PNGBLOGS

by MICHAEL J PASSINGAN Bank South Pacific is increasingly propping up the corrupt and financially compromised O’Neill Regime, exposing itself to higher and higher risk and putting itself outside its prudential guidelines. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, who as head of PNG Banking Corporation drove the bank into bankruptcy, forcing its merger with BSP, has been pressuring BSP to lend more and more money to his Government and his failing SOEs. Since Mr O’Neill took Government midway through 2011, BSP’s lending to the Government and Public Authorities has exploded. At the same time corruption, waste and mismanagement within Government – especially in SOEs under Minister Ben Micah – reached record levels. And it continues to increase. In 2010 BSP;’s accounts showed it had a negligible K116 million in loans to Government and Public Authorities, or 3% of its portfolio. As at 31 December 2014 (the latest full-year BSP accounts available) the bank had K1.12 billion in loans to Gov

by JANE M TAPIA   This is a call to all Papua New Guinea women looking to live in Australia. Yes, there is such an opportunity. It will be funded by Australian taxpayers and you will get the opportunity of a life time. Firstly though, you should consider coming to Australia on a tourist or student visa. After you enter Australia, it doesn’t matter what kind of story you can put together. Make it so convincing that your life will be in danger and you will be prosecuted in PNG. If you have medical reports, photographs of yourself and police statements, that will be much easier. Download reports and statistics of the rates of violence against women in PNG and add that to your application for protection. It adds weight to your claims. Even if you don’t have any experience, you can always try. It has worked and many PNG women are now living the life in Australia all because of false protection claims. The Australian government knows PNG has very high rates of domestic violence and wom

Maus Bilong Kumul Minister For Communication & Information is Blackmailed to Keep His Mouth Shut Over Instability at NBC The once iconic government agency, The National Broadcasting Corporation is on the verge of collapse, a situation it was once in prior to Mr. Memafu Kaperas reign as the Managing Director. This Important government entity is the most abused and politicized of all the government entities with staff and board having no respect for the protocols in the organization. Currently, there is instability in the organization with the board and its chairman and the acting managing director attempting to remove the members of the current executive management who have valid and current employment contract. Some members of the executive management are taking the matter to court and while that is happening, the acting MD and the board are planning to restore some former staff who have been terminated from NBC on disciplinary grounds and those who were legally retrenched

by MICHAEL JOSEPH PASSINGAN On 17 March PNG Blogs revealed that Peter O’Neill has secretly begged the World Bank for a loan of up to K1 billion. On 22 March we revealed that international agencies are about to downgrade Papua New Guinea’s credit rating once again – after already being downgraded late last year. Now some good news – the economy and national finances have been damaged so badly by O’Neill’s reckless borrowing and wasteful spending that his proposed $US1 billion sovereign bond issue is dead - D.E.A.D. This is good news because it means the nation’s indebtedness will not increase by $US1 billion in the immediate future. It means the long-suffering people will not have more debt to repay each year. IT MEANS THERE WON’T BE $US1 BILLION FOR O’NEILL TO STEAL AND WASTE The failure of the bond issue proves that international money markets won’t lend a toea to O’Neill’s corrupt regime unless it is at unaffordable penalty interest rates. Such unaffordable interest

by LEKEM LAKI The Deputy Chief Justice his Honour Gibs Salika rightly said in the national paper dated 14th March 2016 titled “Graft a disease” and he referred to the level of corruption rampant in the country cutting across every sector of PNG society. In that he meant to say, corruption isn’t “growing but is overgrown”. The concern raised is alarming in nature but it doesn’t become a cause of concern or raises goose bumps. The corruption is entrenched and deeply embedded in every stratum of government bureaucracy and agencies. The practice is normalised and given the longevity in continued practice, it has become a norm or second nature if you like to people who practice. With the proliferation of corruption, people aren’t remorseful or let alone raise goose bumps. The Department of Justice and Attorney General Secretary Dr. Lawrence Kalinoe refused Damarua’s request to engage private law firm. Damarua and the entire Fraud Squad team aren’t fighting tooth an

by DIANNE RUT Peter O'Neill's long-running legal battles were merely to protect himself. He managed to corrupt the independent institutions like Police and Ombudsman Commisson to protect him. He is spending millions of kina in legal fees legitimised by his corrupt Attorney General Ano Pala. He has cannibalised all the small parties including coalition members.  He has used the DSIP funds as a tool to force MPs to migrate to the Government, leaving the opposition weak numerically. Penetrating the Protected -Judiciary We have witnessed his unrestraint behaviour in exploiting and testing the limits of the Court process, ably assisted by legal predators. It is open secret that a few judges have been compromised in the process and stood up for him.  New Developments O'Neill has manipulated his corrupt government to introduce a bill without notice in Parliament today (23/3/16) to introduce a High Court. The Bill was never in the notice paper, nor was the idea of

by MOODYS CREDIT RATING Moody's places PNG's B1 government ratings on review for downgrade Global Credit Research - 25 Feb 2016 Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has placed the Government of Papua New Guinea's ("PNG") B1 local currency and foreign currency issuer ratings on review for downgrade. The review for downgrade is driven by: 1. The impact of the further fall in oil prices on government revenue, fiscal deficits and rising debt; and 2. A likely structural shift to lower economic growth given the increasingly uncertain outlook for commodity-related investments. RATINGS RATIONALE RATIONALE FOR THE REVIEW FOR DOWNGRADE FIRST DRIVER - DETERIORATING FISCAL AND DEBT METRICS Lower oil prices and weather-related disruption to gold production led to weaker-than-expected revenue in 2015, and we expect pressures on revenue to continue through 2016. Although expenditure cuts in 2016 have been announced in respons

PHOTO CREDIT: SCOTT WAIDE by JENNY HAYWARD-JONES n 2015 Papua New Guinea celebrated 40 years of independence. The anniversary stimulated a great deal of public reflection on the nation’s progress to date and its future. For Papua New Guineans, there are reasons to be both optimistic and pessimistic about the next 40 years. Papua New Guinea’s population of 7.5 million is young and growing. The country has experienced more than a decade of sustained economic growth. Its population is now better connected through an extensive mobile telecommunications network. A vast social safety net created by cultural obligations within communities ensures that everyone has food and housing. A growing middle class has produced a number of talented emerging leaders who will be a force for change in the country. But equally, Papua New Guinea faces some serious challenges. In the last 40 years, progress in raising the living standards of the majority of the population has been extremely