Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

Hey, I prefer my kwila trees & rainforest....

STEVEN ILAVE

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

I READ Garry Juffa’s poem in PNG Attitude entitled Meanwhile the trees keep falling and wanted to continue on the same theme with a contribution of half a dozen original ‘pseudo-haiku’.

A K300 million Raintree Hotel and Suites development (pictured below) by timber giant Rimbunan Hijau is going up very fast near Vision City in Port Moresby.

In a ground breaking ceremony in March kast, prime minister Peter O’Neill spoke of the substantial economic contribution that the Raintree Hotel project will make to PNG.

He emphasised that RH's significant investments in PNG "are most welcome and are appreciated by the government".

Through the haiku, I wonder at the real cost of such activity? I lament the gradual disappearance of the rainforests and forest life.

My basic stance is that “you can keep the K300 million and your Raintree Hotel; I prefer to keep the 300 remaining kwila trees and my rainforest”.

Papua New Guinea extends the olive branch to Bougainville

OXFORD BUSINESS GROUP

A LANDMARK visit in January by Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, to the semi-autonomous island province of Bougainville, has paved the way for reconciliation and renewed commercial interest in the region.

Bougainville’s name remains synonymous with the controversial Panguna Copper Mine, which closed in 1989, after protests over environmental damage and royalty distributions escalated into a decade-long civil war between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the island.

Owned by Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), whose largest shareholder is Rio Tinto, Panguna was the world’s largest open air copper mine in its heyday, making the island one of PNG’s most advanced provinces.

Yet its autonomy and distance from the mainland has led to Bougainville capturing little, if any, of the trickle down from PNG’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) windfall, with development arguably reversing on the island of around 200,000 people during the past 15 years.

Mana and the Gilk - a children’s story from Simbu

ROSE BEMU

THIS STORY is based on upper Simbu (from around Gembogl) traditions and folklore. It is derived from myths and legends that go back many hundreds of years, into my family's past: the Dakas, Kumans, Gehrigs, Whoms and many more. These are the family memories of many people. While it is not to be taken lightly, ut please accept that it is intended as a children's story.

A STRANGE creature crawled out from the Wara Simbu and shook his head. The water glistened from his pate and then he started sniffing. He was a strange pale creamy colour, like a waitman in the moonlight.

"I smell humans!"

He saw a small bush hut before him.

"Ah! Food !" he declared and crawled his way to the hut. His claws clinging to the earth and his nose quivering as he sought his prey. The noise he made from his frothing, deformed mouth was hideous. His red eyes glared around the hut.

"Humans! Food!"

Who was he? And where had he come from?

Bougainville after O’Neill: greater hope & a feeling of moving forward

LEONARD FONG ROKA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Award for Essays & Journalism

AFTER nine years another Papua New Guinean leader, prime minister Peter O’Neill, has set foot on the Solomon Island of Bougainville to assure the people that his country and government are behind them, like a father guiding every economic and political step.

On 15 June 2005, the day the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) was inaugurated on the lawns of Hahela Primary School, Bougainvilleans were assured by then prime minister Sir Michael Somare of the continuous contribution and assistance of the Papua New Guinea Government.

In January 2014, Peter O’Neill was not a mile away from where Sir Michael stood in 2005. Mr O’Neill told Bougainvilleans that PNG is there for them and that it is wanting to see the referendum on independence.

One day, in this place, we will have good things

MICHAEL DOM

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

One day, in this place, we will have good things.

Good things will be here and there in this place

Because we now live in a Modern Age.

Our dead ancestors lived in a Stone Age.

And they did not know what we know today.

Star Mountains boys take up 6-year study program in Australia

OK TEDI MINING LTD

IT’S THE beginning of an exciting journey for two promising young boys from the remote Star Mountains of Western Province who have been offered a golden opportunity to make their education dreams come true.

Through the Ok Tedi Community Education Program, Cyril Bineng and Oscar Nori, both aged 13, will be taking up a six-year study program at the Scots College in Sydney.

The program was established last year through an agreement between Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML), Ok Tedi Development Foundation (OTDF) Limited and The Scots College.

The despair that is Manus: How many more will die?

GARY JUFFA

I THOUGHT last night about widely reported recent events that occurred at the asylum centre in Manus: the loss of a life, injuries and destruction to property.

The destruction to property is of course nowhere near as important as the loss of a life or injuries sustained.

I pondered the plight of the people who were seeking refugee status, locked up in hot and humid conditions, unable to move about, controlled by hostile guards and with no freedom.

In this group there is a variety of people.

Sonnet 14: Getting bruised

MICHAEL DOM

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

In this ring you should get hit often,
Early on, as much as possible: want it.
In fact, walk right into it and always
Make sure you’re hit hard and that it hurts much,
Especially when you fall on your face;
Don’t try to save face let that get bruised too.
Believe me you don’t want to forget this
No matter what advice that well-meaning
Friends offer, they’re wrong. Do it again.
Get off the canvass and go back swinging.
Jump in the ring and walk into that punch.
Friends, no one can tell you what love feels like;
Keep your punches true; get hit where you must;
Don’t back down from a good toe-to-toe match.

This 14 line non-rhyming poem is a modern sonnet written in ten syllable lines, with a ‘turn’ in line 10 and a heroic couplet to end. Created 9:16pm, 17 February 2014 at Labu Station.

Kath Donovan: health worker who served PNG for many years

RUTH MYORS | Sydney Morning Herald

KATH DONOVAN, who has died aged 83, arrived in Balimo in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea in June 1966 to do medical work among the Gogodala tribespeople.

She was appointed to a government-run health centre that consisted of a few thatched huts staffed by a couple of male medical orderlies.

The orderlies had minimal training and a penchant for going home at 4pm no matter what the condition of any patient. This was unacceptable to Donovan, who believed that every patient should receive the best treatment possible.

There were huge changes when Asia Pacific Mission (now Pioneers of Australia), the organisation Donovan belonged to, took over the hospital and she was appointed medical superintendent.

By the time she returned to Australia in 1983, she left behind a well-appointed 100-bed hospital staffed around the clock by two doctors and a team of qualified nurses. A nurse training school had been established, a feeding program was up and running and supervised aid posts covered 20,000 people over more than 20 villages.

Promised potential

JOHN KAUPA KAMASUA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

Potential is only a promise until it is fully realised. What can this generation do about its potential?

She is a paradise beyond words
Beauty beyond compare, potential unlimited, wealth most attractive,
First black developed country is the prophecy

PNG class warfare: the predatory elite & its ‘willing’ prey

MARTYN NAMORONG | Namorong Report

I USED to have the opinion that Papua New Guinea’s middle class offered a solution to the growing gulf between the haves and have nots in PNG.

Lately that view has been changing. Despite the activism of some, and many Facebook conversations, only a handful of people meet together and take action on issues. Are we seeing the rise of the predatory elite and people/prey who do not seem to mind being exploited?

There seem to be inequality of ideas and aspirations. The inequality of wealth and access to education and decision making bodies also create rather contrasting levels of aspiration.

Banning guns would be a major step towards peace & order

FRANCIS S NII

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Award for Essays & Journalism

PRIME MINISTER Peter O’Neill’s announcement in Parliament last Friday of proposed legislation to ban guns in PNG except for security forces is a step in the right direction towards peace and order in this country.

Peter O’Neill told Parliament that the proposed law would include banning police officers from carrying high powered guns in public. He said it would restrict guns to senior officers.

The legislation to ban guns is one of the recommendations in a report instituted by former police minister and current Goroka MP Bire Kimisopa which was tabled in Parliament three years ago.

A ban on guns would be a momentous step towards the elimination of tribal warfare, armed-holdups and enhancing peace and order in PNG.

Our Ancestors

JOHN KAUPA KAMASUA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

Have you ever looked at the night sky
And watched the stars?
And wondered why we know more about them
Than we do ourselves?

There is a faint and distant connection
Between us and these heavenly bodies,
Somewhere in the eons past
Where even memories cannot be resurrected
We were one, intricately linked,
Made of the same material as the stars
All together, in body and spirit!

Death of Norman Norden: Lutheran minister & PNG missionary

MARK ZABORNEY | The Toledo Blade

REV NORMAN F NORDEN, 76, who began his ministry as a missionary in Papua New Guinea, died in the United States last week.

In retirement, Pastor Norden became an officer in the German Lutheran Heritage Society, which has collected and preserved family histories and archives from northwest Ohio counties with deep German roots.

He was born in 1937, and grew up on a farm. He was a 1955 graduate of Ridgeville High School and received a bachelor’s degree from Capital University in the Columbus area.

PNG as a banana republic: Chinese Li Wu suborns officials

KELA KAPKORA SIL BOLKIN

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Essay & Journalism Award

A RECENT incident I witnessed at Taurama Shopping Centre in Port Moresby ended up posing some important questions for all Papua New Guineans.

An argument started between a Tari man in a Chinese kaibar and the Chinese man on the other side of the counter. Moments later, a towering Chinese man came out and punched the 1.5 metre Tari man into submission.

He was beaten and bruised to the point of exhaustion and, as you might expect, two of his Tari wantoks came to the rescue and nearly punched and kicked the tall Chinese man to death.

The public who witnessed the incident were divided in their support. The pro-Chinese mob said the Chinese had created employment and paid taxes through their businesses. They said Papua New Guineans do not create employment but sit and gamble (bom or 7-leaf) or talk politics and wait for free handouts.

They added that Papua New Guineans finding themselves with some money become one-day-millionaires and go on a drinking spree and sing until dawn. They concluded that PNG men and women have no business acumen and should not talk about Chinese business aggression.

Breeding new leaders for PNG – limiting the right to public office

BERNARD YEGIORA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Essay & Journalism Award

DEMOCRACY permits individual rights to citizens who are abusing their privileges when intentionally engaging in corrupt activities.

To minimise this scenario, the state needs to restrict certain rights of individuals. The right to contest for public office as stipulated in Section 50 of the Constitution of the Independent State of PNG is one such right.

The tendency of Papua New Guineans to respect the position of leadership in pre-colonial societies including colonial and post-colonial is evidence that leaders have a paramount role to play. The axiom of “where the head leads, the tail will follow” confirms the paramount role leaders play in any society.

The change in the geo-political climate warrants a change in the style and substance of leaders. By restricting the nomination of candidates in both the national and local government elections to only educated and professionally experienced citizens is perhaps contradictory but is crucial for the common good.

Law & order is necessary for development, says Oro Governor

GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA has commended provincial police for their successful efforts in investigating serious crime in Oro Province.

Mr Juffa, seen here inspecting run-down police housing, thanked provincial police commander Jacob Singura for his management of the police since taking office late last year.

The Governor instigated an enquiry soon after his election in 2012, when he saw reports from the Auditor-General’s office about the misuse of public funds by various people including public servants.

The matters were referred to police, who identified a number of serious cases of fraud. Before departing Oro to take up his post as PNG’s Director of Internal Affairs, former provincial police commander Victor Isuove recommended a number of investigations, arrests and prosecutions.

At the Governor’s request, police investigators were flown in from Port Moresby to carry out the recommendations, resulting in several people, including public servants and former public servants, being charged with serious crimes.

Will Oz justice minister get down & dirty on PNG crime & corruption?

KEITH JACKSON

AUSTRALIA’s justice minister Michael Keenan arrives in Papua New Guinea today for a three-day visit in which he’s having talks on transnational crime, policing and corruption.

“The PNG Government is taking steps to fight corruption and I look forward to discussing progress in this area with Minister [Kerenga] Kua, including PNG’s progress to establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption,” Mr Keenan [pictured, pick the deliberate error] said.

The visit follows hard on the heels of what has been termed “a lecture” by Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop on corruption and lack of development in PNG.

Ms Bishop, slammed the PNG government claiming corruption is rife and lamenting the country’s backward slide on the Millennium Development Goals.

Closing the gap in PNG: How many children must die?

PETER KRANZ

THERE'S BEEN a great deal of hand-wringing and expressions of sympathy about Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's admirable statement about "Closing the Gap"

But closing the gap between whom?

Compare some basic statistics about child mortality between Australia and our near territory and closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea.

Infant mortality is defined as the death of a child under one year of age. For New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory from 2006–10, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infant mortality rate was eight infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

This compares with a non-Indigenous infant mortality rate of four infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

The Old Man

JOHN KAUPA KAMASUA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Steamships Short Story Award

Dedicated to the eternal memories of the old people who had a part to play in influencing my life’s journey

THE MORNING air was quiet for many miles around. The sharp cries of the cicadas somehow stopped for a while, and no wind blew the leaves. Only a moment later children’s voices could be heard from the direction of the garden.

     “Kemi stole the bananas! Kemi stole bananas from Kondo’s garden!” shouted the children as they dragged Kemi to the entrance of the men’s house (hausman) in the village.

     “Usher in the suspect for he must speak for himself, and if found guilty pay for his sins,” commanded the village chief. It so happened that the men were still sitting in their beds and did not feel the need to hurry to their chores for the day, it being a weekend.

     “He did not sin. He only stole some bananas from Kondo’s garden. We caught him in the act,” said the leader of the group. “Not like the sin in the Bible.”

The leeches suck life

GABRIEL KUMAN

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

Leeches! Leeches! Leeches!
Camouflaged among the bushes
How placid you appear along those tracks
Awaiting your prey
Those smooth and idle things

Then came that idle thing
You grabbed it in ambush
Then, suck and suck and suck
You sucked the life
Those smooth and idle things

Award-winning Bougainville author facing legal challenge

ISHMAEL PALIPAL

BOUGAINVILLE’s award-winning writer and pre-eminent author, Leonard Fong Roka, is likely to face a court battle over a short story featured in his second collection of short stories, Moments in Bougainville published last year.

Litigation for defamation has been threatened by the family of an ex-girlfriend in Mr Roka’s home area in the Tumpusiong Valley near Panguna.

Mr Roka said that the story, Tongare Love, was a record of his time with a woman he loved and wanted to marry. But her family would not allow it and instead they began to threaten him.

“Yeah, they openly proclaimed across the Panguna District that I was a sex maniac,” Mr Roka recalled. “But I did not take them to court for defamation. They announced I was a drunkard and worthless, and still I did not take them to court.

“They threatened me at home with offensive weapons and still I did not bring them to court for trespassing and harassment. They beat and molested me in public and I ignored that.

“Thugs broke into my home and stole my property while others justified that crime as compensation for befriending their relative. But I did not take any legal action.

Death of diplomat revives memories of Vanuatu’s ‘coconut war’

THE TELEGRAPH (London)

ANDREW STUART, who has died aged 85, oversaw the fraught transfer to independence of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) during the so-called ‘Coconut War’ with France; he also had long experience as an African colonial and post-colonial administrator, and was later Britain’s Ambassador to Finland.

The Coconut War erupted when Stuart was forced to quell a rebellion by bow-and-arrow-wielding cargo-cult devotees on the eve of Vanuatu’s independence in July 1980. At his request 200 Royal Marines of 42 Commando were sent to the South Pacific island nation by Margaret Thatcher from their base in Plymouth.

Meanwhile, the trees keep falling....

GARY JUFFA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

The verbiage of supposed concern in parliament is tremendous
The rhetoric promoted by the elected officials certainly impressive
These seemingly agitated leaders that express much outrage and nothing else

And the trees keep falling

Empty promises, yet to be kept, empty lands, bare feet, empty pockets
The birds have flown, the land is quiet, streams muddied, all creatures no more
Weeds quietly grow where majestic giants and their kin once stood,

And the trees keep falling

The keepers at the gate, have failed their promises and their duties and sold out
Their pockets filled, their mouths gagged, their bellies swollen
Chinese meals, offshore trips, fat accounts and inconsiderate hearts

And the trees keep falling

Forgotten People

JIMMY DREKORE

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

There is no hospital
There is no aid post
There is no road
There is no school
But there are people

Where do mothers give birth?
Where is the medicine for the sick?
What do they wear?
What about education?
These are my people

New Lae facility supports survivors of family & sexual violence

PNG FAMILY & SEXUAL VIOLENCE CASE MANAGEMENT CENTRE

AUSTRALIA’s Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop last week announced $3 million over three years from the Australian aid program to fund the Papua New Guinea Family and Sexual Violence Case Management Centre (CMC).

The CMC will commence operations later this year with the goal of improving access to services for survivors of family and sexual violence.

Ume Wainetti, CMC Management Committee member and National Coordinator of the PNG Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee, said that establishing case management services in the country is essential for the protection of survivors of violence.

Mining the abyss: positing a role for economic nationalism

PETER NEILL | The Huffington Post (US)

WORLD OCEAN OBSERVATORY gathers its subject matter from sources all over the world. This week's story comes from an excellent piece by Jo Chandler published in December 2013 by The Global Mail an Internet news service, now sadly going out of business, based in Sydney, Australia.

The article is framed by the occupation of Eliuda Toxok, a resident of the west coast of New Ireland.

Toxok is a ‘shark-caller’, an artisanal fisherman and devotee of traditional lore who attracts sharks to his small outrigger canoe by rattling small half-coconuts on a chain to mimic the sound of thrashing fish that in turn lures the fish to a vine noose by which he captures his prey -- some 100 caught in a career of over 40 years.

Toxok lives on less than $2 a day, and he is representative of his friends and neighbors who live in poverty far from the eyes of the developing world.

Unless that world looks to just 30 kilometers offshore where Solwara 1, a vast area of the ocean floor, has been licensed by the Papua New Guinea government for the world's first open-cut deep water mining operation in pursuit of gold, silver, and copper in amounts significant enough to justify an investment of some $383 million toward a $600 million return over a life-span of only five years after which the "vein" is exhausted and the equipment moves on to another opportunity.

Work the land & earn your living

GABRIEL KUMAN

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry

I dedicate this poem to fellow Papua New Guineans who I desire to be self-reliant by working on their land and not to stay idle and make their living on hand-outs….

If I can work the land
If I can get my hands dirty
I can tell the entire world
I can fly

If I can work the land
If I can get my hands dirty
I can tell the entire world
I can travel the earth

PNG drugs crisis - how many will die before morality prevails?

BARBARA SHORT

I NOTICED in the Sydney Morning Herald this week that China is showing her naval powers by sending three warships for a jaunt, through the straits between Java and Sumatra, down between Java and Christmas Island and then back through the straits between Bali and Lombok.

I found this interesting as I know the Australian navy has also been frequently navigating this area during the past few months turning back people smugglers.

During that time I’ve also been trying to see if I could help to solve the problems caused by the issuing of the contract for supplying pharmaceuticals to PNG.

PNG has had a history of having problems with its pharmaceuticals and over the past few years the Australian government has been helping with distribution and suggestions about purchase.

Strengthening democracy in a fragmented, parochial & corrupt polity

BERNARD YEGIORA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Essay & Journalism Award

PRE-COLONIAL Papua New Guinean societies had their own political systems. Leadership in such culturally and ethnically heterogeneous societies was provided in several ways.

In the Highlands, leaders were known as ‘bigmen’ who earned their status by demonstrating their skills in warfare, oratory, trading, gardening, or sorcery. Those who accumulated and distributed wealth and built up networks of relationship through marriage and trade also earned leadership status.

European colonization began around the 17^th century which forced a fusion of fragmented traditional politics with the introduced systems. The German luluais in New Guinea and the British village constables in Papua are examples.

These systems survived the transfer by both colonizers to Australia who later introduced the local government councils. Introduced at the village level in the 1950s and 1960s as a lower form of government to stimulate the participation of the people, the new system symbolized the beginning of democracy in PNG.

Ruggedness: The Power of Hope

JIMMY DREKORE

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

That rugged road
a cupid code

That misty mountain
an empty emotion

That friendly hug
a heartily hug

Those tears from the side
Are souvenirs of countryside

Maril Nule runs below
Iri Maule stations in snow

Waramon sings
Omindara sings

Sons of Yuri
Daughters of Yuri

Decision on re-opening Panguna mine still 3 years away

BOUGAINVILLE 24

A BOUGAINVILLE Copper Limited (BCL) operated mine at Panguna has the potential to revitalise Central Bougainville with upgrades to infrastructure and facilities.

But any decision on whether the mine will be redeveloped is at least three years away and depends on findings from environmental, social and pre-feasibility studies.

According to BCL’s 2013 Order of Magnitude (OOM) Study, a range of infrastructure upgrades are needed to service a workforce employed at Panguna, the wider community and the operations of the mine itself.

Flames - a Persian ghazal*

MICHAEL THEOPHILUS DOM

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

How fearlessly some charge into lust’s fervent flames,
Though they may burn to ashes and dust in those flames.

Oh, but the lengths to which lovers willingly go
Cursed by Eros sweet madness they must dance in flames.

On a Valentine’s Day, love is truly in the air

J P RICHARD

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Steamships Short Story Award

THERE’S this saying that tells us ‘love is in the air’ and I’ll show you what that means.

It had to be perfect; I’ve been planning this for a month now. I knew the plan was not only insane and the first I’ve ever heard of in history but was also dangerous and risky. People’s lives and jobs were on the line so was mine and my lovely woman’s-Cherie Manieka.

But I’m an adventure freak, a daredevil and a dammed good one. When I plan things, they eventuate the way I wanted. I knew Cherie loved me with her life and she would give anything to be with me in this life and the next.

New Ireland & New Britain on an Air Niugini Q400

BERNIE LEIGHTON | Airline Reporter

WHILE Port Moresby may not be a holiday treat, it is certainly better than it has ever been since independence. But if you want a tropical holiday, you are going to have to leave the ravenous guard dogs and car jackings of Moresby behind.

Being a huge World War II nerd, I figured my best bet was to head out to either Kavieng (on New Ireland) or Kokopo/Rabaul on New Britain). Both these islands were invaded by the Japanese in 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

But first I have to tell you about the fun one can have at the domestic terminal of Jacksons International Airport.

Women’s sport is ignored & I will fix it, says Oro governor

ORO PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

THE GOVERNOR of Oro Province, Gary Juffa, has supported a call by Women’s National Soccer League President Linda Wonuhali for recognition and support from the PNG national government.

Mr Juffa said that every provincial governor and member of parliament actively supported sports development but focused on sports dominated by men.

He admitted that Oro had also fallen into this trend and pledged to correct the efforts he was making to ensure fairness and equity in supporting and promoting women’s sports.

“Oro has embarked on using sport as a platform to engage with youth and discourage social negativities such as violence, drug and substance abuse,” Mr Juffa said.

In your loving memory

DOMINICA ARE

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

It’s that time of the year again
I’ll always remember you
The way you were

A time for recollection
I look at your pictures
I cry and bawl
It’s so hard and sad
You’re no longer with me

Flight to Port Moresby - A review of Air Niugini

BERNIE LEIGHTON | Airline Reporter

SO, YOU’RE dumb enough to decide you want to go to Port Moresby on holiday? Well, first off, you are pretty dumb. Do you know how dangerous Port Moresby is?

The American government clearly knows; they’re building a new fortress-embassy on the highway to the airport. This embassy construction site also houses all its workers behind three 20-foot high fences and a small contingent of Marines.

Having said that, it is still safer than Lae! So, if you have to pick between the two…

It’s not an organised sort of crime, or resistance. It’s something more like a zombie movie. One target sees an opportunity and then, almost like a wave, the rest follows. From what I’ve seen, cricket bats are a popular weapon of late.

Michael Dom poetry collection is latest entry in Book of the Year

KEITH JACKSON

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Ok Tedi Mining Book of the Year Award

At Another Crossroads: A Collection of Poems by Michael Dom, University of Papua New Guinea Press, paperback, 162 pages, ISBN 9980879211, available from UPNG Bookshop, K50, or from Amazon, $18.01 ($28.48 incl postage)

MICHAEL DOM, one of Papua New Guinea’s most talented and prolific poets, is the latest writer to submit an entry in the newly-established Ok Tedi Mining Book of the Year award within the Crocodile Prize national literary contest.

At Another Crossroads is the first published collection of Michael’s poems and it joins books by Sil Bolkin, Leonard Roka (two) and Francis Nii in vying for PNG’s latest literary award.

Michael, who has has already won a Crocodile Prize for Poetry in 2012, is well known to PNG Attitude readers for his lucid, direct and honest approach to his craft whether he is writing poetry or commenting on the affairs of the day.

Sweet Tooth

GEORGE KUIAS

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

Sweet serenade from the sound of your voice,
the sweet - to - the - taste words that you say so well.
A sugary snack pours from your lips as you make your choice,
of what delicate story you will tell.

A frothing delight as you mix your emotions,
from the start of the tale to the end of it,
my mouth waters for more of your bodies emotion.
The beauty within thee sends me into a fit.

PNG medical researcher says many drugs are substandard

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

A REPORT on medical drugs in Papua New Guinea says many anti-malarial drugs could be sub-standard.

Dr Inoni Betuela from the Institute of Medical Research said over 80% of drugs are sourced from uncertified companies.

He said more than half of the content of the sampled tablets of primaquine was made up of sugar and inactive ingredients.

He says while primaquine is not that widely used, other common drugs like quinine and amoxicillin also had significant levels of failure.

NGO rails against delays in cancelling illegal land leases

ACT NOW!

Community advocacy group ACT NOW! has said that, while it welcomes prime minister Peter O’Neill's statement that illegal SABL (land) leases in Papua New Guinea need to be revoked, the delays in implementing this commitment are totally unacceptable.

Last Thursday Mr O’Neill announced he is appointing a ministerial committee to look into implementing the Commission of Inquiry recommendation that illegal leases be revoked.

"In September 2013 the prime minister accepted the Commission findings and said he had appointed a task force to look at the recommendations.

Simbu's disabled people come together to organise for their rights

FRANCIS S NII

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Essay & Journalism Award

THERE was a powerful message communicated at a recent Simbu workshop on disabled people’s rights.

“Not many disabled persons in PNG know their rights under the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and therefore they cannot advocate for full realisation of their rights. When you know your rights then you can advocate appropriately to the relevant authorities for the full realisation of your rights”.

These words were delivered at a one-week AusAID-funded training program in late January run by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons. The training facilitator was Ross Tito of the Port Moresby based National Assembly of Disabled Persons and the venue was the Kundiawa Catholic Parish resource centre at Gon Hill.

Navy to resume search for missing World War I submarine

AAP

THE AUSTRALIAN Navy will renew the search for a long-lost submarine a century after it vanished.

Defence Minister David Johnston announced on Friday that the Australian Navy will begin looking for the HMAS AE1 in September.

The British-built submarine was Australia's first and fought in World War I.

It disappeared in waters near Papua New Guinea in 1914, with the loss of 32 sailors and three officers.

"I'm optimistic, I don't want to build anybody's hopes up, but I think this is good," Mr Johnston said at the Sydney launch of 100 years of submarine history.

"So bear with us, I'm hoping we will have some success."

Pork-barrelling Jeffery ‘Santu’ Nape - saviour, giver & Nimai ninja

BERNARD YEGIORA

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Essay & Journalism Award

I WAS GLAD when Kerenga Kua defeated the notorious Jeffery ‘Santu’ Nape in Papua New Guinea’s 2013 general election.

I thought to myself the Sinasina Yongomugl electorate of Simbu Province now has a very highly educated person as their representative, so he will bring development to the electorate.

The whole of PNG developed different kinds of feelings for Nape during his second term leading up to the 2012 general election. Many labelled him as a conniving Speaker of the House who played a fundamental role in overthrowing the Somare-led regime. They focussed on the bad aspects of his leadership and drew their own conclusions.

A good number of his own Nimai tribesmen in the Sinasina Yongomugl district saw him as their saviour and a giver. Some called him the Nimai ninja and many other names that made sense to them.

The image they had of Nape cannot be easily deleted from their minds. They will never forget Jeffery ‘Santu’ Nape, former Speaker of the National Parliament and Acting Governor General.

Taim blo kilim pik: The education of a butcher boy

J P RICHARD

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum
Award for Essays & Journalism

QQWWWWEEEEKKK!

The air was shattered by the agonizing squeal of the pig as I drove an arm’s-length thick iron bar, squaring the metal on the pig’s snout right between the eyes. Just one thrust and the 250 pounds beast slumped dead at my feet.

In case you’re wondering what the hell, that’s animal cruelty; well welcome to Papua New Guinea, we look after pigs for eating, not for pets.

I let the shuddering pig squirmed for a moment allowing the flowing blood to drain out, then my brothers grabbed his legs and heaved him onto the wire frame set over the blazing fire. We threw some tsi-tsu (dried coconut leaves) over the poor pig to burn its bristled fur to ensure a smooth carcass.

Australia Pacific scholarships boost PNG’s health workforce

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION

AUSTRALIA is training 450 midwives, nurses and community health workers in 2014 to help Papua New Guinea address its health workforce shortage.

The Australian government has announced the young Papua New Guineans from across the nation receiving the Australia Awards Pacific Scholarships.

The head of development cooperation at the Australian High Commission, Stuart Schaefer (pictured), last week visited the Lutheran School of Nursing in Madang where 58 award recipients are starting or continuing studies.

Mr Schaefer said the students who are studying nursing and midwifery are part of a major initiative by PNG and Australia to save lives.

“Reducing maternal mortality is a top priority of Australia’s partnership for development with PNG,” Mr Schaefer said.

Traditional awareness, culture & the myth of Nokondi

BOB CLELAND

IN 2012 I instituted the Cleland Family Award for Heritage Literature in the Crocodile Prize because of my long-held belief that any society benefits from being aware of its social and cultural heritage.

Notice my phrase 'being aware of'. That doesn't mean believe it or not believe it. It doesn't mean accept it or ignore it. It doesn't mean be proud of it or ashamed of it.

It means, simply, to be aware of it.

I hope that today's Papua New Guinean writers accept that idea and record for posterity some of the beliefs and stories from their ancestors. It's up to each writer to judge for themselves what things to write about and what things to ignore.

Which brings me to Nokondi.

Papua New Guinea my beloved country, where are we heading?

JIMMY DREKORE

An entry in The Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Poetry Award

I see the kids waving
I see the flag flying
I see the people smiling
I see the country celebrating
Silent tears in my heart

The southern cross
Does it lead us to the cross?
The bird of paradise
Does it fly us to paradise?
Silent tears in my heart

Gold here gold there
Oil here oil there
Gas here gas there
Timber here timber there
Silent tears in my heart

The Keravat school social & the story of Baby Blue

BARBARA SHORT

IN THE 1970s, one of the important events on the school calendar at Keravat High School in the Gazelle Peninsula was the school social, or dance.

These dances were held in the Mess on a Saturday night. Many of the huge tables were removed and the others placed around the walls. Huge bunches of fan palms and other attractive greenery was cut from the surrounding rainforest and draped in strategic places to give the huge mess a more festive atmosphere.

Although the floor was cement, at least it was smooth and shiny, and was not too bad for dancing. It was a great meeting place and, although the boys outnumbered the girls, that didn’t stop the boys from dancing. They just danced with each other.

Many of the younger teachers attended the dances and at times the locals from Keravat town or nearby villages were also made welcome.

The following article appeared in Wawarikai magazine in 1976 and it captures the essence of the school social. It may have been written by a student but I think it is more likely to have been written by an anonymous member of staff.