PNG is Rushing, but where to?
By RICHARDO TIMAPEN
In places like Malaysia, China, Japan, a K20 can be a day’s meal but here in PNG, it’s a cost of a single big rooster lunch pack. Car rentals in aussie for instance, would be like $35 (K80) per day for a sedan but here its K200+. A roadside inn would cost $40 (K90) per night, in PNG its K250+ and a good fortnight’s residential rental would cost $250 (K600), here K1600 per fortnight. I have always wondered why people say it’s expensive to live and work in PNG then in other countries like Ozz.
The economic boom boosted about by ministers, bureaucrats, central banks, financial institutions, research agents, and the business communities are exclusive top level good news. Developmental benefits aren't reaching the average and lower level. For instance, a 3% deflation has never been reflected in the prices of goods and services. However, rather a 10% increase in the costs of goods and services was “approved’. ICCC a good strategic agent for corporate fraud? Relevant government agencies inactions to regulate with effective prosecution acumen and authority creates conducive opportunity for ‘investors’ taking advantage of these lax.
What is going through the consciences of those mandated individuals and trustees in their public grand statements to steer this country out of the (envisaged) vicious poverty cycle? It seems like those mandated individuals and trustees have put themselves in a panicking mood. Just look at the number of licenses issued on the Mining, petroleum, LNG, logging, agro-business, etc with decades of tax holidays to the developers and the irresponsibly unjustified decisions and inactions on defaulters causing market imbalances! Yet the country's state of service infrastructures shows the otherwise.
As if PNG is a complex society with complex needs and issues, decision making and delivery systems have been complicated; maybe intentionally. For instance, PNG has an existing loan of K7 billion tied to certain investments in the country. While this loan is still pending repayment, a second loan of K6 Billion is being anticipated. It will be interesting to seeing which investments/assets in the country are tied into?
If the latter loan is sealed, a total of K13 billion loans will be serviced by the country, with its under-performing SOEs and stagnant investment portfolios. As per some street economists a country’s debts ratio to loan should be below 30% of their GDP? If that is true than the treasurer with his band of advisors should really tell the nation their sketched scope of impact/economical projects which will absorb these loans into.
Observing and consideration all these ongoing activities, it is perceived PNG is becoming a no man’s land where people from all over and nowhere comes and get what they want and flee without leaving a hut behind. More like a place deserted after long civil wars where only scavengers come at dark to quest their thirst and hunger.
The primitive pagers are given salted bones to become spies and static guards while they scavenge. These whole episodes somewhat reminds me of Europeans settlers claiming the Aboriginal land as their own; but is PNG by 2050 seen amongst the top economic power or to some extend a respected independent nation? Where will PNG be housed after all these (extractive industry’s end of life) are exploited?
Become political refugees and asylum seekers? The aggressiveness of accelerating the exploitation of the extractive industry is quite frightening. By the look of the mandated individuals and trustees actions and inactions, it seems the country is in a hurry to catch the early empty bullet train cross cutting the country. I guess one as an answer parked somewhere for the nation when the train crushes.
Can PNG dream of a time when the politicians and 'high class' will travel in Public Motors without the fear of being asked to meet the other passengers' fare?
Which Way Bigman?
In places like Malaysia, China, Japan, a K20 can be a day’s meal but here in PNG, it’s a cost of a single big rooster lunch pack. Car rentals in aussie for instance, would be like $35 (K80) per day for a sedan but here its K200+. A roadside inn would cost $40 (K90) per night, in PNG its K250+ and a good fortnight’s residential rental would cost $250 (K600), here K1600 per fortnight. I have always wondered why people say it’s expensive to live and work in PNG then in other countries like Ozz.
The economic boom boosted about by ministers, bureaucrats, central banks, financial institutions, research agents, and the business communities are exclusive top level good news. Developmental benefits aren't reaching the average and lower level. For instance, a 3% deflation has never been reflected in the prices of goods and services. However, rather a 10% increase in the costs of goods and services was “approved’. ICCC a good strategic agent for corporate fraud? Relevant government agencies inactions to regulate with effective prosecution acumen and authority creates conducive opportunity for ‘investors’ taking advantage of these lax.
What is going through the consciences of those mandated individuals and trustees in their public grand statements to steer this country out of the (envisaged) vicious poverty cycle? It seems like those mandated individuals and trustees have put themselves in a panicking mood. Just look at the number of licenses issued on the Mining, petroleum, LNG, logging, agro-business, etc with decades of tax holidays to the developers and the irresponsibly unjustified decisions and inactions on defaulters causing market imbalances! Yet the country's state of service infrastructures shows the otherwise.
As if PNG is a complex society with complex needs and issues, decision making and delivery systems have been complicated; maybe intentionally. For instance, PNG has an existing loan of K7 billion tied to certain investments in the country. While this loan is still pending repayment, a second loan of K6 Billion is being anticipated. It will be interesting to seeing which investments/assets in the country are tied into?
If the latter loan is sealed, a total of K13 billion loans will be serviced by the country, with its under-performing SOEs and stagnant investment portfolios. As per some street economists a country’s debts ratio to loan should be below 30% of their GDP? If that is true than the treasurer with his band of advisors should really tell the nation their sketched scope of impact/economical projects which will absorb these loans into.
Observing and consideration all these ongoing activities, it is perceived PNG is becoming a no man’s land where people from all over and nowhere comes and get what they want and flee without leaving a hut behind. More like a place deserted after long civil wars where only scavengers come at dark to quest their thirst and hunger.
The primitive pagers are given salted bones to become spies and static guards while they scavenge. These whole episodes somewhat reminds me of Europeans settlers claiming the Aboriginal land as their own; but is PNG by 2050 seen amongst the top economic power or to some extend a respected independent nation? Where will PNG be housed after all these (extractive industry’s end of life) are exploited?
Become political refugees and asylum seekers? The aggressiveness of accelerating the exploitation of the extractive industry is quite frightening. By the look of the mandated individuals and trustees actions and inactions, it seems the country is in a hurry to catch the early empty bullet train cross cutting the country. I guess one as an answer parked somewhere for the nation when the train crushes.
Can PNG dream of a time when the politicians and 'high class' will travel in Public Motors without the fear of being asked to meet the other passengers' fare?
Which Way Bigman?
