PNGBLOGS

from     Charlie Gilichibi itsupport@nasfund.com.pg reply-to Charlie Gilichibi to     pngblogs@gmail.com date    Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 5:54 PM subject    NASFUND Clarification on K125 million SCITB mailed-by    nasfund.com.pg     Dear Administrator, Please post this NASFUND Press Release on your blog.   Charlie Gilichibi, There has been a recent Press editorial and articles regarding a sovereign community infrastructure Treasury bill issue (“SCITB1”) which raised funds for essential infrastructure development in PNG. Much of the reporting has been based on incorrect information. The conclusions which might be drawn from this with regard to National Superannuation Fund Limited’s (“NASFUND”) position are simply wrong. Here are the facts:    There was no secrecy regarding SCITB1:   NASFUND emailed the details of its investment in SCITB1 to 25,000 members in March 2010, in its monthly newsletter. The details of SCITB1 were circulated to 65 journalists in Papua New Guinea an

THE NATIONAL EDITORIAL   IT is curious that the Nasfund board has chosen to put out a K50,000 reward for information to identify anonymous authors who have chosen to name joint chief executive officer Rod Mitchel in a bad light. While malicious and defamatory publications ought never to be condoned, the issue really is the K125 million special and exclusive bond issue for the Kokopo electorate. The Nasfund board needs to make a univocal explanation on exactly what this issue is all about. Contributors would like to know whether their money was at risk in this deal. Apparently, the money had been paid out and much of it spent on projects identified in the electorate. Some of the questions raised in the anonymous blog, complained of by Mitchell, actually does warrant decent answers. Is the bond issue legal or illegal, for instance? What happened to the funds? Why was this bond issued to only one electorate and not the other 88? Will the state repay the K125 million? What are the term

THE NATIONAL EDITORIAL   IT is curious that the Nasfund board has chosen to put out a K50,000 reward for information to identify anonymous authors who have chosen to name joint chief executive officer Rod Mitchel in a bad light. While malicious and defamatory publications ought never to be condoned, the issue really is the K125 million special and exclusive bond issue for the Kokopo electorate. The Nasfund board needs to make a univocal explanation on exactly what this issue is all about. Contributors would like to know whether their money was at risk in this deal. Apparently, the money had been paid out and much of it spent on projects identified in the electorate. Some of the questions raised in the anonymous blog, complained of by Mitchell, actually does warrant decent answers. Is the bond issue legal or illegal, for instance? What happened to the funds? Why was this bond issued to only one electorate and not the other 88? Will the state repay the K125 million? What are th

Douveri Henao Information Communication Technologies has revolutionized our way of life. Whether it’s igniting revolutions in the Middle East or providing markets for poor farmers in Africa, it has become a source of our existence. Papua New Guinea is no exception. The SBAL moratorium could easily be attributed to the campaign activities spearheaded by PNG bloggers and even the corruption that plagues our nation could be traced to the use of financial transactions using various ICT applications. With the introduction of 3G by both carriers, the markets may expect a rise in the use of tablets and smart phones. For those that have these accessories, they would be familiar with the use of apps. From news coverage to telling you where the best restaurant is, they further brought information to us. Maps of all formats are also available, in fact my uncle in the village was so excited he told me he needs an iPad to ,map out his journey. Our major government entities rely on ICT. From the sys

Douveri Henao Information Communication Technologies has revolutionized our way of life. Whether it’s igniting revolutions in the Middle East or providing markets for poor farmers in Africa, it has become a source of our existence. Papua New Guinea is no exception. The SBAL moratorium could easily be attributed to the campaign activities spearheaded by PNG bloggers and even the corruption that plagues our nation could be traced to the use of financial transactions using various ICT applications. With the introduction of 3G by both carriers, the markets may expect a rise in the use of tablets and smart phones. For those that have these accessories, they would be familiar with the use of apps. From news coverage to telling you where the best restaurant is, they further brought information to us. Maps of all formats are also available, in fact my uncle in the village was so excited he told me he needs an iPad to ,map out his journey. Our major government entities rely on ICT. From the

ANDREW MCNEE Basic medicines are essential for an effective health service, yet Papua New Guinea’s health facilities typically go without drugs for half of the year. Why has the situation got so bad and what can be done? In April this year, the PNG Department of Health announced that it has begun a serious effort to confront the dysfunction that has plagued the country’s medical supply system for a decade or more.  Central to this reform are efforts to confront the reported widespread and entrenched corruption in the procurement and distribution of medical supplies in PNG.AusAID is supporting this effort. This is a welcome initiative. Medical supplies are essential to the core infrastructure of an effective health service. Improvements to quality of service through training; supervision; innovation and partnership are almost nonsensical if basic inputs (including medical supplies) are not in place. But reform will not be easy. A new Policy Brief

ANDREW MCNEE Basic medicines are essential for an effective health service, yet Papua New Guinea’s health facilities typically go without drugs for half of the year. Why has the situation got so bad and what can be done? In April this year, the PNG Department of Health announced that it has begun a serious effort to confront the dysfunction that has plagued the country’s medical supply system for a decade or more.  Central to this reform are efforts to confront the reported widespread and entrenched corruption in the procurement and distribution of medical supplies in PNG.AusAID is supporting this effort. This is a welcome initiative. Medical supplies are essential to the core infrastructure of an effective health service. Improvements to quality of service through training; supervision; innovation and partnership are almost nonsensical if basic inputs (including medical supplies) are not in place. But reform will not be easy. A new Policy B

BLOOMBERG  Harmony Gold Mining Co.’s Papua New Guinea mine is shaping up to be the world’s third-richest gold and copper deposit, raising speculation its partner in the venture, Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM) , may make a takeover bid. “I understand they’ve tried to buy it off Harmony and Harmony is obviously not selling it,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about $1.8 billion at Platypus Asset Management Ltd., including shares in Melbourne-based Newcrest. “One option for them is to buy Harmony out completely and then spin out all of the other assets.” The partners are set to give an update as early as July on the potential size of the Wafi-Golpu deposit, which they’ve compared with Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.’s Grasberg mine, site of the world’s largest recoverable reserves of copper and the biggest single gold reserve. Harmony shares rose to the highest in more than two years in April as optimism for the project triggered takeover speculation. “Every major copper compa

BLOOMBERG  Harmony Gold Mining Co.’s Papua New Guinea mine is shaping up to be the world’s third-richest gold and copper deposit, raising speculation its partner in the venture, Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM) , may make a takeover bid. “I understand they’ve tried to buy it off Harmony and Harmony is obviously not selling it,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about $1.8 billion at Platypus Asset Management Ltd., including shares in Melbourne-based Newcrest. “One option for them is to buy Harmony out completely and then spin out all of the other assets.” The partners are set to give an update as early as July on the potential size of the Wafi-Golpu deposit, which they’ve compared with Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.’s Grasberg mine, site of the world’s largest recoverable reserves of copper and the biggest single gold reserve. Harmony shares rose to the highest in more than two years in April as optimism for the project triggered takeover speculation. “Every major copper com

REWARD FOR INFORMATION Please circulate widely through your network and contacts The NASFUND Board is aware of various articles posted on the blog site, PNG BLOGS and now being circulated via e mail which are factually incorrect, malicious in nature and defamatory. The articles are not only a serious attack on the integrity of the NASFUND Board and management it is a mischievous attempt to create confusion and instability amongst the contributors of NASFUND. The author of these articles has used the cloak of anonymity aided by the named website in perpetrating this cowardly and criminal smear campaign. An investigation to establish the identities of the persons involved is ongoing and a reward of K50,000.00 is now offered for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of both the author of the articles and the persons responsible for publishing it on this blog or any general media. All information received shall be treated confidentially and should be forwarded

REWARD FOR INFORMATION Please circulate widely through your network and contacts The NASFUND Board is aware of various articles posted on the blog site, PNG BLOGS and now being circulated via e mail which are factually incorrect, malicious in nature and defamatory. The articles are not only a serious attack on the integrity of the NASFUND Board and management it is a mischievous attempt to create confusion and instability amongst the contributors of NASFUND. The author of these articles has used the cloak of anonymity aided by the named website in perpetrating this cowardly and criminal smear campaign. An investigation to establish the identities of the persons involved is ongoing and a reward of K50,000.00 is now offered for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of both the author of the articles and the persons responsible for publishing it on this blog or any general media. All information received shall be treated confidentially and should be forwa

FIS If the fishing authorities of Papua New Guinea achieve their objective of transforming the island nation into the new global tuna leader in 2013, the 67 canneries in Galicia and their 12,000 employees could be greatly affected. PNG tuna industry expects to produce about 1,330 tonnes of tuna per day over the next two years. Today, this country can sell tuna and its subproducts in the European Union (EU) without tariffs and without meeting certain origin rules, the newspaper La Voz de Galicia reported. Galicia produces 80 per cent of canned tuna from Spain and nearly 70 per cent from the European market. According to the director of the National Fisheries Management Authority of Papua , Sylvester Pokajam, several international companies are building four macroplants in the country. The idea is that together, these plants reach a daily production of 1,330 tonnes of tuna, with 257 working days per year and nearly 20,000 jobs. The manager said that the three tuna processing

FIS If the fishing authorities of Papua New Guinea achieve their objective of transforming the island nation into the new global tuna leader in 2013, the 67 canneries in Galicia and their 12,000 employees could be greatly affected. PNG tuna industry expects to produce about 1,330 tonnes of tuna per day over the next two years. Today, this country can sell tuna and its subproducts in the European Union (EU) without tariffs and without meeting certain origin rules, the newspaper La Voz de Galicia reported. Galicia produces 80 per cent of canned tuna from Spain and nearly 70 per cent from the European market. According to the director of the National Fisheries Management Authority of Papua , Sylvester Pokajam, several international companies are building four macroplants in the country. The idea is that together, these plants reach a daily production of 1,330 tonnes of tuna, with 257 working days per year and nearly 20,000 jobs. The manager said that the three tuna proces

PETER KORUGL When Papua New Guineans were told that the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare went to Singapore for his routine medical check up, no one was alarmed. Sir Michael had done that many times before and had always come back home. No one had expected any worse. Before Sir Michael left Papua New Guinea, he did something that he had never done before for his medical appointments. That is to appoint his Deputy Prime Minister Sam Abal to act in his place while he was away. That decision should have sent the signal that Sir Michael was expecting some bad news. It is apparent that everyone in the Government, his personal staff and his family, did not anticipate that the visit to his doctor would end up the way it did and that Sir Michael would be hospitalised for weeks in the Intensive Care Unit. A few weeks later, at a function to welcome one of Air Niugini’s latest acquisitions, Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal dropped the bombshell. He told a stunned audience that Sir Michael was goin

PETER KORUGL When Papua New Guineans were told that the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare went to Singapore for his routine medical check up, no one was alarmed. Sir Michael had done that many times before and had always come back home. No one had expected any worse. Before Sir Michael left Papua New Guinea, he did something that he had never done before for his medical appointments. That is to appoint his Deputy Prime Minister Sam Abal to act in his place while he was away. That decision should have sent the signal that Sir Michael was expecting some bad news. It is apparent that everyone in the Government, his personal staff and his family, did not anticipate that the visit to his doctor would end up the way it did and that Sir Michael would be hospitalised for weeks in the Intensive Care Unit. A few weeks later, at a function to welcome one of Air Niugini’s latest acquisitions, Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal dropped the bombshell. He told a stunned audience that Sir Michael was g