Legends Of Sonoma

By GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA MP
Sonoma was an old man who was well known for his legends. That’s what we grew up reading, in the Times, a PNG newspaper of yesteryear which featured PNG legends. Sonoma told many legends that explained the existence of various geographic anomalies or creatures and their relationship towards each other. His stories were entertaining. I reflected today about legends. I myself
grew up like many other Papua New Guineans enthralled and entertained by legends by the fireside.

It made me think of a modern day legend. Well not really a legend, but I thought it would be an interesting way to begin this Sunday rant.

A National Security Policy is being developed by Papua New Guinea. This is according to recent media reports. One wonders why it took 30 years. One would imagine that such a policy would have been designed and developed immediately after independence. National Security is fundamental to economic progress for any nation as its primary intention is to ensure informed decision making. Progressive states understand the importance of national security and ensure that sufficient resources are dedicated to developing such a policy.

Such a policy would ensure an effective intelligence production system made up of various state run and semi state run institutions that acted as either think tank like organizations, advisory groups, or government organs charged with the responsibility of intelligence production.

Such a policy would ensure that decision-making by all arms of government were made in the best interests of Papua New Guinea. Such a policy would ensure that threats were detected early and appropriately addressed with while opportunities were carefully analyzed and acted upon. Such as a national security assessment of a resource project agreement. None have ever been conducted for all our major resource projects. Why? I hear all concerned citizens demanding in outrage? Simple. We do not have a policy.

Such a policy would ensure that the primary outcome at all times sought in every decision made being: “for the best interests of the Sovereign State of Papua New Guinea and its people”.

In a recent article, I highlighted the lack of this very policy and pointed out that in Papua New Guinea, decision making at all levels of government were often erratic and ad hoc with no proper assessment or analysis of any sort, easily perverted and often structured to suit specific interests that were not aligned to national interest in whatever shape or form one looked at it. NEC Submissions were being concocted at buai markets and the conman brigade that parade the corridors of Waiganis bureaucracy and parliament, armed with buai stained manila folders and ambitious and ingenious scams galore have been the primary beneficiaries.

Factoid: members come and go, the corridor walkers – aptly named “conmen” by others and “consultants” by themselves, are survivalists, they remain in parliament, come rain or shine, vote of no confidence or extension. They are found at the gates of parliament and in various government offices, poised like the highway hawks that roam the highways of PNG, ready to sweep down and pick up some tasty tidbit or unsuspecting victim or they are latched like a Kokoda leach onto some new member, armed with all manner of advise and guarantees and the phone numbers of “young gals” and “sexy mamas”.

One is optimistic about the National Security Police. But one must ask: Will this policy be actually beneficial for PNG? Will we import experts from Australia or some far off developed nation and pay them oodles of money to tell us "Show me your watch I will tell you the time and charge a fee"? Will there be adequate research and consultation. Already I am told that a group of people are now traversing the globe on a fact finding mission that will take them through 5 countries and cost hundreds of thousands if not a million and take several months. Fact finding missions are popular in government. We find facts about all types of things. For instance the best place to buy suits, or shopping for the kids, or best drinking hole or pleasure venue of some sort.

Will the National Policy have a information security plan in place to protect PNG interests?

Meanwhile, State Secrets were no longer State Secrets. That is the nature of our communication and social interaction structure in PNG. Everyone knows something. Especially at “Ye Olde Buai Market” 5 Mile Ridge or Erima Candle City or wherever you choose to hang out and chew betelnut while giving yourself the chance at possibly contracting all manner of upper respiratory chest infections from the hundreds of hands that handle the nut that many crave.

Anyway, upon reflection of my rash statement in that article long ago where I stated that there were no secrets in PNG, I realized that I was incorrect. There are State secrets. Many. Not everyone knew the answers and those who knew were not saying. Lets look at some interesting secrets.

For instance, why hasn’t any of the various inquiries into various the outrageous misuse, misappropriation, misapplication and theft of public funds ever been tendered and acted upon since independence? Now that is a secret that only a handful of people know the answer too. In time, they become secrets forever because the aging custodians carry those secrets to their grave.

They then become legends for instance people many decades later ordinary Papua New Guineans who will be living not so off from now in nation torn apart by anarchy and chaos, miserable poverty like conditions will congregate at settlements and roadside filthy informal sector outlets and sleazy township villages and say “Hey do you remember the legend of the SABL Inquiry? It is a terrible tale of how a countries forest resources were all depleted by a group of pirates who left devastated communities, broken dreams and false hopes!” Or they could say “How about the Tale of the Finance Inquiry? A heinous and evil story of not a few evil people who stole money intended for hospitals, schools and other necessary services that never got delivered and brought properties overseas, started businesses and romped the pacific with their mistresses and minions!”

Other secrets include why Djoko TJANDRA a criminal fugitive from INDONESIA wanted for stealing $62 Million US who arrived at the Jacksons International Airport at 3pm on the 11th July 2011, was met by a certain senior bureaucrat and a certain Minister who enthusiastically embraced him like a long lost brother, group hugged for at least 20 minutes and immediately paid the Customs duty for his 4 cartons of Blue Label Whiskey and entered PNG, his Indonesian brothers citizenship guaranteed. This PNG citizenship was immediately granted thereafter in the following weeks after an illegal one man committee comprised of a barely literate politician (now making peace with all those in his electorate he had ignored when in parliament) sat and deliberated and decided that Djoko Tjandra, criminal fugitive wanted by INTERPOL and the INDONESIAN Supreme Court and whose name was never on the list of 9 original applicants for citizenship that year as per later confided by citizenship committee chairman for that year, Hon. “X” I shall call him. According to Hon. X, Djoko Tjandra was never on that list of applicants and the process of screening and vetting was never applied in determining his citizenship. He has never lived in PNG. He cannot speak a single word of any PNG language. So why was he awarded PNG citizenship? SECRET! Why was the Minister responsible never reprimanded and how come he was given another Ministry this year? SECRET!

Many other such legends and tales and sordid stories could be told about all the inquiries ever held: The Secret of Naughty Nautilus, The Hush Hush Tale of NAIMA Rice Project, The Waigani Land Deals where stretches of State land were sold to a Malaysian Cook and a PNG sidekick (a very successful corridor walker) who have now developed properties and are renting them at ridiculous rates to the Government while State buildings like the Pineapple Building (that in itself is a story of sadness where K10millin was allocated to a company that did nothing but took out a caveat restraining the recouping of those funds and simultaneously preventing the State from moving in until the total amount was paid). “Oh, pikinini, displa kain stori, planti planti turu, bubu Sonoma bai tokim yu tasol het pen pinis na mi go kaikai wanpla right buai pastaim.”

Factoid: the inquiries are into billions of kina that have been stolen over the last 37 years or so (imagine much more that have not been detected or exposed – i.e. everyone got their cut and the secret is safely buried), the inquiries itself are now beginning to cost billions themselves and have resulted in NOTHING. ZILCH. No recovery of funds, no prosecution of the culprits, no development of controls or laws to prevent further plundering.

Nothing!

NOGAT TURU! SORE TUMAS! LUS TINGTING!

Will these secrets be ever told? Who knows! Perhaps one fine day. Maybe we need another fact finding mission!