PNGBLOGS

PNGBLOGS The Opposition has called on Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal to be a man, a national leader, and tell the nation how and when the issue of a permanent Prime Minister is going to be resolved. Deputy Leader of Opposition and Member for Bulolo Sam Basil raised the issue on what is the five days after the anniversary of the 7th month since Mr Abal was first appointed on December 13, 2010 as Acting Prime Minister. “When are the two medical officers going to be appointed and announced? When are they going to do their job? Parliament will be sitting on August 2, 2011. Will the report be ready then?” Mr Basil asked. “You owe this to the nation, Mr Abal and to your late father Sir Tei Abal, to rise up now and show that you are your own man, a chip of the old bloc,” Mr Basil said. The Opposition’s call follows the announcement of the National Executive Council chaired by Mr Abal announcing the activation of the Constitutional provision to determine the fitness or otherwise of Sir Michael

PNGBLOGS The Opposition has called on Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal to be a man, a national leader, and tell the nation how and when the issue of a permanent Prime Minister is going to be resolved. Deputy Leader of Opposition and Member for Bulolo Sam Basil raised the issue on what is the five days after the anniversary of the 7th month since Mr Abal was first appointed on December 13, 2010 as Acting Prime Minister. “When are the two medical officers going to be appointed and announced? When are they going to do their job? Parliament will be sitting on August 2, 2011. Will the report be ready then?” Mr Basil asked. “You owe this to the nation, Mr Abal and to your late father Sir Tei Abal, to rise up now and show that you are your own man, a chip of the old bloc,” Mr Basil said. The Opposition’s call follows the announcement of the National Executive Council chaired by Mr Abal announcing the activation of the Constitutional provision to determine the fitness or otherwise of Sir Mic

DAVID FEDELE West Papuan Refugees in Papua New Guinea Last week on this website we featured a documentary by Australian Filmmaker David Fedele, He have been working on another project while filming Bikpela Bagarap in PNG. There is evidence of major mistreatment of West Papuan refugees by Papua New Guinea, a country where they have sought refugee. The footage shows evidence of refugee camps in Papua New Guinea being burnt down and footage of women and children crying in hysterics on their return after hiding in the jungle. This is clear evidence of contravention of the UN Charter for Refugees and Human Rights by a UN member state. To give some background, Special Operation Sunset Merona (led by the Papua New Guinea police and army) burnt down villages/camps of West Papuan Refugeess in and around Vanimo, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea in January 2011. Most of these refugees had residency papers and had been legally in Papua New Guinea for many years. (they had fled persecution in Wes

DAVID FEDELE West Papuan Refugees in Papua New Guinea Last week on this website we featured a documentary by Australian Filmmaker David Fedele, He have been working on another project while filming Bikpela Bagarap in PNG. There is evidence of major mistreatment of West Papuan refugees by Papua New Guinea, a country where they have sought refugee. The footage shows evidence of refugee camps in Papua New Guinea being burnt down and footage of women and children crying in hysterics on their return after hiding in the jungle. This is clear evidence of contravention of the UN Charter for Refugees and Human Rights by a UN member state. To give some background, Special Operation Sunset Merona (led by the Papua New Guinea police and army) burnt down villages/camps of West Papuan Refugeess in and around Vanimo, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea in January 2011. Most of these refugees had residency papers and had been legally in Papua New Guinea for many years. (they had fled persecution

CLAIMS that Rio Tinto funded the civil war and fostered atrocities on Bougainville are being resurrected as a hurdle to the reopening there of the copper mine, whose proven reserves are worth at least $50 billion.    Today the opposition to the mine is strongest overseas, especially among Australia's trade unions and non-government organisations. The Australian Greens have also joined the attacks. This is happening just as the reopening, after a full renegotiation of the terms, is winning overwhelming support on impoverished Bougainville; more than 97 per cent support it, according to Bougainville president John Momis. The day after SBS One's Dateline program about Bougainville was broadcast on June 26, the Bougainville Copper Ltd share price slumped 18 per cent. German investor Axel Sturm, possibly the company's largest individual shareholder, said "confidence in BCL, which is equated with confidence in Bougainville and its people, has been seve

CLAIMS that Rio Tinto funded the civil war and fostered atrocities on Bougainville are being resurrected as a hurdle to the reopening there of the copper mine, whose proven reserves are worth at least $50 billion.    Today the opposition to the mine is strongest overseas, especially among Australia's trade unions and non-government organisations. The Australian Greens have also joined the attacks. This is happening just as the reopening, after a full renegotiation of the terms, is winning overwhelming support on impoverished Bougainville; more than 97 per cent support it, according to Bougainville president John Momis. The day after SBS One's Dateline program about Bougainville was broadcast on June 26, the Bougainville Copper Ltd share price slumped 18 per cent. German investor Axel Sturm, possibly the company's largest individual shareholder, said "confidence in BCL, which is equated with confidence in Bougainville and its people, has been sev

PHIL TAYLOR A small sampling study of anti-infective medicines in Papua New Guinea has found that 100 per cent of the drugs tested failed to meet quality control or authenticity testing. The findings provide further evidence of the scale of the counterfeit and substandard drug problem in "lower income countries where product information and drug regulation enforcement are scant or absent," according to the researchers from Goethe University in Germany. The study examined 14 samples of an antibiotic (amoxicillin) and antimalarial (amiodaquone) purchased from five registered pharmacies in Port Moresby, the country's capital. None of the 14 samples met the testing criteria, which focused on visual inspection, quality control tests, and verification of product authenticity. "Two products, one of which was purportedly distributed by a company which proved to be nonexistent, contained no detectable amodiaquine," note the authors of the study, which ran on the Journa

PHIL TAYLOR A small sampling study of anti-infective medicines in Papua New Guinea has found that 100 per cent of the drugs tested failed to meet quality control or authenticity testing. The findings provide further evidence of the scale of the counterfeit and substandard drug problem in "lower income countries where product information and drug regulation enforcement are scant or absent," according to the researchers from Goethe University in Germany. The study examined 14 samples of an antibiotic (amoxicillin) and antimalarial (amiodaquone) purchased from five registered pharmacies in Port Moresby, the country's capital. None of the 14 samples met the testing criteria, which focused on visual inspection, quality control tests, and verification of product authenticity. "Two products, one of which was purportedly distributed by a company which proved to be nonexistent, contained no detectable amodiaquine," note the authors of the study, which ran on the J

PNGBLOGS Morobe Mining Joint Venture and the Government’s Department of Environment and Conservation came under intense fire today over the environmental approval process and suspicions of waste disposal into the Watut River System. Bulolo MP Sam Basil had both the company and DEC in his sights as he unleashed a scanting attack beginning with the delay in responding to the people’s petition which took 22 months, the approval of a seemingly flawed Environmental Management Plan as well as questionable practice in monitoring assessing key environmental indicators. Drawing from the SMEC Report commissioned by DEC after the September 2009 people’s petition to carry out an Independent Environmental Performance Audit of Hidden Valley Gold Mine, Mr Basil said: “It took the entire 2010 for DEC to work with MMJV to get their act together before this face-to-face meeting with the people. “I believe DEC would not have responded to the issues or formed the Expert Committee if there was no petition