PNGBLOGS

by  Therow Zuaru ‎ The economy of the world and the way money is valued, is one of the biggest scams of the universe. Money and wealth are naturally backed by mineral resources, land, and basically physical commodities such as precious metals. But in Papua New Guinea, it is not so. It has created a view on national success as putting priority budget areas on financial assistance. It is amusing to watch our politicians continue to become researchers researching into international financial schemes like WB, IMF, Exim Bank, ADB, EU, Ausaid, UBS, EU for soft loans development funds, financial aid to survive. Virtually for almost 45 years these financial institutions have been the proud sponsor for Papua New Guinea existence. Papua New Guinea has been recipient of foreign assistance since independence and prepare our budgets factoring the aid dynamics into them. Important issue we must look at is the financial assistance has obviously been a primordial source of income for many Papu

[Press Release by Rt Hon Sir Mekere Morauta] Prime Minister Peter O’Neill should stand down and submit himself to an independent external inquiry into very serious allegations of personal and corporate impropriety. The allegations concern his then wholly-owned construction company Wild Cat Developments Ltd and a bridge-building contract with the Asian Development Bank. The bank investigated the contract and found it to be improperly and incompletely implemented by Mr O’Neill’s company. The bank found proper tender processes had not been followed, rigging of the tender process, misrepresentation, financial management deficiencies, potential integrity violations, serious procurement irregularities, contravention of contract terms, and lack of qualification to tender. Reports by the Guardian newspaper and the PNGi network state that the 2015-2016 project in West New Britain Province “was fraught with problems, requiring the ADB to temporarily stop payments and send in inspector

by MICHAEL J. PASSINGAN Many have asked the questions who paid for the 40 Maserati cars that will be used during APEC? Word on the street is that there is a certain expat in Department of Works (name withheld) who originally from Sri Lanka looks after awarding of donor-funded projects. He is the person that PM O'Neil deals directly in any awarding of contracts. The person has a great connection with many influential people and donors around the world. A few months back, a Tender for Highlands Highway Rehabilitation Investment Project (HHRIP) was organised by the DoW with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at a circa K3.0 billion kina to fund the rehabilitation of the highlands highway. Most of the top Engineering companies such as Cardno, SMEC, China Railway Construction, those with exceptional qualification and PNG experience were overlooked with the tender awarded to the Italian Firm - Bonifica. It appears the firm was promised of paying for the Maserati wi

by PAUL FLANAGAN PNG’s new government is proposing a 100 day plan. What should this consider? A good plan begins by fully understanding the challenges and opportunities facing its people. This understanding is improved by seeing how one is going relative to neighbours (comparative public policy analysis). The list below from the ADB highlights that PNG still faces massive development challenges. It is saddening to see PNG’s poor rankings. PNG’s politicians have been failing their people. On opportunities, PNG leads the world in key areas such as its cultural richness (1st), the extent of its tropical forests (3rd for the entire island), and its extraordinary biodiversity (PNG is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world). In terms of mineral and petroleum wealth, it actually does fairly poorly – even in LNG its ranks 47 th and petroleum 62 nd (details below). In going forward, PNG needs to change its self-image of “mountains of gold in seas of oil”. This myth (at least i

NATIONAL BUDGET SPOOKS PRIVATE BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT IN PNG   by WILSON TALAG Economist Paul Flanagan's recent remarks that appeared in PNG Blogs and elsewhere highlight 8 key areas of what looks to be looming financial disaster.  Mr Flanagan's enlightening report is the basis for this discussion and why the performance of each one of the key areas has started to  spook business and investors.  The seriousness of PNG’s current financial situation is becoming very clear.   A little over a week ago the government came very close to failing to come up with the year end public servant pay.  This near disaster occurred despite supplementary budgets designed to avoid such unexpected money shortages.   Another red flag flying high and warning that behind the scenes, PNG's finances are rapidly deteriorating under the O'Neill government. The 8 key areas of concern are (1) Government lies over the actual size and growth of the PNG economy, (2) Discrepancies  ove

PNGNEWS It's not the first time, Fred Konga is in the spotlight on social media. Many serious allegations were made against Fred Konga in September last year here on PNG NEWS and a major investigation called for. Firstly it was alleged that the Border Development Authority (BDA) Executive Chairman Mr Fred Konga diverted a contract to a company that was not recommended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide brown and white goods to refurbish the newly built houses at Wutung station. Other allegations made at the time are as follows: "The 32 houses built at Wutung are funded under the K90 million loan obtained from the Asian Development Bank. These houses were allocated to all the Border Agencies. The BDA Tendering committee followed stringent procurement ADB guidelines to award the Contract to Suppliers who met ADB’s requirements." "Out of the evaluation process two prominent companies (Brian Bell, Courts and Theodist were shortlisted). These companies of

THE FINANCIAL Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Asian Development Bank on February 25 signed a loan worth $57.3 million to reduce power shortages in urban areas. The Secretary for the Department of Treasury, Simon Tosali, Chief Executive Officer of PNG Power Limited Tony Koiri, and Officer-in-Charge of the Asian Development Bank 's (ADB) Papua New Guinea Resident Mission Allan Lee signed the loan. The signing ceremony was held at PNG Power's headquarters in Port Moresby. Julianna Kubak, Acting Deputy Secretary-Policy, Department of National Planning and Monitoring, was Master of Ceremonies for the event. ADB's loan to the state power utility, PNG Power Ltd, will fund renewable energy facilities, including run-of-the-river hydropower plant and transmission systems in urban centers in PNG. Only about 10% of PNG's population of 6.5 million has access to grid power, which is largely confined to urban areas. Some provinces suffer regular outages, adversely affecting businesses

THE FINANCIAL Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Asian Development Bank on February 25 signed a loan worth $57.3 million to reduce power shortages in urban areas. The Secretary for the Department of Treasury, Simon Tosali, Chief Executive Officer of PNG Power Limited Tony Koiri, and Officer-in-Charge of the Asian Development Bank 's (ADB) Papua New Guinea Resident Mission Allan Lee signed the loan. The signing ceremony was held at PNG Power's headquarters in Port Moresby. Julianna Kubak, Acting Deputy Secretary-Policy, Department of National Planning and Monitoring, was Master of Ceremonies for the event. ADB's loan to the state power utility, PNG Power Ltd, will fund renewable energy facilities, including run-of-the-river hydropower plant and transmission systems in urban centers in PNG. Only about 10% of PNG's population of 6.5 million has access to grid power, which is largely confined to urban areas. Some provinces suffer regular outages, adversely affecting busin