PNGBLOGS

By WENDY BACON Last week detainees on Manus Island reported acute water shortages. Who is responsible for sanitation? Wendy Bacon investigates G4S, the notorious company contracted to operate the facility Asylum seekers on Manus Island say their hopes were crushed by visits from the Minister for Immigration Brendan O’Connor and his shadow, Scott Morrison last week. The visits took place during six days of water shortages which left toilets overflowing. Some 274 detainees, including 34 children and six pregnant women, were unable to shower or wash in the hot humid conditions. Neither politician took time to carefully investigate the conditions in the camp, in which the detainees have been imprisoned for months. Minister O’Connor told AAP after his visit that he disagreed with the United Nation Refugee Agency’s recent report that conditions are"harsh or oppressive" and described them as "adequate" for a "temporary facility". Detainees told the Refugee Action

By WENDY BACON Last week detainees on Manus Island reported acute water shortages. Who is responsible for sanitation? Wendy Bacon investigates G4S, the notorious company contracted to operate the facility Asylum seekers on Manus Island say their hopes were crushed by visits from the Minister for Immigration Brendan O’Connor and his shadow, Scott Morrison last week. The visits took place during six days of water shortages which left toilets overflowing. Some 274 detainees, including 34 children and six pregnant women, were unable to shower or wash in the hot humid conditions. Neither politician took time to carefully investigate the conditions in the camp, in which the detainees have been imprisoned for months. Minister O’Connor told AAP after his visit that he disagreed with the United Nation Refugee Agency’s recent report that conditions are"harsh or oppressive" and described them as "adequate" for a "temporary facility". Detainees told the Ref

NEWS.COM.AU AUSTRALIA'S last-minute surge of support for Papua New Guinea's 2012 election stopped what would otherwise have been "an even larger failure", says corruption watchdog Transparency International PNG (TIPNG). A recent report by TIPNG says 21 per cent of polling place observers said the process was unfair or very unfair, while 45 per cent said it was mostly fair. "These numbers are troubling," the report said. "No Election commission should see it as acceptable that in 45 per cent of polling places observers found elections were only mostly fair. "A large number of people appear to be disenfranchised as a result of roll inaccuracy and possibly wrongful removal from the roll. This brings into question if the will of the people was truly expressed." Just 37 per cent of election observers reported that the process was very fair. TIPNG sent 282 election observers around PNG for the 2012 election, double the number it sent for the 2007 el

NEWS.COM.AU AUSTRALIA'S last-minute surge of support for Papua New Guinea's 2012 election stopped what would otherwise have been "an even larger failure", says corruption watchdog Transparency International PNG (TIPNG). A recent report by TIPNG says 21 per cent of polling place observers said the process was unfair or very unfair, while 45 per cent said it was mostly fair. "These numbers are troubling," the report said. "No Election commission should see it as acceptable that in 45 per cent of polling places observers found elections were only mostly fair. "A large number of people appear to be disenfranchised as a result of roll inaccuracy and possibly wrongful removal from the roll. This brings into question if the will of the people was truly expressed." Just 37 per cent of election observers reported that the process was very fair. TIPNG sent 282 election observers around PNG for the 2012 election, double the number it sent for the

By Susan Merrell In the past week, PNG Blogs has given voice to: • The first issue of Sovereign Bonds • The latest on the controversial deep water mining (Solwara) • Witch burning  - both news and analysis • News and analysis of the 'Unitech saga' • Serious allegations of corruption within the Central Supply and Tenders Board. (CSTB) • A tell-all (?) exposé about Susan Merrell (who?) Some of those articles have made it onto the site's "Most Popular" list (right hand side, under the comments), such as articles on witch burning, the CSTB and Unitech. Also deemed worthy by readers are a couple of older efforts about how Belden Namah is acquitting himself as opposition leader and what issues he's tackling in parliament. Peter O'Neill also gets a guernsey with an article about his curious immigration decisions (fugitives welcomed, professionals deported).  And of course no 'Most Popular' list would be complete without something about PNGs collecti

By  Mariël Lancee I am writing this blog in English because I want the whole world to know about this deceiving travel agent based in Mt. Hagen in Papua New Guinea. After living for 2 ½ years Port Moresby in PNG it was time I discovered a bit of the remote areas in this country. Until then I had only visited various tropical islands which was a very nice experience. For going to remote areas, I decided to do a Sepik tour with a friend and found online the travel agent Niugini Eco Tourism Services: http://www.png-tourism.com/ . A very nice website and easy to find the trip you want. We chose the adventurous ‘Upper Sepik River Tour’. On 18 February 2013 I asked them for a price quote and the email correspondence with Daniel Stanley went very smooth. On 19 February I told Daniel we wanted to be sure to be booked in the In Wewak Boutique Hotel, because we heard from other people that the other hotels/guesthouses were of poor quality (in the trip itinerary they promote on the w

By  Mariël Lancee I am writing this blog in English because I want the whole world to know about this deceiving travel agent based in Mt. Hagen in Papua New Guinea. After living for 2 ½ years Port Moresby in PNG it was time I discovered a bit of the remote areas in this country. Until then I had only visited various tropical islands which was a very nice experience. For going to remote areas, I decided to do a Sepik tour with a friend and found online the travel agent Niugini Eco Tourism Services: http://www.png-tourism.com/ . A very nice website and easy to find the trip you want. We chose the adventurous ‘Upper Sepik River Tour’. On 18 February 2013 I asked them for a price quote and the email correspondence with Daniel Stanley went very smooth. On 19 February I told Daniel we wanted to be sure to be booked in the In Wewak Boutique Hotel, because we heard from other people that the other hotels/guesthouses were of poor quality (in the trip itinerary they promot