PNGBLOGS

An insider within Tutumang Development Limited today spilled the beans on how he was used and manipulated by the company to 'sweet-talk' landowners into signing the fraudulent land deals involving the SABL on New Hanover. Councilor of Ward 17 in the Lavongai Local Level Government where the SABL are located, Mr. Kamsal Maraleu told the Commission of Inquiry that he was a major player in what transpired amongst the directors of Tutumang. He says the company used him because of his status in the community as he can easily influence the people. Mr. Maraleu is the elder brother of Miskus Maraleu, company lawyer of Tutumang Development Limited, and nephew to the company's chairman Mr. Peddy Yanis. Mr. Maraleu says, Tutumang is a Malaysian company, that has been logging under various company names in Kaut, Central New Ireland and Namatanai. After logging these areas, the company came up with a plan to go to New Hanover because of the island's vast forest resource. But realizi

An insider within Tutumang Development Limited today spilled the beans on how he was used and manipulated by the company to 'sweet-talk' landowners into signing the fraudulent land deals involving the SABL on New Hanover. Councilor of Ward 17 in the Lavongai Local Level Government where the SABL are located, Mr. Kamsal Maraleu told the Commission of Inquiry that he was a major player in what transpired amongst the directors of Tutumang. He says the company used him because of his status in the community as he can easily influence the people. Mr. Maraleu is the elder brother of Miskus Maraleu, company lawyer of Tutumang Development Limited, and nephew to the company's chairman Mr. Peddy Yanis. Mr. Maraleu says, Tutumang is a Malaysian company, that has been logging under various company names in Kaut, Central New Ireland and Namatanai. After logging these areas, the company came up with a plan to go to New Hanover because of the island's vast forest resource.

Serious allegations of biased dealings have been raised by Pomio Landowner representative, Norbert Pames, against the East New Britain Provincial Government and the Pomio District Administrator, Mr Pomaleu Lagisan, on its lack of action and concern over the land grabs that is currently occurring in the Pomio District. Mr Pames is onboard the GreenPeace’s Esperanza when it berthed in Port Moresby yesterday. Mr Pames, who is representing landowners in the Ralopal and Pomata concessions, said they have written 5 letters already to the District Administrator, Mr Pomaleu Lagisan to intervene and deal with the issue of confrontation between landowners in the District, but there has been no word from those in authority. Mr Pames confirmed that in their last petition to the District Administrator, they had asked that the operations of Gilford Limited cease, pending the findings of the SABL inquiry and a meditation round table be convened between them and Gilford Limited, but this was ignored,

Serious allegations of biased dealings have been raised by Pomio Landowner representative, Norbert Pames, against the East New Britain Provincial Government and the Pomio District Administrator, Mr Pomaleu Lagisan, on its lack of action and concern over the land grabs that is currently occurring in the Pomio District. Mr Pames is onboard the GreenPeace’s Esperanza when it berthed in Port Moresby yesterday. Mr Pames, who is representing landowners in the Ralopal and Pomata concessions, said they have written 5 letters already to the District Administrator, Mr Pomaleu Lagisan to intervene and deal with the issue of confrontation between landowners in the District, but there has been no word from those in authority. Mr Pames confirmed that in their last petition to the District Administrator, they had asked that the operations of Gilford Limited cease, pending the findings of the SABL inquiry and a meditation round table be convened between them and Gilford Limited, but this was ignor

Prime Minister Peter O'Neil and his Government will know by December, whether their election into office was made according to law. The Supreme Court in Waigani has reserved its ruling, after completing hearing of submissions today. Lawyers representing Prime Minister Peter O'Neil and others ended the presentation of submissions today, just one day after hearing proper opened yesterday. Their submissions were made in regard to the issue of the August events of Parliament, Sir Michael's issue of absence from Parliament, the issue of his mental health, and whether or not, the courts have any right to question the actions of Parliament. Lawyer Ron Webb opened submissions for the intervening parties in support of Parliament and the Government, that the action on August 2nd to elect Peter O'Neill as Prime Minister, is legal. Lawyer Web submitted that because Sir Michael Somare was absent for a long time without proper information concerning his health reaching Parliament and

Prime Minister Peter O'Neil and his Government will know by December, whether their election into office was made according to law. The Supreme Court in Waigani has reserved its ruling, after completing hearing of submissions today. Lawyers representing Prime Minister Peter O'Neil and others ended the presentation of submissions today, just one day after hearing proper opened yesterday. Their submissions were made in regard to the issue of the August events of Parliament, Sir Michael's issue of absence from Parliament, the issue of his mental health, and whether or not, the courts have any right to question the actions of Parliament. Lawyer Ron Webb opened submissions for the intervening parties in support of Parliament and the Government, that the action on August 2nd to elect Peter O'Neill as Prime Minister, is legal. Lawyer Web submitted that because Sir Michael Somare was absent for a long time without proper information concerning his health reaching Parl

Election Challenged. The August formation of the O'Neil-Namah Government has been described as a coup. That was from lawyers representing disgraced Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, as hearing proper of the Special Reference opened at the Supreme Court yesterday. The High Court heard submissions on the issue of whether or not there was a vacancy in the office of the Prime Minister, which led to Parliament's election of Peter O'Neil as the country's Chief Executive Officer. Queens Counsel Marshall Cook representing Sir Michael says, there was never a vacancy, and that Parliament's election of Mr. O'Neil was against the law. Mr. Cook submitted that the vote taken by Parliament on August the second, electing Peter O'Neil as Prime Minister was unconstitutional and invalid, because Parliament has no power to declare a vacancy in the Office of the Prime Minister. Mr. Cook submitted that even if it does have the power to declare the vacancy, the Consti

Election Challenged. The August formation of the O'Neil-Namah Government has been described as a coup. That was from lawyers representing disgraced Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, as hearing proper of the Special Reference opened at the Supreme Court yesterday. The High Court heard submissions on the issue of whether or not there was a vacancy in the office of the Prime Minister, which led to Parliament's election of Peter O'Neil as the country's Chief Executive Officer. Queens Counsel Marshall Cook representing Sir Michael says, there was never a vacancy, and that Parliament's election of Mr. O'Neil was against the law. Mr. Cook submitted that the vote taken by Parliament on August the second, electing Peter O'Neil as Prime Minister was unconstitutional and invalid, because Parliament has no power to declare a vacancy in the Office of the Prime Minister. Mr. Cook submitted that even if it does have the power to declare the vacanc

Somare back in the limelight? A split but majority ruling of the Supreme Court in Waigani yesterday has ended what's now thought to be the Government's last straw, in its bid to stop the Special Reference, challenging its controversial August formation. The full five-men bench, has dismissed an application by the intervenors representing Parliament and the Government, asking that the court be put on halt until, medical records of Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare was made available to the court. The Bench ruled in the majority, 3 to 2, that the application is premature and only re-ignites issues that were already determined by a single judge in his findings of fact last week. The majority ruling by the High Court to dismiss the application by the intervening parties representing Parliament and the Government follows a split with the individual views of the five-men bench. The Chief Justice Sir Salmo Injia and Justices Nicholas Kirriwom and Les Gavara-Nanu ruled in the majority, th

Somare back in the limelight? A split but majority ruling of the Supreme Court in Waigani yesterday has ended what's now thought to be the Government's last straw, in its bid to stop the Special Reference, challenging its controversial August formation. The full five-men bench, has dismissed an application by the intervenors representing Parliament and the Government, asking that the court be put on halt until, medical records of Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare was made available to the court. The Bench ruled in the majority, 3 to 2, that the application is premature and only re-ignites issues that were already determined by a single judge in his findings of fact last week. The majority ruling by the High Court to dismiss the application by the intervening parties representing Parliament and the Government follows a split with the individual views of the five-men bench. The Chief Justice Sir Salmo Injia and Justices Nicholas Kirriwom and Les Gavara-Nanu ruled in the major

Challenge Rejected The Supreme Court in Waigani has dismissed an attempt by the government to stop the Special Reference, challenging the controversial formation of the O'Neil-Namah regime in August this year. Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia handed down the unanimous ruling this afternoon, coupled with a warning that there should not be threats to the Referrer, the East Sepik Provincial Government, to how the case is being conducted in court. The move to strike out the Special Reference was made this morning by the first intervenor Attorney General Doctor Allan Marat, and had the support of the Parliament Speaker, the Prime Minister and his Deputy, as parties. Those parties had argued that because only twelve out of the full fifteen member Provincial Cabinet attended the August meeting, the Reference did not have the full endorsement of the Executive Council. Last week, single Supreme Court judge David Cannings had found that 12 of the 15 member of the Provincial Executive Council w

Challenge Rejected The Supreme Court in Waigani has dismissed an attempt by the government to stop the Special Reference, challenging the controversial formation of the O'Neil-Namah regime in August this year. Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia handed down the unanimous ruling this afternoon, coupled with a warning that there should not be threats to the Referrer, the East Sepik Provincial Government, to how the case is being conducted in court. The move to strike out the Special Reference was made this morning by the first intervenor Attorney General Doctor Allan Marat, and had the support of the Parliament Speaker, the Prime Minister and his Deputy, as parties. Those parties had argued that because only twelve out of the full fifteen member Provincial Cabinet attended the August meeting, the Reference did not have the full endorsement of the Executive Council. Last week, single Supreme Court judge David Cannings had found that 12 of the 15 member of the Provincial Exec

WITH the historical wedding last Saturday in Port Moresby, a man who claimed to be the husband of the bride had claimed she ran off without sorting her legal divorce requirements. Martin Wale claimed he is the husband of Esmie Ereoli, the house-keeping maid who married the Governor General of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Sir Michael Ogio in Port Moresby. The wedding was the first ever state wedding in the history of PNG. But Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli left without sorting out their legal requirements which he felt was not right. Mr Wale said he met Ms Ereoli when he travelled to South Malaita in 2007. He said they started dating until he decided to take Ms Ereoli with her to Honiara. Therefore, as a way of tradition Mr Wale said he paid some money to Ms Ereoli’s brothers to marry her. Although, they were never legally married, Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli was his wife living under the same roof since 2007 until she moved out in January 2010. “We never argued or had a disagreement over anyt

WITH the historical wedding last Saturday in Port Moresby, a man who claimed to be the husband of the bride had claimed she ran off without sorting her legal divorce requirements. Martin Wale claimed he is the husband of Esmie Ereoli, the house-keeping maid who married the Governor General of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Sir Michael Ogio in Port Moresby. The wedding was the first ever state wedding in the history of PNG. But Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli left without sorting out their legal requirements which he felt was not right. Mr Wale said he met Ms Ereoli when he travelled to South Malaita in 2007. He said they started dating until he decided to take Ms Ereoli with her to Honiara. Therefore, as a way of tradition Mr Wale said he paid some money to Ms Ereoli’s brothers to marry her. Although, they were never legally married, Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli was his wife living under the same roof since 2007 until she moved out in January 2010. “We never argued or had a disagr

Dilung Gama and her daughter Martina    sit on bed in a small maternity ward   at the  Saidor Health Center.      Martina  who suffers from epilepsy,    gave birth near  their village  a few days ago.     The  child has been given away for adoption and Dilung  - who appears to be in her 60s  - says  they  did that because Martina has too many children.   She doesn’t say how many  children her daughter has   but she points to a boy behind her  and says: “That’s one of them.”              Like many other parts of Papua New Guinea,  stories about the  plight of women and children    is all too common.    We’ve become desensitized  to  images and stories that would cause panic and alarm  in other countries.               Martina is one of the lucky few  who have made it to a health center.   Her village was beside a road and  she was fortunate  that her relatives brought her to  Saidor in time.  Many others aren’t so fortunate.             “…For instance,  we get a  radio message that says

Dilung Gama and her daughter Martina    sit on bed in a small maternity ward   at the  Saidor Health Center.      Martina  who suffers from epilepsy,    gave birth near  their village  a few days ago.     The  child has been given away for adoption and Dilung  - who appears to be in her 60s  - says  they  did that because Martina has too many children.   She doesn’t say how many  children her daughter has   but she points to a boy behind her  and says: “That’s one of them.”              Like many other parts of Papua New Guinea,  stories about the  plight of women and children    is all too common.    We’ve become desensitized  to  images and stories that would cause panic and alarm  in other countries.               Martina is one of the lucky few  who have made it to a health center.   Her village was beside a road and  she was fortunate  that her relatives brought her to  Saidor in time.  Many others aren’t so fortunate.             “…For instance,  we get a  radio message that say

Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau must be thoroughly sick and fed up with the courts in Papua New Guinea because they keep losing legal cases. Yesterday’s ruling in the National Court, dismissing Rimbunan Hijau’s application to strike out proceedings brought by a local non government organisation, was just the latest in a long series of court decisions against the company dating back over the last decade. Rimbunan Hijau consistently denies its logging operations in PNG are illegal and unsustainable and employs a number of highly paid consultants and lobbyists to argue in its defence in the media and an international team of lawyers to argue its case in court. Yet court decisions suggests the allegations of illegal logging are true as are the claims of serious human rights abuses, of which more emerged last week with Rimbunan Hijau accused of flying police into its logging camps to quell protests by traditional landowners over illegal logging in their forests [1]. In 2

Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau must be thoroughly sick and fed up with the courts in Papua New Guinea because they keep losing legal cases. Yesterday’s ruling in the National Court, dismissing Rimbunan Hijau’s application to strike out proceedings brought by a local non government organisation, was just the latest in a long series of court decisions against the company dating back over the last decade. Rimbunan Hijau consistently denies its logging operations in PNG are illegal and unsustainable and employs a number of highly paid consultants and lobbyists to argue in its defence in the media and an international team of lawyers to argue its case in court. Yet court decisions suggests the allegations of illegal logging are true as are the claims of serious human rights abuses, of which more emerged last week with Rimbunan Hijau accused of flying police into its logging camps to quell protests by traditional landowners over illegal logging in their forests [1].

More Australian police could be sent to Papua New Guinea, under a plan to boost the country's underfunded and undisciplined police force. Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, told reporters in Port Moresby on Friday PNG had raised the issue of policing during last week's ministerial forum between the two nation's in Canberra last week. Australia currently has 14 Australian Federal Police (AFP) members in PNG working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in a mentoring and support role, as well as one AFP liaison at the High Commission. "The sense of the need to have more police on the ground, more federal police, is certainly an issue that was raised on the PNG side, and it's certainly one we take very seriously and we're keen to assist," Mr Marles said. "We have undertaken with the government here to have a very short review into the needs of policing, which we will have a response to." "But no

More Australian police could be sent to Papua New Guinea, under a plan to boost the country's underfunded and undisciplined police force. Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, told reporters in Port Moresby on Friday PNG had raised the issue of policing during last week's ministerial forum between the two nation's in Canberra last week. Australia currently has 14 Australian Federal Police (AFP) members in PNG working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in a mentoring and support role, as well as one AFP liaison at the High Commission. "The sense of the need to have more police on the ground, more federal police, is certainly an issue that was raised on the PNG side, and it's certainly one we take very seriously and we're keen to assist," Mr Marles said. "We have undertaken with the government here to have a very short review into the needs of policing, which we will have a response to." &q

The Indonesian military and police opened fire late yesterday on a gathering of West Papuan leaders. At least one person is believed to have been killed and hundreds have fled the capital The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state of lockdown.    A Papuan priest who was fleeing the shooting contacted New Matilda to report that an army truck passed him carrying Papuan participants who had been present at the Third Papua Congress. According to the witness they were "covered with blood" and had been "beaten and shot". The violence erupted at the conclusion of the Third Papuan Congress, a three-day gathering held at the Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, du

The Indonesian military and police opened fire late yesterday on a gathering of West Papuan leaders. At least one person is believed to have been killed and hundreds have fled the capital The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state of lockdown.    A Papuan priest who was fleeing the shooting contacted New Matilda to report that an army truck passed him carrying Papuan participants who had been present at the Third Papua Congress. According to the witness they were "covered with blood" and had been "beaten and shot". The violence erupted at the conclusion of the Third Papuan Congress, a three-day gathering held at the Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura,