PNGBLOGS

By ROWAN CALLICK There's a common view around, even in Australia where after all these years people really should know better, that mining is merely about digging stuff up and shipping it to eager buyers. Those who think this may well also believe that “attracting” miners is a redundancy: that there's a load of mining money around, and the trick is to choose the best, fight off the rest, and then regulate them sufficiently to make sure they don't utterly destroy the environment, and take off without having paid any taxes. Our closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, offers a good insight as to how difficult it can be to build and maintain a mining industry, and how relatively easy it can be to lose one. Independent PNG, like Australia today, has been substantially built on its resources industry. About 80 per cent of its export earnings comes from resources -- chiefly, until liquefied natural gas kicks in in a couple of years, from minerals. The big persisting dangers for PNG i

By ROWAN CALLICK There's a common view around, even in Australia where after all these years people really should know better, that mining is merely about digging stuff up and shipping it to eager buyers. Those who think this may well also believe that “attracting” miners is a redundancy: that there's a load of mining money around, and the trick is to choose the best, fight off the rest, and then regulate them sufficiently to make sure they don't utterly destroy the environment, and take off without having paid any taxes. Our closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, offers a good insight as to how difficult it can be to build and maintain a mining industry, and how relatively easy it can be to lose one. Independent PNG, like Australia today, has been substantially built on its resources industry. About 80 per cent of its export earnings comes from resources -- chiefly, until liquefied natural gas kicks in in a couple of years, from minerals. The big persisting dang

THERE is talk of a plan to build a new 40 megawatt power plant in Port Moresby to complement the electricity supplied by the PNG Power Rouna hydro scheme, its diesel generated plants and those supplied by the private Kanudi power plant. Word on the grapevine is that there has been a great deal of interest shown by companies, both from within and outside, vying to build the plant. To our mind, the government must take a long-term view on the issue of who is engaged to provide services to Papua New Guinea. It is true that there is a lot of interest in building a power plant for Port Moresby because there is a big market for it. It would be a profitable venture. The same interest would not be shown if the tenders were out for a power plant for Banz in Jiwaka or Bogia in Madang, Maprik in East Sepik or any of the other small townships around the country. Yet, these places need provision of power, perhaps more so than those places which already have access to power supply. So those companie

THERE is talk of a plan to build a new 40 megawatt power plant in Port Moresby to complement the electricity supplied by the PNG Power Rouna hydro scheme, its diesel generated plants and those supplied by the private Kanudi power plant. Word on the grapevine is that there has been a great deal of interest shown by companies, both from within and outside, vying to build the plant. To our mind, the government must take a long-term view on the issue of who is engaged to provide services to Papua New Guinea. It is true that there is a lot of interest in building a power plant for Port Moresby because there is a big market for it. It would be a profitable venture. The same interest would not be shown if the tenders were out for a power plant for Banz in Jiwaka or Bogia in Madang, Maprik in East Sepik or any of the other small townships around the country. Yet, these places need provision of power, perhaps more so than those places which already have access to power supply. So thos

IT has become patently obvious that some of our national leaders are taking advantage of their positions as policy makers and the legislators of this land. Whenever we hear of parliamentarians involved in deals between the state and big businesses, the ever-present shadow of corruption seems to loom large. Have we ever asked ourselves why many members live lavish lifestyles after they have been elected to office? If they were men of wealth and power before parliament, how their riches seem to have increased manifold. How many, if not all of them, entered office as individuals of modest means, but have somehow become the clichéd “overnight millionaire”? Do we stop to question their conduct in a way that does not rely on the “what’s in it for me” attitude? Have we stopped to really ponder why the culture on self-enrichment and placing oneself ahead of the greater good seems to be a significantly accurate epithet for leadership in this country? This may not be true for all our nation’s le

IT has become patently obvious that some of our national leaders are taking advantage of their positions as policy makers and the legislators of this land. Whenever we hear of parliamentarians involved in deals between the state and big businesses, the ever-present shadow of corruption seems to loom large. Have we ever asked ourselves why many members live lavish lifestyles after they have been elected to office? If they were men of wealth and power before parliament, how their riches seem to have increased manifold. How many, if not all of them, entered office as individuals of modest means, but have somehow become the clichéd “overnight millionaire”? Do we stop to question their conduct in a way that does not rely on the “what’s in it for me” attitude? Have we stopped to really ponder why the culture on self-enrichment and placing oneself ahead of the greater good seems to be a significantly accurate epithet for leadership in this country? This may not be true for all o

Monuments along the country’s international land border with Indonesia are deteriorating, Department of Western national agency coordinator Richard Aria says. He said the national government had ignored the international border monuments by not funding for their maintenances. “We have more than 50 monuments, some still remain as cement markers and it is hard to locate them without the use of GPS devices,” he said. Aria said the border posts run from Wutung in West Sepik on the meridian 141 and alter at the Fly River bulge then across the remote mountains and down the swamplands to the mouth of Torasi River in Western. “The monuments on the border are deteriorating, nobody knows the divide,” he said. “It’s very confusing because we have the local villagers on the border, and the monuments will signal to them to be officially recognised as Papua New Guineans. “When the monuments deteriorated at Torasi area, the Indonesians built a new sign board and put their flags 30m east into the PNG

Monuments along the country’s international land border with Indonesia are deteriorating, Department of Western national agency coordinator Richard Aria says. He said the national government had ignored the international border monuments by not funding for their maintenances. “We have more than 50 monuments, some still remain as cement markers and it is hard to locate them without the use of GPS devices,” he said. Aria said the border posts run from Wutung in West Sepik on the meridian 141 and alter at the Fly River bulge then across the remote mountains and down the swamplands to the mouth of Torasi River in Western. “The monuments on the border are deteriorating, nobody knows the divide,” he said. “It’s very confusing because we have the local villagers on the border, and the monuments will signal to them to be officially recognised as Papua New Guineans. “When the monuments deteriorated at Torasi area, the Indonesians built a new sign board and put their flags 30m eas

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

ISLAND Business The Papua New Guinea government will legislate to ensure free education is compulsory, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says. He said this would ensure “no child is left out of school”. O’Neill told graduating students from Divine Word University yesterday that people were the most important resource. The prime minister said his government supported their education. Addressing the 31st graduation at the Madang campus, O’Neill said the government and public servants alone could not develop the country’s economy and needed all citizens to contribute. He appealed to the new graduates to make their contributions for their country wherever they would be engaged. The prime minister was accompanied by Madang Governor Jim Kas, West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel, chief of staff Isaac Lupari and businessman Sir Peter Barter. O’Neill said the government was putting in place policies such as “free education” and “breaking down obstacles” such as lowering the interest rate at

ISLAND Business The Papua New Guinea government will legislate to ensure free education is compulsory, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says. He said this would ensure “no child is left out of school”. O’Neill told graduating students from Divine Word University yesterday that people were the most important resource. The prime minister said his government supported their education. Addressing the 31st graduation at the Madang campus, O’Neill said the government and public servants alone could not develop the country’s economy and needed all citizens to contribute. He appealed to the new graduates to make their contributions for their country wherever they would be engaged. The prime minister was accompanied by Madang Governor Jim Kas, West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel, chief of staff Isaac Lupari and businessman Sir Peter Barter. O’Neill said the government was putting in place policies such as “free education” and “breaking down obstacles” such as lowering the interest rate

THE gruesome killing of a woman last month in Mt Hagen for the charge of witchcraft or sorcery has been roundly condemned by all and sundry. This may appear an inexcusable act perpetrated by uneducated and illiterate village folk but the first step to solving any problem is understanding. What makes a normally sane person/s act in such a barbaric manner to another fellow human being? And, more importantly, what are the factors that make such violent and brazen acts still prevalent in the 21st century? The belief systems in Papua New Guinea are very much dominated by culture and tradition. Such significantly social norms such as marriages, deaths, lineal relationships, conflict resolution, leadership and decision making are still oriented toward our cultural roots. Christianity and western philosophies (education) on law and order and moral conduct are not always aligned with how our ancestors ordered their lives. Unfortunately, many people in this country still hold fast to customary p