PNGBLOGS

by MICHAEL J. PASSINGAN Once again the spineless, corrupt, incompetent daily newspapers have failed in their duty as journalists to keep the nation informed. Rather than investigate the Duma scandal, they have published government propaganda, spin, deception and outright lies. Evidence in the public domain and on social media - including this site, PNG Exposed and Niugini Outlook - demonstrates conclusively that State Enterprises Minister William Duma, Defence Minister Fabian Pok and Central Supply and Tenders Board chairman Phillip Eludeme have fraudulently obtained about K50 million from the Defence Force Relocation Program. The evidence was not hard to get. 15 minutes on the IPA site and a couple of Google searches was enough to obtain the details of their fraud. A teaboy could have done the work. There is much more to be uncovered about this scandal, but the people of PNG cannot depend upon the dailies to do the work they are supposed to do. Evidence published by PNG B

by BIRE KIMISOPA MP The economic malaise created by the government is constricting the private sector to the point that it is now sponsoring the gradual destruction of the private sector in Papua New Guinea. Company profits are shrinking, an increase in retrenchment and job losses, a general fall in valuations on businesses, rising cost on consumables as a consequence of the falling kina, and a soaring debt burden where the government is hoping would be paid off by some innocuous tax measure such as the controversial residential accommodation tax. The Central Bank is equally to be blamed for the demise of the private sector given the fiscal failings of this government.  The central bank monetary interventions have exacerbated the pain inflicted on the private sector through the rationing of the foreign currency where it is the sole arbiter between winners and losers in the supply of foreign currency in Papua New Guinea. The managed float of the PNG kina has no end in

JUSTIN TKATCHENKO LEFT AUSTRALIA TO "DO GOOD" IN PNG. HE HAS DONE VERY WELL INDEED, OFF THE BACKS OF THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY: Between him and Powes Parkop and their limitless chequing account to build overpriced infrastructure in Port Moresby, we do believe that Justin Tkatchenko has a fighting chance to push the government's financial situation between now and 2018 just enough to cause the whole house of paper to come tumbling down, right in front of the APEC world leaders. Oh must our Lord Jesus be smiling at the prospects of this heavenly judgment against corruption and evil! Only the perpetually blind or chronically brain dead have failed to wake up to the scam Justin Tkatchenko has been putting on the people of Papua New Guinea, starting with his little landscaping business in the 1990s that seemed to get multimillion kina government contracts much too easily! Now we're seeing that Justin is creating his escape route, a life of leisure down in Brissie

by MICHAEL J. PASSINGAN Prime Minister Peter O’Neill lied to Parliament yesterday when he said he needed a brief on the K50-million fraud by his Minister for State Enterprises, William Duma. Mr O’Neill received a comprehensive brief from the chairman of Kumul Consolidated Holdings, Paul Nerau, two weeks ago, which comprehensively exposed the fraud. A whistleblower within the Department of Prime Minister and NEC has provided PNG Blogs with a copy of Nerau’s report. Instead of immediately reporting the fraud after receiving the report, O’Neill went into cover-up mode, with the assistance of Nerau, to protect themselves and their cronies Duma, Defence Minister Fabian Pok and Central Supply and Tenders Board chairman Phillip Eludeme. The PM and NEC source says Prime Minister refused to refer the matter to the appropriate authorities, including the police and the Ombudsman Commission, instead he tried to sweep the evidence under the carpet. For example he wrote to Kina Bank a

by MICHAEL J. PASSINGAN State Enterprises Minister William Duma is the beneficiary of the K50 million paid for the land at Manu Manu earmarked as the new home of the Defence Force’s Lancron Naval Base. The money was paid in an illegal deal arranged by Kumul Consolidated Holdings late last year. The Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, and the chairman of Kumul Holdings, Paul Nerau, are currently engaged in a desperate cover-up of the deal and a shifting of the blame to senior Kumul Holdings staff. Minister Duma verbally instructed Kumul Holdings to undertake the illegal transaction, with a company called Kurkuramb Estates Ltd. Investigations have revealed the Minister Duma is personally linked to Kurkuramb Estates. At the time of the deal, Kurkuramb Estates address was Section 30 Allotment 6 Granville Port Moresby, according to IPA records. Its Post Office Box number was given as PO Box 556 Port Moresby. Mr Duma’s residential address is Section 30 Allotment 6 Granville Port Mor

JOHN BRIA in 2013 by PATRICK KAIKU Parliament reconvened on Tuesday the 24th of January. It was during this sitting that the Governor of Oro Province, Hon. Gary Juffa during Parliament’s Question Time alerted the Minister for Labor and Industrial Relations to a syndicate operating in the country. Hon. Juffa is perhaps one of the most qualified law-makers in this country. He has standing in Parliament to highlight issues of national security. Prior to going into politics, Governor Juffa was the Commissioner of Customs where he led a professional intelligence-gathering and investigative team. His close relationships with other law-enforcement agencies in the region disrupted transnational criminal entities and personalities. More importantly, Hon. Juffa demonstrated that serious application and enforcement of PNG laws is a profitable endeavor. Through fines and penalty fees to breaches of PNG laws, much-need revenue is raised for the government coffers. With his background in law

by PAUL FLANAGAN SUMMARY The IMF report indicates the O’Neill government has overstated the growth rate in the PNG economy by 12.7 percentage points during its term. Primarily by 5.9 percentage points in 2014 and a further 5.2 percentage points in 2015 (see graph below). The IMF indicates the PNG economy is K6.3 billion smaller in 2017 than claimed by the government (and K5.4 billion smaller in 2016). This means the debt to GDP ratio is 33.5% in both 2016 and 2017 according to the IMF – above the 30% limit set in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The greatest concerns about economic management relate to BPNG’s control of the foreign exchange rate and reserves with more breaches of international norms than admitted. The Governor of the BPNG should explain serious discrepancies between his statements on 25 January (full page adds in the local press on 26 Janaury) and what the IMF report actually stated on 27 January (see below). While commending the government for its actions in

GIANT LOST OPPORTUNITY FOR PNG - THE K6 BILLION EXIM BANK LOAN, SUPPOSEDLY FOR 'HIGHLANDS HIGHWAY REHABILITATION':  In 2012, then Treasury Minister Don Polye, an ignoramus in economics and financing, was asked by then Finance Shadow Minister Joseph Lelang about the massive K6 billion Exim Bank Loan from China. He said: “The K6 billion (US$2.85 billion) loan is equivalent to 70% of the country’s total internal revenue and will increase PNG’s total public debt from K8.6 billion to K14.6 billion.” Polye, PNG's premiere political prostitute and Peter O'Neill's partner in crime at the time, replied that the loan was a sound investment. Now we know better. The Highlands Highway was the main target of the K6 billion Exim Bank loan and big political billboards picturing Peter O'Neill's face went up all along the highlands highway. But the only visible change that ever occurred was in the Markham Valley, the part of the Highlands Highway least likely to suff