PNGBLOGS

Landowners in Papua New Guinea's Hela province have threatened to step up their protest against the liquified natural gas developer, Esso Highlands. Work at the site has been stopped in recent weeks, after the landowners allegedly threatened staff. They want more compensation for the use of their land, saying the project will remain closed unless their demands are met. A former MP and spokesman for the landowners, Sir Alred Kaiabe, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat that workers have been taken advantage of. "It will definitely get worse. Far worse than the Bougainville crisis. We are Highlanders and we are known for fighting. "Fighting is a way of life and we will fight to the day to protect what is theirs if they have been cheated." he said Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has called a special cabinet meeting today to discuss the crisis Sir Alred is advocating a renegotiated settlement to the dispute. Now the government and develop

Landowners in Papua New Guinea's Hela province have threatened to step up their protest against the liquified natural gas developer, Esso Highlands. Work at the site has been stopped in recent weeks, after the landowners allegedly threatened staff. They want more compensation for the use of their land, saying the project will remain closed unless their demands are met. A former MP and spokesman for the landowners, Sir Alred Kaiabe, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat that workers have been taken advantage of. "It will definitely get worse. Far worse than the Bougainville crisis. We are Highlanders and we are known for fighting. "Fighting is a way of life and we will fight to the day to protect what is theirs if they have been cheated." he said Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has called a special cabinet meeting today to discuss the crisis Sir Alred is advocating a renegotiated settlement to the dispute. Now the government and develop

Philip Kikala's son voiced what must now be on every Engan’s mind: There have been too many 'coincidences' as of late. Many Engans,especially the ones in some sort of important or influential position -are getting kicked in the rear end from this fraudulent 'government' .  Engans are of course known for their bad habit of dishing back double measure. They may be divided at the best of times but they do unite quickly when they need to. Engans do not rollover easily for anyone. But Engans also have much to lose too if they engage with adversity front on. Engans need to remember that for the longer term Enga is miles ahead in its educated manpower reserves, thanks to the foresight of Peter Ipatas. Engans will therefore always feature prominently in the National narrative. Engan or not, Sir Salamo is the best man on guard in PNG now. He and all our good judges will not allow the Rule of Law to disintegrate during their watch.  It is not surprising therefore that two cr

Philip Kikala's son voiced what must now be on every Engan’s mind: There have been too many 'coincidences' as of late. Many Engans,especially the ones in some sort of important or influential position -are getting kicked in the rear end from this fraudulent 'government' .  Engans are of course known for their bad habit of dishing back double measure. They may be divided at the best of times but they do unite quickly when they need to. Engans do not rollover easily for anyone. But Engans also have much to lose too if they engage with adversity front on. Engans need to remember that for the longer term Enga is miles ahead in its educated manpower reserves, thanks to the foresight of Peter Ipatas. Engans will therefore always feature prominently in the National narrative. Engan or not, Sir Salamo is the best man on guard in PNG now. He and all our good judges will not allow the Rule of Law to disintegrate during their watch.  It is not surprising there

PAPUA New Guinea's prime minister will address the nation tomorrow to explain a law giving him controversial new powers.    The government of Peter O'Neill has passed new laws giving it the power to suspend judges, prompting thousands of demonstrators to take to the streets in Port Moresby. The demonstrators converged on the entrance to the University of Papua New Guinea before marching to the rear of government offices to hand the prime minister a petition against the Judicial Conduct Act 2012, which passed parliament on Wednesday. The protesters initially demanded to meet with Mr O'Neill or his deputy Belden Namah, but were instead met behind the government offices by Manasupe Zurenuoc, chief secretary of government. "Tune in to your radios and (TV) stations at 7 o'clock Sunday. The Prime Minister Peter O'Neill will address the country on the issues that you are raising, the issue of the judicial conduct bill," he told the crowd. &quo

PAPUA New Guinea's prime minister will address the nation tomorrow to explain a law giving him controversial new powers.    The government of Peter O'Neill has passed new laws giving it the power to suspend judges, prompting thousands of demonstrators to take to the streets in Port Moresby. The demonstrators converged on the entrance to the University of Papua New Guinea before marching to the rear of government offices to hand the prime minister a petition against the Judicial Conduct Act 2012, which passed parliament on Wednesday. The protesters initially demanded to meet with Mr O'Neill or his deputy Belden Namah, but were instead met behind the government offices by Manasupe Zurenuoc, chief secretary of government. "Tune in to your radios and (TV) stations at 7 o'clock Sunday. The Prime Minister Peter O'Neill will address the country on the issues that you are raising, the issue of the judicial conduct bill," he told the cr

UPNG BOYCOTTS IN PROTEST OVER BILL Students at the University of Papua New Guinea boycotted classes today in protest over Parliament's passage of the controversial Judicial Conduct Bill. And there's still uncertainty whether the boycotting will continue. ... In a statement, the Student Representative Council President Emmanuel Issac labelled the new law as dictatorial, that will interfere with the Constitutional functions of the Judiciary. The student council has put together a petition, consisting more than one-hundred points, for Parliament to rescind its decision. Copies of the petition will be presented to Speaker Jeffery Nape, and Parliament-elect Prime Minister Peter O'Neil by the Student Representative Council, while other copies will be given to the 109 members of Parliament. A Review of the Judicial Conduct Bill 2012 We, the students of the University of Papua New Guinea have met today in light of the actions of our National Parliament in regard to the passing of t

UPNG BOYCOTTS IN PROTEST OVER BILL Students at the University of Papua New Guinea boycotted classes today in protest over Parliament's passage of the controversial Judicial Conduct Bill. And there's still uncertainty whether the boycotting will continue. ... In a statement, the Student Representative Council President Emmanuel Issac labelled the new law as dictatorial, that will interfere with the Constitutional functions of the Judiciary. The student council has put together a petition, consisting more than one-hundred points, for Parliament to rescind its decision. Copies of the petition will be presented to Speaker Jeffery Nape, and Parliament-elect Prime Minister Peter O'Neil by the Student Representative Council, while other copies will be given to the 109 members of Parliament. A Review of the Judicial Conduct Bill 2012 We, the students of the University of Papua New Guinea have met today in light of the actions of our National Parliament in regard to

By Susan Merrell Belden Namah "I was a business man before I was an MP," Belden Namah, Deputy Prime Minister of PNG has often stated.   "I'm in the multi-billion dollar logging business." And so he is.   He's also an investor in luxury overseas properties, a big gambler and owns other unrelated overseas businesses and flies in private aircrafts. If all of those things, spoken in the same sentence, don't ring any alarm bells…they ought to. Logging The World Bank, this week, released a press statement about illegal logging and its proceeds. It states that in some countries up to 90% of logging is illegal. Some logging, though, is legal and is just another innocuous business enterprise, isn't it? Well… not really. It's been 25 years since there was a Commission of Inquiry into logging in PNG - the conclusions were damning and there's no evidence anything has changed.   Carried out by Justice Thomas Barnett, the report found that the industry wa