PNGBLOGS

by FRANK MENEM JR Our forefathers were the first celebrated people on earth to have toiled the land and farm the upper Wahgi Valley. We have survived without any resources apart from our land from which we cultivate and propagate our fresh vegetables and green coffee beans. Those legendary men and women were among the prominent Highlanders to embrace the ‘white men’ during the wave of civilization. They were classified as the first known primitives who were hospitable and capable of forging lasting relationships with the Europeans. Our people were classified as permanently rich in culture and abundantly wealthy by the first Europeans. A Catholic Missionary had this to write about our people; “The Hagen people of the Wagi raised pigs in abundance and at times, they would even slaughter up to a thousand in a day for their neighbors or allies to celebrate or mark their relationship”. During the migration epochs after the onset of the Leahy brothers, we had more than a

by JACOB PARAKISAN Australian Government inaction on money-laundering by corrupt Papua New Guinea politicians, their business cronies and government officials has once again been exposed by the spotlight of publicity. Evidence given in a Singapore corruption hearing shows that former Prime Minister Michael Somare and his son Arthur used bribe money to pay off residential properties bought in Cairns a few years earlier. The deal, in which Somare was secretly paid $US784,000 (K2.3 million), involved the laundering by Somare and his accomplices of $US3.6 million (K10 million) intended for setting up community colleges in PNG. The court established that the $US784,000 was deposited in Somare’s Standard Chartered bank account in three payments, labelled “housing”. One of those convicted in the Singapore money-laundering case told the court that "if you don’t pay to the PM PNG you will not be able to get business from PNG.”  Singaporean Lim Ai Wah, who was sentenced to fi

by MICHAEL J PASSINGAN Recent attempts to transfer money from Papua New Guinea to Australia highlight growing concerns about money-laundering between the two countries. The Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, transferred K200 million to Australia late last year, and shortly afterwards one of his special lady friends, Ni Cragnolini, transferred K50 million. Some years before more than K100 million of public funds was washed through the Commonwealth Bank in Lismore, NSW, in a self-evidently illegal transaction. The Australian authorities refused to take action on this transfer when requested to do so by PNG. Indeed, the then Australian Treasurer, Wayne Swan, did not even bother to reply to requests for action. It is not known whether AUSTRAC, Australia’s money-laundering watchdog, stopped the latest transfers, or whether it even knew about them. It is not known whether the PNG and Australian banks involved reported the transactions as possibly suspicious. The chances are t