PNGBLOGS

Post Courier PM will order a "Will Look into It" enquiry Usual for a PM who is keen on keeping a known fugitive in his shadows. UNITECH Vice Chancellor Dr Albert Schram was on Air Niugini flight PX 393 which departed Singapore on the evening of Thursday, February 7, and arrived in Port Moresby the next morning on Friday, February 8, at 8am. Upon arrival, he was forcibly put on another Air Niugini flight PX 5 to Brisbane the same day at 1.30pm. He is in Brisbane and plans to travel to Canberra to meet with the head of the European Union delegation to Australia and the Netherlands Ambassador to talk to them about his deportation from PNG. He also plans to meet with the AusAID official in charge of higher education in PNG about the same matter. Dr Schram believes his deportation is the result of this article which was published in the Post-Courier. The Prime Minister is believed to have been upset by this article and it is alleged that he may have given directions for Dr Schram

Post Courier PM will order a "Will Look into It" enquiry Usual for a PM who is keen on keeping a known fugitive in his shadows. UNITECH Vice Chancellor Dr Albert Schram was on Air Niugini flight PX 393 which departed Singapore on the evening of Thursday, February 7, and arrived in Port Moresby the next morning on Friday, February 8, at 8am. Upon arrival, he was forcibly put on another Air Niugini flight PX 5 to Brisbane the same day at 1.30pm. He is in Brisbane and plans to travel to Canberra to meet with the head of the European Union delegation to Australia and the Netherlands Ambassador to talk to them about his deportation from PNG. He also plans to meet with the AusAID official in charge of higher education in PNG about the same matter. Dr Schram believes his deportation is the result of this article which was published in the Post-Courier. The Prime Minister is believed to have been upset by this article and it is alleged that he may have given directions f

By Waigani Observer History speaks so much about the dangers of power being concentrated in only one region or person, and so is this note, to remind the many Papua New Guineans about the imminent backlash, if we are not careful with distribution of power and wealth. Having reflected on the distribution of balance of power in the current O’Neil-led government, it is becoming more and more visible that power and the custodianship of the country’s wealth, is centred around the Upper Highlands of the country. To prove this point, one just has to look at the distribution of ministries. The economic ministerial powerbase which includes the Finance, Treasury, Works, Foreign Affairs, Petroleum and Energy and Environment and Conservation to a lesser extent, are all concentrated in just one region or corner of the country.  Their next door neighbours from the Eastern Block who contribute 19 votes in support of the current government, in the meantime, are feted with only three ser

By Waigani Observer History speaks so much about the dangers of power being concentrated in only one region or person, and so is this note, to remind the many Papua New Guineans about the imminent backlash, if we are not careful with distribution of power and wealth. Having reflected on the distribution of balance of power in the current O’Neil-led government, it is becoming more and more visible that power and the custodianship of the country’s wealth, is centred around the Upper Highlands of the country. To prove this point, one just has to look at the distribution of ministries. The economic ministerial powerbase which includes the Finance, Treasury, Works, Foreign Affairs, Petroleum and Energy and Environment and Conservation to a lesser extent, are all concentrated in just one region or corner of the country.  Their next door neighbours from the Eastern Block who contribute 19 votes in support of the current government, in the meantime, are fete

NEW YORK TIMES GENEVA — Spurred by the killing this week of a young woman accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea , the United Nations on Friday called on the country to address increasing vigilante violence against people accused of sorcery and to revoke a controversial sorcery law The killing in Mount Hagen, the Western Highlands provincial capital, reportedly was carried out by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who, they claimed, had been killed by her sorcery. The crowd blocked police officers and firefighters who tried to intervene . “This case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva. Ms. Pouilly said that police were continuing their investigation of a case in Jiwaka Province in November, when people held three women and two men for 20 days for allegedly using sorcery to kill ano

NEW YORK TIMES GENEVA — Spurred by the killing this week of a young woman accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea , the United Nations on Friday called on the country to address increasing vigilante violence against people accused of sorcery and to revoke a controversial sorcery law The killing in Mount Hagen, the Western Highlands provincial capital, reportedly was carried out by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who, they claimed, had been killed by her sorcery. The crowd blocked police officers and firefighters who tried to intervene . “This case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva. Ms. Pouilly said that police were continuing their investigation of a case in Jiwaka Province in November, when people held three women and two men for 20 days for allegedly using sorcer

Radio New Zealand Conflicting accounts continue to come in about the controversial recent visit to Papua New Guinea by two Vanuatu diplomatic representatives and the country’s Foreign Minister. PNG police and customs officials detained the passports of diplomatic representatives Pascal Anh Quan Saken and his brother Charles Henry Saken after the private jet they flew in arrived without proper clearance. Mr Saken is the owner of the super yacht Phocea which was detained in Vanuatu in July, originally on suspicion of guns and drugs smuggling, and remains seized by the Ports Authority because it has forged documents. Johnny Blades reports that the Phocea scandal, which continues to implicate members of Vanuatu’s Sato Kilman-led government, has also embroiled PNG’s top leadership. —————————– Vanuatu’s government has been tight-lipped about the PNG liaison between its Foreign Minister Alfred Carlot and the two Sakens, saying it had no knowledge of their meeting. However shortly before the c