PNGBLOGS

by LUCAS KIAP  When it comes to development and providing basic government services in the country - is where billions and billions of Kina of public funds are pumped into every year. Year-in-year-out, every government, when comes into office makes headlines across the country - announcing big budgets for development, raising the hope of the people because they want it badly. Despite billions of kina have been spent every year on development and delivery of basic government services to the people, people still complain about the lack of development and vital basic government services and how they struggle to survive without it. Where are those billions of Kina budgeted by the government disappear to? In Papua New Guinea politics and business cannot be separated from each other. To be a politician is to be a businessman or vice versa. This misconception of politics as a means to wealth accumulation explains why businessmen, ordinary persons, civil servants, priests and pastors when

by KEVIN MEMEH Reports from many government departments are painting the same picture: a government that has badly overspent, is way over budget and can't even pay for the basics in health and education. The money crunch is already bad, promised government monies aren't coming into the ministries and it all promises to get worse. It would be one thing if this overexpenditure was all staying within PNG to benefit PNG. Sadly that's not the case. PNG has long been one of the great foreign aid providers of the world. What do you think we mean by that statement? Maybe we're referring to Peter O'Neill's commitments of sizeable donations to Fiji and Solomon Islands? No, we're not. We're talking about the PNG government handout to the world in the form of literal fortunes being given to foreign construction companies to build PNG infrastructure. Why is it that we've been independent for 2 generations and still seem incapable

AFTER a 17-year wait, the final curtain is about to fall on the National Provident Fund (NPF) saga when its central player – Jimmy Maladina – was found guilty of misappropriating K2.65 million by the Waigani National Court yesterday. In a 24-page ruling, Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika likened Maladina’s crime to "money laundering" and "dishonest". He was chairman of the private sector superfund NPF in 1999 which had since changed its name to Nasfund. Maladina, from Mena’ala in Esa’ala, Milne Bay Province, was found guilty of one count of conspiring with other persons to defraud NPF by fraudulently increasing the construction costs of the NPF Tower (Deloitte Tower) in downtown Port Moresby. He was also found guilty of the second charge of dishonestly applying to his own use and of others the same amount. The conspiracy offence was committed between November 1, 1998, and October 10, 2000, while the second offence took place between Februa

by GARY KILA Intellectuals learnt long ago through hard experience that you can't believe anything Peter O'Neill says. He mixes fact with fiction in a bewildering way that reflects his singleminded focus on self preservation and self enrichment. If the PM felt that telling us all the sky was purple would somehow help him, that's what he'd be telling us. Then a few days later he might flipflop back to the original story. Only those who read the newspapers on a daily basis and remember what they've read will notice this tendency of the PM to lie. The average person probably won't even notice it. The typical O'Neill story changes now surround the proposed Western Pacific University. At first the government said that the new university would be a model system, with students taught by Australians. That plan seems to have been shelved, including the notion that the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) would be managing the school. It doesn't

by JAMES PEREYAP Never was a less fitting nickname given to Justin Tkatchenko than the "Happy Gardener". That's because he's far from happy most of the time, especially with those unfortunate enough to work under him. He rants and raves, screams and rudely puts down those around him quite regularly. To put it mildly, he's the stereotyped 'masta' we all heard about that in the days before Independence used to run around screaming us "stupid kanakas". Justin isn't a pleasant fellow. Of course, amongst his political allies it's a different story. With them, Justin is highly appreciated. He's cozy with them and them with him. Long ago in the days of Rock n roll Bill Skate, Justin learnt how to kickback money into hungry pockets in return for parliamentary landscaping contracts. "I pat your arse and you pat mine" was a skill that Justin picked up quickly and very, very naturally. Back in those days, Justin was a good und

by MARK WAMBIA The days of conspicuously cruel forced human labour, in the form of blackbirding and outright slavery, are for the most part long gone. However, the greed to exploit ignorant or passive human beings to do as much work as possible for a 'masta' of any skin colour in return for the least amount of money, is alive and well. With respect to land, the days are gone where colonizers stole it outright from customary landowners, but again there's a new style around. It's called land grabbing and we've been seeing it in PNG where over 12% of PNG's customary land was lost to foreigners and ratbag national leaders in only about 5 years. The new, improved technique of stealing land (and resources)? It's the 99 year SABL leases. Today we see a situation where around the world people in developing countries are labouring long and hard for low wages to produce cheap goods for people in developed countries who buy at the lowest price and consume with

by FATHER FRANCO ZOCCA SVD – Melanesian Institute (Goroka) My interest in Islam stems from the 14 years I worked in Indonesia, where the great majority of the population is Muslim. When I came to PNG 20 years ago I set aside my interest in Islam since I thought there were no Papua New Guinean Muslims. I discovered that Islam had arrived in PNG about 15 years ago when I read a newspaper report that a mosque had opened near Kimbe in West New Britain. I visited it, and to my surprise, found that the new Muslim converts were Simbu people—originally Catholic—who worked on an oil palm plantation. I was even more surprised to learn that that they belonged to an Islamic reformist movement founded in India in the late 19th century called Ahmadiyya, after the name of its founder. Later, I discovered that those Simbus were not the first Papua New Guineans to turn to Islam. The registration of the Islamic Society in PNG in December 1983 confirmed Islam as a permitted religion a

by BRYAN KRAMER A diplomatic row between the PNG and Australia over the latter's plans to open a diplomatic mission in Autonomous Region of Bounganville has captured the headlines in recent days. It has raised two important issues firstly who is telling the truth whether or not there was any consultation between the two Governments and secondly the presumptuous position the Australian Government has taken to make a budget commitment on such a sensitive issue years ahead of any declaration of independence for Bougainville. On the first issue our Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and his Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato have publicly announced they were shocked by the move. Prime Minister O'Neill claimed he only first learned about it from the media coverage of the Australian Abott Government Budget. He said "we don't want governments to go around creating offices everywhere around the country that will create the wrong interpretation and wrong meaning to our people&

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea's prime minister on Thursday said he was shocked by an announcement from former colonial ruler Australia that it might open a diplomatic mission in the restive island of Bougainville, where a referendum on independence is scheduled. Polls opened on Monday in the copper-rich Autonomous Region of Bougainville to elect a president ahead of a referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea. A result is expected on June 8. "There has been no consultation on this proposal and there is no agreement to proceed," Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said after addressing business and academic leaders in Sydney to mark the end of Australian rule 40 years ago. "Bougainville is an integral part of Papua New Guinea." Under a peace agreement signed after a nine-year civil war with the Papua New Guinea mainland ended in 1998, Bougainville has until June 2020 to hold the referendum. The conflict forced resources giant Rio Tinto to ab

by CASPER DAMIEN PNG is an independent nation since its Political Independence in September 1975. The political system adopted in PNG is called Westminster System from England. It is a Democratic System of government and the basis of its ideology is based on the slogan “Power for the people” meaning the power belongs to the people. They have the right and power to accept or reject a leader in and out of the Parliament. Hence, the freedom of each person is expressed through free voting of their leaders. Each elected member serves his or her term in the Parliament for five years and after every five years new national elections for choosing leaders begin again. All elected leaders are representatives of the people in the Parliament and they are means of bringing services and development to their people. Papua New Guinea ’s Constitution is based on the Democratic System of Government. “In the months immediately before Independence on 16 September 1975, the Constitutiona

By Government  Bureaucrat In the years after independence and into the 1990's, no PNG newspaper would print a letter to the editor that was harshly critical of any leaders.  It was expected and assumed that politicians should be given automatic respect, particularly Father of Our Nation Sir Michael Somare. Unfortunately, by the 1990s it was becoming obvious that our politicians were taking advantage of this automatic respect.  They were abusing the public trust placed in them by finding ways to stuff their own pockets full of wealth while supposedly serving the people's interest.   Corruption, which was almost non-existent in PNG until the late 1980's, began to take off, especially during the Sir Julius Chan administration in the 1990s.  In PNG we are sometimes very slow to respond to changing events.  The same seemed to be true as corruption took off in our country.   People didn't respond at first.  But with each new corruption story, people started getting fed u

by Gabriel Ramoi An Essay on West Papua Dedicated to all that have died in the cause of a Free and Independent West Papua. Part One : O'Neill & the Force of Morale Persuasion The earth shattering reversal of a 40 year policy of Denial by PNG on the plight of West Papua announced by Prime Minister Peter Oneill on Tuesday the 5THrd of February 2015 will come to be judged by history as the most important step taken by a sovereign state toward propelling West Papua towards Political Independence from Indonesia. It follow on the heels of that lone brave voice made by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu to the United nations in 2013 to put West Papua back on list of UN Trust territories and the Decolonization Committee of the United nations. The Statement by the Prime Minister is a bold move and one that that has not be made lightly. It turns PNGs Foreign Policy on its head and will no doubt rattle Australia and will keep Academics busy in years to come in analyzing th