PNGBLOGS

AAP A three-member tribunal hearing allegations of misconduct by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare has adjourned to consider its final decision. Tribunal chairman Roger Gyles on Tuesday adjourned the hearing, then said it hopes to decide Somare's fate this week. If the tribunal uncovers issues related to financial statements, the penalty would not be decided until next week, Gyles said. The fourth day of the leadership tribunal in Port Moresby heard closing submissions from both sides relating to 25 allegations that Somare failed to lodge his financial records as far back as 20 years ago.  Somare told the court on Monday he had lodged his returns every year and suggested staff might have lost some records that were missing from the Ombudsman Commission. But the commissioner who initiated the original investigation alleged that Somare had failed to lodge or did not lodge complete forms or did so late and thus breached his responsibility as prime minister. On Monday, the

AAP A three-member tribunal hearing allegations of misconduct by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare has adjourned to consider its final decision. Tribunal chairman Roger Gyles on Tuesday adjourned the hearing, then said it hopes to decide Somare's fate this week. If the tribunal uncovers issues related to financial statements, the penalty would not be decided until next week, Gyles said. The fourth day of the leadership tribunal in Port Moresby heard closing submissions from both sides relating to 25 allegations that Somare failed to lodge his financial records as far back as 20 years ago.  Somare told the court on Monday he had lodged his returns every year and suggested staff might have lost some records that were missing from the Ombudsman Commission. But the commissioner who initiated the original investigation alleged that Somare had failed to lodge or did not lodge complete forms or did so late and thus breached his responsibility as prime minister. On Mond

 AAP ANOTHER Australian aid worker in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby has been carjacked at gunpoint. The female AusAID employee was returning home on Sunday night with a female friend when robbed by four men, at least two armed with firearms. According to a widely distributed email, sent to Australian officials by security personnel, there were no injuries. "The offenders attempted to keep the driver in the vehicle. "The driver refused and pushed past them and ran down the hill to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. "This particular location has experienced a number of reported carjackings in recent times," the email read. It is the third Australian and fourth person working for the Australian aid program this year to be robbed near their home in the popular diplomatic and expatriate area, Touaguba Hill. But numerous PNG citizens have told AAP they are also suffering a spike in violent carjackings across the city. Last month, an Irish female media adviser with PNG&

 AAP ANOTHER Australian aid worker in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby has been carjacked at gunpoint. The female AusAID employee was returning home on Sunday night with a female friend when robbed by four men, at least two armed with firearms. According to a widely distributed email, sent to Australian officials by security personnel, there were no injuries. "The offenders attempted to keep the driver in the vehicle. "The driver refused and pushed past them and ran down the hill to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. "This particular location has experienced a number of reported carjackings in recent times," the email read. It is the third Australian and fourth person working for the Australian aid program this year to be robbed near their home in the popular diplomatic and expatriate area, Touaguba Hill. But numerous PNG citizens have told AAP they are also suffering a spike in violent carjackings across the city. Last month, an Irish female media adviser

MINING WEEKLY The government of Papua New Guinea will exercise its right to a 30% stake in Nautilus Minerals' Solwara 1 undersea copper/gold project, the company said on Monday. Nautilus will keep a 70% in a joint venture that will be set up with the government, and the State will pay its share of the project development costs, including for funds already spent on exploration and development. Nautilus plans to mine high-grade copper and gold deposits on the sea floor, at depths of about 1 600 m. The acquisition is still subject to ratification by the Office of the State Solicitor in Papua New Guinea, Nautilus said. The company was awarded the world's first deep-sea mining lease for Solwara 1 in January, and announced last month it had found a second potential development project in the Bismarck sea. Nautilus has also said it is in negotiations with potential partners on the Solwara 1 project to help fund development. The Solwara 1 deposit has a total estimated resource o

MINING WEEKLY The government of Papua New Guinea will exercise its right to a 30% stake in Nautilus Minerals' Solwara 1 undersea copper/gold project, the company said on Monday. Nautilus will keep a 70% in a joint venture that will be set up with the government, and the State will pay its share of the project development costs, including for funds already spent on exploration and development. Nautilus plans to mine high-grade copper and gold deposits on the sea floor, at depths of about 1 600 m. The acquisition is still subject to ratification by the Office of the State Solicitor in Papua New Guinea, Nautilus said. The company was awarded the world's first deep-sea mining lease for Solwara 1 in January, and announced last month it had found a second potential development project in the Bismarck sea. Nautilus has also said it is in negotiations with potential partners on the Solwara 1 project to help fund development. The Solwara 1 deposit has a total estimated reso

JOHN FOWKE Nonetheless I would like again to ask Stretok why it is, in a land which he wishes to believe is a fully-functioning democracy, just why he refuses to attach his own name to his publicly-expressed opinions? This lack of self-confidence among the rising younger educated class of PNG'ians is very widespread, and it is a symptom of a society which is suffering pressures, either real or imagined, which are not appropriate in a land with the sort of constitution and the sort of elected parliamentary leadership which PNG has. It is something which everyone should think about. Its important. It is true, as Stretok infers, that I am an elderly foreigner without family or investment in PNG. I have no power or influence at all to bring any sort of pressure to bear upon Stretok, even if his remarks had been libellous. So why does he hide behind a name which is laughable in itself? Try Krukutok?? Or Herevagagevana, perhaps? Today there is an increasing inclination among PNG'

JOHN FOWKE Nonetheless I would like again to ask Stretok why it is, in a land which he wishes to believe is a fully-functioning democracy, just why he refuses to attach his own name to his publicly-expressed opinions? This lack of self-confidence among the rising younger educated class of PNG'ians is very widespread, and it is a symptom of a society which is suffering pressures, either real or imagined, which are not appropriate in a land with the sort of constitution and the sort of elected parliamentary leadership which PNG has. It is something which everyone should think about. Its important. It is true, as Stretok infers, that I am an elderly foreigner without family or investment in PNG. I have no power or influence at all to bring any sort of pressure to bear upon Stretok, even if his remarks had been libellous. So why does he hide behind a name which is laughable in itself? Try Krukutok?? Or Herevagagevana, perhaps? Today there is an increasing inclination among PNG&

ROWAN CALLICK They are eagerly awaited for the fortunes they are said to bring islanders. And they are equally feared for the destruction they are alleged to have on traditional Pacific ways. Either way, the Chinese are coming. Many are already here in the islands, but the expectation of a far bigger Chinese presence is overwhelming. And the preparation is almost non-existent, in terms of Pacific understanding of the culture, politics, economy or language of China. Many visits are made there—but usually paid for by the hosts, and with an overwhelming focus on seeking financial and material benefits from a China perceived wrongly as wealthy. In fact, China’s average wealth is lower than that of many islands countries. But its living standards have been growing very rapidly—for reasons which, for the most part, remain mysterious in the Pacific, because of its inadequate understanding of China: hard work, savings, a family focus on education, a government focus on building—and maintaining