PNGBLOGS

Former Attorney General of Papua New Guinea warns potential investors – Nautilus is a risky deal! PAPUA NEW GUINEA | Sir Arnold Amet, former Attorney General and Minister for Justice of PNG has joined the growing opposition against Nautilus Minerals Solwara 1 deep sea mining project in the Bismarck Sea. “It is understandable that Nautilus shareholders want to protect their own financial interests but new investors should beware – the Solwara 1 project is very high risk” said Sir Amet. “The muddy puddle at the so-called test site at Motukea Island is not fit for purpose. It will not provide any evidence that these machines won’t malfunction at the intended operating depth of 1.6 km. The hulks are already deteriorating in our tropical conditions.” Canadian company Nautilus is still desperately seeking funds for its flagship Solwara 1 deep sea mining project. Commercial operation has been delayed year after year since it received its licence to mine the floor of the Bi

by IAN S JOHNS The National Broadcasting Corporation(NBC) has been an iconic institution ever since the pre-independence era. It is the largest media organization in PNG. This organization has provided vital news and information through its broadcast to the general population such as Government policies, the school program broadcast, current affairs, sporting news, health information, entertainment, weather reports and much more. The population of this country has been kept abreast with vital information from NBC over the last 40 years. This once prime media organization has seen its demise in the last decade since the exit of MD Dr. Ninkama. Successive management has further pushed this organization deeper into oblivion. The current management had its acting Managing Director is confirmed by the cabinet to the position for a period of 3 years, the MD and his new batch of senior management inclusive of the Board were seen as the savior of this organization. However, this is on

by PNG BLOGS 1. Marked Boxes in Kandrian Gloucester in West New Britain were set aside and not counted for Sunday polling WHEREAS all boxes containing votes cast on Sunday for Ialibu Pangia Electorate in Southern Highlands were counted and the winner declared. 2. NCD Election Manager was caught red-handed with more than K180,000 cash and marked ballot papers with a purported agreement between a candidate. Secretary for Finance who administered funding for elections stated that all payments of allowances for electoral officials were directly remitted to their bank accounts WHEREAS Gamato claimed the substantial cash was for allowances for election officials (in a metropolitan area where most have their personal bank accounts???). 3. Joseph Tonde’s declaration for the Port Moresby North East Electorate was rejected because the Returning Officer was not the one on duty WHEREAS Nick Kuman’s declaration by a dead Returning Officer for Gumine Open was accepted. 4. William Duma’

THE TRUE STORY OF THE UBS LOAN AND OTHER DEALS BETWEEN THE O’NEILL GOVERNMENT AND OIL SEARCH Part 2 – Sweetheart  deals cost taxpayers and landowners BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN SINGAPORE Comments by Oil Search executives and directors at the company’s annual general meeting earlier this year raise serious concerns about its knowledge of many specific instances of corruption in Papua New Guinea relating to its business, and its corporate behaviour. These instances are separate to the illegal UBS Loan which Oil Search helped to arrange, as detailed in Part 1 How Peter O’Neill and Peter Botten cost Papua New Guinea at least K1 billion. Some of these issues were the subject of questions in in the Australian Senate, but no satisfactory answers were provided by the Australian officials responsible. For example landowners in the PNG LNG project are owed hundreds of millions of kina in royalty payments and other entitlements, much of which is paid to the Government by Oil Se

by DAVID LEPI Whilst the recent Oil Search share offloading by the government is attracting a vast array of discussions that are now gaining momentum by the day and the Prime Minister said to make public the facts surrounding the share sales perhaps it might be good we go back where all things started and take a look at the chronology of events. IPIC Loan It started in 2009 from what is known as the largest investment decision ever made by any PNG government. The Somare led government was investing in the 11 billion Exon-Mobil led LNG project in taking up equity of 16.8 percent by borrowing 1.68 billion Australian dollars from a little-known fund called International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) in the Middle Eastern oil state of Abu Dhabi. This took place at a time when the economy was feeling the global credit crunch and a dramatic drop in commodities prices that had made finding funds for new resource projects very uncertain. Arthur Somare, the then state enterprise m

BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN SINGAPORE Part 1 – How Peter O’Neill and Peter Botten cost Papua New Guinea at least K1 billion The Oil Search Annual General Meeting in Port Moresby earlier this year confirmed that the company is acutely aware of the extent of corruption in the Papua New Guinea government of Peter O’Neill. Oil Search executives privately commented to attendees after the AGM closed that "... everything here in PNG is corrupt …" “… the government is so corrupt …”, "… PNG has a lot of corruption issues …" and others in similar vein. The cost of O’Neill Government corruption is high, estimated to be several billion kina a year. Now the contribution of Oil Search’s own questionable dealings with the O’Neill Government has come under public scrutiny. Late last month stockmarket trading announcements revealed that the nation has lost at least K1 billion in an illegal sweetheart deal organised in secret between Prime Minister O’Neill and O

by Belden N. Namah MP As in the game of Chess, O'Neill’s opening in assuming power was indeed truly remarkable because people like me made it possible. While he did not take us all to the moon it was still a remarkable ride. Two major loss he suffered recently may perhaps lead to the beginning of his end game. The two major losses he suffered recently are of his own making. First, by dragging his foot on an Electronic Election with the hope of influencing the outcome of the 2017 O'Neill woke up after the 2017 election results started coming in to see his majority in Parliament decimated from 60 members to only 23. We also saw for the first time under his leadership unprecedented level of election-related violence in the Capital of all the highlands Provinces with over 25 deaths and millions in losses and damages to property. The election violence continues unabated today in his own Capital of Mendi where he remains powerless in restoring normalcy and where the enti