PNGBLOGS

LIAM FOX There are fears for the safety of three missing landowners involved in a case against a big nickel mine in Papua New Guinea. The lawyer acting for a group of landowners, trying to stop a mine from dumping waste into the sea, says she has not heard from her clients since Sunday afternoon. Tiffany Nonggorr says other people connected to the case have been threatened and bashed. "I'm concerned that they've been hurt or held against their will," she said. In March, the landowners won a temporary injunction preventing the Ramu nickel mine from building a deep-sea tailings pipeline to dump waste into Astrolabe Bay off Madang. A judge was due to begin hearings today to decide whether to lift the ban or make it permanent. Ms Nonggorr says she does not know what the plaintiffs' disappearances mean for the case. "I have absolutely no idea. All we can do is try and locate them," she said. Police say they will be out in force around the courthouse to keep t

LIAM FOX There are fears for the safety of three missing landowners involved in a case against a big nickel mine in Papua New Guinea. The lawyer acting for a group of landowners, trying to stop a mine from dumping waste into the sea, says she has not heard from her clients since Sunday afternoon. Tiffany Nonggorr says other people connected to the case have been threatened and bashed. "I'm concerned that they've been hurt or held against their will," she said. In March, the landowners won a temporary injunction preventing the Ramu nickel mine from building a deep-sea tailings pipeline to dump waste into Astrolabe Bay off Madang. A judge was due to begin hearings today to decide whether to lift the ban or make it permanent. Ms Nonggorr says she does not know what the plaintiffs' disappearances mean for the case. "I have absolutely no idea. All we can do is try and locate them," she said. Police say they will be out in force around the courthouse to

by SALIL SHETTY My husband broke my nose and hit me with timber over the back of my head. I went to the police to tell them to arrest him – they said they would do it but they didn’t." Margaret*, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea. Sadly, Margaret’s story is all too familiar in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Across PNG, two thirds of women experience physical violence at the hands of their husbands. It is such a common occurrence that the women Amnesty International interviewed about domestic violence in the PNG Highlands were puzzled about why they were being asked about such an obvious fact. Outside the home the violence faced by women in PNG can be as extreme as ‘payback’ rape in connection with tribal fighting and murder for those accused of witchcraft. Despite the horrific statistics and stories, the Government of PNG have done little to protect victims of gender-based violence. The lack of ineffective policing to prevent and investigate gender-based violence, or provide an effective reme

by SALIL SHETTY My husband broke my nose and hit me with timber over the back of my head. I went to the police to tell them to arrest him – they said they would do it but they didn’t." Margaret*, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea. Sadly, Margaret’s story is all too familiar in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Across PNG, two thirds of women experience physical violence at the hands of their husbands. It is such a common occurrence that the women Amnesty International interviewed about domestic violence in the PNG Highlands were puzzled about why they were being asked about such an obvious fact. Outside the home the violence faced by women in PNG can be as extreme as ‘payback’ rape in connection with tribal fighting and murder for those accused of witchcraft. Despite the horrific statistics and stories, the Government of PNG have done little to protect victims of gender-based violence. The lack of ineffective policing to prevent and investigate gender-based violence, or provide an effective

State, Society and Governance in Melanesia There is almost no similarity to, or continuity with, the Chinese in Papua New Guinea now and the Chinese of the 1930s who, even if born in New Guinea, held a certificate of registration of an alien on which the bearer was identified by his thumb print. The Chinese were then a minority, largely unprotected by a home government, subject to petty discrimination, deliberately avoiding party politics and only entering the public arena to make a general show of being loyal citizens in such events as the Rabaul Empire Day parade. The Chinese in Papua New Guinea now outnumber Australians by two to one; some are backed by a powerful government in China which is extending its global political and economic reach, and some have connections to other governments in Southeast Asia; they are engaged in billion dollar resource projects; they have joined vigorously in public debate, hiring high competence in public relations, and one of the major resource firm

State, Society and Governance in Melanesia There is almost no similarity to, or continuity with, the Chinese in Papua New Guinea now and the Chinese of the 1930s who, even if born in New Guinea, held a certificate of registration of an alien on which the bearer was identified by his thumb print. The Chinese were then a minority, largely unprotected by a home government, subject to petty discrimination, deliberately avoiding party politics and only entering the public arena to make a general show of being loyal citizens in such events as the Rabaul Empire Day parade. The Chinese in Papua New Guinea now outnumber Australians by two to one; some are backed by a powerful government in China which is extending its global political and economic reach, and some have connections to other governments in Southeast Asia; they are engaged in billion dollar resource projects; they have joined vigorously in public debate, hiring high competence in public relations, and one of the major resource

PNGEXPOSED The Chinese State-owned MCC corporation which owns the Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea has posted a huge profit for the six-months to June 2010 of US$540 million. This profit was generated from revenues of over US$13 billion. In that period the company has also moved from being ranked as the 380th biggest company in the world to a new ranking of 315th. The company’s six-month profit of US$540 million puts in stark perspective the losses the company claims it is making on its stalled Ramu mine project which is currently on-hold after landowners obtained a court injunction preventing construction of the mine’s proposed deep sea tailings disposal system. While in PNG, MCC has been crying over the amount of money it says it has been loosing, it has not been  revealing the massive profits it has been reaping from its transnational operations. The company’s six-month  financial report ( warning: file size is 4.5mb ) also paints a very different picture about the

PNGEXPOSED The Chinese State-owned MCC corporation which owns the Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea has posted a huge profit for the six-months to June 2010 of US$540 million. This profit was generated from revenues of over US$13 billion. In that period the company has also moved from being ranked as the 380th biggest company in the world to a new ranking of 315th. The company’s six-month profit of US$540 million puts in stark perspective the losses the company claims it is making on its stalled Ramu mine project which is currently on-hold after landowners obtained a court injunction preventing construction of the mine’s proposed deep sea tailings disposal system. While in PNG, MCC has been crying over the amount of money it says it has been loosing, it has not been  revealing the massive profits it has been reaping from its transnational operations. The company’s six-month  financial report ( warning: file size is 4.5mb ) also paints a very different picture abou

CNEWS ASIA Singapore remains the least corrupt country while Indonesia the most corrupt among 16 major Asia-Pacific investment destinations in a business survey released on Tuesday. Singapore topped the annual poll by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) with a score of 1.42, followed by Australia in second place with 2.28 and Hong Kong third with 2.67. Indonesia remains the most corrupt country in Southeast Asia and graft is getting even worse, a poll of business people says, dealing a blow to the president's efforts to clean up the country. The news comes as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is under mounting pressure with his vice president and finance minister facing a criminal probe into their role in the controversial bailout of a troubled bank. The poll put Southeast Asia's biggest economy last in a table of regional economies with a score of 9.27 out of the worst-possible 10. Indonesia also came last in 2009, but with a marginally better score of 8.32. Ca