Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

Beyond the euphoria: PNG has world’s highest rate of oral cancer

KATHLEEN PRIOR | BBC News | Extracts

Read the full story, with its graphic images, here

PORT MORESBY - In Papua New Guinea, the popularity of the psychoactive betel nut is on the rise. With mouth cancer rates soaring, the nation is struggling to control its growing addiction.

Once reserved for sacred events, now almost half of Papua New Guineans chew betel nut.

It is common for children as young as six to chew it, and addicts admit using the drug every day from morning to night.

The chewing of betel nut, the seed of the Areca palm, is common across Asia and the Pacific.

Violence against women a major economic issue in Pacific

REPORT | UN Women

You can read the more detailed report here

SUVA – “Violence against women is a significant economic issue which carries high costs to individuals, households, the public sector, businesses and society,” says Abby Erikson.

“However, we cannot lose sight of violence against women as a violation of human rights - women have a right to live a life free from violence, beyond any economic justification for it,” adds Ms Erikson, manager of UN Women’s ending violence against women program in the Pacific.

She was speaking at last week’s triennial conference of Pacific women held in Suva in which panellists highlighted the connection between violence against women and women’s economic empowerment.

The Pacific region has some of the highest rates of violence against women in the world, with two out of three women reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by a partner – double the global average.

World's largest butterfly faces extinction due to palm oil industry

In Oro Province, the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing species is dwindling (Angelus Palik/SBBT)

SUBHOJIT GOSWAMI | Down to Earth | Edited

NEW DELHI - It is perhaps because of their beauty and grace that they were named after the wife of Edward VII.

Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, the largest butterfly in the world with a wingspan of 30cm—at least 10 times the size of common butterflies—was discovered in Papua New Guinea in 1906.

More than a century later, one of the world’s rarest species has become the most endangered. In Oro Province, its last frontier, the density of this butterfly has shrunk to only 10 per square kilometre. They are now handful in number, but what’s causing the species to dwindle?

PNG has an ideal climate for palm production and the industry is fast expanding.

With traditional locations for plantations running out, companies are turning to clearing unexploited tropical forests - natural habitat of the birdwing butterfly.

Human rights abuses needs national & community approach

SYDNEY NAM | The Borgen Project | Edited extracts

SEATTLE - While Papua New Guinea has enjoyed the benefits of economic improvement due to extractive industries, more than 40% of its population of more than seven million live in poverty.

The state of human rights in PNG is severely lacking and includes government corruption, abuse of female rights, inhumane conditions for asylum seekers, police brutality, lack of minority rights and prosecution for sexual orientation and gender identity,.

Police abuse is rampant. Between 2007 and 2014, a total of 1,600 complaints regarding police brutality were logged by the internal affairs directorate. The government has yet to release how many of these cases resulted in judicial proceedings.

Scourge of leprosy, a disease of the poor, returns to PNG

ROSA KOIAN

PORT MORESBY - Sitting in the car I could see her in the distance – running, half limping.

After a while I got out and moved to the front of the vehicle and waited for her.

Rebecca slowed down as she approached but continued towards me. I could see she was excited but, just as she came close, she turned as if to dash away and escape.

I grabbed her and held her close to me.

Rebecca is a 15-year-old girl who lives on the outskirts of Port Moresby.

She is spending her early years living in shame because of her condition.

Contaminated water is still killing 60 PNGns a week

TUCKER HALLOWELL | The Borgen Project

SEATTLE - As more than 80% of the population lives in remote areas with little to no modern facilities, Papua New Guinea struggles with poor water quality and a lack of awareness about basic human health necessities.

With very little access to clean water, sanitation is poor and disease is rampant.

As access to safe water and sanitation are vital to the basic health needs, the population is at risk.

Poor hygiene leads to poor health and illnesses such as cholera and diarrhoea, which kill people every day - 60 a week the statistics say.

Here are some facts about water quality in Papua New Guinea.

We sing our anthem with pride - but what about our daughters

 

GARY JUFFA | Asia Pacific Report

PORT MORESBY - “O arise all you sons of this land”… here was perhaps one of the problems to progress in Papua New Guinea as we celebrated 42 years of independence yesterday.

Why have we not included the daughters of this land in our national anthem? How have we totally forgotten about them in the most important task of nation building?

Surely they too should rise and build this nation too since it is just as much theirs as it is that of the sons.

Yes that’s correct … our daughters should have the right to rise up for this land and be accorded the dignity and honour of being recognised for their efforts.

I believe we have set a negative psychological platform for Papua New Guinea’s development by excluding a significant segment of the hardest working and most intelligent people in our communities – our womenfolk.

Battle to stop unique & beautiful wildlife from being sold

A barn owl caught for sale (Eric Tlozek)

ERIC TLOZEK | Australian Broadcasting Corporation

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea has the world's third-largest rainforest, but increasing numbers of its unique and beautiful species of wildlife are being caught and sold.

The animals are often sold for traditional reasons, for personal consumption or for use in ceremonial costumes.

Most Papua New Guineans do not see any problems with this, but conservation groups said it was starting to put many of the country's iconic species at risk.

The highlands city of Goroka is buzzing with people from all over the region who have come to show off their traditional dances and costumes at the annual Goroka Show.

The famous event attracts so-called "sing-sing" groups who compete to have the best performances and best traditional dress.

Profiting from sickness in PNG: The dark economy of public health

STAFF REPORTERS | PNGi Central | Extract

Read Part 1 of the complete and detailed PNGi investigation here

BORNEO Pacific Pharmaceuticals Ltd is yet again the subject of controversy, after the company was contracted this year, at a premium price, to supply medical kits to health centres and aid posts.

Media reports indicate that Borneo Pacific has been given a one year contract worth, K57,738,982.91, to provide medical supplies to health centres and aid posts throughout the country. The alleged value of the contract is substantially higher than the three-year, K71 million contract awarded to Borneo in 2013.

Oro Governor, Gary Juffa, has questioned the award, describing it as “controversial and suspicious”.

It ought to be kept in mind that in addition to being a member of the Public Accounts Committee, Juffa was deputy chair of the parliamentary committee which recently conducted a review of health sector management, which uncovered worrying evidence on Borneo Pacific’s merchandise.

PNG government accused of lies & deceit over land grab

EDDIE TANAGO | Act Now!

PORT MORESBY - The Papua New Guinean government has lied to the nation over the SABL land grab and people across the country will be angry and disappointed.

The land grab, affecting over 50,000 square kilometres of customary land, was one of the biggest national issues over the lifetime of the last parliament.

In the lead-up to the national election both the prime minister and lands minister made clear statements that gave the impression all the SABL leases were deemed illegal and had been cancelled. 

Those statements have now been contradicted by new lands minister Justin Tkatchenko, who has told the media he is setting up a special committee to look at the leases and decide which ones are illegal and which should be cancelled.

Minister must ensure police ban in SABL areas is enforced

EDDIE TANAGO

PORT MORESBY - Community advocacy group Act Now! has praised new police minister Jelta Wong, for his commitment to stop the intimidation and harassment of customary landowners by police officers in SABL [special agricultural and business lease] areas.

But Act Now! remains concerned that the minister’s instructions may not be followed in all SABL areas.

Mr Wong has said he will ensure the government’s decision cancelling all SABL leases will be supported:

The Post-Courier newspaper has quoted him as saying that “No members of the police force should be interfering and intimidating affected landowners in SABL areas.

Minister’s directive an act of intimidation says leading clinician

SCOTT WAIDE | EMTV

PORT MORESBY - A ministerial circular gagging health professionals and hospital managements around Papua New Guinea from making public statements has drawn the ire of the national secretary of the Doctor’s Association.

Dr Sam Yockopua (pictured) has described the circular as a dictatorial attempt to intimidate and suppress health workers.

“This is political propaganda meant to mislead and shut people who are speaking out about a bureaucracy that is not working,” he said.

The circular - issued by health minister Sir Puka Temu on 15 August - said that recent information relating to health functions had been distorted and disseminated and that this “created fear and confusion in the community.”

Drug lords in PNG are acquiring more political influence

PHILLIP KAI MORRE

TOMORROW, 26 June, is International Anti-Narcotics Day where a message of hope is carried around the world to millions of victims of the narcotics epidemic.

Drug abuse is an international problem that destroys human health and lives. Drug cultivation, trafficking and consumption have grown to an extreme in Papua New Guinea. There are more people involved in this illegal industry than ever before.

In Papua New Guinea this includes local drug lords wielding greater political influence and even being elected to office.

People know that O’Neill & his ministers do not tell the truth

WARIME GUTI | Translated by Keith Jackson

TODAY I went to the pharmacy to buy a GlucoMeter.

The man ahead of me in the queue looked very ill and he had a note from the hospital nurse prescribing the medicine he must purchase.

He gave the note to the cashier who looked at it and said the total cost would be K31 for Mala-Wan and Primaquine.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out K20, only enough to buy the Mala-Wan but he was short of the full amount of money.

'The hospital is out of everything': PNG crippled by drug shortage

JAMIE TAHANA | Radio New Zealand International

ON Tuesday night, an elderly woman went to Mt Hagen Hospital after she was slashed in the forehead, but doctors had no supplies or antibiotics to stitch and treat her wound.

On the same night, doctors driven to desperation having run out of gauze resorted to using patients' clothes to soak up blood and cover wounds.

The dire situation at Papua New Guinea's third-largest hospital is a scene playing out in hospitals around the country, where health centres have been crippled by a months-long drug shortage that doctors say has been in the making for years.

Single-handedly Alfred Masul got conservation on the move

STEVEN MAVII GIMBO

A MAN from the Ulingan-Malala area of Madang Province has been praised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a role model in the fight against the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.

Community leader and conservation advocate Alfred Masul (pictured with his children) was commended for using his own initiative to start conservation activities using local knowledge and without much assistance from others.

WWF project officers learnt of Alfred’s activities as they were rolling out a project among Madang’s north coast communities.

Rimbunan Hijau has destroyed PNG’s forests & its social fabric

DOROTHY TEKWIE

I BELIEVE the Archbishop of Rabaul, Francesco Panfilo, and the Catholic Bishops' Conference are right in saying New Zealand lay missionary Douglas Tennent would have been deported from PNG because he was assisting landowners in Pomio against Rimbunan Hijau.

This is how Rimbunan Hijau operates in Papua New Guinea. It would get government officials to do what it wants.

I am a former Greenpeace Forest Campaigner in PNG and I know how RH operates.

This Asian logging company is not only the biggest destroyer of PNG's forests, it has destroyed the social fabric of PNG society by infiltrating PNG's political and economic systems through the Asian culture of corrupt business practices.

How long can the sick wait?

ROSA KOIAN | My Land, My Country Blog

TODAY at the clinic I was glad to have special attention.

The doctor was very nice and we talked. I shared about what I witnessed in the clinics and health centres in the last four weeks in Port Moresby, Bereina, Kwikila and Hula.

Patients were turned away or prescriptions written for them due to no medicine. I saw sick people in bed, some putting their hand out for ‘quinine’.

I am lost for words when I visit one sick in Port Moresby. She is already tired of being sent to the pharmacy. Too weak to sit up she didn’t want to say any more.

The big question for me as I lay in bed trying to get well myself is how many people like my sisters in Baruni and Kamali in Rigo are giving up on life just because our health system continues to fail them – the sick.

Drug company boss knighted while govt ‘chose’ to be ripped off

SIR MEKERE MORAUTA

I WAS shocked to read in The National on Friday that Martin Poh [pictured] of Borneo Pacific Pharmaceuticals had publicly celebrated an apparent knighthood before the award had been announced by Buckingham Palace or by the Office of the Papua New Guinea Governor-General.

The article was headlined: ‘Kidney Foundation Star to be Knighted’.

Every rule of Palace and Government protocol has been broken here. It just goes to show that knighthoods in Papua New Guinea have become very cheap commodities.

Although I welcomed the report and the work of the Kidney Foundation, and recognise the urgent need for affordable dialysis treatment, people should not forget the history of the contract for the supply of drugs that was awarded to Borneo Pacific in 2013.

Borneo Pacific did not meet the requirements set for the tender, so their political friends in power instructed that the terms of the tender be changed mid-stream.

Health spending slashed as PNG crisis gets worse, says Morauta

SIR MEKERE MORAUTA | Edited extracts

PRIME minister Peter O’Neill has slashed health spending for the past three years, despite promises that he would protect it and other essential services from his cuts.

We have now reached the point where his corruption, waste and mismanagement threaten to bring the entire health system crashing down around us.

The past two years have been bad enough, with medicines running out across the country, health facilities lacking essential equipment and in a state of disrepair, health workers not being paid properly, and many other indicators of system failure.

The prime minister likes to boast about his free health care policy, but if people cannot get timely and appropriate treatment, or no treatment at all, then it is a waste of money.

Concern as PNG moves to launch new coal mining industry

CATHERINE WILSON | Mongabay

THE Papua New Guinea government is actively pursuing the potential of developing a coal mining industry for the first time in the country’s history.

Two years ago, it channelled K10 million to its Mineral Resources Authority for research into the viability of coal extraction.

Now, an Australian company engaged in exploration is proposing to build three mixed coal power generation plants in the cities of Port Moresby, Lae and Madang, citing the need for affordable and reliable electricity to boost economic growth.

Alternative ways of earning income help protect Madang Lagoon

STEVEN GIMBO

THE World Wildlife Foundation says Madang Lagoon is overfished and depleting and it is looking at other ways to conserve fish and other marine life while enabling local communities to sustain themselves.

According to Rebecca Samuel (right), WWF’s marine project officer in Madang, people cannot be stopped from extracting resources unless they are able to develop alternative sources.

“We cannot stop people from using their resources,” Ms Samuel, a marine biologist, said. “Even though we talk about conservation, we cannot ignore the fact that people still need to eat and have money. People will still get from the environment to sell and to eat.”

Ms Samuel said this is the reason behind WWF’s introduction of the financial inclusion part of its Alternative Livelihood Project: to reduce pressure on marine resources while people are encouraged towards other means of sustaining themselves.

Our chronic & unalterable embrace of drugs that can harm

CHRIS OVERLAND

THE history of alcohol consumption, and other psycho-active drugs, amongst humans goes back at least 10,000 years, probably longer. So too do the problems associated with their abuse.

In the case of Papua New Guinea, until quite recently the substance most abused was buai (betel nut) but its effects were, so far as I could tell, fairly muted.

Now, exposure to the wider world has brought with it a wider range of much more potent and dangerous choices.

The colonial regime in PNG for a long time worked hard to prevent Papua New Guineans having access to alcohol. Eventually, this prohibition was attacked and overturned on the basis that it was a denial of their human rights.

Liquor is not the main cause of PNG’s social problems

PHILLIP KAI MORRE

THE liquor ban imposed in some parts of Papua New Guinea is not a solution, instead it contributes to more social problems in our society.

Authorities  are not getting  professional and prudent advice from specialists before these banning decisions are made  .

Today’s young people are going through a difficult period of adjustment and are confused and disoriented in the midst of rapid social changes where traditional community rules, cultural values and norms that control behaviour no longer exist.

Major challenges but PNG makes big strides against malaria

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION

IT WOULD be tough to find a location more hospitable to the spread of malaria than Papua New Guinea.

“This country has very, very difficult geography, with little infrastructure,” said Tim Freeman, a logistician for Rotarians Against Malaria.

At 61, Freeman has spent more than half of his life fighting malaria. He is the kind of guy you want nearby if your car gets stuck in the mud, which he has seen happen a lot while overseeing the distribution of more than five million insecticide-treated mosquito nets in PNG.

Even now, many villages have no roads and the delivery of nets can require an airplane, helicopter, boat, truck and days of walking – often in the rain.

Plenty more work needed to correct SABL injustices

EFFREY DADEMO | Act Now

THE Papua New Guinea government still has plenty of work to do to redress the injustice of the SABL land grab and illegal logging.

Act Now is cautiously optimistic the government is moving in the right direction by cancelling the SABL leases, but this is only a first step.

We welcome statements from the Minister for Lands that the government has cancelled all SABL leases; if it is true, it is a significant move.

However, after nearly four years of delay, there are other vitally important steps that still have to be taken to ensure justice for rural communities.

Influenza pandemic: Is PNG ready for the ‘Big One’?

PAUL OATES

HEIGHTENED awareness of the oncoming influenza season in Australia raises questions about whether Papua New Guinea is ready for a predicted severe flu epidemic.

This year a single injection offering some protection against four strains of flu is being offered to the Australian population based on flu varieties currently circulating in the Northern Hemisphere.

So what is the difference between the common cold and influenza? Most people when they catch a cold should rest and drink plenty of water.

There are 200 or more viruses that can cause a cold. These viruses infect a person’s upper respiratory tract and are often grouped under the acronym, URTI.

Dealing with gender-based violence in our changing society

PHILLIP KAI MORRE

GENDER-based violence in Papua New Guinea has increased over the years with dire physical, psychological, social and economic consequences and serious human rights implications.

Research and findings by government and non-government organisations point to the fact that gender-based violence is an epidemic affecting thousands of people, especially women and children.

In the patriarchal structure of Melanesian society we view women as a passive and weaker class who must be submissive to husbands, brothers and fathers and who cannot operate or live independently.

Churches demand Manus Island asylum seekers be evacuated

THE GUARDIAN | With Australian Associated Press

CHURCHES and refugee advocates are calling for asylum seekers on Manus Island to be evacuated to Australia after shots were fired when local men tried to storm the facility.

The Human Rights Law Centre, the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce and Amnesty International have said the shooting incident on Friday shows the centre is not safe and the refugees and asylum seekers detained there must be removed to Australia while resettlement in the US progresses.

The Papua New Guinea Defence Force issued a statement on Saturday saying that the incident was triggered by a disagreement over the use of a football field on the naval base that surrounds the Australian-run camp.

“The asylum seeker residents are supposed to vacate the oval at 6pm daily, and it is alleged that when they were asked to do so to enable dependents of the base to play on the oval, some of them refused,” a statement from the military’s chief of staff says.

PNG medical supplies contract comes under proper oversight

LAWRENCE STEPHENS | Transparency International PNG

TRANSPARENCY International PNG (TIPNG) has welcomed the announcement by the Central Supply and Tenders Board chairman, Dr Ken Ngangan, that the medical supplies contract will be subject to the results of a public tender.

“It is not easy for the public service to follow procedures established to protect the interests of the people and the rights of qualified suppliers to compete fairly to provide goods and services," said Mr Stephens.

Since 2013, TIPNG - through its Community Coalition Against Corruption - consistently asked for an investigation into the award of the contract to Borneo Pacific Pharmaceuticals after tendering rules were changed and the company was awarded a contract which cost the people of PNG nearly K100 million.

It's tough road for cancer patients in PNG's health system

PAEOPE OVASURU

ALL forms of cancer can have a lasting effect on families and relatives of the victims.

In Papua New Guinea, cancer cases are increasing and many families struggle to take care of their loved ones.

With no treatment available at the Angau General Hospital cancer unit, many lives have been lost.

The treatment and care of cancer patients is also very costly, and many families who go through this experience are left broken financially and emotionally.

One such is the family of the late Hore Avara (pictured), a cervical cancer patient who passed away on 15 March., Through their sorrow and pain, her family has decided to speak about their experiences, to share with others who have had similar experiences and help those in the same situation.

There are many ways in which a man may be broken

KEVIN PONDIKOU

I WAS woken from my afternoon slumber by a phone call.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have been tempted not to answer.

But it was my duty and I did not know it would break me later in that way a man can be broken.

Sister Philo in Matkomnai talked about a nine-year old child with neck stiffness. She was worried about meningitis and wanted to treat the patient with CMP because she didn't have any Ceftriaxone.

Violence engendered on Manus Island cannot be ignored

MICHELLE NAYAHAMUI ROONEY | Dev Policy Blog

IN THE joint communique for the 25th Ministerial Forum between Australia and Papua New Guinea held in March 2017, Foreign Ministers Rimbink Pato and Julie Bishop welcomed collaboration as they prepare to close the Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island.

However, Manus Island will continue to complicate the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

One outcome of the centre that does not appear to be on this ministerial agenda, but is of significant interest in the bilateral relationship, is the contradiction between the Manus Island Centre and the ministers’ commitments to address the rife problems of violence, security and gendered violence in PNG.

PNG paradoxes: mineral wealth, foreign aid & gender violence

MICHAEL KOZIOL | Fairfax Media

IT STARTS at the boarding lounge in Brisbane. Men: white, middle-aged, dull. They flash their passports: German, British, Australian.

On the plane they brandish paraphernalia for various mining companies: oil, gas, maybe gold. A New Zealander is going to spend two weeks fixing wells at petrol stations. Fly in, fly out. Quickly.

Papua New Guinea isn't a place you necessarily want to linger. Its capital, Port Moresby, ranks among the most dangerous and least liveable cities in the world. Tribal fighting and sexual violence against children mar the provinces. In some areas, women accused of witchcraft are still bashed or burnt alive.

PNG government taking steps to stop child labour, says ILO

RNZI

THE International Labour Organisation says the Papua New Guinean government is making inroads into the problem of child labour.

About one-fifth of PNG children aged 10 to 14 years, and almost one-third of children aged 14 or over, are believed to be economically active.

Studies have found child labour, including its worst forms - child trafficking, child prostitution, use of children for the production and sale of drugs and hazardous child labour - are extensive in PNG.

The director of the ILO's Pacific regional office, Donglin Li, visited PNG this month as the government launched its national action plan to eliminate child labour.

Bougainville will pursue Rio Tinto over environmental damage

KEITH JACKSON

BOUGAINVILLE president John Momis has told Radio New Zealand International that his government is proceeding with legal action against mining giant Rio Tinto over environmental destruction caused by the Panguna mine.

Until last year when it relinquished its shares, Rio Tinto was the majority owner of Bougainville Copper Ltd which ran the mine for 20 years before it was abandoned during the civil war.

Rio Tinto controversially handed its BCL shares to the Papua New Guinea and Bougainville governments and indicated it has no intention to clean up environmental damage caused by its mining.

Plenty of good water; the problem is getting it from source

BAKA BINA

AS a kid, it was my mandated task to ensure that we had water in the house at all time.

So every day, every afternoon, I made sure the two containers in the house were kept filled, I task I continued until I left to go to study Grade 11 outside the province.

The water collection was a 20-minute chore and I loved it. It was a noble task for me as I did not want my mother to look for water after a hard day at the garden.

I grew up without clean water. I replaced the water each day and we never had stale water.

Rabaul manager's wild excuses after felling of historic trees

CARMELLA GWARE | Loop PNG

THE recent felling of trees along the Malaguna Road in Rabaul, East New Britain, has angered many of the province’s long term residents.

It is believed that the historical shade trees were chopped down to make way for power lines.

Among those who have raised their voices against the ‘outrageous’ exercise was Rabaul Historical Society secretary, Susan McGrade.

A frustrated Ms McGrade told Loop PNG that the shade trees had “survived many, many eruptions”.

“There was absolutely no reason to remove the trees altogether,” she said.

PNG one of world’s worst countries for access to clean water

WATER-AID | Edited extracts

ACROSS the world 663 million people still do not have access to water; the vast majority of them - over half a billion - live in rural areas.

Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and Mozambique are among the worst performing countries in the world for rural access to clean water.

In PNG, over two thirds of the rural population – 67% - live without access to clean water, while Madagascar and Mozambique follow closely behind, with 65% and 63% of their rural populations without clean water, respectively.

47,000 HIV infections in PNG concerns UN AIDS agency

JOHNNY BLADES | Dateline Pacific RNZI

ACCORDING to the United Nations, the latest statistics in Papua New Guinea estimate that almost 47,000 people are infected with HIV in a country whose population is about eight million. UNAIDS' country director Stuart Watson (pictured) says that there's been an increase of 10,000 of people with HIV in the past two years. He spoke to Johnny Blades

STUART WATSON: In 2015 we estimated that the prevalence in the population was 0.7%. Just last week we completed the most recent estimations and projections for the epidemic in Papua New Guinea and we're now at 0.91%.

So contrary to the trends in many parts of the world, unfortunately in PNG, which has roughly 95% of the epidemic burden in the Pacific region, is trending in the wrong direction. So in PNG, those figures translate into just under 47,000 people living with HIV; roughly 3,000 new infections in the last year, of which nearly a quarter were children and youths. So it's definitely not a good situation.

PNG's Torres Strait people are now in horror straits

MARTYN NAMORONG

COMMUNITIES in the South Fly District of Papua New Guinea’s Western Province are suffering from a leadership vacuum created by the lack of political leadership according Jamie Namorong, a prominent community leader from Malam village in the Trans-Fly.

Jamie Namorong stated that the lack of political leadership coupled with geographical challenges has led to the decline of service delivery in his district.

He said the departure of the PNG Sustainable Development Program from the province has resulted in the decline in mobile communications coverage and many communities that once had access are now cut off from the rest of the world.

Born to try

KEVIN PONDIKOU

THERE are experiences that have built on other experiences that have changed me. I'm not the same man I was when I first arrived here at Rughaz three years ago.

Some memories push me to the edge. Try as I might to suppress them, there are occasions when they spring to life.

During the course of my duties I have seen severely malnourished children and sick children die because they couldn’t access health care in a remote location.

Special ‘lease’ exploitation leads Malmal without land & bereft

QUINTINA NAIME | PNG Loop

THE Special Agriculture Business Lease (SABL) practice is having a direct impact on the environment and cultural values, says customary landowner Anna Sipona.

Anna comes from Malmal village in East New Britain Province where logging has exploited the environment.

She explained that their forest has disappeared under SABL and the people in her village live as if they don’t own land.

The land in Malmal is under a 99-year lease agreement and the people have been told by the developers that their land is now state land.

It’s Friday night, & Port Moresby General has no bandages

KEITH JACKSON

THERE was something of a crisis at the Port Moresby General Hospital early last Friday night.

The weekend had arrived – not to mention the onset of the usual Friday night procession of smashes, clashes and crashes – and Dr Sam Yockopua, the hospital’s chief of emergency medicine and 18-year public health veteran – was alarmed.

So alarmed, in fact, that he took to Facebook with a public appeal for help.

“SOS call for kind donations,” he wrote. “As at 6:35pm, after supervision of the pm shift work, at POM Gen Emergency Department; we have none of the following….”

Is Australia's detention regime a crime against humanity?

BEN DOHERTY | The Guardian | Extract

AUSTRALIA’S offshore immigration detention regime could constitute a crime against humanity, a petition before the International Criminal Court from a coalition of legal experts has alleged.

On Monday morning, a 108-page legal submission from the Global Legal Action Network (Glan) and the Stanford International Human Rights Clinic was submitted to the court, detailing what the network describes as the “harrowing practices of the Australian state and corporations towards asylum seekers”.

The petition submits the office of the prosecutor of the ICC should open an investigation into possible “crimes against humanity committed by individuals and corporate actors”.

People make selves crazy by cannabis abuse, says drug dealer

NELSON KAIRI

IN Papua New Guinea, it is illegal to cultivate, groom, store, consume and trade marijuana.

Marijuana, or cannabis, is the main illegal drug produced and consumed in large amounts in PNG. It is cultivated for private use and for sale locally and overseas. Reports suggest it is also bartered for weapons.

Medical research show the effects of smoking marijuana fade quickly, but the drug can be detected in the body for weeks, sometimes longer. It depends on how often it is used or how much the user has consumed.

The most common effect upon a user is that, as a result of prolonged use, it alters the mind.

Obesity & its impact on deaths from lifestyle diseases in PNG

NELSON HAMISH KAIRI

THE Papua New Guinea government must get serious about decreasing the number of deaths caused by lifestyle diseases, according to a researcher.

Scientist Andrew Pus conducted research on obesity in Port Moresby and his findings have been made public on the Scientific Research Publishing website.

Mr Pus is from the Western Highlands and holds a master’s degree in health sciences from the Graduate School of Bio-Medical and Health Sciences at Hiroshima University in Japan. His research spanned more than three years and was conducted as part of his graduate requirement.

Obesity accounts for an estimated 2.8 million deaths worldwide and is the fifth leading risk for death according to recent data from the World Health Organisation.

Manus asylum seeker escapes - now seeks asylum in Fiji

MICHAEL GORDON | Fairfax Media

AFTER fleeing Manus Island, a young Iranian refugee has made a desperate plea for asylum on the grounds he fears persecution if he goes back to Papua New Guinea.

"This is the end for me," said Loghman Sawari, whose time in PNG has been punctuated by beatings, bullying, imprisonment, illness, suicide attempts and living on the street in Lae, one of the country's most dangerous cities.

The 21-year-old Ahwazi Arab managed to board a plane under a false name after he said he was threatened by a PNG immigration official and lost hope of being resettled in the United States under President Donald Trump.

HIV/AIDS stigma remains a challenge to PNG churches

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

A CHRISTIAN leader in Papua New Guinea says the country's churches need to overcome discrimination and stigma to make a real difference in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

PNG has extremely high rates of the virus, with a prevalence rate of about 0.5%, according to a 2013 UN AIDS report.

Andrew Hama, from the PNG Christian Leaders Alliance on HIV/AIDS, is organising a summit in March with the country's churches, government and NGOs to try and coordinate their response.

Churches play a key role in healthcare and education in Papua New Guinea, and Mr Hama said they are key to helping combat the virus.

PNG government continues to fail on rights, says watchdog

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | Edited extracts

THE Papua New Guinean government has failed to adequately address gender inequality, violence, corruption or excessive use of force by police, says the global NGO Human Rights Watch in its 2017 World Report.

In May 2016, Papua New Guinea’s human rights record came under detailed scrutiny during its periodic review at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

A month later, police opened fire on protesting university students in Port Moresby, wounding 23 people. The protesters had attempted a march to the national parliament to call for a vote of no confidence in the government of prime minister Peter O’Neill.