PNGBLOGS

WITH the historical wedding last Saturday in Port Moresby, a man who claimed to be the husband of the bride had claimed she ran off without sorting her legal divorce requirements. Martin Wale claimed he is the husband of Esmie Ereoli, the house-keeping maid who married the Governor General of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Sir Michael Ogio in Port Moresby. The wedding was the first ever state wedding in the history of PNG. But Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli left without sorting out their legal requirements which he felt was not right. Mr Wale said he met Ms Ereoli when he travelled to South Malaita in 2007. He said they started dating until he decided to take Ms Ereoli with her to Honiara. Therefore, as a way of tradition Mr Wale said he paid some money to Ms Ereoli’s brothers to marry her. Although, they were never legally married, Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli was his wife living under the same roof since 2007 until she moved out in January 2010. “We never argued or had a disagreement over anyt

WITH the historical wedding last Saturday in Port Moresby, a man who claimed to be the husband of the bride had claimed she ran off without sorting her legal divorce requirements. Martin Wale claimed he is the husband of Esmie Ereoli, the house-keeping maid who married the Governor General of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Sir Michael Ogio in Port Moresby. The wedding was the first ever state wedding in the history of PNG. But Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli left without sorting out their legal requirements which he felt was not right. Mr Wale said he met Ms Ereoli when he travelled to South Malaita in 2007. He said they started dating until he decided to take Ms Ereoli with her to Honiara. Therefore, as a way of tradition Mr Wale said he paid some money to Ms Ereoli’s brothers to marry her. Although, they were never legally married, Mr Wale claimed Ms Ereoli was his wife living under the same roof since 2007 until she moved out in January 2010. “We never argued or had a disagr

Dilung Gama and her daughter Martina    sit on bed in a small maternity ward   at the  Saidor Health Center.      Martina  who suffers from epilepsy,    gave birth near  their village  a few days ago.     The  child has been given away for adoption and Dilung  - who appears to be in her 60s  - says  they  did that because Martina has too many children.   She doesn’t say how many  children her daughter has   but she points to a boy behind her  and says: “That’s one of them.”              Like many other parts of Papua New Guinea,  stories about the  plight of women and children    is all too common.    We’ve become desensitized  to  images and stories that would cause panic and alarm  in other countries.               Martina is one of the lucky few  who have made it to a health center.   Her village was beside a road and  she was fortunate  that her relatives brought her to  Saidor in time.  Many others aren’t so fortunate.             “…For instance,  we get a  radio message that says

Dilung Gama and her daughter Martina    sit on bed in a small maternity ward   at the  Saidor Health Center.      Martina  who suffers from epilepsy,    gave birth near  their village  a few days ago.     The  child has been given away for adoption and Dilung  - who appears to be in her 60s  - says  they  did that because Martina has too many children.   She doesn’t say how many  children her daughter has   but she points to a boy behind her  and says: “That’s one of them.”              Like many other parts of Papua New Guinea,  stories about the  plight of women and children    is all too common.    We’ve become desensitized  to  images and stories that would cause panic and alarm  in other countries.               Martina is one of the lucky few  who have made it to a health center.   Her village was beside a road and  she was fortunate  that her relatives brought her to  Saidor in time.  Many others aren’t so fortunate.             “…For instance,  we get a  radio message that say

Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau must be thoroughly sick and fed up with the courts in Papua New Guinea because they keep losing legal cases. Yesterday’s ruling in the National Court, dismissing Rimbunan Hijau’s application to strike out proceedings brought by a local non government organisation, was just the latest in a long series of court decisions against the company dating back over the last decade. Rimbunan Hijau consistently denies its logging operations in PNG are illegal and unsustainable and employs a number of highly paid consultants and lobbyists to argue in its defence in the media and an international team of lawyers to argue its case in court. Yet court decisions suggests the allegations of illegal logging are true as are the claims of serious human rights abuses, of which more emerged last week with Rimbunan Hijau accused of flying police into its logging camps to quell protests by traditional landowners over illegal logging in their forests [1]. In 2

Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau must be thoroughly sick and fed up with the courts in Papua New Guinea because they keep losing legal cases. Yesterday’s ruling in the National Court, dismissing Rimbunan Hijau’s application to strike out proceedings brought by a local non government organisation, was just the latest in a long series of court decisions against the company dating back over the last decade. Rimbunan Hijau consistently denies its logging operations in PNG are illegal and unsustainable and employs a number of highly paid consultants and lobbyists to argue in its defence in the media and an international team of lawyers to argue its case in court. Yet court decisions suggests the allegations of illegal logging are true as are the claims of serious human rights abuses, of which more emerged last week with Rimbunan Hijau accused of flying police into its logging camps to quell protests by traditional landowners over illegal logging in their forests [1].

More Australian police could be sent to Papua New Guinea, under a plan to boost the country's underfunded and undisciplined police force. Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, told reporters in Port Moresby on Friday PNG had raised the issue of policing during last week's ministerial forum between the two nation's in Canberra last week. Australia currently has 14 Australian Federal Police (AFP) members in PNG working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in a mentoring and support role, as well as one AFP liaison at the High Commission. "The sense of the need to have more police on the ground, more federal police, is certainly an issue that was raised on the PNG side, and it's certainly one we take very seriously and we're keen to assist," Mr Marles said. "We have undertaken with the government here to have a very short review into the needs of policing, which we will have a response to." "But no

More Australian police could be sent to Papua New Guinea, under a plan to boost the country's underfunded and undisciplined police force. Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, told reporters in Port Moresby on Friday PNG had raised the issue of policing during last week's ministerial forum between the two nation's in Canberra last week. Australia currently has 14 Australian Federal Police (AFP) members in PNG working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in a mentoring and support role, as well as one AFP liaison at the High Commission. "The sense of the need to have more police on the ground, more federal police, is certainly an issue that was raised on the PNG side, and it's certainly one we take very seriously and we're keen to assist," Mr Marles said. "We have undertaken with the government here to have a very short review into the needs of policing, which we will have a response to." &q

The Indonesian military and police opened fire late yesterday on a gathering of West Papuan leaders. At least one person is believed to have been killed and hundreds have fled the capital The Indonesian military and police started shooting at around 2:37pm West Papua time, yesterday 19 October. Information about what exactly transpired are still sketchy but at least one person was shot (believed dead), scores have been arrested, hundreds have fled to the hills and jungle surrounding the capital, and the capital is in a state of lockdown.    A Papuan priest who was fleeing the shooting contacted New Matilda to report that an army truck passed him carrying Papuan participants who had been present at the Third Papua Congress. According to the witness they were "covered with blood" and had been "beaten and shot". The violence erupted at the conclusion of the Third Papuan Congress, a three-day gathering held at the Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) in Abepura, du