PNGBLOGS

The government of Papua New Guinea has failed in a bid to stop the chief justice of the Supreme Court from presiding over case challenging the election of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. Mr O'Neill's lawyers had filed a motion asking the Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia to remove himself from hearing the case, because his son, Terry Injia, worked for a law firm employed by the opposition. But Sir Salamo ruled on Wednesday there would be no conflict of interest after lawyers for former acting prime minister Sam Abal announced they had dropped Terry Injia's law firm, Steeles Lawyers, earlier in the day. "He is no longer involved in this case," Sir Salamo said, handing down his decision to a packed court room in Port Moresby. "My son has not appeared in these proceedings heard before me and he has not appeared today. "It was clear this morning that the firm has now withdrawn from the case." It was noted that Mr Injia had filed briefs for his firm, but

The government of Papua New Guinea has failed in a bid to stop the chief justice of the Supreme Court from presiding over case challenging the election of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. Mr O'Neill's lawyers had filed a motion asking the Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia to remove himself from hearing the case, because his son, Terry Injia, worked for a law firm employed by the opposition. But Sir Salamo ruled on Wednesday there would be no conflict of interest after lawyers for former acting prime minister Sam Abal announced they had dropped Terry Injia's law firm, Steeles Lawyers, earlier in the day. "He is no longer involved in this case," Sir Salamo said, handing down his decision to a packed court room in Port Moresby. "My son has not appeared in these proceedings heard before me and he has not appeared today. "It was clear this morning that the firm has now withdrawn from the case." It was noted that Mr Injia had filed briefs for his firm

PAPUA New Guinea's founding father, Michael Somare, has left the Raffles hospital in Singapore, 4 1/2months after a series of operations for his heart condition. Aged 75, he emerged no longer prime minister or leader of the National Alliance, the biggest party in parliament. His son Arthur, who is also a parliamentarian, told AAP: "He's in good health and he'll be in Singapore a little while longer, quite simply to ensure he's in close proximity to the hospital." The National newspaper in PNG published an undated photo released by the Somare family of Sir Michael and Arthur Somare, taken at the hospital. The younger Somare told a court in Port Moresby on Monday that he supervised the service to his father, last Friday afternoon, of court papers to facilitate a legal challenge filed by the executive council of East Sepik province, which Sir Michael has represented in parliament for 43 years. The council is challenging the legitimacy of the parliamentary electio

PAPUA New Guinea's founding father, Michael Somare, has left the Raffles hospital in Singapore, 4 1/2months after a series of operations for his heart condition. Aged 75, he emerged no longer prime minister or leader of the National Alliance, the biggest party in parliament. His son Arthur, who is also a parliamentarian, told AAP: "He's in good health and he'll be in Singapore a little while longer, quite simply to ensure he's in close proximity to the hospital." The National newspaper in PNG published an undated photo released by the Somare family of Sir Michael and Arthur Somare, taken at the hospital. The younger Somare told a court in Port Moresby on Monday that he supervised the service to his father, last Friday afternoon, of court papers to facilitate a legal challenge filed by the executive council of East Sepik province, which Sir Michael has represented in parliament for 43 years. The council is challenging the legitimacy of the parliamenta

Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court has cleared the way for initial operations to begin next month at the $US1.5 billion ($A1.44 billion) Ramu Nickel project, a shareholder said in a statement. The Chinese majority-owned nickel and cobalt project, located about 75 kilometres west of the northern city of Madang, has faced 18 months of delays on environmental concerns. Australia-based minority shareholder Highlands Pacific Ltd said the Supreme Court had rejected an application for an injunction that would have stopped the project using a system of deep sea placement of tailings from the mine with a pipeline. It followed a similar ruling by the National Court of Madang on July 26. Highlands holds 8.56 per cent of the project. Metallurgical Corp of China leads a Chinese syndicate which holds 85 per cent. The rest of the project is held by the Papua New Guinea government. Ramu "will commence ore commissioning activities at the Basamuk treatment plant in September," managing direc

Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court has cleared the way for initial operations to begin next month at the $US1.5 billion ($A1.44 billion) Ramu Nickel project, a shareholder said in a statement. The Chinese majority-owned nickel and cobalt project, located about 75 kilometres west of the northern city of Madang, has faced 18 months of delays on environmental concerns. Australia-based minority shareholder Highlands Pacific Ltd said the Supreme Court had rejected an application for an injunction that would have stopped the project using a system of deep sea placement of tailings from the mine with a pipeline. It followed a similar ruling by the National Court of Madang on July 26. Highlands holds 8.56 per cent of the project. Metallurgical Corp of China leads a Chinese syndicate which holds 85 per cent. The rest of the project is held by the Papua New Guinea government. Ramu "will commence ore commissioning activities at the Basamuk treatment plant in September," managing

National Capital District Governor, Powes Parkop, has been accused of gross financial mismanagement in an internal audit report. READ THE REPORT HERE The audit report presents prima facie evidence that Parkop, City Manager, Leslie Alu and the Executive Management Committee have all acted beyond their powers in approving substantial payments to named individuals and companies without following proper processes. Parkop is also accused of breaching the Public Finance Management Act, the NCDC Act and the Organic Law on the Leadership Code. One prominent beneficiary of the Governor’s largess has been Justin Tkatchenko, a political ally of the Governor and the fundraising Chairman for the Governors Peoples Social Democratic Front Party. Payments made to Tkatchenko companies in 2010 totaled over K3 million for work on the NCDC Mini Park, Water Fountain, Waterslide and Zoo and Animal Farm. No quotation were provided for any of these works and there was no tender advertised or accepted, says t