PNGBLOGS

By BRYAN KRAMER After reading the many comments in relation to our Members of Parliament being referred by Ombudsman Commission to Public Prosecutor on allegations of misconduct in office versus those being charged by Police for criminal offences it seems most are still confused about these two very distinct judicial processes. Therefore I thought it only proper to provide a brief insight to better clarify their distinctive differences. Those who have been following my articles over the past year would already be familiar with the subject matter. However I understand social media in PNG in recent times has exploded with a direct readership of 200,000 and word of mouth reach exceeding 1 million. So it's appropriate to revisit some of the points already covered in the past. What is the Leadership Code? Leadership code are laws established by the Constitution (Division 2) governing ethics (moral values) and code of conduct of those who hold leadership po

By JAMES PEREYAP A very reliable source has confirmed today that Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) has well over US$2.5 billion foreign currency exchange orders pending release. The source confirmed that ANZ Bank has well over US$900 million requests pending whilst it is believed Westpac and BSP Bank have similar or even more. Other foreign exchange dealers are also having difficulty transacting foreign currency and their requests are pending clearance. The total amount now stands above US$2.5 billion. BPNG has a foreign reserve of just under US$2 billion and if all the requests are cleared, it would still have US$.5billion outstanding to be cleared. It will be crises!!! PNG businesses that use foreign currency to import goods from overseas are seriously affected by this foreign currency shortage. Businesses and individuals who wish to remit more than US$10,000 out of PNG are cuing up at the Central Bank for an average of two weeks at least. This is and will have a lot of flow-on conse

By Bal Kama The recent revelation in the media from documents leaked by Edward Snowden, a former employee of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, of alleged spying operations in Pacific Island countries by Australia and New Zealand, may have serious implications for the region into the future. In 2013, Papua New Guinea expressed concern when it was alleged that the Australian Embassy in Port Moresby was used for spy operations on countries in the Pacific. Indonesia was also concerned at that time and recalled its Ambassador from Canberra. Media reports in March 2015 based on the Snowden documents alleged New Zealand was conducting mass surveillance through the telecommunications network, including the phones and internet of citizens across the Pacific. Some of the countries alleged to be spied on include Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Tonga and French Polynesia. Reported names of senior government offi

By BRYAN KRAMER Contempt of court is behaviour that opposes or defies the authority and dignity of the court. Contempt charges may be brought against individuals who party to proceedings; including lawyers, court officers; witnesses; people who are seated in courtroom or those protesting outside. Courts have great leeway in making contempt charges, and thus confusion sometimes exists about the distinctions between types of contempt. Generally, however, contempt proceedings are categorized as civil or criminal, and direct or indirect. Civil contempt - generally involves the failure to perform an act that is ordered by a court. (failure to comply with or defy court orders) A direct contempt - is an act that occurs in the presence of the court and is intended to embarrass or engender disrespect for the court." Indirect contempt - occurs outside the presence of the court, including public or media statements with the intention to belittle, mock, obstruc

Only one head of a foreign government flew to Melbourne for the state funeral of Malcolm Fraser last Friday. That was Peter O’Neill, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Whatever that says about Fraser, more importantly it underlines the closeness between PNG and Australia — which often appears to be a one-way street, with Australians knowing less about PNG as each generation succeeds the next. O’Neill himself has emerged as a remarkable figure in PNG’s usually battle-scarred political landscape, which makes Game of Thrones look tame. He has suffered criticism for the peremptory manner of his government’s takeover of OK Tedi mine, and for the failure to clear up the cloud of corruption that lurks over well-attested collusion between public service heads, lawyers and others to steal hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds. But he has emerged as an almost irrepressible force in the nation, with a growing role in the Pacific Islands region and as a link between the island

Why Ben Micah MP must never allow him to be a member of Parliament again. BY COLIN FILER EMIRAU In December 2006, a SABL over an area of 3384 hectares (Portions 53C–58C) on the island of Emirau in the Murat LLG area was granted to a company called Emirau Trust Ltd (ETL) for a period of 99 years (whose shares were owned by Ben Micahs half sister). The six land portions included in this lease appear to cover the whole of the island, and the state is said to have acquired these land portions from 29 incorporated land groups in January 2005 (The National, 9 September 2008). The island is approximately 130 kilometres north-west of Kavieng, the provincial capital (see Map 1). In May 2005, one of the islanders wrote a letter to one of PNG’s national newspapers expressing concern that the SABL had not yet been granted in April of that year (The National, 9 May 2005). According to this correspondent, ETL was the brainchild of the island’s most well-known political leader, Ben Micah, f

By BRYAN KRAMER Supreme Court (SC) on 26th March 2015 upheld an application filed by National Fraud & Anti-corruption Director Mathew Damaru and his Deputy Timothy Gitua granting them leave (permission) to join the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Finance Minister James Marape's Supreme Court appeal staying (stopping) their arrest. Damaru and Gitua were added as sixth and seventh Respondents (parties who are given the right to appear and respond in the proceedings). Marape is named as "Appellant" principle person who filed the SC appeal against an earlier National Court ruling dismissing his case seeking an order of taxation of Paraka bills as well as Prime Minister's application seeking to interim stay preventing police from effecting their arrest. Five other Respondents (parties) in the Supreme Court proceedings include Prime Minister followed by Attorney General, Ano Pala, Paraka Lawyers, PNG Royal Constabulary (Police) and the State

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has taken the top prize in the Pepsi ICC Development Programme Annual Awards 2014, claiming the Best Overall Cricket Development Programme award. PNG had a tremendous 2014, with its senior men’s team achieving One-Day International (ODI) status, while the PNG Women’s side qualified for its first ever ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier. This on-field success has, however, been underpinned by a highly successful domestic development programme that has resulted in significant participation growth over the past decade.  There are now close to 200,000 cricket participants in PNG.  Keith Dennis, former chairman of Jersey Cricket Board, was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement award thanks to his efforts in developing cricket in Jersey dating back to the 1950’s. Mr Dennis sadly passed away during 2014 whilst supporting Jersey in its successful ICC World Cricket League Division 5 campaign. The Spirit of Cricket Award was given to Thailand to acknowledge its work

A Canada-based gold mining company is paying compensation to a group of tribal women and girls who allege they were assaulted and raped by police and security guards at the company’s mine in Papua New Guinea. The 11 women, who were aged between 14 and in their 80s when the alleged crimes took place, are among 137 local Enga women and girls who had previously been compensated by Barrick Gold Corporation, after allegations of sexual violence, including gang rape and imprisonment, by armed security guards and police officers at the Porgera mine. Most of the 137 women accepted the company’s offer of a compensation package under a “remedy framework” set up by Barrick as an alternative to the local judicial system, after a Human Rights Watch report in 2011 identified a pattern of extreme sexual violence by security personnel at the mine. But 11 of the women initially refused and argued that the compensation – on average 23,630 kina, which amounts to $8,743 – was not adequate to remedy th