PNGBLOGS

OP/ED A young cocoa grower in Morobe stopped the Chief Secretary, Manasupe Zurenuoc, not too long ago at the Lae Hotel International for a five-minute door-stop lecture. The farmer, whose name we do not know, wanted to know why the government was paying MoA, UBSA, LBBSA, BDG and a host of other “free” money when the first gas has yet to be sold. He wanted to know if those like himself in the agriculture sector, which has sustained the economic lifeline of this country for longer than this country has been independent, could have access to similar free money. He said people in the agricultural sector work hard from sun up to sun down for every morsel of grain or kilogram that is produced which takes many months before anything is paid to them. And, then, it is kina for kilogram and nothing more. We remember this young man’s enquiry with some feeling as we see the mad charade that surrounds the liquefied natural gas like some bad smell that will not go away. The latest was the mob action

OP/ED A young cocoa grower in Morobe stopped the Chief Secretary, Manasupe Zurenuoc, not too long ago at the Lae Hotel International for a five-minute door-stop lecture. The farmer, whose name we do not know, wanted to know why the government was paying MoA, UBSA, LBBSA, BDG and a host of other “free” money when the first gas has yet to be sold. He wanted to know if those like himself in the agriculture sector, which has sustained the economic lifeline of this country for longer than this country has been independent, could have access to similar free money. He said people in the agricultural sector work hard from sun up to sun down for every morsel of grain or kilogram that is produced which takes many months before anything is paid to them. And, then, it is kina for kilogram and nothing more. We remember this young man’s enquiry with some feeling as we see the mad charade that surrounds the liquefied natural gas like some bad smell that will not go away. The latest was the mob act

TUNGUBE IGINI AFTER adjourning parliament, the government thought it would be safe to continue until 2012. But PNG is the land of the unexpected and its politics is unpredictable.  The URP and NA marriage is cracking after James Marape was appointed Hela Transitional Authority (HTA) chairman. It was bitter for Governor Anderson Agiru, who just returned from New York after delivering the gas agreement. With Sir Puka Temu out of the way, Sir Michael Somare will now have to contend with Agiru. With that in mind, two things may happen. NA must now accommodate URP’s demands or face a vote of no-confidence. Either way, it will be costly for NA. Whatever happens, the Hela people and the LNG project proponents will feel the impact and Agiru and Sir Michael must know that good things like the Hela gas comes from God. Corruption, hijacking and manipulation are not God’s ways and rewards. Hela sons Agiru and Marape must put Hela’s interest first before politics. The proposed province and Hela gas

TUNGUBE IGINI AFTER adjourning parliament, the government thought it would be safe to continue until 2012. But PNG is the land of the unexpected and its politics is unpredictable.  The URP and NA marriage is cracking after James Marape was appointed Hela Transitional Authority (HTA) chairman. It was bitter for Governor Anderson Agiru, who just returned from New York after delivering the gas agreement. With Sir Puka Temu out of the way, Sir Michael Somare will now have to contend with Agiru. With that in mind, two things may happen. NA must now accommodate URP’s demands or face a vote of no-confidence. Either way, it will be costly for NA. Whatever happens, the Hela people and the LNG project proponents will feel the impact and Agiru and Sir Michael must know that good things like the Hela gas comes from God. Corruption, hijacking and manipulation are not God’s ways and rewards. Hela sons Agiru and Marape must put Hela’s interest first before politics. The proposed province and Hel