PNGBLOGS

Jakarta Globe Papua New Guinea has been given a vote of confidence by ratings service Standard & Poor’s, which on Monday upgraded the country’s long-term sovereign debt credit outlook to stable from negative, citing the Pacific state’s greater political stability following July legislative elections. The rating agency affirmed Indonesia’s eastern neighbor’s current long-term rating at B+, and its short-term rating at B. PNG’s rating is four steps below investment grade, on par with other countries including Bolivia, Nigeria and Ukraine. “The elections resolved the stalemate that existed for nearly a year,” S&P credit analyst Yee Farn Phua said in a statement on Monday. Phua was referring to competing claims for the prime minister’s post between Peter O’Neill and previous premier Michael Somare. The PNG parliament elected O’Neill as prime minister in August 2011 during Somare’s absence due to illness. The Supreme Court then ruled in December that the removal of Som

Jakarta Globe Papua New Guinea has been given a vote of confidence by ratings service Standard & Poor’s, which on Monday upgraded the country’s long-term sovereign debt credit outlook to stable from negative, citing the Pacific state’s greater political stability following July legislative elections. The rating agency affirmed Indonesia’s eastern neighbor’s current long-term rating at B+, and its short-term rating at B. PNG’s rating is four steps below investment grade, on par with other countries including Bolivia, Nigeria and Ukraine. “The elections resolved the stalemate that existed for nearly a year,” S&P credit analyst Yee Farn Phua said in a statement on Monday. Phua was referring to competing claims for the prime minister’s post between Peter O’Neill and previous premier Michael Somare. The PNG parliament elected O’Neill as prime minister in August 2011 during Somare’s absence due to illness. The Supreme Court then ruled in December that the removal of

Introduction On 9 October 2012, the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) released a report , The Demolition of Paga Hill , documenting a forced eviction that took place in Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, on 12 May this year. Dozens of homes in the area of Paga Hill were demolished by the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. Those residents who resisted or photographed the forced eviction, were attacked with sticks, iron rods and machetes . At one stage police even fired live rounds at bystanders. The demolition was conducted in order to make way for a luxury estate being spearheaded by the Paga Hill Development Company (PHDC) – a company largely run from Australia. PHDC’s Chairman and Secretary is Gudmundur Fridriksson, an executive who heads the North Queensland, Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. [1] Since the publication of our report, Gudmundur Fridriksson, along with PHDC Director, George Hallit, [2] have made a number of serious allegations on Radi