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PNG Sunday Chronicles THE NATIONAL Parliament will fork out K2 million annually to pay two private law firms when the house itself is rotting away, it has been alleged. This will see in-house lawyers doing nothing when it comes to providing legal directions and advice for Members of Parliament. Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Member for Bulolo, Sam Basil revealed this when commenting on the recent amendments to the Ombudsman Commission bill. "We are not stupid here, but are being misled or deliberately denied legal services by the Speaker of Parliament and if we have less knowledge of the legal implications of bills then we can be easily fooled by the bill sponsors." Mr Basil said the two law firms that have been engaged on retainer arrangement costing tax payers money is unnecessary and they only work for the interest of the government. "I personally think the current system works to the best interest of the ruling party (National Alliance) to easily pas

PNG Sunday Chronicles THE NATIONAL Parliament will fork out K2 million annually to pay two private law firms when the house itself is rotting away, it has been alleged. This will see in-house lawyers doing nothing when it comes to providing legal directions and advice for Members of Parliament. Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Member for Bulolo, Sam Basil revealed this when commenting on the recent amendments to the Ombudsman Commission bill. "We are not stupid here, but are being misled or deliberately denied legal services by the Speaker of Parliament and if we have less knowledge of the legal implications of bills then we can be easily fooled by the bill sponsors." Mr Basil said the two law firms that have been engaged on retainer arrangement costing tax payers money is unnecessary and they only work for the interest of the government. "I personally think the current system works to the best interest of the ruling party (National Allianc

By ROBEFRT PALME   A PRIVATE individual has been a signatory to a Papua New Guinea Government trust account. And millions of kina from that account were paid to private consultants including payments to the signatory's company. The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee(PAC) revealed that the Konebada Petroleum Park Authority Working Group Trust Account (KPPWGTA) is operated outside the Papua New Guinea Government Computerized Accounting System (PGAS). The PAC report, tabled in Parliament last month, reads: "Effectively this trust money has been handed to private persons and is unaccountable. "We believe the purpose of this was to avoid scrutiny." According to the PAC, this person is not a delegated person to be a signatory for the account. It also reads:"It is notable that millions of kina have flowed to private consultants -including payments to the signatory's company. "The department Secretary has lost control of Trust management. No r

By ROBEFRT PALME   A PRIVATE individual has been a signatory to a Papua New Guinea Government trust account. And millions of kina from that account were paid to private consultants including payments to the signatory's company. The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee(PAC) revealed that the Konebada Petroleum Park Authority Working Group Trust Account (KPPWGTA) is operated outside the Papua New Guinea Government Computerized Accounting System (PGAS). The PAC report, tabled in Parliament last month, reads: "Effectively this trust money has been handed to private persons and is unaccountable. "We believe the purpose of this was to avoid scrutiny." According to the PAC, this person is not a delegated person to be a signatory for the account. It also reads:"It is notable that millions of kina have flowed to private consultants -including payments to the signatory's company. "The department Secretary has lost control of Tru

William Lobdell The controversy over what the future holds for InterOil (NYSE: IOC) has heated up in recent days, with news surfacing of the bad-faith bankruptcy filed by a company controlled by InterOil CEO Phil Mulacek; wild allegations revealed in a massive fraud lawsuit against Mulacek, InterOil and other companies he controls; published claims that InterOil may be one giant fraud; and a story Monday alleging an InterOil geologist had told his peers the prospects for an InterOil gas discovery in Papua New Guinea were much dimmer than what the company had boasted to Wall Street. One fact that InterOil fans and skeptics can agree on is this: Mulacek's integrity and business history are critical factors in assessing the company's future success. No one can say for certain if InterOil's gas fields in Papua New Guinea contain any commercial gas or oil or, if they do, if the gas can be extracted in a manner to make them commercially viable. So let's set

William Lobdell The controversy over what the future holds for InterOil (NYSE: IOC) has heated up in recent days, with news surfacing of the bad-faith bankruptcy filed by a company controlled by InterOil CEO Phil Mulacek; wild allegations revealed in a massive fraud lawsuit against Mulacek, InterOil and other companies he controls; published claims that InterOil may be one giant fraud; and a story Monday alleging an InterOil geologist had told his peers the prospects for an InterOil gas discovery in Papua New Guinea were much dimmer than what the company had boasted to Wall Street. One fact that InterOil fans and skeptics can agree on is this: Mulacek's integrity and business history are critical factors in assessing the company's future success. No one can say for certain if InterOil's gas fields in Papua New Guinea contain any commercial gas or oil or, if they do, if the gas can be extracted in a manner to make them commercially viable. So let'

 San Francisco Chronicle  Last week, we published a detailed investigation of controversial oil-exploration company InterOil (IOC) written by an analyst who is skeptical of the company. As expected, the investigation provoked a polarized reaction: InterOil bulls saw it as the same old shortseller whining. InterOil bears saw it as more evidence that the company is a fraud. Today, we're publishing another analysis from the same analyst.  The same disclosures apply: This analyst will benefit financially if InterOil collapses; we cannot and are not vouching for the accuracy of the analysis or conclusions. But we do find the analysis interesting. The analyst's broad contention is that the type of rock InterOil is drilling in has been shown to produce huge initial pressure and flares (thus explaining the "world record" flows the company has touted), but that the gas reservoirs InterOil has discovered are not as extensive as the company has said.  Also, th

 San Francisco Chronicle  Last week, we published a detailed investigation of controversial oil-exploration company InterOil (IOC) written by an analyst who is skeptical of the company. As expected, the investigation provoked a polarized reaction: InterOil bulls saw it as the same old shortseller whining. InterOil bears saw it as more evidence that the company is a fraud. Today, we're publishing another analysis from the same analyst.  The same disclosures apply: This analyst will benefit financially if InterOil collapses; we cannot and are not vouching for the accuracy of the analysis or conclusions. But we do find the analysis interesting. The analyst's broad contention is that the type of rock InterOil is drilling in has been shown to produce huge initial pressure and flares (thus explaining the "world record" flows the company has touted), but that the gas reservoirs InterOil has discovered are not as extensive as the company has said. 

Wotekep Kangtekep I REFER to SHP Governor Anderson Agiru’s letter (The National, March 26) alluding to my letter of March 23. Mr Agiru and others believed they got the best deal out of this project and people like me should not be making unjustified statements criticising their good work. With due respect to the governor, whether he and the so-called State negotiating team had done a good job or not will only be proven in due time. In fact, I would say the results are already being felt by the people. Hardly a day pass without our newspapers carrying a story or two about the unjust treatment by the project developer, the State giving in to landowners, missing MoA funds or unfulfilled MoA promises, etc. Was there a win-win situation for all the stakeholders? I don’t need some myopic analyst from Kokopo or Melbourne to prove me otherwise.  The governor’s claims that he did his best for PNG remain to be seen, which he rightfully said were kept confidential and locked away in Wa

Wotekep Kangtekep I REFER to SHP Governor Anderson Agiru’s letter (The National, March 26) alluding to my letter of March 23. Mr Agiru and others believed they got the best deal out of this project and people like me should not be making unjustified statements criticising their good work. With due respect to the governor, whether he and the so-called State negotiating team had done a good job or not will only be proven in due time. In fact, I would say the results are already being felt by the people. Hardly a day pass without our newspapers carrying a story or two about the unjust treatment by the project developer, the State giving in to landowners, missing MoA funds or unfulfilled MoA promises, etc. Was there a win-win situation for all the stakeholders? I don’t need some myopic analyst from Kokopo or Melbourne to prove me otherwise.  The governor’s claims that he did his best for PNG remain to be seen, which he rightfully said were kept confidential and locked awa

National Editorial PARLIAMENT cannot and must not set the terms and conditions of its own membership. Neither should Parliament vote for disbursement of funds which are to be channelled through its members alone. These powers or privileges must be disallowed by legislation. That this happens today is a travesty and contrary to the principles of good governance, of fair and equitable distribution of the nation’s wealth and of an impartial legislature. With the Speaker chairing the Salaries and Conditions Monitoring Committee (SCMC) which membership is mostly Parliamentarians, it is almost certain that decisions taken by this committee would most normally favour the Members of Parliament. And every decision has gone that way. The same is true for approving discretionary funds for members. The fund began in 1982 with the humble allocation of K10,000 per electorate under the equally humble description: Village Service Scheme. This has grown in size until in this term Parliament

National Editorial PARLIAMENT cannot and must not set the terms and conditions of its own membership. Neither should Parliament vote for disbursement of funds which are to be channelled through its members alone. These powers or privileges must be disallowed by legislation. That this happens today is a travesty and contrary to the principles of good governance, of fair and equitable distribution of the nation’s wealth and of an impartial legislature. With the Speaker chairing the Salaries and Conditions Monitoring Committee (SCMC) which membership is mostly Parliamentarians, it is almost certain that decisions taken by this committee would most normally favour the Members of Parliament. And every decision has gone that way. The same is true for approving discretionary funds for members. The fund began in 1982 with the humble allocation of K10,000 per electorate under the equally humble description: Village Service Scheme. This has grown in size until in this term Parlia

Island Business The most talked about issue in Papua New Guinea is corruption and how it is eating away at the fabric of a country that is often described by its political leaders as “the land of milk and honey” and “the land of plenty”. It is as if Papua New Guinea is a “promised land” with a people promised to inherit wealth of unprecedented proportions in the Pacific region. The reality, of course, is this “land of milk and honey” and “the land of plenty” is seeing an alarming rise in poverty among its increasing urban population and a shameful denial of basic services to 80 percent of its people who live in the rural areas of the Highlands, the coastline, swamplands and the islands. It is a land with a growing youthful population that is crying for employment with no success-a land that is seeing many of its young men turning to crime for survival. Everyone says the reason for the decline in wealth and services to the ordinary people of PNG is due to the increasing level of corrupt