PNGBLOGS

by BRYAN KRAMER Prime Minister Peter O'Neill’s infamous lawyer Ms Tiffany Twivey and for-hire political publicist Ms Merrell claim the recent arrest of Deputy Secretary of Treasury Mr. Aloysius Hamou was carried out by rogue cops though intimation and based on political motives. Director of National Fraud & Anti-corruption Directorate Mathew Damaru and his Deputy Timothy Gitua laid formal charges against Mr. Hamou on Thursday 28th January 2016 under Section 92(1) of the Criminal Code (Abuse of Office). He was charged for his alleged part in the illegal procurement (purchase) of two turbine generators for K50 million paid to Israeli company LR Group by the Department of Treasury. I broke the story on social media on Friday afternoon (29/1/16). An immediate response was issued from Ms Merrell and Ms Twivey. This was expected on account that their client, Peter O'Neill, is heavily implicated in the unlawful transaction. Ms Merrell posted a rather conv

by SAM KOIM Is Political stability the main driver of investor confidence? I have been led, and I believe many are, to believe that political stability is needed to give investor confidence and growing the economy. This misconception of synonymising political stability to economic stability has it’s seldom appearances in public grandstanding and political discourses. This is what I've discovered in debunking this illusion. Political stability talks about the length of time a government is in power. In terms of investor confidence, it means the investors can count on the current (negotiating) government for durability and certainty of the current position. Yes, in countries and time periods with a high propensity of government collapse (political instability), growth is significantly lower than otherwise but is it really political instability that really caused decline in growth? Economists may articulate it more clearly than I, but I gather that economic s

by BRYAN KRAMER Deputy Secretary of Treasury Mr. Aloysius Hamou was formally charged by Fraud Squad yesterday (28/1/16) for allegedly approving and facilitating the unlawful procurement of K50 million to purchase two turbine generators. The funds were drawn from the Department of Treasury back in December 2013 at the direction of Secretary of Treasury, Dairi Vele acting on the instructions of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill. Hamou w as charged under Section 91(1)(b) of Criminal Code, (False Claims by Officials). The provision states that a person employed in the Public Service who makes a return or statement touching any such matter that is, to his knowledge, false in any material particular, is guilty of a misdemeanour. Penalty: Imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years. Current Secretary of Treasury Dairi Vele is also facing criminal charges in relation to the same matter after the District Court issued a warrant for his arrest in July 2015. To-date V

by BRYAN KRAMER Both the Post Courier and National newspapers published prominent articles last week (22/1/16) that the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, had been bestowed with the "prestigious" fellow membership award of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) of Australia. The Post Courier ran the headline "O’Neill bestowed with prestigious award" while the National published "O'Neill awarded for economic input". The story originated from a press statement released by the Prime Minister's office announcing ICMA to be a well-recognised institute which is associated with the Jubilee University of Papua New Guinea. O'Neill was presented the award after being nominated by former Finance Secretary Thaddeus Kambanei the now head of Jubilee University. Mr Kambanei nominated Mr. O'Neill in recognition of "…the valuable work he has done furthering the economy of PNG and for his support to the accounting profession through

by BRYAN KRAMER Post Courier ran a front page article, "Voter Rights Abused", which quoted Member for Ijiviatri, David Arore's claims that election petitions infringe on the rights of voters and called for an urgent amendment to the law. "It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed in the conduct of elections as per the Organic Law on General Elections," he said. "You talk about the rights of the candidates but what about the rights of the voters. Isn't that abusing and questioning their rights? They should also take the candidates to court for denying their rights to vote a leader of their choice." "..We need to change the laws and I will take it up before Parliament to have these laws amended so we do not have unnecessary courts of disputes and by-elections. Make them tighter so that laws are not abused for the convenience of a few people who want to disrupt service delivery and infringe on the rights of the people. We need to

PNGBLOGS The awarding of contract of the construction of the new Supreme and National Court Complex in Waigani worth K430 million is being heavily politicised and the awarding of the contract by NEC for unknown reasons has been delayed for two months now. Although It has been budgeted in the 2016 budget and planned to be completed before the APEC Conference in Port Moresby in 2018. The awarding of the contract went through the the bureaucratic process by going through the Central Supply and Tenders Board before being submitted to the National Executive Council (NEC) it's recommendation. The NEC submission in awarding a contract of the construction of the Supreme and National Court complex in Waigani is based on Supply and Tender Boards submission while in turn is based on careful and professional technical and financial assessment. CSTB have shortlisted 3 very qualified and experienced bidders that we're recommended to NEC. And they are in preference from 1- 3; 1.China Rail

by JAMES PERIAP Ban on Import should be the Last Act in the line of protecting local farmers. Firstly, there should be a policy on developing the agriculture sector. To this date, we do not know what is the agriculture policy and how far has that been implemented and where. Secondly, and consistent with the supposed policy, there should be a growth in the domestic supply with emphasis on quality to substitute the market currently taken by the imported vegetables. The majority of our people are subsistence farmers but not yet sustainable commercial farmers.  The only known commercial farmer is the Nine Mile Hydroponic farm operated by controversial Israeli company –LR Group. This company was involved in the controversial and illegal purchase of the two second hand generators for PNG Power Ltd from Israel that are now collecting dust and never being used. The generators were purchased at the cost of K144 million. The Prime Minister defended this illegal and fraudulent transaction. Alr