PNGBLOGS

Australia's nearest neighbour could be on the brink of a Greek-style fiscal crisis following one of the most spectacular budget blow-outs in regional history. The projected budget deficit in Papua New Guinea's has been revised up, hitting 9.4 per cent, which is more than double last year's deficit and getting close to the 12.3 per cent figure which helped tip Greece into meltdown last year. The commodities price downturn, worsened by poor oversight of the nation's mining industry, has been brutal to Papua New Guinea's budget. Photo: Jon Reid The budget implosion will come as a shock to leaders in PNG and also Australia, who have consistently played down the impact of corruption and sliding commodity prices. In December the top adviser to PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill accused a former Australian Treasury officer, Paul Flanaga

by SUSAN LOKUN The owner of RD Tuna company pretends to be a Christian as does the general manager. However the true feeling they have for the factory workers and for PNG in general is contempt. Look up that word if you don't understand the meeting of CONTEMPT. This is why RD Tuna parent company regularly dumps rubbish tuna onto the shores of PNG. The tuna from certain Dolores and Dolly types of tuna is fit for animal consumption only. However RD makes more money not by selling it as animal food in Australia. Instead they ship it to PNG from Philippines to sell as people food. Having known 2 people who have worked at RD tuna a few years back and heard stories about the way they treat their workers, I stopped thinking favourably of them and don't buy their products. I originally supported them because of the jobs I thought they would bring. I thought no further than jobs and that was my failure. In general you must understand that this company only does public

by SUSAN LOKUN It is amazing how our country could sell a resource that people around the world want and sometimes pay very good money for, then buy back the absolute garbage leftovers that the rest of the world doesn't want. We have some of the last remaining large resources of yellowfin tuna in the whole world.   It is one of our most precious resource.   RD Tuna was the first cannery built in PNG to supposedly develop PNG's tuna resource.   RD Tuna has always been a scam enterprise.     RD Tuna owner Rodrigo E. Rivera and his family who owns a heap of tuna canneries in General Santos and Cebu in the Philippines.   The RD group of companies began in 1976 as a pawnshop in General Santos City. Rivera owns a large fleet of tuna fishing boats named after his wife Dolly.   Those fishing boats go out all over the South Pacific, including PNG waters.   Very few of them dump their catch at the RD tuna cannery in Madang.  Most head straight for Philippines.   

by JOSEPH KAWAGE So a warrant for the arrest of Treasury Secretary Daire Vele has been issued and is to be enforced. Not before time. As Treasury Secretary he has been running a number of illegal operations for the Prime Minister, the two biggest ones being the illegal UBS loan and the illegal purchase of two mobile power generators. Police want to arrest him on charges of official corruption, misappropriation and fraud. The basis of the charges is documents provided to the police, the Attorney-General, the Ombudsman Commission and Task force Sweep by a whistleblower at PNG Power Ltd, and these documents show that a very serious and widespread fraud conspiracy took place at the highest levels of Government, business and State-Owned Enterprises. Most of these facts were detailed In Parliament in early 2014 by the then Opposition Leader, Belden Namah. Responses were supplied by the Prime Minister himself, and his office, in a number of statements. All of the PM’s official state

by JONAH IRUM Well, well, well; The Pacific Games are over. Every good thing must come to an end but the walk of life is all about moving on. The excitement and the achievements of the event is now history. When we beat farewell to our wan solwara wantoks the environment in Port Moresby is beginning to slowly adjust into its normal way of life. For the rest of PNG it is business as usual. Since the so called spectacular opening ceremony through to the closing ceremony PNG once again reaffirmed its position as the big boy or bikpla mangi of the Pacific region. The announcement by the Governor General to render assistance to Tonga as the host nation for the 16th Pacific Games come 2019 is yet another commitment from the bikpla mangi besides the financial assistance it rendered to Fiji during its National Elections and to Solomon Islands recently. Anyway, many of us especially the Port Moresby citizens will share many fond memories of the games. The people to people

by BERNADETTE W. WINGERE When the RD Tuna Canners Corporation first set foot in Madang in 1997, the Papua New Guinea government had envisioned that the company would create employments, landowners would get royalties, the spin of businesses will be distributed to the surrounding communities and as a result it will boost the economy and vital service delivery in the country. However, after 18 years of sucking all the resources in PNG soils, the innocent Pilipino girl has grew into a matu (leader) of businesses in the country. First it came as a RD Tuna canner, now she has her sister company RD Fishing PNG Limited and other small contractors from Philippines and they also have great influence in PNG politics and economic systems as well. The company now owns 12 fishing vessels, 7 fishing carriers and it employs more than 3000 people whom she does not see as her strong workforce or the backbone of the company but rather her slaves. During her establishment, the aim was to produce qua

by PAUL J REINBARA The Prime Minister was quoted in the Post Courier of 21st August 2012 as announcing the National Executive Council decision to terminate the K31.52 million Public Service Home Ownership Program (PSHOP) contract and the contractor, Australasia Pacific Panel Limited (AUSPAC), has offered to repay the money in full. Mr O’Neill said significant increases in property development and building costs over the last five years had made it impossible for the contractor to deliver fully serviced land and 200 houses at Eight Mile in the National Capital District. Mr O’Neill commended Australasia Pacific Panel Limited for its offer to repay monies it had received from the State for the PSHOP project. “The vast majority of cancelled contracts with the State end up costing the State millions of Kina. It is to the credit of the contractor and its executives and affiliates that the monies advanced by the State are being repaid in full,” he said Although the announcemen

by YAKAN LEPAKALI This article stems from Sunday Chronicle (July 26 2015) titled “Budget Cut and East Sepik to lose K276 million in 2016”. According to the above article, public machinery in ESP is into crisis management mood to make adjustments and take drastic steps with stringent measures to cut back on unnecessary expenditure and tighten up in readiness for 2016 budget cut. The article merely featured East Sepik Province; however, same is true with the other provinces in the country. Yet, intriguingly, nothing much is heard from the respective provincial administrations and perhaps waiting for the dream rainfall. Should K276 million cut in reality is somewhat true for all provinces, it is to the tune of K6 billion plus. We don’t know yet how many national departments and state institutions will have their share of the cut in 2016 budget. It was also speculated that DSIP will also suffer cut courtesy of this ruthless totalitarian regime. The predictability o