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Legends Of Sonoma

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By GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA MP Sonoma was an old man who was well known for his legends. That’s what we grew up reading, in the Times, a PNG newspaper of yesteryear which featured PNG legends. Sonoma told many legends that explained the existence of various geographic anomalies or creatures and their relationship towards each other. His stories were entertaining. I reflected today about legends. I myself grew up like many other Papua New Guineans enthralled and entertained by legends by the fireside. It made me think of a modern day legend. Well not really a legend, but I thought it would be an interesting way to begin this Sunday rant. A National Security Policy is being developed by Papua New Guinea. This is according to recent media reports. One wonders why it took 30 years. One would imagine that such a policy would have been designed and developed immediately after independence. National Security is fundamental to economic progress for any nation as its primary intention is to ensure i

Australian kiaps for 89 districts

IMPLEMENTATION of basic social services like health and education, and basic infrastructure – access roads, bridges, jetties and wharves – has been one of PNG’s biggest problems since independence in 1975. In fact this is one of the main reasons why PNG is currently facing a whole range of development issues or challenges – lack of business opportunities for the people; poverty; poor standards of living and quality of life; high maternal and infant deaths; deaths from TB, malaria, breast and cervical cancer and the list goes on. Imagine the hundreds of millions of kina that have gone to waste over the years, simply because the country’s principal implementation agency – the Public Service – has failed to provide the manpower – public servants – to do the job. We have the Provincial Administrators who are responsible for provincial administrations at each provincial centre. The PAs are assisted by Principal Advisors of divisions like Health, Education, Agriculture & Livestock, Comme

Australian kiaps for 89 districts

IMPLEMENTATION of basic social services like health and education, and basic infrastructure – access roads, bridges, jetties and wharves – has been one of PNG’s biggest problems since independence in 1975. In fact this is one of the main reasons why PNG is currently facing a whole range of development issues or challenges – lack of business opportunities for the people; poverty; poor standards of living and quality of life; high maternal and infant deaths; deaths from TB, malaria, breast and cervical cancer and the list goes on. Imagine the hundreds of millions of kina that have gone to waste over the years, simply because the country’s principal implementation agency – the Public Service – has failed to provide the manpower – public servants – to do the job. We have the Provincial Administrators who are responsible for provincial administrations at each provincial centre. The PAs are assisted by Principal Advisors of divisions like Health, Education, Agriculture & Livestock,

How Our Government is Taxing Us Like Foreigners!

By NATHAN DINGU You all must be pretty tired of this topic being repeated so often without anything being done about it but hey, the more we talk about it, expose it and ridicule it – sooner or later something will be done about it. So let me show you how our government is taxing its own citizens similar to that of foreigners or even more so. We have a so called minimum wage limit set at K8000.00, but hey, it is only for that group of people. The rest of us have to face the full brunt of the TAX man. Yes, all Papua New Guineans are taxed at a 30% flat rate right across (that is, if you are not married). This literally means that out of every K1000 you earn – we are subject to pay K300 to the government for its so called services. Yes that is ONLY 10% less than an expatriate would but we all know that all expatriates are exempted from paying tax because the companies who bring them in pay for their TAXES! What makes me sick about the above is that the tax rate is simply flat – our gover

How Our Government is Taxing Us Like Foreigners!

By NATHAN DINGU You all must be pretty tired of this topic being repeated so often without anything being done about it but hey, the more we talk about it, expose it and ridicule it – sooner or later something will be done about it. So let me show you how our government is taxing its own citizens similar to that of foreigners or even more so. We have a so called minimum wage limit set at K8000.00, but hey, it is only for that group of people. The rest of us have to face the full brunt of the TAX man. Yes, all Papua New Guineans are taxed at a 30% flat rate right across (that is, if you are not married). This literally means that out of every K1000 you earn – we are subject to pay K300 to the government for its so called services. Yes that is ONLY 10% less than an expatriate would but we all know that all expatriates are exempted from paying tax because the companies who bring them in pay for their TAXES! What makes me sick about the above is that the tax rate is simply flat – ou

PNG can be a regional leader, says Bob Carr

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has looked to the government of Peter O'Neill to help carve out a greater regional leadership role for Papua New Guinea, and hailed the mid-year elections as a beacon of democracy for developing nations. Senator Carr, who will attend the Australia PNG Ministerial Forum in Port Moresby tomorrow, backed Mr O'Neill's call to establish an anti-corruption commission and unveiled further health and education assistance. In his first visit to PNG as foreign minister, Senator Carr said the forum would also discuss how Australian aid must be recalibrated to assist the initiatives of the O'Neill government, particularly in building health and education capacities. "I think Papua New Guinea no longer has to hide its light under a bushel. The fact that it's adhered to the democratic past without veering off is a great advertisement for it and its people and its leadership," he said. Touching down in a western highland province yesterday morni

PNG can be a regional leader, says Bob Carr

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has looked to the government of Peter O'Neill to help carve out a greater regional leadership role for Papua New Guinea, and hailed the mid-year elections as a beacon of democracy for developing nations. Senator Carr, who will attend the Australia PNG Ministerial Forum in Port Moresby tomorrow, backed Mr O'Neill's call to establish an anti-corruption commission and unveiled further health and education assistance. In his first visit to PNG as foreign minister, Senator Carr said the forum would also discuss how Australian aid must be recalibrated to assist the initiatives of the O'Neill government, particularly in building health and education capacities. "I think Papua New Guinea no longer has to hide its light under a bushel. The fact that it's adhered to the democratic past without veering off is a great advertisement for it and its people and its leadership," he said. Touching down in a western highland province yesterday morni

Powi intends to regulate social media.

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THE use of social media is instigating social unrest and political stand-offs in the country and needs to be regulated, a parliamentarian says. Southern Highlands Governor William Powi said people with malicious intent had been posting discriminatory and defamatory messages and circulating them using social media. Powi said that was becoming a concern and something should be done to regulate the use of social media in the country. Several leaders in the country had raised concern on the abuse of social media in the country and called on regulatory measures to be enforced. Powi made the comment after rumours of dubious payments being made to several people by his government were circulated around the country through messages using social media. He said he was unaware of and had not instructed anyone to make such payments. He warned people to be responsible and not to use social media to tarnish his reputation. “I’m not aware of any dubious payment from finance. “This is a malicious atta

Powi intends to regulate social media.

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THE use of social media is instigating social unrest and political stand-offs in the country and needs to be regulated, a parliamentarian says. Southern Highlands Governor William Powi said people with malicious intent had been posting discriminatory and defamatory messages and circulating them using social media. Powi said that was becoming a concern and something should be done to regulate the use of social media in the country. Several leaders in the country had raised concern on the abuse of social media in the country and called on regulatory measures to be enforced. Powi made the comment after rumours of dubious payments being made to several people by his government were circulated around the country through messages using social media. He said he was unaware of and had not instructed anyone to make such payments. He warned people to be responsible and not to use social media to tarnish his reputation. “I’m not aware of any dubious payment from finance. “This is a malicious a

PNG working on infrastructure and corruption

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Papua New Guinea (PNG) is working on improving its infrastructure and stamping out corruption, which will make it a more attractive place to do business, its Prime Minister says. Peter O'Neill also told a mining conference in Sydney on Monday that the PNG political environment had continued to stabilise since the elections earlier this year. He said the improved political stability would be of benefit to the resource companies seeking to do business in the country. "We have established a very strong and very stable political environment," he told the conference. "We will soon make it stronger and more stable." Mr O'Neill said the new government was also working hard to stamp out corruption, which was often an impediment to business, and had set up a taskforce to tackle the problem. "We will take an uncompromising stand against corruption that our people are now demanding," he said. "I will not pretend we can eliminate corruption completely but

PNG working on infrastructure and corruption

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Papua New Guinea (PNG) is working on improving its infrastructure and stamping out corruption, which will make it a more attractive place to do business, its Prime Minister says. Peter O'Neill also told a mining conference in Sydney on Monday that the PNG political environment had continued to stabilise since the elections earlier this year. He said the improved political stability would be of benefit to the resource companies seeking to do business in the country. "We have established a very strong and very stable political environment," he told the conference. "We will soon make it stronger and more stable." Mr O'Neill said the new government was also working hard to stamp out corruption, which was often an impediment to business, and had set up a taskforce to tackle the problem. "We will take an uncompromising stand against corruption that our people are now demanding," he said. "I will not pretend we can eliminate corrupti

PAPUA NEW GUINEAS ENERGY SECTORS FUTURE IS BURNING BRIGHT – BUT FOR WHO?

By GOVERNOR GARRY JUFFA, MP In December from the 3rd -0 5th, 2012, the 12th PNG – Australia Gas and Petroleum Conference will be held in Sydney, NSW, Australia, organized by the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum. It will be held at the prestigious Sydney Hilton and once more all manner of people involved in the gas and petroleum industry in Papua New Guinea, either directly or indirectly will be there networking, hoping to impress one another with what they know, or who they are or who they know. There will be many current and ex politicians from PNG and Australia even, experts, gurus on this and that and econometricians, geologists, engineers, lawyers and accountants and so forth. There will be middlemen and agents, those who actually mine and those who mine the stock exchanges around the world, boosting their shares up with great news from the last frontier. In fact there will also be many experts on PNG, some who have actually lived there, some are even Papua New Guinean. Again, th

Questionable purchases, PNG MPs and Government workers living it up in Queensland

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POMAT MANUAI, CEO Border Development Authority It is tough surviving on a government wage in Port Moresby these days! Makes you wonder how public servants like Pomat Manuai (Border Development Authority) can find K750,000 for a flashy apartment in Cairns! When he is not sweating it out in Port Moresby Pomat and his family take refuge in their “large 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom luxury apartments with large patios”. The apartment is handily position in a “great location very close to Cairns CBD, Hospital, Tafe and Cairns Central Shopping Centre Kepis Wali, ex-MD of the Mineral Resource Authority, owns this K850,000 home in Cairns Kepis Wali is not just another public servant struggling to survive in the high cost environment of Papua New Guinea’s capital city, Port Moresby. No, Kepis is not struggling at all. As well as being able to afford life in the capital, Kepis Wali has enough money left over for a K850,000 kina house in the Cairns suburb of Bentley Park. It seems handing out Mining Leas

Questionable purchases, PNG MPs and Government workers living it up in Queensland

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POMAT MANUAI, CEO Border Development Authority It is tough surviving on a government wage in Port Moresby these days! Makes you wonder how public servants like Pomat Manuai (Border Development Authority) can find K750,000 for a flashy apartment in Cairns! When he is not sweating it out in Port Moresby Pomat and his family take refuge in their “large 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom luxury apartments with large patios”. The apartment is handily position in a “great location very close to Cairns CBD, Hospital, Tafe and Cairns Central Shopping Centre Kepis Wali, ex-MD of the Mineral Resource Authority, owns this K850,000 home in Cairns Kepis Wali is not just another public servant struggling to survive in the high cost environment of Papua New Guinea’s capital city, Port Moresby. No, Kepis is not struggling at all. As well as being able to afford life in the capital, Kepis Wali has enough money left over for a K850,000 kina house in the Cairns suburb of Bentley Park. It se

LAND IS THE UMBILICAL CORD

By CHRISTOPHER PAPIALI I read with interest the profound views expressed by Dr. Charles Yala of National Research Institute. Land use, mobilization and converting land into viable economic corridors is a way forward for this country. Land to most respects is our umbilical cord, the very nerve centre that connects to everything from culture, family, clan and business and therefore it transcends at the highest peak of our societal living. PNG unlike the rest of the world continue to face daunting challenges relating to land. Our efforts to maximizing the land use potential was overwhelmingly discussed almost two decades ago when the previous government regimes discussed ways to grab hold of all customary/traditional land and transferring to the state. I am led to the efforts made by Loani Henao Lawyers some years ago, when this law firm was engaged by the government at that time to draft the policy surrounding the Land Mobilization Act and for obvious reasons there was widespread opposit

LAND IS THE UMBILICAL CORD

By CHRISTOPHER PAPIALI I read with interest the profound views expressed by Dr. Charles Yala of National Research Institute. Land use, mobilization and converting land into viable economic corridors is a way forward for this country. Land to most respects is our umbilical cord, the very nerve centre that connects to everything from culture, family, clan and business and therefore it transcends at the highest peak of our societal living. PNG unlike the rest of the world continue to face daunting challenges relating to land. Our efforts to maximizing the land use potential was overwhelmingly discussed almost two decades ago when the previous government regimes discussed ways to grab hold of all customary/traditional land and transferring to the state. I am led to the efforts made by Loani Henao Lawyers some years ago, when this law firm was engaged by the government at that time to draft the policy surrounding the Land Mobilization Act and for obvious reasons there was widesprea

GOLD'S COSTLY DIVIDEND: THE PORGERA JOINT VENTURE

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GOLD'S COSTLY DIVIDEND: THE PORGERA JOINT VENTURE

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Is PNG’s national security ok?

WE pose this question because according to Ian Jinga, the Director-General of the Office of Security Coordination and Assessment which comes under the Department of the Prime Minister and National Executive Council, Papua New Guinea’s national security is stable and manageable. This was Mr Jinga’s conclusion when he delivered an update on PNG’s national security situation to the 10th meeting of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Sub-Committee on Security in Port Moresby last Thursday, November 21. Present at the meeting was the Director General of the MSG Secretariat and Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu delegates and a representative of the FLNKS or Kanak Liberation Front of New Caledonia. Mr Jinga told his colleagues about PNG’s political impasse of 2011/2012 and the national election and how the country came out on top of these two critical events. He said: “… One of our main problems is prudent management of our limited resources to address many of our developmental challenges wh

Is PNG’s national security ok?

WE pose this question because according to Ian Jinga, the Director-General of the Office of Security Coordination and Assessment which comes under the Department of the Prime Minister and National Executive Council, Papua New Guinea’s national security is stable and manageable. This was Mr Jinga’s conclusion when he delivered an update on PNG’s national security situation to the 10th meeting of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Sub-Committee on Security in Port Moresby last Thursday, November 21. Present at the meeting was the Director General of the MSG Secretariat and Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu delegates and a representative of the FLNKS or Kanak Liberation Front of New Caledonia. Mr Jinga told his colleagues about PNG’s political impasse of 2011/2012 and the national election and how the country came out on top of these two critical events. He said: “… One of our main problems is prudent management of our limited resources to address many of our developmental challenges

The Boss and Master mentality must Be Eradicated

By NATHAN DINGU While there are many Papua New Guineans rising right to the top of the corporate ladder in many institutions in PNG, I believe we are still more or less spectators especially in decision making in Papua New Guinea! First and foremost, while privatization has been seen as the ‘way’ forward – how many of the ‘privatized’ firms will see a Papua New Guinean as the top manager i.e. Chief Executive Officer within the next five years. We have many industries today in PNG and top firms in almost all sectors including mining, oil and gas, banking etc – how many of these have a training program that has an emphasis on training Papua New Guineans to lead these industries in this new millennium? Indeed, we certainly do need certain expertise where Papua New Guineans cannot do certain themselves. However do we need it all of the time? Certainly not and I believe you will agree with me especially when there are so many students of so many schools attaining the highest level including