by JOHN BUGAT

The establishment of the Special Parliamentary Committee into General Election 2022 as announced by Renbo Paita is a fraud; as we all know very well. Alan Bird who we all think had some shred of decency and morals left has been appointed Chairman. I hope he rejects this. While I for one agree that this committee is needed, it should not be a parliamentary committee comprising politicians.

Massive Fraud and Corruption at the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations under the watch of the current acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary Operations and in his current capacity as Acting Secretary facilitated by one idiot who claims to be both Public Relations and Project Officer ...

1. K12 million In-house capacity Building project  Public Investment Programs when there is practically nothing on the ground at the provincial labour offices

2. K2.5million undelivered ICT network projects when all network cabling was provided by the Landlord Tropicana Limited

3. K250 000.00 payment to current acting Secretary when he was Deputy Secretary Operations  for outstanding salary variations 

4. Telephone connection for K500 000.00 to a private company when telephone connections were established by landlord Tropicana Limited. Just before the closure of the account last December, another K150 000.00 was paid for a telephone connection to another private company that also has footprints with the initial K500 000.00 payment 

5. Recently, K3million misappropriation of Integrated Database Project funding... K1million last year was dished out just last December before the closure of the public account, and K2million this year had been misappropriated.

With the appointment of a new Minister in Hon Brian Kramer, the immediate termination of the acting Secretary and the so-called Project or Public Relations Officer is paramount and necessary and refer both to relevant authorities for possible prosecution.

Several National Fraud Squad and Anti Corruption complaints laid for investigations and possible arrest but have not been affected and taking ages. The Police Commissioner should also keep a close check in that NFACD office before the leaches induce massive destruction to the National Coffers. 

If the Government is serious about weeding out corruption and corrupt people, here is one classic example...

The appointment of the Secretary to the Department of Labour now on the shortlist at DPM and NEC should consider dismissing corrupt and recycled personalities like this who had been milking big time from public coffers, and they should bow out in shame.

Prime Minister urging people to go back to their villages. He forgot that many of the settlers were born and raised in the slums and call it home. The government has the responsibility to care for its citizens by creating new suburbs, homes living spaces and new jobs in the growing metropolitan urban areas- not sending them to rural areas.

Globalization is fast catching up and PNG needs to have plans to upgrade cities to cater for a growing population. Urban planners and city designers have a very challenging and demanding job on their hands now. How do you build Port Moresby to cater for 1-2 million people? How do you ensure 1-2 million people have homes, jobs and an improved standard of living? How do you expand and manage Lae city, Hagen? Rabaul or Madang?

Sending people to rural, remote villages, which basically lack government services, is against the citizen's democratic right to freedom of movement. I dislike the vagrancy act, I think it’s a selfish act. If you look at population boom in the view of economic growth then you would know where I’m coming from. Cities must grow if the economy is to grow, population boom is a great opportunity for economic growth, any economist would tell you that a population boom equals a financial and economical boom. But it has to manage properly. 

If Pom has 1 million people and only 200,000 is formally employed in jobs with houses and 800,000 are not, then it is the moral, obligatory and ethical responsibility of the government to create jobs and living spaces for the marginalized 800,000 so that all the 1 million people have an equal opportunity to better urban life. This has to be handled or there could be an uprising in the coming years. Public servants, don't send people home, ask yourselves why you have a growing slum and poverty in urban areas. Our thoughts to the family evicted at Morata-Gerehu.The whole saga behind the evictions of Morata Settlement in Port Moresby North West...

See the end of the story - the real dealers,

The Multi-Million Kina Company brought Port Moresby to a standstill the day before yesterday

SIXTH ESTATE LIMITED 

Reg No 1-65225

Director 1

John Lavanin POKAROP

Section 273, Allotment 49 Walala Estate, Gerehu, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Po Box 1124, Waigani, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Director Consent

This person has consented to act as a director for this company

Appointment Date

07-Oct-2008

Director 2

Phillip Mark Peters PAGUK

Section 25 Allotment 34, Silkwood Drive, Hohola, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Po Box 5739, Boroko, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Director Consent

This person has consented to act as a director for this company

Appointment Date

01-Jan-2010

Are they registered Citiens?

Do they pay Tax?

Do they have the capital to develop this land?

What are their plans?

How will they assist the city in terms of providing accommodation, jobs  and wealth creation

News in

Former Director is a Chinamen

The Biggest Shareholders in Sixth Estate Lld is The BEST GROUP (PNG) Ltd and the Directors are as follows;

Director 1

Name - Minhua LIANG

Residential Address

Room 502, Block 49, Gui Yuan, Nanhai District, Foshan City, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, China

Postal Address

Room 502, Block 49, Gui Yuan, Nanhai District, Foshan City, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, China

Nationality

China

Director Consent

This person has consented to act as a director for this company

Appointment Date

19-Nov-2012

Director 2

Name - Zhaohong LI

Residential Address

Room 905, Dong Jun Mansion, No.112 Fo Ping Er Lu, Guicheng, Foshan City, Guangdong, China

Postal Address

Room 905, Dong Jun Mansion, No.112 Fo Ping Er Lu, Guicheng, Foshan City, Guangdong, China

Nationality

China

Director Consent

This person has consented to act as a director for this company

Appointment Date

07-Aug-2019

Director 3

Name - Feng CHEN

Residential Address

Section 82 Allotment 13, Koneva Place, Gordons, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Postal Address

P O Box 5739, Boroko, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

Nationality

China

Director Consent

This person has consented to act as a director for this company

Appointment Date

07-Aug-2019

IPA, NCDC, Lands Dept, you should just cancel the title, this is fraud uncovered. Very sickening.

Rishi Sunak wins the Conservative Party leadership race and becomes United Kingdom's new prime minister. Sunak, a Briton of Indian ancestry and practicing Hundu rise to power in one of the world's most iconic democracies as been a telling journey on the back of certain peculiar political events that saw 3 leadership change in just 2 months. 

Whilst India celebrates Diwali - Hindu festival of lights -  and Sunak's ascension to power in the Commonwealth's former empire there are two important lessons that Papua New Guinea must learn and learn earnestly. 

1. Mass resignation of government members following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unethical conduct. 

2. Prime Minister Liz Truss voluntarily resigned because she couldn't deliver on her election promises. 

Having said that let's have a quick look to the background to each of the above events. 

In July 2022 when Papua New Guinea was in the middle of a stormy national election UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned following  more than 50 members of his government resigned in protest against a series of ethics scandals. 

Soon later in September 6, 2022 Liz Truss took over the premier's reign only to last to 25 October 2022.  Washington Post reported that,"Truss' attempt to reorient the government’s economic agenda, by slashing taxes without saying how the decision would be paid for backfired. It sent the markets reeling, and Truss never recovered." 

Truss lacked both the political will and support to follow through what she promised to the people. 

Now back to our discussion some may of course dispute the relevance of UK's affluent democracy to that of ours but then what is ours? Hooliganism? Tribalism? If it is a parliamentary democracy that we adopted from the crown than we must at all times aspire to live out the true meaning of its creed. 

And never forget the Kabwum down at government house. Regardless he is still King Charles III in a Melanesian body representing His Majesty's crown. 

Now let's draw some parallels by juxtaposing PNG government"s past and present to the events stated above. 

Boris Johnson's resignation following his cabinet's mass resignation is somewhat similar to PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill resigning in 2019 after much of his government members deserted him.  O'Neill and Johnson did what responsive and responsible leaders would do to make space to listen to the plight of the people they intend to lead. 

On this vein our learned and auspicious leaders can do the same and revolt against the present regime now when things have gone completely haywire. 

At the same time it is safe to say Prime Minister James Marape is no different to UK's Liz Truss as far as foresight and competence is concerned. Marape should resign with at least some dignity for ruining his country's economy and failing his own promises that God knows how many.

However, Marape resigning is extremely impossible given the toxic morbidness in  his leadership. It is a patriarchal cesspool of absurd notions of mantras and divine rights all wrapped in lies, spinning a fairy tale of mystical alchemy. 

Simply, Marape's interest lies solely in holding power longer and making a name for himself as the longest serving prime minister- regardless whether good or bad- all on the expense and detriment of the nation.

To throw off the scent of its failures the government hastily creates another smoke screen hoping to wriggle out clean in what the pompous Treasurer eloquently puts it, "Marape's 13-Year Budget Repair Plan makes PNG's debt risks sustainable."

Not so fast Mr. Treasurer! Let's start with what happened to the K611 Million Household Assistance Package to help families put food on the table across the country on the adverse effects of high inflation. 

On the budget papers and grand speeches in parliament, it sounds good but on the food table, it is not their day in and day out. There has been no noticeable reduction in the prices of key household commodities despite the Government’s allocation of K100 million for this purpose in the recent Supplementary Budget.

In the Supplementary Budget presentation on the 2nd of September 2022, the Treasurer informed Parliament that the Government had announced way back in April 2022 that IRC would be engaging with local companies to lower the costs of key items such as flour, tinned fish, rice and ox, and palm and in return, these companies would be granted an equivalent reduction in taxes. A budget of K100 million was allocated for lowering prices of key household commodities as part of the Government’s K611 million Household Assistance Package.

The Treasurer however went on to inform Parliament that this relief package has still not been implemented because additional legislation will be made in October to implement these changes. The Treasurer however did not provide any update on this issue despite making a statement in Parliament on Thursday, October 13th, 2022.

On the 12th of October 2022, the Prime Minister in his response to a Question without Notice from the Opposition Leader relating to the economic situation and rising prices responded by saying that the 10 percent GST on essential items such as rice, tinned fish, and tinned meat and other sanitary goods has been removed. 

The people are not seeing and feeling the effect of this Government intervention so the Government needs to come out clear and update the people of Papua New Guinea on this package. 

One would wonder if this K100 million assistance package has been implemented at all or if has it gone down the Covid-19 billions of kina rabbit hole and made its way to the war chest to fight a government takeover. 

Apparently, the Government cannot deliver on its promises such as this,  therefore how can it assure the rest of the people of PNG that it is capable of guiding the country and handling the country’s affairs through the current tough economic times?

The economy had taken a nose-dive since the Marape Government came into power.

It is often blamed on the Covid-induced fallout creating demand-pull inflation or the Russia-Ukraine war somewhat causing inflation due to supply chain disruptions.  However, the real infliction point for PNG is the government's failure in introducing the right monetary and fiscal policies in stabilizing the rising cost of goods and services. 

To date, the Marape-Rosso government hasn't announced any real economic recovery plan and in the absence of inflation, strategy PNG is expected to see inflation spiraling at a level that would be difficult to control.

Treasure Ling-Stuckey's IMF tailored 13 Year Budget Repair Plan is a haze of bong smoke to create another stunt for the bewildered unsuspecting Papua New Guineans 

While the commodity prices are picking up and good indication on revenue still there is no immediate sign of inflation coming down in the near future. 

Therefore, for the best interest of the nation and her people, it is time the government works very closely with the opposition by way of bi-partisan to arrest the impending doom. 

The opposition has been proposing all-out measures to control inflation and provide necessary assistance to the hardest-hit people, particularly the low-income earners and the poor, to manage the inflationary pressure.

Accordingly, both monetary and fiscal policies should work in a coordinated manner to handle the current episodes of inflation. Inflation in PNG has largely depended on imported goods and the supply chain has a big role to play in determining food prices, which will be carefully regulated through fiscal policy.

We will need to subsidize agriculture to reduce the cost of domestic food production and keep prices affordable. In order to control the market, import duties, as well as other regulatory duties, will be reduced and increased, while essential commodities including food such as rice, flour, tinned fish, and cooking out are sold at low prices in the open market to protect the poor people from the heat of inflation.

There have been a lot of talks recently on social media asking the Prime Minister a very simple question: “IF YOU CAN NOT TAKE BACK TARI, HOW WILL YOU TAKE BACK PNG?”

This is a very valid question. While he may have been PM of PNG for only a few years, he has been a member of the Tari/Pori Open for over a decade. In his term of parliament, we have witnessed the development of the Hides Gas project from its infancy to its current stage where it is making billions for ExxonMobil and ZERO for Hela and Tari.

If we kept proper statistics in this country, we will see that since his ascension to the PM's chair, we have seen a huge increase in migration from Tari out to other urban centers throughout PNG. And with this migration, come the problems they bring with them out of Tari to the towns and cities of once relatively peaceful places. One could be forgiven for mistaking Port Moresby for Tari town! It there were any statistical correlations to be drawn, one may safely (if possibly wrongly) infer that the increase in the murders, ethnic riots, and serious violence outside of armed robberies that we see in the major towns can be directly attributed to this huge influx of people out of Tari to other centers.

What has James Marape, as Member for Tari Pori and now Prime Minister done to address this serious flaw in his vision – or more accurately, a pipe dream? NOTHING! And he will continue to do nothing because Marape thinks about his political survival more than the well-being of his people or his country. In this regard, he is not far from Peter O'Neil from whom he learned the art of the glib.

So will he ever take back PNG? Not in this lifetime. Will he ever take back Tari Pori? Unlikely.

You may ask why I am so pessimistic about this. It is simple. The man cannot seem to understand that in order to build a house, you must have form foundations. The Hides Gas project was supposed to be a transformational project for PNG. Instead, we seem to have so many obstacles and reasons why simple and basic things cannot be done to alleviate the hardships Tari Pori and PNG are going through.

There is no township to speak of in Tari, the capital of Hela. There is nothing stopping the development of a township expanding on the existing area and moving outward in all directions. There is nothing stopping the building of shopping plazas and accommodation complexes to house the LNG workers in Tari or Komo or Hides itself instead of having them barricaded behind locked camps after all these years. The simple reason is fear of the locals. 

That fear is generated by the fact that the shares and benefits from this mega project are not being seen within Hela. In contrast, Bougainville Copper ensured that it developed Panguna and Arawa and created a standard of living there that was highly envied. OK, Tedi did the same for Kiunga. Why is Hides or Komo different? Because of the level of greed within ExxonMobil and our own government that refused to give to the resource owners what was rightfully theirs.

That fear level can be clearly seen with the deployment of the police SSD and PNGDF troops into the province to secure these rip-off sites when there is no need to. There should be no need to if the right thing had been done. And clearly, ExxonMobil and the State both know they have not done the right thing so they sacrifice the lives of our police and soldiers to ensure their money-making operations are allowed to continue at their expense and that of the people of Hela.

James Marape needs to walk the talk now before more lives are lost. Let us not forget also that the more this is allowed to progress without any action taken on the loss of this life, the emboldened others will become and soon, the pipeline and plant and campsites might all go up in flames. This is only a matter of time. And the death of this poor policeman might just be the tip of the iceberg.

It is high time ExxonMobil is called to task and account to ensure Hela gets its fair share of development from the proceeds of their resource. They should also be made to have the proceeds of all income from the resources extracted from PNG remitted back to PNG in US dollars to provide us with the foreign exchange we need to develop. Resource developers must also pay all foreign workers in PNG Kina locally in our banks. Workers can remit their earnings back to their home countries if they want to. Resource developers must be made to build and upgrade roads, bridges, and infrastructure as they are required to under our current laws. How many roads have ExxonMobil built-in Hela for all the oil and gas they have extracted? Has the Tari to Komo/Hides road been sealed yet? How much money does Exxon actually retain in PNG? These are critical questions and they go towards empowering the Take Back PNG vision – if it is a true vision and not a feel-good pipedream political grandstanding statement.

The arrangement between the State and ExxonMobil for the use and deployment of police and soldiers at their project site must now be reviewed and ceased in the face of the significant ongoing law and order problems throughout the country. We just do not have enough police officers in this country to afford to have 100 or so of them being used as security guards for resource thieves and plunderers. Perhaps Commissioner Manning needs to relook at this and consider other alternatives like a permanent police station, more barracks, and other options instead of having SSD members there 24/7/365. And like BCL did for Panguna, ExxonMobil should bear the cost of all this. 

Marape and Maru have invited the Japanese to the SEZ sites in PNG. Have they considered one for Tari so that the town has an economic base and industrial base to power local development? If not, they should. It will stop rural-urban migration, provide jobs, support the gas site, and encourage local participation in the economic development of Hela. So start by taking back Tari now instead of preaching and grandstanding.

Time to wake up from dreamland and start walking the talk.

Since Tari/Pori MP James Marape took over the nation's leadership, Papua New Guinea has experienced unprecedented and widespread violence, damage to life and property and death. On the broader scale violence and lawlessness is sporadically sweeping across the country and on the lesser the perpetrators happen to come from a particular ethnicity. 

In 2019 ABC News reported at least 16 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the village of Karida in Hela Province from an outbreak of an old tribal conflict. Police announced a final death toll of 18 people, which included the unborn babies of two of the women who were believed to have been pregnant.

In that same year in October a police patrol was ambushed on the Tokoyo bridge near Tokia/Kuparo village in Hela and policeman Sergeant David Hale was shot and died instantly and Constable James Kobol sustained seriouse injuries who later recovered but is believed to suffer severe post traumatic disorder.

Lape Mole from Tari’s Karai Village in Hela, was arrested in November 2019 in connection to the killing of Sgt Hale and wounding Const Kopol and held in custody at the Mt Hagen police station.  Mysteriously Mole was found dead in his cell the next day. To this day nobody knew how Mole died and nobody cared to investigate the cause of his death and inform his family and kinsmen back home who helped the police and the authorities apprehend him. Many believed he was summarily executed out of retributive justice without a fair trial - a right entitled to everyone.

Following on from these episodes Hela saw a build-up of high powered weapons proliferating among tribes and groups led by warlords and a spate of violence in payback killings and tribal warfare took a terrifying grip of the province.

In August 08th 2021 Prime Minister Marape led the leaders of Hela together with the commanders of the disciplined forces to Tari in an event that marked arms surrender by the warring warlords, amnesty and peace.

An eager crowd turned up and as many as a multitude and some traveled from the neighboring provinces to witness what would become a historic event. In his address Marape blamed lawlessness was the lack of police presence in the province, with only about 60 policemen servicing the whole province on an ongoing basis.

Typical Marape he blamed the past governments on the lack of law and order in his province. He then announced that his government had approved a new army battalion and 500 police personnel to be stationed long-term in Hela to see the peace process through.

However, reports on the 2022 National Election came with a different story. Arms build up again and criminal activities proliferated during the campaign and a particular crime alleged to involved members of the Marape house.

To date peace in Hela is still elusive. The recent killing of Senior Constable Nelson Kalimda, a Port Moresby based policeman, in Tari sends the pointer for peace and good order spinning backward.

Whilst investigations into the gruesome death of the policeman is currently underway, the information leaked to the public shows how heinous and diabolic the act was and the vicious attempts to cover up and kill the story. Again names of family members and associates of prominent Papua New Guineans keep coming up in the social media in relation to the murder of late Senior Constable Kalimda.

PM Marape, it is time to turn in and manage the country and not politics.

1. The Australian-sponsored Fragility Act that the USA is championing. Did you and your Department, together with all security governance institutions and research bodies do a thorough implication of this Act which would have informed Cabinet and Parliament for its educated and informed decision? Did the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Foreign Affairs fully appraise of its adverse implications on the independent state of PNG, let alone State Solicitors' legal clearance?

2. Did the recently signed Shiprider Agreement with the USA undergo similar scrutiny and vetting by responsible bodies such as in 1 above?

Ship rider Agreement would allow US Coastguard Cutters to enter PNG jurisdictional waters from international water limits. The Cutters will freely access local Seas and waters that ordinary artisanal fisherfolks use for sustaining their everyday living. Did you consider the implication such a gunboat with sophisticated weaponry and technology would have on the lives of ordinary people, let alone the constant fear and insecurity that will persist? USCG is the global hegemons' 2nd Navy and military and national defense and security are adversely implied in the Shiprider Agreement.

3. Third but not least, explain to this nation and its people the meaning of Articles Agreement 505 that your Department signed with the Government of the USA. Article 505 Agreement entitles the USA and its super military to place "MILITARY ASSETS" of any kind in designated places within the jurisdiction of PNG. Answer directly this question Minister JT. Have you gone beyond your political fiduciary duty to protect and safeguard the Constitution of PNG and all its intent and letter when you agreed to sign all the above life-changing treaties/ Agreements? Answer another question. Have you undermined the PNG Constitution? If you think you haven't, did you not by exercising powers you do not properly have, subjugated, and abrogated the reign of the PNG Constitution that jealously guards PNG Sovereignty and statehood? What gives you reason you cannot be taken as an alleged double agent that entitles you to political immunity from being charged for high-level treason, sedition and sabotage, and other related crimes against the PNG Constitution?

Are you also certifying and authorizing AUKUS/QUAD militarization of PNG and by extension the entire Pacific Islands region?

We believe you have hoodwinked Cabinet into agreeing to some fundamental treaty-related agreements that are frightening the national sovereignty security of PNG.

Your questions on Australia's covert intrusion into PNG and the cumulative effect her interventions have in causing PNG State to become a VASSAL Littoral state unto which PNG would become an obvious puppet state where Australian extended jurisdiction would preside are yet to come.

Please answer the above questions first Mr. Hot Cake

By the read of commentary by PM, it is becoming more apparent that the structure established for Porgera is a company and not an unincorporated joint venture like before.

If that is the case, our leaders and so-called advisors have again cheated us.

In a company, a shareholder only gets a return through a dividend. Dividends are usually paid 3 to 4 months after year-end provided there is sufficient retained earnings and cash flow. 

Here we have an aging mine with Barrick the Manager. How confident are we that dividends will be forthcoming in the first 5 years when Barrick has been talking up ridiculous amounts of start-up costs???

Operations under a company will get far less scrutiny compared to an unincorporated JV where the management committee comprised of the owner's representatives always meets monthly to go through the finer details of operations. There is much oversight and accountability over the Manager of the mine.

The landowners of Porgera must rise up and demand change. This terrible outcome, which we will call a mistake, for now, has to be corrected as a matter of life and death.

For if we don't this structure will suck money out of PNG, where so much rhetoric and grandstanding will amount to nothing.

Porgera must remain an unincorporated joint venture like before.

51% of an unincorporated joint venture is what PNG should and must have. It gives you 51% of cash from sales every month. 51% of sales every month coming to the hands of PNG is an insane amount of money we have never had. In addition to meeting cash flow requirements at Porgera, it will provide sufficient cash flow for government budget support, fund sovereign wealth fund, and many others much the same as Kumul Petroleum.

And yes, an abundance of foreign reserves every month which will, once and for all, settle all our FX requirements.

We are in control on day 1 in a JV. Large projects owned by more than 1 party is never done through a company. Look at all our Oil and gas projects. A JV gives us cash flow in the first month of operation. Not wait 5 years in the current Porgera deal. 

This mistake will be one of the worst, if not the worst ever.

This write-up is for those so-called advisors in government now. 

Your country must mean more. Our PM needs your guidance.  There is time to change. Make it happen for the future of your children and the love of your beloved PNG.

Let's stop the nonsense and return Porgera back to an unincorporated Joint Venture.

The author is President CPA PNG and a Board member of the Bank of PNG

Port Moresby,  Only 250,000 public servants (plus or minus) out of 8 million Papua New Guineans eat up 30 percent of our national-common wealth or K5.2 billion of the national budget every year through their pay packets.

That’s a huge burden on the shoulder of a struggling developing nation where all socioeconomic indicators on the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) scale speak low of PNG, even lower among the regional neighbors - Pacific Island Nations (PIN). This excludes the costs of public servants’ traveling allowances, office rentals, utilities, vehicle hire, and such other costs that leech on public funding.

As if that’s not enough, departments and state agencies have developed a systemic tendency to ask for more and loot from the people’s share each time the pie is available. A case in point: - The Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) is handling of 2022 K15 million price support/freight subsidy program funds.

Originally, K20 million was allocated but reduced to K15 million during the September supplementary budget. Batch 1 funding - K6.5 million was released. Of these monies, nothing was given to the eight (8) commodity boards to implement price support and freight subsidy at the farmer level.

Instead, K4,842,144 or 74.5 percent were burnt up at the DAL headquarter (HQ) alone on these activities: i) DAL ICT capacity building, ii) development of the corporate plan and iii) development of a national price intervention and freight subsidy policy. Balance left unused – K1,657,851.

Meaning the Marape Government had spent K50 million on price support and freight subsidy last year and again K15 million this year on a program that does not have a policy backup in place hence, illegal under PFMA requirements and law. So part of this funding was allocated to developing a “national price intervention and freight subsidy policy”.

Also, what came to light was that DAL bought three Ford Everest vehicles using this money. One is currently being used by a senior ministerial staffer of a ministry other than Agriculture. Batch 2 funding – K8.5 million. On 10th November 2022 DAL wrote to the Agriculture Minister, Hon. Aiye Tambua advising him on how it intends to expend the second batch of K8.5 million: CIC K1.5 mill, Cocoa Board K1 mill, OPIC K1.5 mill, Livestock K1.5 mill, FPDA K300,000, Rubber Board K300,000, Spice Board K300,000 and DAL itself again wants a bigger slice of the pie - K2,757,851 or 32.45 percent of K8.5 mill.

Justifications by DAL:

 It wanted K2,757,851 “for the price improvement interventions and freight support for the sector”, adding that “use of funds are in compliant to PFMA of which 70 percent of the fund is transferred to the commodity boards and 30 percent retained in DAL for administration and support to the sector”.Wrong: 

                i) Under PFMA only 10 per is allocated for administration,

             ii) price support and freight subsidy is clearly the job of commodity boards who are there with farmers down there and not the job of DAL which is policy, regulation, and technical support. It must never control price support and subsidy monies,

             iii) OPIC makes around K2 billion a year in export revenue, the leading agriculture earner so whygive K1.5 million?, iv) Livestock is operated under Livestock Development Corporation (LDC). It is a private company. Last year LDC received K16 million in funding without an acquittal as yet. Why K1.5 million again in this second batch of funding?

The commodity board that needs help would be CIC as it is currently fighting Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) with assistance from NAQIA funding the joint intervention and containment exercises on the ground in Jiwaka. Despite this, CBB has now spread to Simbu, Eastern Highlands, Madang, and Morobe. Cocoa Board has a clear Cocoa Industry Strategic Plan for 2016-2025 that requires a Government investment of K300 million to achieve a billion kina mark industry in five years. DAL sucks: First batch K4,842,144 plus second batch K2,757,851 equals K7,599,995 in total. Of the K15 million, DAL HQ alone sucks 50.66 percent in “administration” alone. What? Their names are used in Waigani sucks money but farmers lose big time and all the time.

A far cry

Prime Minister, James Marape thinks agriculture is “easy money”. In his 47th Independence message, he told PNG that agriculture could raise K10 billion “easy money” if one million rural families were engaged in toiling the soil and earning K10,000 each annually from agriculture – a “sleeping giant…that must be awakened now and not tomorrow”.

In 1977, the agriculture sector contributed as much as 37 percent of the GDP. Today, agriculture contributes less than 25 percent of the GDP. In the last 20 years, the agriculture sector received less than two percent of the national budget resulting in a dead-end to its core functions and effective service delivery mechanisms. The sector continues to suffer as its departmental head’s position is sailing in a debacle and continuous

Tug of war. 

Within 12 months under Marape’s watch, DAL has changed heads four times (4 x) and staff performance and morale are at their lowest.

Conclusion

1. DAL HQ alone ate up K7,599,995 or 50.66 percent of the K15 million earmarked for 2022 price support and freight subsidy for rural farmers.

2. Furthermore to a hefty K5.2 bill wage bill for public servants every year, the “administration component” of any publicly funded project is always used as a means to loot from and cause misery to our common people. And there is no indication this evil will stop its prowess sooner or later.

3. It’s a far cry of the Prime Minister to make agriculture a K10 billion earner not now, not in five years or even 10 years if we cannot restore agriculture to its glory 1977 level.

The Author is a Freelance journalist based in Port Moresby, he can be contacted on. cyril.gare@gmail.com

The information provided herein relates to matters concerning the National Airports Corporation (NAC) of PNG, in particular its administrative, operational and financial status.

NAC is a State Aviation Enterprise established by Section 132 of the Civil Aviation Act 2000 (the Act). Its primary responsibility is to own, operate and administer all 22 national airports in PNG, including Kieta in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB). The organisations source of revenue comes from funds collected mainly through 1.a component of fees collected from airline ticket sales, 2.terminal facilitation charges and 3.airport facility (concessional) leases, which sustain NAC’s operations, including the periodic maintenance of safety and security systems in all 22 national airports.

In addition to revenue generated from direct aviation activities, NAC’s major project developments are funded through tied grants from the national government or loans allocated by donor agencies and foreign governments. Pursuant to Section 335 of the Act, the Minister for Civil Aviation and Minister responsible for Treasury matters are both shareholders of NAC on behalf of the State and people of PNG.

Accordingly both Ministers may exercise all rights and powers attaching to the shares, including deliberations of matters affecting the organisation.

In recent past, the appalling status of safety and security standards at most national airports were widely reported in the print media, to have the relevant authorities look into the affairs of NAC. The latest media report on NAC was on Friday, 16th April 2015, in The National which ran a story on NAC’s financial status. This story has drawn the attention of NAC insiders, who wished to share additional information on the real status of NAC’s administrative, operational and financial status with the rest of PNG.

Matters of concern involve around the following topics:

• Appointment of Managing Director/CEO;

• Administrative Decisions & Financial Commitments;

• Facilitation of APEC Meetings;

• Executive Staff & NAC Board;

APPOINTMENT OF MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO

The current acting appointment to the position of MD/CEO of NAC is flawed in view of provisions of law contained under the Regulatory Statutory Authority (RSA) (Appointment to Certain Offices) Act 2004. In accordance with relevant sections of the RSA Act 2004, the appointment of MD/CEO of NAC should have been submitted to relevant authorities for proper screening to ascertain merit based and transparent appointment.

The acting MD/CEO was formerly a banker, having no professional experience in the technical field of civil aviation functions. His appointment by the NAC Board was not based on merit, but through whom you know, particularly by the former Board Chairman, Mr. Malcolm Lewis and his Deputy Board Chairman, Mr. Jerry Angus. This appointment was not done through a Board resolution; instead both the former Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the board took it upon themselves to impose the appointed on other Directors of the Board. Hence the appointment was flawed, while the appointee did not have technical experience to head civil aviation organization like NAC.

The Government has since introduced a new RSA Regulation 2014, Part: IV – Acting Appointments, Section: 18(1) which states clearly that “where a vacancy occurs in the office of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for any reason, pursuant to Section 193 of the Constitution and Section: 6 of the RSA (Appointment to Certain Offices) Act 2004, the Board or Commission shall, in the event of any delay in making a substantive appointment, recommend to the Minister a suitable person from within the organization who meets the prescribed minimum person qualification to act for a period not exceeding three months, subject to further review”. It is therefore evident that:

1. Contrary to RSA Regulation 2014, Section: 18(1), upon the position of MD/CEO of NAC becoming vacant with the resignation of former MD/CEO, Mr. Joseph Kintau, the appointment of current acting appointee was not recommended to the Minister for consideration, instead the Board Chairman, Mr. Mal Lewis and his Deputy Board Chairman, Mr. Jerry Angus took it upon themselves to make the appointment of Mr. Joseph Tupiri without the consent of the full NAC Board.

2. The regulation also called for a suitable person from within the organization (NAC) to act until a substantive appointment is made. However, at the time of his appointment, Mr. Joseph Tupiri was not a senior staff of the organization. He was formerly a staff of NAC but was terminated for non-performance, and later brought from outside of the organization and appointed. This is a clear breach of statutory requirements stated under the RSA Act 2004 and RSA Regulations 2014;

3. It should also be noted that the RSA Act 2004 and RSA Regulation 2014, called for a suitable person with relevant experience to be appointed. However the Board Chairman and his Deputy saw fit to appoint a “bank teller” to head the NAC which is a technical organization. This is a clear abuse of powers vested on the Board Chairman and his Deputy, by appointing an unsuitable person for the position;

4. The RSA Act 2004 and RSA Regulation 2014, Section: 18(1) states that an acting appointee shall act on the position for a period not exceeding three months, subject to a review. Mr. Tupiri’s appointment on the position as acting MD/CEO of NAC has exceeded well beyond the three month period, thus a further breach of the RSA Act and Regulations; and

5. That, Mr. Joseph Tupiri was formerly a NAC staff, who was terminated by the former MD/CEO Mr. Joseph Kintau, for non-performance and insubordination against management. It is imminent that the NAC Board did not properly process Mr. Tupiri’s appointment through the established processes and in accordance with the RSA Act 2014. If these statutory requirements were observed, his lack of aviation experience and past track with NAC would have disqualified him from being appointed. The NAC Board, especially the Chairman and his Deputy at that time are at fault.

Furthermore, the industry operators and public are informed that Section: 50 of the Civil Aviation Act 2000 require a CEO of an aviation service provider to undergo a Fit and Proper Persons (FPP) test by the regulator (CASA-PNG), to assess his qualifications and knowledge of aviation safety and security requirements. However, since Mr. Tupiri’s appointment, he has not made himself available for FPP interviews and seems to avoid the regulator, which is a serious breach of Civil Aviation Act 2000.

ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS & FINANCIAL COMMITTMENTS

Given the manner and circumstances surrounding Mr. Joseph Tupiri’s appointment and its non-gazettal, it is prima facie that he does not have the mandate and authority to make major administrative decisions or financial commitments on behalf of NAC or the Government. As such, any major administrative decision or financial transaction made by Mr. Joseph Tupiri since his dubious appointment is considered fraudulent and should be investigated by the Police Fraud Squad and Ombudsman Commission.

It will also be very interesting to note what the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) response or position would be to this situation, because although Mr. Tupiri does not have sufficient mandate and authority he continues to counter-sign on development funds under ADB funded Civil Aviation Development Improvement Project (CADIP).

It has also come to notice that Mr. Tupiri has terminated the services of certain NAC staff for very minor offences. These staffs were not given the benefit of natural justice to exercise their rights. Whether or not Mr. Tupiri had the authority to terminate services of these staff is questionable, because he was not appointed through proper processes.

This situation is further compounded in that since its inception, the NAC currently does not have an established Human Resource Manual to protect the rights of staff and guide the administration and discharge of disciplinary matters within the organisation. The Minister for Civil Aviation should step in and address this matter, to avoid ordinary Papua New Guinean’s from being discharged from service for very minor offences.

FACILITATION OF APEC MEETINGS

It is also of great concern that “The National Newspaper” of Thursday, 16 April 2015, reported the dire financial situation in NAC. The national government should know that certain provincial capitals in the country will play host to lead up APEC meetings in 2015 and 2016. Some airports identified to host the up-coming APEC events include Nadzab (Lae), Tokua (Rabaul), Kagamuga (Mt. Hagen), Goroka and Madang airports.

However if NAC does not have the financial capacity to up-grade aerodrome safety and security systems at these airports in time to facilitate the APEC events, then how can the government assure the safety and security of our very important guests and dignitaries attending the lead-up APEC meetings. This situation will no doubt place in question PNG’s ability and preparedness to host the APEC proper in 2018. Any failure will have a long term effect on the socio-political and economic well-being of PNG.

Comparatively when Indonesia hosted the APEC in 2013, handled over 130 aircrafts on the ground at Bali’s Denpasar International Airport. Given number of aircraft, it brings to question whether Port Moresby (Jacksons) International Airport (PMIA) is ready to handle an influx of aircraft for APEC 2018. Experience is that NAC is struggling with current volume of traffic. If this so, where will NAC park the increased number of traffic during APEC 2018?

Obviously the Managing Director of NAC, the NAC Board, if any or the Minister of Civil Aviation must surely inform the people and government of PNG on how it intends to resolve this matter before the APEC 2018, to avoid major international embarrassment.

EXECUTIVE STAFF & NAC BOARD

The NAC currently does not have an effective and functioning Board to deliberate on the affairs of this technical organisation. The previous Board that was appointed by the Minister for Civil Aviation was disbanded after the former Board Chairman; Mr. Peter Neville successfully took a Court injunction as to the termination of his term as Chairman.

Whilst the current dilemma in NAC continues, the safety and security of the travelling public are placed at risk. Most of this issues can be resolved if the acting MD/CEO settles in the office and limits his private overseas trips (without prior approval of the Chief Secretary) to address internal matters. There is also a certain expatriate NAC employed, who lives at Airways Hotel and with his accommodation fully paid by the company. This person seems to be on a fly-in fly-out package because he is in office for about 2-3 weeks and on break for another 2 weeks abroad. What value is this person adding to NAC now that it is financially in the red?

It should also be brought to the attention of the public at large and the authorities that NAC is spending far too much in non-core activities. To make a point, certain senior management staffs in the commercial area of NAC are engaging security companies to areas that do not necessarily require security protection. A classic example is that the perimeter road of an airport is designed and meant to facilitate unimpeded access for emergency services attending to any aircraft crash within 10 mile radius of the airport operations. However, a certain security company engaged by NAC has since set up road blocks to check vehicles. The civil aviation safety and security regulator needs to check this out, especially the standards pertaining to emergency access.

Further note that this particular security company earns over K160,000.00 per month (annual about K2m) for virtually doing nothing to improve the standard of security at PMIA.

The first time he went broke, his holding company went into receivership and his creditors and banks moved in and repossessed all his known assets. He had no choice, but to take his family and return to his village, in his home province in the mountains, after their house in the City was also taken.

People in the village who did not like him or had issues with him or were plainly jealous of his early success, rejoiced. Everyone dumped him except for his close relatives and a few loyal friends. Even his tribe dumped him and the general consensus was, "welcome to the kaukau and water group of companies, where nobody is hungry and everybody is a property owner. At least you don't get repossessed here." Some even said nasty things like, " Sa stap long city na smart ya pilim nau."

It was an embarassing ordeal for him and a time of great suffering for his family, especially his children who were born and raised in the City. No one seemed to remember his contributions to the tribe in his good times. The good that he did and the good name that he brought the tribe was all but forgotten.

As a businessman or now a former businessman, he knew he had to provide for his family so he returned to the land and worked the land. It was hard at first, but he soon got the hang of it and secretly enjoyed it. His only sadness was for his wife and children.

He stayed 18 full months in the village. Gone was the high life in Port Moresby, the cars, the houses, the hotels and the high flying friends. The family soon realised that the life they had was now all but gone and adapted as best they could to their new life. It truly was a trying time for his family. Out of sympathy and respect for their father, they resolved not to complain but to take life one day at a time.

One time people heard that he had flown to Port Moresby. Nobody cared or seem to care. Some even made fun of him asking, " Painim wanem na go lo City? Sa sem tu o nogat?"

After four months, he returned to his village. Upon arrival and to everyone's surprise, he hosted a feast such as one never seen before in his village. It was the biggest feast anyone had ever seen. Even soft drinks came by the truck loads. Every single member of the tribe was invited. That event was going to be the talk of the tribe way into the future.

 At the feast, the food and drinks were plentiful. People ate to their full and had so much left overs to take home also. They even had to take can drinks home for later, unheard of in a village.

At the speeches, everyone was curious to find out why he had hosted such a party which would have cost him a lot of money. The curiosity was at an all time high. Was he not a declared bankrupt? Where did he get the money for such an extravaganza? Why would he spend so much money when clearly his family needed it and were suffering?

Before his speech, he took out a dirty old note book and thanked everyone who stood by him and his family in their time of suffering. He read off the first four names on a list in his note book and thanked them for what they did for him. Amazingly, he spelt out every single detail of their help to him and his family throughout the 22 difficult months of their lives. 

Then he fished out four keys from his jacket pocket and said, "You four have helped me and my family so much. The little I can do to thank you is to offer you these four keys. At the Ela Motors yard in town, there are four brand new 15 seater Toyota Hiace buses. Whichever one your key fits is yours. You can pick them up tomorrow."

He had kept a comprehensive list on his note book, of every single person in his village that had done him and his family a favour and started repaying all those people in cash. To a woman who had brought him some kaukau, he gave K2000. To another who had given him a bunch of bananas, he gave K2000. To someone who had given him a two days old newspaper, he gave K2000 and so on and so forth. He never missed any single one of them, all the while giving a detailed account of what these people had done, reading off from his note book.

Many villagers who received nothing regretted and speech after speech was given on his generosity, some even apologized to him, advising themselves and other villagers not to play up with educated or people with degrees, although their advices sounded shallow and came tainted with envious regret.

After the feast, he took his family and returned to Port Moresby. Soon people heard that he had bought this or that and was bigger than ever before. This time people knew that this guy kept a note book so people from the tribe never went to his house when they were in the City like they used to in his previous good lmes. Only those on his note book came and went. In fact he flew them down to the City one by one and showered them with gifts until everyone on his list was completed....

THE second time he was declared broke and the usual receivers and repossessions, he flew back home to his village. This time alone. His family remained in the City as their house was not repossessed this time. The man had learnt from his mistakes and had set his wife and kids up. He was to suffer alone.

People in the village heard the story and remembered what he had done previously and his dirty old note book and came in droves. Everybody was a friend this time around. No one spoke evil of him. Tribesmen visited on a daily basis often bringing sugar and coffee and stories were told into the wee hours of the morning. Food came, money came, everything came. Everyone went out of their way to make an impression, hoping that their names were recorded this time around in that note book for the next big feast. Everyone was pretty sure that the next one would be bigger than the last one.

After about 13 months, he returned to Port Moresby. The story of his departure spread like wildfire. Finally he had left and everyone was looking forward to his return with very high hopes. Tribes people even argued over who did what for him. Some saying, "I did this or that." Everyone was looking forward to his or her reward. No one dared to make fun of him this time around.

He returned to his village after two months in Port Moresby. This time people were there to greet him at the airport and drive him home to his village. The expection went to an unprecedented high.

The royal treatment given to him, continued for a week, then a month, then two and three and people started to slow down with their generosity. After six months, more than half the generosity disappeared. 12 months and almost all forms of generosity disappeared completely. Everything reverted back to his family and friends, of the first "broke", although people showed kindness, just in case.

Then for a second time, and to everyone's joy, they heard that he had left for Port Moresby. Surely, this time he was going to come back with their rewards. But that was not to be. He never returned as expected.

This time he stayed for two years. When people heard that he was returning to the village to attend a funeral, everyone was hoping and even some were pretty certain that he would finally make an announcement of their rewarding feast. The expectation was so high that people even forgot the dead person, all they wanted was for him to speak and make the announcement they all longed to hear.

He sensed the expectation so he stood up and spoke. "Everyone here is looking forward to a feast, much bigger than the last one I gave. I know that and I will give one this Christmas. Let it be known that this will be bigger than ever. I will set a record in this place that no one here now or in future will break it."

Christmas was three months away and the village literally counted the days. Those who felt that they qualified for a 15 seater Toyota Hiace, complained bitterly that the days went very slowly. Some even complained that the times had changed and as a result the days were going at a snail's pace.

When December finally arrived, the topic of the village and tribe, from dawn to dusk was about nothing, but the biggest feast they would ever see. Some debated as to what the guy would do or do different from the last time. The expectation was mounting and was building up to explosion or climax stage.

Every single day of December, people were asking each other, "Any word from the man himself yet?""When is he coming back?""When do you think he is coming back?"

Finally the word came that the day of the much anticipated feast had arrived. The feast was set right on Christmas day. News of the occassion spread like wildfire. The village came alive. Even the neighbouring villages felt the aftershocks, so to speak. 

For the very first time, churches had to postpone their planned activities for that day since Christianity arrived there because no one was ever going to turn up. No one seemed to care about the after life or whether rapture was to occurr that day. No one cared.

Secretly, the pastors and elders who usually organised church activities for Christmas day, were glad because they too wanted to attend the biggest feast and who knows, perhaps some of them might hand up with a 15 seater Toyota Hiace bus or some cash reward. Who would miss such goodies for some stale church activity. Their defence when people asked was,...Christmas is not our custom so a break once in a while wouldn't hurt. The rest of the congregation agreed wholeheartedly, in an attempt to cover their own guilt.

Everyone who had done, even the slightest good knew that he kept a note book and their names were there or should be there. This Christmas and new year would be a wonderful time for the village and the tribe.

 Plans were made in advance. Some who thought they had done some good to the man himself, went ahead and started borrowing money from village money lenders in anticipation and started their Christmas and New year celebrations early, knowing that the last time, it was K2000 per person. Now it might go up to K3000 or K4000. Some argued that since the man himself had said that it will be a record setting feast, the amount of money might go up to even K5000 or K10,000.

 There was joy like never before in the village and tribe. Everyone was looking forward and anticipating. They all refused to listen to any negative words. People who said that nothing would be given or what was going to be given was less were told, "Devil flee." It was like landowners were going to be given their royalty payments on Christmas day. What a Christmas and new year it would be! So they thought.

Several days before Christmas, it was heard that the man himself had landed. The joy in the village and tribe could literally be felt and could even be cut with a very blunt knife. Everyone was psyched up as 25th of December approached.

On the 24th word went out that every single one was invited to the feast the next day. On the evening of that day, three container trucks arrived in the village. That was a first. Truly this was going to be the greatest feast ever.

One truck had two containers filled with cartons of soft drinks all the way from the factory in Lae. The other two were refrigerator containers. One had five cows culled, skinned and prepared by a farm at Markham Valley in Lae, MOROBE Province. The other had cartons of chicken from Zenag in Lae.

The arrival of big container trucks was enough to psyche the entire tribe up to maximum level.  Nobody slept much that night because of the excitement. People sang praises for the man himself till the small hours of the night. Even people who had ridiculed him earlier. Some even said that such people should go directly to heaven when they die.

On the very day, one industrious pastor, having noticed in the previous feast that the Lutheran pastor who had prayed and blessed the occassion had been rewarded with K2000, took it upon himself and his church to officiate the occassion, hoping secretly that he would be rewarded handsomely.

The other churches who hadn't thought of that became very jealous, knowing that this pastor was now going to steal the show and walk away with a bundle of money. Why hadn't they thought of this themselves, they wondered and secretly cursed themselves. There was a brief confrontation between this Penticostal pastor and the Lutheran pastor of the first feast, but it was agreed that the songs and preaching would be done by this pastor and his church and the benediction would be given by the Lutheran pastor. They were never asked by the man himself, but did the arrangement on their own accord.

By the evening of the 25th of December, the food was ready. He had killed about 50 pigs. Some people offered him pigs but he refused all offers, turning away around 18 to 20 offers.

 All of those offers were not genuine. The pig owners wanted a price above the usual for their pigs, remembering his generosity in very small things like his giving of K2000 to a guy who gave him a two days old newspaper in the previous feast. Some even thought their scheming gesture might even get them a 15 seater Hiace bus. Who knows. A pig is more valuable than a two days old newspaper.

He bought all the pigs elsewhere with cash and did not buy any from his village or tribe.

The preparation of the food had taken all night. Again, he did not use his own people's labour, but had got his wife's people to perform the chores. They had started as early as 10 pm on the 24th and by 1 pm the next day, the food was all ready, according to plan.

It was truly a sight to behold. There were Christmas decorations and balloons and the works. It was truly the biggest Christmas party ever. The food, all stacked up nicely, rows and rows of pork, chicken and cow meat with all the other extras that go with a highlands style mumu. It truly was a spectacle and a sight to behold and it certainly was the biggest feast ever hosted in the tribe. It made the first feast look like a under 13 rugby league game and this one look like a real test match.

After the short service by one pastor and the prayer or benediction by the other, the food was distributed from family to family. There was just so much left over that they had to distribute a second and a third round also.

The speeches usually went first, but this time the man himself insisted that the food should go first and the speeches follow after. He had reasoned that many times people ate cold food, but not in his feast. He wanted people to eat when the food was still fresh or hot out of the earth ovens. No one complained, in case their names were removed from the note book. It was usual for them to argue, but this time they were all smiles and agreed to all that the man himself said.

After the food was distributed and people sat in family groups and started eating, the speeches began. 

As is usual the leaders spoke first. Some shedding crocodile tears, when reciting the hard time the man and his family went through and now through the tough times, they were finally okay. One could clearly tell that the tears were not genuine, but more like "I hope you haven't forgotten my name in your note book or please add something extra to my share for my tears."

Then it was his turn to speak. The moment people had been waiting for all these time had arrived. There was complete silence. A quietness such as never ever experienced before took over the place. Even people stopped chewing the food they were still eating.

He began his speech with, "Thank you all for taking time out of your schedules to attend this gathering. I said it will be the biggest and I am sure you will agree with me that this is the biggest feast ever and on such a wonderful day as this Christmas day. I have kept my word.

The first time I was declared bankrupt, only a few people helped me and I think I have paid them back a thousand times over. The second time I went bankrupt, many of you had a change of heart and many of you came to my aid. It was like, a giving, sharing and caring revival had taken place in our tribe and village.

 I have tried my best to record every kind deed on my note book. I will therefore read from that note book and try to sort everyone out today because I don't like to owe any man, woman or child anything in this life...that is why I allowed myself to be declared bankrupt twice so that the people I owe money to get their dues...and even if it is a third time, and I feel I owe people, I will still allow myself to be declared bankrupt...the point being that I owe no one in this life."

After this he signalled someone who was standing near his vehicle to bring the bags. There were two military style bags that appeared to be packed to capacity.

When the bags were brought over, the silence in the crowd became more profound that one could hear a pin drop. Even the babies stopped making a sound or were forced to suckle on their mothers' breasts.

As the two bags were laid out on the table before him, he opened the first bag and checked for something. Then he opened the second bag and checked. Those closest to him peeked to see what the bags held. It was indeed cash, packed to the brim of both bags. They all had satisfying smiles and sent confirmatory signals to their friends in the crowd further away from the bags.

The crowd waited anxiously, in anticipation as he started looking for something inside both bags. Then he signalled the guy in the vehicle to come over. He whispered something to him. Everyone saw the guy hurry to the vehicle and check for something every where inside. He signalled the man himself that whatever they were looking for was not there. 

The man checked the two bags again. This time he poured the contents of the two bags on the table and searched through the bundles. When the crowds saw the bundles, they held their breaths. Not one of them had seen so much cash in their lives.

He went searching through the wads of cash. Some fell off the table but people dutifully picked them up and put them back on the table.

Then he told people who were nearby to put the cash back into the bags and whispered something into one of the elders who was there and sat down. As he sat down, he started sweating. He looked lost, speechless and worried as if he had had a death in the family.

The elder stood up and with a sad voice asked if any one had seen the man's note book. He pleaded with the crowd that if any person has seen or has taken the note book, this was no time to play around but to return it because all the many names and their kind deeds towards the man himself were all recorded in detail in his note book and that is the list he will go by to payback people with the cash in the two bags.

He added that if someone had taken it then they must return it. Assuring them that there won't be any repercussions but forgiveness from all in the village and tribe because after all it was 25th December and it was the day of forgiveness and giving. 

No one stepped forward or admitted. Not even to having witnessed such a theft. After about one hour of searching and trying to figure out, the man himself stood up and said, " You all know I carry a note book around where I record in detail every good deed done to me by others. I had this book this morning and I must have misplaced it in the run around to organise this feast. 

All the names and deeds are listed there from those who did much to those who did little. Since almost all of you aided me. I am not a computer to recall all your names and deeds.

I came to repay you and I am not leaving with the money in the bags. It came in your name, it will stay here, but I cannot give it to only some I can recall and not to others I do not recall. You all know that I repay fairly and accordingly. Without my note book, I am sorry, but I cannot do much.

Since the two bags of money came in your name, I will not take a single note back to Port Moresby so you tell me what to do. How should I distribute the money? Please take your time and come up with a decision that will be beneficial to all that did much and all that did little. Come back with the answer in three days, for I will be returning to Port Moresby on the fourth day to spend the new year celebrations with my family.

Get the two bags of money and lock them in one of the containers and give the keys to a trusted member of the community and guard the container, in case someone tries to rob the money like they stole my note book and messed things up for all of us

After his speech, the crowd was literally confounded and somewhat confused. It was like they were in a state of shock. Normally there would have been a lot of mumbling and grumbling, but not this time. 

There was an eerie silence over the crowd. People were trying to figure out in their own minds as to what just happened after the hype and the high of the past few weeks. They could feel the self induced high, starting to slowly deflat like a slow leaking balloon.

The thought that he may have deliberately hidden the note book crossed their minds, but then why did he not want to take his money back. He could have used the lost note book as an excuse and could have kept his money. They knew he stood on his word so when he said the money he brought came in their name and was theirs for keeps. The deliberate or intentional theory did not hold much water.

The only plausible conclusion was that, the note book was indeed stolen by some jealous person who didn't want the village and tribe to benefit. Some people who had already borrowed money felt like, tearing the thief into pieces with their bare hands limb by limb.

The good thing, however, was that at least the money was still there and that was everything. They would have to ensure that the money was safely locked in the container for three days.

One of the elders had said that they all take one full day to come up with ideas. In the second day they will come together with all the ideas, discuss and put the best one forward to the man himself on the third day. All agreed. 

But just to be sure, a team was dispatched to investigate and try to find the note book. There was no need to dispatch a security team to guard the container. The entire tribe volunteered on their own accord to stand guard and set up camp around the locked container holding the money on a 24 hour basis. If the money was somehow stolen, it would be absolutely unbearable.

 Another team was dispatched to look for a credible "glass man", with clear instructions, not to bring those guess fire ones or those generalising ones, but one who is able to be specific and point straight to where the note book was or point straight to the culprit who stole it and then whoever the thief was would literally get it, some secretly thought.

The search and investigation team came up with nothing. The glass man team brought a guy who kept saying, " Em yupla yet nau." When pressed, he said, "Buk em stap namel lo yupla yet." That made people turn the whole vicinity upside down, but still to no avail. The glass man was dismissed as a fraud. He almost got beaten too. There were discussions on finding a genuine one in places like Lae or Madang, but time was against them.

Finally, they convened their "ideas meeting" on the second day. Some suggested for the guy to draw up a new list with every person stating his kind deed. Others said let him pay from his memory and whoever he forgets must be prepared to forget their rightful claims.

One said to let him keep his money. He was shouted down and told to shut up with such demonic ideas. 

 Another suggested for him to evenly distribute the money as he did the food. The ones who thought they could end up with 15 seater buses almost beat him up arguing that why would others benefit from the hard work of some.

 The "ideas and against the ideas" meeting went on and on with no definitive resolution. 

Every idea seemed to clash with the interests of others. The only fairest thing to do was to give all his money back and hope that he goes bankrupt a third time so that they would show their kindness all over again. Even that too was not agreed to because all they wanted were the two bags full of money. They had seen the two bags and now had their hearts and minds set on the contents.

Then one old man got up and said, " Every idea proposed seems to have an opposition always. The only common sense thing to do is to let the man himself decide and do whatever he thinks is best because after all it is his money and we don't deserve it. Which one of us can honestly say, we did good to him with good intentions? We all went out of our way to please him not with good intentions, but because we wanted to be repaid a thousand fold. Let him decide. Who knows he might reward all that have done good to him from his memory and if he forgets anyone then we must not blame him at all. He is human and we all forget things. I am sure that if we leave things to him, he might even do what is best for all of us."

After much deliberation, they all agreed to the old man's view and resolved to let the man himself decide. They knew that he would remember some of them and reward them.

The next day, they all were present and gave their resolution over to the man himself. 

He asked if all of them agreed for him to decide what to do with the money. They all shouted in the affirmative. He then asked if despite what he decides, all his debts would be forgiven and deemed paid in full. Again they all shouted in the affirmative.

With that he said, "Let heaven and earth be witness that my debt to all of you is repaid in full despite whatever I decide to do. I owe non of you anything from this day forth."

He then asked the key bearer to open the container and bring out the two money bags. He opened one bag and took out a new list from inside his jacket pocket and  started calling out the names on that list and gifting them K2000 per name. The names on that new list included five of the oldest and most senior citizens of that village and all the seven widows of his small tribe including the key bearer.

After that he closed the opened bag and told some people to load them on his own vehicle and before leaving left these words. " I don't know why I lost the note book, but all I know is that nature is always fair in that a genuine sower always reaps his rightful dues. Many of you here have not been rewarded today for your good deeds to me now, but I am sure you will reap sometime in future in your lives if indeed your deeds were genuine.

For the rest of the money in the bags, I have now decided to build a clinic for the village that will benefit all and build permanent church buildings for the three bush material churches standing in the village and also give a facelift to the two permanent ones."

Three days later four big trucks with containers arrived in the village. One of the drivers explained that the trucks held prefabricated steel beams, roofing irons and everything else for three church buildings, a clinic and the maintenance of two other churches

In the new excitement of seeing all these container trucks, no one asked when the orders were placed or where the materials came from.

 The orders had been placed about five months ago from China. It took three months for the ship to arrive at the wharf in Lae. The shipment arrived two weeks ago. The trucks were hired two weeks ago to pick them up after the usual customs clearance and the  delivery of the containers to the village.  Did the note book get stolen? I seriously doubt that. At least the "glass man" may have been right and almost got a terrible beating for nothing.  Some times we expect too much from what we have not sown.# PS. It is a rarity for a declared bankrupt to be declared bankrupt again the second time around. This time around he knows how to hide things legally.

Pogera slammed shut with no second option leaving workers and contractors out in the cold. And as inflation sets in and the school year begins Prime Minister James Marape's dictum 'short term pain for a long term gain', is a death sentence.

Papua New Guinea woke up to the new year only to be shunned by the grimy news from PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry that inflation will continue as government interventions that supposed to deflate inflationary pressures simply do not exist. 

No new foreign direct investment in Marape's last four years despite best efforts and desperate attempts including expensive trade conferences in Sydney, Dubai, and elsewhere abroad. 

Meanwhile the stench of the rotting mortuaries across the country is getting worse prompting mass burial everywhere of unclaimed bodies.

They say bad things happen in thrice but under Marape's watch it goes beyond the expectations of the land of the unexpected. 

Now the war between Puma Energy and Bank of PNG on foreign currency hedging has split onto Air Niugini right under the watch of the government. A government must be assertive and promptly intervene before the problem snowballs and rolls downhill turning into an avalanche. 

Air Niugini stops flight today, right on the peak period, when people returning from holidays because Puma Energy cannot provide jet fuel. 

These are the beginning of the pain that is yet to come. We are barely few days in the first month of 2023 whilst the year ahead is winding long. 

Do we have a government that is providing sound leadership? Is the MP for Tari/Pori the right choice for Prime Minister? These are questions Papua New Guineans should be asking as you are now at the threshold of doom you yourself disastrously walked into.

The Permanent Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence headed by Chairman Belden Namah must immediately conduct an inquiry into the recent incident involving Puma Energy and its alleged role in holding Papua New Guinea at ransom by stopping fuel supply to our national airline company Air Niugini causing an adverse impact on businesses and security risk to the country. 

The inquiry must focus on the following:

1. The reasons behind Puma Energy's decision to stop fuel supply to the national airline company and its potential impact on national security.

2. The actions were taken by the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea and its reasons for being hesitant to release foreign exchange to purchase crude oil in Singapore.

3. The relationship between Puma Energy and the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea and whether there were any factors that may have influenced the Central Bank's decision.

4. The measures are taken by the government of Papua New Guinea to address the situation and ensure the continuity of fuel supply for the national airline and any other sectors that might be impacted.

5. The committee should enquire into the outcome of the prime minister’s meeting with Puma executives in Singapore 

6. Whether or not the contract between the State and Puma Energy for the supply of fuel can be reviewed

The Committee must also establish if the company acted in a responsible and ethical manner and whether the company complied with all relevant laws and regulations of Papua New Guinea and the international standard.

The committee must also investigate any negative effect caused by the action of the company on businesses and people, and take steps to address it.

The committee must hear from various parties involved and provide a report on the outcome of the inquiry to the parliament, including recommendations for any necessary actions to be taken. Our people demand to know the reasons surrounding this matter through our parliament.

A tragedy isn’t it? But who should we blame?

In essence, you don’t need to send PNGeans to do a degree program to learn the necessary skills to plant and harvest vegetables or study for years to know how to feed a pig.

Kudos to the Enga Governor who is sending thousands of Engans to work in farms in Australia. Now ceteris paribus, if we switch that sort of arrangement around so that resources are redeployed within PNG, we are potentially the food bowl in the region.

According to history, PNG is the birthplace of agriculture. Ironically we cannot produce food crops in quantities that can feed the growing population. I believe agriculture and livestock production is the only industry with immense potential to sustainably contribute to growing our economy and also provide ample food security. At the same time keeping the majority of PNG citizens occupied in farming will contribute significantly to reducing the incidences of social issues so prevalent in our society.

PNG as a country should put lessor emphasis on downstream processing and that includes striving to manufacture finished products which other developed countries already have competitive advantages with regard to their economies of scale. To be competitive, some rudimentary issues that PNG needs to hone in on include but are not limited to:

1: Inefficient and costly utility services in power, water, internet, etc 

2: high transportation costs 

3. Low skill base for blue-collar jobs

4. Drop in quality of training in vocational education 

5. High incidence of uncontrollable crime rates and resultant socioeconomic issues

6. Fragmented value chain - lack of coherent/ systematic support arrangements. For example, SMEs can provide spin-off activities within specific parameters. 

7.  Underdeveloped Capital market resulting in onerous and costly processes for mobilisation of capital.

A case in point is a major rice distributor imports around 1,000 (TBC) shipping containers of rice per month or 12,000 containers per annum. The value of imported rice goes into the hundred million which is close to a billion per annum. This begs the question of why PNG hasn’t been able to grow rice over the last 50 or so years since independence? Why did successive governments allow the leakage of billions of dollars over 5 decades? Rice has now become a staple food for average PNGeans. Perhaps the rice that is distributed in PNG is actually imported from Asia to Australia and back to PNG. So we have been coping with the bullshit for many years and will continue to do so into the future for as long as God knows how long.

In essence, our politicians and policymakers continue year after year for decades in low-value initiatives with little to no economic benefit, and whatever those policy initiatives yield is inadequate to cater to the exponential growth in our country’s population and especially, the young people who are now imploding into more illegal activities since they are mostly unoccupied. The exponential growth in the young population was seen as a time bomb 10 to 15 years ago. That bomb is now exploding in every corner of PNG. An alarming crime rate is a good indication.

The socioeconomic issues in our country need to be addressed in a big way and I suppose the low-hanging fruit keeps staring at our face yet successive governments have continued to ignore it. Government should focus on agriculture where therein lies the massive opportunity to keep young folks occupied so that they can contribute meaningfully to society and the economy.

Well, in order to create a vibrant growing economy that is underpinned by agriculture, PNG perhaps needs to focus on the following areas:

1. Schemes of Funding for farmers/ fishermen 

2. Consistent supply of seedlings that can withstand harsh weather conditions (laNino/ Elnino) and encourage farming diversity of crops and livestock. 

3. Bring the old system of Agriculture extension officers back

4. Subsidize the cost of market accessibility 

5. Perhaps allow each District Development Authority (DDA) to buy specialized farming equipment to be utilized in commercial arrangements with farmers like for instance purchasing tractors

Take a look at a scenario where our government issues a directive to limit the importation of rice by 2027. Tasks every district authority in 2023 to support farmers within respective constituencies to grow food crops like Kaukau, Bananas, Taro even rice and live stocks, etc. to bolster internal food security. Imagine how much PNG as a country could save and thereon redistribute wealth in the billions that are currently outflowing as a result of importing rice, meat, and vegetables.

To conclude, I must commend the Marape/Rosso Government for taking an unpopular decision to split the Agriculture Ministry into 4 separate ministries. The policy direction is a noble one and only time will tell about the success of this decision by PM Marape.

 

by M.J.PASSINGAN

The Prime Minister and Minister responsible Hon Duma as trustees of our State Enterprises must come out clean on what is happening at the National Development Bank.

Sources reveal that the NDB Board Chairman, Mr. Seeto is a beneficiary of a large contract from KCH involving one of NDB's subsidiaries, People's Micro Bank Limited (PMBL).

The Marape Government through its Minister responsible, Hon. Duma recently announced the approval of a new banking entity which will be created from the commercialization of PMBL. What was not announced was Mr. Seeto will be featuring heavily in implementing this with a contract of 40-50 million kina.

Mr. Darrell Seeto has been perfectly set up in a dream job. 

He will oversee the commercialization of PMBL as Chairman of the NDB Board and a service provider in what is a clear example of blatant abuse of power and fiducial responsibility.

Sources also indicate that the NDB Board is highly comprised, and its Chairman is "running everything". The governing legislation of the National Development Bank does not allow for Directors to be involved in the daily operations of the Bank and its subsidiaries.

By what or whose authority has Mr. Darrell Seeto positioned himself as a self-styled Board Chairman with Managing Director powers and also now a service provider?

The wisdom and intent behind the creation of our SOE were exactly for this. Preventing such cronies from exerting too much power over the operations of our SOEs.

By definition, Directors must be independent and must have no interest in a company or it's subsidiaries. 

The NDB Act does not allow for Mr. Seeto to be a member of the NDB Board when he has such a conflict of interest, or whilst he provides services (other than being a director) to a subsidiary of the NDB Group, in People's Micro Bank Limited? 

Section 10(b), (c) & (d) of the NDB Act unequivocally disqualifies a person from being eligible to be appointed as a member of the NDB Board if that person:

- is a supplier of the Bank or a subsidiary (e.g PMBL);

- has a contract with the Bank or a subsidiary, other than being a director; 

- is not free from interests that could, or could reasonably be perceived to, materially interfere with the director’s ability to act in the best interests of the Bank. 

Hence, it is not only improper but against the NDB Act for Mr. Seeto to be a director of the NDB Board, while he is a contractor of PMBL or has an interest in PMBL that could hinder him from acting only in the best interest of NDB and it's subsidiary, People's Micro Bank.

When the Government is talking about anti-corruption and performance, why has Marape Government allowed the Chairman of NDB to get this contract? The PM and his Minister Duma must come out clear.

Is commercialization another milking cow used to siphon money with the use of proxies?

This is nothing against the credentials of Mr. Seeto. He simply cannot remain as Chairman of the NDB Board when he is also contracted to commercialize it's subsidiary PMBL. There is too much room for compromise.

Important life-touching and changing SME policy of the government is run by NDB. Why is this being destroyed by cronies?

Fiduciary duties owed to any SOE by its Directors include; Duty to act within his or her powers. Duty not to improperly use insider information or position. Duty to avoid a conflict of interest; and Duty not to abuse a corporate opportunity.

The Prime Minister must act now and practice what is being preached.

The Napa Napa oil refinery Project Agreement was recognized by many of us as a serious concern to the PNG economy and concerns were raised as early as 2000. DPE participated in many meetings organized by ICCC. Treasury, IRC, Customs, Commerce & Industry and PM's Dept always also participated in these meetings. In my capacity then as a junior officer and backroom advisor, I raised issues with Clause 19 of the Project Agreement and proposed certain actions.

At one time, an Australian oil refinery industry expert was contracted by the State/Treasury to advise the Government on the Napa Napa oil refinery Project Agreement and he did make very clear and strong recommendations to the Government.

No executive decision was made since. Expert advice ignored!

DPE's functions are limited by the Oil & Gas Act 1998 to the upstream petroleum industry only. It has no regulatory mandate in the downstream sector, which includes oil refineries and refined products.

The regulation of the downstream petroleum sector lies with other State agencies but apparently there exists a very clear lack of mandate in Law for the effective regulation of this sector and this was partially a contributing factor why the Napa Napa oil refinery Project Agreement was never reviewed and the Import Parity Price clause and anti-competition issues never adressed.

I recall recommendations made to the executive level as early as mid-2000 to open up competition in the fuels market as Napa Napa oil refinery also continues to breach the Project Agreement by directly importing refined fuels from Singapore and Melbourne, Australia. It also imports crude oil. Other distributors like Mobil too are importing directly from Singapore, importing cheaply and maximizing huge gains. I suspect they are taking advantage of Napa Napa's Import Parity Price Clause. This creates an imbalance in the fuels market and consumers are denied of the correct economic price of fuels.

In response to ICCC's letter to the Vice Minister for Treasury in 2017, I established an internal committee headed by our Economics Division to jointly work with other relevant State agencies to address issues raised by the ICCC CEO. Progress was very slow for many reasons. The oil refinery operator and owner also avoided all attempts to get details of their operations. I then directed my officers to consult PNG Customs. The information we received from PNG Customs was shocking, particularly the manner in which the operator was conducting its operations. By then I was out of the scene.

But there is more than enough technical and economic data and information available, as well as advice and recommendations, for an executive decision. NEC has to act on those recommendations and advice, including the recommendations by the Australian consultant in mid-2000.

In fact, PNG's national energy sector can be well managed and its national energy security and pricing issues effectively addressed without having Napa Napa oil refinery being in the equation. As a private citizen, I spent quality time and provided an advice to the executive Government in July 2019 on precisely what to do for the State to fully own and control the entire energy industry and market without being dependant on Napa Napa oil refinery and other commercial arrangements with foreign-owned businesses. Maybe no one read it.

This whole matter now requires an executive decision and direction.

by DAVID LEPI

A swift and proactive intervention in the Bank of PNG and Puma Energy saga earlier could have avoided the spill over effect on Air Niugini - jet fuel shortage and now general fuel. It is the government's failure to intervene and arbitrate when the issue was snowballing and consequently the country's energy security is thrown into disarray. 

Deputy Prime Minister Hon John Rosso who is now Acting PM in the absence of PM James Marape, is claiming with much pomp  and fanfare that the Puma issue has been resolved this afternoon. 

The government has to explain to country as to what extent this chronic issue has been resolved. Marape said the same thing upon return from Singapore after crawling into the Puma Energy headquarters. 

No government in the past had experienced corporate bullying let alone foreign exchange shortages but thanks to Prime Minister James Marape for making himself a name in cleaning up the coffers dry and empty. 

Now the light headed Marape convinently escaped to the Fiji islands and his playing golf letting Rosso and the boys to deal with Puma. 

Make no mistake Puma Energy is not an easy push over. 

Puma Energy's parent company is Singapore based Swiss Company called Trafigura. Trafigura is known for shadowy deals and corruption and has been on the radar of International Monetary Fund. 

The government of Zimbabwe has blacklisted Trafigura subsidiaries operated by African tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei over allegations that they are responsible for “price instability and a spiralling exchange rate” leading to the ongoing downfall of the local currency. 

Zimbabwe's Nehanda Radio reports that the IMF a few years back warned the Southern African country that state payouts to Trafigura, a company linked to global commodities traders, were pushing the shortages-plagued economy to the brink, reviving fears of corruption at the highest level of government.

Price instability and a spiralling exchange rate is exactly what is happening in Papua New Guinea. 

If the PNG Prime Minister who lacks both business and financial acumen thinks dealing with Puma Energy is a child's play must think again when giving his back to the shadowy global giant that has operations spanning in 40 countries across 5 continents.

There is no better way to put it but Puma Energy is holding the balls of the PNG government in a tight grip and is squeezing whenever it feels like. I hear Marape is a choir master and that means when Puma squeeze the rest of the gang will sing soprano in the top of their voices.