PNGBLOGS

SOUTH PACIFIC POST A MAJOR growers organisation is hellbent on getting the National Government to reveal how and why it gave millions of kina to a former Cocoa Board boss to educate farmers about a pest threat. K10.9 million was dispensed by National Planning Department, amid a total of K51 million issued to Finance Minister Peter O’Neill for disbursement. It was granted to a company called Teariki Holdings Limited, owned by Lauatu Tautea , and three other people with the surname Tautea. Mr Lauatu Tautea who appears to be the manager, is the former chief executive officer of the Cocoa Board of PNG. According to the Registrar of Companies office, Teariki was incorporated on August 10, 2010 and several months later was given K10.9 million by the Government. It’s believed to be for fighting the cocoa pod borer disease. Mr Tautea’s term of office as Cocoa Board CEO expired on January 2010 but he stayed on as acting CEO until recently. Another payment of K6 million was paid to a trust accou

SOUTH PACIFIC POST A MAJOR growers organisation is hellbent on getting the National Government to reveal how and why it gave millions of kina to a former Cocoa Board boss to educate farmers about a pest threat. K10.9 million was dispensed by National Planning Department, amid a total of K51 million issued to Finance Minister Peter O’Neill for disbursement. It was granted to a company called Teariki Holdings Limited, owned by Lauatu Tautea , and three other people with the surname Tautea. Mr Lauatu Tautea who appears to be the manager, is the former chief executive officer of the Cocoa Board of PNG. According to the Registrar of Companies office, Teariki was incorporated on August 10, 2010 and several months later was given K10.9 million by the Government. It’s believed to be for fighting the cocoa pod borer disease. Mr Tautea’s term of office as Cocoa Board CEO expired on January 2010 but he stayed on as acting CEO until recently. Another payment of K6 million was paid to a trust

By JOHN FOWKE   At the risk of  angering those who have already indicated that this mild-mannered old masta  is in fact a patronising colonial relic  of the sort PNG is well rid of, I want to raise the following points. Very few modern enterprises or services of any sort in PNG work well unless managed by a  PNG’ian professional who has had overseas experience at a high level and the degree of social separation conferred by a few years of hands-on management in a different cultural, intellectual and social environment.   Once established as a world-citizen and a peer among equals in an industry or a profession across the globe, few of such PNG’ians, and there are increasingly-large numbers, are willing to return to live and work in what they  perceive as a messy, corrupt and crime-burdened environment with opportunities only for risk-takers. This means that the nation misses out on the benefit of the services and input of  a  large segment of its most-talented and best-educated sons

By JOHN FOWKE   At the risk of  angering those who have already indicated that this mild-mannered old masta  is in fact a patronising colonial relic  of the sort PNG is well rid of, I want to raise the following points. Very few modern enterprises or services of any sort in PNG work well unless managed by a  PNG’ian professional who has had overseas experience at a high level and the degree of social separation conferred by a few years of hands-on management in a different cultural, intellectual and social environment.   Once established as a world-citizen and a peer among equals in an industry or a profession across the globe, few of such PNG’ians, and there are increasingly-large numbers, are willing to return to live and work in what they  perceive as a messy, corrupt and crime-burdened environment with opportunities only for risk-takers. This means that the nation misses out on the benefit of the services and input of  a  large segment of its most-talented and best-educated

JOHN BURTON The Ok Tedi mine is well-known for its disposal of mine tailings into the local river system which led to international litigation and ultimately to BHP Billiton quitting the project . People argue to this day about the balance between the economic benefits to be had from keeping the mine open (to local people and central government) and the impacts on people and the environment (felt by local people on their own). Among the business voices who came down against the continuation of mining were the World Bank (‘the Ok Tedi mine needs to be moving towards closure as soon as possible’, Country Director, Papua New Guinea, to Sir Mekere Morauta, 20 January 2000) and BHP itself, whose then Chief Executive Chip Goodyear said in 2004 that his company could no longer be involved in projects of this nature and that Ok Tedi ‘was not a development of which BHP Billiton was proud’ ( The Age , 16 July 2004 ). The industry-sponsored Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development

JOHN BURTON The Ok Tedi mine is well-known for its disposal of mine tailings into the local river system which led to international litigation and ultimately to BHP Billiton quitting the project . People argue to this day about the balance between the economic benefits to be had from keeping the mine open (to local people and central government) and the impacts on people and the environment (felt by local people on their own). Among the business voices who came down against the continuation of mining were the World Bank (‘the Ok Tedi mine needs to be moving towards closure as soon as possible’, Country Director, Papua New Guinea, to Sir Mekere Morauta, 20 January 2000) and BHP itself, whose then Chief Executive Chip Goodyear said in 2004 that his company could no longer be involved in projects of this nature and that Ok Tedi ‘was not a development of which BHP Billiton was proud’ ( The Age , 16 July 2004 ). The industry-sponsored Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Developmen

PNGBLOGS The statement by the Attorney General that the public should not demand swift decision making from the Chief Justice as to the appointment of a leadership tribunal is as offensive as it is clearly wrong. The Chief Justice, like the Attorney General, are public servants and should be answerable and accountable to the people of Papua New Guinea at all times. Serious allegations have been made against the most senior public servant in Papua New Guinea, the Prime Minister. These allegations remain unanswered 3 years later. This is bringing the integrity of the office of Prime Minister into question and it is in the interests of the country as a whole that these allegations are resolved quickly, one way or another.  Justice delayed is justice denied. The Public Prosecutor was satisfied that the Prime Minister was guilty of misconduct in office, which resulted in his referral of the matter to the Chief Justice for the appointment of a Leadership Tribunal pursuant to Section 27(2)