PNGBLOGS

by MICHAEL J. PASSINGAN State Enterprises Minister William Duma is the beneficiary of the K50 million paid for the land at Manu Manu earmarked as the new home of the Defence Force’s Lancron Naval Base. The money was paid in an illegal deal arranged by Kumul Consolidated Holdings late last year. The Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, and the chairman of Kumul Holdings, Paul Nerau, are currently engaged in a desperate cover-up of the deal and a shifting of the blame to senior Kumul Holdings staff. Minister Duma verbally instructed Kumul Holdings to undertake the illegal transaction, with a company called Kurkuramb Estates Ltd. Investigations have revealed the Minister Duma is personally linked to Kurkuramb Estates. At the time of the deal, Kurkuramb Estates address was Section 30 Allotment 6 Granville Port Moresby, according to IPA records. Its Post Office Box number was given as PO Box 556 Port Moresby. Mr Duma’s residential address is Section 30 Allotment 6 Granville Port Mor

JOHN BRIA in 2013 by PATRICK KAIKU Parliament reconvened on Tuesday the 24th of January. It was during this sitting that the Governor of Oro Province, Hon. Gary Juffa during Parliament’s Question Time alerted the Minister for Labor and Industrial Relations to a syndicate operating in the country. Hon. Juffa is perhaps one of the most qualified law-makers in this country. He has standing in Parliament to highlight issues of national security. Prior to going into politics, Governor Juffa was the Commissioner of Customs where he led a professional intelligence-gathering and investigative team. His close relationships with other law-enforcement agencies in the region disrupted transnational criminal entities and personalities. More importantly, Hon. Juffa demonstrated that serious application and enforcement of PNG laws is a profitable endeavor. Through fines and penalty fees to breaches of PNG laws, much-need revenue is raised for the government coffers. With his background in law

by PAUL FLANAGAN SUMMARY The IMF report indicates the O’Neill government has overstated the growth rate in the PNG economy by 12.7 percentage points during its term. Primarily by 5.9 percentage points in 2014 and a further 5.2 percentage points in 2015 (see graph below). The IMF indicates the PNG economy is K6.3 billion smaller in 2017 than claimed by the government (and K5.4 billion smaller in 2016). This means the debt to GDP ratio is 33.5% in both 2016 and 2017 according to the IMF – above the 30% limit set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The greatest concerns about economic management relate to BPNG’s control of the foreign exchange rate and reserves with more breaches of international norms than admitted. The Governor of the BPNG should explain serious discrepancies between his statements on 25 January (full page adds in the local press on 26 Janaury) and what the IMF report actually stated on 27 January (see below). While commending the government for its actions in

GIANT LOST OPPORTUNITY FOR PNG - THE K6 BILLION EXIM BANK LOAN, SUPPOSEDLY FOR 'HIGHLANDS HIGHWAY REHABILITATION':  In 2012, then Treasury Minister Don Polye, an ignoramus in economics and financing, was asked by then Finance Shadow Minister Joseph Lelang about the massive K6 billion Exim Bank Loan from China. He said: “The K6 billion (US$2.85 billion) loan is equivalent to 70% of the country’s total internal revenue and will increase PNG’s total public debt from K8.6 billion to K14.6 billion.” Polye, PNG's premiere political prostitute and Peter O'Neill's partner in crime at the time, replied that the loan was a sound investment. Now we know better. The Highlands Highway was the main target of the K6 billion Exim Bank loan and big political billboards picturing Peter O'Neill's face went up all along the highlands highway. But the only visible change that ever occurred was in the Markham Valley, the part of the Highlands Highway least likely to suff

by PAUL FLANAGAN The Bank of PNG, the legislatively independent central bank for the country, lost significant credibility in its recent justification for why PNG has joined the bottom 2 per cent of countries in refusing to release the standard IMF Article IV report on countries (see here ).  It remains the only country in the East Asia and Pacific not to release an IMF Article IV report undertaken in 2016. BPNG provided six “critical issues” for refusing to release the report.  However, on closer examination, there was only one critical issue (fake GDP numbers used by the PNG Treasury).  And that should be the responsibility for the PNG Treasurer to release a statement on why the PNG was suppressing an independent assessment  by the IMF of the PNG economy. What is the O’Neill government trying to hide on its management of the PNG economy? International investors will easily through see this statement. PNG’s economic standing and credibility has received a severe down

NIUGINI OUTLOOK THE WORST THING TO DO AFTER YOU’VE MADE A MISTAKE IS TO LIE AND TRY TO COVER IT UP: ENTER POST COURIER “JOURNALIST” DIANNE WAKETSI! “Journalist” Dianne Waketsi has had a few jobs since she graduated from Divine World University with a degree in journalism. On the surface it looks like she is an experienced reporter, but it is becoming quickly apparent that she’s not on a career upswing, but stuck in a rut at the Post Courier. The most likely reason is her poor journalism skills which have now backfired royally into her face as she has shamed Papua New Guinea generally, and Western Highlanders specifically, as being addicted to using the internet to seek out porn. The facts do not support this at all. In some instances it is clear that Dianne Waketsi outright lied in her story. In other cases, she couldn’t be bothered to understand the statistics she was reporting on, and got it all wrong. But she admits none of this and is trying to spin the controversy over her art