PNGBLOGS

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner operations Fred Yakasa again gave us a stark reminder of corruption in Papua New Guinea when he said on Tuesday that a mammoth 50% of its budget annually is lost to fraud. This works out to a whopping K4 billion a year, which Yakasa bluntly said had gone into the hands of corrupt public servants and senior bureaucrats, many of whom he alleges have invested these gains overseas. On top of that, PNG fails to collect more than half of the taxation revenue that is due to it. Internal Revenue Commission has admitted that hundreds of millions have been lost through tax evasion, false declarations and companies hiding their books from authorities. Hundreds of millions are lost annually through non-compliance by companies in submitting their tax returns while IRC, because of capacity constraints, limits its checks to major corporate entities operating in the country. Yakasa’s words should be taken note of by every citizen of PNG if we want to see our country d

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner operations Fred Yakasa again gave us a stark reminder of corruption in Papua New Guinea when he said on Tuesday that a mammoth 50% of its budget annually is lost to fraud. This works out to a whopping K4 billion a year, which Yakasa bluntly said had gone into the hands of corrupt public servants and senior bureaucrats, many of whom he alleges have invested these gains overseas. On top of that, PNG fails to collect more than half of the taxation revenue that is due to it. Internal Revenue Commission has admitted that hundreds of millions have been lost through tax evasion, false declarations and companies hiding their books from authorities. Hundreds of millions are lost annually through non-compliance by companies in submitting their tax returns while IRC, because of capacity constraints, limits its checks to major corporate entities operating in the country. Yakasa’s words should be taken note of by every citizen of PNG if we want to see our country

CANBERRA TIMES The Gillard Government must stop paying huge salaries to aid officials working in poor countries, Australia's main foreign aid group said yesterday.  The strong reaction from the Australian Council for International Development came after Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the huge salaries paid to Australians administering aid programs would be trimmed by one-quarter. He confirmed the Government would axe 257 long-term positions from 11 different programs over two years. Council executive director Marc Purcell said reducing advisers must be the first step as part of a larger reform and questioning of what made foreign aid effective. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the high level of advisers' salaries had been raised with her by heads of state and foreign ministers from the region. ''This is a matter of concern to them, that Australian aid is being absorbed by payments to the officials in charge of the aid program an

CANBERRA TIMES The Gillard Government must stop paying huge salaries to aid officials working in poor countries, Australia's main foreign aid group said yesterday.  The strong reaction from the Australian Council for International Development came after Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the huge salaries paid to Australians administering aid programs would be trimmed by one-quarter. He confirmed the Government would axe 257 long-term positions from 11 different programs over two years. Council executive director Marc Purcell said reducing advisers must be the first step as part of a larger reform and questioning of what made foreign aid effective. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the high level of advisers' salaries had been raised with her by heads of state and foreign ministers from the region. ''This is a matter of concern to them, that Australian aid is being absorbed by payments to the officials in charge of the aid progr

South Pacific Post PRIME Ministers cannot be automatically suspended from office if they are referred to a Leadership Tribunal. This is because the provision for automatic suspension pending hearings applies only to Ministers. Detailing the distinction is the Constitution itself under Sections 142(6) and 144(3) respectively. This was the explanation by the Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare’s, Chief of Staff, Paul Bengo. Mr Bengo has taken out a public advertisement detailing the matter following continuous public debates and commentaries regarding Sir Michael’s referral by the Public Prosecutor to the Chief Justice to convene a tribunal to hear misconduct in office charges against him. In the same advertisement Mr Bengo also explained that Sir Michael’s absence from office following the referral last December was to take advantage of outstanding accrued leave, of which all Members of Parliament were entitled four weeks annually. He said this provision was contained under a Salaries an

South Pacific Post PRIME Ministers cannot be automatically suspended from office if they are referred to a Leadership Tribunal. This is because the provision for automatic suspension pending hearings applies only to Ministers. Detailing the distinction is the Constitution itself under Sections 142(6) and 144(3) respectively. This was the explanation by the Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare’s, Chief of Staff, Paul Bengo. Mr Bengo has taken out a public advertisement detailing the matter following continuous public debates and commentaries regarding Sir Michael’s referral by the Public Prosecutor to the Chief Justice to convene a tribunal to hear misconduct in office charges against him. In the same advertisement Mr Bengo also explained that Sir Michael’s absence from office following the referral last December was to take advantage of outstanding accrued leave, of which all Members of Parliament were entitled four weeks annually. He said this provision was contained under a Salari

By JOHN FOWKE There are good intentions, respect, and many, many friendships, both personal and institutional, mixed freely within the existing relationship. It seems to me that Australia has quite a good body of knowledge of the problems PNG faces in its present and future relations with its nearest neighbors, Australian, Asian and Melanesian. However it is plain that Oz has little idea of how to proceed with effective, useful, culturally-aware aid and advisory projects and diplomatic initiatives. Importantly, no-one in Oz is looking at the long term, and equally importantly, in today’s Australia there has never been any attempt to create an intelligent, dedicated corps of Pacific-aware, culturally-and-politically-interested representatives. Specialists in the area, who wish to work in it as a career-choice, and in so doing, build up career-long friendships and contacts which will be immensely valuable to both sides. To take an example, the PNG ECP initiative included a major poli

By JOHN FOWKE There are good intentions, respect, and many, many friendships, both personal and institutional, mixed freely within the existing relationship. It seems to me that Australia has quite a good body of knowledge of the problems PNG faces in its present and future relations with its nearest neighbors, Australian, Asian and Melanesian. However it is plain that Oz has little idea of how to proceed with effective, useful, culturally-aware aid and advisory projects and diplomatic initiatives. Importantly, no-one in Oz is looking at the long term, and equally importantly, in today’s Australia there has never been any attempt to create an intelligent, dedicated corps of Pacific-aware, culturally-and-politically-interested representatives. Specialists in the area, who wish to work in it as a career-choice, and in so doing, build up career-long friendships and contacts which will be immensely valuable to both sides. To take an example, the PNG ECP initiative included a major p

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)

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

SOUTH PACIFIC POST The Auditor General George Wasi Sullimann, whose term in office expires on Monday (Feb 14), has scoffed at serious allegations of misconduct in office against him. Mr Sullimann served five years in office, the normal term of an Auditor- General. He said it had become a norm for persons within the organisation to come out and discredit the incumbent head, whose term was about to expire so that he/she was not reappointed. He said such behaviour is being perpetrated by those aspiring to take over the top post and as such, he did not wish to waste his precious time commenting on baseless allegations made against him and his wife. Mr Sullimann said the appointment of the AG is a prerogative of the Government and that he will exit a satisfied man having brought many changes into the department unlike his predecessors. “I have worked in this office for 38 years, six of these years as the AG and the terms and conditions enjoyed by employees here is extremely higher than in t

SOUTH PACIFIC POST The Auditor General George Wasi Sullimann, whose term in office expires on Monday (Feb 14), has scoffed at serious allegations of misconduct in office against him. Mr Sullimann served five years in office, the normal term of an Auditor- General. He said it had become a norm for persons within the organisation to come out and discredit the incumbent head, whose term was about to expire so that he/she was not reappointed. He said such behaviour is being perpetrated by those aspiring to take over the top post and as such, he did not wish to waste his precious time commenting on baseless allegations made against him and his wife. Mr Sullimann said the appointment of the AG is a prerogative of the Government and that he will exit a satisfied man having brought many changes into the department unlike his predecessors. “I have worked in this office for 38 years, six of these years as the AG and the terms and conditions enjoyed by employees here is extremely higher than