PNGBLOGS

by KOMBOL GIBSON   PNG is endowed with a $19bn oil and gas industry. The size of this industry is set to double and almost triple. It’s an exciting prospect for PNG but challenges remain for delivering that blessing to every man, woman and child in PNG. In fact the opposite is happening. PNG should be concerned. There is a large focus on Government-funded programmes in the Hela and Southern Highlands Provinces instead of a more equitable arrangement for all 21 Provinces in PNG. That is a story for another day and a subsequent article, but the upshot of this focus on Hela and SHP is that the vast majority of it ends up in the hands of elites from these Provinces that reside elsewhere, access health services in Port Moresby or overseas, send their children to school overseas, maintaining multiple wives and mistresses and invest in Port Moresby or overseas. So roughly 80% of funding that gets diverted to Hela and SHP ends up in the pockets of Ministers, MPs, senior public servants, a

by NRI INSIDER There was always something a little strange about the collapsing kin. First we were told by Peter O'Neill and his corrupt cronies Marape and Pruaitch that the kina wasn't going down or that the slide was only temporary. But as we saw days of kina sliding turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, that lie no longer worked. Today we have a clear graphical record of a slide in the kina that began nearly from the moment that Peter O'Neill was re-elected and took office again and has continued up to now. The Masters of Deception now admit this is the case but say that they've got everything under control. Most certainly not. If you look at the rate at which the kina has been declining against the US dollar in recent weeks you can see that the slide started becoming steeper than it was before. The Masters of Deception can lie all they want but the bare facts don't lie. An outright collapse of the kina to God knows what low levels is being pre

JUSTIN ROHRLICH Reports have emerged that ExxonMobil ( XOM ) will begin drilling for natural gas in Papua New Guinea. The company’s operations are expected to bring $30 billion -- more than double its current GDP -- over 30 years, but many are wondering if Papua New Guinea, named one of the world’s most corrupt countries by Transparency International, will be able to avoid the so-called “Resource Curse.” The Resource Curse is the paradox that occurs when a country finds itself sitting atop vast riches in the form of minerals, precious metals, and so forth, but finds itself pushed deeper into poverty and societal disrepair. According to the Christian Science Monitor , Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, one time Venezuelan oil minister, likened oil to “the devil’s excrement”. Sheikh Ahmed Yamani, his Saudi Arabian counterpart, reportedly once said, “I wish we had found water.” Case in point: According to The New York Times , the chief of Kili, a local Papua New Guinea town, received $

JUSTIN ROHRLICH Reports have emerged that ExxonMobil ( XOM ) will begin drilling for natural gas in Papua New Guinea. The company’s operations are expected to bring $30 billion -- more than double its current GDP -- over 30 years, but many are wondering if Papua New Guinea, named one of the world’s most corrupt countries by Transparency International, will be able to avoid the so-called “Resource Curse.” The Resource Curse is the paradox that occurs when a country finds itself sitting atop vast riches in the form of minerals, precious metals, and so forth, but finds itself pushed deeper into poverty and societal disrepair. According to the Christian Science Monitor , Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, one time Venezuelan oil minister, likened oil to “the devil’s excrement”. Sheikh Ahmed Yamani, his Saudi Arabian counterpart, reportedly once said, “I wish we had found water.” Case in point: According to The New York Times , the chief of Kili, a local Papua New Guinea town,

AFP PORT MORESBY — Energy giant ExxonMobil Tuesday refused to confirm reports of an arson attack on its 15-billion-dollar gas project in Papua New Guinea, saying only that police were probing an unspecified incident. The National newspaper reported that trucks and heavy machinery were torched by local villagers at an Exxon quarry near Kaiam Ferry in the southern Gulf province of Kikori last Friday. "No one was injured or directly threatened," ExxonMobil spokesman Miles Shaw told AFP, confirming that police were investigating an incident involving the liquefied natural gas project but declining to provide details. "Police are carrying out their investigation so until that is complete it would not be appropriate to comment at this time." Police contacted by AFP could not immediately comment. The National said the attack was believed to have stemmed from ongoing landowner unrest about Exxon's gas project, which will include liquefaction and storage facilities in th

AFP PORT MORESBY — Energy giant ExxonMobil Tuesday refused to confirm reports of an arson attack on its 15-billion-dollar gas project in Papua New Guinea, saying only that police were probing an unspecified incident. The National newspaper reported that trucks and heavy machinery were torched by local villagers at an Exxon quarry near Kaiam Ferry in the southern Gulf province of Kikori last Friday. "No one was injured or directly threatened," ExxonMobil spokesman Miles Shaw told AFP, confirming that police were investigating an incident involving the liquefied natural gas project but declining to provide details. "Police are carrying out their investigation so until that is complete it would not be appropriate to comment at this time." Police contacted by AFP could not immediately comment. The National said the attack was believed to have stemmed from ongoing landowner unrest about Exxon's gas project, which will include liquefaction and storage facilitie