PNGBLOGS

Sports and Special Events Minister Justin Tkatchenko is not a fit and proper person to be an MP, let alone a government Minister, given his history of unanswered fraud allegations. Parliament’s own Accounts Committee and special investigations at the National Capital District have both thrown up detailed allegations of corruption while one criminal prosecution against Tkatchenko was dropped in circumstances questioned by the National Court. In 2010 it was alleged Tkatchenko received over K3 million in payments from the National Capital District through his landscaping companies Kitoro No.33 and PNG Gardner. It is claimed these payments, were authorised by NCDC Governor Powes Parkop in breach of the Public Finance Management Act, the NCDC Act and the Organic Law on the Leadership Code. The payments, which were made for work on the NCDC Mini Park, Water Fountain, Waterslide and Zoo and Animal Farm, were made with no quotations provided and no public tendering process – brea

Sports and Special Events Minister Justin Tkatchenko is not a fit and proper person to be an MP, let alone a government Minister, given his history of unanswered fraud allegations. Parliament’s own Accounts Committee and special investigations at the National Capital District have both thrown up detailed allegations of corruption while one criminal prosecution against Tkatchenko was dropped in circumstances questioned by the National Court. In 2010 it was alleged Tkatchenko received over K3 million in payments from the National Capital District through his landscaping companies Kitoro No.33 and PNG Gardner. It is claimed these payments, were authorised by NCDC Governor Powes Parkop in breach of the Public Finance Management Act, the NCDC Act and the Organic Law on the Leadership Code. The payments, which were made for work on the NCDC Mini Park, Water Fountain, Waterslide and Zoo and Animal Farm, were made with no quotations provided and no public tendering proces

By GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA MP My grandmother had a dream to own a turkey. She had seen one of these feathered creatures in a book of animals my mother had bought me. When my uncle who was an agriculturalist, came around to visit, she asked him whether such creatures were sold in Papua New Guinea. He said they would be sold in due time when the Department of Agriculture was promoting poultry farming. She was so pleased with him and said she would place an order now and would start saving up. Every so often when I was flipping through the pages of my book as she baked, she would insist that I show her the page with the turkey. “I want to own a few turkeys.” she would say with a wistful smile. “Can you imagine them in our farm?” And off we would go telling outrageous stories of a farm full of turkeys and goats and horses and cattle in Kokoda strolling among the cocoa and coffee trees as she baked her scones to sell at the Kokoda Station market the next day. That was her simple dream. Sadly, s

THE case of fugitive Indonesian businessman Djoko Tjandra gaining Papua New Guinea citizenship to escape the clutches of the law serves to reinforce the view that we condone people with questionable motives and pasts. The impression given by this episode is that we are willing to bend our principles to suit our own ends despite how it may appear. On the one hand we have a person fleeing alleged persecution by the justice system of his own country so we agree to protect him using the immunity of citizenship. And, on the other hand, we must remember that this person is wanted by Interpol and Indonesian authorities for the embezzlement of millions in bank funds. We must ask the question: Is it wise, or worth our while, to embroil ourselves in a course of action that could cause friction in the cordial bilateral relationship enjoyed by Papua New Guinea and Indonesia? We should hope not. If we are to go out on a limb for an individual or a cause, doesn’t the plight of the indigen

THE case of fugitive Indonesian businessman Djoko Tjandra gaining Papua New Guinea citizenship to escape the clutches of the law serves to reinforce the view that we condone people with questionable motives and pasts. The impression given by this episode is that we are willing to bend our principles to suit our own ends despite how it may appear. On the one hand we have a person fleeing alleged persecution by the justice system of his own country so we agree to protect him using the immunity of citizenship. And, on the other hand, we must remember that this person is wanted by Interpol and Indonesian authorities for the embezzlement of millions in bank funds. We must ask the question: Is it wise, or worth our while, to embroil ourselves in a course of action that could cause friction in the cordial bilateral relationship enjoyed by Papua New Guinea and Indonesia? We should hope not. If we are to go out on a limb for an individual or a cause, doesn’t the plight of

WHEN Prince Charles visited Papua New Guinea half a century ago, he was on a student exchange spent eating yams and bananas in the dorm with local school boys. Yesterday,  his welcome back to the island nation was filled with more pomp and ceremony; a 21-gun salute, thousands of well-wishers, and flower garlands presented by women in tribal dress. Anticipation for the visit, which is part of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, had been building in impoverished PNG, with the Post-Courier newspaper on Friday declaring: "Welcome to Papua New Guinea, Your Royal Highnesses Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla!" The paper said the visit would be like a "home-coming" for Charles who first travelled to PNG in the 1960s when he was an exchange student in Australia and stayed at the Martyrs' Memorial Anglican School for boys in Northern Province. "The Prince did not stay with the school principal," it said. "He stayed with the boys at Sefoa Ga

WHEN Prince Charles visited Papua New Guinea half a century ago, he was on a student exchange spent eating yams and bananas in the dorm with local school boys. Yesterday,  his welcome back to the island nation was filled with more pomp and ceremony; a 21-gun salute, thousands of well-wishers, and flower garlands presented by women in tribal dress. Anticipation for the visit, which is part of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, had been building in impoverished PNG, with the Post-Courier newspaper on Friday declaring: "Welcome to Papua New Guinea, Your Royal Highnesses Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla!" The paper said the visit would be like a "home-coming" for Charles who first travelled to PNG in the 1960s when he was an exchange student in Australia and stayed at the Martyrs' Memorial Anglican School for boys in Northern Province. "The Prince did not stay with the school principal," it said. "He stayed with the boys at Sefoa

Australia is giving $8 million in aid to PNG's Manus Island, where it is planning to build an asylum seeker detention centre. The Australian high commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Ian Kemish, says the aid, already committed before the asylum centre was planned, will pay for medical scholarships and equipment, and for schools to be built on the small collection of islands that make up Manus province. The aid is coming amid ongoing uncertainty over landowner concerns about the deal, as well as the threat of legal action to halt the opening of the facility. "Australia is committed to assisting PNG achieve improved development outcomes for all Papua New Guineans, and we are already providing significant support to Manus," Mr Kemish said in a statement on Thursday. The high commissioner's statement said a joint assessment mission made up of development experts from AusAid and PNG's Department of National Planning is scheduled to visit Manus next week to conduct a needs

Australia is giving $8 million in aid to PNG's Manus Island, where it is planning to build an asylum seeker detention centre. The Australian high commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Ian Kemish, says the aid, already committed before the asylum centre was planned, will pay for medical scholarships and equipment, and for schools to be built on the small collection of islands that make up Manus province. The aid is coming amid ongoing uncertainty over landowner concerns about the deal, as well as the threat of legal action to halt the opening of the facility. "Australia is committed to assisting PNG achieve improved development outcomes for all Papua New Guineans, and we are already providing significant support to Manus," Mr Kemish said in a statement on Thursday. The high commissioner's statement said a joint assessment mission made up of development experts from AusAid and PNG's Department of National Planning is scheduled to visit Manus next week to conduct a needs