KEITH JACKSON'S PNG ATTITUDE

Feast of PNG analysis in today’s 'Australian'

THERE’S A SLIGHT impression of headline schizophrenia in today’s Australian newspaper’s coverage of PNG

But, given that PNG is probably one of the most under-reported stories in the Australian media, we shouldn’t really complain when the fag end of the year brings us two particularly good articles on the same day and in the same newspaper.

Mike Steketee, in Papua New Guinea poised for a surge in growth, which you can read here, argues that PNG “has largely slipped off Australian radar screens, even though it is our nearest neighbour and was our responsibility as a former colony.

“So you may be surprised to hear,” he writes, “that it has bright prospects by developing world standards, which could see it rise rapidly through the ranks. But whether those prospects can be fulfilled, particularly in terms of benefits to the mass of the people, is another matter.”

Rowan Callick, whose piece PNG now gravely ill with the disease of corruption seems at first glance, but only at first glance, to be diametrically opposed to Steketee’s, uses as its starting point the recent attempt to kill PNG's Chief Ombudsman, Chronox Manek, and proceeds to review violence and corruption in PNG.

You can read Callick's article here.

PNG’s future: Em ol lain gut ia – yu mas trastim ol

BY JOHN FOWKE

IN AN EARLIER contribution, I suggested that the social, developmental and fiscal malaise which holds PNG in an unbroken grip, proceeds from something deeper and more elemental than the existence of public service, fiscal, and political corruption.

The implication I intended was that the situation is due to an inherent weakness in Papua New Guinean society.

Whilst this view was contested both in posted commentary and by Reginald Renagi in one of his opinion-pieces, I’m afraid it holds true, no matter how humiliating or irritating the suggestion may be.

As a foreigner who has spent by far the major part of his life in rural PNG, I well know the sensitivities and have always tried to avoid the habits of the ‘Ugly Expatriate’, to borrow from Graham Greene.

In that nice old Motuan phrase, I have always endeavoured to be tauna mai manada. In other words, a gentleman.

But having been urged by our revered Blogmeister to contribute a succinct prediction of “things that’ll happen” in PNG in the coming year, I am going to spoil any good impression I may have left behind and be provocative.

The coming year needs to be the year in which the educated PNG middle class stands up, stops hiding behind pen names, overcomes residual cultural fears of offending clan and family or attracting ‘payback’, and speaks with one voice, bound together by a strong but hitherto unrecognised common interest.

The educated middle class must - loudly and forcefully - state what it wants for itself, its families and its descendants. It is long past time for this to happen.

Come on PNG, grow up, stop hiding and complaining and putting forward pie-in-the-sky solutions. Put your shoulders to the load, men and women, coastals, islanders, highlanders, all the educated middle-class together!

You will make it happen. Just do it. You are the Party of Power!

All of you who read and contribute to various blogs and who read the PNG papers, you are the ones who must get up and be the first on the dance-floor, the first to speak, embarrassing as it may be.

Stop whingeing and making covert comments about each other. Stand up and say what you want to be done to get the nation going. If you act as one, forgetting all residues of cultural antipathies and suspicion, you’ll be surprised how fast things will change.

I thought for a while that the Christians would get it together in the last couple of elections, but they didn’t. Perhaps they too are weakened by that old, old characteristic of PNG, the ‘people over the hill syndrome’ - “em ol lain nogut ia – noken trastim ol!”

This weakness is shown in the currently fashionable view that a split into semi-autonomous regions will solve the problems. Be real, blokes; it’ll be even more disastrous than the present set up.

No, you, the well-educated, largely urban dwelling middle class of PNG, you are the future.

You have influence back home in the village because you are members of a support-group. Make your position in life, your ambitions for yourselves, your kids, and the bubus to come the glue that forms another, far more influential and fruitful commonality. Forge a huge linkage of common interest of class and aspirations for the future, as opposed to the bonds of common ancestry that help perpetuate the problems.

This is the future. Mini-states are meaningless states in the context of the wider world.

Make PNG the paradise it should be. It’ll be hard, it’ll take long, but remember…only you (with the others) can do it. If you love your country, you must raise your voice and show your face without fear.

That’s it for now, but I’ve lots more to say to anyone who wants to email me here.

And a splendid Christmas to all our readers...

 ... with special thanks to regular contributors and commenters Paul Oates, John Fowke, Phil Fitzpatrick, Reg Renagi, Emmanuel Narokobi, Richard Jones, Malum Nalu, Loch Blatchford, Terry Shelley, Graham Pople, Bruce Copeland, Don Hook, Ilya Gridneff, Ken Wright, Colin Huggins, Ross Wilkinson, Laurie Meintjes, Sir Paulias Matane, Brian Darcey, Roy Clark, Chris Viner-Smith, Robin Mead, Gelab Piak, Chris Diercke, Mari Ellingson, Bill Brown, Bernard Oberleuter and Barbara Short

Photo: Recycled bottle Christmas tree, Sydney [Bruce Kerridge]

Of rats, false teeth and Euclidean geometry

BY TERRY SHELLEY

GOROKA – I want to report for PNG Attitude on a couple of incidents that happened here during the year so that the B4s may know all is not doom and gloom.

One of the night shift workers came to me one morning stating he had liklik worry.

When I asked what the problem was he explained he had taken his false teeth out to eat his Navy Biscuit and, when went to pick them up, he saw a rat racing off with them.

Unfortunately he was unable to catch the rat before it disappeared down a hole.

He requested if he could have the teeth replaced as they were his front ones. Goroka Hospital came to the rescue at K20 per tooth.

On another occasion I requested my welder to measure the circumference of a screening barrel.

He replied: "Maski, em hat tumas.”

I was just about to give him a good old serve when he pulled out a tape measure and measured the diameter. Then he punched the number into his Nokia Mobile.

He then said: “Em ia, em mak bilong em."

I was astounded and asked him: "Yu savi long pi r²?”To which he replied "Nogat mi savi long 3.146," or whatever the number is.

Who said there was no progress in PNG?

PNG voices bode well for the country’s future

BY PHILIP FITZPATRICK

I’VE SPENT most of my time in PNG in the Western Province, the majority of which is an economically depressed and poverty stricken backwater.

The biggest event of the year was undoubtedly the final announcement that the liquefied natural gas project would go ahead.

While the province is not the focus of the project it is close enough to capture a heap of spin-off petroleum exploration programs, all of which will add their bit to the economy and provide some community development.

The other interesting thing in 2009 was the slow but sure appearance of PNG voices on PNG ATTITUDE.

That was particularly heartening because it showed us in concrete terms what we already know – that there are many honest, intelligent and literate people in PNG.

I think this bodes well for the future and may help the groundswell of public opinion for change that is building up. Where the latter goes in 2010 is anyone’s guess.

Among those voices for change were several strident calls for direct action, particularly among the younger contributors.  While this was tempered by the more moderate contributors it was somehow unsettling.

I was surprised to hear the calls for Papuan autonomy later in the year delivered in tones reminiscent of the Papua Besena days. I can’t see that getting anywhere soon but who knows? 

There are a couple of people I would nominate for King of Papua if it gets legs. It did demonstrate, however, that people in PNG are thinking in terms of big changes to the country.

I also watched with a mixture of bemusement and disbelief the Yes Minister/AusAid-type carry on over the Gong-for-Kiaps Campaign, added my two bob’s worth and watched it eventually come to nothing.

Perhaps the didimen and mastamaks can give it a go next year, or, heaven forbid, the chalkies. Like John Fowke suggests, perhaps we need bumper stickers and personalised number plates – can I reserve ‘KIAP-067’ before anyone else jumps in?

It is curious that there is a hint of nostalgia for the old kiap days among a few Papua New Guineans, not just us old white farts with rose-coloured glasses.

That suggests a desire for organisation on a micro level rather than the macro autonomy plan; perhaps every district in the provinces needs a dedicated zealot to get things done.

Finally, what would I like to see in 2010? Maybe some good news stories, more female comment on the blog, a bit of interest in the Australian media....

There's hope: First steps along the road to change

BY PAUL OATES

WHILE THE traditional Christmas message is one of hope for the future, I remember the message Queen Elizabeth II gave one year that began, "They say, no news is good news, but these days it seems good news is no news."

Maybe that statement could sum up the Australian media's view of PNG. Many people tend to be depressed by each new round of bad news from PNG yet, for me, there have been some encouraging signs that all is not doom and gloom.

Young, educated Papua New Guinenas are starting to stand up and challenge the status quo of yesteryear's leaders.

Politicians like Sam Basil have been prepared to speak out and be counted when it comes to issues of ethical governance. This is an encouraging sign.

Online discussions I have had with a number of PNG people have indicated a growing awareness of their government's shortcomings and what this is caused by. These are the first steps along the road to change.

No one can yet say if this will be a peaceful change yet without awareness, there can be little hope for any improvement.

I look forward to 2010 as being the year when PNG builds on those first tentative steps along the road to a better life for her citizens, wherever they live.

Big LNG cop-out threatens to leave people behind

BY PAUL OATES

PNG PRIME minister Michael Somare has admitted that PNG is not up to the challenges posed by the liquefied natural gas project.

Using the royal plural, he says "We have not trained our people for the projects which will require between 8,000 and 10,000 workers."

Clearly the PNG people are being softened up for the importing of thousands of skilled workers whose presence will be justified by the claim that there are not enough PNG workers available or, if there are, that they’re not up to it.

"How do we get 500 drivers in a day?" Somare went on to say. Now let me think? Where could PNG get 500 drivers (in a day!) and share the joy with the country who is buying the LNG? Gosh! That's a hard one.

Of course the trucks and vehicles might also come from... now let me think? Gee whiz, that’s it! Begins with 'C' and rhymes with 'miner'.

But who exactly is Somare referring to when he blames "We"? For much of the time since PNG Independence, Somare has been in charge. Who else is therefore to blame but the so called 'Father of the Nation'?

Why isn't the current Somare government getting off its collective backside and organising the training of an additional 500 drivers, if that's what is required? Where are the reciprocal training schemes to ensure PNG workers don't get left out of this bonanza?

The more Somare wrings his hands and laments how useless his own country has become, the more he condemns himself and his cronies for both inaction and underselling his own people.

To pin all your people's hopes on a PNG ‘vision’ for 2050 is about as much use as saying while the fish aren't biting today, don't worry, they’ll definitely be biting in 41 years.

Sorry, Mr Somare. Your use by date expired a long time ago.

Copenhagen a big waste of money for PNG

BY REGINALD RENAGI

THE DAILY news is very discouraging to the people of PNG.  They hope for a better future for their children and grand children one day.  But that one day is a long way off.

There are many problems affecting their livelihood and want the government to address their immediate needs. But the mass media hype in recent months is mostly about the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen and what we will tell other world leaders.

It’s no big deal. Everyone's being hoodwinked - ordinary people that is, but not intelligent PNGeans. It is one big cop out by the people running this country.

We have many important national priorities to address. Lately, however, these are being constantly overshadowed by a smokescreen of public statements about the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (or REDD) scheme, a global plan to slow down or eliminate the deforestation responsible for 20 percent of global emissions., as if it is the only viable policy option available.

REDD is only one aspect of a complex global phenomenon. PNG's delegation in Denmark seemed to have no real fall-back position if REDD was not acceptable to the world's developed nations who are the biggest biggest polluters.

In the past two weeks, critics have accused the PNG delegation of not being fully prepared for this conference. They are right.

The PM and his men forgot what is the position of our parliament and Opposition. We should have included the opposition’s stance on climate change to come up with a good bipartisan paper for Copenhagen.

We also did not need a big delegation of over 40 when half a dozen people should have been sufficient. It was morally wrong for the government to extravagantly burn several millions for this conference.

Considering the alleged eight million Kina for this conference, PNG has nothing beneficial to show for it.

The public should by now be in an uproar over their government’s spending millions for some greedy people to attend a conference that will not even reach any viable agreement.  This is a total waste of money.

The people could have used this money in many needy areas. Our women have been crying out for a cancer machine for years. Teachers and nurses need a pay rise to meet the rising cost of living. PNG’s national security situation is appalling and needs much improvement.

With a tough year about to end, the people could do with some spare money now to enjoy a nice Christmas roast in this festive season. 

Come on, Papua New Guineans, can’t you see they are laughing at our expense? Let us get rid of these greedy people in 2012.

Chinese migrant worker backlash grows globally

THE NEW YORK Times reports on a growing backlash against Chinese workers among local populations in Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

There are increasing episodes of protest and violence, and Vietnam and India are among nations that have moved to impose labour rules to restrict the number of Chinese workers allowed to enter, straining relations with Beijing.

China, famous for its export of cheap goods, is increasingly known for shipping out cheap labor. These global migrants often work in factories or on Chinese-run construction and engineering projects.

In May there was rioting in a number of major towns across PNG, in which Asian businesses were torched, rioters were killed and particular hostility was directed at immigrant Chinese.

Some 740,000 Chinese workers were abroad at the end of 2008 and the number in 2009 will be about the same.

The workers are hired in China by Chinese enterprises or labour agencies; there are 500 licensed agencies and many illegal ones.

Chinese executives say their workers tend to be more skilled and easier to manage than local workers.

But in some countries, such as PNG, local residents accuse the Chinese of stealing jobs, staying on illegally and isolating themselves from the local people.

There are about 35,000 Chinese workers in Vietnam and the Vietnamese are very aware of the economic juggernaut to their north. “The Chinese economic presence in Vietnam is deeper, more far-reaching and progressing faster than people realise,” said Le Dang Doanh, a Hanoi economist.

Conflict has broken out between Vietnamese and Chinese laborers. One reason is that there are plenty of unemployed people in this country of 87 million.

Derived in part from ‘China’s Export of Labor Faces Growing Scorn’ by Edward Wong, New York Times, 20 December 2009

PNG’s new wealth is not reducing poverty

A RECENT study has revealed that, despite PNG experiencing an uninterrupted seven years of economic expansion, this has not translated into reducing poverty.

The study’s author, Laurence Chandy of Australia’s Lowy Institute, says poverty affects much of PNG. Using the international poverty benchmark of US$1 a day, 40% of PNG’s people live in extreme poverty.

The study found that PNG’s major problems include lack of access to jobs, money, education, clean water, health care, transport and roads.

The research paper focussed mainly on who owns the money, how they spend it and how much is given to the poor. It found that people with high incomes generally did not apply their good fortune to poverty reduction.

Mr Chandy said PNG’s poverty is a rural problem; and that the rural poor are more impoverished than their urban counterparts because of a lack of basic services.

He recommended strategies for increasing the impact of growth on poverty, but said these would work only if individuals, companies and the government participated in translating them into policy.

Meanwhile contributor Paul Oates and I have derived some statistics that show comparative health indicators in PNG and for indigenous people in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT figures in brackets):

Expenditure on health per capita - $38 ($5,461)

Life expectancy – 57 (65)

Infant mortality rate  - 50 (14) per 1,000 live births

Maternal mortality rate - 470 (22) per 100,000 live births

Doctors - 1.3 (16) per 10,000 people

Nurses / midwives – 15 (51) per 10,000 people

A troubled land of discrete ever-warring tribes

BY JOHN FOWKE

ONGOING insecurity has required Médecins Sans Frontières to withdraw international staff from the Tari General Hospital.

“In the past few weeks, there have been repeated security incidents including threats to our staff that we cannot tolerate,” said Monique Nagelkerke, head of mission for MSF in Papua New Guinea.

I spent some three months at Tari in 2008, leaving before the expected arrival of the MSF team . Already MSF was running the long-neglected Lae Angau Hospital, PNG's second-biggest hospital.

I met the MSF advance team on their exploratory visit to Tari. At that time the Tari Hospital, which catered for a very large population had been without a full-time Medical Officer, to say nothing of specialist practitioners, for five years. This in an area where - aside from the nearby Catholic HIV/AIDS clinic - there is little NGO input in terms of health services.

Prior to the present pullout, the MSF team had already been withdrawn on one occasion after drunken locals besieged them at night.

It is all very well prating about corruption and maladministration as cardinal reasons for PNG's sad social decline, but one is forced to retort to all who cite these aspects, both Australians and Papua New Guineans, that the malaise is much more deeply-rooted.

This is a society which is telling us, by its own actions, that it is incapable of looking after itself on terms other than as a land of discrete ever-warring tribes, allowed to live in a territorial vacuum by the rest of the world.

Of course, this is not going to happen, and the interventions, which will come, will not be, as MSF's was intended to be, for the good of the people.

Big man, great man: kaukau made a difference

BY PHILIP FITZPATRICK

RECENT CALLS for Papuan separatism stimulated by Reg Renagi saw a number of Papuan commentators claim that they are culturally different from PNG Highlanders.

So is there a difference between lowlanders and highlanders? Well, the anthropologists seem to think so. And it’s because of the humble sweet potato.

Sweet potato (ipomoea batatas) or kaukau is believed to have been introduced to Melanesia in the mid 1600s. The PNG sweet potato varieties are similar to the plant in South America, suggesting this as the original source.

The food was brought to Asia by the Spanish and Portuguese, reaching PNG through Indonesia and also as a result of Polynesian migrations.

While kaukau grows from sea level to about 3,000 metres, its maximum yields occur between 2,000 and 2,600 metres. Its believed that its introduction resulted in a dramatic rise in population in the Highland areas where it grew best.

Apart from food for humans, kaukau is useful as animal feed; and the number of pig bones at archaeological sites in the Highlands correlates well with the notion that the introduction of kaukau also led to an increase in the number of domesticated pigs.

These major changes in population and agriculture had a marked effect on social institutions leading to pressures that saw, for instance, the development of large scale warfare in the Highlands.

It is a maxim in anthropology that dense population leads to stricter social control. By the time Europeans reached PNG there was a real difference between the social structures of lowland and highland communities.

Anthropologists distinguish the two social systems as ‘Big Man’ and ‘Great Man’. In ‘Big Man’ societies, such as those in the Highlands, material wealth is significant.

This is evidenced in the payment of bride price and compensation paid for those killed in battle.  In other words, women, pigs and war dead have a commercial value.

Prestige and leadership is achieved through control of this wealth in elaborate and competitive ritual exchanges. Societies are organised around the circulation and redistribution of wealth.

In ‘Great Man’ societies, exchange is less significant and social systems more complex. Leadership is gained by an individual’s ability to assert dominance over a range of rituals and other aspects of life.

‘Big Man’ societies with their emphasis on material wealth tend to adapt well to western economic systems. ‘Great Man’ societies, with limited exchange systems, find it more difficult to deal with western-style economics.

Most Papuan societies fit into the ‘Great Man’ camp. Dual social systems and other practices lead to complex social relationships that inhibit broad-scale organisation and tend to encourage internal conflict.

Leadership based on hunting, ritual and warfare skills, many of which are now obsolete, do not easily translate into political skills. Having loose and ill-defined land boundaries creates insecurity and does not lend itself to commercialisation.

Anthropologists suggests these things might be the reason why lowland societies are not well developed and have extremely scattered settlements, low population density, stagnant community development and, despite vast resources, desultory levels of economic activity – I’m think about the Gulf and Western Provinces here.

I like to think that it makes for a more benign and caring society, too, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Papua.

More than a school history: the Kerevat story

Tuum Est, Barbara Short’s history of Keravat high school from its foundation in 1947 until 1986, is more than well-crafted research and scholarship.

It is a fine and scintillating book of great interest to people who were in the New Guinea islands in those years, to anyone interested in social history and to educators everywhere.

Tuum Est is not just a comprehensive history, compelling in its own right, it is laden with anecdotes, insights and personal reminiscences that bring that history to life.

Here’s an extract:

On 20 July 1970 a large number of Mataungan Association supporters arrived at Keravat township, but were prevented by a police road block from proceeding to Vunapalading. On 21 July there was a major confrontation out along the Vudal road.

Rev Ian Whitelock, the United Church chaplain at Keravat, who lived very close to the school: “One morning we were woken up by the sound of gunfire. We thought an uprising had started, however it turned out that a contingent of police had been placed at the bridge over the Kerevat River. At the salute of arms, one policeman accidentally fired his rifle.”

The Rev Whitelock and his friend Rev Garlick, the Minister from Matupit, went up the Vudal road to see what was going on. They were amazed to find Mataungan men, some of them from Matupit, decked out in war paint and preparing their bows and arrows while the police were in full battle gear, carrying gas masks, tear gas, shield, truncheons and guns.

At one stage Keravat Primary A School was closed for three days, and there was a lot of tension in the small town…

Keravat National High, the first high school in New Guinea, began as a central school and institute for the training of teachers. Tuum Est tells its story through the memories of teachers and students and close study of the school magazine, Kokomo, and other publications such as the Keravat Mirror and Wawarikai magazine.

Most of the chapters are organised to reflect the Keravat story under its various principals, including a wealth of information from each era and numerous photographs that are alone worth the price of the book.

At the end of each chapter are the names of graduates of the school, and information on what they have done with their lives since leaving Keravat.

Tuum Est also tells the early history of education in New Guinea, especially in East New Britain.

Barbara Short [left] spent 1971-74 teaching at Brandi High School in the Sepik before spending six years at Kerevat (1975-81)

At Kervat, she taught social science and became deputy head, and then acting head for part of 1981.

Barbara's last assignment in PNG was as headmistress of Manggai High in New Ireland (1982-83).

Upon returning to Australia in 1984, she taught at Pymble Ladies College, Pacific Hills Christian School and Abbotsleigh before retiring in 1998.

All profits from the sale of the book go to the school.

There are three versions of the book available in Australia (add an extra $10 for packaging and postage):

Regular - $30. A4, 380 pages, 227 b&w photos, soft-back hand-stitched clear plastic cover.

Special - $70. Same book as regular but with strong buckram cover.

Deluxe - $90. Leather cover, many colour photos, better quality paper.

Cheques to Mrs Barbara Short, 27 Chesterfield Road, Epping NSW 2121.   Phone 02 9876 1018.   Email cbshort@bigpond.com

In PNG, the book is available from Mannen Kuluwah, who you can email at mkuluwah@pngwater.com.pg

A prevailing climate that just has to change

BY PAUL OATES

MASS break outs continue from PNG gaols and one might wonder why.

There was a clue in an article in the PNG Post-Courier, which claimed there are 20 officers in Lae gaol guarding 700 prisoners.

In such circumstances, Assistant Police Commissioner Labi was quite correct to point out it could hardly be the fault of the Corrective Services officers that this breakout occurred.

Corrective Services Chief Superintendent Jaro acted with bravery and initiative to try to prevent further escape attempts, but unfortunately he was taken hostage and his efforts proved more use to the inmates than the public.

In the same newspaper, it was reported that the police who are investigating the attempted murder of PNG Chief Ombudsman, Chonox Manek, don't have the funds to properly protect important public figures.

In the meantime, millions of kina have been blown away sending the Prime Minister and a 40 plus delegation to the climate change conference in Copenhagen.

It is understood that the PM banded with his opposite numbers from the Congo and Colombia who each have some uncut rainforest still standing.

The United Nations wants to ensure the money actually goes to the proper landowners but this cartel of three has indignantly drawn the line at accepting the millions on offer to preserve their country's rainforests because they aren't happy about the provisos.

The three leaders are also incensed about another proviso that the UN send inspectors to verify that trees funded under a carbon credit scheme are not cut down.

How's the climate over there in Denmark, Mr Somare. A trifle cooler than where you come from, one might suspect.

Mac Vines: headteacher TPNG outstations, 1970's

BY ROGER FRYER & PAUL OATES

MAC Vines, who died on 11 December at the age of 67, was always fun to be around. He provided another dimension to outstation life.

Those who knew him at Kabwum can remember his energetic highland fling and his sense of the ridiculous that constantly had you in stitches.

Mac could walk into a door and make it seem like an accident.

On one notable occasion, he helped organise a stir for a expat Welshman at Kabwum. He had a group of us standing under the house humming Men of Harlech and hammering the metal pylons.

Mac, in a mining hat complete with lighted candle and a blackened face, ascended the ladder of the fire escape and opened the trap door to wake the occupants not long after dawn to say hello. Mac's opening statement, in a Welsh accent was, "Is this the way to Aberystwyth?"

His substantial omelettes were also a good remedy for a previously heavy night.

When faced with a problem of long grass and snakes at his school, I can remember his methodology to find out why the school's lawnmower was not being fixed.

Swearing on the radio was a 'no-no', so Mac's inventive telegram to the School's Authority in Lae read: ‘Where / the / next group B / next group L / next group O etc, spelling out 'Bloody Hell' in single letters before ending the signal, "is my lawnmower". It got immediate results too.

Mac was famous for his Phantom jet takeoff impression. This involved a full speed run down the hallway of an AR20 house with the front door open, then launching over the verandah.

The landings differed depending on the terrain and amount of rain but were always remedied with a nice red.

In later years, his cartoons in the Brisbane Courier-Mail were enjoyed by many.

See you later Mate.

PNG must fully embrace regional autonomy

BY REGINALD RENAGI

A RECENT editorial in the PNG press asserted that next year’s referendum in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville could have enormous consequences for the country.

I agree. In this referendum, Bougainvilleans will decide whether they want to be a part of PNG, or become a separate independent nation.

PNG governments have been complacent these past 14 years and have not seriously addressed this issue. It’s likely that early next year, faced with a call for an independent Bougainville, the government will panic and do some last minute paper shuffling to draft a new accord.

Somare will wait until the 11th hour before the referendum to talk peace or offer political platitudes as to why Bougainville should remain as part of the PNG entity.

The government has no real policy on this issue, so next year’s referendum should jolt Waigani from its deep slumber, and to plan how to accommodate the issue of autonomy within the context of PNG’s future sovereign development.

The press editorial reminded the government and public that regional autonomy is a threat that must be taken seriously.

On the contrary, I see the issue of regional autonomy not as a threat but a positive development tool for the government, if it is approached in a rational manner and as a long term strategy.

The present political and government system is not working for the people, and only fuels increasing levels of political corruption.

PNG needs a regional (State) government system where the country is divided up into five regions.

I would envisage future separate governments for Papua, Highlands, Momase, New Guinea Islands (including Bougainville) and a central government based in Waigani, pretty much like the ACT.

Since the Bougainville crisis ended, four PNG governments have gone to sleep on the issue of autonomy. It has no contingency policy if other provinces demand autonomy like New Ireland (Sir Julius Chan) and East New Britain (Leo Dion).

Autonomy means different things to different people. Autonomy can be adapted as a form of self-rule. As a compromise solution, it can provide the possibility of sharing legislative and executive powers between the national government and the provinces.

For PNG, autonomy has to be considered as both an efficient means of conflict prevention through accommodation of regional needs, and as a fundamental right of self-rule. The whole issue of political autonomy should not be seen as a threat but as a challenge.

The Somare government has not given much thought to the looming Bougainville referendum. Prime Minister Somare government must now take the bull by the horns and address the issue of autonomy as part of its national strategic plan.

 

Vital development funds being applied recklessly

BY JOHN FOWKE

Kikori MP Mark Maipakai is fuming over the payment of more than K20 million … to several landowner associations’ chairmen, instead of being routed through the joint district planning and budget priorities committee – The National, 15 December

TWENTY million to Kikori? To Kikori landowner associations? This roughly equates to K2,500 for each man, woman and child in the Kikori, let alone what it would be if restricted to the members of the landowner associations.

The truth will probably be seen in a dozen or two big, flash and over-powered luxury game-fishing-type cruisers, and flash houses with satellite phones for the privileged few, and overhead-laden fish-an- sago-marketing schemes presided over by the owners of the boats. One hopes that this will not come to pass … but!

To anyone who has spent time at Kikori this really brings home the truth of what is happening all over PNG right now.

In the Highlands today, men who had debts the like of Mexico's a few years ago, are suddenly building new coffee-factories and paying huge prices for absolute rubbish coffee, wet and full of defects, so as to be the "biggest buyer" of the district.

Roads, hospitals and schools languish courtesy of the release of huge amounts of "development" funds under various schemes of huge largesse.

This seriously depresses the quality and reputation of PNG's attractive and useful village coffee, which is far and away the largest component of its coffee exports. The product of some 400,000 small family-owned coffee blocks is a vital part of the Highlands subsistence economy.

Writers signal breakaway tendency in Papua

I’M NOT in the habit of commenting on Recent Comments because I believe commenters should be allowed a view – legalities permitting – without impediment.

But this afternoon saw a great outpouring of sentiment from a dozen or more Papuan readers, and I am moved to remark on this.

I don’t believe for a moment that this rush of commentary is not a coordinated effort. But, unlike many other write-in protests, most of these people have their own take on things, sparing readers the rent-a-letter sameness associated with most similar campaigns.

Given that there are eight pages of commentary in the right hand column, let me summarise what’s been said and give you my take on things.

The first thing you’ll notice about these letters is their fiery sense of Papuan nationalism.

The corruption and ineffectuality of the PNG government is beginning to have profound effects. These are starting to get people thinking about some form of autonomy.

“The current political system is corrupt, unfair and has failed to live up to Papua’s aspirations and expectations,” says one writer. And another, “Papua needs new honest political leaders.”

There are feelings of being besieged and preyed upon … “Papuans want fair distribution of its resources and equal opportunity in developing their region”… “Deliberate targeting and raping of Papuan womenfolk” … “tribal fights, pay-back killings, ridiculous massive compensation demands, spread of the HIV/AIDS” … “spreading non-Papuan squatter settlements on traditional lands in Port Moresby and Central province”.

And one commenter even goes deep into history: “The Papuan people were not given the opportunity by the Australian government to have a referendum of a 'free choice' whether they want to be part of New Guinea or remained independent from Australia.”

The letters indicate there has been a recent move to form a bloc of Papuan MPs at a meeting in Alotau. “Papuans are encouraged by this,” says one writer, “and there is a lot of talk to get MPs to not continue to support a very corrupt government under Somare”.

There are complaints about “deliberate manipulation of the electoral system”, about a loss confidence and respect in Michael Somare’s leadership and that it “is time the new generation push for a separate autonomy region for Papua”.

“Papuans want a new Papuan political order,” says one writer. “Papua demands full autonomy like Bougainville … The government must have a policy in place to seriously address the issue of autonomy.”

This letter-writing campaign is not much of a challenge to the PNG government, still less a force for change – but it is an indication of discontent.

It points to a serious stirring of forces and influences which may generate difficult times for the Somare government.

As one writer says, “Papuans are a proud and intelligent group of people who feel that they are being suppressed.” And if there's one thing we know about suppression, it is that it leads to reaction.

This movement appears as the new Papua Besena, but the background of government corruption, ineffectiveness and incompetence against which it is being played out, would seem to make it a far more formidable movement than its colonial predecessor.

I think we should all consider ourselves warned.

PNG budget needs more discipline, says Nasfund

IN AN article entitled Do We Still Have Our Hands on the Wheel?, PNG’s national superannuation fund, Nasfund, has raised serious concerns about the country’s 2010 budget.

“The recent delivery of the 2010 budget leaves a lot of unanswered questions,” Nasfund wrote in its December newsletter.

“While we applaud a balanced budget, this in itself has been masked by slippage through trust accounts.

“Two years ago, we proudly talked about a surplus in trust accounts of between 3-4 billion kina … now it has been revealed that the trust accounts have fallen to K1.5 billion with lack of full accountability on how and why this money was spent.

“The implications of that expenditure are very clear - an economy that is overheating and the flow on effect of anticipated inflation of 9.5% in 2010.

“The economy needs no further stimulus, in fact remedial action is now required to ensure that public sector largess does not crowd out the development naturally occurring through the private sector.”

Nasfund said the PNG economy requires “a reality check”.

“Evidence of the current exuberance has been the extraordinary credit growth in excess of 30% over the last few years.”

Nasfund concluded that the government must freeze further expenditure from the trust accounts and that the Central Bank must “flex its independent muscle and raise interest rates.”

Nasfund also said that the exchange rate should be allowed to appreciate to 50 toea to the Australian dollar from the current 40.

“This would have a positive deflationary effect, taking some of the steam out of the 2010 expected inflation rate of 9.5%. It will also increase the real purchasing power of urban workers who are facing rising costs of imported goods and fuel.”

Nasfund said PNG is about to move into three to four years of extraordinary development and there can be no room for complacency or undisciplined expenditure.

“To do so, would undo much of the good work already achieved. We need to keep our hands firmly on the wheel.”

PNG's LNG deal was big news in China too

BY DONALD HOOK

THE recent announcement that China’s largest refiner, Sinopec Corp, has signed an agreement to buy liquefied natural gas from PNG was well covered in the Chinese media.

Under the agreement, Sinopec will purchase 2 million tons of LNG per annum for 20 years from the Exxon Mobil-led PNG project.

The gas will arrive at Qingdao in Shandong Province, where Sinopec will build a LNG terminal. Initially, it will have a capacity of 3 million tons a year but this will be expanded to 5-6 million tons.

The English-language China Daily Business quoted a senior official of Sinopec as saying the terminal will provide long term, reliable and clean natural gas resources to the Shandong market.

However, the official did not disclose when the terminal would come into operation.

China received its first LNG shipment in May 2006. It plans to build more than 10 terminals on the east coast to meet a government target to double the use of natural gas in five years.

At present, China imports large amounts of LNG from Qatar in the Middle East.

Peter Garrett is new Montevideo Maru patron

AUSTRALIA's Environment Minister Peter Garrett is to be the new Patron of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee.

In February, he will take over the role from Prof Kim Beazley, recently appointed as Australia’s ambassador to the United States.

The Committee was established a year ago to ensure greater national recognition for events surrounding the fall of Rabaul in 1942 and Australia’s greatest maritime disaster, the sinking of the Montevideo Maru with the loss of 1,053 troops and civilians.

Peter Garrett’s grandfather, Tom Vernon Garrett, was a prisoner on the Montevideo Maru.

Tom, a planter, was born in London UK and served in World War I with the 6th Light Horse Regiment. He lived at Varzin Plantation on New Britain and was 54 when he died.

“My grandfather’s death was mentioned in passing at family events, but it wasn’t until my mid-twenties, when I saw an article concerning the incident, that my understanding was filled in,” Mr Garrett said.

“It’s time to fill a huge gap in our history,” Mr Garrett said.

“By giving recognition to one of the most significant and tragic events of World War II, we can honor those who lost their lives and provide a much needed commemoration of this extraordinary event.”

“The sinking of the Montevideo Maru was one of the most significant events of World War II but is still relatively little known. It is an important part of Australia’s history and, given my family connection, I was pleased to become Patron of the committee.”

Peter Garrett AM MP was elected the Labor Member for the electorate of Kingsford Smith at the 2004 federal election and was appointed Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts following the election of the Rudd Labor Government in November 2007.

He is a passionate advocate and campaigner on a range of Australian and global issues, particularly related to the arts and the environment.

He came to public prominence as a member and lead singer of the Australian band, Midnight Oil. In this role, he wrote the lyrics of a popular song, In The Valley, which drew its power from the Montevideo Maru sinking and other tragic events that had affected his family.

My grandfather went down with the Montevideo
The rising sun sent him floating to his rest

Peter Garrett will take up his position as Patron of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee on 1 February 2010.

See also John Huxley's piece in today's Sydney Morning Herald here.

And you can view a clip of In The Valley on YouTube here....

The Montevideo Maru issue has a powerful connection with PNG, and especially with Rabaul and the New Guinea islands. MvM Newsletter is a free monthly publication that reports on developments, research, history and on the activities of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee. Subscribe now by contacting Keith Jackson here.

PNG Ombudsman wounded in attempted ‘hit’

Nine MSN reports this morning that PNG’s anti-corruption boss was shot and seriously wounded in an assassination attempt outside his Port Moresby home on Friday night.

PNG's Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek was left for dead after gunmen fired through the windscreen of his Nissan Patrol, but is in hospital in a stable condition.

Mr Manek said shots were fired at his right chest at point-blank range. A bullet went through his shoulder.

After shooting several times, the gunmen got back in their car and sped off, "thinking I was dead," said Mr Manek, adding it was a "miracle" that he had cheated death.

He tried to follow his attackers but, dizzy from loss of blood, drove to nearby Paradise Hospital.

"Police are determined to get to the bottom of this," said Police Commissioner Gari Baki.

PNG's Prime Minister Michael Somare, Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch and a host of other government figures are currently under investigation by the Ombudsman Commission.

Mr Manek is from the Boana area of the Morobe Province. He was formerly the Public Prosecutor and Public Solicitor. He holds a Bachelors of Law from UPNG and a Masters in Law from Melbourne University.

Exposed: Carbon cowboys offer ‘miracle money’

Al Jazeera reporter and producer, and PNG Attitude reader, Juliana Ruhfus, recently visited PNG to make a documentary on carbon trading, a far more lively subject than it sounds.

Carbon Cowboys presents a rattling good yarn, great camerawork, and a cameo role for AAP correspondent and Attitude contributor, Ilya Gridneff.

“We had great access to carbon cowboy Kirk Roberts, and I think you may enjoy the film,” Juliana wrote to me.

Well I did enjoy it, and I’m sure you will too. You can view the 20 mt program through the YouTube link below.

Carbon Cowboys begins with an explanation of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (or REDD) scheme, a global plan to slow down or eliminate the deforestation responsible for 20 percent of global emissions.

The core idea of REDD is that the maintenance of forests will be exchanged for carbon credits, giving forest owners a source of income without cutting down trees. Thirty million hectares of PNG forest has already disappeared into woodchip.

Enter Kirk Roberts – cock fighting impresario, racehorse trainer, carbon trader and self-styled greenie. Roberts is a charismatic figure with a colourful turn of phrase – and the documentary shows him explaining to PNG landholders his “miracle way of making money”.

Village people living in forest communities are promised money and development in exchange for signing away ‘carbon credits’. Roberts claims he has already garnered credits for millions of hectares of PNG’s forests.

Logging companies and the PNG government have other ideas about this – as everyone struggles to identify precisely who are the legal owners of the forests. This one will end up in court shortly before it ends in tears.

Carbon Cowboys is a powerful program which tells a fascinating story. View it here.

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LNG – another big bang project to taunt PNGeans

BY REGINALD RENAGI

Everyone is talking non-stop about the great benefits of the LNG project and what blessings it will bestow upon the poor people of PNG. 

Yeah, big deal. As usual, it’s all big talk from the government. As usual, there will not be any sustainable 'trickle-down' effect for the grassroots and resource owners.

Apart from little benefits to the resource owners and ordinary PNGians, as has happened many time before, everyone in the food chain (local, provincial, national governments; corrupt cronies; a dysfunctional public service; foreign investors; carpetbaggers and many special interests) will get a piece of the action (or fingers in the cookie jar).

This will further increase future prospects of political corruption on a grand scale. We will see more local member's pork-barreling pet projects sprouting up all over the country. The greedy 'pollies' will continue to fill their pockets. More wanton plundering of the people's resources by those they mandate to lead and govern this country.

Today’s typical PNG member of parliament has unfortunately and unashamedly become a greedy despot.

He has appointed himself to become his people's bank manager, funds loans officer, project manager and general carpetbagger. He will give out cash and other goods 'willy-nilly' and won't invest the time needed to be fully committed to making good laws in parliament to protect his country's natural resources.

When some senior MPs are jailed then maybe PNG political corruption levels may abate as the message sinks in.

The politicians and other unscrupulous people selling the country's resources to foreign and other special interests must be convicted. The Melanesian culture of being publicly shamed by being locked away in the kalabus for a long time might do the trick.

While LNG looks a big bang product, every man and his dog is really going at it in a feeding frenzy.

The poor rural villager is much caught up in this confusing euphoria. The people do not really understand what the hell all this excitement is about. And it’s made worse by the BS preaching of the CEO of PNG Inc.

The fact is that people will suffer more from the negative effects of this mad rush to fast track the LNG project. This is being done at the people's expense and the real problems of PNG are not being addressed by the prime minister and his government. 

Many people are fed up and look forward to 2012 when they hope the crooks will be thrown out of the Haus Tambaran by the real people of PNG.

History’s analogy: understanding PNG resentment

BY JOHN FOWKE

“While Papua New Guineans are looking forward to Christmas Day, Asians in this blessed country are looking beyond this red letter date, and with so much apprehensions, anxieties and dread… The cease-your-business-operation’ order has been issued by a group of faceless and nameless anarchic individuals who are spearheading a hate campaign against Asians in PNG… If the Chinese close shop, who could we expect to takeover from them … the grassroots? I don’t think so” [Alfredo P Hernandez, Malum Nalu blog]

What Alfredo and other less-outspoken commentators have said recently regarding a lack of interest in individual enterprise within PNG society -  which they say has led to a vacuum filled by enterprising Asians -is something to be considered, although it is not entirely correct.

It is wrong, in fact it is insulting, to ascribe signs of a growing unrest at the recent Asian invasion into many areas of business in PNG, to simple envy and  jealousy on the part of PNG'ians.

As for the presence of Philippine nationals as such in PNG, most of these, beginning in the 1970's, have been professional and administrative and trades-connected migrants who have come as workers rather than business-people.

I think this fact is recognised although Filipinos in general, like all foreigners who stay for long in PNG, are still new colonials in the eyes of most citizens.

May I recommend to Alfredo and to his countrymen who are of a similar general opinion that they look back upon the history of their own nation?

The small, semi-tribal kingdoms, rajahnates, and principalities which ruled the islands of that great Asian archipelago, today the independant Republic of Philippines, were free in the same measure as pre-colonial PNG was free up until 125 years ago.

These small Philippine kingdoms conducted their own affairs and benefitted for centuries in terms of a sporadic but important contact with seaborne traders from China, Vietnam and other neighbouring kingdoms.

Then came the Spanish explorers, and the expedition led by Legaspi in 1564 which established the foothold from which dominance and full control by Spain over the whole archipelago arose.

Spain ruled, and controlled not only the civil affairs and the laws, but also the trade of this rich colony for more than 300 years.

Spain was displaced  by the United States of America which granted full independence to the people of the Philippines in 1946, only 30 years before PNG became an independant nation.

Don't tell us, please, Alfredo, that your fathers and your uncles and grandparents, to say nothing of their ancestors right back to 1565, did not chafe under the yoke of authoritarian colonial control and colonial exploitation?

Dont tell us that even today,  Phillipine nationals don’t have any negative feelings about the heavy presence of American multinational companies and those less-desirable effects emanating from the US military presence in your country? 

Under Aguinaldo in the 1890's your people fought a vicious and prolonged guerilla war against the colonial forces of the US, until, at the cost of a great many lives on both sides, the Americans again established control over your country. 

Don’t tell us that the Filipinos of that generation together with their descendants held no animosity toward the Americans, who still have quite a large influence on the commerce and the politics of your country.

Think about this and then consider the feelings of Papua New Guineans, at one moment made free of foreign domination, and so soon after independence, once again heavily colonised in terms of influence and take up of business opportunities by aliens who seem free to break all relevant legislated controls. Is there any wonder that they feel aggrieved? 

These are new times for the Post-Courier

BY BRUCE COPELAND

It is great to see the way the PNG Post-Courier has changed its focus on family living in recent times.

There was a time when it lagged behind in presenting itself as a warm and caring newspaper.

My organisation, AIDS Holistics, raised the ire of the then managing director in 2002 by sending a letter to the editor stating that the newspaper was “cold, distant and uncaring” on HIV/AIDS awareness.

The letter was printed, but we were banned from ever having another one published. In making this decision, the Post-Courier created a problem. It allowed its rival, The National, to present the Positive Living feature that ran for over two years and 130 columns.

The Post-Courier seemed to oppose a family message. While it had a focus on children’s rights and male violence, it could be perceived to have an agenda that found difficulty in accepting a message of love between husband and wife and caring for children.

But times are changing. The Post-Courier started a NewageWoman supplement that looked at family issues and portrayed marriage and relationships as requiring love, caring, problem-solving and humour.

Then the weekend Post-Courier initiated a family focus. The newspaper was no longer cold, distant and uncaring. This came from having good women, Lillian Basse and Raela Wari, at the helm.

But one standout area remained. Positive Living. Then Jamie Maxtone-Graham started to write about nutrition. Over the months, the column has begun to show us how to eat to live long.

His last column was superb in categorising the parts of the body that have to be maintained. He is moving closer to HIV/AIDS awareness.

Meanwhile, Positive Living has found a new means of promoting its message through the new newspaper, PNG Health.

National AIDS Council director Wep Kanawi, says family living lies at the epicentre of the national HIV/AIDS response. The Department for Community Development and UNICEF now focus on the role of family in early child development. The nation has spoken.

December newsletter hits the streets

Subscribers to our free PNG ATTITUDE newsletter will find the December issue in their email box this morning. If you’re not a subscriber, contact us here and get on the list.

Speer MBE is inaugural life member of MvM group

The Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee rarely meets face-to-face.

With members scattered throughout the world – Norway, Dubai, Japan, as well as Australia - it conducts the vast bulk of its business online.

Despite that, it’s been a big first year for the group, with the Montevideo Maru soaring into public consciousness in Australia; the Federal government becoming engaged in the issue after decades of official neglect; and the formation of a thriving organisation (over 160 members and growing daily).

On Wednesday - at the committee’s second meeting in Sydney – Albert Speer MBE was awarded inaugural life membership of the committee.

As committee member Rod Miller said, “He really is a man of New Guinea.”

Albert was born in Roslyn NSW in 1922 and needed his mother’s permission to join the army in 1942 aged 17 to serve in World War II.

He became a medic in PNG and served at a number of locations including Milne Bay and Wau.

After the war, he stayed on with the post war administration as a medical assistant.

His role with the Department of Public Health took him to Kerema, Popondetta, Lae, Tari, Koroba, Rabaul and Goroka as well as Moresby.

Most famously, he was involved with medical support after the Mount Lamington volcano erupted, and, in the movie New Guinea Patrol, was part of the team that was in the field for seventy days with a patrol line half a mile long.

When he retired in 1979, Albert had served in PNG for 37 years.

He became interested in the Montevideo Maru during his posting in Rabaul and started intensive research into the tragedy around 1997.

His commitment to finding the nominal roll of the men who died on the ship was often frustrating and for many years seemed fruitless. But Albert was undaunted and, in his pursuit of the truth, kept the flame burning for the relatives of the missing men.

Now, as the search for the nominal roll warms up, and as the new committee engages itself in a range of matters related to the national recognition of the tragedy, the awards acknowledges the great contribution that Albert made through his unyielding effort.

Combating PNG corruption: a blueprint for action

BY REGINALD RENAGI

If the PNG government and parliament are really serious about combating corruption at all levels, then an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) must be set up immediately.

Setting up an ICAC entity has been mooted many times before in various public forums, but nothing substantive has resulted.

The main reason for inaction is that successive PNG governments have always lacked the political will to stamp out corruption.

An ICAC should be a principal agency with a statutory charter to investigate and prevent corruption. It must be totally independent of the executive branch of government.

Its principal objectives should be:

To vigilantly enforce anti-corruption laws and to make corruption a high-risk crime.

To identify and eliminate opportunities for corruption in government departments and public bodies by reviewing their procedures and practices.

To promote corruption prevention in private sector business.

To educate the community about the evils of corruption and enlist their support in the war against corruption.

The anti-corruption agency needs a simple plan of action before employing more complex strategies to combat corruption.

It should conduct investigation, prevention and education through operations, corruption prevention and community relations divisions.

The agency must implement effective strategies - such as employing proactive investigation techniques - to identify and prosecute instances of corruption which might otherwise go unreported.

It should use undercover operations and intelligence and information technology if it needs to.

In addition, its investigators must be given continuous professional training to keep pace with the changing commercial environment, technological advances and developments in criminal investigation techniques.

The training should embrace a wide range of topics, including financial investigation, IT applications, computer forensics, video interview techniques, case management and court proceedings.

Joint operations groups must be established comprising retired senior officers, dedicated agents and the disciplined services. Regular meetings should be held to ensure operational liaison, address common concerns, and develop anti-corruption strategies within the respective disciplined services.

ICAC's main strategic tasks should be focused on reducing opportunities for corruption in government departments and other public bodies.

It should include advising private sector bodies on corruption prevention. The agency must conduct detailed studies of public sector practices and procedures and help them to effectively implement corruption prevention measures.

Establishing ICAC in PNG will help other state agencies develop their corruption prevention capability by producing best practice on ways to prevent, minimise or curb corruption-related opportunities in corruption prone areas like procurement, staff administration, information system security, contract letting and administration.

A good community relations strategy is required to educate the public and enlist their support in the fight against corruption.

PNG has failed its people: Julius Chan

PNG has failed to live up to promises made in 1975 for improving the quality of life of its people, says former Prime Minister and New Ireland Governor, Sir Julius Chan.

“We have not provided the health care, the education and the infrastructure that we should have provided,” he has told a conference.

He said, according to the World Bank, the country has fewer aid posts today than it had at independence.

“We know the condition of those that are still open. They have no power, most have no clean water supply and many have no housing for our health care workers.”

Sir Julius said PNG has also failed to improve access to education.

“Our primary and elementary schools are falling apart. We do not have basic textbooks in the schools, we do not have decent toilets for our children, we do not have decent teachers’ houses and often we do not even have the teachers because housing is so bad that they cannot live in it,” he said.

Sir Julius said the country’s infrastructure was no better.

“We used to have roads that we could travel on but they have not been maintained for 10 or 15 or 20 years. Our roads have gone bush and our people cannot get to market to generate income,” he said.

Sir Julius said huge amounts of wealth had been generated but the people had suffered.

“That is not development. That is not progress. That is failure, pure and simple,” he said.

Source: ‘Quality of PNG life still not improved’ by Grace Tiden, PNG Post-Courier, 8 December 2009

Huge resource project will transform PNG

PNG’S huge liquefied natural gas project was given the green light in Port Moresby this afternoon.

Venture partners, including Oil Search and the global giant Exxon Mobil, and the PNG government signed the deal for the $10 billion project at a ceremony at Parliament House.

The plan to pipe gas from the highlands to Port Moresby for export to Asia is forecast to double PNG’s gross domestic product and create thousands of jobs.

The deal is expected to deliver $35 billion in revenue for the PNG government and affected land owners and is predicted to have a transforming effect on the PNG economy.

Inspector Huggins cracks the MvM plaque

The Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee’s recent submission to the Federal Government mentioned that there is a small memorial plaque at the Brisbane General Post Office commemorating three Rabaul-based wireless technicians of the Postmaster-General’s Department who died on Montevideo Maru: Wilfred Leonard Duus of Brisbane; Hedley Turnbull of Laidley; and TM Plunkett. COLIN HUGGINS sallied forth in search of the plaque, and reported on the adventure.

The plaque - to find it....

John Holland, Brisbane PNGVR historian, did give me a pretty good clue about where to look, but initially I couldn’t find it, so around and around that building I went - almost into the restricted zone!

I ventured into the private mail boxes - all the time thinking, someone is going to pat me on the shoulder and ask what on earth I’m doing. Seems to prove that security isn't all it is beefed up to be. If anyone looks like a possible terrorist, I fit the bill.

However I had my story ready for them if patted on the shoulder - the 44 page Montevideo Maru submission to the Government.

Just as I was about to give up, I found it.

P.M.G’s

DEPARTMENT

CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES

TAKEN PRISONERS OF WAR

WHILST ON DUTY

DIED IN ENEMY HANDS

WORLD WAR II – 1939-1945

DUUS W.L

PLUNKETT T.M.

TURNBULL H.F

The plaque is located on the right hand side of the building as you walk through to St Stephen's Cathedral - at the back of the front pillar.

I saw the very old paper seller at the front. He knew of the plaque, but had no idea what it represented. So I did my best to inform him. I spoke to a few other people, too.

So, hopefully, when they read something in the newspapers of the Montevideo Maru disaster, they will know what it is all about.

Whatever happened to those Kavieng computers?

Back in late August, PNG Attitude appealed to readers for help in transporting six sets of computer equipment to Kavieng Hospital.

The equipment had been assembled over a number of months by Dr Alan Lawford, a general practitioner in the southern Sydney suburb of Arncliffe.

He was responding to a request for assistance from a colleague at Kavieng Hospital.

Within 48 hours over 50 readers provided advice on how this equipment could be transported free or at minimal cost from Sydney to New Ireland.

“I am gobsmacked by the plethora of great suggestions from your friends who are in turn friends of PNG,” said Dr Lawford at the time.

“It is overwhelming that this could generate so much interest in these well wishers of PNG.”

Well, we identified an organisation that could deliver the computers – Rotary International.

And this week nine boxes of equipment left Sydney en route to Kavieng, where they will arrive early next month.

Many thanks to those people who assisted.

PNG: Time for all the good men to associate

BY PAUL OATES

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle” - Edmund Burke 1729-97)

David Ulg Ketepa asks on his blog why crime is increasing in PNG.

PNG inherited and enshrined a legal system and has laws that are the equivalent of those in any modern state. These laws derive from the PNG constitution.

In practice, however, it seems the constitution has been compromised by the use of political power.

The Office of the Ombudsman - arbiter of correct parliamentary practice – has been either unable or unwilling to act on complaints against political malpractice, burying responsible government in PNG.

There are many instances where the PNG Ombudsman could and should act. The Moti Report, Taiwan millions, missing public funds, forestry concessions and many other cases have all been canvassed in PNG Attitude.

Furthermore, the use of the Speaker of parliament in a tactical political way has effectively created a rubber stamp for the Somare cartel when any debate proves contentious.

So to crime. If PNG leaders ignore the law, why should their people not do likewise?

The long awaited Commission of Inquiry into Financial matters produced an 800-page report, so far effectively ignored.

Crime is like a rotten apple in a barrel. Unless detected and excised early, it spreads its toxin, eventually turning the whole barrel rotten.

In PNG, lawlessness has become a national disease. There are daily news reports of serious breaches of law and order, yet the government does little about it.

The government has lost control of large areas of the country, but is in denial or does not appear to be concerned.

It has been observed that crime is 95% opportunity and 5% intent. Urban drift, lack of employment, poverty and a sense of hopelessness all combine to promote the conditions for crime and violence.

Without effective control, those who see the opportunity for easy money will take a chance.

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary has just been given a pay rise but this seems more to guarantee police loyalty than to combat crime.

The PNG government is implicated in many shady deals; the opposition can do nothing; the institutions enforcing probity are weak; the people are denied accountability and effective law and order; and the police force is under-manned and outgunned.

The answer to David Ketepa's question is another: 'Why should we expect crime in PNG to be decreasing?'

And if Edmund Burke was alive today and living in PNG he would surely be asking, ‘Where are all the good men?’

An inquiry, a misunderstanding and a good read

The House of Representatives standing committee on petitions met on Wednesday and two of the petitions under scrutiny concerned the sinking of the Montevideo Maru and the burial places of missing troops who fought in PNG in World War II.

You’d probably be of the view that parliamentary proceedings are, by and large, not likely to be put on your preferred reading list. But the committee exchange, which you can download, below took an interesting turn or two – and I think makes compelling reading.

The parliamentarians in attendance were chair Julia Irwin, Dick Adams, Russell Broadbent, Darren Chester and Maria Vamvakinou.

Appearing before them as Defence Department witnesses were Group Captain Henrik Ehlers, Director of Air Force Coordination, Brian Manns, Manager Unrecovered War Casualties and Brigadier David Mulhall, Chief of Staff, Army Headquarters.

In the course of his evidence, Brig Mulhall said that he believed the Army may have found a copy of the missing Katakana roll, believed to be the most reliable record of the prisoners who may have been on the Montevideo Maru when it was sunk.

If this was so, it would be a momentous discovery. The roll was brought back from Japan soon after World War II – and went missing. It has never been located.

“Right now we are in the process of trying to verify the authenticity of that document,” said Brig Mulhall. “That is being worked on actively and we hope to be able to give some advice in due course.”

Unfortunately, the brigadier was mistaken. While the hunt for the roll has gathered pace in recent times – and researchers believe they may be getting closer to it – it has still not been found.

But there was much more to the inquiry than this misunderstanding.

For example, here’s Brian Manns talking of searching for missing troops in PNG:

“Locations rely almost invariably on local PNG citizens finding them. In fact, I am going to Port Moresby this week to bury three Australians that have been identified through our program.

“Invariably it is local individuals. In most of the smaller rural communities in [PNG] they have a subsistence style of living, and they move and establish new gardens.

“Once one garden peters out, they move and establish another garden and it is not unusual for them to find remains. One of the sets of remains that we have been working with in this last PNG group of cases was actually found by somebody digging a well.

“So a lot of the remains that are found nowadays, particularly of soldiers, are there because the original battlefield burial sites for whatever reason were obliterated.”

You can read the Hansard transcript here.

Poor little rich kid PNG set for LNG take off

The $16 billion ExxonMobil liquefied natural gas project in PNG is likely to be approved on Tuesday, following the first sale of gas from the project.

Chinese company Sinopec has inked a contract with ExxonMobil to take 2 million tonnes a year from the project as China trebles its use of gas to about ten percent of energy consumption by 2020.

The PNG project is a joint venture between ExxonMobil (41.5%), Oil Search (34%), Santos (17.7%) and other investors.

It will be the largest private investment in PNG, contributing more than $30 billion to the nation's economy over the life of the project.

''It is very pleasing to have signed the first of four anticipated sales and purchase agreements,'' said Oil Search managing director, Peter Botten. ''This agreement signals the commencement of a long-term relationship.''

Development licences seem likely to be granted this weekend. ''If that happens then it is good to go and Tuesday will be a great day,'' a source told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: ‘$16b Papuan LNG project ready to go’ by Mathew Murphy, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 December 2009

K60 million disappears from Oro restoration fund

This is the kind of story that dismays Australians who are working hard to do positive things for PNG.

Over K60 million allocated by the PNG government for relief and restoration efforts after Cyclone Guba devastated Oro Province in 2007 has “gone missing”.

Provincial authorities briefed Public Service Minister Peter O’Neill of the situation but were not able to say where the money had gone.

Provincial administrator Owen Awaita said K11 million was allocated for restoration work during the state of emergency after the 2007 disaster, and another K50 million was ‘parked’ at the Treasury Department in Port Moresby.

All the money disappeared.

Mr Awaita said a commitment of K600,000 made to Girua landowners was not honored, and this is now causing problems for authorities who are being denied use of customary land for a supply route.

In a swift expression of ministerial authority and acumen, Mr O’Neill said he would raise the matter when he returned to Port Moresby, asserted that restoration was not his responsibility and asked provincial authorities to fix the problem.

Australian private aid groups like the Oro Community Development Program, must feel like they have been kicked in the guts.

Source: K60m ‘gone’ by Isaac Nicholas, National Times. Spotter: John Fowke

AusAID under the pump in wake of audit report

The Lowy Institute's Jenny Hayward-Jones has said Australia should focus on the Asia-Pacific region if it is to deliver aid more effectively.

Ms Hayward-Jones was responding to the 180-page Australian National Audit Office report that reflected adversely on AusAID’s management of Australia’s aid program.

She said Australian aid to Africa and Latin America is a poor use of taxpayers' money as the Rudd government attempts to secure a seat on the UN Security Council.

She said Australia should focus aid on places like PNG "where we have a real interest, where we have long relationships and expertise".

The report also criticised AusAID's high staff turnover which Ms Hayward-Jones said “will only be solved by building real interest in the Pacific or Asia and by encouraging people to build their career in the Pacific or Asia".

Spokesman for the Aidwatch organisation, Gary Lee, said the important aid issue was quality not quantity.

"AusAID say they are increasing their aid commitment but who is that money reaching?" he asked.

"What is the actual impact of that money on the ground and who is having a say over how the aid money is being distributed?"

AusAID's transparency & accountability problems

BY ILYA GRIDNEFF OF AAP

Australia's international aid agency, AusAID, is afflicted with problems of transparency, accountability and a lack of communication capacity, an audit has found.

High staff turnover within the agency is another concern that may have even hindered responses to Papua New Guinea's HIV/AIDS epidemic, an Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report stated.

AusAID represents 83% of Australia's annual aid budget, spending $3.2 billion a year on programs in the Pacific, Asia, Latin America and Africa, with PNG and Indonesia the largest recipients.

The ANAO gave AusAID a tick of approval for handling the growth of its aid program "in a way that supports delivery of effective aid".

But the 180-page report, just tabled in federal parliament found "AusAID faces considerable management challenges amidst ongoing program growth".

While promoting greater transparency and accountability through good governance programs in countries like PNG, AusAID itself struggles with the concepts.

"AusAID's approach to classifying costs is not in line with conventional practice and reduces the transparency of aid program expenditure, and the agency's accountability for costs that it controls," the report stated.

Another hurdle was communication, with the report saying AusAID had "not yet achieved effective internal collaboration".

"For two of the main posts, only 6% of Australian public servant staff in Honiara, and only 8% in Port Moresby, agreed communication between different areas of AusAID was effective."

Dissatisfaction was due to a "lack of understanding between Canberra and posts and insufficient or ineffective communication from the executive and other senior management".

Countries and agencies working with AusAID "consistently" listed high levels of staff turnover as a "dominant concern" in what "has been a long-term problem that has worked against program effectiveness".

AusAID's 2005 evaluation of the PNG National HIV/AIDS Support Project found that "rapid turnover of AusAID personnel responsible for the activity may have hindered timely responses to problems".

"High staff turnover has compromised the quality of AusAID's program management" and "hinders knowledge accumulation, the development of productive working relationships and the standard of program management".

Australia's aid program has increased by 42% since 2004-05 and is likely to double in size by 2016 with a projected $8 billion spent a year.

But not all this taxpayer money is going entirely offshore.

About 46% of AusAID budgets go to "technical assistance", twice the average of other OECD countries, the report stated.

Technical assistance covers administration costs and salaries for experts, advisers or consultants to deliver "capacity building" in a range of sectors.

Australia has "a tendency to rely too much" on technical assistance while not offering local staff greater responsibilities, the report stated.

In April Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said "... too much (aid) money has been consumed by consultants and not enough money was actually delivered to essential assistance in teaching, in infrastructure, in health services on the ground, in the villages (of PNG)".

AAP revealed in May that junior consultants in PNG on one AusAID funded program earned $240,000 tax free while some senior consultants earned more than Rudd's base salary ($335,000) on $360,000 year tax free.

Sister Clare, highlands missionary, dies at 86

Sister Clare Gilchrist (1923-2009), who has just died in Sydney, arrived in PNG in 1965 to set up a bush hospital at Pumakos near Mount Hagen.

She was one of the 178 Sisters of Mercy who served in PNG for the 50 years between 1956 and 2006, mainly in education and health.

Sister Clare entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy in North Sydney in 1940 and completed general nursing training at the Mater Hospital at Crows Nest, later undertaking midwifery and Tresillian courses.

She remained at the Mater, assisting at births and helping mothers to care for their babies, before being sent to Pumakos.

She arrived at the mission, where a one-ward pitpit and kunai building had been prepared, and got to work.

The Mater had sent the necessary supplies and medical equipment, but there was no humidicrib. So Sister Clare set up a kerosene-powered primus to boil kettles of water for steam, which was fed into the baby's plastic-covered cot to relieve respiratory problems.

As time went on, Sister Clare became adept at fixing broken machinery, washing machines, watches, even cars.

More people heard of the medical service, demand increased and a bigger and a more permanent hospital was built by volunteers from Sydney.

Sister Clare served for many years as health secretary for the Wabag diocese and was a member of the diocesan pastoral planning committee.

She returned to Australia in 1997 and worked at the Mater as a pastoral care worker, retiring in 2005.

She is survived by her sister, Kathleen, also a Sister of Mercy.

Source: ‘Nun, nurse and Jill-of-all-trades’, by Margaret Barry RSM, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 December 2009

Forests: liklik win moni igo long baim wanem?

BY PAUL OATES

PNG's forests are just not trees. They are a resource that has been standing for a long time.

Many generations have depended on that forest for their livelihood and survival. Many future generations will also depend on that forest.

When the trees are removed the result is landslides, mudslides, exhausted soil, timber shortages, wildlife extermination and polluted water.

If a forest is cut down, it will never regrow unless regeneration is funded and policed.

Even with limited and selective felling, harvesting forest trees must be planned and executed carefully otherwise the forest is changed and new trees unable to grow.

Take a look at other countries that have cut down their trees. Scrub and grassland, and eventually desert, take over.

Take a good look at what happens when a timber company comes to town.

The payment for cut timber is usually a small fraction of what it is worth when it reaches the market. What is received by the villagers is a small amount of money and the ongoing benefits are dubious.

Much of the money ends up being used to buy consumables and material goods, often sold by the very people who cut the trees.

Foreign timber companies need to cut trees in another country because they have ruined their own forests. They aren't renewing their own forests or they wouldn't come to PNG.

The trees are owned by generations of people, both before and after today. If a forest is removed, how will future generations construct their houses, protect their wildlife and maintain a healthy environment?

Some politicians in the PNG government are reportedly involved in the timber industry themselves, whether directly or indirectly. That is a conflict of interest.

There are also allegations that foreign timber companies are operating outside PNG law with the blessing of the government.

Sapos oli laik katim diwai bilo ol, em bai bihain ol liklik win moni igo long baim wanem samting a? Aiting bai bihain emi baim bikpla hevi tasol. [If our trees are felled, what will the profits yield? I think they'll yield only problems]

Is this hypocrisy or are we being having a loan of

BY PAUL OATES

Sir Michael Somare to Lowy Institute, Sydney, 7 November 2008:

In Papua New Guinea, our 'old ways' have allowed our 834 tribes to survive for over 50,000 years in a very challenging natural environment. But, these ancient traditions have struggled to keep pace within an increasingly complex future.

Without true valuation for our vast environmental assets, we have struggled with schools that cannot afford the best teachers and health centers with only basic medicines.

Yet our rural communities still remember how to live sustainably, a skill many others have forgotten in the rush to get ahead. Therefore, whether we consider energy or tropical forests, the future is increasingly clear: together, we must reconstruct our value frameworks!

New environmental service markets must support tropical countries striving toward sustainable development by generating 'environmental capital' from ecosystem services that humanity has so far been exploiting for free.

From this vision, we must forge new hope!

However, bold leadership is required on both sides of the economic divide to transform the way we value our environment.

By saving the forests, indeed, maybe humanity will relearn how to save ourselves!

______________________

 

Bold words, but who said them? And what has he done to save his country's forests?

The logic of the argument is: Because you did not value our forests, we haven't been able to afford education and health services for our people.

Clearly the answer to the rest of the developed world is: Feel guilty and send more money.

We need more money so we can provide essential services while at the same time we cut down forests and continue to make me rich.

We need more money to buy flash aircraft to tour the world and take me to my health checks in Singapore.

My people are a resource that can and will be used as an asset hostage.

They will continue to be used to extract more overseas aid money so we can keep me and my friends in the manner to which we have become accustomed.

What a cop out!

Some rather agreeable personal news this day

I’ve been invited by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Queensland, Prof Paul Greenfield, to accept the role of Adjunct Professor of Journalism & Communication at the university.

The word Adjunct in this context means I’ll be contributing to various academic and other activities of the School of Journalism & Communication as an external and part-time (and unpaid) member of the faculty.

This will be done with occasional visits to the campus but is not designed to unnecessarily complicate the rest of my life.

PNG Attitude and my many other activities will continue to flourish.

The assignment involves working with Head of School, Prof Michael Bromley, and his colleagues to advise on course content, deliver a few lectures each year and assist to extend the work of the school in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

I'm looking forward to adding this new role to my existing commitments. It’ll be a good fit.

Photo: Brushing up blackboard technique in training for the new role. Chalkies please note that I'm a real stylist.

Gridneff wins second global journalism award

On Friday, AAP’ s PNG correspondent, Ilya Gridneff, pictured here in full bilas, will receive his second international award for journalism in as many months.

He has won the bronze award in the new Prince Albert Foundation/UNCA global prize for news coverage of climate change.

The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) was founded in 1948 when the UN began to meet regularly in New York.

Its over 200 members come from more than 50 countries and the purpose of the awards is to recognise and encourage excellence in reporting on the UN’s worldwide activities.

The award will be presented by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, however Mr Gridneff is not be able to be in New York for the ceremony.

The awards were open to journalists anywhere in the world for their work in print, Internet, radio or TV.

Last month Mr Gridneff won the 2009 Asia-Pacific award for environmental journalism.

Independent riots inquiry is sunk by government

The parliamentary committee investigating the May anti-Asian riots throughout PNG is in turmoil following the government’s sacking of its chairman, Jamie Maxtone-Graham, and the resignation of three members – including a vice-minister - in sympathy.

Mr Maxtone-Graham has revealed he was sacked just before his committee exposed the involvement of some politicians in questionable activities with certain people of Asian origin.

He warned of a “time bomb’’ that would explode unless the government immediately took positive action to defuse increasing anti-Asian sentiments.

It wasn’t the first time the PNG government had put the dampener on a parliamentary inquiry whose activities it found discomfiting.

Transparency International reported last week on the dismal fate of the Commission of Inquiry on the Department of Finance [see PNG Attitude here]

Vice Minister for the Public Service, Anthony Nene MP, said committee members had tried to carry out their task without funding and without government cooperation but the decision to remove Mr Maxtone-Graham was a big setback for the country.

Mr Nene said his decision to resign was final because “I have seen a lot of stinky things happening and I cannot continue”.

Meanwhile, parliament has taken delivery of 109 plasma television sets (“as big as a dining table and worth more than K20,000 each”, said one observer) that will be installed in the offices of MPs.

Official: AusAID management, strategy problems

The Australian National Audit Office’s [ANAO] performance audit of AusAID, tabled in parliament last week, provides less than a ringing endorsement of the aid agency’s performance.

Indeed, it questions its ability to deliver the Rudd government's pledge to double the aid budget by 2016.

The report, entitled AusAID's Management of the Expanding Australian Aid Program, says that the Australian government provided $3.8 billion in overseas aid this yer, an increase of 42% in four years. AusAID is responsible for 83% of this program.

The audit considered critical aspects of AusAID’s management; how aid investments are selected; monitoring and evaluation and other matters.

Audit fieldwork was undertaken in Australia and three recipient countries, including PNG.

While ANAO concluded that in recent years AusAID had managed the program “in a way that supports the delivery of effective aid”, it said that the agency “faces considerable management challenges”.

There is a shortfall of expertise in some areas and many programs are operating without an agreed strategy

ANAO made recommendations aimed at improving management of the aid program, which give some greater insights into AusAID’s performance:

Improvement of human resources management to mitigate problems of high staff turnover.

The better management of locally-engaged staff.

Develop aid strategies for each recipient country to make aid delivery “more focused and predictable”.

Develop a policy on using recipient country systems to manage projects, thereby strengthening them, rather than imposing its own systems.

Greater transparency in budgeting and reporting.

Source: The Auditor-General’s Audit Report No.15, Performance Audit: AusAID's Management of the Expanding Australian Aid Program, Parliament of Australia, November 2009. Read the full report here

Genia stars as Wallabies cream Wales in Cardiff

 The Australian rugby union team ended its Spring tour of the British Isles in spectacular fashion with a convincing 33-12 win against Wales at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.

And once again the Wallabies PNG-born halfback Will Genia was in great form, producing what critics described as “a mighty all-round performance”.

In a dominant display of open rugby, the Australians ran in four unanswered tries against the 2008 Six Nation champions to silence the crowd of 75,000.

Matt Giteau was voted man of the match with Genia and Australia’s inspirational captain Rocky Elson also worthy of the award.

After the game Genia said the win against Wales was more satisfying than the defeat of world champions South Africa in Brisbane in September.

“To come home so strongly, score four tries and play for the full 80 minutes makes for a great dressing room,” he said.

The 21-year-old Genia has received another honour in his rookie year of international rugby.  He is one of six Australians selected to play for the Barbarians against the New Zealand All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday. 

It's political: The truth about corruption in PNG

Transparency International’s recent report on global corruption ranks PNG 151st of 180 countries: its corruption rating continuing to worsen.

Overall, corruption in PNG is characterised as more political than bureaucratic in nature. That said, bureaucratic corruption is a significant concern to the private sector.

Corruption profoundly affects business operations, yet businesses are reluctant to speak out because of fear of losing state contracts, or simply being shut down.

Although businesses are not likely to pay small bribes on a daily basis, they may assume large costs at the time of entering a market or expanding their operations, and may make side payments to bureaucrats to secure public contracts.

There is reason for concern about the potential for corruption in public-private partnerships. In May 2008 an interim report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Department of Finance revealed that over $US100 million in public funds intended for such projects had disappeared between January 2000 and July 2006.

It is believed the missing funds were paid to businesses and consultants holding bogus government contracts. But the final report is still pending.

The on-again off-again inquiry was initiated in 2006, but its mandate and funding lapsed in May 2007 and were not renewed due to questions regarding the integrity of its members.

It was reconstituted and relaunched by the prime minister in December 2007 and functioned to April 2008, when it lapsed again because of lack of funding and political will to pursue the inquiry.

While the inquiry was taking place, however, civil servants as well as prominent businesspeople spoke publicly about bureaucrats and politicians extracting payments from business after a contract with the state has been awarded but before it was paid out.

Media reports suggest that parts of the private sector are complicit in an elaborate network within the bureaucracy by which a percentage of some cheques produced by the Finance Department is taken out before payment is made to the contractor.

Forestry in PNG has reached a critical juncture. Current levels of logging are said to be unsustainable and the legality of many current concessions is in doubt.

There are also human rights abuses of the local communities and local labour.

A review of 14 logging operations from 2001 to 2006 was highly critical of these operations, except for the Japanese company that runs the Open Bay timber project.

In the first admission of its kind, the country’s forest minister Belden Namah told parliament in 2008 that logging companies routinely flouted the law with the help of corrupt officials.

He found that most of his departmental officers responsible for monitoring forestry operations had ignored the law and that many were in the pockets of logging companies. The minister suspended two forestry licences and announced that no permits are to be issued for log exports after 2010.

More recently the Post-Courier linked unnamed PNG politicians to $US45 million in a Singapore bank account, allegedly money earned through secret logging deals.

The logging industry wields influence in PNG through political donations, public sponsorship, lobbying and media ownership. In other instances, companies simply ‘buy’ rights to log from corrupt government officials.

Source: Global Corruption Report 2009, Transparency International, Cambridge, November 2009

 

Baby Kevin latest: linked to his namesake for life

BY MARK BINNS

I was recently back up in the highlands of PNG and spent some time in Lufa with little Kevinrudd and his family.

Kevinrudd is a delightful little boy, cheerful and easy and not at all afraid of white skin (most children his age are).

The novelty and interest has waned a little, but nobody in the area is in any doubt where his name came from. He remains a relatively famous child in the community, though he himself is oblivious to it all.

His family hold and value the mementoes of the famous association, the presents from the prime minister’s staff, copies of Reconciliation News and his portrait, but for all that he is just another young life full of promise and much loved by those around him.

It is in the adult community that the ‘namesaking’ is still having a lingering and confusing effect. The prime minister didn’t ask to have the child named after him and probably had no way to refuse it.

In highland PNG, though, this ‘namesaking’ has strings attached and culturally it links the two people for life.

A bank account had been opened to hold any money coming L’le Kev’s way to perhaps provide his education with a kick start, but I expect the whole thing to wind down to becoming an interesting and slightly unbelievable story to be told around the fire in the future.

Source: Reconciliation News, the newsletter of Reconciliation Australia, November 2009, www.reconciliation.org.au

There are none so blind as those who will not see

BY PAUL OATES

Two toddlers axed to death [The National]

An infant and a three-year-old girl were among four travellers axed to death at a roadblock in Ipanda village in Enga province. Wabag police commander Snr Insp Albert Beli said several women passengers were raped while some women and children were still missing.

He said the clansmen had been unhappy about a decision of a mediation handed down by the peace and good order committee. Insp Beli said the quick response of police prevented many more deaths and the roadblock was cleared but no one was arrested.

.....

I can't believe that quote ... "but no one was arrested".

The news item shows how much law and order has lapsed in PNG today.

In the days of the kiap, no stone would be left unturned until the perpetrators of these crimes were brought to justice.

The PNG government has effectively lost control of the country.

PNG has actually descended into chaos and the Australian prime minister does nothing.

The PNG government (if one can still call it a government) is unlikely to request military assistance in what is clearly becoming a civil war.

The obvious extrapolation is full scale civil war in PNG where the real losers will once again be the people.

It's been a long time in coming and could have been avoided at any time over the last 30 plus years.

By omission and commission, both PNG and Australia have allowed this situation to develop.