PNGBLOGS

This week, on Wednesday October 12 (today), sees the Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum convene in Canberra after a break of over two years. And on Wednesday the Prime Ministers of the two countries will meet, for the first time (outside of sideline meetings) also after a break of more than two years.  It is an important set of meetings, and not only because our Prime Ministers and Ministers don’t meet nearly often enough. PNG has recently had a change in government, and although it won’t be long before the country goes to the poll next year, the new O’Neill government does have a unique opportunity to get the country back on track after years of increasingly corrupt and paralyzed government under Somare. One of the mistakes made by the previous PNG government was not to make enough of its relationship with Australia. It’s encouraging to see PNG’s new PM come to press his country’s case. (And we’re looking forward to hear him speak at the ANU Wednesday afternoon). What shou

This week, on Wednesday October 12 (today), sees the Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum convene in Canberra after a break of over two years. And on Wednesday the Prime Ministers of the two countries will meet, for the first time (outside of sideline meetings) also after a break of more than two years.  It is an important set of meetings, and not only because our Prime Ministers and Ministers don’t meet nearly often enough. PNG has recently had a change in government, and although it won’t be long before the country goes to the poll next year, the new O’Neill government does have a unique opportunity to get the country back on track after years of increasingly corrupt and paralyzed government under Somare. One of the mistakes made by the previous PNG government was not to make enough of its relationship with Australia. It’s encouraging to see PNG’s new PM come to press his country’s case. (And we’re looking forward to hear him speak at the ANU Wednesday afternoon). What sh

 PM UNDER PRESSURE TO ACT MRDC published a paid Press Release pertaining to the purchase of HeviLift (formerly Regional Air) in both newspapers on the 04th of October 2011. The same information has been published in the Quarterly News Bulletin published by MRDC. I hereby quote one fundamental statement in the press release which is the subject of this letter “... prior to the investment decision, ‘due diligence’ was conducted in Hevilift Limited to purchase half of the shares of that company...”. The problem with this statement is that it is ‘not true’ and it is a deception posed on the Government and stakeholders to camouflage and put up smokescreen to derail the impending probe recently been ordered by the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill into the alleged mismanagement of landowners’ funds at MRDC. This is media propaganda and a deliberate attempt by MRDC management to divert the attention of the Government and the Prime Minister to derail swift conduct of investigations which has alread

 PM UNDER PRESSURE TO ACT MRDC published a paid Press Release pertaining to the purchase of HeviLift (formerly Regional Air) in both newspapers on the 04th of October 2011. The same information has been published in the Quarterly News Bulletin published by MRDC. I hereby quote one fundamental statement in the press release which is the subject of this letter “... prior to the investment decision, ‘due diligence’ was conducted in Hevilift Limited to purchase half of the shares of that company...”. The problem with this statement is that it is ‘not true’ and it is a deception posed on the Government and stakeholders to camouflage and put up smokescreen to derail the impending probe recently been ordered by the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill into the alleged mismanagement of landowners’ funds at MRDC. This is media propaganda and a deliberate attempt by MRDC management to divert the attention of the Government and the Prime Minister to derail swift conduct of investigations which has al

AUSTRALIA may be sheltering hundreds of millions of black dollars funnelled out of South Pacific countries by corrupt politicians and public officials, with the money laundering being tolerated by a disinterested federal government. Papua New Guinea, in particular, is believed to suffer from the avarice of some of its officials and politicians, with a senior police officer recently claiming the country loses as much as 50 per cent of its budget - about $1.9 billion - through fraud and corruption every year. The claims have been made at a Queensland conference by a governance expert, Jason Sharman. Professor Sharman called on the Australian government to drop its ''nonchalant attitude'' towards the problem, which he said hamstrings regional aid, governance and security policies. ''Recent research on grand corruption has emphasised the importance of following the money trail to determine where corrupt senior officials hide their stolen assets,'' he told th

AUSTRALIA may be sheltering hundreds of millions of black dollars funnelled out of South Pacific countries by corrupt politicians and public officials, with the money laundering being tolerated by a disinterested federal government. Papua New Guinea, in particular, is believed to suffer from the avarice of some of its officials and politicians, with a senior police officer recently claiming the country loses as much as 50 per cent of its budget - about $1.9 billion - through fraud and corruption every year. The claims have been made at a Queensland conference by a governance expert, Jason Sharman. Professor Sharman called on the Australian government to drop its ''nonchalant attitude'' towards the problem, which he said hamstrings regional aid, governance and security policies. ''Recent research on grand corruption has emphasised the importance of following the money trail to determine where corrupt senior officials hide their stolen assets,'' he tol

The Papua New Guinea government has announced a merger of the country's two main airlines, Air Nuigini and and Airlines PNG. These are among the main business and economic developments in PNG this week. Presenter: Geraldine Coutts Speaker: Rod Mitchell, joint CEO of PNG's NASFUND  MITCHELL: Sir Mekere Morauta, who was the former prime minister of PNG is now Minister for State Enterprises and his first, I guess key announcement has been the merger of the two airlines, which is Airlines PNG and Air Nuigini. Air Nuigini is the government airline and Airlines PNG is a private airline, which is listed on the Port Moresby stock exchange. The view there is that a merged entity could provide better service to more outlying regions and also engage in reduction in cost to make a single airline more efficiently and more cost-effective. The problem has been like a lot of duopolies in PNG is that there's a big business and a small business and the small business peters along. The big b

The Papua New Guinea government has announced a merger of the country's two main airlines, Air Nuigini and and Airlines PNG. These are among the main business and economic developments in PNG this week. Presenter: Geraldine Coutts Speaker: Rod Mitchell, joint CEO of PNG's NASFUND  MITCHELL: Sir Mekere Morauta, who was the former prime minister of PNG is now Minister for State Enterprises and his first, I guess key announcement has been the merger of the two airlines, which is Airlines PNG and Air Nuigini. Air Nuigini is the government airline and Airlines PNG is a private airline, which is listed on the Port Moresby stock exchange. The view there is that a merged entity could provide better service to more outlying regions and also engage in reduction in cost to make a single airline more efficiently and more cost-effective. The problem has been like a lot of duopolies in PNG is that there's a big business and a small business and the small business peters along. Th

Since the new government was formed on Aug 2, it has said and done most of the right things. It has won over the people by tacklin­g corruption and going after the corrupt. On the other hand, some recent decisions and political moves have raised a few questions. These are some of the controversial issues. 1. Merger of Air Niugini and Airlines PNG The proposed merger sponsored by Sir Mekere Morauta has not gone down well with the public and rightly so. It is common knowledge that the merger will create a monopoly and eliminate competition, causing the people to pay more for travel. Regardless of how Sir Mekere justifies his actions, the public will not buy it. His privatisation model is only suitable in developed countries with many players in the market where mergers or acquisitions will improve capitalisation, efficiency in service provision and develop a competitive mature market. Unfortunately, this is not the case in PNG as we do not have many players of similar size and capacity.

Since the new government was formed on Aug 2, it has said and done most of the right things. It has won over the people by tacklin­g corruption and going after the corrupt. On the other hand, some recent decisions and political moves have raised a few questions. These are some of the controversial issues. 1. Merger of Air Niugini and Airlines PNG The proposed merger sponsored by Sir Mekere Morauta has not gone down well with the public and rightly so. It is common knowledge that the merger will create a monopoly and eliminate competition, causing the people to pay more for travel. Regardless of how Sir Mekere justifies his actions, the public will not buy it. His privatisation model is only suitable in developed countries with many players in the market where mergers or acquisitions will improve capitalisation, efficiency in service provision and develop a competitive mature market. Unfortunately, this is not the case in PNG as we do not have many players of similar size and capacit

Affordable air travel – domestic and international – has been given as one of the reasons for the proposed merger of the country’s lea­ding airline Air Niugini with the nationally-owned Airlines PNG. Public Enterprises Minister and chairman of the Merger Implementation Committee Sir Mekere Morauta has followed his agenda of strengthening state and locally-owned companies by announcing last month that the government had endorsed an “in-principle” de­cision to combine the country’s flagship carrier with an airline company that only several years ago had offered shares in its business to the public. Sir Mekere’s rationale is mostly geared toward cost-saving measures which he stated clearly in a full page advertisement taken out in The National yesterday. Ma­king the air travel relatively inexpensive and spreading the service out to more destinations is a key point in the government’s plan. Not surprisingly, however, there have been concerns raised by Public Employees Association president

Affordable air travel – domestic and international – has been given as one of the reasons for the proposed merger of the country’s lea­ding airline Air Niugini with the nationally-owned Airlines PNG. Public Enterprises Minister and chairman of the Merger Implementation Committee Sir Mekere Morauta has followed his agenda of strengthening state and locally-owned companies by announcing last month that the government had endorsed an “in-principle” de­cision to combine the country’s flagship carrier with an airline company that only several years ago had offered shares in its business to the public. Sir Mekere’s rationale is mostly geared toward cost-saving measures which he stated clearly in a full page advertisement taken out in The National yesterday. Ma­king the air travel relatively inexpensive and spreading the service out to more destinations is a key point in the government’s plan. Not surprisingly, however, there have been concerns raised by Public Employees Association presid

DUMPED  IT is official. Royal Dutch Shell Plc is the government’s preferred operator for the InterOil discovered Elk and Antelope gas fields in Gulf. This was categorically stated yesterday following recent exchanges in the media between InterOil and Petroleum Minister William Duma over the size of the second LNG project, its location and who should develop it. InterOil was pursuing a small-scale fragmented pro­ject as opposed to its original agreement with the state for a large LNG plant to be developed by an internationally recognised operator. Acting Petroleum and Energy secretary Rendle Rimua said in a statement that Shell was in a strategic partnership with the state-owned Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd “and is the state’s preferred operator”. He said a National Executive Council submission acknowledged that “Shell is a strategic partner with the state’s nominee, Petromin”. WELCOME Rimua said his minister, Duma, had taken this position which had been endorsed by the NEC and “

DUMPED  IT is official. Royal Dutch Shell Plc is the government’s preferred operator for the InterOil discovered Elk and Antelope gas fields in Gulf. This was categorically stated yesterday following recent exchanges in the media between InterOil and Petroleum Minister William Duma over the size of the second LNG project, its location and who should develop it. InterOil was pursuing a small-scale fragmented pro­ject as opposed to its original agreement with the state for a large LNG plant to be developed by an internationally recognised operator. Acting Petroleum and Energy secretary Rendle Rimua said in a statement that Shell was in a strategic partnership with the state-owned Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd “and is the state’s preferred operator”. He said a National Executive Council submission acknowledged that “Shell is a strategic partner with the state’s nominee, Petromin”. WELCOME Rimua said his minister, Duma, had taken this position which had been endorsed by th

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill told the United Nations General Assembly that PNG is still endeavouring to achieve the eight-point Global Millennium Development Goals. On some fronts it has done well but in other areas it has fallen behind. The important issue is that the MDG is now firmly on the national agenda and that is something that was not there three years ago. But can the goals be really achieved? That question can be answered only in how the government tackles the fundamental goal of the MDG, which is poverty reduction. The principle goal of the MDG is to half or rid the globe of poverty by 2015, now a mere four years away. Is PNG rich or is it poor? Or is it both rich and poor? Are Papua New Guineans poverty stricken in the way of those in sub-Saha­ran countries or parts of Asia? Poverty is not merely the lack of food but a collection of many factors. One definition might be the lack of that which is essential for the wholesome growth and well-being of the human person or of a

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill told the United Nations General Assembly that PNG is still endeavouring to achieve the eight-point Global Millennium Development Goals. On some fronts it has done well but in other areas it has fallen behind. The important issue is that the MDG is now firmly on the national agenda and that is something that was not there three years ago. But can the goals be really achieved? That question can be answered only in how the government tackles the fundamental goal of the MDG, which is poverty reduction. The principle goal of the MDG is to half or rid the globe of poverty by 2015, now a mere four years away. Is PNG rich or is it poor? Or is it both rich and poor? Are Papua New Guineans poverty stricken in the way of those in sub-Saha­ran countries or parts of Asia? Poverty is not merely the lack of food but a collection of many factors. One definition might be the lack of that which is essential for the wholesome growth and well-being of the human person or

Exxon-Mobil, developer of Papua New Guinea’s giant $18 billion Liquified Natural Gas project is looking to manage the project’s social and environmental image by sucking in PNG’s notoriously weak and gullible NGO sector with meaningless dialogue and the promise of future cash. Exxon’s strategy to nullify possible opposition and criticism through engagement with civil society organisations has previously been successfully used  in PNG by organisations like Chevron (working primarily with WWF) , by Placer Dome at its controversial Porgera mine (where they established a formal NGO committee) and by the World Bank. From:   steven.j.whisker@exxonmobil.com  [ mailto:steven.j.whisker@exxonmobil.com ] Sent:  29 September 2011 12:58 To:   steven.j.whisker@exxonmobil.com Cc:   ruben.medrano@exxonmobil.com Subject:  EHL Biodiversity Strategy: Multi Stakeholder Meeting Further to meetings held with you earlier in the year, EHL is progressing with the development of its Biodiversity Of

Exxon-Mobil, developer of Papua New Guinea’s giant $18 billion Liquified Natural Gas project is looking to manage the project’s social and environmental image by sucking in PNG’s notoriously weak and gullible NGO sector with meaningless dialogue and the promise of future cash. Exxon’s strategy to nullify possible opposition and criticism through engagement with civil society organisations has previously been successfully used  in PNG by organisations like Chevron (working primarily with WWF) , by Placer Dome at its controversial Porgera mine (where they established a formal NGO committee) and by the World Bank. From:   steven.j.whisker@exxonmobil.com  [ mailto:steven.j.whisker@exxonmobil.com ] Sent:  29 September 2011 12:58 To:   steven.j.whisker@exxonmobil.com Cc:   ruben.medrano@exxonmobil.com Subject:  EHL Biodiversity Strategy: Multi Stakeholder Meeting Further to meetings held with you earlier in the year, EHL is progressing with the development of its Biodivers