PNGBLOGS

by MAIA WAMENE Felix Kange hails from Maia Village which is about two kilometers from Pangia Station, Southern Highlands Province. The village is made up of 3 council wards.It is a village that has produced more than 300 University & other Tertiary institution graduates and well over 10 millionaires. Felix Kange is the son of Former Ialibu/Pangia MP, Mr. Pundia Kange(1982-1987)  & chief of Maia Village & Ialibu/Pangia District. People in this village including Pundia Kange has got much bigger influences in previous elections, both in open and regional seats.  They have been seen as the power brokers for this electorate, given this influence support was desperately needed by O'Neill to win in this years election. Peter O'Neill reached out to get their support and in doing so he submitted to their (Maia) demands after meeting them before the elections and was happy to meet what they wanted in order to gain their support.  Peter O'Neill submitted to

by PAUL FLANAGAN PNG’s new government is proposing a 100 day plan. What should this consider? A good plan begins by fully understanding the challenges and opportunities facing its people. This understanding is improved by seeing how one is going relative to neighbours (comparative public policy analysis). The list below from the ADB highlights that PNG still faces massive development challenges. It is saddening to see PNG’s poor rankings. PNG’s politicians have been failing their people. On opportunities, PNG leads the world in key areas such as its cultural richness (1st), the extent of its tropical forests (3rd for the entire island), and its extraordinary biodiversity (PNG is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world). In terms of mineral and petroleum wealth, it actually does fairly poorly – even in LNG its ranks 47 th and petroleum 62 nd (details below). In going forward, PNG needs to change its self-image of “mountains of gold in seas of oil”. This myth (at least i