PNGBLOGS

TUNGUBE IGINI AFTER adjourning parliament, the government thought it would be safe to continue until 2012. But PNG is the land of the unexpected and its politics is unpredictable.  The URP and NA marriage is cracking after James Marape was appointed Hela Transitional Authority (HTA) chairman. It was bitter for Governor Anderson Agiru, who just returned from New York after delivering the gas agreement. With Sir Puka Temu out of the way, Sir Michael Somare will now have to contend with Agiru. With that in mind, two things may happen. NA must now accommodate URP’s demands or face a vote of no-confidence. Either way, it will be costly for NA. Whatever happens, the Hela people and the LNG project proponents will feel the impact and Agiru and Sir Michael must know that good things like the Hela gas comes from God. Corruption, hijacking and manipulation are not God’s ways and rewards. Hela sons Agiru and Marape must put Hela’s interest first before politics. The proposed province and Hela gas

TUNGUBE IGINI AFTER adjourning parliament, the government thought it would be safe to continue until 2012. But PNG is the land of the unexpected and its politics is unpredictable.  The URP and NA marriage is cracking after James Marape was appointed Hela Transitional Authority (HTA) chairman. It was bitter for Governor Anderson Agiru, who just returned from New York after delivering the gas agreement. With Sir Puka Temu out of the way, Sir Michael Somare will now have to contend with Agiru. With that in mind, two things may happen. NA must now accommodate URP’s demands or face a vote of no-confidence. Either way, it will be costly for NA. Whatever happens, the Hela people and the LNG project proponents will feel the impact and Agiru and Sir Michael must know that good things like the Hela gas comes from God. Corruption, hijacking and manipulation are not God’s ways and rewards. Hela sons Agiru and Marape must put Hela’s interest first before politics. The proposed province and Hel

OP/ED Students at two schools in the Highlands will now go without their teachers because they were killed in a tribal fight at Minj in the Western Highlands. In that fight, Police tell us that guns were used. On the same day, three villagers from Kandep walked into our office in Mt Hagen and told us that some 300 firearms are in the hands of communities who are engaged in a conflict. They revealed that over 75 men have been killed in the conflict that has raged for a number of years. The breakdown of law and order, the proliferation of violence now increasingly blamed on guns, and the inability of the Police or the courts to exercise authority because of various reasons, are more obvious features in PNG today. According to Police, there is overwhelming evidence to show that major crimes over the last 15 years or more have been exacerbated by the use of illegal guns. Tribal fighting, robbery, break and enter and murder involve the use of guns. We can therefore assume that without guns,

OP/ED Students at two schools in the Highlands will now go without their teachers because they were killed in a tribal fight at Minj in the Western Highlands. In that fight, Police tell us that guns were used. On the same day, three villagers from Kandep walked into our office in Mt Hagen and told us that some 300 firearms are in the hands of communities who are engaged in a conflict. They revealed that over 75 men have been killed in the conflict that has raged for a number of years. The breakdown of law and order, the proliferation of violence now increasingly blamed on guns, and the inability of the Police or the courts to exercise authority because of various reasons, are more obvious features in PNG today. According to Police, there is overwhelming evidence to show that major crimes over the last 15 years or more have been exacerbated by the use of illegal guns. Tribal fighting, robbery, break and enter and murder involve the use of guns. We can therefore assume that without g

JAMES MONDOLAME The $16 billion Exxon Mobil-led LNG project is hyped to double PNG's gross domestic product with at least 30 years of gas sales to Asian buyers once it comes on line after 2014, but now we hear there is carnage and continued tension amongst landowners. Only yesterday the National reported that a raiding party consisting of frustrated landowners who were overlooked for employment and spin-off benefits raised fears about this project when they attacked and burnt equipment belonging to a company tied with the developer. This raises a lot of questions to everyone including myself, was there proper social mapping done to ensure everyone who lived on the project were accounted for? We need development, we do, but development that is carried out without properly assessing everyone affected affects us all. Since the Oil in Kutubu started flowing out of the Southern Highlands Province in1989, we have not seen anything as a footprint left by the oil and gas giant Chevron. Not

JAMES MONDOLAME The $16 billion Exxon Mobil-led LNG project is hyped to double PNG's gross domestic product with at least 30 years of gas sales to Asian buyers once it comes on line after 2014, but now we hear there is carnage and continued tension amongst landowners. Only yesterday the National reported that a raiding party consisting of frustrated landowners who were overlooked for employment and spin-off benefits raised fears about this project when they attacked and burnt equipment belonging to a company tied with the developer. This raises a lot of questions to everyone including myself, was there proper social mapping done to ensure everyone who lived on the project were accounted for? We need development, we do, but development that is carried out without properly assessing everyone affected affects us all. Since the Oil in Kutubu started flowing out of the Southern Highlands Province in1989, we have not seen anything as a footprint left by the oil and gas giant Chevron.

OSEAH PHILEMON Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare has not made any announcement yet as to his political future and who is likely to succeed him if and when he decides to retire officially from politics. This is despite the much anticipated announcement coming from the highlands where he was visiting recently. All the hype about the eminent changeover of leadership in the ruling National Alliance Party that dominated Papua New Guinea’s political landscape for weeks leading to a political blood bath in Port Moresby seemed to have dried up—at least for now—as opposing parties retreat to their corners to plan their next move. The National Alliance Party was to have had a conference in the newly-created province of Jiwaka in the central Highlands but that conference was suddenly postponed. But no new dates of the meeting has been set. Jiwaka is the home of the National Alliance President Simon Kaiwi who is vying to contest the seat of governor in the 2012 electi

OSEAH PHILEMON Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare has not made any announcement yet as to his political future and who is likely to succeed him if and when he decides to retire officially from politics. This is despite the much anticipated announcement coming from the highlands where he was visiting recently. All the hype about the eminent changeover of leadership in the ruling National Alliance Party that dominated Papua New Guinea’s political landscape for weeks leading to a political blood bath in Port Moresby seemed to have dried up—at least for now—as opposing parties retreat to their corners to plan their next move. The National Alliance Party was to have had a conference in the newly-created province of Jiwaka in the central Highlands but that conference was suddenly postponed. But no new dates of the meeting has been set. Jiwaka is the home of the National Alliance President Simon Kaiwi who is vying to contest the seat of governor in the 2012 ele

REUTERS The PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea will stay within its original cost estimates of $15 billion with the first sales by 2014, a government minister said speaking at a conference in Singapore on Wednesday. Paul Tiensten, Papua New Guinea's minister of planning and development, said PNG LNG is still expected to make it's first sales of LNG in early 2014. "We want to sell the first gas by 2014, that is our target... in case of some slippage, we have a contingency plan in place, but so far, we are on target," Tiensten said. Media reports have suggested that the project could be delayed due to landowner disputes with the government. But Tiensten said current landowner disagreements were among the approximately 60,000 landowners affected by the project, some of whom question the division of benefits from the PNG LNG. "I think there are some dissatisfied people because they feel that they should be part of it. This project is a mega-project, it has generated

REUTERS The PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea will stay within its original cost estimates of $15 billion with the first sales by 2014, a government minister said speaking at a conference in Singapore on Wednesday. Paul Tiensten, Papua New Guinea's minister of planning and development, said PNG LNG is still expected to make it's first sales of LNG in early 2014. "We want to sell the first gas by 2014, that is our target... in case of some slippage, we have a contingency plan in place, but so far, we are on target," Tiensten said. Media reports have suggested that the project could be delayed due to landowner disputes with the government. But Tiensten said current landowner disagreements were among the approximately 60,000 landowners affected by the project, some of whom question the division of benefits from the PNG LNG. "I think there are some dissatisfied people because they feel that they should be part of it. This project is a mega-project, it has ge

OP/ED THE PNG gas agreement was signed between the state and ExxonMobil in May 2008. At that point, it was almost certain that a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project would become a reality, at least in so far as the government was concerned. Along the way, several other agreements were negotiated and signed, including the two benefits sharing agreements, finalisation of markets, the environmental impact study, front end engineering and design, execution planning, project financing, gas marketing and all the regulatory and permitting work including community and landowner consultation and financial closure. Despite all that, two years on and PNG is still struggling to get sub-contractors organised for the project and is critically short on manpower. Already, there is talk about recruiting welders from neighbouring Fiji and even heavy equipment operators from overseas. This would indicate to us that the government was so concerned with getting the project off the ground that it neglected

OP/ED THE PNG gas agreement was signed between the state and ExxonMobil in May 2008. At that point, it was almost certain that a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project would become a reality, at least in so far as the government was concerned. Along the way, several other agreements were negotiated and signed, including the two benefits sharing agreements, finalisation of markets, the environmental impact study, front end engineering and design, execution planning, project financing, gas marketing and all the regulatory and permitting work including community and landowner consultation and financial closure. Despite all that, two years on and PNG is still struggling to get sub-contractors organised for the project and is critically short on manpower. Already, there is talk about recruiting welders from neighbouring Fiji and even heavy equipment operators from overseas. This would indicate to us that the government was so concerned with getting the project off the ground that it neglected

OP/ED The National INTERNATIONAL travellers last fortnight disembarked at the domestic terminal at Jackson Airport and had to walk all the way in the blazing sun back to the international arrival lounge. The reason: Every available space at the international parking area was taken up by an international-bound aircraft. This is not a one-off thing. It is a sign of things to come. Congestion is a very real challenge for planners and it had better be addressed now before it becomes a problem. Airport space is just one of many issues, many of which had been raised in this space more than once already. Little Papua New Guinea is about to be introduced to the big world. There is going to be a rude awakening and it is happening right now before our eyes. None of it should really come as a surprise. When the government started talking about the LNG project, and the billions of kina that was going to be pumped into the country, planners should have taken to the draft table and looked at everyth

OP/ED The National INTERNATIONAL travellers last fortnight disembarked at the domestic terminal at Jackson Airport and had to walk all the way in the blazing sun back to the international arrival lounge. The reason: Every available space at the international parking area was taken up by an international-bound aircraft. This is not a one-off thing. It is a sign of things to come. Congestion is a very real challenge for planners and it had better be addressed now before it becomes a problem. Airport space is just one of many issues, many of which had been raised in this space more than once already. Little Papua New Guinea is about to be introduced to the big world. There is going to be a rude awakening and it is happening right now before our eyes. None of it should really come as a surprise. When the government started talking about the LNG project, and the billions of kina that was going to be pumped into the country, planners should have taken to the draft table and looked at eve

ALJazeera Papua New Guinea is cashing in on its wealth of natural resources. Last December, Sir Michael Somare, the country's prime minister, signed a $16bn deal to pipe liquid natural gas to Asia, promising to double the nation's GDP. But despite these economic windfalls, wealth and life expectancy are on the decline. Frustrated locals are up in arms, saying they no longer trust the government or developers to deliver on promises. On this edition of 101 East we ask, how much of Papua New Guinea's wealth of natural resources is reaching its people?

ALJazeera Papua New Guinea is cashing in on its wealth of natural resources. Last December, Sir Michael Somare, the country's prime minister, signed a $16bn deal to pipe liquid natural gas to Asia, promising to double the nation's GDP. But despite these economic windfalls, wealth and life expectancy are on the decline. Frustrated locals are up in arms, saying they no longer trust the government or developers to deliver on promises. On this edition of 101 East we ask, how much of Papua New Guinea's wealth of natural resources is reaching its people?