PNGBLOGS

By PAUL AMATIO The killing of the two innocent men at Hanuabada last week seems to be losing momentum for the rest of the city except for the Motu Koitabuans and other relatives. I for one find it totally incomprehensible that the MKs decided against a citywide protest march. I assure you NCD would have come out and supported you. Why did you call it off? We are aware of your cries for everything including compensation for your land, the lack of basic amenities and services in the village, the deteriorating state of infrastructure in the village and the poor support you get from everyone, especially those whom you yourselves have elected to represent your interests in public forums like Parliament and the MK Assembly. This is an opportunity for you people to present and make certain concrete claims which must be addressed. It is unfortunate that it has taken the loss of two innocent lives to create this opportunity but it MUST be seen as an opportunity to right these wrongs which hav

By BRYAN KRAMER Part 3.1 Comparison and Analysis of the three Cases Paul Tiensten was convicted and sentenced to 9 years for the charge of misappropriation when he dishonestly applied K10m to Travel Air as seed capital when the funds were committed for rural airfreight subsidy. Tiensten filed an appeal in the Supreme Court which was eventually dismissed. Tiensten's case was unique where his mere direction in his capacity as the Minister to the officers of Department of National Planning & Monitoring to facilitate the release of the K10m payment to Travel Air was sufficient to convict him. Some readers believe the Courts erred in finding Tiensten guilty and raise a number of arguments in his defence such as: 1) It was never proven Tiensten benefited from the K10m proceeds. 2) The element of control of the property - in this case the K10m - was not with the Minister but with the Secretary who is the Section 32 Officer. A Section 32 Officer, as per the Finance Management Act, is

By JAMES PARAKISAN The bankruptcy of PPL under Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and State Enterprises Minister Ben Micah should not surprise anybody in Papua New Guinea.  Virtually all State-Owned Enterprises are in the same condition, destroyed by political interference, corruption and incompetence. When the illegal and unnecessary State of  Emergency in the power sector was announced, it handed personal control of PPL to Minister Micah - himself a bankrupt and konman. That is like putting a vampire in charge of the Red Cross Blood Bank. Why was this done - there is no rational explanation available? While he has been Minister for State Enterprises - and Minister responsible for ensuring that the PM gets his cut from as many deals as possible -  Micah has become very rich, with overseas assets including properties, vehicles and bank accounts. In the meantime SOE service standards decline and the people suffer. But the Prime Minister and his favorite Mi

By BRYAN KRAMER Part 2 - STATE VS FRANCIS POTAPE (extracts from National Court Judgement) Francis Potape is the Member for the Komo Magarima Open Electorate in the Hela Province. He is a second term member, first elected at 2007 National Elections and re-elected again in 2012. By virtue of being the Member of Komo Magarima Open Electorate he is also appointed Chairman of the Electorate Joint District Planning and Budget Priority Committee (JDP Committee). This is in accordance section 33A of the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government. In contrast a Regional member who automatically assumes the Provincial Governor's position also chairs Joint Provincial Planning and Budget Priorities Committee. Every Electorate (Open Seat) JDP Committee consists of the Member of the Parliament representing the open electorate who is the Chairman of the Committee; Presidents of Local-level Governments (LLG) in the District; and any three other members appointed by the Member of the

An Essay By GABRIEL RAMOI Is Prime Minister Oneil , Treasurer Pruaitch & Minister Micah as leaders of the three biggest coalition partners in Government today capable of utilising the wealth generated from our extractive industries to provide cheap power, water & durable shelter for all our people on the scale achieved in Iraq and Libya before their destruction. [in what is now judged as the most serious blunder by the United States and Britain in the middle east] Is this Government capable of building new post independence national water and power projects on the scale achieved in Ghana on the Volta River under Dr.Nkrumah and on the Aswan on the Nile under Nasser of Egypt or in the magnitude of the three Gorge dam Project in China on the Yangzi River under the direction of Mao Tse Tung, all directed at lifting their people out of Poverty by providing affordable power and water to their growing cities & populations . Will this Government be able to harness the Power of

    24 January, 2015 An Open Letter to His Excellency Mr. Peter O’Neil, Prime Minster of Papua New Guinea Dear Prime Minster, I am a friend of Papua New Guinea (PNG). As a friend, I have full respect to the people and the state of PNG. However the news that is coming out of Manus is very disturbing and frustrating. I writing this open letter to your Excellency because I am concerned about the negative effect of such political development could have on the image of PNG globally. Dear Sir, I am writing this letter to protest against the way the asylum seekers are treated and held in the detention camps of Manus province. They are inhumanly treated and traumatized. Your government is punishing these innocent refuges for the crime which they did not commit. The condition in which these asylum seekers are held is miserable. Dear Sir The asylum seekers were apprehended on the soils and waters of Australia and they sought protection in Australia. Therefore, the issue of these a

By BRYAN KRAMER It seems many are still confused about the background, facts and the legal issues surrounding the above three cases. For the benefit of the readers I have provided an insight and analysis covering the three cases their distinct differences as well as their commonalties. Part 1: STATE VS PAUL TIENSTEN Background facts: Paul Tiensten former Member for Pomino Open Electorate East New Britain Province and former Minister of National Planning was also a member of the kitchen cabinet in Somare Government and heavy weight in National Alliance Party. In November 2011 he was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud by conspiring with Eremas Wartoto, William Sent and Ruby Zarriga in 2011 to defraud the Independent State of Papua New Guinea by fraudulently causing it to pay K10 million to Travel Air. He was also charged with one count of dishonestly applying (misappropriation) to the use of Travel Air K10 million the property of the State. .

PNG NEWS PAGE Crowds build up outside the NASFUND Lae Office as early as 6am every morning. By 8am there are 200 people outside and by 9am when the Office opens, there are 400 people trying to rush into the office to be served. Lot of tussles and arguments go on in this daily occurrence. Two people interviewed on video (today, 20.01.15) said they were following up for 2 years and 3 years respectively. One came to try his luck in the queue last week arriving at the NASFUND Office before 6am. It took him to be in line till 3pm, he wasn’t served and the office closed. He came back today and said to try his luck again. The second person said the queue and crowd of people defeated him psychologically so he gave up and will not join the queue. He goes around to the NASFUND Lae Office a couple of times hoping he’ll be in front of the queue because there’s no point being in the middle as you will still be in queue when the office gets closed at 3pms. NASFUND MEMBER LOSES ALL OF HIS

 By JOHN PASSINGAN The rich and greedy, not the poor and needy, are benefitting from the Prime Minister’s latest corrupt financial deal. He is giving a K415 million dividend from the National Petroleum Company direct to his pet MPs through the DSIP slush fund. Mr O’Neill’s personal bag man, Finance Secretary Ken Ngangan, made this known on Friday. The DSIP slush fund is used by the Prime Minister to buy support from politicians, who in turn steal it to buy alcohol, prostitutes, luxury cars and high-priced real estate (often overseas), stay in expensive hotels, bribe public officials and corporate sector executives. They grow fat and greasy while their constituents - who are the ones who should benefit from this money -  live in poverty and hardship. Dr Ngangan also stated that the Government has been facing “revenue shortfalls” while the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, Mr Marape, have said there is no revenue shortfall. So who is lying? Mr Ngangan said the “revenue short

By  BRYAN KRAMER On 8th January 2015, the National Court (NC) Judge Justice Cannings granted interim injunction (temporary stop order) preventing the Public Prosecutor (PP) and Leadership Tribunal (LT) from convening on 26th January 2015 to inquire into allegations of misconduct against the Prime Minister. The request to stay (stop) the LT was made by the PM's lawyers on the grounds that PP exceeded his Constitutional powers in the manner in which he referred the PM to the LT. They argued the LT should be stayed until the Supreme Court (SC) first determines (answers) the Constitutional questions whether PP exceeded his Constitutional powers in the manner or procedure in which he referred the PM to face the LT. The Court upheld the PM's request to stay the LT and it remains in effect until the Supreme Court (SC) interprets a number of Constitutional questions to assist the National Court to determine whether the PM is correct or not. I'm sure many are asking the que