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Kapris pleads guilty, but says he's not the organiser so who is???

Reports by ABC News Papua New Guinea's most notorious criminal has pleaded guilty to twice escaping custody. William Kapris was serving a 15-year jail sentence for rape and attempted murder when he escaped from a hospital in Port Moresby in 2008. He was recaptured, but last January he and 11 other prisoners broke out of a maximum-security jail after a woman posing as a lawyer smuggled in a gun. Today in the National Court he pleaded guilty to two counts of escaping lawful custody. Kapris told the court he did not organise the January jailbreak but did take advantage of the opportunity to flee. He will be sentenced tomorrow and later in the week he will face charges related to a robbery of gold bars from a metal refinery. So whose the organiser? people are fedup, we know 3 names so far, will they own up and clear their name or will the PM who is currently diagnosed with Amnesia forget about their crimes.

Kapris pleads guilty, but says he's not the organiser so who is???

Reports by ABC News Papua New Guinea's most notorious criminal has pleaded guilty to twice escaping custody. William Kapris was serving a 15-year jail sentence for rape and attempted murder when he escaped from a hospital in Port Moresby in 2008. He was recaptured, but last January he and 11 other prisoners broke out of a maximum-security jail after a woman posing as a lawyer smuggled in a gun. Today in the National Court he pleaded guilty to two counts of escaping lawful custody. Kapris told the court he did not organise the January jailbreak but did take advantage of the opportunity to flee. He will be sentenced tomorrow and later in the week he will face charges related to a robbery of gold bars from a metal refinery. So whose the organiser? people are fedup, we know 3 names so far, will they own up and clear their name or will the PM who is currently diagnosed with Amnesia forget about their crimes.

Law creates problem for the future

National Editorial PARLIAMENT passed an important law pertaining to the environment last week. The amendment to the Environment Act effectively bars all third party lawsuits of the kind presently being pursued against the Ramu nickel cobalt mine. It will affect all future projects, the PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project among them. The national government action is understandable enough. It alone approves resource projects. Such approvals are given after due process, or should be. Due process involves requirements where the developer satisfies various state instrumentalities relating to labour and immigration laws and regulations, taxation and finance laws and regulations, company registry requirements, attorney-general, the Organic Law on provincial and local level governments and, of course, environment and conservation among others. Each one of these government instrumentalities have strong laws which operate quite independently; the flouting of which could land a developer in

Law creates problem for the future

National Editorial PARLIAMENT passed an important law pertaining to the environment last week. The amendment to the Environment Act effectively bars all third party lawsuits of the kind presently being pursued against the Ramu nickel cobalt mine. It will affect all future projects, the PNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) project among them. The national government action is understandable enough. It alone approves resource projects. Such approvals are given after due process, or should be. Due process involves requirements where the developer satisfies various state instrumentalities relating to labour and immigration laws and regulations, taxation and finance laws and regulations, company registry requirements, attorney-general, the Organic Law on provincial and local level governments and, of course, environment and conservation among others. Each one of these government instrumentalities have strong laws which operate quite independently; the flouting of which could land a developer in

PRUAITCH SUSPENDED.....NEXT IN LINE ARTHUR SOMARE,... WHO ELSE...

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Reports by The National THE Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of Finance and Treasury Minister Patrick Pruaitch from office. The high court made the decision yesterday, saying Pruaitch is suspended on full pay pending his substantive appeal against his referral by the Ombudsman Commission to the leadership tribunal. The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court consisted of justices Nicholas Kirriwom, Les Gavera-Nanu and Catherine Davani. They ruled that with Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia’s convening of the tribunal on Feb 3, this had immediately effected section 28 of the Organic Law on the duties and responsibilities of leadership (OLDLR). Section 28 gives effect to the suspension of a leader who has been referred for prosecution before a leadership tribunal over allegations of misconduct in office. The tribunal sat in February but did not commence hearing because of the restraining order obtained by Pruaitch. The tribunal comprises Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, principal m

PRUAITCH SUSPENDED.....NEXT IN LINE ARTHUR SOMARE,... WHO ELSE...

Image
Reports by The National THE Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of Finance and Treasury Minister Patrick Pruaitch from office. The high court made the decision yesterday, saying Pruaitch is suspended on full pay pending his substantive appeal against his referral by the Ombudsman Commission to the leadership tribunal. The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court consisted of justices Nicholas Kirriwom, Les Gavera-Nanu and Catherine Davani. They ruled that with Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia’s convening of the tribunal on Feb 3, this had immediately effected section 28 of the Organic Law on the duties and responsibilities of leadership (OLDLR). Section 28 gives effect to the suspension of a leader who has been referred for prosecution before a leadership tribunal over allegations of misconduct in office. The tribunal sat in February but did not commence hearing because of the restraining order obtained by Pruaitch. The tribunal comprises Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika, pr

Put Papua New Guinea's House in Order

Focus Papua New Guinea has long experienced a dual economy, initially between the estate sector and the rest of the population. From the 1970s mining and 1990s oil enclaves developed, supporting a growing urban population. Government initially discouraged permanent urban settlement, but the hard kina policy and subsequent fiscal indiscipline and under funding for infrastructure and services in the provinces and rural areas, encouraged urban drift, with educational, health and income earning opportunities in rural areas squeezed. Now we have a few bubbling urban centres and service industries, buoyed up by current and prospective enclave mining/hydro-carbon industries. Despite optimism in parts of the business community, there is great frustration in much of the population, feeling forgotten in the apparent narrow –based economic boom and concerned over government’s readiness to side-step procedures (land, labour and environmental) for selected developers. Some concerns are widely share