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Through a Telescope Backwards- National Politics and the LLGs

JOHN FOWKE The decision taken in 1964 to close down the established embryo political system comprised of the appointed District Advisory Councils interacting with the overarching and partly-democratic Legislative Council was wrong.  The system was fully capable of being transformed into a democratic one where full national adult franchise might have been introduced via the  Local Government Council system with its existing electoral system, registers, records and procedures for administration, all well-established and  well- understood. This linkage of institutions would logically have served the new nation very well when fully democratized and extended to include the then Local Government Councils as the grass-roots end of the whole. This was an established system, well-understood. And it worked. Although I have looked for  logic behind the rise of a Westminster-type party parliamentary system in PNG I have not found any evidence of guidance or planning or policy for its introduction

Through a Telescope Backwards- National Politics and the LLGs

JOHN FOWKE The decision taken in 1964 to close down the established embryo political system comprised of the appointed District Advisory Councils interacting with the overarching and partly-democratic Legislative Council was wrong.  The system was fully capable of being transformed into a democratic one where full national adult franchise might have been introduced via the  Local Government Council system with its existing electoral system, registers, records and procedures for administration, all well-established and  well- understood. This linkage of institutions would logically have served the new nation very well when fully democratized and extended to include the then Local Government Councils as the grass-roots end of the whole. This was an established system, well-understood. And it worked. Although I have looked for  logic behind the rise of a Westminster-type party parliamentary system in PNG I have not found any evidence of guidance or planning or policy for its introduc

The parties, future leadership and the Local-level Governments

JOHN FOWKE As at the last National Election in 2007 and as at present, only a year away from another crucial election, the status and composition and utility of PNG’s Local Level Government system - a hugely important factor within any intention or plan for decentralisation and improved rural services- is in question. And time is running out. I have written already recommending that PNG’s national electorates choose representatives on the basis of an enforceable agreement that each elected MP will serve the interests of his people for and through the established local level government/s present in the electorate.Not as the supposed supporter of one or other of the parties, which in the PNG setting are largely meaningless except as sources of wealth and influence for the MPs and the senior party officials. The parties will not welcome such a change, and will fight individuals who are successful in campaigning without help from a party, and fight the LLG-based representati

The parties, future leadership and the Local-level Governments

JOHN FOWKE As at the last National Election in 2007 and as at present, only a year away from another crucial election, the status and composition and utility of PNG’s Local Level Government system - a hugely important factor within any intention or plan for decentralisation and improved rural services- is in question. And time is running out. I have written already recommending that PNG’s national electorates choose representatives on the basis of an enforceable agreement that each elected MP will serve the interests of his people for and through the established local level government/s present in the electorate.Not as the supposed supporter of one or other of the parties, which in the PNG setting are largely meaningless except as sources of wealth and influence for the MPs and the senior party officials. The parties will not welcome such a change, and will fight individuals who are successful in campaigning without help from a party, and fight the LLG-based represe

PNG paper still on agenda on trade ministers meeting

PAC NEWS Moves by Papua New Guinea to propose drastic changes to the future management of the Pacific ACP’s trade negotiations with the European Union is still on the agenda of the trade ministers meeting but any immediate decision has been put on hold. This was revealed at a Melanesian Spearhead Group official’s caucus in Apia Wednesday night, in preparation for the two day ministerial session beginning Thursday. “PNG’s paper is still on the table but it will be up to the ministers if they want any substantiative discussions on its recommendations. Otherwise, the paper will be noted in the outcomes document, said a number of trade officials contacted by PACNEWS. Item 29 on the trade officials outcomes document obtained by PACNEWS said ‘the meeting agreed to PNG’s proposal on the future management of the EPA negotiations to be considered out of session in preparation for the ministers meeting.’ “It’s sad that PNG wanted more discussions out of session on the paper when it had sent out

PNG paper still on agenda on trade ministers meeting

PAC NEWS Moves by Papua New Guinea to propose drastic changes to the future management of the Pacific ACP’s trade negotiations with the European Union is still on the agenda of the trade ministers meeting but any immediate decision has been put on hold. This was revealed at a Melanesian Spearhead Group official’s caucus in Apia Wednesday night, in preparation for the two day ministerial session beginning Thursday. “PNG’s paper is still on the table but it will be up to the ministers if they want any substantiative discussions on its recommendations. Otherwise, the paper will be noted in the outcomes document, said a number of trade officials contacted by PACNEWS. Item 29 on the trade officials outcomes document obtained by PACNEWS said ‘the meeting agreed to PNG’s proposal on the future management of the EPA negotiations to be considered out of session in preparation for the ministers meeting.’ “It’s sad that PNG wanted more discussions out of session on the paper when it had sent o

Row flares over PNG Customs seizure of a tanker

The Australian Row has flared between Papua New Guinea's customs service and international shippers after a new $25 million oil tanker escaped seven months detention. The vessel had obtained, under the guns of former Bougainville combatants, $5.6m worth of fuel oil originally imported for the Panguna copper mine, which closed 22 years ago -- and which is now expected to reopen. The ship, UBT Fjord, was halted by a PNG patrol boat in June and escorted to Rabaul harbour, but is now sailing home to Singapore despite appeals from PNG Customs for fishing boats and other vessels to intercept it. A spokesman for the owner, Norwegian-run and Singapore-based shipping corporation Thome, which has more than 100 vessels, said following the escape: "Foreign shipping has a strong incentive to avoid PNG altogether. “PNG Customs appear to be a law unto themselves.” The Customs Act, as amended six months ago, says the customs commissioner is "subject to this act, not subject to direction

Aussies Carjacked.

AAP Two Australians working in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby have been carjacked at gunpoint. A female media adviser with PNG's national radio station and a male law and justice adviser were separately attacked on Tuesday night on the same road on Touaguba Hill, a residential area popular with expatriates. According to an email sent to Australian officials by AusAID security there were no injuries or assaults carried out during the robbery. "This is again a stark reminder to exercise a high degree of caution whilst driving throughout Port Moresby," the email read. Last Thursday an Australian aid adviser in Port Moresby was carjacked and suffered "serious injuries" in the attack. A spokesperson for the Australian High Commission confirmed the victim, a man in his 50s, was discharged from Port Moresby Hospital last Friday and flown to Brisbane for further treatment. AAP also understands that at the weekend another Australian official was involved in

Aussies Carjacked.

AAP Two Australians working in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby have been carjacked at gunpoint. A female media adviser with PNG's national radio station and a male law and justice adviser were separately attacked on Tuesday night on the same road on Touaguba Hill, a residential area popular with expatriates. According to an email sent to Australian officials by AusAID security there were no injuries or assaults carried out during the robbery. "This is again a stark reminder to exercise a high degree of caution whilst driving throughout Port Moresby," the email read. Last Thursday an Australian aid adviser in Port Moresby was carjacked and suffered "serious injuries" in the attack. A spokesperson for the Australian High Commission confirmed the victim, a man in his 50s, was discharged from Port Moresby Hospital last Friday and flown to Brisbane for further treatment. AAP also understands that at the weekend another Australian official was invol

Fears major gas project could spark social unrest

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 IRIN NEWS   There are fears that a multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) could lead to social unrest: Just one year into the four-year construction phase of the project there are some ominous signs, observers say. Outside the capital Port Moresby near the LNG plant site, young men employed by Esso Highlands (a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil), the company running the project, guzzle their earnings, disrupting Sunday church with rowdy drunkenness, while in a nearby village, five people were recently killed in a land dispute, according to an independent social and environmental compliance monitoring report . “While there’s potential for positive access to resources for funds for development, there’s also the potential to exacerbate conflict as we have seen in the past in Bougainville and in other countries that have a natural resource boom,” said Jock Paul, a humanitarian affairs officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of Human

Fears major gas project could spark social unrest

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 IRIN NEWS   There are fears that a multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea (PNG) could lead to social unrest: Just one year into the four-year construction phase of the project there are some ominous signs, observers say. Outside the capital Port Moresby near the LNG plant site, young men employed by Esso Highlands (a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil), the company running the project, guzzle their earnings, disrupting Sunday church with rowdy drunkenness, while in a nearby village, five people were recently killed in a land dispute, according to an independent social and environmental compliance monitoring report . “While there’s potential for positive access to resources for funds for development, there’s also the potential to exacerbate conflict as we have seen in the past in Bougainville and in other countries that have a natural resource boom,” said Jock Paul, a humanitarian affairs officer with the UN Office for the Coordination of H

DISTRICT SUPPORT OR MP SUPPORT?

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DISTRICT SUPPORT OR MP SUPPORT?

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Serious Abuses at Barrick's Pogera Gold Mine

Human Rights Watch Private security personnel employed at a gold mine in Papua New Guinea have been implicated in alleged gang rapes and other violent abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Porgera mine has produced billions of dollars of gold in its twenty years of operation, and is operated and 95 percent owned by Barrick Gold, a Canadian company that is the world's largest gold producer. The 94-page report, " Gold's Costly Dividend: Human Rights Impacts of Papua New Guinea's Porgera Gold Mine ," identifies systemic failures on the part of Toronto-based Barrick Gold that kept the company from recognizing the risk of abuses, and responding to allegations that abuses had occurred. The report examines the impact of Canada's failure to regulate the overseas activities of its companies and also calls on Barrick to address environmental and health concerns around the mine with greater transparency. "We interviewed women who described

Serious Abuses at Barrick's Pogera Gold Mine

Human Rights Watch Private security personnel employed at a gold mine in Papua New Guinea have been implicated in alleged gang rapes and other violent abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Porgera mine has produced billions of dollars of gold in its twenty years of operation, and is operated and 95 percent owned by Barrick Gold, a Canadian company that is the world's largest gold producer. The 94-page report, " Gold's Costly Dividend: Human Rights Impacts of Papua New Guinea's Porgera Gold Mine ," identifies systemic failures on the part of Toronto-based Barrick Gold that kept the company from recognizing the risk of abuses, and responding to allegations that abuses had occurred. The report examines the impact of Canada's failure to regulate the overseas activities of its companies and also calls on Barrick to address environmental and health concerns around the mine with greater transparency. "We interviewed women who descr

Paralysis in the Land of the Sukudunumi God

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By MONDAY TANARI Last week, the people of Tunisia in Africa rose against their dictator, running him and his family out of the country and looting the great wealth they left behind. In Europe, thousands of Albanians took to the streets, fed up with the status quo. And in Egypt, there have been massive protests against President Hosni Mubarak. These movements are only the latest in a long string that have toppled many unjust governments. In recent years, people power revolutions have occurred in the Philippines as well as in next door Indonesia. They can pop up everywhere. But not today in PNG. Why not? Some say that it’s because Michael Somare is no dictator and thus, not that bad. While in a strict legal sense that may be true, Somare and his NA mob have managed the same ballot stuffing and vote stealing that dictators often use to stay in power. On top of that Somare uses his top deputy dog, Jeffrey Nape, to manipulate Parliamentary rules with contempt, thus preventing vot

Paralysis in the Land of the Sukudunumi God

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By MONDAY TANARI Last week, the people of Tunisia in Africa rose against their dictator, running him and his family out of the country and looting the great wealth they left behind. In Europe, thousands of Albanians took to the streets, fed up with the status quo. And in Egypt, there have been massive protests against President Hosni Mubarak. These movements are only the latest in a long string that have toppled many unjust governments. In recent years, people power revolutions have occurred in the Philippines as well as in next door Indonesia. They can pop up everywhere. But not today in PNG. Why not? Some say that it’s because Michael Somare is no dictator and thus, not that bad. While in a strict legal sense that may be true, Somare and his NA mob have managed the same ballot stuffing and vote stealing that dictators often use to stay in power. On top of that Somare uses his top deputy dog, Jeffrey Nape, to manipulate Parliamentary rules with contempt, thus preventing

Police accused of hiding evidence in rape case

GEESCHE JACOBSEN Sydney Morning Herald OFFICERS from the Australian Federal Police allegedly stole and concealed documents that could have helped a former pilot and businessman fight allegations he had raped a 14-year-old girl in PNG. Fred Martens, a millionaire working in Papua New Guinea, served more than 2½ years in prison after being convicted under Australian child sex tourism laws. But after his family found some of the missing documents he earned a rare second appeal in November 2009 and had his conviction quashed. In two multimillion-dollar compensation claims Mr Martens, 62, is now suing the Australian and PNG governments, and members of the AFP and PNG police, over their alleged misconduct. The claims allege his false prosecution led to the failure of his businesses and the loss of PNG assets - including 11 boats, six planes and dozens of construction and earth-moving vehicles. This is the latest in a series of embarrassing cases involving the AFP, which last month settled a