PNGBLOGS

by JUSTICE SEEKA Once upon a time, the township of Mt Hagen was considered as one of the beautiful towns in PNG. Sadly, that is history as we speak. The now Mt Hagen City has turned into a pigsty. The streets are adorned with rubbish. Pocket pickers, rascals, drunkards, and the like riddle the streets and disturb city dwellers, locals and the general public. The informal sector has seen a rapid growth in the last 2years and is slowly but steadily outnumbering business by local farmers and business houses who have contributed largely to the city's initial development. Tribes living on the outskirts of the city, Jigas, Moges, and the like (once owners of the land upon which the city was built) have been grabbing the land acquired by the State from their forefathers and have set up mini structures (illegally on State land) to conduct business. Amidst all this, the sale of pigs in town has become a norm. It is now a major commercial activity! Half of the multi-million kina marke

You may have read today's news concerning the removal of MTSL by the Securities Commission and the appointment of a new company called Oxley Securities to manage PBSL. Apparently, the former CEO of MTSL resigned in July 2018 and formed this new company, which has now been appointed to manage PBSL. It is interesting to note what the Securities Commissioner said about this change, according to the Post Courier:   "Mr Tongayu responded last night that MTSL was insolvent and that the issue was a long standing matter as there had been several failures by Mr Stephens to provide information requested by the Commission, among them, the audited financial statement for Melanesian Trustee Services Limited between 2013 and 2017 and the report on the K6 million loan advanced to a director of the company, and whether repayments to the above loan has been made by the director concern (also include loan agreements, the manner in which repayments are to be made)." IF this statemen

by BLOOMBERG BUSINESS One of Asia’s poorest nations may be about to test the nerves of dollar bond investors in the region at a fraught time, just as concerns about trade and emerging-market contagion mount. Papua New Guinea is set to meet investors from Wednesday for a possible note offering in the U.S. currency, according to a person familiar with the matter. Proceeds of $500 million to $1 billion are expected by the end of September from the inaugural sovereign bond, according to a budget strategy paper dated Aug. 29. The southwest Pacific nation has considered dollar debt offerings since at least 1999 . “With EM sentiment still quite fragile, this seems like a rather peculiar time to bring a low-rated debut issue to the market,” said Nicholas Yap, a desk analyst at Nomura International (HK) Ltd. in Hong Kong. “We believe PNG will have to offer investors a sizeable premium to get any

by Prof RON CROCOMBE For those thinking living under Australia would have been different, you need to understand your own country's history first. Here is an extract from the late Professor of Pacific Studies, a New Zealander by the way: This is a reprint of a 2009 article by the late Pacific academic and commentator MANY of Australia’s colonial and post-colonial policies and practices are a major factor in the problems of Papua New Guinea today, and cause some Papua New Guinean leaders to have serious reservations about their Australian counterparts. Despite being a colony from the 1890s, Australia ensured that Papua did not get its first high school until international pressure led to its opening in 1955. Very few others were built for a long time in a country of similar size and population to New Zealand. Likewise for three generations nothing was done to develop Papua New Guinean leadership, in fact everything was done to block its development and ensure th

by BRYAN KRAMER MP Yesterday afternoon at 6pm I was on Manam Island at Biliau village when I noticed my phone registered five miscalls from Commissioner of Police Gary Baki. Bailiau Village is the same village that the journalists were attacked on Sunday. I was on the Island to carryout out an assessment of the extent of the damages and plight of the Manam people following mas sive eruption on Saturday morning. I was in the middle of speaking to the villagers when the Commissioner called. I also received text message from him. The message read - "Mr. Kramer, its the Police Commissioner, can you answer your phone." I replied sorry I'm on Manam Island in a meeting with the villagers, will call you back in 30 min. Baki replied "You Better". At this point it became clear Baki was calling me in relation to my recent article to file a complaint and proceedings against him over his decision to close the file against Prime Minister Peter O'

by KIN OPSEPA The Board of NBC spearheaded by Chairman Timothy Tala, NBC Management led by Managing Director Kora Nou, and recently appointed Deputy MD Joe Wafewa are in the process of deposing a prime piece of land at Tanatana Street Boroko owned by National Broadcasting Corporation to their business associates. This property at Tanatana Street Boroko accommodates more than 20 employees of NBC and their families, most are Senior Journalist, Broadcasters and Engineers that have loyally given their services to this Organization for more than 20 years. The management of MD Nou had given an eviction notice to the tenants in 2017, however when queried about the alternative plan to accommodate the staff the management failed to provide any, or there was none. The tenants on numerous occasions have pleaded to the management for basic maintenance; however this had been ignored consistently citing funding shortfalls. In June 2018 the property was fenced in arousing suspicion as request fo

by RT HON SIR MEKERE MORAUTA MP Party President Ila Geno, Parliamentary Leader Bryan Kramer, Members of the Executive of Allegiance Party, Leader of the Opposition, Fellow Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to join you tonight to mark the membership card launch of the Allegiance Party. PNC and Peter O’Neill have changed the face of Papua New Guinea in the past seven years. The Papua New Guinea that Michael Somare, Julius Chan, Paias Wingti, Rabbie Namaliu and I helped shape has changed, and changed for the worse. As the 2017 election demonstrated, Papua New Guineans do not want PNC or Peter O’Neill. Papua New Guineans voted for change. But thanks to the gross electoral fraud orchestrated by the Electoral Commissioner, the Police Commissioner, the Governor of the Central Bank and a handful of soldiers and senior public servants, and thanks to the decisions of some of the Members elected who campaigned vehemently against O’Neill but then chose to join h