide sound professional advice.
“The investigation into the Pisimi case and all other crimes for that matter are the sovereign responsibility of the RPNGC but as and when required the RPNGC expects professional advice from members of the AFP who are deployed in Port Moresby and Lae as advisers,” Mr Andrews said.
THE landowners of the multibillion kina PNG LNG project are calling on the national Government to fulfil its commitment as per the benefit sharing agreements of 2009.
Landowner representatives from Kutubu PDL 2, Moran PDL 5 and 6, Angore PDL 8, Hides PDL 7 and Beneria pipeline said in a statement that the landowners have waited for too long for the
The bottom line
government and the developer of the first world glass hydrocarbon project to honour their commitment to pay the landowners.
Landowner spokesperson and trustee of the Wadju stock clan from the tribe in the Kutubu PDL 2 and South East Malanda said six months has passed and more than 50 shipments of condensate gas has left the country, bringing millions into the country but the landowners are still
waiting for their benefits as agreed.
Mr Gii said the landowners have waited silently for too long since 2009 and it was now time for them to cry so that the whole world could hear how the government and the developer ExxonMobil were mistreating the landowners.
He said the benefit from the PNG LNG project was only benefiting the Government and not the landowners.
He said the government was
preaching about the upcoming 2015 Pacific Games and the 2018 APEC meeting in Port Moresby without showing some kind of appreciation to the landowners who have made it possible for the multibillion project to come into fruition. He said the major events will not benefit the landowners and they want Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to hear the plea of the people.
He said the landowners are
According to surveys, 80% of respondents consider that gambling should be legal.
prepared to take the law into their hands if the government and ExxonMobil continue to ignore the plight of the people and pay out the commitment by the New Year.
“The Prime Minister Peter O’Neill should reconsider giving our share of the proceeds from the gas. The gas is our blessing, a blessing from our creator after seeing our needs being labourers and providing free workforce to develop PNG by our forefathers,” Mr
Gii said. “It was also timely that a son of Hela-South was the CEO of the country sharing the benefits from our resource and therefore our Prime Minister as our son should use his powers to compensate us by paying out our dues as agreed.”
He said for 26 years the Kutubu oil has kept the economy going so the state should appreciate their contribution to the development of the country and pay what is due.
CLOUDY Micheal Baur makes sure her dog is behaving in public at Geno Barrack. “Man’s best friend” is a phrase referring to domestic dogs, highlighting their close relations, loyalty and companionship with humans within many societies. Picture: TARAMI LEGEI
THE Government sees financial literacy as an essential goal in its effort to achieve financial inclusion and a meaningful participation by all.
The goal of financial literacy is to help individuals develop skills and confidence to become aware of financial risks and opportunities.
Under its national financial inclusion and financial literacy strategy 2014-2015, the key strategic area includes lead efforts to create a financially competent generation of Papua New Guineans.
In a commentary by Maholopa Laveil, a cadet researcher with the National Research Institute, there is a need for data to accurately measure financial literacy level in the country.
“PNG lacks an accurate measure of financial literacy rates, in terms of indicators used internationally,” Mr Laveil said.
THE Government is ready to meet with the Korean consortium linked with the Port Moresby casino hotel project and discuss options, Government officials said over the weekend.
The issue of the casino, being built at Four-Mile before it was abandoned under controversial circumstances, was complicated and decisions had already been made, a government official said.
However, if the consortium, CMSS PNG, has the money to complete the project as reported on Friday, then PNG may be interested in re-opening negotiations.
“If what they are saying is true, they will have to come and face the relevant authorities in PNG to go through with the process of negotiations,”the official said.
CMSS PNG had gone to court last year, filing for damages over alleged contract breaches by the State and the National Capital District Commission during the construction of the proposed ho-
REPORTS: The consortium CMSS
PNG, has the money to complete the project – the casino hotel at Four-Mile in Port Moresby.
CONDITIONS: The company has plans to help with the development of PNG’s health care and education programs if allowed back.
OWNER: CMSS is owned by Choi Chang Su of Korea
tel casino. The Supreme Court dismissed the CMSS application filed, ruling it did not raise strong arguments to proceed.
But CMSS and its Korean consortium partners have revealed that they have US$60 million to complete the casino hotel project and prepare for the APEC Summit in 2018.
They also have plans to help with the development of PNG’s health care and education programs if allowed back.
CMSS is owned by Choi Chang Su of Korea and with its PNG partners – Petroleum Resource Moran, Petroleum Resource Gobe and Papindo Group, involved in the FourMile project, would boost top-class conference rooms and facilities, 200 hotel rooms and VIP rooms.
Mr Su said he was still keen to complete what he had started.
“CMSS has enough money and we want to finish this construction since we began the work,” he said, adding he would go at it alone by buying back the company shares from PRM, PRG and Papindo.
“High school education does not necessarily equip an individual with the knowledge and skills to utilise financial services.
“Basic financial knowledge plays a major role in determining how effective an individual can use any financial or banking service.”
Examples of financial services are pension schemes offered by superannuation institutions when unemployed, mobile and internet banking by banks and other financial institutions and the deposit, withdrawal, foreign currency exchange transfer as well as other general banking services offered by commercial banks.
He said attempts to gauge estimates by National Statistics Office, microfinance expansion project and the Centre of Excellence for Financial Inclusion for low income households showed that most low income households possessed low to low-moderate competency skills.
WARRING clans in Kagua-Erave district of Southern Highlands Province have laid down their arms and vowed to fight no more.
They pledged peace to running feud which has claimed countless lives and damages done to property worth millions, including a primary school, a health centre, trade stores and homes.
The three clans, Palisarepa, Muim
and Kandina, of Usa council ward in the Aiya local level government, made their peace last week at a gathering of leaders who vowed to lay down their arms.
The three clans agreed to sign a peace agreement in July.
In Yakipupita village, more than 20 pigs and three cows were slaughtered as festive season feast to mark the occasion.
the festive season. Picture: TARAMI
WORLD renowned non-profit group Médecins Sans Frontières’ prospect of drones delivering parcels to your doorstep is still some way off in other parts of the world.
But at least for Papua New Guinea, it is doing wonders since introduction in May last year.
The use of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for humanitarian work in developing countries is already happening.
When MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, set up a tuberculosis diagnosis station in PNG last May, one of its first calls was to Silicon Valley-based UAV firm Matternet.
“They called, and said it was impossible to do this [mission] in a traditional way, because the roads are very bad, where they exist, and in the rainy season it is completely blocked,” recounts Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos.
beef to them and their mothers to
A NUMBER of communities in the Duke of York Islands in East New Britain province have been hit by a rise in sea level.
Sea water has flowed into wards such as Watara, Nebual, Waire and Pirtop following recent bad weather conditions.
President of the Duke of York Island local level government Henry Libai said
the recent swelling of the sea was due to the current bad weather experienced in the province and was similar to
a previous disaster last year in October which destroyed food gardens in the same wards.
He said they were always faced with the rise in sea level which continues to affect their food gardens along with their other commodities such as coconut and cocoa. He said a rapid disaster assessment will be done and a report will be submitted to the Kokopo District administration.
Mr Libai said a submission from his LLG office will also be given to the Kokopo Joint District Planning and Budget Priorities Committee to secure a plantation on the mainland for the islanders to be resettled.
He said past Kokopo leaders had talked about the relocation of Duke of York Islanders but nothing has been done to date.
He called on the Governor and Kokopo MP Ereman To-
“They estimated that as many as 10,000 patients needed to be diagnosed, the majority living rurally.” Matternet, which had previously run trial projects with Doctors Without Borders in Haiti and the World Health Organisation in Bhutan, deployed UAVs with a range of up to 28km (17 miles) to carry diagnostic samples of circa 1kg (2lbs) from rural villages to a central lab.
Flying autonomously, each follows GPS co-ordinates typed in using a mobile phone app.
Baining Jr to set aside some funding to purchase a plantation near the main land of Kokopo for his people to resettle.
He has cautioned his people to be wary of the current bad weather conditions and report any disaster immediately to the LLG administration office at the Kibil government station.
The Duke of York islands are between East New Britain and New Ireland.
THE 11 people who went missing between Manus and Madang Provinces 12 days ago have been sighted off the coast of West New Britain after spending eight days drifting out at sea.
This was confirmed by authorities from both Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The 11, including three children, had headed out of Baluan Island in Manus on a 23-foot motorised dinghy on December 29 and were headed for Pana Island outside Madang town when they were reported missing.
The bottom line
SEARCH:People who were missing between Manus and Madang Provinces 12 days ago have been sighted off the coast of WNB after spending eight days out at sea.
TRIP: The 11 including three children, had headed out of Baluan Island in Manus on December 29, heading for Pana Island outside Madang town when they were reported missing.
REPORTS: Australian Rescue Coordination Centre reported that two survivors had swam ashore to Garove Island in WNB.
Their failure to arrive had raised concern among their relatives who had informed the Madang provincial disaster office which in turn
contacted Port Moresby to initiate a full search and rescue and the assistance of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority was sought.
Reports from the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre are that two survivors had swum ashore to the Garove Island, West New Britain, on Tuesday evening and had raised the alert. An Australian Defence Force P3 Orion aircraft was dispatched from Cairns early Thursday morning and at about noon time a sighting was reported. Authorities said the aircraft had dropped a rescue pack for the passengers to use as a survival craft and position marker, while awaiting a boat to pick them up. Also dispatched
Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions louder than your words.
was a survival pack, including a VHF transmitter.
At the time the statement was issued, local authorities had advised a boat was being dispatched to pick up the remaining survivors.
NMSA general manager Captain Nurur Rahman had applauded the efforts of all who had been involved including the Australian Rescue Coordination Rescue Centre and the Australian Defence Force whose assistance had ensured no lives were lost, praising the Australians in particular.
BY MICHAEL KOMAA PERMANENT building costing an more than a K100,000 was completely destroyed when a gigantic tree fell on it last Thursday in Sinesine’s Koge village.
The Post Courier arrived at the scene an hour later and found that one of the dried linus trees within the premises of Koge Health Centre fell onto the house, which is located a mere seven metres outside the facility’s boundry.
The health centre’s perimeter fence separates the tree from the privately-owned building.
The distraught owner of the house, Moses Eregul Kamen, said the lifeless tree gave way and crashed onto his house during strong winds when members of his family were not inside the house.
Mr Kamen said he had repeatedly requested superiors of the facility for permission to safely cut the tree citing the potential danger it posed, “but they were reluctant to give me the greenlight to do that.”
“Since the ill-fated tree was planted planted by the health centre I deserve compensation from the Sinesine-Yongomugl district,” he said.
CHILDREN at a police barracks in Port Moresby paying attention to city police chief Andy Bawa when he delivered
thank them for helping policemen maintain law and order during
LEGEI
WE ARE ENJOYING OUR HOLIDAY
The rise in sea level continues to affect their food gardens...
HENRY LIBAI East New Britain
DEPUTY Opposition Leader
Sam Basil has called on consumer rights watchdog, the Independent Competition and Consumers Commission, to investigate mobile phone fee charges.
Mr Basil has written a letter to the ICCC relating to the voice mail call charges by mobile phone companies.
“There has been complaints and issues raised by mobile phone users relating to fees charged when telephone calls are not answered or are delayed,” Mr Basil said.
“The mobile phone users must be given the option to allow the call to terminate after ringing for the time allowed or to be given an option to connect to voice mail to leave message.”
He said in the urban centres, especially the National Capital District and Lae, there is competition between mobile phone companies but in other centres and rural areas, it is monopoly due to absence of competition.
“In essence, the phone users do not have a choice and are subjected to fees that a mobile phone company operates by,” he said.
“Therefore, it is apparent that ICCC should investigate the various issues raised here and ensure that our consumers are given a choice and that any charges must be with their concurrence.”
The letter has been copied to relevant authorities such as the Minister for Communication Jimmy Miringtoro and communication regulator, NICTA.
PAPUA New Guinea is blessed with music, however there isn’t a wellestablished music school to groom young talents.
Holy Trinity Teacher’s College music lecturer Ms Barbara Buburuv told the Post-Courier that PNG is blessed with music and raw talents but there is not a proper school to mentor and guide these talents to be international stars.
Ms Buburuv said she was surprised to learn that many students she taught in college were never taught arts in primary and secondary school. She said once we have a music school specialising in teaching the four components of arts; music, drama, dance and art we could be in same level with other western countries. She said arts is included in the education curriculum for teachers to teach music and the other three components of arts to students but it requires a teacher who is well talented in one of those areas to teach.
“You cannot find a perfect child in a class, but one child can be good in singing, playing instruments or sport,” she said.
“There has been complaints and issues relating to fees charged when telephone calls are not answered...
SAM BASIL Port Moresby
There are more than enough reasons to call for the RPNGC to incorporate a state-of-the-art forensics unit into its operations, because strengthening policing efforts in this country must also include the upgrade of our force’s technological strength. Funding is not the problem, putting it to good use is. Our country is financially capable and has no shortage of the human expertise required to establish and utilise highly developed laboratories and technologies to uncover scientific evidence in a variety of fields. For instance crime investigation, where in-depth analysis is always effective in assisting police investigations. This is obviously a way forward to curb crime. This will extend the arm of the law further, which is what this country needs right now. If other countries can rely heavily on forensic science as an important tool to fight crime then I don’t see why PNG can’t do the same.
Orlando W
With the games now approximately six months away, a bombshell has been dropped that some venues may not be ready in time for the games. So where do we stand in this regard; the sponsors, the investors, the athletes, and of course the people of Papua New Guinea who should enjoy watching these events from world standard venues. But unfortunately it may not be the case. Driving around the city of Port Moresby and looking at the constructions going on, I a simple person, agree with the comments that most venues won’t be ready on time. It is most likely that a lot of the games will be held in substandard venues like we Papua New Guineans are used to. This opportunity (the games) may never come around our way, maybe for the next 30 years plus. Funds have been released late for the construction of most of these projects, no wonder it reflects on the facilities that are currently being constructed in a rush.
Worried citizen
Your opinions
I AM looking for a middle-aged woman from Nonga village in Rabaul, East New Britain Province. Her name is Niuta Toule and she used to work at the operating theatre at the Nonga Base Hospital. If someone knows her whereabouts, please ask her to call Digicel mobile number 7350 3517.
George Arua
I WAS witness to something that really disturbed my peace of mind and made me want to call for action against such activities.
I had just finished from work at 4.06pm and was on bus 17 from Malaoro to Four-Mile, in Port Moresby. The bus was not that full so the driver was looking for passengers and as a result, stopped for extremely long periods at bus stops. We stopped at Foodland, Korobosea, and while the bus waited for what seemed like ages, this young man, one leg in the bus, the other leg out the door, reached for the nearest woman’s bilum
She struggled with him just to have a knife pointed at her and a demand yelled at her to let go. I could not be-
lieve it! The arrogance of the guy to come screaming at this lady for something that wasn’t even his. To make matters worse, as he stepped off the bus with bilum in hand, he slung it over his neck and casually stood there while a huge crowd of young boys banged on the side of the bus and demanded the driver drive off.
He wasn’t even scared to run away because he knew all the other boys would protect him should some good samaritan decide to help. As the bus drove off, we were all silent and shocked at what had just taken place. The arrogance! What are we to do about such gang-like activities that take place on our streets and bus stops every day?
Criminals who have no fear and are ready to attack any unexpected person. This is not right!!
Scared bystander Pom
The views expressed on these pages are the opinions of our readers. They do not necessarily represent the views of the Post-Courier – Editor
A TEACHER who reaches voluntary retirement age of 55, or the compulsory retirement age of 60, and is retired from the teaching service is entitled to transport fares and removal expenses.
The State through the Provincial Education Division is responsible for meeting the above fares and expenses from the district in which the retired teacher was last teaching, to the provincial headquarters where the teacher is from.
I am raising this concern because a lot of retired teachers have been missing out on their entitlements that are specifically provided by law. In most cases, provincial education authorities have failed to meet the cost of the fares, including removal expenses of retired teachers. Provincial education authorities need to keep a record of the number of teachers who are about to retire so that they can include the costs in their budgets.
Secondly, if a teacher occupying
a house provided by the school or the State is retired from teaching, and even if he or she is paid his Nambawan Supa Entitlements and services entitlements, he or she can only vacate the house if he is paid his repatriation fares, including the removal expenses. In most cases, retired teachers who are yet to be paid repatriation fares and removal expenses are forced to vacate the institutional or school accommodations.
However, a retired teacher is not supposed to remain in a school provided house if he or she has already been paid his repatriation fares and removal expenses by the State through the Provincial Education Division.
Finally, if a serving teacher dies, the spouse and members of the family are entitled to transport fares from the school in which the deceased was teaching to the provincial headquarters of the deceased or a nominated destination where the body is to be buried.
In addition, the State, upon request by the family, has an obligation to meet removal expenses of the de-
ceased and the family members. Furthermore, the right to payment, in relation to the fares and removal expenses, is forfeited unless it is exercised within six months or such further time the Teaching Service Commission allows after the retirement or death.
In conclusion, provincial education authorities and retired teachers are advised not to consult the Public Service General Orders in relation to any rights that teachers may be entitled to since the Public Service General Order does not apply to teachers. Teachers need to consult the Teaching Service Act 1988 since that legislation specifically provides for teachers’ rights in relation to their service provided to the State.
Joel NavaIT is extremely depressing to see negativity expressed regarding lack of tangible change in Daulo district.
If people like Mr Mutono, who live right at the doorstep of the district, hardly see any change then it explicitly shows that services are deteriorating in the district.
Maybe the honourable MP and his administration must have done something worthwhile in some parts of the district that needs reporting to ease uncertainty.
Frankly, people have not heard or seen their elected leader in the district since his election victory. He only sends his representatives to special events and occasions he is
invited to attend. People don’t want to see representatives or politically appointed persons representing the MP, they’d rather see their MP.
It is also unbelievable to see Daulo having a good administration setup and yet administrative duties are done elsewhere.
Apparently, the elected member and the district administration operate at the new district HQ in Goroka town.
The so-called hard working project owners, sustainable community initiative members and productive contractors congregated at this usual site to receive their dues. When no one is there to attend to their queries, they go back and forth from
north Goroka and the provincial assembly searching for officers for weeks and months.
This is totally unbecoming of a leader to operate out of the district. Where is transparency, accountability and mandated responsibility? Will the majority continue to suffer at the pleasure of a few?
The honourable member and the District Administration are obliged to come out and explain to the people of Daulo why there is lack of infrastructure and services. The people of Daulo have the constitutional right to know where the government allocated fund is spent.
Luwi James Mahi Lower Asaro
With low world commodity prices affecting PNG LNG exports, the Prime Minister is cautiously optimistic about the economy weathering the storms. We may be looking at a decade before the commodity prices appreciate. Japan should remain our main LNG consumer. It imports 99 per cent of its oil, 88 per cent of which come from the Middle East. Political, cultural and religious stability in the Middle East region is crucial to Japan’s continued economic and industrial success. That leaves PNG one among the 11 per cent small players in the game. In 2004, Japan and Iran signed a 2 billion dollar deal to exploit one of the largest oil fields in Iran with Japan having 75 per cent stake. Production was estimated to be around 260,000 barrels per day commencing 2012. The significance of this arrangement further boost Japan’s position as the second largest oil consumer and Iran as the second largest oil producer within the OPEC. Given the volatility of the Middle East, it would be to our long term advantage to increase exports to Japan as well as explore other bigger Asian market opportunities.
M M OndassaI do not understand why PNG Power plans to use RPNGC and PNGDF as debt collectors. All those accumulated debts from consumers came about simply because of PNG Power’s poor management. There should be a better way of recouping those unpaid bills. RPNGC and PNGDF have their specific mandated duties and that is to maintain law and order and to protect this nation, which is a very high and respected calling that must not be compromised. For them to be used as debt collectors is to degrade their status. It is similar to telling a professional from another office to come and collect your rubbish while there are paid rubbish collectors around your
premises who can do the job well.
To say the least, using the above two bodies is a knee jerk reaction to the problem. They may use force and recoup some money but expect a lot of resistance from consumers and that could trigger chaos. PNG Power needs to get its technical team around and come up with a plan that will enable it to recoup its debts as well as to solve the problem once and for all. Or if PNG Power is lost for ideas, it should make an open invitation to smart PNGeans to contribute ideas.
Tom KaltiaFinger pointing of failing teachers almost every end of the year is a big headache. Enough of this. The Education Secretary should be given the marching orders and fresh minds take the lead.
Yamo PitaI find it strange to note why government employees, especially from outlying districts in Morobe Province, that is district administrators and support staff resort to using private hire cars to do business while in Lae City rather than using government pool vehicles. I have lived here for quite a while now and have not seen such practice in the past, which has somewhat flourished over the past 2-3 years. Is there a body called Provincial Plant and Transport Dept and or does Morobe Provincial Administration have pool vehicles in place for use by their outlaying district personnel travelling into Lae on government business? The use of private hire cars at exuberant rates is ridiculous and can amount to gross abuse of powers and or misuse of public monies. Over to the relevant authorities.
Sam YawamsonThere are a number of questions the relatives and the authorities have in mind and are impatient to know the answers to.
Morobe Governor Kelly Naru on the death of Moanna Pisimi.
NORMALLY people offer money and goods as offering to God but it is rare in most places to offer human beings to the Creator.
However, five people were offered to God and 55 people gave their lives to Jesus last week at the Kaip area in Anglimp South Waghi district, Jiwaka Province, during the Nokupka people’s thanksgiving crusade.
Three females and two males were offered to do God’s work. The Tinjpairua PNG Christian Fellowship Church is where the five people will be stationed. The church will look after and teach them to do God’s work and send them out as missionaries.
The parents of the five said they received their children from God as blessings and now they are giving it back to Him to serve Him and extend His kingdom on earth.
THE death of Papua New Guinea Catholic priest Fr Jerry Inau and a pastoral care worker have been noted by the Vatican in its 2014 annual report, the official Vatican News Network says.
The network said this when announcing that last year, 26 Catholic pastoral care workers were killed worldwide, three more than in 2013.
Last May Fr Inau and communion minister Benedict were murdered in the remote Goilala mountains of Kamulai, Central Province, as the
result of inter-tribal tension.
The Vatican noted that the killers had not been caught and brought to justice.
The pastoral care workers who died violently in 2014 included Fr Inau and Benedict among the 17 priests, one religious man, six religious sisters, one seminarian and one lay person.
For the sixth consecutive year, the place most affected, with an extremely elevated number of pastoral care workers killed, was the United States.
In America, 14 pastoral care workers were killed; in Africa seven; in Asia two; in Oceania two and a priest was killed in Europe.
Once again the majority of the pastoral care workers in 2014 were killed in attempted robberies, and in some cases violently attacked, a sign of the climate of moral decline, economic and cultural poverty, which generates violence and disregard for human life, wrote Friar Jesús Etayo, Prior General, in Vatican News Network.
“They all lived in these human and social contexts, carrying out the mission of proclaiming the Gospel message without making sensational acts, but by witnessing their faith in the humility of daily life.
“Some were killed by the same people they helped, others opened the door to those who asked for aid and were attacked, others were killed during a robbery, but the reason why many other assaults and kidnappings ended tragically remain unclear.”
Evangelist Israel Kundi prayed over the new 55 believers and said they will be served with God’s Word and directed in His path.
He encouraged the new believers to hold on to their faith and not to fall back to their old ways.
Among those who repented were some prominent leaders in the community and educated elites and students.
Pastor Daniel Paka of the Tinjpairua PNGCF said these five people were sacrifices made to God, and they will serve to deliver what is necessary of Him.
“They will be sent as missionaries to go out and spread the Gospel to other nations,” Ps Paka said.
He said as a pastor he has a vision and plans on how to help these souls that are coming in to the church.
“All we want to see is the blessing of the Lord in the community, church and in work and school, so that we can understand our purpose as human beings and live peacefully among ourselves and with our neighbouring tribes,” the pastor said.
IMMEDIATE action is needed to stop any potential cyanide spillage at the idle Sinivit gold mine in East New Britain Province.
Ronald Gumaira from the Department of Environment and Conservation has joined the ENB monitoring team that has been monitoring cyanide-laden leach vats and heaps at the mine site and according to him, the issue was very serious
Their visits to the site have revealed shocking details of unsafe vat and heap locations.
It is believed developer New Guinea Gold Limited had put the mine under care and maintenance in October last year.
There are now only seven workers mending the site but without proper logistic support. Most workers have left following nonpayment of their wages.
Currently, there are two tonnes of cyanide at the mine site storage as well as over K100,000 worth of explosives, according to the team.
The team has been monitoring the situation following the theft of special canvases
used to cover these heaps and vats and will produce an environmental assessment report soon, which will be handed over to authorities for immediate action.
Mr Gumaira said of all the 17 vats located at the mine, Vat M and Vat J were now both located two and five metres from the edge of the ridge.
“It is very serious because it continues to rain,” he said.
The mine is located in the Baining Mountains and the rain fall average is around 28 mm a day.
He said the current loca-
tions of the vats were not safe and anything could happen. Authorities fear possible landslips and the potential cyanide spillage.
He said any cyanide spillage will affect the environment as well as the river systems in ENB.
Mr Gumaira said the ENB Provincial Government as well as the national Government and relevant authorities need to act immediately.
He also said awareness should be immediately carried out in communities near the mine to prepare the people for any potential spillage. A cyanide heap covered in canvas at the Sinivit Gold Mine.
years of age. However, donkeys in third world countries seldom live over 10 years.
Some were killed by the same people they helped, others opened the door to those who asked for aid and were attacked ...
JESÚS ETAYO Rome
BY CYRIL GARE
W ABAG MP Robert Ganim is fuming that Enga Province still does not have a jail, resulting in its detainees being herded into Western Highlands’ already overcrowded Baisu jail.
He said this at the weekend when commenting on the 33 detainees, mostly Engans, who escaped from Baisu on New Year’s Eve.
Mr Ganim said that in last May’s Parliament sitting he had asked Correctional Services Minister Jim Simatab when the Makarumanda jail, 10 years under construction, would be completed so that Enga prisoners would be jailed in the province.
That month, there was a Baisu jail break in which 20 dangerous prisoners from Enga escaped.
“If our Enga jail facility was completed, Enga prisoners would be kept and administered in Enga where a full time resident judge is stationed and this would have been all better for the criminal justice process for these offenders,” Mr Ganim added.
Mr Simatab did not answer the Makarumanda jail question.
According to the Hansard, he said the reason for these breakouts was that remandees had been in custody for too long, beyond the six months specified by law.
“Nevertheless, sometimes the reason for this is that, their files may not be ready, findings from the police investigations are not ready or because judges do not visit their court circuits.
“These are some of the things that contribute to remandees being remanded for to three to five years. In some cases, files have been lost. These are factors that result in the large number of breakouts involving remandees.
“Apart from that, remandees are not the responsibility of the Correctional Services. The Correctional Services is only responsible for the convicted who are jailed.
“Remandees are the responsibility of the police. The police themselves do not have enough space in their cells to keep remandees to wait for court decisions so they send them to the Correctional Services to cater for them until they are called to court,” Mr Simatab said.
THE big push by Chimbu police to rid the community of drugs and home brewed alcohol is paying off. Young people around the province are denouncing these illicit drugs and alcohol, which have controlled their lives, and are turning a new chapter in their lives. Young men from the Enduka clan, living in Kundiawa, are part of this group of young people. These young men are seen here having fun with their leaders, who are supporting them.
BY TUMBE SAM JR UPNG journalism student
THE United States remains committed to achieving the fullest possible accounting of Americans lost during the Second World War.
With continued support from the governments and people of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, JPAC plans to continue successful operations this year.
Following their successful 2014 recovery and repatriation mission in Papua New Guinea , teams from the US Joint POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Accounting Command (JPAC) will return this month to begin investigative missions and potential recovery operations.
These JPAC missions will continue operations in both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands throughout several months.
In 2014, JPAC conducted a successful underwater investigation and recovery mission near Rabaul, East New Britain Province. Search, recovery, and laboratory operations were conducted to identify unaccounted-for Americans.
JPAC was supported by the USNS Safeguard, a ship specifically designed and built for rescue and salvage operations. The remains of
At a glance
ISSUE: The United States remains committed to achieving the fullest [possible account of Americans lost during the Second World War.
INVESTIGATION: In 2014 ,JPAC conducted a succesful underwater investigation and recovery mission near Rabaul and the search recovery and laboratory operations were conducted to identify unaccounted for Americans. REMAINS: The remains of 8,000 United States are yet to be recovered.
more than 8,000 United Sates soldiers are yet to be recovered from World War II battlefields and air crash sites in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Papua New Guinea JPAC 2015 investigative missions will concentrate in Madang Province, while support teams will visit Port Moresby for liaison work with government agencies.
JPAC investigative missions in the Solomon Islands will focus on several locations: Florida, Isabel, South New Georgia, and Vangunu Islands. Additionally, JPAC teams will conduct investigative missions in and around Honiara on Guadalcanal.
WILL the construction of the Kookaburra flyover road, the Sir Hubert Murry Stadium and other road upgrading in the Nation’s Capital be completed on time before the South Pacific Games?
This big question pops up when people talk about the 2015 South Pacific Games, which will be held on July 14-18.
Most importantly, the construction of the flyover road project and the reconstruc-
tion of Sir Hubert Murry Stadium are becoming a very interesting topic in the city and people are unsure whether the construction works will finish on their targeted time given or not.
However, the contractors that have took up these huge infrastructural development tasks are very confident that both projects will be completed on time, and it is definitely before the commencing of the South Pacific Games.
The New Zealand Hawkins construction company and
Curtain Brothers PNG are the contractors that are currently on the ground working hard to complete the projects on time.
“As for the major flyover road project, we are pretty sure that it will definitely finish on the targeted time which is March 06, this year,” said Anthony Varily, one of the workmen.
Mr Varily said the construction work includes both PNG and overseas expertise and is managed with strict guidelines; however they are work-
ing very enthusiastically because it is a milestone project for PNG.
“PNG has set a history in the entire Pacific Island countries and also we, the workmen, are very happy to take part in building the road because we will also be setting history to tell our future generations”.
“With that, I know for sure that the road will finish on time since it is the gate way of the country and visitors will pass through, straight from the Jackson International Airport,” he said.
TWO warring tribes in Hela Province have finally decided to lay down arms after four years of tribal fights.
The Linapina and Paivali battle has claimed a total of 15 lives during years of fighting. Both groups signed a memorandum of understanding last week which was witnessed by TariPori MP and Finance Minister James Marape.
Mr Marape, who was in his electorate, said yesterday that the tribal fight has been raging for over 15 years and the two groups have now agreed to compensate the 15 deaths from both sides.
“Today (yesterday) I am here to preside over the compensation initiative. As of last week Thursday both sides signed a MoU not to fight,” Mr Marape said.
“I thanked both sides who have taken this peace initiative and I hope they set a date in the future to lay down and eventually surrender their arms.”
Mr Marape also commended the Hela Provincial Government for sponsoring the combined police and defence force operation in the province that eventually led to this peaceful ending of the tribal fight.
He also acknowledge the provincial police commander Mark Yangen who have upheld law and order in the province and for assisting to bring an end to the fighting and assisted in the peace talks and the compensation initiative.
MEET little captain Hope, who was born on board the Ok Tedi Development Foundation’s passenger vessel MV Fly Hope along the Fly River a few kilometres out of Kiunga at 12pm on December 5, 2014.
This little fellow weighed a bouncing 7.3kg when he made his entry into the world, a bundle of joy and hope for his mother, 28-year-old Waridu Sawaba, from Kiru village in Suki, Western Province.
Knowing that her baby was due, Waridu was part of a group of about 80 people who boarded the MV Fly Hope on December 3 to come to Kiunga to have their eye operation.
The baby was delivered with the assistance of Jerome Kandok who is a community health worker at Kiunga hospital who travelled with a team of 4 health specialists - national department of health surgeons Dr Jambi Garap and
Dr Kerek Apisai, and two refractionists from PNG Eye Care, Anita John and Aloise Raphael - to assist the people coming for eye operations.
Waridu was admitted to Kiunga hospital with her baby from December 6-10 and had a cataract in her left eye removed on December 11.
Waridu’s baby was affectionately nicknamed “Captain Hope” by other patients who were also on board the vessel when she gave birth.
Waridu previously had an eye operation on her right eye in 1997 when she was a young girl and this year, 17 years later, needed one on her left eye as well.
She now has two reasons to smile – a new baby and improved vision.
The eye operations are part of health services provided to the Middle and South Fly districts of Western Province.
THE people of Gulf Province are keen on reviving a concept which they devised known as the “betelnut gate” which they claim had served them well in the past.
This is in light of claims of ongoing intimidation and harassment sellers from the province have been experiencing at the market established by the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) at their established market at Roburogo, outside Port Moresby.
They are also keen due to the current conditions which they also claim to be unhygienic.
As explained sellers at a fee were previously transported into Port Moresby, housed in a secure location and fed. When they were done selling and had shopped were returned on a PMV back to their province.
The concept, which had for years been a lucrative initiative, died with the enforcement of the betelnut ban in Port Moresbylast year.
The locals are keen on bringing the concept back but say funding to be an issue.
Paul Paiwa, a local and operator, told the Post-Courier that he, using his own initiative, has done a proposal and submitted to leaders of the province both at the national and provincial level but says it has been a struggle trying to source
financial support to help the locals. He said funding to be required if not purchase land to lease land to establish a place which proper roadside market shelters would be built where sellers could freely and comfortably do their business, taken to Port Moresby to shop then returned to the province.
Paul’s wife Anna said while the proposal had been sent out, the council at Kerema Central had responded favourably in writing with a commitment of K30,000 but had yet to deliver.
She had on behalf of the women folk in the province urged it be given due consideration by the leaders of the province, especially in light of the situation at Roburogo.
Other betelnut sellers who spoke to the Post-Courier had stated their support stating also the condition at Roburogu to be un-conducive.
Albert Saiwa another local said because of the situation at Roburogo that there to have been a drastic cut in the number not only of sellers but the bags that were being ferried out of the province.
He said with the school year approaching his concern was that many parents, especially those of children in private and high schools would be at a loss.
“Since the ban, many of our leaders have been silent on the matter. If they care about us, this is one way of helping us,” he said.
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THE tuition fee free education policy has enabled more students to go to school and there are not enough secondary schools and higher institution to cater for continuing students.
Kinjibi plantation chairman Jack Robin told the Post-Courier that the free education policy has caused many students from his area in Dei district of Western Highlands province to drop out from school because of limited spaces in High schools and secondary schools.
THIS picture shows the stalled hotel building in Ega, Kundiawa. The project was initiated and funded by the Lutheran Church in Chimbu as an income generating project to generate funds to pay the pastors a “small amount of allowance.”
Sinesine-Yongomugl MP Kerenga Kua donated K1 million to the church in March 2012, which was translated into the project, according to church insiders. Workmen abandoned the project two months ago due to shortage of funds to pay their allowance and acquire materials to complete the 14-room hotel building, says project manager Thomas Berry.
Words and picture: MICHAEL
KOMATHE people of Nokupka in the Aglimp South Wagi district of Jiwaka Province have given K4000, 14 pigs and heaps of garden food at thanksgiving service last week.
They had a one week crusade that ended yesterday with the thanks giving ceremony.
The purpose of the thanks giving was to thank God for his blessings and guidance throughout the year 2014 and to see new things in their life and for their community in this New Year.
Pastor Daniel Paka of the Tinjpairua Papua New Guinean Christian fellowship church (PNGCF) who hosted the ceremony said that this thanks giving ceremony was to allow the Lord to bless their land, work and their kids to excel in school. “We thank the Lord for what he did to us in 2014, and now we want to experience more of his interference in our lives,” he said.
He said that this thanks giving ceremony has gave him challenge to study in detail the Bible and spend more time with God so that he can teach his people the acceptable human ways.
“I has a pastor, I have vision for my people in the church, vision to send them to bible colleges and as missionaries out to other nations,” Ps Paka said. It was a successful ceremony were
CEREMONY: The people of Nokupka in the Aglimp South Wagi district of Jiwaka Province held a thanks giving ceremony and gave an amount of K4000,14 pigs and lots of garden food.
HOST: The ceremony was hosted by Pastor Daniel Paka of the Tinjpairua Papua New Guinean Christian fellowship church.
PURPOSE: The purpose of the thanks giving was to thank God for his blessings and guidance throughout the year 2014 and to see new things in their life and for their community in this New Year 2015.
lots of community leaders and educated elites in the community surrendered themselves to the Lord confessed their old dirty ways and said they want to see new things in their live and for their community.
A community and former PNG education curriculum director
Andrew Kuk thanked Tinjpairua PNCF church for hosting the thanks giving ceremony. He appealed to the young ones of the community to quit drugs and other illegal activities which are unhealthy for the community.
Mr Kuk said that church was the only place that they will get wisdom and understanding and it will make them become productive members of the society.
run but what could be done to help kids who could not continue on to grade nine and 11 because of limited space.
Mr Robin said before the 2015 academic year begins on behalf of his community and others he wants the education minister and secretary to provide a good reply to their concern.
He questioned what the government would do to help these drop outs.
He said the policy has clearly stated to ensure a literate population in the long
He said big money has been allocated in the budget for tuition fee free policy but education quality is not there. He said everyone is going to school and then coming back to the village and involve in other illegal activities like smoking marijuana. “I want the government to come clear to us on what they would do to help drop out kids in not only my community but rest of PNG,” said Mr Robin.
FIMALI Limited, a local company in Madang Province, has pledged to assist its employees in paying the extra project fees that schools are imposing for children’s education despite the free education policy.
Fimali Ltd is a pump, valve supply and service company and will assist 30 of its national employees with K250.00 each that will cover for one child per employee.
Initiated by the owners and directors of Fimali, Harry and his wife Maureen Mathers, they have always believed in education as a tool for future success in PNG and their support will go a long way in educating Papua New Guineans.
This is in line with their company motto - ‘Spend your money in PNG and educate a PNG child’.
Mr Mathers said for the past 10 years, employees were paid cash Christmas
bonuses for which he believed the benefit was enjoyed only for a short while.
This year with the new initiative, Mr Mathers is certain that it was a worthwhile approach taken this time with a total of K7,500.00 to spend on employees’ children’s fees for a start.
“By electing to pay fees for a child for each employee, the benefit will be ongoing and cumulative (if this is well accepted), as we will do it again next year and onwards,” he said.
“We decided this year to divert the usual Christmas bonus into a tangible benefit for PNG’s future by directly supporting our own motto.”
Mr and Mrs Mathers have always believed in education and have long invested in paying school fees for the many children that they have looked after over the years.
DESPITE funding constraints, Madang’s Modilon General Hospital has been able to make significant gains in recent years with the help of its generous partners.
These have included staff housing, including a transit house for staff on night duties, the inclusion of the Fred Hollows Foundation eye clinic which yearly receives patients from neighbouring provinces, the establishment of an orthopaedic ward, refurbishment of its mental clinic, extension to the hospital’s nutrition kitchen to mention a few.
SIXTY-FOUR Divine Word Missionaries had gathered in Alexishafen, Madang for a SVD Assembly from January 5-10 2015. The last such assembly was held in January 2003.
Fr Joe Maciolek, the provincial of the SVD PNG province, said the purpose of the assembly was to share and experience the Joy of the Gospel as Divine Word Missionaries in PNG.
“It is a good opportunity to share what the Pope says in his Encyclical ‘the Joy of the Gospel’,” he said, noting that the assembly coincided with the “Year of the Consecrated Life” declared by Pope Francis.
“The four-day assembly focused on the sharing of the experiences and of being together as SVD missionaries in PNG.
“This is not a body to make decisions nor evaluations and planning” said Fr Giovanni Bustos, the team leader of the organising committee.
The activities included Bible sharing, input on the “Joy of the Gospel”, group discussions, personal sharing about the joys and challenges of being a missionary, and celebrating as missionaries with grateful hearts.
DEVELOPMENTS: Among the positive developments taking place includes the redevelopment plan design brief which is being finalised. Inclusive of the plan is the progression of a brand new operating theatre, designed by Cabrini Hospital in Australia, which upon completion will be one of the biggest in the country.
THEATRE: Work on the theatre had started and is set to serve as the vintage point of other developments that are set to take place at the hospital grounds.
Hospital executives have said the efforts towards improving services are set to continue this year and with the help of its partners.
Despite the negative publicity the hospital has been receiving, the chief executive officer Sister Christine
Gawi said among the positive developments taking place includes the redevelopment plan design brief which is being finalised.
Sr Gawi said inclusive of the plan is the progression of a brand new operating theatre, designed by Cabrini Hospital in Australia, which
upon completion will be one of the biggest in the country.
She said work on the theatre had started and is set to serve as the vintage point of other developments that are set to take place at the hospital grounds.
She said with tuberculosis rife in the province, that Modilon had with the help of its many partners had built a brand new clinic. For those who are familiar with the hospital setting, Sr Gawi said the facility to be located at the back of the hospital next to the Idinad clinic.
The clinic is scheduled to be opened sometime this month.
Modilon Board Chairman
Fr Jan Czuba had also stated funding to be an issue at the hospital but had also reiterated statement by Sr Gawi that the TB Ward to be nearing completion.
“At the present time we have a big challenge with TB in Madang Province and again we did not receive any financial assistance from the NDoH thus, as the Chairperson of the MGH Board I went ahead and did some fundraising and we are about to finish the construction of the TB unit at our hospital.
Both thanked their partners for their continued support to the hospital.
LISTENERS of the National Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio Madang can expect an improvement in the quality of content of programs this year.
This follows a timely delivery of much-needed equipment by the Madang district joint planning and budget priorities committee headed by Madang MP
Nixon Duban, who is also Petroleum and Energy Minister.
A total of seven laptops were bought for K30,000 and were personally delivered by Mr Duban to the provincial radio station on Christmas Day.
Also set to be delivered are eight digital recorders to be used by the broadcast officers and the station’s lone senior journalist.
The provincial radio station continues to serve as a lifeline delivering to the people in the six districts vital and much needed information.
Mr Duban in presenting the equipment had praised the station the good work the staff had been doing over the years despite trying conditions. He had at the same time challenged them also to
improve on the content of the programs. He had stated that he wanted to see more being done in terms of education and awareness to the people on things like important government policies.
He had urged that the equipment be taken care of and used for the intended purpose for which they were being given.
On hand to receive the equipment was the director
There are 102 SVD priests and brothers from 21 countries now working in PNG. The synonym SVD stands for “Societas Verbi Divini” in Latin and in short ‘SVD’. They are also called ‘Divine Word Missionaries’.
The first SVDs arrived on August 13, 1896, in Alexishafen in Madang and then moved on to Tumleo Island near Aitape to start the mission work.
This was one of the reasons to have the assembly in Alexishafen, where it all began. SVDs are priests and brothers and one of the largest men’s congregations in PNG. In the 1970s and 80s they numbered about 270. Now they are 102 working in 8 dioceses.
This is only the second assembly in the 119 year history of the SVDs in PNG.
Provincial Radio Madang Makalai Bell. Mr Bell said the equipment were important tools of trade, which the station lacked.
He said at a time when NBC was going through a restructure funding was tight and the help was appreciated. He had assured that the laptops would go a long way in improving the station’s output especially in terms of its radio programs.
night before his execution, a man in Georgia escaped from prison and, later that night, was beaten to death in a bar
The four-day assembly focussed on the sharing of the experiences and of being together as SVD missionaries in PNG ...
GIOVANNI BUSTOSMadang
THE people of Galilo at the Hoskins local level government have been encouraged to go into commercial rice growing as an alternative to oil palm.
Agriculture adviser with the West New Britain provincial administration Mark Lebong told the people that Hoskins LLG is already in the red mark with the climate change research with the rising sea level so they should be food security conscious.
Mr Lebong said they should utilise their land to grow food particularly rice for their own consumption and as a cash commodity instead of oil palm.
He said markets for their produce would not be a problem as the provincial government under the leadership of Governor
Sasindran Muthuvel and Administrator Williamson Hosea have entered into an agreement with Trukai Industries for rice farming and sales. He said the national Government spends about K500 million to buy rice yearly and if the country grows more rice this money could be put to other purposes.
Mr Lebong was addressing the people at the presentation of a rice milling machine to the La Mautu Culture and Singing Ministry who have ven-
tured into rice growing.
Meanwhile Association chairman Dimon Babo praised the Provincial Government for the assistance given and said the Ministry has big plans to go into commercial rice growing apart from other projects such as fisheries.
La Mautu is a Ministry that was formed to assist their members’ majority of whom are single mothers go into business activities to improve their livelihood. Galilo is the biggest village in the Province with over 1000 people.
Association members received a week’s training from the division of Agriculture and Livestock and ventured into growing rice on their various land plots and have already made their first harvest.
They are also producing soap, oil and pesticide.
Appraisal drilling continues at the Elk-Antelope field in the Gulf Province with three wells likely this year.
Two wells are currently being drilled and a third is expected in the coming months.
The wells will determine more precisely the size of the field as part of development planning for the LNG project.
Comprehensive testing through several wells in the field will begin in the coming months.
InterOil will drill up to seven wells in 2015 in what is Papua New Guinea’s biggest exploration and appraisal program.
The work is providing jobs for about 2,000 staff and contractors and providing indirect employment for service companies and logistics providers.
The coming year promises significant progress on the Elk-Antelope LNG project, which influential investment analysts suggest could be among the world’s most competitive LNG projects.
BY VERONICA HANNETTE
AUTONOMOUS Bougainville
Government President John Momis has asked the Bougainville House of Representatives to change the timing of the Council of Elders (COE) elections.
The elections are currently held at the same time as the ABG general elections.
Mr Momis asked if section 107(5) of the Bougainville Constitution can be amended to do away with its madatory requirement.
He proposed this change to the constitution during the budget sitting, saying the change will not abolish the election for Council of Elders, but to prevent the simultaneous elections for Council of
Elders and the ABG members.
He said it has been seen from previous elections that holding of elections for both the House of Representatives and the Council of Elders is too complex for the voters.
Several ABG MPs have also expressed their views on how hectic the election would be, especially for voters to cramp and vote MPs, women’s representatives and the COEs as well, all at the same.
Mr Momis revealed during the sitting that the next elections for Council of Elders are planned for the second quarter of 2016.
Menawhile, a local reform will be introduced to the region’s system of local level governments by this year.
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THE start-up of ExxonMobil’s $US19 billion; over K50 billion LNG plant in Papua New Guinea contributed to the price weakness by boosting supply, while output also increased in Nigeria and Algeria.
An article carrying the headline; ‘LNG slump in Asia puts growth in doubt’ published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper last Friday, stated, “The PNG LNG venture, in which Oil Search and Santos have partners, had a “phenomenal” year, with the project reaching full capacity from both its production units within five months of its May start-up. But other new plants had problems, notably Chevron’s Angola LNG project which only started production in June 2013 but was shut again in May last year for extensive repairs”.
The SMH making reference to a report by consultancy Wood Mackenzie stated that in terms of final investment decisions for new LNG
ANGOLA LNG PROJECT: Angola LNG is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Soyo, Angola in Southern Africa. The Angola LNG plant is a single train facility with production capacity of 5.2 million tonnes per year. The plant uses ConocoPhillips’ proprietary natural gas liquefaction technology (Optimized CascadeSM Process). In addition to LNG, it also produces propane, butane and condensate.
ICHTHYS LNG PROJECT: The Ichthys LNG Project in Darwin, Australia, is a Joint Venture between INPEX group companies (the Operator), major partner Total and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas.
supply plants, Australia has handed over the baton to the United States, where three new export ventures were sanctioned in the second half of 2014.
Australia had a wave of investment decisions for new LNG plants starting in 2009 but has not had any go-aheads since Inpex Corporation’s sanctioning of its $US34 billion Ichthys project in Darwin in January 2012.
Wood Mackenzie noted a change in the federal approvals process for US LNG export ventures last year, which it said benefited projects that were most advanced in the process, including the Magnolia terminal in Louisiana led by ASX-listed Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd.
In Asia, little new capacity was sanctioned while some projects were delayed, including Woodside Petroleum’s Browse floating LNG
venture which had been targeting a decision by late 2014 to start engineering and design work.
Wood Mackenzie reported that a record number of new LNG tankers were ordered in 2015, of some 67 ships, spurred by expectations of a surge in US LNG exports based on shale gas. But the uptick in ship orders has weighed on charter rates for tankers, reflecting the number of ships ordered in the previous record year, in 2011, that have yet to secure work. South Korea’s DSME captured the bulk of the new ship orders in 2014.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil on Friday announced the naming of the first new LNG tanker custom-built for its PNG LNG venture.
The ship, named “Papua” was built by the Hudong-Zhongua Shipbuilding Group and can carry 172,000 cubic metres of LNG making it the largest LNG ship yet built in China. It is expected to be delivered to PNG early this year.
NAMBAWAN Super chief executive officer (CEO) Garry Tunstall says while a lot of New Year resolutions can be made, formal sector workers should make a commitment to increase their voluntary contributions from 6% to 15%.
“Choosing to increase contributions to superannuation is hassle free once a decision is made and all necessary forms completed and submitted to employer payroll departments,” Mr Tunstall said.
“New Years is more than a time when people make resolutions that, if taken seriously, will last more
than a week.
“While some folks are looking back at 2014, others are already looking ahead to 2015. Resolutions, big plans, new to-do lists are running through their minds and maybe even finding their way into journals and daily planners.
“One-month plans, six-month plans and plans to set the stage for 2016 are, at this moment, being formulated.
“Indeed, the New Year is upon us.
“Many people maybe shaking their heads and wondering where
the old year went. Perhaps many have a list of things that should have been done, could have been done, or wished they were done that will never be,” the CEO stressed.
With a total membership of 110,000, Nambawan Super currently has 14,000 members opting to do voluntary contributions as at December 31, 2014. Total member balances for voluntary contributions stands at K35 million with an annualised growth of K10 million every year and growing.
The major benefit of voluntary contributions is that formal sec-
tor workers can elect to do this through salary sacrifice where the deductions are not taxed. With continuous contributions and savings over a minimum of 15 years, the tax applicable to voluntary contribution is only 2%.
For formal sector workers exposed to a marginal income tax rate of 20%, 30% or 40%, voluntary contributions is an exciting avenue to park extra money in superannuation so the tax burden is reduced to 2% after 15 or more years of continuous contributions to Nambawan Super.
SYDNEY: The Australian dollar is higher ahead of the release of US jobs data and US dollar weakness. At 1700 AEDT on Friday, the Australian dollar was trading at 81.40 US cents, up from 81.12 cents on Thursday.
Official local retail sales figures released on Friday failed to inspire much movement in the currency, despite coming in weaker than expected, with retail spending rising 0.1 per cent in November.
RBC Capital Markets currency strategist Michael Turner said the local currency had managed to push a touch higher on Friday. “We tried to go a little bit lower after retail but it just brought out a bit more buying if anything,” Mr Turner said. He said it appeared that the Australian dollar was out of the spotlight and benefiting by default.
“Whether it be oil, Russia, the ECB, the Fed not going - all of those factors are in the headlines but Australia isn’t at the moment, so the Aussie seems to be benefiting.”
The local unit also performed well against other currencies.
At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was at 97.12 Japanese yen, unchanged from Thursday’s close and at 68.93 euro cents, up from 68.64 euro cents. Australian bond futures prices are firm ahead of the release of the US jobs data.
Mr Turner said bonds edged a touch higher after the release of local retail data. “Retail prompted very little reaction,” Mr Turner said.
“There’s nothing doing really. Payrolls is on tonight, the market’s quiet so that’s about it.”
He expects bonds to trade in a tight range ahead of the US data.
Meanwhile, Australian bond futures prices were higher.
The March 2015 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 97.320 (implying a yield of 2.680 per cent), up from 97.310 (2.690 per cent) on Thursday.
The March 2015 three-year bond futures contract was at 97.880 (2.120 per cent), up from 97.870 (2.130 per cent).
THE State should forget about buying equities into any mining and petroleum investments or any other natural resource developments in the country while it continues to allow for sale of raw natural resources for quick cash.
Outspoken resource and greater equity participation for PNG in resource development Simon Ekanda said PNG continues to be a cheap haven and investment destination for foreigners whereby they can come in and exploit and explore cheaply.
“This is not right for PNG. The current policy regime regulating natural resources especially mining and petroleum must be changed forthwith. Its about 40 years now and the way we having been doing our business with foreigners has become a laughing stock for outsiders knowing that their return for any investment is unrealistic without having to have any hurdles. After any investment agreements signed with the State, they (investors) laugh all the way through knowing that what they got (equity interest) is extravagant or
more than what they would be rightfully entitled for,”
Mr Ekanda who is awaiting a decision from the National Court challenging the PNG LNG Project Agreement said.
“If PNG continues to sell all its natural resources in raw form for cheap cash and also sells even its assets and State-owned profitable companies like Orogen Minerals for cheap deals, then the State should forget about even buying equity in new projects because it’s costly,” the chairman of the Tuguba Landowners Association said.
While making reference to the UBS loan saga, Mr Ekanda also cautioned that people who are accusing Prime Minister Peter O’Neill over the recent UBS Loan must think twice because he is dealing with an inherited and chronic issue.
“The issue has roots embedded in the Orogen Mineral deal and the State’s 18% shares in Oil Search and the subsequent mortgage of these shares to borrow from IPIC.
“If Orogen Minerals was not sold, PNG’s borrowing to finance its equity in the PNG LNG Project would have been
cushioned by the financial strength of Orogen Minerals and therefore would have been much easier. If Orogen had any life in it in Oil Search, then it took its last breath when the State mortgaged its 18% interest in Oil Search,” Mr Ekanda said. He further highlighted, “PNG continues to borrow not because it is a poor country; it borrows because it does not know how to convert its abundant natural resources into tangible wealth, including stockpiling physical gold in the country.
“Unless prudent economic management tools are embraced, including spending in most needed areas, PNG will be a reckless spender while on the other hand, and whitecollar crime will strive as a robust business. We have a serious problem,” he added.
“What concerns me most is not the UBS Loan but the factors which make PNG financially and economically weak, hence forcing this nation to survive on expensive borrowed money. Strong, honest and decisive leadership is the only cure to PNG’s current woes,” Mr Ekanda expressed.
The public is hereby advised that all PAPER BANKNOTES (K2.00, K5.00, K10.00, K20.00, K50.00 and K100.00), which have been in circulation previously are been withdrawn by the Bank of Papua New Guinea in accordance with Section 62 of the Central Banking Act of 2000. These PAPER BANKNOTES ceased to be legal tender in Papua New Guinea since 2012.
The PAPER BANKNOTES have been phased out and replaced by the POLYMER (plastic) substrate. The Polymer Banknotes remain as legal tender and are not affected by this notice.
Despite of the withdrawal of the PAPER BANKNOTES in 2012, the Bank of PNG has allowed the public who are holding onto PAPER BANKNOTES to return them only to the Bank of PNG and not commercial banks during 2013/2014. The Bank is aware that there are some unused PAPER BANKNOTES in the hands of the public. These unused PAPER BANKNOTES will NOT be accepted in exchange for Polymer Banknotes.
The public is therefore advised that effective from 31st December 2014 the Bank of PNG will NOT accept any more PAPER BANKNOTES in exchange for Polymer Banknotes .
All queries regarding this notice should be addressed to Mr. David Lakatani on telephone number 3227343 or email dlakatani@bankpng.gov.pg
Authorised by:
Loi M. Bakani Governor
WIDESPREAD job cuts, writedowns and project delays are predicted for Australia’s oil and gas industry as it struggles to cope with falling oil prices.
The price of oil has fallen by more than 50 per cent since August, to a low not seen since the global financial crisis in 2009. The price freefall has hammered the value of Australian companies and eaten into their profits.
Peter Strachan, from Stock Analysis, said many companies were being forced to cut costs and axe jobs.
“Over the Christmas period there was a bit of a hiatus, but I think in the next couple of weeks, we’ll see a lot more talk, a lot more action in the oil and gas industry to cut costs,” he said.
Santos has already announced spending cuts across its business and Credit Suisse has predicted the company’s shares could become “worthless” if prices remain at current lows.
Mr Strachan said many local companies had managed to remain cash-flow positive but they could not withstand the low prices forever.
“Some of the Australian companies do have hedging, that means that they’ve sold forward some of their production, so they’ve sold barrels at $80 or $90 a barrel, they can continue to do that,” he said.
“Even at $48 a barrel currently, these companies are profitable, they’re cash-flow positive but on a long-term basis they need a much higher price to justify the capital that they’ve spent.”
He said these companies needed the price of oil to be twice what it is now to be profitable.
The price drop is being caused by an oversupply of oil, largely driven by the rapid development of America’s shale oil industry.
A reduction in energy consumption globally has also led to a fall in demand.
OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), the world’s largest oil supplier, was tipped to cut production late last year in response to falling prices.
But in a bid to knock out high-cost producers in the US, it failed to make the cut.
Mr Strachan said this tactic was starting to work.
Analysts believe oil prices will rebound towards the middle of the year, as some producers fall out of the market.- ABC
CHINA’S inflation rate remained near a five-year low in December, edging up to 1.5% from 1.4% the month before.
Sharp rises in the price of some food items were behind the increase, including a 14% rise in egg prices.
Consumer price inflation (CPI) for the whole of 2014 was 2% compared with 2013, well below the government’s target of 3.5%.
Analysts suggested the data pointed to persistent weakness in the world’s second largest economy.
The producer price index
INFLATION: In economics, inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation reflects a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money – a loss of real value in the medium of exchange and unit of account within the economy.
CHINA’S INFLATION RATE: Rose to 1.5% to 1.4%.
(PPI), which includes wholesale and factory price inflation, fell by a greater than expected 3.3% in December from a year earlier marking the 34th consecutive monthly
fall since September 2012. Analysts had expected PPI to fall by 3.1% in December.
China’s National Statistics Bureau said the fall was largely due to falling oil prices.
CANBERRA: Trade Minister Andrew Robb insists Australia won’t be rushing to sign a free trade agreement with India just for the sake of a deal.
“We want to see a really meaningful agreement,” he told ABC radio on Friday as he jetted off to the sub-continent for talks with Indian officials.
Mr Robb says securing a highquality free trade agreement by the end of 2015 is eminently possible.
That’s because Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, were “hellbent” on finalising negotiations within 12 months.
“We won’t sign an agreement for agreement’s sake,” the trade minister said.
Mr Robb is leading a delegation of about 450 government and business representatives to India as part of a week-long mission.
He cited India’s notorious bureaucracy and history of protectionism as obstacles that needed to be overcome.
But he is encouraged by Mr Modi’s record as a regional governor which involved getting the public service to focus on outcomes and boosting business. “I do feel if he is successful ... then we could see a repeat in India of the last 15 years of China.”
Mr Robb nominated high-end
Together, the inflation numbers point to weak domestic demand across China, which some analysts say may give the government room to cut interest rates and take other measures to boost growth which has slowed to a fiveyear low of 7.3% in the three months to the end of September. On Thursday, China said the recent approval of infrastructure projects would not “play the role of using fiscal expenditure as strong economic stimulus in 2015” and that the projects were different to stimulus measures introduced in 2008.
manufacturing, construction, education and health services as areas of growth in India.
That meant bigger markets for Australian iron ore, coking coal and services such as construction and design.
Australia’s trading relationship with India was valued at $15.2 billion in 2013, compared with the $160 billion of two-way trade with China.
“So we’ve got a big gap to make up,” Mr Robb said. - AAP
Liu Ligang, an economist with ANZ in Hong Kong, said China’s inflation had been “very tepid”.
“Going forward, we do see the risk of deflation is rising, especially [as] PPI inflation has been in negative territory for over 34 months,” he said.
“That means there’s no passthrough effected from PPI inflation into CPI inflation.
“In fact, CPI will continue to be dragged down by PPI inflation in the next few quarters [and] all this suggests the People’s Bank of China will need to act more aggressively.” - BBC
FRIDAY’S inflation numbers point to weak domestic demand across the mainland. - BBC
THOUSANDS of people have been attending the funerals of eight Australian children found dead in the north-eastern city of Cairns last month.
The service is called Keriba Omasker, which means “our children” in the ancestral language of the children.
Attending is Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who tweeted: “Today in Cairns. Sad beyond words. Keriba Omasker.”
The mother of seven of the children has been charged with their murders. The other victim was her niece.
The four boys and four girls were aged between 18 months and 14 years.
Almost 5,000 people heard prayers and tributes to the children at a memorial service.
Mr Abbott and other Australian political leaders laid wreaths.
Hearses are taking the children’s bodies to Martyn Place Cemetery, where they will be laid to rest.
The mother, Mersane Warria, 37, is being treated in hospital. She is not reported to be attending the funeral. There are plans to demolish the house where the children died, to be replaced with a public memorial.–BBC
WELLINGTON: A radical British Muslim cleric convicted of kidnapping and terror charges in the United States with the help of a testimony by a New Zealand businesswoman has been sentenced to life in prison.
Abu Hamza, 56, whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, was sentenced in the US District Court in New York on Friday (US time), after he was convicted by a jury in May. He had earlier been extradited from the UK.
New Zealander Mary Quin, one of 16 tourists snatched by Islamist kidnappers in Yemen in 1998, gave evidence in the trial that Abu Hamza justified the kidnapping and killing of civilians in defence of Islam.
Ms Quin had interviewed him in October 2000 while researching her book on her ordeal, Kidnapped in Yemen.
She said Abu Hamza told her the chief kidnapper, Abu Hasan, called him during the kidnapping and advised him to stay back to avoid being killed during the Yemen army’s rescue operation.
Four hostages were killed in that two-hour operation.
Abu Hamza, who is blind in one eye and had both hands blown off in an explosion in Afghanistan, faced
SYDNEY: A permanent memorial to the victims, hostages, police and emergency workers involved in the deadly Sydney siege will be constructed in Martin Place, the NSW government says.
Hostages Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson died along with gunman Man Haron Monis when police stormed the Lindt cafe in central Sydney on December 16, ending the hostage crisis that shocked Australia.
Soon after, members of the public began placing bunches of flowers and letters of remembrance at a makeshift memorial in Martin Place, just metres from where the siege took place. It soon turned into a blanket of thousands of flowers that covered Martin Place.
On Sunday, NSW Premier Mike Baird said the construction of a permanent memorial would be another step in recovering from the siege.
He said it would be unveiled in the second half of 2015.
“The outpouring of grief that was symbolised by a sea of flowers in Martin Place, and that moved hearts around the world, was the beginning of our recovery process,” Mr Baird said.
“The unveiling of a permanent memorial, on or before the first anniversary of the siege, will be another significant step in that process, and will guarantee that the memory of Tori and Katrina lives forever in the heart of Sydney.
Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) is the leading supplier of Long Las ng Insec cide Treated Mosquito Nets (LLINs) in Papua New Guinea. We have been involved with the distribu on of mosquito nets in PNG since 1997 and are now launching a new ini a ve to make LLINs available for purchase throughout the country.
RAM currently has two core programmes: One is the supply of LLIN mosquito nets to households in PNG. For this RAM is funded by the Global Fund and works together with the Na onal Department of Health (NDOH) and provincial health offices to ensure that every village in PNG receives mosquito nets every three years. To date we have coordinated the distribu on of over 5.0 million LLINs to household level throughout PNG. Together with the household distribu on, we have also supplied a further 700,000 nets to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, , boarding schools and correc onal centres.
The other is the sale of LLINs to the public and organisa ons in PNG both directly and through distributors. Since the free distribu on of nets, sales of nets have dropped off as most people are now receiving free nets.
charges which included trying to set up a jihad training camp in Oregon and sending support and fighters to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
He has already served six years in Britain for inciting hatred and soliciting murder.
At the time of his conviction in the US Ms Quin said justice had prevailed for her and the other tourists.
At the sentencing Judge Katherine Forrest said she had thought long and hard about the severity of the sentence, for a complicated man who was a loved father of nine but who showed no remorse.
“Evil comes in many forms but doesn’t always show itself immediately in all its darkness,” Forrest said, AP reported.
Ms Quin is chief executive of the Callaghan Innovation Fund in New Zealand.
She and cricketer Brendon McCullum were named as the New Zealand Herald’s 2014 New Zealanders of the Year.
Ms Quin has previously extended her “heartfelt thanks to the investigators and attorneys whose persistence, hard work and commitment to justice over more than 15 years resulted in the extradition and trial of Abu Hamza”
Whilst we are proud of our involvement in the distribu on of free LLINs, the sale of nets is s ll very important to us. Free distribu on is ul mately not a sustainable model on the scale we have achieved over the previous five years and as Malaria infec on rates fall so will the availability of funding to fight the disease. Therefore if we want to eradicate the disease here we need to con nue to make nets available so that people can protect themselves, par cular those who have received a free net but wish to replace it due to factors such as loss or damage due to wear and tear.
In order to achieve this we have now decided to try to persuade traders to sell LLINs throughout PNG by offering nets for sale at a low wholesale price to retailers and wholesalers. We are also offering to supply these nets to the nearest airport anywhere in the country at the same fixed transport price. To further encourage retailers and wholesalers to go with this, we are offering a money back guarantee on all nets which they cannot sell within six months. To get this refund these nets would have to be returned to the RAM offices in Port Moresby with original packaging completely intact and original receipt of payment.
With this programme, we hope to supply nets in stores and on the streets for a maximum price of 20 to 35 Kina depending of the size of the net.
The LLIN mosquito net that we distribute is called PermaNet. It is the only WHO (World Health Organisa on) approved LLIN which can be found in PNG at this moment. Any other net which is being sold in PNG at present does not have this quality assurance and will not be as effec ve in protec ng you from malaria.
We also have treated curtains and conical nets for sale and a new insect repellent known as Mosbar. It is like a bar of soap which you wet with water and then wipe on your body. One applica on of Mosbar can repel mosquitoes for up to eight hours and one bar can last a family of four for one month and costs less that 10 Kina. Repellents are very important to use when people are not sleeping under an LLIN and together they can protect people from day to night. Remember Long Insec cidal Las ng Nets give you peaceful sleep while protec ng you from malaria.
If you want to buy Permanet for your family go to Brian Bell, City Pharmacy or Tango. City Pharmacy is also selling Mosbar.
If you would like to sell PermaNet or other products or need further details, please contact the RAM sales contact person Cain Lave on 70918059 or by email - ramse@leasemaster.com.pg.
TASMANIANS are being urged to have a say on whether an iconic threatened species should become the state’s animal emblem.
Tasmania is the only Austra-lian state without an official faunal emblem.
The State Government opened up public discussion about whether the Tasmanian devil should receive the honour.
The threatened species has been ravaged by a facial tumour disease, and Environment Minister Matthew Groom said he believed official recognition could help attract resources to the fight against the disease.
Mr Groom anticipated community support for the proposal.
“I think a lot of Tasmanians already consider the devil to be our animal emblem, but we want to formalise that,” he said. “For a lot of people in different parts of the world the devil is an icon that represents Tasmania in many respects, and so I think it affords us an opportunity to promote Tasmania to different parts of the world through the devil as our official emblem.” –ABC
AUSTRALIAN cartoonists say the shocking terror attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and subsequent sieges in Paris will not dictate what they draw.
Wednesday’s attack on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo left 12 people dead and was followed by the fatal shooting of a police officer on Thursday, and the deaths of four hostages during a siege at a Jewish supermarket on Friday.
Patrick Cook is an Australian cartoonist who worked for The Bulletin and was in Paris when the attacks happened.
“When the news of attack first broke – which would be the middle of the day on the Wednesday – we were with people who were bilingual, and they expressed to
us very clearly apart from their shock and disgust that they knew precisely what it was about,” he told ABC News 24.
“It was an attack on the freedom of expression. They feel much more perhaps overtly than we do in Australia, an attack on the freedom of the press.”
Cartoonists around the world responded to the attacks by putting pen to paper, using satire to show their support for the victims and Cook said all the cartoons have one theme.
“That we’re winning and we will win. We’ll find you,” he said.
“It is one thing to say that the pen is mightier than the sword, but it now looks as though the pen is going to require a sword to defend
it, and I think that is a great sadness.” He pointed to David Pope’s cartoon in The Canberra Times as a “strong” example of one of the responses being shared around the world.
“You have a look at the newspapers in Australia since then and around the world, you will see terrorists, you will see representations of what has happened. I think it’ll make us if I may be so bold, more determined.”
Daily Telegraph cartoonist Warren Brown echoed those thoughts, saying he had seen a “galvanising of cartoonists around the world”.
“I’ve seen cartoons appear on publications I’ve never heard of from the four corners of the globe,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter whether you can read the caption or not – if you can’t read Spanish or German or Icelandic, you get it – and that’s the thing about cartoons, you see the image, understand it and it’s so powerful.”
Brown said cartoonists in France were held in high regard. “Cartoonists are part of their intelligence if you like. They’re a nation of great thinkers,” he said.
“Cartooning is a wonderful marriage of drawing, of writing and of thinking.”
Fairfax Media’s Kathy Wilcox said she met one of the cartoonists killed in the Charlie Hebdo office last April at a conference.
“I have a long standing association with France. I lived in Paris in my 20s and
WELLINGTON: A religious vigil is being held in Wellington to denounce the Charlie Hebdo killings in France and the three days of terror that followed.
got some of my first work there and I’ve gone back regularly,” she said.
“Most recently my regular visits have been connected with conferences to do with cartooning for peace and also other international cartoonist meetings. Charlie Hebdo, since I’ve known France, has been an institution of satire and cartooning.” Several cartoons printed in reaction to the France terror attacks have depicted pencils in support of the cartoonists.
“It is an impotent weapon in some ways ... the gun is going to kill, the pencil is only going to be able to comment, but it is also a symbol of a peaceful way of manifesting and that I think is the bottom line really,” Wilcox said. – ABC
Masked gunmen killed 12 people on Wednesday at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly newspaper, which had been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the prophet Mohammed and other controversial sketches. The gunmen and a jihadist ally were killed in a dramatic showdown on Friday after taking hostages in two separate sieges.
Jews, Christians and Muslims will gather for a prayer vigil at the Kilbirnie Islamic Centre on Sunday at 3pm. “Charlie Hebdo had published material that was deeply offensive to each of our religions,” Wellington Council of Christians and Jews Jewish co-chair Dave Moskovitz said. “However, each of our religions holds life sacred, and there is no possible excuse for killing someone for something they have said or written.”
THIRTEEN people on board a skydiving plane that encountered engine trouble have parachuted to safety on New Zealand’s North Island moments before the aircraft plunged into a lake.
Skydive Taupo chief executive Roy Clements said the plane, which was heading for a tandem skydive over Lake Taupo, experienced an engine problem shortly after take-off about 12:00pm on Wednesday local time.
Despite jumping for their lives thousands of feet below the recommended level for a tandem jump,
the skydivers descended safelysome into water, others onto land.
“It was nothing short of a miracle,” Mr Clements said.
He praised the pilot for his quick thinking. “He had to deal with the worst nightmare really for a pilot - what appears to be an engine failure,” he told local news service Sun Media.
“As a result he’s told everyone to get out of the plane, and he’s followed his own advice.”
The engine failed at about 600 metres, well below the intended jump altitude of about 10,000 feet.
“It’s a lot lower than we would want to be; the minimum activation for a tandem parachute is 5,000 feet,” Mr Clements said.
Witness Sue Stubbs said she saw the engine stop and the plane glide “for a while”.
“Within [what] must have just been seconds I thought maybe half a dozen skydivers jumped out, parachutes open,” she said.
“With that the plane glided on a little bit further and did a big loop around land area and then nose dived into the lake.”
One witness told TVNZ One
News she watched as the plane plummeted towards the water.
“I saw the pink plane coming across and smoke coming out of it, then saw the plane [and] the parachutists jumping out of it,” she said.
“And then I heard a big bang ... it blew up before it hit the water.”
She said the pilot landed in prickle bushes and had to wait for the fire brigade to arrive before they could be “cut” out.
Bevan Johnhill told New Zealand’s TV3 network he thought the pilot “must have been the last
one to get out”. Another witness told TVNZ people on nearby boats scrambled within minutes to pick up the skydivers. “People just rushed out to them, even if they had to launch their boats from their holiday homes,” she said. Ambulance staff checked over the 13 people. New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Mike Richards said an investigation was under way.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission said it had opened an inquiry into the accident.– ABC/AFP
“BETTER the rattle of rifles near, or the thunder on deck at sea,” Henry Lawson wrote, “than the sound – most hellish of all to hear – of a fire where it should not be.”
Those who experienced South Australia’s Black Tuesday fire 10 years ago today understand better than most the meaning of the bush poet’s words.
On January 11, 2005, the lower Eyre Peninsula – pristine and to some a paradise – was suddenly hell on earth as a bushfire ripped from the west coast to the east.
The fire, which started at Wangary, killed nine people, destroyed 93 homes and blackened 80,000 hectares. It also prompted one of the longestrunning coronial inquiries and changed the way South Australia responds to bushfire crises.
Since then, the day has been dubbed Black Tuesday. Among those who lost their homes was Lorna Harding, now 91, from North Shields, a small coastal settlement north of Port Lincoln.
She watched as the house she was born in and had lived in all her life was destroyed, and said it was “one of those days that went in a blur”.
“It was a really hot day. First thing in the morning you could feel the heat coming off the ground,” she said.
“By lunchtime, it was just a red glow and by half past two my house was burnt.
“It just came so fast. Before we knew where we were, we were covered in smoke. But we had the sea to go into so we were right.”
Lorna Harding was among those who took refuge in the water in what would become one of the enduring images of the inferno. Her father had worked on the building of the jetty under which she sheltered.
“It’s just instinct that you go to the water,” she said. “Afterwards you remember bits and pieces. It didn’t matter how many trucks they had. Nothing was going to stop it that day.
“We were lucky we didn’t lose any of our family.”
A memorial service is being held to commemorate 10 years since the Black Tuesday fire at Wangary today.
Representatives from the state’s emergency services will be among those to take part in the memorial service, which will take place near where the fires broke out.
State MP for the region, Peter Treloar, was a farmer at the time and said “many people’s lives changed for ever that day”.
But he said he understood that not all wanted to be involved in today’s commemoration.
“It’s not going to be a day for everyone. I’ve spoken to some people who won’t be attending,” he said. “Hopefully it’s a time for reflection and a time for moving on.”
Locals said crop duster Kevin Warren helped save Eyre Peninsula towns, including Louth Bay, by taking to the sky and water bombing without CFS approval.
“They could hear the aeroplanes around in the smoke and saw what we were doing there and they felt significant relief at that point,” Mr Warren said. –ABC
14th January
A UNIVERSITY lecturer in Indonesia’s Aceh province has received death threats and a dressing down from her institution following a field trip for Muslim students to a Christian church.
In an article about her academic work, syndicated across Indonesia on the ABC’s Australia Plus website, Dr Rosnida Sari detailed her experiences studying and living in Australia, visits to places of worship, a field trip by her gender studies students to a church in Banda Aceh, and peace building in the province.
The article went viral on Indonesian social media, triggering robust discussion about her work, with many comments objecting to her visit to the church.
Dr Sari, who says the church visit was designed to promote mutual understanding among different faiths, also received intimidating messages which included death threats against her and her family.
A campaign has been launched by a coalition of 32 Indonesian civil society groups urging the government and local authorities to protect her and her family.
According to one media
report, the Ar Raniry Islamic State University – where Dr Sari teaches –issued a written statement apologising to the people of Aceh and stating that it will review its policies on field studies and scholarships.
On Thursday, Indonesia’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, responded on Twitter to the developments.
Referring to Dr Sari, he tweeted: “This lecturer needs to be protected”.
However, the coalition of civil society groups said that in addition to guaranteeing safety for Dr Sari and her family, the government should also guarantee protection of academics, promote tolerance and academic freedom on campuses.
In a press release, the coalition also asked the minister of religion to take action because the university is one which falls under his ministry.
Dian Kartika, spokesperson for the coalition, told the Jakarta Post that “President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo had to guarantee the protection of the lecturer to uphold academic freedom and allow her to promote tolerance among her students”. –ABC
Assessments on the Importation of Uncooked Poultry Products (Chilled and Frozen Poultry Meat and Infertile Table Eggs) from Australia and New Zealand as follow:
1. Review of the technical biosecurity risk assessment and import protocols
2. Economic impact assessment study (economic risks, costs and benefit) on its effects on the local poultry industry
The National Working Group on Improving Business and Investment Climate in Papua New Guinea (NWGIBIC) is a public/private sector committee aimed at building cooperation between the public and private sectors in improving the environment for business and investment in PNG.
The NWGIBIC committee is seeking experts in either the Technical Biosecurity Risk Assessment and/or Economic Assessment fields to engage in the above independent review/assessment.
The studies relate to the importation of uncooked poultry products which may pose a biosecurity threat to the local poultry industry in the country, and the economic impacts on the local poultry industry of such importation.
Suitable local and International experts are required to pick up the Terms of Reference for both studies from:
The Secretariat of the NWGIBIC
Level 2- Policy Division, Moale Haus, WAIGANI
Department of Trade, Commerce & Industry
P O Box 375, WAIGANI
Melanesian Way
Phone: (675) 325 6099/6080 Ext: 2526/96
Fax: (675) 325 6108
Email: angeuforty.kuselley@dci.gov.pg / angeufortykuselley@gmail.com
All suitable applicants should submit their Expressions of Interest with their relevant documents to the NWGIBIC Secretariat, no later than COB on Friday, 16 th January, 2015.
Manasupe Z. Zurenuoc, Kt., OBE
CHIEF SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT and CHAIRMAN of NWGIBIC
A MASS HIV outbreak in a Cambodian village was most likely caused by contaminated medical equipment, the World Health Organisation and Cambodian health ministry say.
Hundreds of panicked residents of the remote Roka village in western Battambang province have flocked for testing since news of the infections first emerged in late November.
An unlicensed Cambodian doctor has been charged with murder after he admitted reusing needles and syringes at his clinic.
A joint study carried out by the WHO and the health ministry found 212 people have now been found to be carrying the virus out of 1,940 people tested so far - with contaminated equipment the most likely cause.
“The study showed that the percentage of people that reported receiving an injection or intravenous infusion as part of their health treatment was significantly higher among the people who tested positive for HIV than the people who were HIV negative,” a joint statement said.
Researchers added that other potential transmission routes - such as unprotected sex, drug use and mother-to-child transmission - had been ruled unlikely.
At least 174 of those with HIV – including 39 people aged 14 or younger and 46 people aged 60 years old or older – are from Roka village. Yem Chroeum, a 55-year-old self-styled doctor, admitted reusing needles and syringes on different patients, police said.
Alongside murder, Yem Chroeum has also been charged with deliberately infecting people with HIV and operating an unlicensed clinic.
He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Cambodia’s health minister Mam Bunheng called on medical staff to “use clean and sterile equipment”.
“We have reinforced implementation of the ministry of health policy to stop unlicensed informal medical practices,” he said in the statement. The outbreak first came to the authorities’ attention in late November when a 74-year-old Roka man tested positive at a local health centre for the virus.
His granddaughter and son-in-law also tested positive soon afterwards, according to the health ministry.
Cambodia has been widely hailed for its efforts in tackling HIV/ AIDS.
The National AIDS Authority says the rate of HIV infection among people aged 15 to 49 has declined from 0.6 per cent in 2013 to 0.4 per cent in 2014. –AFP/ABC
RELATIVES of the Chinese passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are becoming increasingly frustrated over the mystery of the plane’s disappearance.
The search for the Boeing 777 continues in the southern Indian Ocean 10 months after the plane disappeared with 239 passengers and crew aboard.
Malaysia’s transport minister said about 26 per cent of the priority search area in the southern Indian Ocean had been covered so far.
But some family members have taken it upon themselves to search for answers by hiring a private investigator and approaching authorities in China and abroad.
Retiree Hu Xiuqin, 63, lost her son, daughter-in-law and grandchild on board flight MH370.
THAILAND’S parliament has begun an impeachment hearing against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra that could lead to her being banned from politics for five years.
Ms Yingluck was removed from office for abuse of power in May, and days later her government was ousted in a military coup that ended months of ‘Yellow Shirt’ street protests that paralysed Bangkok.
In her opening statement to the military-appointed National Legislative
Assembly (NLA), Ms Yingluck said the proceedings were futile.
“I was removed from my position as prime minister.
I have no position left to be removed from,” she told the assembly. A guilty verdict would see Ms Yingluck banned from politics, which her supporters say is aimed at barring her from an election the military has promised to hold early next year.
The case concerns Ms Yingluck’s role in a rice subsidy program which incurred billions of dollars
in losses, and which critics denounced as a wasteful handout to the Shinawatra family’s supporters.
Under the scheme her government bought rice from farmers at prices much higher than on the open market, leading to huge stockpiles and the loss of Thailand’s position as the world’s leading rice exporter.
She defended the scheme in her opening statement.
“Please look at the benefits of the scheme and not just the financial cost,” she said.
Ms Yingluck Puea Thai
Party was helped to power in 2011 by offering to buy rice well above the market price to help poor farmers.
The Shinawatra family’s rural and working-class support has ensured her, her brother Thaksin and his allies have won every election since 2001. Defending her record in parliament, she said she had run the country “with honesty, transparency and justice”.
The NLA will determine whether Ms Yingluck neglected her duty and failed to effectively admin-
JAYCEE Chan, the son of kung fu movie star Jackie Chan, has been jailed for six months in China on a drugs charge, the latest celebrity felled by the government’s aggressive antinarcotics campaign.
The 32-year-old actor and singer was formally charged last month with “the crime of sheltering others to take drugs” after testing positive for marijuana, with police saying they found 100 grams of the drug at his home. A judge in Beijing’s Eastern District Court sentenced Chan to six months in prison and issued a fine of $US320, according to a microblog post by the court.
Lawyer Si Weijiang said Chan is likely to be set free in about a month as the authorities would take into account the time he had spent in detention.
Prosecutors told the court
Jaycee Chan had made his home available for two people to smoke marijuana.
According to state media, Chan and Taiwanese actor Ko Chentung, also known as Kai Ko, both tested positive for marijuana. Chen-tung has already made tearful televised confessions.
The court said Chan had “voluntarily pleaded guilty” to the prosecutors’ allegations, even though he faced a maximum prison sentence of three years.
“I have broken the law and should be punished,” he said in
his final statement to the court, according to the microblog.
“When I return to society, I will not repeat this because I have let my family and friends down yet again.”
Jaycee Chan is among a string of other mostly B-list celebrities detained by Chinese authorities on drug-related charges that have been publicised widely in both state and social media.
They have included movie and television stars, film directors and a prominent screenwriter.
Last month, state media reported that his father, Jackie Chan, felt ashamed of his son’s drug abuse and hopes that one day his son will speak out about the dangers of taking drugs.
The older Chan served as a goodwill spokesman for the China National Anti-Drug Committee in 2009, promoting anti-drug education. – ABC
ister the subsidy program.
About 20 of Ms Yingluck’s supporters gathered outside parliament despite government warnings to stay away.
Some held red roses and tried to raise pictures of her until police told them to put them away.
Thailand is under martial law and public gatherings are banned.
The hearing resumes on January 16, and the NLA has said a decision could come by the end of the month. –Reuters/ABC
“The staff at the liaison office in Beijing haven’t done anything for us,” she said.
“We have submitted so many letters with our pleas through the office but we haven’t received a single reply.”
Some of these family members claimed they were detained by Chinese police for up to 24 hours.
The ABC followed a few of them who went to the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs to plead for answers.
There were more police than usual and officers tried repeatedly to stop the visit being filmed.
Later, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign affairs ministry did not answer questions about the accusations of police detention but reiterated his government’s commitment to pursuing the search for MH370.
“We fully understand the feelings of the family members,” spokesman Hong Lei said. “We will continue to search for the plane and won’t give up.” – ABC
This Week’s Question. 208
Should the Government come out and explain the real status of the UBS loan?
Last Week’s Poll Question & Results as of Friday 12.12.2014.
Should Don Polye respect Belden Namah as the Opposition leader?
76.99%
23.01%
WORLD leaders are gathering in Paris ahead of a march in the French capital to show unity after three days of terror that left 17 people dead.
Some 40 leaders are to go to the rally, expected to dwarf Saturday marches that saw 700,000 take to the streets.
About 2,000 police officers and 1,350 soldiers are being deployed across the French capital to protect marchers.
Police are seeking accomplices of the gunmen who attacked a satirical magazine and a kosher supermarket. The interior minister says France will stay on high alert in the coming weeks.
Bernard Cazeneuve will host a meeting on Sunday morning of fellow interior ministers from across Europe, including the UK’s Theresa May, to discuss the threat posed by militants.
Mr Cazeneuve promised “exceptional measures” for the massive unity march in Paris on Sunday, including positioning snipers on roofs.
The foreign leaders expected to attend the rally include UK Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The march, which will be led by relatives of the victims of last week’s attacks, will leave Place de la Republique at 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT).
More than a million people are
expected to take part, the BBC’s Chris Morris in Paris reports.
Before the march, President Francois Hollande will meet leaders from the Jewish community, which is still in shock after a gunman killed four people at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
MORE than 700,000 people took to streets across France in tribute to the 17 people killed in three days of violence by Islamist extremists, the interior minister said.
From Nice and Marseilles in the south to Besancon in the east and Lille in the north, people poured onto the streets to express their solidarity following Wednesday’s attack on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead.
The massacre was followed by the fatal shooting of a police officer on Thursday and the murder of four hostages during a siege at a Jewish supermarket on Friday.
“700,000 people have marched” in cities around France, Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters on the eve of a huge Paris rally due to be attended by a string of world leaders.
Mr Cazeneuve did not give a detailed breakdown of the figure, but according to an AFP tally of demonstrations many thousands turned out across the country.
In the southern city of Toulouse, police said about 80,000 people took part in a march, with the “enormous” procession stretching up to two kilometres, according to an AFP journalist.
“Live together, free, equal and in solidarity,” read the banner behind which at least 30,000 people also marched in the western city of Nantes.
In Marseille, 45,000 people expressed similar sentiments with a rally banner that said “For democracy, equality, freedom, let’s fight fascism”.
Individual marchers held up placards with the words “Not Afraid!”
In Pau, a further 30,000 to 40,000 people staged a silent march with school pupils leading the way, hold-
ing a banner emblazoned with the words: “We are all Charlie”.
“It’s a great popular movement ... it’s beautiful and significant, infinitely precious,” the south-western city’s mayor Francois Bayrou told AFP. In Besancon, another 20,000 took to the streets, an AFP correspondent said, while in northern Orleans around 22,000 rallied, according to a police source.
In Nice, at least 23,000 demonstrators were counted, police sources said, in a demonstration which snaked for around a kilometre along the famous seafront Promenade des Anglais, ending at the war memorial where a wreath was laid in the presence of representatives of different faiths.
A further 22,000 people turned out in northern Lille and thousands more in several other towns and cities across France.
Outside France, several thousand people, including many Muslims, rallied in Milan with many carrying signs that said “I am Charlie” or “Not In My Name”.
In Montreal, more than 20,000 people stood up for France’s national anthem before a hockey game between Canadians and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Several marches to show solidarity with France were planned in Canada with one in Quebec City on Sunday with premier Philippe Couillard to lead the crowd, and another in Montreal where thousands are expected. The rallies come ahead of a march expected to draw up to a million people on Sunday in which French president Francois Hollande will be joined by a host of world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron.–AFP/ABC
on Friday. The gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, is believed to have shot dead a policewoman the day before.
In a separate attack on Wednesday, two brothers raided the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Cherif and Said Kouachi killed 12 people - including eight journalists and two police officers - in the attack. Eleven people were also injured.
Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers were shot dead on Friday after police ended two separate sieges.
Police are still hunting for accomplices of the three gunmen, including Hayat Boumeddiene, Coulibaly’s partner. However, officials in Turkey believe she may have travelled through the country en route to Syria earlier last week.
Families of the victims spoke out about the attacks on Saturday.
The family of Ahmed Merabet, one of the police officers killed during Wednesday’s attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, said they were “devastated by this act of barbarity”.
Mr Merabet was “Muslim, and very proud of being a police officer and defending the values of the Republic”, his brother Malek Merabet said at a news conference. Nearly a quarter of a million people held marches in France on Saturday to condemn the attacks, with large crowds gathering in Paris, Orleans, Nice, Pau, Toulouse and Nantes.
During the marches, people held banners that read “I am against racism”, “unity”, or “I am Charlie” – the latter a reference to the magazine.
Addressing a large gathering outside the kosher supermarket that was targeted, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: “Today, we are all Charlie, we are all police officers, we are all Jews of France.”
He said he had “no doubt that millions of citizens will come to express their love of liberty, their love of fraternity” in Paris on Sunday. –BBC
THE Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice until Sunday and flood alerts remain in place in Scotland as well as England and Wales.
Nearly 20,000 are without power after high winds and gusts of more than 100 mph cut lines and damaged networks. Engineers worked through the night to restore power.
BBC Weather’s John Hammond said: “The cold weather is flooding back in and we’ve seen quite a lot of snow particularly on the higher ground in Scotland.”
He added that in Scotland and Northern Ireland, more snow would fall before turning back to rain. Monday will see more windy weather, he warned.
Elsewhere across the UK:
The body of a man found washed up on a beach in Brighton after he was swept out to sea as he tried to rescue a friend has been identified as Freddie Reynolds Thousands of homes remain without power. following the storms that have been battering Scotland
High winds have continued to hit the north of England, causing travel disruption and leaving nearly 900 properties without electricity–BBC
INDONESIAN search teams believe a sonar scan has detected the fuselage of an AirAsia airliner that crashed two weeks ago into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board. Officials said divers had been sent into the water to confirm if more wreckage had been located.
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control during a thunderstorm on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Searchers have also revealed
pings believed to be from the aircraft’s black box flight recorders have been heard.
An official said three ships had detected pings about four kilometres from where the plane’s tail was raised yesterday from about 30 metres below the surface.
National Search and Rescue Agency operations coordinator S B Supriyadi said a sonar scan had revealed an object measuring 10 metres by four metres by 2.5 metres on the sea floor.
“They suspect it is the body of the plane. There is a big possibility that the black box
is near the body of the plane,” he said.
“A team of divers has already been sent to prove this data. The diving operation has started.”
Forty-eight bodies have been found in the Java Sea off Borneo and searchers are still hunting for the plane’s fuselage, which could contain more bodies.
“If it is the body of the plane then we will first evacuate the victims. Secondly we will search for the black box,” Mr Supriyadi said.
Strong winds, currents and high waves have been ham-
pering efforts to reach other large pieces of suspected wreckage detected by sonar on the sea floor.
Investigators have said once found, it could take up to two weeks to download data from the black box recorders.
The Indonesian meteorological agency has said stormy weather likely caused the Airbus A320-200 to crash. But a definitive answer is impossible without the black boxes, which should contain the pilots’ final words as well as various flight data.
AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes welcomed
the news of the possible discovery of the aircraft’s black box.
He tweeted today that “a lot is being done behind the scenes”.
“Let’s hope today is a major breakthrough day and we can find the main fuselage. It’s important to us to find all our guests.”
All but seven of those on board the ill-fate flight were Indonesian.
The non-Indonesians were three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman - copilot Remi Plesel. -ABC
MORE than 50 people have been killed and more injured after a bus collided with an oil tanker near the Pakistani city of Karachi, doctors say. The tanker was reportedly speeding and travelling on the wrong side of the road when it hit the bus headon. Both vehicles burst into flames.
Some passengers travelling on the roof of the bus were able to jump to safety but many of those inside were trapped.
The driver of the tanker is said to have fled the scene after the incident.
The bus, which was carrying more than 60 passengers, was travelling to the town of Shikarpur when the incident happened about 50km (31 miles) outside of Karachi.
HAYAT Boumeddiene, the wanted partner of one of the gunmen shot dead by police after three days of high drama in France, arrived in Turkey before the killings and may now be in Syria, a Turkish security source says.
“On January 2, a woman corresponding to her profile and presenting a piece of identity took a flight from Madrid to Instanbul,” the source said.
The source said she was accompanied by a man and had a return ticket for January 9, but never took the flight and was believed to have moved on to the south-eastern Turkish
city of Sanliurfa and then to Syria, but there was “no concrete data” to prove this.
The unnamed source said Turkey did not arrest her because of a lack of timely intelligence from France.
“We do not have the luxury to prevent everyone entering without intelligence sharing,” said the source. “If the intelligence sharing had been timely then she could have been extradited.”
But the source added that the intelligence sharing between the two sides has since intensified and was now “better than normal”.
French police had initially suspected the 26-year-old Boumeddiene may have acted with partner Amedy Coulibaly when he shot dead a policewoman and took people hostage in a kosher grocery store.
But French police sources said she was likely already in Turkey at the time of the attacks.
French police issued a public appeal to locate her following the bloody events of Friday and provided a mugshot from 2010 when she was questioned about Coulibaly.
“All our services are focused on looking for this person,” na-
tional police chief Jean-Marc Falcone told BFM-TV television.
“We call on her to put herself in the hands of justice.”
Local media have released photos purporting to be of a fully-veiled Boumeddiene posing with a crossbow, in what they said was a 2010 training session in the mountainous Cantal region.
Boumeddiene is described by local media as one of seven children whose mother died when she was young and whose delivery-man father struggled to keep working while looking after the family.
2001, Al Qaeda hatched a plot to kidnap Holywood actor Russel Crowe, even though he did not take it seriously at that time The bottom line
For advertising, call 309 1105 or email ksibona@spp.com.pg
For editorial, call 309 1184 or email pmarilyn@spp.com.pg
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Complete the grid so that every row, column and 2x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 6 inclusive
March 20 - April 19
Saying nothing when issues are pressing may seem a compromise if not just plain foolish. But with your ruler Mars in the most strategic portion of your chart until late February, you’re facing several situations that require exactly this approach. Initially it won’t be easy. But you’ll soon realise how wise it is.
April 20 - May 19
It’s time to rethink certain longstanding relationships. Some may be personal, but with the current powerful planetary focus on life’s practicalities, they’re more likely to involve such matters or perhaps, work. Address issues now. You’ll be amazed and relieved how receptive others are and, better yet, how willing to discuss issues.
May 21 - June 20
Decision time has come, at least in certain practical or career matters. While it’s true the actual circumstances involved are in transition, this simply means you need to ensure whatever you organise can be rethought as changes arise. In the meanwhile, this gives you a chance to explore and experiment.
June 21 - July 21
The Cancer Full Moon may have been a week ago. However, certain insights or encounters were so intense that you’re still dealing with the emotional fallout. Difficult as it may be, put these feelings aside, if only for a few hours. This should give you time to acquire a much needed fresh perspective.
July 22 - August 22
Few things are more disheartening than watching plans you’ve worked hard to organise come undone. Yet during the unsettled period from now until mid-February, changes will be frequent and, thus, mean rethinking plans. Once you understand that, you’ll ensure arrangements are flexible enough to ride out all those twists and turns.
August 23 - September 22
For ages you’ve been encouraging partners, at home or at work, to take the initiative. Now, however, with forthright Mars moving to accent this part of your chart, you may get more than you bargained for. While you could discuss this, bide your time. Mars moves on in six weeks’ time.
September 23 - October 22
Although your ruler Venus moved into the portion of your chart that is about love and life’s pleasures on the 3rd, you’ve had little time to think about such matters. Actually, that’s best, since the insights triggered by the coming days’ events could get you thinking about new ideas if not serious changes.
October 23 - November 22
Only days ago you refused even to consider certain new ideas, mostly because they’d be so unsettling. Since then, however, events have turned certain elements of your life into chaos anyway. That being the case, you may as well undertake those ideas. You’ll profit hugely, and with very little additional chaos.
November 23 - December 22
For ages you’ve been aware that certain issues on the domestic front would need to be faced, discussed and dealt with. Thus far you’ve done nothing, mostly because they weren’t that urgent. Now that the forthright Mars has moved in to accent these, the mood and circumstances will become more heated.
December 21 - January 19
You don’t consider yourself to be secretive. Yet there are certain matters you simply don’t discuss, even with those you trust. However, you’re lacking vital facts. While you could seek out that information yourself, one particular individual has it at their fingertips. But you need only ask, youÕre still hesitant.
January 20 - February 17
Usually planning ahead is a virtue. But with the Aquarius New Moon bringing a fresh perspective on your life next week, your time is best invested in doing some decluttering. Give some serious thought to what, and who, you can do without. This creates space for the excitement coming your way.
February 18 - March
At the time it may not seem you were learning much. But the insights that emerged from lengthy visit by the forthright Mars in the most strategic portion of your chart are now proving helpful, and will continue to do so in a number of ways. Reflect on these and you’ll realise just how much you learned.
1. Course fees for 2015, academic year are as follows:
2. No Boarding Facilities are provided at the college for all continuing and accepted self-Sponsored Students. Please arrange your own accommodations. College has a list of clients who are willing to provide accommodation at your own cost. Should you be interested, contact the college for further information.
3. Any payments less than the full semester fees would be denied from enrolment.
4. Offer of study will lapses at the end of the first week of registration which commences on 28th January 2015 and ends on the 05th of February 2015.
5. Late enrolment fees of K100 will apply after the first week of registration
6. All students are to present their original certificates (Grade 10 & Grade 12), transcript, medical report, police clearanc e and letter of acceptance at the time of enrolment. No original certificate means no enrolment.
7. All course fees to be deposited into Kokopo Business College, account number :2907336201, Westpac Bank, Kokopo Branch.
8. Continuing students are to check their transcript and financial status before returning to the college.
9. For further information contact us on: 9828556/9828954 or fax:9828557
Part-time Teaching vacancies are also available at the college in Management, Accounting , IT, Hospitality Management, Cookery & House Keeping. Interested applicants must have relevant first degree and three years or more of Industrial experience in the related field. Interested applicants must contact the college on: 9828556 or 9828954 or apply in writing
Graduate Trainee
Must be a graduating student from the Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Applied Physics, faculties of study
Must be a graduate of the 2014 academic year
Must have consistently high academic grades throughout years of study
Strong leadership talent, interpersonal and organisational skills
Good personal presentation.
Trade Marketing Officer
FMCG experienced
Strong effective communicator
Extensive network of contacts throughout the country
Self-driven, highly motivated with good team leadership experience
Strong experience working with Brands, Advertising and Media industry partners
Highly innovative, critical and target driven Professional demeanour and strong work ethic.
Graphic Designer
Strong creative flair
Up to date knowledge on the latest industry software
Professional approach to time, costs and production deadlines
At least three years previous experience in a similar role and can showcase portfolio of work
Highly motivated, effective communicator.
Sales & Marketing Assistants
Demonstrated PA experience in an FMCG office environment
Experience liaising with advertising, marketing and media industry
Well-developed organisational and interpersonal skills
Advanced MS Office skills and able to effectively manage a busy team environment
Effective control of confidential documents and events.
Sales Executives
Previous sales experience mandatory
Strong effective communicator
Well-developed Sales talent
Go getter and ambitious Team player with a professional work ethic
Extensive current network of contacts throughout society.
Customer Care and Quality Assurance Officers
Empathetic, responsive, gregarious, fun personality
Good listener, strong communicator Team player, good interpersonal skills
Able to work shift and to a roster
Proven leadership skills and high academic achievement.
Assistant Fleet Coordinator
Previous or current fleet coordinator or responsible for manage vehicles and drivers
Able to provide administrative support to the exiting FC
Good man management and rostering skills
At least a class 1 license
Good understanding of leasing and fleet management processes.
Travel Coordinator
Must have at least 3 years previous experience as a travel coordinator
Good network of contacts in the Travel and Hotels
Industry
Strong effective communicator
Advanced skills with MS Office Suite
Highly organized and good attention to detail.
Finance Manager
Must hold PNG CPA qualifications
At least 5 years previous experience in a similar role
Effective communicator and highly organized
Able to mentor a small dynamic team in a busy environment
Strong people management and leadership skills
Interconnect Roaming Officer
Accounting or Business Economics graduate with at least
3 years post experience
Currently employed as s finance officer and completing
PNG CPA qualifications
Keen interest in working in the Mobile Telco industry
Fully versed with MS Office Suite
Strong and effective communicator
Finance Officer
Accounting qualifications
At least 5 years of experience in a similar role
High academic achievement
Effective communicator, good attention to detail, able to work after hours and weekends
Able to work under pressure and to deadlines.
Please submit your applications, including all copies of your current qualifications and up to date academic transcripts to; jobs@bmobile.com.pg
Alternatively, you can post or deliver a resume to;
The HR Specialist, Bemobile Limited, PO Box 1055, Waigani, NCD, Papua New Guinea.
Closing date for applications will be the 2nd of February, 2015.
Only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the interviews.
“Though a year has gone like dust in the wind, in our thoughts and hearts you still remain.
Love you mom forever more until that day we meet again”.
To family, friends and relatives, we the Family of the Late Lady Hitolo Bouraga, wish to acknowledge and express our sincere appreciation for your generous support and assistance in cash and kind during the periods she was undergoing treatment until she was laid to rest.
To you all we say; THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS.”
New Britain Palm Oil Limited Milne Bay seeks to appoint a trade qualified, self motivated, resourceful and dedicated Heavy Equipment Fitter Supervisor to its Vehicle Workshop Department Team, with the above position based at Hagita, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Those outside of the province are encouraged to apply as the future opportunities in the industry are unfathomable.
The successful applicant will report to the Senior Superintendent and liaise with the Head of Department and will have the following responsibilities:
• Efficient and successful preventative maintenance KPI’s conducive to maximum productivity.
• Ability to direct and manage a crew of fitters maintaining a disciplined and flexible demeanor.
• Be able to meet deadlines and achieve targets while watching the bottom line.
• Some experience with Pronto CMS and parts protocol would be an advantage.
• Be proficient in Komatsu VCAD software and other models including CAT.
• Effectively supervise team to ensure efficient use of resources and enhance cost-effectiveness;
• Ensure the safety of all team members and adherence to company safety and sustainability policies;
Requirements:
• Minimum of five (5) years hands-on working experience in Heavy Equipment Fitting.
• Experience in a Supervisor role but all candidates are encouraged to apply if they think they have what it takes.
• Trade certificate in Heavy Equipment Fitting and able to work unsupervised.
• HEF experience with CAT, Komatsu, LiuGong, XCMG in all fields.
• The ability to read and write English with sound communication skills.
• A strong willingness to be part of a succession based company.
• Excellent technical skills, planning and organization.
• An ability to live and work in a challenging, but very rewarding environment.
Benefits include:
• Generous hourly wage.
• Free company provided housing.
• Free electricity.
• Free access to company health clinic and medicines.
• Uniform, boots and employee of the month awards.
• A company that cares about your future and that of your families.
• Sustainable environmentally conscious company.
To apply for this position please forward a detailed resume with supporting documents to:-
The Administration Department
Milne Bay Estates
PO Box 36
Milne Bay Province
Papua New Guinea
Fax: 675 641 1324
Email: mberecruitment@nbpol.com.pg
Applications for this position close on ………30/1/2015…………..
We thank those applying and advise that only shortlisted applicants will be notified to attend an interview. (Salary and other terms & conditions will be discussed during interview with the successful candidates).
HHISP is seeking candidates for: ecuti e f cer HH P irector
In this important position you will support the Director of HHISP to carry out their duties managing a multi-million dollar health and HIV portfolio. This will include coordinating meetings with high-level stakeholders, supporting information management, and the drafting of correspondence and briefs.
• Three plus years supporting a senior manager or in a senior coordination role.
• Degree in Business Administration, Communications or similar.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
Previous applicants need not apply. asual ri er
You will perform general driving duties for the HHISP Program.
• Five years clean driving record with Class 6 drivers licence.
• Two years professional driving experience in a similar role.
For further information, please contact HR Specialist Joe’anne Numeiwra on 323 8585 or at png.recruitment@abtjta.com.au
The closing date for applications is 5pm Friday 23 January 2015
HHISP is an Australian Government Initiative managed by Abt JTA in association with the Burnet Institute
Project Manager (Port Moresby-based)
Australia-China-Papua New Guinea
The long-term Project Manager will provide ongoing management support for the effective establishment and implementation of the Australia-ChinaPNG Pilot Cooperation Project on Malaria Control. The position is part-time (2 months full-time during the establishment phase followed by 3 days per week) and based in Port Moresby.
The Project will be implemented from 2015 to 2017 with the goal of strengthening two key national institutions in PNG: the Central Public Health Laboratory and the PNG Institute of Medical Research.
The successful candidate will have:
• 5-10 years experience in planning, managing, monitoring and evaluating large development cooperation programs (preferably in the health sector).
• Qualifications in public health, business management or similar.
• Strong leadership skills and well-developed communication, liaison and negotiation skills with projects and across cultures.
• Working level knowledge of international health polices and good practices in malaria control. Experience with malaria control or lab services in PNG desirable.
How to apply
Applications should be submitted via: www.abtjta.com.au/careers. This link contains a position description, remuneration information and selection criteria. An attractive international remuneration package will be offered to the successful candidate.
For further information, contact Elke Koellner on 323 8585 or at png.recruitment@abtjta.com.au
The closing date for applications is 5pm Friday 23 January 2015
Trilateral Malaria Project Supporting
TO : 1. Heads of Departments
2. Heads of Statutory Bodies & CSAs
3. Provincial Administrators
SUBJECT : SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL WORK PLANS AND CASHFLOWS FOR THE 2015 PUBLIC INVESTMENT PROGRAM PROJECTS
1. PURPOSE:
This Circular is to notify you all that as per the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), you are all required to submit your Work/Implementation Plans and Cash Flows for Projects and Programs appropriated in the 2015 National Budget.
2. RATIONAL:
You are all reminded to notify all your project/program managers responsible to submit these particular requirements to this Office by 4 06pm 14th January 2015 in order for all project/program documentations to be collated and presented to Government. Again, these particular requirements are necessary for Government to plan and manage the cash flow and expenditure during the year as well to assess the implementation status of projects and programs well against the work plans.
3. POLICY CONTEXT:
The 2015 Budget is the fifth budget of first five year of implementing PNG Development Strategic Plan (PNGDSP 2010-2030) and the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP 2011-2015) to realize Vision 2050. It focuses on “Sharing the Wealth and Empowering Our People”. This budget is giving more citizens the opportunity to participate in PNG’s growth. This is important because National progress depends on hard work across all sectors of the economy. This is a budget that shares the wealth for inclusive and progressive participation by all citizens in effective socio-economic development. The 2015 Budget is PNG’s biggest budget so far with a total appropriated expenditure of K16.199 billion.
This presents a K905 million or 6.6 per cent increase over the revised 2014 Budget appropriation. This level of spending is consistent with the 2015 Budget Strategy Paper recommendation for a maximum deficit of 5.9 percent and a debt to GDP ratio of around 35 percent.
The budget is responsive to the needs of our people, one that is directed towards ensuring that the benefits of our strong economic growth are shared more fairly in our society especially to the rural and remote areas. The budget is aimed at lowering the cost of living for our people and improving the welfare of ordinary Papua New Guineans.
4. CASH FLOW PROJECTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE:
All work plans and cash flow submitted are expected to be in accordance with the 2015 Budget appropriations for capital expenditure and the scope of project components for 2015 as outlined in the 2015 Budget Books Quarterly monitoring will strictly be based on expenditure against outputs (scope or project components for 2015). The standard DNPM Template for the development of work plans and cash flows should be used. This template is available at DNPM, should you need a copy. It was also attached to this circular and distributed to your respective agencies. All project and program managers as well as agencies that have on-going projects under the previous known Development Budgets should be familiar with these templates. Funding will not be released to Agencies and Organizations that do not comply with this Circular and fail to submit Work Plans and Cash Flow Statements for their PIP funded projects.
5. PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE (PSC):
Furthermore, it is a requirement that your agency establishes a Project Steering Committee (PSC) and ensures that its meetings are factored into the annual work programs and cash flows. I would like to emphasize that there must be a minimum of four (4) PSC meetings held annually in the 1st week of every new quarter of which I will be fully informed on the status of each project (both the new and on-going).
6. PROJECT MANAGEMENT UNITS (PMU) AND MEETINGS
All departments, statutory bodies, and provincial administrations are required to establish PMUs within your organizations. The PMUs will assist you to oversee the implementation of projects and programs within your organizations, and provide regular reports to the PSCs to DNPM and the CACC. The schedule of meetings of the PMUs must be factored into your annual work programs and cash flow costing. The number of PMU meetings is not restricted, but at least there should be four (4) in a year, to complement the PSC meetings.
7. QUARTERLY REPORTING OF PIP PROGRAMS
All Projects are required to furnish to the Department (DNPM) quarterly reports of project/program implementation. There are two (2) components of reporting, physical and financial.
The templates of these reporting requirements have been circulated to your respective agencies and will also be available at the Department of National Planning and monitoring.
Please ensure that all projects and programs comply with this requirement at the end of every quarter.
8. CONTACT PERSONS
Should you or your officers require further assistance, the following officers in the Department are available to assist you. Please submit a hard copy as well as an electronic copy of the Work Plan and Cash Flow for each of the projects in your agencies. The following Assistant Secretaries listed below will be your point of contact in the Department;
Sector Infrastructure Economic Law & Justice, and Defense
Social Administration
monica_lopyu@planning.gov.pg Willie_kumanga@planning.gov.pg joshua_himina@planning.gov.pg siboney_reuben@planning.gov.pg albert_andumukan@planning.gov.pg
I would like to further stress here that the Government and our development partners are now expecting us to deliver. Thus, your due diligence and prompt response to this Circular is crucial to the successful implementation of the 2015 Budget. For further information on the above, please contact the following First Assistant Secretaries;
1. Mr. Willie Kumanga – Social and Administration Division - 328 8378
2. Mr. Kelly Kabilo – Infrastructure and Economic Division - 328 8539
3. Mr. Jacob Areman – Monitoring and Evaluation Division - 328 8506
For your immediate attention and response.
Hakaua Harry Officer In Charge
Tabubil Engineering Ltd requires the services of an experienced Workplace Health & Safety Officer. Requirements preferred. standards. as required. address.
THE GENERAL MANAGER TABUBIL ENGINEERING LTD P.O. BOX 431, TABUBIL, WESTERN PROVINCE FAX TO 6499107
PNG Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd invites applications from suitable qualified and experienced persons for our Port Moresby Operation
Qualifications & Experience
preferably class 4
delivered to:
The Operations Manager PNG Ready Mixed Concrete Ltd P. O Box 1919 BOROKO NCD Poincianna Street, Hohola. NCD email:
Applications close: Tuesday 27th January, 2015
PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY
Medecins Sans Frontieres ANESTHETIC TECHNICAL OFFICER (ATO)
For Operating Theatre Department & NURSES at Tari Hospital.
Starting date: As soon as possible
General presentation of MSF: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural or man-made disasters. In PNG, MSF works in the communities of Tari, Buin and Port Moresby, providing health care to vulnerable populations affected by violence.
Requirements: ATO
Essential:
and professional body
multi-disciplinary team
stimulating and diplomatic out of work hours
multi-disciplinary team
Requirements: NURSES
Essential:
registration of work hours
multi-disciplinary team.
Desirable:
registration, reference contact details and a contact phone Donald Kazungu, Medical Team Leader or Allan De la Rosa, via email to tari-mtl@oca.msf.org or tari-log@oca.msf.org
We will only contact short listed candidates. Please send in your photocopies as no documents will be returned.
EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERCA
The U.S. Embassy has an immediate vacancy for a suitably qualified
Political Assistant
Performs political research, summarizes and/or translates substantive documents, drafts substantive reports, analyzes press reports, and summarizes trends and interprets as required. Drafts correspondence,diplomatic notes, and informational briefs for the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Political Officer as required. Maintains information files and databases, works with the management section to process vouchers, procure supplies and arrange logistics for visits, travel and appointments. Acts as primary back up to Economic, Public Diplomacy and Protocol Assistant.
Minimum Requirements
International Relations or related discipline is preferred
At least 4 years previous experience in political, or commercial position. Experience in working in a multicultural environment is an added advantage nowledge of functions of various host nation Government political, economic, social, commercial, environmental, science, military, public affairs, and health issues of host nations, particularly as affects bilateral relations. political data. Proficient user of Microsoft Office
Level 4 English (fluent) in both written and spoken English is required.
Must be a team player, must be able to work with minimum supervision and must exercise a great extent of judgment.
Please forward a detailed resume with full supporting documentation clearly demonstrating your ability to meet the minimum requirements, and a reliable telephone/email contact
Embassy of the United States of America
P.O. Box 1492. Port Moresby. NCD. PNG.
l
Attn: Human Resources Assistant.
Email: PersonnelPortMoresby@state.gov
Applications close on January 23, 2015. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. For those not as a potential employer.
THE USG IS
I, Honourable William Duma, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, by virtue of the powers conferred on me by the Road Traffic Act 2014 and pursuant to Section 57 of the Act, hereby give notice of my intention to make ordinary Rules.
The Department’s intent is to transfer the existing provisions in the Motor Traffic Regulations 1967 into the form of Rules under the Road Traffic Act with limited amendment.
All interested persons may obtain a copy of each Rule at Department of Transport, Jackson Parade, Seven Mile, Port Moresby or by writing to Department of Transport, P.O.Box 1489, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Dated this 07th day of November 2014
HON. William Duma, LLM, CMG, M.P
MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
MULTI SKILLS TRAINING SCHOOL
FROM INDUSTRY… CROSS-TRAINING FOR INDUSTRY.
TRADES LEVEL 1 – 3 COURSES START 2 FEBRUARY 2015 LAE
Diesel/Heavy Equipment Fitting (DHEF), Motor Vehicle Mechanic, Auto Electrical, Carpentry/Construction, Electrical Fitting, Electronics Technician, Maintenance Fitting & Machining, Metal Fabrication & Welding. 20 weeks per Level.
Course Fee/person: Level 1 – 3 K2450/Level.
TWO-YEAR DIPLOMA COURSES START 2 FEBRUARY 2015 LAE
Building/Architecture, Civil, CADD, Electrical, Mechanical, Mining, Petroleum Engineering, Business Management and IT/Computing (4 Stages).
Course Fee/person: K2700/Stage K5400 per year (Stages 1 & 2).
Cross-training, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other necessary training aids supplied to students. Industrial Attachment/OJT arranged for Level 3 Trades and Stage 4 Diploma students.
INDUSTRY TRAINING COURSES ALSO AVAILABLE – LAE/PORT
MORESBY
Dogger/Load Master, Rigging, Scaffolding, Forklifts, Cranes Operator, Heavy Vehicle Driver Class 3 & 4 Licence, LV/4WD Driver Class 1 Licence, OHS Officers, First Aid, etc. For registration to do course or courses information contact us on:
Telephone: 4727708, 4724939 Fax 4727450 Email: multiskillscourses@gmail.com or Write to P.O. Box 2354 Lae, Morobe Province, PNG or call in and see us at our Office in Pacific Palms Property on Sletjford Street, near Lae Port, Lae CBD.
For direct Course Fee Deposit, our Bank details are as follows:
ALLOTMENT 12 SECTION 20, PINE STREET, HOHOLA NCD PORT MORESBY, (STATE LEASE VOLUME 13 FOLIO 3039)
TO : All Departmental Heads 5 January, 2015
: All Provincial Administrators
: All CEOs and MDs of SOEs and Commodity Boards
SUBJECT: 2015 LEADERS’ SUMMIT – REMINDER FOR PERFOR MANCE REPORTS
This is a kind reminder that your 2014 Performance Reports are due by 16th January, 2015. You are to have your reports submi ed before or by this date. Any late reports will not be included in the Summary Performance Report for Leaders.
It has been two months since your were advised of this requirement and yet there has not been any report to date.
You were amply advised both through a Circular Le er copied to you all and Public No ce in both daily newspapers.
2x bedroom duplex with an attached warehouse. The building is ground levelled and has approximate gross floor area of 164 sm2. Accommodation to each unit comprises of laundry, kitchen, dining/lounge, two bedrooms and bathroom. The attached warehouse comprises of sales office, sewing room and medicine store room.
External walls comprised of brick and weatherboard and internal walls comprised of plywood, bricks and tiles to wet areas with aluminium framed glass louver windows, security mesh wires and insect screens. The floor composed of reinforced concrete slab base with the overlays of ceramic tiles and corrugated galvanised iron roof with plywood lined ceiling.
The property is serviced with water reticulation, sanitary plumbing, electrical reticulation and fluorescent lighting throughout.
It is located south-east of Pine Street and within walking distance to bus stop, Hohola police station, churches, schools, shops, market and other public services and amenities. It is fully secured with security fence with razor and barbed wires on top.
Tenderers are advised to inspect the property prior to submitting their tenders.
The successful tenderer must have finance available and will be required to sign a contract of sale and pay deposit of 10% within fourteen (14) days notification of acceptance of tender and full settlement within 60 days thereafter.
Tenders should be mark “WESTPAC TENDER” and sent to: Legal Unit
P O Box 706
PORT MORESBY
National Capital District
Please note that highest or any price offered may not necessarily be accepted. For any queries, please contact Legal Unit on telephone number 312 7449. Tenders close on 16th January 2015
Has a position vacant in their Port Moresby Branch
Minimum Year Twelve (12) with warehousing
Five (5) years prior experience
Good Team Leader/management skills
Knowledge in Stock take procedures
Knowledge of Receiving & dispatching of stock
Knowledge of ware house stock floor plan
Monitoring physical stock movement in the warehouses
Class 3 Drivers license.
Ability to work overtime.
Please lodge in your application (Cover
Letter, Resume, Certificates & at least three references) to the address below:
Dunlop PNG PO BOX 6202, Boroko, N.C.D.
Applications close Monday 19th January 2015
FOR RENT
1. Bottom Unit tenancy is on a common share basis, with conditions. One room is now available for renting by working individuals (male or female) and couples without children.
2. Loud noise, alcohol, betel nut chewing, smoking and other forms of drugs are not permitted anywhere in the property premise or in the front.
3. Salary deduction and automatic or direct payment into bank account required. Other forms of payment not required.
4. Property is well secured with blockwall and razor wire, with backup water and security lights. It is located 15 minutes away from shopping centers, markets and bus stops.
5. Each room is for K750.00 per fortnight.
6. No inspection after 5:30 pm.
7. Contact:
(a) Elim Kiang (Mr.)
(b) Phone - 3227 214/215 or 72782780
(c) Genuine enquiries required
A Self-starter is required to continue with the management of Property Rental Billing and collections along with the control of the Trust account. The person must be well versed in Console Real Estate Software, understand the Real Estate Industry. Previous experience is a must for this Position.
Terms and conditions will be discussed with the right candidate.
If you are interested and feel that you are the candidate, forward your full Curriculum Vitae in a sealed envelope - covering your experience, qualifications and References “by mail or hand deliver ” to:
Human Resource Manager Budget Real Estate Box 678 Port Moresby [Position
Office Location: Section 34 Lot 19 – Lawes Road Terrace - Konedobu
NO PHONE CALLS WILL BE ENTERTAINED
“Only short listed Applicants will be contacted & interviewed”
2 year full-time contract, Port Moresby
An exceptional international development role for a unique person
Papua New Guinea Associations Incorporation Act
Reg.,Sec. 2. Form 1
Notice of Intention to Apply for the Incorporation of an Association
I, Bede TOMOKITA, of Port Moresby, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea person authorized by the committee of the association known as GOODENOUGH ISLAND DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (GIDA) INC.
5-100894
give notice that I intend to apply for the incorporation of the association under the Associations Incorporation Act. The following are the details of the prescribe qualifications for incorporation as specified in Section 2 of the Act:
REFER TO AS1 BAR CODE # 56283 FOR DETAILS OF THE UPLOAD.
THIS Notice has been approved by the registrar of Companies.
Dated: 07/11/2014.
The validation code for this Notice is ASSOCIATION79224645. To check the validity of this Notice Enter http://www.ipa.gov.pg/pngassociations/verify /5-100894/ASSOCIATION-79224645.html in your Browser.
Notice generated 07 November 2014 02:44 PM PGT
Note: A person may within one month after the publication of this notice, lodge with the registrar an Objection to the incorporation of the proposed association in accordance with Section 4 of the Act.
The successful applicant will have:-
Accounting Qualification & Minimum of 5 years work experience on construction sites
Must possess a current driver’s licence and have good communication skills
Interested applicants should address
Application to:
The HR Manager P.O. Box 107, Boroko. NCD
Please email your CV to: admin@lcs.com.pg
Phone: 3253825 or 3259704
Oxfam is a global movement of people working together for a future without poverty. We work to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we campaign so that the voices of the poor influence the local and global decisions that affect them.
The role
We seek a dynamic Country Director to provide the vision and strategic direction for all of Oxfam’s work in PNG. This includes providing strategic leadership of the Oxfam country office and programme, and ensuring high quality, accountability and impact in working with communities, partners and other key stakeholders. The Country Director will also support the implementation of Oxfam’s 2020 Vision in PNG, to achieve a stronger Oxfam that is well-coordinated at the global level and relevant locally in PNG, and also support an increasingly independent Oxfam in the Pacific that is driven by local stakeholders and interests. The Pacific is one of three regions where the Oxfam Confederation is trialling new structures and approaches. You will therefore be at the forefront of these changes!
Our ideal candidate…
An effective leader, excellent communicator, strategic thinker and powerful advocate with strong ethical values, you will also have:
of high quality development programmes, influencing and humanitarian strategy, with or through partners or directly, and in multiple challenging locations (including PNG, as a preference) preferably on a long term basis in a developing country context context and acting within a regional and global framework to promoting leadership amongst local staff organization at a senior level - to donors, partners, government agencies, private sector organisations, civil society groups and the media, nationally and globally
We can offer you...
Apply now!
https://www.oxfam.org.nz/GetInvolved
humanresources@oxfam.org.nz
Friday, 23 January 2015
Appointment to this position will require a satisfactory medical, police check and Working with Children Check. Oxfam New Zealand is an equal opportunities employer. We promote diversity and practice equity in the workplace.
Tenders are invited for the purchase of the above residential comprising of a 3 bedroom medium High cost residence with a lounge, kitchen, bedroom and toilet and 1 X self contained bedroom on the ground floor.
The property is constructed on concrete slab ground floor high steel posts, timber frame structures, tongue and grooved timbered upper floor hardboard lined and ceiled and corrugated galvanised iron roof.
The property is fenced with chain mesh wire fencing and is situated in Ensisi Valley, Waigani, NCD.
Bidders are advised to inspect the property prior to submitting their bids.
The successful bidder must be able to provide evidence of finance available and will be required to:
1. Pay a deposit of 10% by cash or Bank Cheque within 14 days of notification by ANZ Banking Group Ltd (the bank) of acceptance of the tender.
2. To enter into a contract (the contract) on the Bank’s usual terms and conditions within fourteen (14) days of the contract being delivered to the successful renderer or its lawyers, failing which the deposit may be forfeited.
3. The balance of the purchase price will be payable upon completion in accordance with the contract in cash or in Bank Cheque.
4. Bids should be forwarded in a sealed envelope to the address below or hand delivered to Level 2, ANZ Haus, harbour City, Port Moresby.
5. Tenders close at close of business Friday 16th of January 2015.
The Manager Asset Management Asset Management Unit
ANZ Banking Group (PNG) Limited PO Box 1152
Port Moresby National Capital District.
The Bank is not obliged to accept the highest or any other tender. For enquiries please contact the Manager Asset Management, on phone 3223380.
An invitation is called for the General Public to bid for the following vehicles to be sold through Public Tender on “As is” Where is” Basis.
The Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB) on behalf of the PNG Ports Corporation invites written sealed bids for the Expression of Interest (EoI).
CSTB 3236 AITAPE NEW WHARF, HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY
CSTB 3237 AITAPE NEW WHARF, GEOTECHNICAL INVESTIGATION
CSTB 3238 AITAPE DESIGN AND BUILD OF WHARF STRUCTURE
Bid Security: Bids Less than PGK 1 million (not required)
Bids exceeding PGK 1 million (K10,000.00) NOT REQUIRED
Bids exceeding PGK10 million (K15,000.00)
Bid Security must be in the form of a Bank cheque or Bank Guarantee and bids submitted without the respective Bid Security will be rejected
Bid Validity: 90 days
Price of the Tender Document A non-refundable fee of K500.00 (CSTB 3236), K500.00 (CSTB 3237) and K1,000.00 (CSTB 3238) per set of tender documents in the form of Cash or Bank cheque payable to Central Supply & Tenders Board.
Bid Documents Available
Central Supply & Tenders Board
1st Floor, Westpac Waigani Branch Building, Waigani drive
National Capital District.
Bid must be addressed to: The Chairman
Central Supply & Tenders Board
P.O Box 6457
Boroko, National Capital District
1st Floor, Westpac Waigani Branch Building, Waigani drive
National Capital District
Interested bidders are to send their bids in a sealed envelope marked DSA NO: 1/2015 to the Central Supply & Tenders Boards, P.O. Box 6457 BOROKO, National Capital District.
Inspection can be done on: 15-16th JANUARY 2015.
Closing date: 26th, 2015 at 10: am
Tender Application Forms can be collected from the Department of Works, PNG CUSTOMS AND Central Supply & Tenders Board. For more information, please contact:
1. Mr. Rex Raitano (DoW) 324 1556
2. Lahui Nouairi (CSTB) 311 3777
3. Martin Kekae 312 7579
Authorised by:
PHILIP ELUDEME ChairmanThe Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB) on behalf of the Royal PNG Constabulary invites written sealed bids for the Modernisation Housing Programme 2015 Phase 1 (Package 2) and Design Procurement for Capital Works.
CSTB 3242 Construction of 3 x 3L Duplexes, Doyle Barracks, Alotau, Milne Bay Province
CSTB 3243 Construction of 2 x 3L Duplexes, Hutjena, Buka, Autonomous Region of Bougainville
CSTB 3244 Construction of 2 x Officers Residence and 1 x 3L Duplex, Kenabot, Kokopo, East New Britain Province
CSTB 3245 Construction of 3 x 3L Duplexes, Aiyura, Eastern Highlands Province
CSTB 3246 Construction of 4 x 3L Duplex and 1 x Officers Residence , Kerema, Gulf Province
CSTB 3247 Provision of Procurement and Project Management Consultancy Services for RPNGC Modernisation Housing Programme 2015-17.
CSTB 3248 Provision of Architectural Design, Construction Documentation and Contract Administration Services for the Redevelopment of the RPNGC Forensic Building, Gordons, NCD
Bid Security: Bids Less than PGK 1 million (not required) Bids exceeding PGK 1 million (K10,000.00) Bids exceeding PGK10 million (K15,000.00)
Bid Security must be in the form of a Bank cheque or Bank Guarantee and bids submitted without the respective Bid Security will be rejected
Bid Validity: 90 days
Price of the Tender Document A non-refundable fee of K1,000.00 per set of tender documents in the form of Cash or Bank cheque payable to Central Supply & Tenders Board.
Bid Documents Available 05th January 2015 Central Supply & Tenders Board 1st Floor, Westpac Waigani Branch Building, Waigani drive
Capital District. Bid must be addressed to: The Chairman Central Supply
closing date and time.
The Central Supply & Tender Board will not be held liable for any mishandling.
Authorized by: Philip Eludeme Chairman
Bid Delivery Place
Closing Time & Date
Contact Details
Lodged in the “Tender Box” located at the Reception office at the Central Supply & Tenders Board Office, B Wing, Level 1, Waigani Westpac
Corporate Central Branch Building
Thursday 15th January 2015 at 10:00am
Erue Jack (Mrs)
Contract Coordinator
Central Supply & Tenders Board
1st Floor, Westpac Waigani Branch Building
Waigani drive, National Capital District
Phone: (675) 3113777 Facsmille: (675) 3113778
Email: EJack@cstb.gov.pg
Instructions to Bidders
Interested Bidders must arrange with their Agent (s) or a Courier firm of their choice to pick up tender documents and similar arrangement must be done for the lodgement of their bid (s). Bidders must clearly address the outer envelope containing their bid with the address as indicated above in the Bid Delivery Place and marked with the tender number, description of the project, closing date and time. The Central Supply & Tender Board will not be held liable for any mishandling.
Authorized by:
Philip Eludeme Chairman
The Papua New Guinea (PNG) country program of Australian Government aid is a complex, diverse and dynamic program. The program has a very strong focuson achieving tangible results for the people of PNG.
The Health and Education Procurement Facility (HEPF) is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and has been commissioned to implement a large infrastructure and equipment program designed to strengthen the PNG health and education sectors.
HEPF intend to engage Consultancy Services to undertake the Contract Management & Supervision (CMS) of a works contractor who will carry out the construction of 2 Health Projects in Bougainville. These are:
RFT 17 Bougainville Health - Group A
Operating Theatre & Labour Ward - Arawa Hospital
Buka Hospital Water Supply
Buka Transit Store Upgrade
RFT 20 Bougainville Health - Group B
Hospital Master Planning, Buka, Arawa, Buin
Scoping, Design and Maintenance for 35 Rural Health Facilities
The tender documentation will be available from our offce in Port Moresby between the hours of 0900 - 1600, Monday to Friday from the 12th of December or alternatively downloaded from our website: www.hepf.net Interested parties must register with the HEPF team at the email address provided below. (An administration charge of PGK 200 will apply to hard copy printed version of the tender documentation picked up from our offce).
Tender briefng will be held on the address below on the 17th of December 2014.
Closing Date for Tender is 30 January 2015.
Companies tendering for this project must be registered in PNG.
The bids must be delivered by courier or hand to the tender box at the address below:
Health and Education Procurement Facility
Level 7, Pacifc Place, Downtown, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea
Phone: (+675) 321 0330
Fax: (+675) 321 0233
Digicel: (+675) 7998 1000
Email: tenderH017@hepf.net
www.hepf.net Managed
SHOOTING
WORLD recognised shooters Russell and Lauryn Mark gave a few handy tips to members of the Papua New Guinea squad preparing for the Pacific Games.
Russell an Australian dual World Individual and Olympic Champion and his wife Lauryn, an Olympic Women’s skeet shooter conducted a two-day coaching clinic at the Gun Club in
Do
A LAE- based technical official is querying the selection criteria for the PNG hockey team that attended the Oceania Championships recently. Lae hockey technical officacial Micheal Hebei said players who went down to the Oceania tournament are not strong.
He said during his days PNG was a threat to Fiji.
They would either draw or win matches.
The last Oceania tournament has shown that PNG is no competition match to Fiji, on women winning 3-1 and men 8-2 in favor of Fiji.
Technical official Ruth Hebei said that it would be more appropriate to inform both players and officials of PNG standard criteria used for selection as well for the Pacific Games that will be on the way. She said most participants were thinking that the players participating in the 6th BSP PNG Games would be in the selection for the Oceania tournament. President for Lae Hockey Association Harry Kaisa said that the players were already selected into a train on squad even before the PNG Games and that they were not informed about the selection criteria.
“We want transparency because so far we as Technical Officials and executives are not having any say in selections’’, said Ruth Hebei.
She said that having selection criteria will toughen competition to produce the best and will help players to have a proper perspective of the requirements.
Port Moresby for the 20 registered shooters. The shooters have been in training for the pistol and shotgun categories for the past two years.
It is envisaged that the couple who have attended countless international events will help refine the techniques by the PNG shooters but also help them develop a competitive mindset.
The team was put through their paces at the shot-gun range on Saturday.
The couple then showed the shoot-
Last Week’s Poll Question & Results as of Friday 12.12.2014.
Do you think the 6th BSP PNG Games was best ever?
ers how to rotate from their ankles to successfully turn at any angle to score. The PNG team has the potential for medals at the Pacific Games set for July.
PNG’s number one contender for the shot-gun events is in-form shooter Peter Leahy, who has a highest scorer 24/25. His son Darcy is also a contender for the Pacific Games, and is considered a strong prospect for the next Common-
wealth Games. Other form shooters include Beatrice Geita and Nick Constintinou. From the coaching clinic this month, a final team will be named by early February.
Russell and Lauryn will also assist the PNG team in their final preparation for their first international in Brisbane.
The Pacific Games shooting competition in Port Moresby will be staged at the June Valley Shooting club.
It would give players a chance to improve on their skills, ball work, defense or number of goals scored and health said Ruth Hebei. She said that Hockey is expanding all over the country and thus selections should not be made from Lae and NCD only the two main Centres were players are usually selected and the players seemed to be dominated by Port Moresby based.
IT is very important for us to recognise and acknowledged our past leaders as they have also made contribution to the development of our communities, says Yangoru-Saussia MP Richard Maru.
Minister Maru made these remarks during the official opening for the Yawiga Volleyball tournament that at the Kubalia Government Station in the YangoruSaussia District in East Sepik.
16 teams for both males and females will participate in the tournament.
Maru says people must acknowledged fine leaders of the past as they have done a lot in the development of Yangoru-Saussia.
Maru also pointed out important priorities which the current O’Neill/Dion Government is
focusing on. Maru said these important priorities are- education, health, infrastructure, economic development and law and order.
“There will be no law and order until we engage our youths to the activities that would satisfy their
needs and wants,” says Minister Maru. Maru added that one of the activities that youths will be involved in is sports.
Maru on that note thanked the four LLG Presidents with the Joint District Budget Priority Committee for initiating these two tournaments respectively. “I thank you for approving the funding of K200, 000 to host these two tournaments which we ended the soccer last Thursday,” Maru said.
He said sport is one avenue that would bring development as well as youths can be venture into further their education and other positive things in life.
Maru furthermore stated that through his Office under the District he will fully support all the sporting codes in the electorate where plans for upgrading all the sporting facilities are very well underway.
The NGI Rugby League Circuit 9s tournament calendar for this year has been confirmed.
PNGRFL NGI confederate Director Horta Bosky said the initiative was the first of its kind and has already got the blessing from the PNGRFL Board.
He said the first leg of the tournament saw the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Invitational 9s tournament played last year in Buka. 22 teams participated in this tournament including three teams from East New Britain and one from New Ireland. He said this year the East New Britain leg of the 9s tournament will be the Turkai Nines that will be held in Kokopo from March 13-15 followed by the New Ireland leg to be on June 5-7, and the Kimbe leg on the July 31 to August 2.
An athletes forum was held and comprised of the majority of the sporting codes that will feature during the Pacific Games in July at Holiday Inn on Saturday.
Team PNG Chef De Mission Richard Kassman who
spoke on “team PNG’s expectations”.
“All athletes representing the country should adhere to the rules and regulations set for them,” he said. He added that a lot is expected of them and what is expected of them not only at the Games but during the lead up to the Games as well.
Training and other development skills will be done before the Games begin and this means all athletes must be prepared.
Minister for Sports Justin Tkatchenko told the athletes that the opportunity to represent the country does not come on a golden platter and reminded the athletes to be
committed to the sport. He added that the venues would all be completed by May and would allow for the athletes to train a month ahead of the commencement of the games in July. It would also give Team PNG an advantage over the visiting countries. The forum ended yesterday.
THE second coach and manager’s conference by the PNG Olympic Committee was held at the Holiday Inn over the weekend. All PNG’s national coaches and managers attended two day conference.
In attendance was the Minister for Sports and Pacific Games Justin Tkatchenko,
the general management team for Team PNG and the coaches and managers at all sports.
While the focus has been on the venues and other facilities, the conference gave an insight into the work that has to be put together for the respective sporting codes to successfully perform at an elite level. Guest speakers included Mark Brown and Gary
Johnston from sports medicine Australia, Chief Executive Officer of Australia University Sport Don Knapp and nutritionist Jo McCormack from Griffith University in Australia.
Covering topics on strength and conditioning, talent identification and screening, nutrition and hydration and sports psychology and recovery, the aim is to give athletes
the right tools and information to be ready and focused on the Pacific Games.
In opening the conference, Tkatchenko said that the development of athletes waspriority.
“As coaches and managers you are dedicated to the development of our athletes. We need to continue to grow and adapt, remaining always adaptable, motivated and
responsive. These are vital aspects of improvement, and constant improvement will breed success,” he said.
Team PNG Chef De Mission Richard Kassman said that the conference gave an insight into what was expected of the team.
The conference ended yesterday with the presentation of certificates to participants.
FINANCE Minister James
Marape has encouraged all schools in Tari-Pori District to include sporting programs in their activities for this year.
Marape who is also the local MP for Tari-Pori said this when committing more that K50 000 to two sporting codes of basketball and rugby league over the weekend.
The Minister was in electorate over the weekend to wit-
bottom line
ness the off-season finals for basketball and rugby league competition held over the festive season.
He made the commitment to give K20 000 to the Tari Basketball Association in which K10 000 was presented to Association president Erica Pawa for the pre-season games.
He also made a commitment of K30 000 to rugby league and presented K10 000 for the preseason games to Joseph Kaupa who is the president of Tari
rugby league. “My message to my people of Tari-Pori is to get the young kids to be more involve in sports.”
“All major schools in the district of Tari Pori must have sports programs and I call on all parents to let their children go to schools.”
Minister Maraoe said the National government has provided free education and their was no reason why children should not be in the classroom.
“Every school age children
must be in a classroom this year. If there is no space, it is my responsibility to build more classrooms.”
“I am encouraging all schools to have sports programs in their activities for the year.”
Minister Marape said although rugby league is the major sports in the province, he is encouraging other sporting codes like basketball, soccer and rugby in the province. He said sporting activities will help youths stay out of
The most succesful coach is Wayne Bennet winning 7 grand finals.
PNGRFL East New Britain Development officer Alois Tobata said this year will be an active year for Kokopo as it will host also several rugby league events starting off with the Agmark Cup then followed by the Trukai Nines, and possibly hosting another 9s event which is yet to be confirmed by the PNGRFL board the Chairman’s 9s Cup which will also be played around the four regions of the country. He said a date for the Chairman’s Cup has yet to be confirmed by the PNGRFL board and whether the game to be still played in Kimbe according to the original plan or back to Kalabond in Kokopo.
He said the Turkai nines organizing committee has announced an affiliation fee of K500, and players registration of K30 per player including 15 players required plus three officials.
He said all affiliation and players registration forms will be sent out to the various NGI provinces who want to participate in the event. All fees should be deposited into the PNGRFL NGI bank account. The account number is 1001429870, BSP Branch, Kokopo.
trouble and wasting their time on illicit activities such as drug and alcohol. Marape said the provincial government and leaders stand ready to assist schools and sporting teams in the province.
The Minister was in the electorate over the weekend to preside over a compensation initiative between two warring tribes of Linapina and Paivali said sports is also a uniting factor that can bring different groups together.
JAMES Marape
BLUE
PAPUA New Guinea international Dion Aiye has signed for Whitehaven for the 2015 Championship season.
Aiye was part of PNG’s World Cup squad in 2013 and played alongside Haven centre Jessie Joe Parker during that campaign. He also represented PNG against Australia’s Prime Minister’s XIII side as the Kangaroos prepared for the 2014 Four Nations.
Aiye will play a part in Haven’s pre-season games in the build up to the new campaign.
THE nationwide Coca Cola Ipatas Cup is set for another exciting challenge.
This was highlighted during the official launch of the Morobe challenge in the historical township of Wau on Saturday.
The Morobe leg has eight teams including O-Wan Titans from neighbouring Eastern Highlands Province as well.
Bulolo MP and deputy opposition leader Sam Basil and Obura – Wonenara MP Mehrra Kipefa officially launched the 2015 Ipatas cup challenge.
Basil commended Ipatas Cup CEO Timothy Lepa for given the opportunity to Wau to host the challenge.
“It is commendable that the Ipatas Cup concept has grown in status and currently provides players to mainstream competitions like the Digicel
Cup,” he said.
Basil said the Ipatas Cup challenge allows raw talented players from the district level to be exposed to high level competition.
Saturday results: Jaka Natts 16
d Wau Brothers 0, Kamkumung Crushers 12 d Morobe Chief 0, Bulolo Healers 8 d Bulolo Miners 6 and Taraka Red Backs 12 d Owan Titans 0.
Sunday results: East Taraka 12 d Blue Heelers 6, Owan Titans
12 d Armsec Bulolo Miners 0 and Morobe Chief 10 d Jaka Knights 0. The Morobe challenge will run for the next two weekends with the winner qualifying for the second-stage of the playoffs.
There are 128 teams competing in this tournament. Teams will be vying for a major slice of the K100, 000 in prize money that is on offer.
Head coach Steve Deakin said: “He’s a superb utility player who made a great impression during the World Cup. The fact that he’s got a lot of utility about him means he will add a lot of value to our side. I really think this is a signing that will excite the fans. Looking at his international teammate Jessie Joe Parker and how well he has integrated, not just in this country but in this community. I think that bodes well for Dion.”
Haven chief executive Barry Richardson said: “We are delighted to have signed a quality player like Dion. He has received his visa application and will be joining us next week. It only took five weeks for us to get his application through so we are delighted with how quickly it has gone.