PNGBLOGS

My quest for justice and the protection of PNG’s national interests On January 6 this year I was forced to take out a Court Order to restrain the Commissioner of Police, his agents or servants, in particular all members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary from assaulting or arresting me. The same court order also restrained two other persons, namely Mr Kenneth Thomson, and Hon. Theodore Zurenuoc, MP, former Minister for Education and current Speaker of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, their agents, servants and their tribesmen from assaulting or threatening me. This matter is returnable for mention on February 28. It is rather unfortunate that I took this course of action but it was taken after I had exhausted all other avenues, including a meeting with the senior hierarchy of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary to find a clear way forward in what has become a strenuous, tormenting, time consuming and expensive exercise for me personally. It is rather

By LUCAS KIAP  Believe it or not we have a political mafia gang network operating in the country siphoning public funds. This political mafia gang operates out of the Department of Finance and Treasury and branches out to other key government departments and institutions throughout the country. Though this claim remains challenge able and probably unjustifiable, the evidences of such cannot be denied nor taken for granted in a country rich with natural resources yet very poor. The weak performance of many key indicators indicates that the facilitators of corruption continue to assist political elites to launder, store and otherwise profit from unjustly acquired wealth, which often includes public funds. For illustration purposes lets take a look at what happens when public funds are released into the hands of the politicians to carry out projects. When government funds (millions of Kina) are released for projects, politicians often pretend to open trust accounts to be managed by govern

By LUCAS KIAP  Believe it or not we have a political mafia gang network operating in the country siphoning public funds. This political mafia gang operates out of the Department of Finance and Treasury and branches out to other key government departments and institutions throughout the country. Though this claim remains challenge able and probably unjustifiable, the evidences of such cannot be denied nor taken for granted in a country rich with natural resources yet very poor. The weak performance of many key indicators indicates that the facilitators of corruption continue to assist political elites to launder, store and otherwise profit from unjustly acquired wealth, which often includes public funds. For illustration purposes lets take a look at what happens when public funds are released into the hands of the politicians to carry out projects. When government funds (millions of Kina) are released for projects, politicians often pretend to open trust accounts to be managed by

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has attacked "false and misleading claims" by a mining company as reported in the Australian Financial Review, the PNG Post-Courier reports. O’Neill said BHP Billiton needed to get over its “colonial era” mentality, and appreciate that Papua New Guinea was an independent nation. He said Australia should negotiate with Papua New Guinea in the "same, mature and reasonable way" numerous other Australian resource companies do.
 “Instead of seeking the intervention and assistance of the Australian government, the company should negotiate with my government, and me, as Prime Minister,” O’Neill said.
 “The article claims that I had blocked the granting or extension of exploration licences because it would not agree with my proposals regarding the determination of the board of PNG Sustainable Development Programme. "This is totally and utterly false. It is just dishonest," the prime minister said, according to the Post-Courier. “BHP Bi

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has attacked "false and misleading claims" by a mining company as reported in the Australian Financial Review, the PNG Post-Courier reports. O’Neill said BHP Billiton needed to get over its “colonial era” mentality, and appreciate that Papua New Guinea was an independent nation. He said Australia should negotiate with Papua New Guinea in the "same, mature and reasonable way" numerous other Australian resource companies do.
 “Instead of seeking the intervention and assistance of the Australian government, the company should negotiate with my government, and me, as Prime Minister,” O’Neill said.
 “The article claims that I had blocked the granting or extension of exploration licences because it would not agree with my proposals regarding the determination of the board of PNG Sustainable Development Programme. "This is totally and utterly false. It is just dishonest," the prime minister said, according to the Post-Cou

By Graham Tenaen Robinson Papua New Guinea is now seen amongst the international community as practicing Arbitrary Detention prohibited by the United Nations Division for Human Rights. Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under Article 9 reads; “NO ONE SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO ARBITRARY ARREST, DETENTION AND EXILE” Papua New Guinea in its bid to participate under bilateral ties with Australia in providing our land to be used for their offshore processing centre is now seen to have breached article 9 under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under the UN Convention. United Nations and its member states have not commented to date, whilst we conduct our business pertaining to Australia's immigration policy on offshore processing. As a matter of human participation recognized by our membership symbolizing our stand supporting the preservation to freedom of speech, justice and peace we seem to have coherently broken NEARLY ALL articles listed under the Universal Declaratio

By Graham Tenaen Robinson Papua New Guinea is now seen amongst the international community as practicing Arbitrary Detention prohibited by the United Nations Division for Human Rights. Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under Article 9 reads; “NO ONE SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO ARBITRARY ARREST, DETENTION AND EXILE” Papua New Guinea in its bid to participate under bilateral ties with Australia in providing our land to be used for their offshore processing centre is now seen to have breached article 9 under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under the UN Convention. United Nations and its member states have not commented to date, whilst we conduct our business pertaining to Australia's immigration policy on offshore processing. As a matter of human participation recognized by our membership symbolizing our stand supporting the preservation to freedom of speech, justice and peace we seem to have coherently broken NEARLY ALL articles listed under the Universal

Leading economist Ross Garnaut is calling on the Australian Government to negotiate a deal with Papua New Guinea to prevent the arbitrary use of its immigration powers to disrupt business between the two countries. The call comes after Professor Garnaut was forced to resign as chairman of PNG's largest mining company because of a travel ban imposed on him by the nation's prime minister, Peter O'Neill. The ban on Professor Garnaut travelling to PNG was imposed in November after he expressed an opinion on a spat between BHP Billiton and Mr O'Neill over the control of the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP). The PNGSDP is a $1.4 billion charitable trust set up by BHP when it handed over its shares in Ok Tedi to the people of Papua New Guinea. Professor Garnaut says the ban represents a dark day for PNG. "My ban was a low point for Australian diplomacy generally, a low point for PNG development, and a low point for Papua New Guinea democracy," he said Pro

Leading economist Ross Garnaut is calling on the Australian Government to negotiate a deal with Papua New Guinea to prevent the arbitrary use of its immigration powers to disrupt business between the two countries. The call comes after Professor Garnaut was forced to resign as chairman of PNG's largest mining company because of a travel ban imposed on him by the nation's prime minister, Peter O'Neill. The ban on Professor Garnaut travelling to PNG was imposed in November after he expressed an opinion on a spat between BHP Billiton and Mr O'Neill over the control of the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP). The PNGSDP is a $1.4 billion charitable trust set up by BHP when it handed over its shares in Ok Tedi to the people of Papua New Guinea. Professor Garnaut says the ban represents a dark day for PNG. "My ban was a low point for Australian diplomacy generally, a low point for PNG development, and a low point for Papua New Guinea democracy," he said P

By PATRICK O'CONNOR PAPUA NEW GUINEAN prime minister Peter O’Neill recently made his first official visit to Australia since his win in August’s national elections. O’Neill’s appearances in Canberra and Sydney demonstrated why the Australian government regards the prime minister as their man. He rejected any suggestion that Papua New Guinea was in danger of developing close strategic and military ties with China, and assured Australian investors in the mining and energy sectors that their interests would be upheld. On Monday, O’Neill participated in the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney. The annual event was this year attended by a record 1,300 delegates, including executives from many of the major transnational giants including ExxonMobil, Rio Tinto, and Xstrata, as well as the multitude of smaller Australian, American, European, and Asian corporations now seeking to exploit PNG’s vast reserves of oil and gas, gold, copper, nickel, and other minerals. These

By PATRICK O'CONNOR PAPUA NEW GUINEAN prime minister Peter O’Neill recently made his first official visit to Australia since his win in August’s national elections. O’Neill’s appearances in Canberra and Sydney demonstrated why the Australian government regards the prime minister as their man. He rejected any suggestion that Papua New Guinea was in danger of developing close strategic and military ties with China, and assured Australian investors in the mining and energy sectors that their interests would be upheld. On Monday, O’Neill participated in the PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference in Sydney. The annual event was this year attended by a record 1,300 delegates, including executives from many of the major transnational giants including ExxonMobil, Rio Tinto, and Xstrata, as well as the multitude of smaller Australian, American, European, and Asian corporations now seeking to exploit PNG’s vast reserves of oil and gas, gold, copper, nickel, and other m

ECONOMIST Ross Garnaut has quit as chairman of Papua New Guinea's biggest-earning company, Ok Tedi Mining, as a result of PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's declaration in parliament two months ago that he was barred from entering the country. Professor Garnaut, who has been involved with PNG for 47 years, said in his resignation letter: "It is undesirable for development in PNG that the government's use of its immigration powers should be seen as having been effective in forcing changes in the board of a major private company. "For this reason, there was value in allowing some time for the Prime Minister to lift the ban should he be of a mind to do so." But now, he said, "it is not possible for me to fulfill my responsibilities as chairman of this large, complex mining company for an indefinite period while the government is preventing me from travelling to PNG" - which he had been doing seven or eight times a year. Mr O'Neill said in Novem

ECONOMIST Ross Garnaut has quit as chairman of Papua New Guinea's biggest-earning company, Ok Tedi Mining, as a result of PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's declaration in parliament two months ago that he was barred from entering the country. Professor Garnaut, who has been involved with PNG for 47 years, said in his resignation letter: "It is undesirable for development in PNG that the government's use of its immigration powers should be seen as having been effective in forcing changes in the board of a major private company. "For this reason, there was value in allowing some time for the Prime Minister to lift the ban should he be of a mind to do so." But now, he said, "it is not possible for me to fulfill my responsibilities as chairman of this large, complex mining company for an indefinite period while the government is preventing me from travelling to PNG" - which he had been doing seven or eight times a year. Mr O'Neill sa

LIFESTYLE diseases such as diabetes, cancers of the digestive tract, the liver and lungs as well as the ailments of the heart are on the rise in Papua New Guinea. These diseases are robbing the country of many of its productive workers between the ages of 35 and 50. For a fledgling economy such as PNG, that cannot be good news because it means more and more of our brightest and best talents are succumbing to preventable diseases and, thus, leaving voids in experience and quality in the nation’s educated and skilled workforce. Almost every week, it seems, one will find in the obituaries column of the newspapers a death notice of a senior professional or some other middle management personnel who dies at what many in the first world would consider middle aged or younger. Deaths, attributable to lifestyle diseases, of individuals barely in their 50s in cities and rural areas are becoming so commonplace that one would assume that the country’s life expectancy has surely taken a dip since i

LIFESTYLE diseases such as diabetes, cancers of the digestive tract, the liver and lungs as well as the ailments of the heart are on the rise in Papua New Guinea. These diseases are robbing the country of many of its productive workers between the ages of 35 and 50. For a fledgling economy such as PNG, that cannot be good news because it means more and more of our brightest and best talents are succumbing to preventable diseases and, thus, leaving voids in experience and quality in the nation’s educated and skilled workforce. Almost every week, it seems, one will find in the obituaries column of the newspapers a death notice of a senior professional or some other middle management personnel who dies at what many in the first world would consider middle aged or younger. Deaths, attributable to lifestyle diseases, of individuals barely in their 50s in cities and rural areas are becoming so commonplace that one would assume that the country’s life expectancy has surely taken a dip

After another year of strong economic performance, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is brimming with confidence. The 2013 budget, announced in November and valued at PGK13bn ($6.2bn), is PNG’s largest-ever budget and one which the government is borrowing more than $1bn to fund. Centred on the development of core services, such as education, health and infrastructure, PNG’s budget is paving a path toward sustainable and inclusive growth, largely due to substantial gains in 2012. The 2013 budget is also cashing in on PNG’s improved political fortunes, following Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s election in August. This effectively closed the door on a period of intense political instability, as divided loyalties amongst the bureaucracy threatened to spill over into a military coup d’état. It is worth noting, however, that the government has extended a ban on votes of no confidence from 18 months to 30 months. The O’Neill administration has laid the groundwork for an expansion of government-led nation

After another year of strong economic performance, Papua New Guinea (PNG) is brimming with confidence. The 2013 budget, announced in November and valued at PGK13bn ($6.2bn), is PNG’s largest-ever budget and one which the government is borrowing more than $1bn to fund. Centred on the development of core services, such as education, health and infrastructure, PNG’s budget is paving a path toward sustainable and inclusive growth, largely due to substantial gains in 2012. The 2013 budget is also cashing in on PNG’s improved political fortunes, following Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s election in August. This effectively closed the door on a period of intense political instability, as divided loyalties amongst the bureaucracy threatened to spill over into a military coup d’état. It is worth noting, however, that the government has extended a ban on votes of no confidence from 18 months to 30 months. The O’Neill administration has laid the groundwork for an expansion of government-