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Nation likely to plung into inflation if O'Niell the "bush economist" keeps with his myrad of ill advised spending

September 8, 2014, 3:26 pm
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By MARK DAVIS

The economic crisis caused by the Prime Minister's mismanagement of the nation's finances may be about to get much worse

The Government is facing a payout of up to $US300 million in a legal dispute over the disastrous IPIC bond issue used to finance PNG's participation in the LNG Project.

The case, brought by IPIC against the Government represented by the Independent Public Business Corporation, begins tomorrow in the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

A decision is likely within a month

IPIC is seeking a payment of $US300 million (K700m plus at today’s rates) from PNG as part of the settlement of the IPIC bond issue.

IPIC had the right to convert the bond into Oil Search shares, which it did.

It also had the right to a cash component under the terms of the bond issue.

The Supreme Court case is over the amount that is owed to IPIC, which is claiming $US300 million.

It will blow yet another mighty hole in the Budget, which is already under pressure from the Prime Minister's mismanagement of the economy, especially government borrowing and spending, and rampant corruption.

Wasteful and unproductive spending, for example on lavish Prime Ministerial and Ministerial travel expenses, and irresponsible borrowings - for example the Prime Minister's UBS loan - are the major Budget problem areas.

The Prime Minister's lack of economic discipline had already brought about a planned Budget deficit of K2.3 billion, or an enormous 6 percent of GDP.

Of that, K1.2 needed to be borrowed.

Now it is estimated that the Budget has plunged an extra K400 million AT LEAST into the red.

The addition of as much as $US300 million in new debt will deepen the Prime Minister's economic crisis and put further pressure on ordinary Papua New Guineans.

Inflation is likely to continue to rise, with ever higher prices for staple foods such as rice, tinfish and bully, clothing, fuel and household goods. Interest rates are also likely to rise and the value of the kina fall even further.
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Political parties and members welcome to the Opposition

September 9, 2014, 7:37 pm
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By SAM BASIL MP

Deputy Opposition Leader and Pangu Pati Leader, Sam Basil said the role of political parties and the Opposition in development of political culture and practice of Westminster principles in PNG, good governance and leadership needs more work and that can be done by Members of Parliament. He said the THE Party and its Members are welcome to join the Opposition and challenged other Members and political parties who do not support the policies and management of PNC led Government to decide which side they are on and what achievements and policies they will sell to the people during the National Elections.

The Pangu Pati Leader said the Opposition is a creation of the Constitution and laws like the Organic Law on Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates (OLIPPAC), Prime Ministers Act, Parliamentary Standing Orders and other laws to ensure the sovereignty of the Independent State of PNG is intact and to make laws and to ensure governance and systems including oversight of constitutional bodies and the public service is kept under scrutiny.

Mr Basil was responding to the Prime Minister and the coalition government sacking of the THE Party and its Leader and Members from the Government. It is healthy for the country to have an effective Opposition that can scrutinise and hold the Government to account without fear and favour and provide balance in legislative scrutiny and in debates as well as general governance of the country.

There have been concerns as well as misconception about the Middle or Cross Bench in Parliament, which is mostly for Independent Members of Parliament who are not committed to policies of any political parties and for political parties who aspired or campaigned to form Government during the elections but did not win sufficient seats. Further, Middle Bench is for political parties and MP who did not support a Government for passing of certain laws, legislations and policies and this special Bench must not be abused.

Mr Basil said political parties and Members of Parliament will be accountable to the people for the laws and policies we pass or agree to and if political parties and Members of Parliament are not satisfied with the performance of the current Government, the Opposition Bench is open for them to voice their concerns or to present their alternative policies.
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Who is Puma Energy International (Singapore)?

September 9, 2014, 7:49 pm
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By Anna Gerato Suckling

The 3 main shareholders have monopoly over Angola’s natural resources & have effectively sealed Angola’s Presidents dictatorship power.

Its old news that Puma Energy International bought out Inter Oil’s Napa Napa refinery for USD526 million in July this year but just who are they and why could the purchase be a strategic move? It is a fact that within 2 years of Puma Energy entering Angola the main partners of this company gained monopoly over all of Angola’s overseas oil sales & local distribution of fuel.
Privately held company Puma Energy (Singapore) is owned by the following corporations 1. Trafigura 2.Sonangol Holding LDA & 3.Cochan Holdings.

15% of the Swiss corporation Trafigura is owned by the infamously named “General Dino”. General Dino is one of the three ‘main’ partners that the president of Angola uses as his covers ups for his corrupt business dealings in Angola. Marc Gueniat a senior NGO researcher quotes "I am not aware of any other country where one company has such dominance on the oil imports as Trafigura has in Angola & it effectively has a monopoly to supply petroleum products in the country" (through its subsidiary companies DT Group & Pumangol which are both in partnerships with local companies Cochan & Sonangol).

Most of Trafigura's investments in Angola have been managed through a Singapore-registered company called DTS Holdings, also known as the DT Group, its local business partner is Cochan Holdings. The two directors of this entity are General Dino and Claude Dauphin, a French billionaire who helped found Trafigura and is today its chief executive officer. As the Berne Declaration noted: "While DTS Holdings is involved infrastructure, logistics and real estate, it is oil where the majority of its revenues are generated.

The group is party to a swap contract, which may be one of the largest in the world. They export unknown quantities of Angolan crude and in return, since 2009, have been supplying Angola with all of the oil-derivative products required to meet domestic demand." I pray PNG never enters into a swap contract of our LNG reserves; it’s very worrying when one sees conflicting info of shipments being exported for PNGLNG. Within 2 years of Trafigura entering Angola (in partnership with Cochan & Sonangol) it has effectively taken over most of its oil operations in Angola, as well the distribution of oil products in the country.

Sonangol Holding is owned by the state of Angola. Cochan Holdings is owned by state officials close to the president.

Further it should be noted that “LR Group” is business partners with all three of Puma Energies major shareholders in Angola & Angola's largest Agricultural company….Why is PO highly encouraging & facilitating LR Groups entry & business growth in PNG???


Main Articles cited (for full articles cited please ask):

*Sonangol is the largest company in Angola & ensures their corrupt presidents regime. The business is owned by henchmen under the president. These same henchmen also own all the media & telecommunication companies in Angola. Note also that these henchmen also bought majority shares in an overseas bank for ease of money laundering of stolen state funds overseas. If PO continues we are definitely headed further into this path. http://www.makaangola.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/PresidencyCorruption.pdf

*Trafigura monopoly of oil in Angola & Angola Govt/General Dino 15% shareholding. Includes DT Group & Pumangol company corrupt trading information in Angola.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/02/12/the_750_million_dollar_man_trafigura_angola_general_dino
http://allafrica.com/stories/201301070616.html?fb_action_ids=10203642134608224&fb_action_types=og.shares&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
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RACISM RIFE IN BMOBILE-VODAFONE VENTURE

September 10, 2014, 6:05 pm
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By PNGBLOGS CONTRIBUTOR NETWORK

Bmobile Limited under the management of Sundar Ramamurthy since mid-last year has had no constructive plans, since he was employed, towards the company and is further accused of continuous threats levelled at national staff. His approach of continuous negative attacks on the staff as “bunch of thieves and liars” has had a huge impact on the moral of the national staff. Latest name calling and branding of the national staff “as the lowest of the lowest” by Sundar Ramamurthy‘s Group Security & Facilities Manager David Pidik has now stirred up the racist and discrimination felt by national staff. How can anyone perform to their best of their ability when constantly reminded they’re “useless bunch of Papua New Guineans” and due to that most experience staff had resigned to find alternative avenues?

Bmobile Limited is a small SOE company with the workforce of less than 100 staff in total inclusive of expats/consultants with a Group CEO and two CEO’S Bmobile PNG and Bmobile Solomon Island. Most of these expats/consultants were employed through Sundar Ramamurthy and positions were created to cater for their needs (who you know basis) which some have had neither experience, knowledge nor the qualification to hold such positions.

To date, these numbers of expats/consultants have increased. Currently, there is a brother, sister both on management positions with nil experiences; husband and wife team, HR Advisor and IT Project Manager, Sales Managers x 2 and Network Projects Manager both on fly in/fly out basis and most residing at Holiday Inn with almost K20, 000.00 each on rentals per month. The brother, sister, husband and wife plus one Sales Manager are paid in AUD currency and are national consultants.

The office manageress is paid approximately K3800.00 per week. To date, the office manageress has a cleaning company called “Tricky Worx” a local registered company (Title: Manager) which is a broad day light robbery of double dipping.

A total rip off which expenses as such should be utilized in the network operations of Bmobile Limited. From late last year and within this year, mass redundancies exercises took place and majority of the old staff were affected in the sense, notices were serviced on the staff at 17.00 hours. This was a total inhuman exercise as the staffs were never informed in advance to search for alternative source of income to support their families.

The consideration of the affected staffs wellbeing and livelihood was never taken into account of what the outcomes would be. Can a (HR) Human Resource Advisor (on consultancy basis) have the power to hire and fire as well as sign on the dotted line to enforce the redundancy letter? NO as this is a breach of code within our Labor & Industrial Act. This exercise affected the closure of Madang office, Goroka office; with Mount Hagen office and Lae office both having skeleton staffs. Bmobile retail shops previously handled by the Bmobile staff were removed and outsourced to a company known as JWK Technology - aka Cool Stuff. This company is and was only known to Sundar Ramamurthy which overnight was treated like employees of Bmobile.

The Cool Stuff employees were given almost the same benefits as their transportation drop off were been paid for by Bmobile. Most contract work to date are given to foreign companies whereas the local contractors are been denied in building and construction of towers etc. Does Sundar Ramamurthy benefit from these foreign companies is a question to be asked?

The National staffs to date have had no privileges except the K100.00 credit top-up on monthly basis and due to unforeseen reason; the removal of that privilege became effective in September 2014. How can a mobile company operate in terms of communicating within and the outside of their workforce in relation to work related issue be successful? There is no overtime allowed, yet the staff are expected to attend to call out issues, there is no safety equipment’s for the Technical team, there is no risk allowances for both the Technical and Security Teams, no medical insurance cover (only up to recently, the introduction was given for staff contribution of K10.00 per fortnightly), calls/text messages on mobiles are monitored as well as emails etc. Breach of Privacy Act, yes!!!

The senior National Staffs especially in the Technical Division have been overlooked in terms of vehicle allocation as all vehicle fleets are assigned to expat/consultants only on a 24hour basis - again a sign of racist and discrimination towards the senior national staffs. Since the partnership of Vodafone was announced, the launching was attended by the expats/consultants of who you know which left out the majority of the national staffs in disappointment and in dismay. Bmobile started its trend of redundancies again recently to save face on the expenses incurred by Sundar Ramamurthy and his management team; which Sundar Ramamurthy has now forced the national staff to bring in as much revenue (targets given) and threatened that failure to do so will warrant immediate termination of staff/team. Bmobile Vodafone is now seen as the new Data Net Company as all new recruits are either ex Data Net employees or ex Digicel employees, all connected to Sundar Ramamurthy and his expats/ consultants and internally, that’s what it seems.

The Minister for State Enterprise and the Labour Department must look into the affairs of Bmobile in terms of complete restructure of the company from the Management down to the respective HOD’s , reviews of salaries of expats/consultants, and decided whether it’s necessary to keep the expats/consultants or give the opportunity to the national staffs.

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Esa’ala in a Mess! Steven Davis' multiple role as MP, LLG President and Councillor ruining electorate

September 11, 2014, 2:32 pm
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By ESA'ALA ADVOCATE

In July of 2012 when Davis Steven was elected as Member for Esa’ala Open, the people were relieved that Hon. Moses Maladina’s reign had come to an end because nothing much was achieved during his 10 year reign as MP. But the feeling of relief and optimism soon disappeared as Davies started stamping his authority as MP.

In his first JDP&BPC meeting as Chairman, the MP sent out a message of what is to follow in the next five years by allocating K500, 000.00 from the DSIP funds to a member of his inner circle for the completion of a boat, M.V. Hideaway II. It was a message to the people of Esa’ala by the MP that he will only support those that supported him in the election

The MP also appointed “political coordinators” of wards and zones when he clearly campaigned against it during the elections. These so called coordinators have become more powerful than ward councillors who are mandated leaders by the people. All development agendas are channelled through these coordinators instead of following established structures. This was exemplified last year when the ward councillor for Gomwa Ward, Mr. L. Narara wrote to the MP for clarification on how projects are awarded and why political coordinators oversee these projects.

This was in light of the fact that the Gomwa people constructed the Salamo wharf at the cost of K200, 000 and were owed K20, 000 but the money was under the control of the MP’s political coordinator and not the Gomwa Ward Development Committee. The MP responded by calling a meeting at Gomwa and scolded the Ward Councillor in front of his people that he had not right to question him. The MP said that it was his prerogative and that he will do things as he sees fit. This particular incident brought to light who Davies Steven really is. His arrogance and immaturity were clearly demonstrated.

He also ‘sponsored’ drop outs from West Fergusson (where he comes from) to study at Gaulim Teachers College and other institutions around the country. These were people who had flunked and were living in the village and suddenly they were ‘sponsored’. All these ‘students’ that were sponsored by the Esa’ala MP (not from his own money but through DSIP) had one thing in common, they were the MP’s supporters. Students that were already in universities and other tertiary institutions but had known political affiliations with other candidates during the 2012 elections, were NEVER considered.

A few weeks ago, violence and lawlessness gripped Esa’ala as a direct result of the MP’s arrogant and immature leadership. The MP engaged a local consultancy firm called Salu Agro Consultants to manage all of Esa’ala’s Economic Development Programs. The arrangement was such that the Managing Director (MD) of the consultancy firm was also sitting in JDP&BPC meetings. The MD of the consultancy firm became so powerful that projects were determined by a Yes or No from him. This caused resentment among public servants who felt that their roles were hijacked from them. And they were right because the MP was performing his role as an MP, LLG President & Councillor all at the same time, so everyone merely became spectators as he ran a “one man show”. As a result, public servants at Esa’ala engaged the MP’s own armed ‘criminals’ who hijacked a dinghy belonging to the MD of the consultancy firm in broad daylight and sank it, this was on a Saturday. They were witnesses who identified certain suspects involved in the incident and informed the MD.

The next on Sunday evening, the MD’s people from Galubwa mobilised themselves and went to Gomwa village to effect a citizen’s arrest of one of the suspects whose dinghy was used in the previous day’s hijacking. The suspect is an avid supporter of the MP. When they arrived at the suspect’s house, they beat him to an inch of his life, destroyed his house, and burnt his fuel depot which had 15x200Ltr drums of Zoom. In retaliation, the suspect’s gang members armed themselves and were publicly roaming Salamo Station looking for people that were involved in effecting a citizen’s arrest of their comrade. They even shot at the PMV that had transported the Galubwa community to do a citizen’s arrest when the driver of the PMV didn’t stop after attempts by the criminals to stop it.

So here we have a case where the MP’s supporters are fighting amongst themselves because the MP chose one group over the other. This is a result of arrogant & immature leadership.
The expectations of the people of Esa’ala from the MP will not be realised considering the indicators so far. I now call on the people of Esa’ala to elect a leader that will guide Esa’ala away from all these mess come 2017 National Elections!

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PNGSDP not drawing down on Long Term Fund

September 14, 2014, 11:05 am
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PRESS STATEMENT


The chairman of PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd, Sir Mekere Morauta, said today that allegations by the Prime Minister that the company was drawing down on the Long Term Fund were false.
“There is today slightly more than $US1.3 billion in the Long Term Fund,” he said. “That amount will be available to future generations of the people of Western Province.

“The Long Term Fund, which is invested around the world in low-risk investments, is safe and secure. It was set up so that the people of Western Province would have a source of sustainable development funding for future generations, and that is the way it will stay.”

The investments in the Long Term Fund generate returns, which are providing income to PNGSDP to pay for its operational expenses. This is expressly permitted under rule 9.3(a) of the company's Program Rules.
“Using the income is different from using the capital of the Long Term Fund,” Sir Mekere said.
“PNGSDP has never withdrawn capital from the Long Term Fund to pay for operational expenditure.
“That is not permitted under the company’s Program Rules. PNGSDP has always operated in accordance with its Program Rules and will continue to do so.”

None of the investments in the Long Term Fund, including income-producing investments such as stocks and bonds, are being sold for the purpose of funding operating expenses.

They remain in the Long Term Fund where they continue to be managed by professional fund managers.
The company used to pay for its operating expenses from the dividends that it received from its shares in Ok Tedi. But in September last year the Prime Minister unlawfully expropriated PNGSDP’s 63.4 percent shareholding in Ok Tedi, and Ok Tedi has not paid a dividend to the company since November 2012.
PNGSDP had relied on the distribution of OTML dividends (which has now ceased) for operating expenses - and for the funding of Western Province projects.
The company needs funding to continue operating and to fight the legal cases necessary to prevent the Prime Minister from getting his hands on the Long Term Fund, and to win the return of the company's shares in Ok Tedi.

Therefore PNGSDP is now using investment income, as expressly permitted under Rule 9.3(a).
 “It is seeking to ensure that the Long Term Fund does not fall into the wrong hands, leaving the people of Western Province with nothing,” Sir Mekere said.

“It is seeking the return of its shareholding in Ok Tedi so future dividends can be used to resume development project spending in Western Province.

“The stream of misinformation, half-truths and spin from the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General demonstrates the increasing desperation of the State. PNGSDP is confident that it will win its court cases.
“The only effect of the Prime Minister’s unlawful expropriation of PNGSDP has been to harm the people of Western province by causing development projects to cease.

“The State should be working for Western Province, with PNGSDP, rather than against both of us.”

Mekere Morauta
Chairman
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Prime Sinister and Grandest Thief Paul Paraka Continue Strategy of Judicial Delay and Postponement.

September 14, 2014, 12:27 pm
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By NATHAN MARABE

The strategy worked for our Prime Sinister back in 2001.  He hopes to get off on the current criminal and leadership charges by using the simple but effective DDD strategy:    Delay, delay, delay.    The value of delay is clear with any case put forth by the ombudsman.  

O’Steal liked what he saw in the case of Arthur Somare, who delayed his Leadership Tribunal literally for years.   The Prime Sinister plans to so the same if it appears likely that he’ll be found guilty.  The strategy is actually a 2 step one.  First, cause DDD to the Tribunal, moving the process as close to 2017 election as possible.   Second step is to resign just before the Leadership Tribunal gives their decision, if it looks like the Tribunal will find him guilty. 

Once he resigns the Leadership Tribunal must close down, it cannot give a verdict.  That leaves Peter O’Steal free to campaign for the next election, telling the people of Pangia that he has big political enemies in PNG who hate the people, the people need to put him back into office to fight evil, etc.   Har har har har har!! But the simple people of Pangia are likely to believe O’Steal so the plan will work. 

 Of course before resigning O’Steal will hand the reins of power over to a very trusted PNC deputy to complete planning on how to buy the 2017 election.  Whether another deceitful “supplementary budget” can be pushed through is  not certain.  Anyway O’Steal never runs out of ideas and he never gives up if you haven’t noticed that already.  

Winning again and presumably coming to power again, the Prime Sinister’s opponents could push for re-establishment of a Tribunal but will likely be too discouraged and worn out by then.   Time has always worked in O’Steal’s favour.    If you been wondering why such a straightforward piece of legal work as the ombudsman’s current case would take so many weeks just to get past Public Prosecutor Kaluwin, remember this case about O’Steal and the UBS Loan is not about rocket science.  There is no major legal complexity to the matter, it is straight forward.  The delays are intentional.  Strike it up to the DDD game.   Even now there is no formal word that the Public Prosecutor has brought O’Steal’s case before the Supreme Court Chief Justice. 

 Understand that it is not illegal at all for a good friend of O’Steal (might that have been Powes Parkop?) to convince someone to “give the Prime Sinister a break, sit on the case for a few months, please”).   Relieved that he’s not going to be threatened or bribed, the person approached in the judicial process gives a sigh of relief and willingly grants the request for DDD, convincing themselves that they have done nothing wrong by granting this small favour.  Wrong.  It is morally wrong to grant these delays. 

Meanwhile on the criminal case front, the Prime Sinister’s strategy is also DDD but with different aim.   Our aspiring dictator knows the longer he delays things, the more the media and the people of PNG lose interest in the case, or forget about it completey.  The same happened with the NPF trial.  Once the case is no longer has peoples attention, O’Steal will move in for the kill.   As always, he’ll use middlemen to shop the police Department, public prosecutor and magistrate too, to see who might be willing to make a deal to throw the case.  Thats how he got off on the NPF trial – the very clear paper trail of evidence against him suddenly was called “insufficient evidence” by the judge and thrown out, case dismissed!    

O’Steal is hoping to get off the hook in his criminal case the same way.   Disappearing public interest helps O’Steal.   Already everyone has forgotten about the mandatory requirement that he be arrested and questioned before being charged.  Yawn, yawn, fading public memories.    As long as O’Steal controls the Police Minister, each day will pile upon past ones, fading memories and motivation and improving prospects that the Prime Sinister will win this battle too.  Expect a trial nearly 3 years from now if O’Steal has his way. 

Turning to the Paraka case, the days of secret sharp talk and fist fights between O’Steal and Paraka are long over.  They realise that staying out of prison depend upon their close cooperation.   Note that although the Judge who released Paraka was arrested then released on bail, Paraka himself remains free as a bird and hasn’t paid a single toea bail money.   No judge right now is willing to bring up the subject because most are too scared they don’t want to deal with this case.  Grandest Thief Paraka’s court case is proceeding faster than O’Steals, but also with the intent of using DDD.   Both O’Steal and Paraka have more than enough money to pay attractive bribes and it only takes one bad pawpaw in the group required to prosecute a case to destroy it.   

These 2 criminals are convinced that they are smarter than the people of PNG.  They have little fear that they will ever spend serious time in prison, O’Steal has said as much in private.   Do your part to make sure their cases do not slip too deep into the bottom of people’s memories.   Help put the O’Steal and Paraka cases into the public attention now and again as needed so they remain an issue.   The Prime Sinister has pressured top guns in the media to not mention the cases except when there is no alternative.   For the sake of God and the People of Papua New Guinea, Justice Must Rule Against Grandest Thief Paraka and Prime Sinister Peter O’Steal so do your part to keep the cases publicised
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PNG’s Master of Deception Unveils New Giaman Promises to Save PNG’s universities. Academics, don’t expect your single structure pay raise until at least 2018!

September 14, 2014, 12:38 pm
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By OHE Insider

Those who stay silent about the critical issues facing our country must understand that you are a big reason for the mess we’re in.   When we don’t speak out in this country in a way that captures the government’s attention, our government does nothing.    But when we make loud, persistent, even obnoxious noises that annoy some of you silent ones out there, guess what?  Government responds.

Peter O’Neill finally responded to months of clamor in the social media about the pathetic state of PNG’s universities with a media release that was published in last Thursday and Friday’s newspapers.   At long last he came forward to address the laughingstock state of our PNG public universities (UNRE in Vudal being world ranked almost as low as you can go on the Webometrics scale).  

We were bound to be disappointed with the PM’s response.   All he proved was that he truly is the Master of Deception.  He wants the people of PNG to think that he’s doing something to straighten out higher education in PNG, when actually he will ensure that current students come out of the system even dumber than the last group of graduates. 

Of course, most of us working in higher education have known for a long time that O’Neill isn’t serious about higher education.  He makes schooling his top priority, not education.  Thus he believes that our young people automatically, passively become educated if forced to be in school X hours per week, whether or not there are any textbooks or workbooks available, whether or not their teachers have the knowledge themselves to teach with authority, and whether or not there’s even a teacher.  

Twenty five students in the classroom or fifty, it doesn’t matter to Peter O’Neill.   Also, he reflects back to his own schooling and status as a multimillionaire.  He reckons that if he can do it, so can anyone else who received a pathetic education in PNG’s universities.  What O’Neill doesn’t take into account is that he succeeded because he self educated himself in the informal School Of Trickery, Lies and Con Games.    Even for Peter O’Neill, success came from having obtained a very good education.  He only neglects to see what kind of education he got and from where it came.     

Only last month did our PM finally seemed to understand the importance of high quality university education when he appointed Malakai Tabar, a man with great credentials, to be HERST Minister.   O’Neill then destroyed that good deed by further announcing and pushing forward his pet Western Pacific University project to be built at the old Ialibu airstrip, SHP.   K80 million was allocated in the 2014 budget to start this university to nowhere, with much more likely for 2015.  O’Neill is relying heavily on Chinese grants to build his university.  Maybe that is why he has taken to wear those unique Chinese dress suits that people are talking about?

Recently, we saw arguments published in letters to the newspapers claiming that the university wasn’t going to be in Pangia electorate actually, and that all proper procedures had been followed, which led to the selection of that site for PNG’s newest university.
 
Bullshit!   It was only last year that HERST was talking about privatising PNG’s universities and now we have a new public one!   The fact is that there was no proper procedure that took place within OHE to select this so called Western Pacific University.  It is a political vote buying scam, full stop.  What is the logical sense in creating a new institution before first solving the giant problems being faced by existing ones?    This year’s K80 million could have done wonders to help UPNG and nearly doubled its budget.  What is to show right now for the K80 million, even in Ialibu?

Let’s not limit ourselves to universities if we want to talk about better uses for K80 million than a university in Ialibu.  Some of the lesser colleges, including the old agricultural ones in Popondetta and Maprik, under the management of UNRE, are beyond belief.   You would not judge them as anything more than deplorably rundown vocational high schools.  They look like they belong in Somalia and make UNRE look like ANU by comparison!   Why is it that a nation of under 2 million population was able to support all these institutions with only a couple mines to bring in revenue, and today’s PNG with over 8 million and a heap of resource development projects can’t do it?

O’Neill (and now Minister Tabar) seem unconcerned about these institutions as they join in unison to promote the new university to nowhere.    If anyone thought Malakar Tabar would speak out against pure idiocy, you now have the straight evidence.   Tabar has fallen under the influence of “Devious David” Kavanamur, the fellow who worked behind the scenes to pick puppet Albert Mellam to be UPNG Vice Chancellor over the better qualified foreign candidate recommended by the screening committee.   All told, Tabar is showing himself to be a timid personality, now under the influence of general wantok Kavanamur.  Tabar will be used as O’Neill’s puppet to disguise the continuing decline of PNG’s public universities.  

In his media release, the PM made several specific deceptions.  First, he states that the UPNG external audit findings “are a wake-up call.”   Bullshit, bullshit!    Even moron have noticed that UPNG has been declining for decades.   The 2010 Namaliu and Garnaut report on the sad state of PNG’s universities states things crystal clear. 

Why is Peter O’Neill only now waking up to all this, when he even graduated from UPNG?    Does the PM’s feigned ignorance about the state of PNG’s universities indicate that he’s still in a childish snit that respected economist Ross Garnaut, co-author of the report, dared oppose O’Neill’s devious raid on Ok Tedi when Garnaut was serving as CEO of the PNG Sustainable Development Programme (Ok Tedi’s profit spender)?   Come on, Mr PM, you got your way.  You banned Garnaut from coming back to PNG.  Stop carrying a grudge and read the Namaliu-Garnaut report.  It’s filled with undeniable facts, and should have woken you up to the state of PNG’s universities years ago!   You obviously never noticed all the times you have visited UPNG. 

O’Neill lies outright when he says that what was found at UPNG might be true in other state owned universities.  There is no “might be” about it!  Stop covering up the fact that external audits have already been carried out at the other universities and the results of some of them are already known.   The overall situation is appalling. 

The PM goes on to say that “We [the government] must intervene otherwise the nation will face serious consequences in the future.”

Bullshit again!    We all saw the results of 39 years of decline in our PNG universities during the construction phase of the LNG project.   Thousands of workers from Fiji, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India were imported for all kinds of jobs needed by LNG because our university and technical college graduates didn’t make the mark.   The government cannot squirm out of this by saying that we don’t have enough qualified graduates.  Of course that is true but it ignores the equally important fact that there were plenty of UPNG, Unitech, UOG and UNRE graduates walking the streets during the LNG construction phase who applied for but did not get jobs with LNG.  They didn’t get jobs because their academic and applied experience qualifications were so poor.   That begs the question, why then were they allowed to graduate in the first place from UPNG and Unitech? 

In his media release, the Prime Minister outlined a series of measures to improve things, like bringing in expats to teach while sending out nationals overseas to upgrade their qualifications.  Great ideas, all of which cost a great deal of money. 

But guess what?   Peter O’Neill forgot to mention money and he forgot to mention any upgrade in university facilities to better serve the learning needs of the students!   The reason is that he has no intention to give PNG’s universities the massive hike in revenue that they need to stop their decline.   The PM already has sent word to all universities to take in thousands additional students fresh out of high school for 2016.   At the same time he has promised increases in their revenue for 2016 that will barely cover inflation.   Is this man blind or merely stupid?   Our universities are filled beyond capacity already.  What does he propose to do, put the students in army tents?    Where is the money for new dormitories, PM?  Where is the money for the additional teachers needed and the learning materials they require to get a good education? 

Peter O’Neill has told us indirectly that 2016 will be a year of further decline in PNG’s universities.

O’Neill ended this latest attempt to deceive the people of PNG by pulling two last tricks out of his hat.  First he said that the dual salary policy used by universities would be reviewed.    Fellow citizens, maybe the PM won’t tell you but I will:   that review took place last year!   Now it is time for developing specific policy for implementation.  But implementing a single salary policy will cost a lot of money and Peter O’Neill has spent so much money on DSIP stupidity that there is nothing left for the universities.   Better funding for PNG’s universities isn’t as effective at buying votes as putting the money into buying district pigs for DSIP mumus.    Don’t expect the PM to move very fast on ensuring that dedicated and competent national faculty receive the same salaries as similarly qualified expatriates.   Accept that you’ll have to live on your present salary for a few more years. 

O’Neill’s last trick was to instruct HERST Minister Taba to have a policy initiative ready by November for the NEC to consider.  That’s excellent timing for O’Neill, as it comes after the 2016 budget is finalised and passed.   

It is clear that things will be worse in 2016 for PNG’s universities.   Expect the PM to shove more students down their throats when they can barely handle the ones they’ve got.   There will be no pay raises for the best national academics until probably 2018 at the earliest the way O’Neill has arranged the timetable. 

Peter O’Neill has few real convictions to guide his life but there are a few.   First, he seems absolutely convinced that a good education comes by throwing students into classrooms for the required number of hours per semester, until it is time to award degrees.   No further investment needed! 

He also is convinced that it is perfectly acceptable for him to lie to the people of Papua New Guinea.
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Foreign Dominance in PNG: Will We Profit From the Global Economy Or Be Impoverished By It?

September 14, 2014, 12:47 pm
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By TECHE  JACOB


It was amazing to see hundreds of people on PNG Blogs Facebook page give their thumbs up to the recent article about Bemobile CEO Ramamurthy.  More people than ever seem angry at how people from other cultures treat us.   Foreign investors are dictating ‘take it or leave it’ terms to our government and basically calling the shots.  Yet we happily reap benefits from the growing Asian invasion.   Let me ask you, what is most important:   Our sovereignty and self respect, or the greater material benefits we get by having foreigners and foreign investment dominate us?   

The Clash Between Land-less Versus Land Rich Societies

The article about BeMobile’s new CEO and allegations of racism didn’t get to the root issues, which is the reason for these kinds of clashes.   They occur between 2 very different societies:

In the Type 1 society, the average person has access to much wealth (promoted by personal access to land and resources).  They have more personal freedom in many respects, including being lax about time and schedules.  A strong social network (we call it wantok system) provides underlying support for nearly everyone.  

In contrast, Type 2 society people are nearly all land-less (i.e. a landlord or bank owns the house and land where they live), or they barely own enough land to satisfy their basic needs.  The average person works long hours, sometimes as near slaves because time is money in their workplaces and often there is no longer much social network.  One doesn’t dare leave even a very bad job because how do they live without money?  No wantoks to rely on so they’ll be kicked out of their house soon enough and where to?  Living in the streets! 

This kind of environment promotes thinking mostly of personal survival.  Growing up in a land and resource access stressed environment creates a lifelong anxiety.   In Type 1 societies, where land is life, stress caused by family problems exists, of course.  But this doesn’t modify a person’s soul as intensely as  experiencing life long stress caused by insufficient access to land and resources.  Land is not life for these people, money is life.  The life long stress of knowing that land and wantoks can’t save you, only your personal ability to earn money, pressures people to become competitive and quietly aggressive at an early age. 

Overall, Melanesian society fits into the first category because even the most land stressed highlander usually has much better access to resources than the average Chinese or Indian.   However, our people do divide into regional “typical personalities” based on the population density where they grew up.  Thus, our most competitive PNGs come from densely populated highland valleys and high density population pockets in our lowlands and islands.  Since independence, people from these areas have outperformed those who grew up in low density population areas. In other words, Tolais anger the Bainings by their stronger competitiveness and highlanders generally anger lowlanders as they invade and take over local land and economies.  It’s no different than the situations that make us all angry at land-less foreigners. 

It is always people from relatively land-less societies who invade land rich ones, not the other way around.  History tells us that the land and resource rich society always loses in the end and becomes  more impoverished.    When a country of 8 million people, most of who (THANK GOD!) still have title to land and resources are forced to compete against hoards of competitive people arriving from giant societies where landlessness is normal, its a lost cause for the land rich.  Of course we will have successes here and there in keeping these invading land-less peoples under control or even pushing them back from taking our wealth but the overall trend is against us.  
  

Globalisation Is Intensifying the Conflict Between Land Rich and Land-Less

For PNG, globalisation started with the first Chinese families to set up trade stores on the PNG islands.  Life was far from ok where they came from.  Landlessness, famine, ruthless leaders and war  were driving people out of China.  Those staying behind learnt to cope and became tougher.  Those who escaped to greener pastures like New Britain retained their competitiveness and money management strictness.  They passed these traits to their children long after they left the stressed places where this competitiveness first developed.

Globalisation Is Driven By People From Land-Less Societies

When Chinese land-less came in conflict with land rich kanakas in PNG, conflict occurred.  But the Chinese were relatively few and as they married into our clans, cultural strains lessened. Today’s globalisation is worsening conflicts between land rich and land-less groups.  It’s easier than ever for land-less, competitive, quietly aggressive people to pick up and move to places where there the people never experienced any environment that could developed strong competitiveness.     Thus we have highlanders being burnt out of their block homes in Lae and many Chinese shops burnt in Solomons only a few years back. 

Asians began swarming into PNG in the late 1980’s the moment Prime Minister Paias Wingti declared his Look North policy and Deputy PM Julius Chan clapped his hands in the background.  Never before had two more greedy men paired up to led PNG.  Wingti and Chan reckoned they could take advantage of the Asian invasion and get richer yet.   Their misguided, personally selfish Look North policy might ultimately impoverish the majority of Papua New Guineans but that didn’t concern them.

Papua New Guineans  Benefiting off the Invasion of Land-less People

Visit the bars of Moresby’s high class hotels and you’ll see Asians and nationals huddling together over drinks, planning the next scheme to grab land or resources of other Papua New Guineans.   Our biggest enemy are the traitors amongst us. They have no conscience that the kina they grab might come from resources and lands of people who have nothing in terms of government service.  

Papua New Guinean traitors work hand in hand with Asians especially to impoverish the least competitive people in our country, those from remote rural areas.   However, the rest of us are hardly blameless in encouraging the Asian invasion.  We enjoy looking at the growing numbers of foreign owned office buildings in Moresby and scramble to buy cheap noodles whose ingredients we can’t read because they’re written in Chinese.   Whatever CEO Ramamurthy might do at Bemobile, we’ll still love it if Bemobile’s competition makes Digicel lower its prices, even though our hard earned kina will still go into the pockets of Digicel’s billionaire Irish owner.   Asian tucker shops open 24/7 we count as a blessing to cover up our laziness at planning ahead to buy what we need during normal business hours when national-owned shops are open and we could be patronising them instead.

Overall, we focus on short term benefits that feed our individual greed and make excuses for all of it.    It seems to be of little interest or maybe there is widespread ignorance on how the invasion of land-less hordes of people will eventually impact our national wealth or development.  

Bemobile CEO Sundar Ramamurthy Is An Example Of Growing Conflict

Regardless of whether Mr Ramamurthy is guilty of racism as charged, the incidents described take place with other foreigners all over PNG.   The interaction of land-less invaders with a much more complacent, resource rich society creates tension that makes conflict between the 2 cultural types inevitable. 

Mr Ramamurthy’s main curse is not that he’s a recent foreign arrival, but that he has a personality typical of people from land-less, resource stressed cultures.    Most foreigners are much more mercenary than Mr Ramamurthy.  They don’t intend to contribute one toea more to PNG’s development than they’re forced to.  They’ll evade PNG taxes to the fullest, build the cheapest buildings possible, ship their earnings back to the home country every fortnight, and eventually retire in luxury back to their homeland, surrounded by envious people.   

Only 4 Options To Stop the Ultimate Impoverishment of PNG?

The early Chinese moving to set up trade stores in PNG kept their tight money culture within them for generations in the more stress free environment before it started fading away and the same is true for us.  It easily will be 50 years or more before there are enough Papua New Guineans born in the city who have lost wantok system and become landless long enough to be forced to become sufficiently competitive to stand up as a group to the invading people from land-less societies.  In other words, land-less people will continue beating us most of the time for at least 2 more generations.   Through SABL arrangements, they’ve grabbed land rights over more than 10% of PNG’s land for 4 more generations (99 years).  What will be left by the time we’re ready 50 years from now to compete effectively to retain our wealth?  Our best land will be taken and remaining resources mostly owned by foreigners.   PNG will have a few rich nationals and an ocean of poor, all controlled in some fashion by foreigners.   They will have won most battles, then won the war.

I see only 4 OPTIONS to escape the fate of permanent national impoverishment caused by the invasion of people from land-less societies:

OPTION 1 is to slam the doors in their faces and even burn them out, until which time as we can compete effectively against them.  That requires that we do without the foreign investment that spills the quick money 10t coins into our hands in the form of new goods and services available mostly to urbanites.   Unfortunately  we won’t pursue this option any more than Adam stopped eating forbidden apples.  Thanks to politicians who never showed visionary leadership, we’re now permanently addicted and getting worse.  Our addiction passes on to our children as they watch foreign owned EMTV and all the cable foreign channels beaming endless advertisements from foreign owned companies urging Papua New Guineans to buy more products so that our money goes more into their hands.

OPTION 2 would be a massive national educational effort, both formal and informal, to give our society the overall knowledge and the skill to rigorously compete against aggressive foreigners and gain more wealth instead of losing it.  A big reason why we have so many foreigners working here now is because the company can find more productive, skilled and knowledgeable foreigners to do the job, sometimes for the same pay, as any interested national.    A PNG crash course in education, similar to the crash programme to develop undertaken by Malaysia and Singapore during the 1970’s might work.   Will it happen?  Unlikely.  Our leaders consider it higher priority to use money to buy votes than buy books.  Thirty years of government neglect of our PNG unis until they became certified as amongst the worse in the world proves that we’re content to have Pretend Education.  We cover up the severe educational deficiencies of the vast majority of people by pointing to those few exceptional Papua New Guineans who do successfully compete against foreigners on the foreigners’ terms, often because they schooled overseas. 

OPTION 3 is to establish a national policy to start bossing foreigners working in PNG instead of them bossing us.  We should welcome land-less foreigners but put them to work either cleaning our toilets and doing hard labour in the gardens, or attract PHD level types to teach our younger  generation until they become indoctrinated with a more competitive spirit like the land-less automatically possess.  But this could only happen with political will and high level leadership.  Unfortunately, our leaders have already sunk to the state where they’ll get into bed with any foreigner who they can do personal business with.

OPTION 4 doesn’t prevent the tragic fate of national impoverishment.  Instead, the idea is to let some Papua New Guineans prosper despite the overall trend of people getting poorer in PNG.   This can be accomplished by abandoning Christianity as a guide for life and embracing personal greed like Wingti and Chan.  It means pushing aside fellow Papua New Guineans as necessary to create a strong shield for ourselves and our families.  It means forgetting about wantoks and social responsibilities.  That’s what so many politicians and even national businessmen do already.   They’ve decimated PNG without suffering personal consequences.  They did this by saving up enough money to buy a house in Australia to bring the family to and retire in.   This worked for Wingi, Chan, Morauta, and the entire Somare family, so why not for others?   Option 4 can also work for those who don’t try to compete against the land-less invaders, but instead feed off the scraps left behind but save them carefully. 

While pursuing Option 4 obviously involves abandoning a genuine Christian life, that can be hidden by letting everyone see you go to church, contribute to the pastor’s upkeep, and frequently and frequently, loudly proclaim the name of Jesus Christ when people are around.   This kind of Pretend Christianity works as well as Pretend Education in fooling most people in PNG.   

What will you teach and how will you guide your children to withstand the growing effects of the invasion of land-less peoples into PNG?    We cannot escape it so what is your preparation?

I can only see 4 options open to us.  Option 4 seems most popular right now.   Any other ideas?
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Advantages and disadvantages of privatisation in PNG and the PNG Power controversy

September 14, 2014, 1:01 pm
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By A Bush Economist

This is the story of privatisation of public enterprises. 
Privatisation first reared its head in PNG with the demise of the government owned Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation.  Its landmark Port Moresby headquarters still shows the PNG traditional art forms and icons that around the time of independence we proudly displayed as evidence of our unique culture, but nowdays allow elected fools such as Theo Zureonuc and Loujaya Kousa label as satanic.   PNGBC was the bank of the people with the goal of service, not profit.   

We now have BSP in its place.  BSP is majority owned by private shareholders and its profit since 2012 has grown at rates of 10-25% each year, leading to the 2013 result of nearly K437 million.   That’s not income, it is profit and a hell of a lot of money by PNG standards.    Divided up amongst every single person living in PNG, from baby up to papa na mama, each one would have received K62 for 2013. 

BSP has what it proudly states to be over one million account holders in PNG.  To help earn its fat profit, BSP knifes us with service fees for every little thing.  In other countries, using an ATM usually costs nothing, whether you are making a payment or withdrawing cash.  The reason is that automated transactions save the bank a huge amount of money compared to if the banks have to handle hard cash and manual withdrawals from bank windows (which also cost nothing in banks in many countries, including Australia).  

In PNG, BSP happily charges us for every move we make in banking.   We’re screwed out of our money, rarely less than K1.50 at a time, no matter how much the bank saves through these features.  Not even people in the wealthy developed countries are treated by their banks the way BSP treats us.  All banks would love to make these charges but the governments in other countries prohibit it. 

BSP makes so much money in such a small economy that it has been saluted internationally.   In “The Banker” 2012 list of Top 1000 banks in the world, it was rated #4 in Profit on Average Capital, and #3 in Top 5 returns on capital in the Asia Pacific region.

The problem is these profits come out of the pockets of hardworking, often grassroots people in PNG, the Solomons and Fiji.   Yes, it is true that the major PNG superannuation funds have big investments in BSP.   But the profits from superannuation payouts only benefit workers.  What percent of the working force in PNG is actually employed?  In 2014 it is less than 20%.   And what percent of that 20% has a job that pays enough to be making more than minimum wage and actually being able to benefit from superannuation funds?   I can’t give you that figure, but I would believe that it is low.  

Also, before BSP took over PNGBC, private citizens could purchase shares in the business.   Back then, the price of investment would have been quite low since BSP in 1995 was an unknown tiny bank.   The prospect was that an investment then could make a fortune once the bank became large.  Naturally, only those in the know and having the money would have done so.  

Supposedly, former PM Mekere Morauta was one of the big early investors, but as he was serving the government all during this time in important banking or political positions, including that of Prime Minister when PNGBC was privatised, would this not represent unethical conflicts of interest?   Our politicians engage in conflict of interest business dealings all the time and think nothing of it even though it is clearly unethical to use the public time and privileged knowledge to make money from that benefits the individual.  

Investing in government organisations taken private has become an ideal way in PNG to launder corruptly obtained money into respectable investments.    Ministerial and MP tongues are hanging in anticipation at the proposed privatisation of 51% of Air Niugini and PNG Power.   Obviously, nearly all MPs who can come up with substantial monies to invest did not come by that money ethically or perhaps even legally.  It is simply not possible to make so much money so fast if you are earning it honestly and ethically. 

Government always argues that services will improve under privatisation.  When PNGBC was privatised into BSP there was no improvement, only longer lines and more fees.   BSP didn’t even move into rural areas like it originally promised.   Today it is doing so, but probably PNGBC would be doing the same if it were still here, because increasing rural populations make the provision of rural service a better investment.  

BSP’s original and false promise to move into rural areas did not make sense from the start as something a private business would do.   Profits lie in serving city people, not scattered rural people.  It doesn’t matter what service you’re talking about.  When people are scattered out over a big area in small communities it costs more to bring them medicine, schools, electricity, mobile phone service, or banking, because you have to divide what is often a much more costly infrastructure in rural areas by the smaller population size.  The cost per person is much bigger, yet rural people are less able to afford the service.    That’s why rural services nearly always either decline after privatisation, are kept to the bare minimum, or rural people made to pay more than city people for the services.
The original reason why privatisation was attractive to governments around the world is that it seemed to overcome the problem of slack workers at government institutions, compared to harder working staff in the private company equivalents.  The only reason why workers are slack in government is that it is harder to sack the nonperformers.   Private companies do not operate under public service rules. They are free to hire and terminate however they want.  Job cutting can be severe, even cruel if the company justifies this as essential to protecting their profits. 

It is quite doable to change the public service code or exempt state owned enterprises from the code so that employee productivity is increased in a government department.  This is especially true in PNG, where citizens rarely protest effectively about anything the government does.   It also relatively straightforward to structure a state owned enterprise to be free from political interference.  Besides, being a private company is no guarantee against political interference.  Remember back to the early 90s battles between Sir Michael Somare and Sir Dennis Buchanan’s Talair, once the world’s largest third level carrier and operating only in PNG.  Buchanan ended up closing down the air carrier over Somare’s politicial obstructionism of Talair being able to expand its operations. 

Thus, there is really no reason to privatise a state owned enterprise or any public service, except to generate money for the private pocket.   Having a privatised institution generate higher revenue and attractive profits often does not translate into better service, especially in PNG where there is no active consumer protection.   The option always exists to reinvest profits into creating improved service, but the temptation is usually higher to take higher profits that are generated by increased efficiency and pay them out to the shareholders.   Rather than the rich helping to support the poor, it is the other way around in privatisation of government services. 

Even the change of a government service provider into a state owned enterprise ends up destroying the whole reason for government provided services, and ends up  penalising those least able to afford it.  Thus, once Air Niugini became an SOE, it more strictly imposed excess baggage charges on lower income travellers bringing rural food to their city relatives as baggage.  It made Simbu Provincial government start paying for Air Niugini providing service to Kundiawa.  Enga was forced into the same situation.  At the same time that Air Niugini was coming down hard on the poor, it started a rewards programme for frequent fliers, opened up comfortable, food stocked VIP lounges for the more affluent, and in other ways showed that the era of kindness to everyone was over.    

Telikom is another story.  A few years ago it stopped following the normal government moral responsibility of providing service to all.   It focused its wholly owned mobile phone service, Citifone, on selected urban areas alone, where profits are higher.  Not only does this show a callous disregard for the principle of fairness and equality as embodied under our PNG constitution,  it gives a green light to all private mobile phone companies to do the same as it did and abandon rural people completely.  Even Digicel, while providing service through its tower network widely to rural areas, puts the big money into providing service to city people.   Rural coverage often sucks even within the stated Digicel rural service areas.   

When government services are privatised not to foreign investors rather than to majority ownership domestic superannuation funds, far less money returns to the citizens of the country.    Essentially, such a transfer results in an overall loss of sovereignty and increase in dependency on foreigners.    The current government is undisturbed by this loss of sovereignty.    

Looking at the costs and benefits of privatisation, it is clear that PNG privatisation has mostly been an opportunity for a privileged few in PNG to invest and reap sometimes excellent financial returns by investing into newly privatised services, or investing in small companies that sometimes pop up from nowhere to swallow a large government enterprise.    Privatisation also provides a rare opportunity (the proposed 5 star casino would have been another such opportunity had it gotten off the ground) to launder large amounts of unethically or illegally obtained money into a respectable, legal investment, thus hiding the original source of the money and somewhat protecting the investor.  

Privatisation absolves the government’s moral responsibility to provide essential services both to the haves and the have nots in our society.  It frees private enterprise to either reduce services to the rural poor, eliminate the service altogether, or force rural people to pay a greater percentage of their limited income to keep the service intact. 

The main benefits that privatisation brings to citizens through reduced costs or improved services mostly goes to city dwellers.    The rural poor nearly always suffer from privatisation.

Every government starting with the Mekere Morauta administration, has supported the process of privatisation.  None see any problem with violating our constitutional mandate of fairness and equality, which itself comes from our traditional community emphasis on sharing, kindness, and distribution of wealth.  The egalitarian nature that bound our traditional values to more recent Christian ones, is now being thrown out the window in order to focus on efficiency and profits. 

I personally support the strike actions of PNG Power employees.  We must not let foreign investors take another essential government service and turn it into a profit generating machine, of which most profits will transfer overseas.   If we have to suffer power shortages as a result of strike actions, don’t blame the power workers.  Instead blame the government for its callous disregard for the general welfare and its fixation on making money for the privileged few.   

I disagree with the workers that providing electricity to the people should be allowed to convert into a profit making business.  The provision of electricity should never be based on profit.  Throughout the world, electricity has become almost as essential as health care, education, and water.   Economical electricity is the only way to encourage more people to remain in rural areas and develop the land.  

 The traditional role of government is never to make business.   The purpose of government is to protect the people and provide basic services to all by equitably sharing the revenue it generates.  Government is obligated to serve villagers as much as it serves those living in towns and cities.  Everyone should benefit from government services simply because they are citizens   Under no circumstances should poorer people be penalised.  It is morally wrong.   

In PNG, government businesses have been the gateway to widespread looting of revenues and increasing corruption.  Privatising a State Owned Enterprise to get away from this problem only creates new ones.  Once a government service provider is privatised, moral obligations to serve all citizens, even the most disadvantaged, tend to disappear.   Private companies in PNG have no legal obligation to maintain service.  They are free to make as much profit as they can, no matter how it affects the poor.

That is why privatisation has been a mistake for PNG and should be opposed by all caring people. 
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A feel good Independence story

September 15, 2014, 4:04 pm
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By SCOTT WAIDE


In 1975, Jerry Nalau, became one of the first Papua New Guineans to become  a District Commissioner  when powers were transferred  from the Australian Colonial  administration to the new Papua New Guinea government.

The  young patrol  officer  who was then already  a veteran  in the new administration became one of the few  Morobeans   sent to Kunidiawa  in the Simbu Province  as part of  the Somare’s administration to help unite the new country.

“Somare said to me: ‘I want you to go to the highlands.’ And I said: ‘Somare, I’m not the only one! What about the others?’”

By then,  Jerry Nalau had already served several years  in Bougainville and Rabaul  during  the  turbulent  but  positive  pre-independence period.

Nalau recalls that in typical Somare humor, the Chief Minister responded: “You go to the highlands because you Finchafens took the  Word of God  to the highlands calling God’s name… Anutu… Anutu…Anutu… I think if you go, they will respect you.”It was a 13 hour flight  on  a  slow DC3 that  eventually took Jerry Nalau from Bougainville  to  Minj.
     
“Back then, large planes didn’t land at Kuniawa. We landed at Minj and travelled by road to  Kundiawa.”

Now in his mid-seventies,  Sir Jerry Nalau,  former patrol officer, former Morobe premier,  says  with hint of mischief,  that Chief Minister, Michael Somare,  had told him that he could have whatever he asked for,   later,  if he agreed to take the assignment to the highlands.

So when Independence  came and the  Charles, the Prince of Wales, representing  Queen Elizabeth II, was due to arrive,  Jerry Nalau called the soon to be Prime Minister Somare.

“According to the Prince’s itinerary, he was to travel to Manus to Wewak  then onwards to Goroka. Then drive through Simbu and then rest in Mt. Hagen.”
“I called Somare and I said: ‘Somare, do you remember what you said? You sent me from Bougainville  to Simbu and you promised you would give me whatever I wanted later.”

“So I have a small request: I want Prince Charles to sleep in Kundiawa instead of going straight to Hagen.”

According to Sir Jerry,  Somare  returned his call  15 minutes later. The new Prime Minister granted his request after going through a lot of trouble. “He said later, ‘Jerry, it was a problem to me but your request is granted.’” The Prince rested in Kundiawa.
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HAPPY INDEPENDENCE PNG...

September 15, 2014, 4:06 pm
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WE ARE MANY YET ONE
39 YEARS OF BEING A FREE NATION
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Message of challenge and hope in this 39th Independence Day!

September 16, 2014, 12:55 pm
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By DR JAMES NAIPAO

Happy 39th Independence.

Man has lived on this planet for 360 million years or so. 300 million years or so, man have become nocturnal mammals. After 65 million years ago, man came out of the closet of the darkness to explore the ends of the earth. From a nomadic lifestyle, agriculture paved the way for the birth of clans, tribes, ethnicity, great kingdoms and civilizations and attached to the biodiversity of environments where man set foot on. For control and normalcy, all forms of government were born.

With time through centuries, million of lives were lost through wars, conflicts, territorial land grabbings, diseases, natural disasters and famines.

Intellectual ability of man grew with the experiences of time. This brought peace and good order as well as the evolution of modernism.

Today, global hunger and despair will absorb the minds of men and they will fight against each to claim presumably what is deservedly theirs, and poverty will drive that.

PNG is placed on the fringes of time and at ends of earth where the beginning of civilization still exist, and the down pour of modernism has done us...."to catch it before it is too late".
Blessed we are of our very unique biodiversity, 1000-2000 tribes, 860-1000 languages, 1000 ethnic groupings, 600 plus islands plus the big island, and richly covered with renewable and non-renewable resources, and bonded together by our Melanesian Principles of togetherness, forgiving, sharing and kinship, PNG has come this far and the farther it will go for this uniquely blessed nation.

Looking back 39 years ago, we must thank Sir Grand Chief Somare and his lowly educated leaders who were filled with grace and wisdom to get us through independence peacefully. These are the particular people, PNG will remember as it stands as a national on this planet.

As we progress into our 40th Birthday as a nation, there are few pressing issues that stands in our way. If we ignore them, what is happening in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe will come to our doorstep. These are;

1. All forms of corruption at all levels must stop. Leaders must and at the fore, set the example to really trash corruption.

2. Leadership is an art. Those at the helm of leadership at all levels in their own specific job description must perform credibly and honestly whereby the task performed are credibly accepted by the group and individuals in that setting. Holding office and at the same, accumulating person wealth through the influence of leadership is not true leadership. Wealth accumulation must not be done through the chair one holds but can be done far away from the chair where a concrete partition does exist and done honestly. In the beginning of time and civilization, leaders were remembered for what they did during their time for the people at the reign, and not remembered for their selfish and corrupt process of self-wealth accumulation. So in history, leaders were measured and remembered for what they did for the people.

3. All forms of violence at all levels must stop.

4. Gender equal participation in job and leadership opportunities while respecting cultural values.

5. All forms of discrimination must stop.

6. Land must not be sold to foreigners but developed through ILGs.

7. To stop urban migration; social, economic and political delopment must take place at all levels.

8. Wantok system has a place in the villages but not at the workplace.

9. Foreign mining companies given the leasing right and extracting wealth and giving back to the government less than 30% or through tax is a joke. Landowner picking up a peanut percent as loyalty payment is indeed a real joke. A major policy paper must be done to change all this. Otherwise, PNG will continue to lose what is deservedly ours than theirs .

10. A techno-education system should be introduced and make education compulsory up to great 12.

12. Strongly enform the SME. It is the major contributor of the economy. In many successful countries that have embarrassed SME, their economies have jumped to the point where countries like Malaysia has now become a first world.

13. Non-communicable diseases, AIDS/HIV, TB, Malaria, infant and maternal health and cancer will be major challenge for the country.

14. Increase tertiary institutions. There is a vast need to built tertiary institutions. The ratio of tertiary institutions to secondary school is very small. Old institutions must also be reinvigorated with rehabilitation and developments.

15. A small percentage of the population pay income tax. This must be reviewed with the steps taken to reduce the tax.

16. With the procession of time, economies around the world radiates and the pendulum can shift. PNG is stilling at this period of time where our economy will jump beyond the skyscrapers and this will have a time span and moreover, the very core down turn in this blossoming economy will be corruption at all sectors involving the public and public sector where a few will benefit and the majority to continue to relive "Charles Darwin's theory".

I drove down to Konedobu to witness the independence speech by our Governor General, my family and I witnessed a proudest moment in our lives; a young teenage girl who was at Kone happens to be returning home alone in her PNG meri blouse, her right hand holding onto her hanging left upper limb, we could see in her face the thirst and hunger in her but still she was able to embarrass PNG at her heart when it mattered most at the 39th Independence Day Celebration. I salute her for ignoring her thirst and hunger!

Good reading and happy independence!
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Whimpering Powes Parkop Says Social Media Makes MPs Look Stupid, Wants Stronger Defamation Laws To Protect Pollies

September 16, 2014, 2:20 pm
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By Frank Taso

Have you ever noticed that our pollies constantly whimper that they’re being defamed on the social media, yet will hardly ever reply to any allegations made against them on the social media?    

Actually, Powes Parkop once tried it on PNGBlogs by posting an article defending himself.  He immediately vanished when followup questions were thrown at him that put him on the spot.  

Questions like why does it cost so damn much money to build a road on government land on flat ground in Port Moresby.   Or why is is so damn impossible to post all tenders for infrastructure construction contracted by NCDC directly on the NCDC web site for we taxpayers to see?

Powes won’t answer such questions because he’s too busy worrying that he’ll look stupid before the eyes of the public over what appears about him on the internet.  Once again he has called for legal regulation of the social media, especially Facebook. 

What Stupid Powes doesn’t ever seem to get into his supposedly legal brain is that even Communist China tries to regulate the internet and mostly fails.  For every block they put on freedom of speech, resourceful freedom fighters always seem to find a way around the laws and the censorship.

His latest complaint against social media was made to the Prime Minister himself, in the company of Ben Micah, about whom nothing could be said that could possibly be worse than the truth. 

Is Powes really so dumb to think that government attempts to regulate the social media will do anything but blow up in the O’Neill government’s face when the news goes viral internationally?  

Or does Powes hope and assume that not enough Moresby residents will ever see an article like this, as he tries his best to spread his bullcrap in speeches made to the newspapers and at Moresby public gatherings?     


Let Powes know if he’s right.  Spread this article to all your friends now.   Show Powes the combination of social media + people power!  
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Israel’s Shadowy LR Group Graduates From Growing Veggies To Buying PNG Power Corporation. Anyone Smell a Rotten Egg?

September 16, 2014, 5:17 pm
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By JASON WAUGLE

It defies simple logic how an Israeli company so small and invisible in its own country could be creating everything from A to Z here in PNG, with its eye on running the national power grid and holding us hostage to pay whatever price they demand for electricity.

Israeli’s LR Group is back in the news again.   Sometime in 2011 our shady Prime Minister found LR Group to be the perfect partner for PNG, even though its track record at setting up any project that sustains itself without their permanent and profitable involvement is questionable and they seem very secretive, even to their employees on what they’re really up to (see http://www.pngblogs.com/2014/06/png-israeli-business-connections.html).

Late last year, shady Peter had LR Group do a simple middleman business deal, sourcing 2 generators for PNG that initially were said to be coming from Israel’s Israel Electric Corp (IEC) as used equipment, but then strangely arrived from the USA from General Electric, which is likely the manufacturer.   That switcheroo was never fully explained.  Of course we’re assuming we can believe either The National the Post Courier when they report these things.   

Why would the PNG government even need a middleman company for such a thing?   Governments never need middlemen, we all know!   They have giant purchasing power.  They buy straight from the source for the best price!  

On the other hand, middlemen deals are the perfect setup if the idea is to start a corruption kickback collaboration.  Not to worry, our shady Prime Minister said that eveything is above board and all we need to do is put our trust in him to do the right thing.   Ahhhhh yaaaaa Paulparakayaaaaaaaaa!!!

Close on the heels of buying and reselling big generators, LR Group then became the international experts in Agriculture for PNG, picked by Peter to resurrect the old Ilimo farms for vegetable growing.   Are we to believe the LR Group, based in a desert country, is suddenly THE expert to grow food on the very wet tropical lands where world agriculture was virtually invented (ever heard of 10,000 year old evidence of agriculture discovered near the Hagen airport)?   Oops, we forgot.  LR Group can build and do anything .  They are world miracle workers, especially when the request for their help comes from developing countries run by shadowy leaders. 

What they don’t seem to be able to build is the first major project they proposed for PNG.   It was in The National on 15 September 2011 that LR Group announced a “major industrial complex to cater for animal husbandry, crop farming, training, storage and marketing” that thy would be developing, starting in SHP.  

It’s 3 years later.  Where is this major industrial complex?

Let’s forget about that one and focus only on projects that are promised rather than those that are never delivered.  The latest boggles the mind.  This past week, LR Group was back in the news again, now being introduced to the people of PNG as THE experts in Hydro project engineering.  In fact, they’re ready to create a hydro scheme that will provide all the needs of SHP!    SHP?  Fancy that!

The two PNG pollies who rushed forward to share this announcement with LR Group chairman and director Ilan Weiss were (is this any surprise?) SHP Governor Anderson Agiru (commonly known as ‘Gamblin’ Andy’ at the Reef Casino in Cairns) and Tari Pori MP James Marape (whose personal sticky dipping into Hela funds was documented several years ago through a list of cheques drawn from public accounts that was published on PNG Blogs).

While we know this is of no interest to the hard working reporters of the Post Courier and the National, may we ask the following:

Who’s going to own this hydro facility?  

Who’s going to operate it once it’s completed?  

What equity and profit-sharing will the landowners have in this operation on the Gari River that promises to produce dirt cheap power for the people of the highlands?

Where are the economics in building what is stated to be an AUD $510 million project that supposedly will generate power for a fraction of the price that the current PNG Power charges.   How does cheap power pay back such an outrageously expensive investment?  

One last question.   Why is NONE of this project funded with money coming into the government and properly budgeted?  None of the cost of building this white elephant is coming from LNG revenue.   Instead, it’s all being paid for with borrowed money, payable with interest.  Of course!  That’s Peter O’Neill’s speciality.  It’s called living beyond one’s means.  


This deal sounds as smelly as the people involved and let’s make sure we don’t leave Ben Micah out of the stinkpot.    Ben is as bad as Peter in never admitting fault for anything.  As the fingers are moving towards him, fat Micah is frantically trying to shift the blame to Peter O’Neill’s yessah yessah Port Moresby fan club aka NEC, for making this crazy decision to sell PNG Power.   Sell PNG Power?   Sell it to who?  

To the shadowy LR Group, of course!  This has been known for months:  see http://www.pngblogs.com/2014/05/lr-groups-plans-to-take-over-png-power.html_

Looks like there’s going to be a very big cake for our extraordinarily fat Micah to stuff his face with the moment money trades hands.   If there’s one thing we all need to know about Ben, it’s that he loves the high life and the high life costs truckloads of kina.  Much more than he could possibly pay for off the salary we taxpayers give him to work full time for the people.

James Marape also needs something to keep his balloon belly full, now what will it be this time?   Surprise, surprise, it’s a free around the world trip for James!  He’s going to be traveling to New York, London and Tel Aviv over several weeks in October and November for a fun fun fun road show.   Are the wantoks also invited, James, and by the way:  who’s going to pay for that big sandwich?
We don’t know yet what’s in it for Anderson or for O’Neill, but undoubtedly there will be more than enough freebies and payouts to make everyone happy and send Gamblin’ Andy back to the casino to contribute to the Cairns economy.

There’s more yet.   “LR Group Chairman and Director”  (that’s what The National tells us) Ilan Weiss, who made the big announcement of the hydro scheme,  is not THE director for LR Group.  Instead, he is one of many directors, and his area of specialty, is it electrical engineering?  Civil engineering?  Hydrology? 

Nope!    Ilan’s specialty is agriculture!   This is the same Ilan Weiss who was announced the major agricultural industrial complex in 2011!  

Does this story get any stranger?  Of course it does as more oddities and ugliness come into the picture.   For example, what’s this story about “fuel shortage” for PNG Power that PNG Power Chairman John Tangit was warning about?   Why would PNG Power suddenly be having shortages of fuel that they weren’t able to plan ahead for, especially noting that PNG is an exporting nation with a refinery that can produce all the fuel PNG Power needs?   Tangit said the problem was pricing and delivery.    Why would there be a price change all of a sudden?    Oh no!   Could we be talking about………..PUMA……. the new owner of the oil refinery and distributor of its products, who bought the used refinery that was purchased and shipped to PNG by InterOil for a whopping US $525.6 million?
Puma is the boss now with distributions of PNG oil and no one in government has yet leaked whether Puma also got the sweet deal that InterOil enjoyed for more than 13 years (with another 17 to go) of being able to charge every man, woman, and child in PNG a price for kerosene and diesel after adding a “fake transportation charge” as if the crude oil had come from Singapore.    Is Puma not getting that same deal in selling fuel to PNG Power or are they greedy for more?    For more about the shady Puma Energy, see http://www.pngblogs.com/2014/09/who-is-puma-energy-international.html).

No wonder PNG Power’s employees are cross.    They can see for themselves that there’s a huge amount of suspicious activity regarding PNG Power that is going on behind the scenes.    Their jobs and livelihoods are at stake but sweet backroom deals are taking precedence over any concern fo them.    And as always, the PNG government is making clear by its actions that nothing it says is to be believed and that all of us who just want reliable, reasonably priced power are absolutely last in line.

And so the story goes, la la la la la.   But remember this:   Every time the power goes out over the coming weeks or months, please don’t blame the PNG Power workers.   Blame O’Neill, Micah, Agiru and Marape, all of who are in cahoots with LR Group to bring us the world’s most expensive electricity.   Point your fingers at them and demand oh so many explanations regarding the unfolding story of PNG Power. 
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The strange story of Sovereign Green Global Australia, Green Giant Venture Fund, Astra Resources and a REDD project in Papua New Guinea

September 19, 2014, 10:48 pm
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Sovereign Green Global is, according to its website, running a REDD+ conservation project, “located primarily in the Milne bay province of Papua New Guinea”. The project covers “approximately 125,000 hectares of rainforest”. But details of the project are scant and the information that is available rings plenty alarm bells.
The REDD project in Milne Bay province is supposed to reduce emissions from deforestation by protecting the forests from logging and conversion for agriculture. It will do so, according to Sovereign Green Global, “by offering the farmers financial incentive and intact forests rather than income received from deforestation”.
Sovereign Green Global does not explain how this will prevent logging or palm oil companies from clearing the forests.

Clean Development Mechanism or REDD?

The project is listed on the CDM Bazaar, a website run by the UN Environment Programme as“a global ‘virtual information exchange place'” about the Clean Development Mechanism that is “open to all interested parties”.
At a first glance, the website looks like an official UN website listing CDM projects, but in fact any company can register and post its project details on the website.
On CDM Bazaar, the Milne Bay project is described as an “Avoided Un-Planned Deforestation project”, using an “an existing CDM methodology”. The project idea note lists seven methodologies, and states that “the project falls within the category AFOLU – REDD – Avoiding unplanned deforestation and degradation (AUDD)”. That is, of course, a Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) REDD activity, but it is not recognised under the CDM.
The project idea note states that the project is “located in PNG and contains 58,967 ha of rainforests”. That’s less than half the area claimed on Sovereign Green Global’s website.
The project idea note states that VER credits will be available from the project from January 2014. But a page on Facebook, titled “Carbon Trade Project”, includes a photograph of “the MOA and MOU with Sovereign Green Global Australia Ltd for the REDD Project in Mimbui land and East Collinwood Bay”. The photograph is dated February 2014:
So much for free, prior and informed consent.

Sovereign Green Global

A company called Sovereign Green Global Ltd was registered in the UK in November 2012. The company address was 145-157 St John Street. For £49.99 per year, Companies Made Simple will register a company at this address. Sovereign Green Global shared this address with almost 40,000 other companies.
In January 2013, Tony Adams took over as director of the company, and remained in place until the company was dissolved in June 2014.
Tony Adams is also the Chairman and Founder of Sovereign Green Global Australia Pty. Ltd., the company with the Milne Bay REDD project on its website. The company’s website provides little information about the company, apart from explaining that,
Sovereign Green Global Australia is a global company with a network of individuals dedicated to Humanitarian and Environmental Issues.
Sovereign Green Global’s website was registered (anonymously) in January 2013.

Green Giant Venture Fund

The project idea note explains that the REDD project in PNG is being developed by Sovereign Green Global together with the Green Giant Venture Fund.
Other than an address in Brazil and an address in the USA, Green Giant Venture Fund’s website provides little information about the company.
There’s not much information available elsewhere, apart from a series of press releases of agreements with companies developing carbon projects. Such as this one, in which Green Giant Venture Fund is described as follows:
Green Giant Venture Fund has expertise and experience in Carbon Credit Project (CCP) Development and provides technical, political and legal support required for the project and client. The Fund will also advise as to the strategy and tactics for effecting a forward financing by framing a strategic partnership in the Carbon financial sector and by executing a Carbon Finance option (FSCCP) aimed at capitalizing the client’s current and future (CCP).
Green Giant Venture Fund has been hired by severalcompaniestosellcarboncredits.
Grant Galloway is the director of Green Giant Venture Fund. In 2011, Green Automotive Company hired Green Giant Venture Fund:
Green Automotive Company Corporation (OTC:GACR) announced today the engagement of Green Giant Venture Fund as part of the Company’s plans to sell forward it’s expected allocation of carbon credits generated by future sales of it’s zero emission, All-Electric vehicles through the developing “Cap and Trade” commodity market.
You can read more about this on seekingalpha.com, here and here. Galloway appears in the second of those links.
Today, there is no mention of either “carbon credits” or “Green Giant Venture Fund” on Green Automotive Company’s website.
Green Giant Venture Fund’s website includes this statement about carbon credits (emphasis added):
Buyers have five reasons to purchase carbon offsets. They purchase carbon offsets for compliance to regulated markets, pre-compliance to regulated markets, investing for a financial return, carbon neutral product offsetting, and public relations.
The bit about investing in carbon credits “for a financial return” sets off more alarm bells.
Green Giant Venture Fund’s website lists the PNG REDD project and states that,
PDD [Project Design Document] is currently under development and is 90% completed. Estimated at 48m VCU credits with possibility of moving to Gold Standard.
The Milne Bay project idea note includes the Gold Standard’s logo at top of each page, suggesting a little more than the “possibility of moving to Gold Standard”. I’ve written to the Gold Standard to check whether Sovereign Green Global obtained the necessary permission before using the Gold Standard trademark in this way.


UPDATE – 18 September 2014: REDD-Monitor received a response from Lisa Rosen, the General Counsel of The Gold Standard Foundation, shortly after this post was published. “Sovereign Green Global’s alleged REDD project in Milne Bay is not a registered Gold Standard project,” Rosen wrote. “The use of The Gold Standard logo by Sovereign Green Global in the Project Idea Note is not authorized and is, therefore, illegal.”

Astra Resources

In March 2014, a UK-based mining company called Astra Resources PLC announced that it had signed an agreement with Sovereign Green Global, under which Sovereign Green Global would provide €20 million “equity capital injection” followed by €780 million in “equity capital, knowhow and assets”.
Sovereign Green Global’s Tony Adams said,
“As Chairman and Founder of Sovereign Green Global Australia I fully support Astra Resources and its endeavours to create a cleaner and more sustainable environment for future generations. Sovereign will invest substantially in developing this new technologies [sic] and will now make a further commitment of carbon credits to the ongoing process of the green energy solutions that Astra are developing.”
The Australiandescribes the deal as “particularly curious”, and notes “that there appears to be no evidence that [Soveriegn Green Global Australia] has the capacity for multi-million-dollar financing deals”.
By a strange coincidence, Astra Resources’ registered address is 145-157 St John Street, the same address as the UK version of Sovereign Green Global.
In 2013, a former director of Astra Resources told the Australian that a document that the company used to raise up to US$45 million from Australian retail investors contained “significant misleading and false statements”. The Australian reports that,
Among those statements was a claim that Astra Mining was looking to raise €1 billion ($1.42bn) via an initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, of which $700m had already been committed by major Korean and US investors.
Which sounds strangely similar to the deal with Sovereign Green Global.
Astra Resources’ press release states that,
SGGA [Sovereign Green Global Australia] are currently in the process of completing projects in the following areas and they are PNG Milne Bay, Philippine Province of Negros, and Vanuatu. These three areas specifically relate to over 200 million REDD+ Credits. These credits are at the stage of certification and will be settled over the next few months. The credits will be warehoused with a major investment bank and a line of credit will be allotted to SGGA.
In May 2014, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) started legal action against Astra Resources PLC and its directors.
On 4 June 2014, Astra Resources was suspended from the European Share Trading Exchange GXG Markets. Here’s how GXG Markets explains the suspension:
The Company is currently under suspension for supplying inaccurate information that was required as a condition to move up from the GXG First Quote to the GXG Main Quote market and has previously been suspended for corporate governance failings in relation to filing accurate information to Companies House (UK) in a timely fashion.
On the same day, Astra Resources announced that it has “taken a very significant position in the carbon reduction market on its balance sheet in exchange for 270m Euros of scrip”. (Scrip is a substitute for legal currency– outside the company it is worthless.)
The carbon reduction benefits are from the management of tropical rainforests at a country level throughout the Asia Pacific region. Astra’s partners have negotiated country level agreements, and are using an internationally recognised financial registry, as well as the most experienced science teams in the region.
So it appears that Sovereign Green Global has sold carbon credits from three REDD projects (that may or may not exist) to Astra Resources (a company facing legal action and that has been suspended from GXG Markets) for scrip (which is worthless outside Astra Resources).

SOURCE: REDD-MONITOR.ORG
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BMobile Vodafone not up to management standards.

September 19, 2014, 11:06 pm
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By: FED UP STAFF MEMBER

Bmobile Vodafone lack of management skills are in doubt again since the past and current redundant staffs have not been served with their STATEMENT OF EARNINGS as required under the IRC Policy and Regulations Act.

To date most of these redundant staffs have been constantly communicating with the Bmobile Human Resource Department in relation to their entitlement payments of tax calculations and seem all efforts for assistances have fallen on deaf ears.

The current employees have also confirmed they are yet to receive their STATEMENT OF EARNINGS from the Management as well. How can Bmobile Vodafone with a small team of nationals not provide such documents for their employees nor have such information on record?

Can the Group CEO of Bmobile Vodafone, Sundar Ramamurthy and his Human Resource Advisor/Consultant Chris Taukuro explain the reasons for such a long delay for the past redundant staff as six (6) months is a long wait for any form of response from Bmobile Vodafone?

It seems, the management lacks knowledge and is incompetent of what is required in terms of providing such information as the employer to the employees.

Bmobile Vodafone Management must be removed since policies and regulations governed by Labor Department and IRC are not adhered to.

Can the Minister for State Enterprise Hon. Mr. Ben Micah, Labor and IRC officials intervene to fast track such grievances for the national staff, past and present?
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Papua New Guineans in Philippines are rowdy, drunkards, and backward thinking

September 22, 2014, 3:41 pm
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By FRANK MALILONG - SUN STAR NEWSPAPER, CEBU

ONE early morning in the first week of June, last year, TV reporter Jinky Bargio chanced upon a group of rowdy foreigners near the old Rustan’s in Gen. Maxilom Avenue.

When she saw the men throw bottles onto the street, stop passing vehicles and harass the drivers, Jinky knew she had a good story and got out of their vehicle. Soon they were recording the commotion.

When they saw what Jinky and her crew were doing, the men took umbrage and attempted to confiscate the camera. Fortunately, the police arrived just in time to avert a confrontation between the TV crew and the foreigners who were later identified as Papua New Guineans.

They were drunk. And apparently it was not their first brush with the law because when they arrived at the Fuente Police station, one of the policemen blurted, “it’s you again?”.

In fact, there have been so many cases of Papua New Guineans, most of whom are enrolled in Cebu schools, being arrested for breach of the peace. In all these cases, they had one drink too many.

The first recorded case was that of Benedict Penini who struck a taxi driver with a stone outside the gate of the Maria Luisa Estate Park on Sept. 9, 2012. The drunken Penini had just had a fight with another Papua New Guinean when he spotted the driver and vented his ire on the poor guy.

It took a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to subdue Penini, who later complained that the cops used excessive force on him.

In 2013, two weeks after the Bargio incident, another drunken Papua New Guinean was arrested by the police for causing trouble inside a bar on A.S. Fortuna St., Bakilid in Mandaue. Jason Lokani was bloodied when the police arrived, courtesy of two unidentified men who resented the former’s breaking the bottles and hit him on the head with a stone.

Just as 2013 was ending, another group of Papua New Guineans were arrested after they brawled outside the National Bookstore in Gen. Maxilom Avenue. Jason Kerepa, Emmanuel Nagopi Naemon, Israel Wanqana Warraqo and Nigel Gwingin Dondo were booked for drunkenness and were released from jail only after paying a fine.

In April, this year, Elizah Norman, Pilol Kuman, Andi Takon and Mulea Opa Homs were arrested, again for causing trouble inside a bar where they had been drinking since 3 a.m. One of them allegedly showed his genitals to a female customer, who left the bar obviously in shock along with a male companion.

Still not contented, Homs allegedly threw a bottle at another customer, causing an ugly gash on his forehead. A companion of the customer retaliated by stabbing Homs.

When the police arrived, the Papua New Guineans ran away but were caught near the gate of the Sto. Niño Village while arguing with the village security guard.

Then last Saturday, Gary Nigel Chrich was arrested after he allegedly punched a bar employee in (again!) Gen. Maxilom Avenue. When the police arrived and tried to subdue him, the fellow resisted and punched the neck of one of them. As you must have guessed, Chrich is from Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby) and tested positively for alcohol.

I am not trying to stereotype Papua New Guineans but I cannot help but notice that while they’re relatively few, they seem to have the most cases of brushes with the law, compared with other foreigners. In fairness to them, all of these cases are “minor incidents” which happen only when they are drunk.

The Papua New Guineans in Cebu are fun-seeking and are otherwise well-behaved when they are sober. When they get drunk, however, the behavior changes dramatically.

Mag-maoy dayon inigkainom og hata-hata.
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How can Papua New Guinea improve extractive industry governance?

September 23, 2014, 8:09 pm
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Maximising the full potential of the Extractive Industries Transparency initiative

By JONATHAN PELI

Papua New Guinea is endowed with huge reserves of oil, gas, gold, copper and other solid minerals. Over 78% of its exports derive from these natural resources. In an effort to improve transparency and governance of the country’s mining, oil and gas sectors, in 2013 the government of Papua New Guinea applied to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global coalition of governments, companies and civil society working together to improve openness and accountable management of revenues from natural resources.

Signing up to EITI was a condition of the Australian government’s support for the PNG Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project worth AUD$30-50m in aid plus a AUD$500M loan through the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation. On the 19 March 2014 the board of the EITI approved Papua New Guinea’s application for EITI candidate status.

The experience of other EITI implementing countries suggests that those that do not wholeheartedly embrace reforms either suffer an embarrassing suspension or even a de-listing, or later make a 180 degree turn to full compliance having wasted several years in the process.

Sierra Leone, for example, remarkably went from suspension to compliant in just one year. A country’s decision to pursue EITI raises expectations of increased transparency and accountability in the management of extractive sector revenues; doing the bare minimum will therefore lead to disappointment, both in civil society and more generally. The best option for Papua New Guinea, therefore, is to commit fully to EITI from the outset and to work hard to realise the inherent potential in doing so. EITI’s potential in Papua New Guinea can be maximised by undertaking the following actions.

Define and empower government organisations and public servants

EITIPNG is a multi-stakeholder initiative in which government organisations, companies, civil society groups and development agencies will all have a role to play.

It is therefore important that the government organisations and public servants that will play a key role are identified and empowered to make the necessary decisions. The Papua New Guinea government should therefore include EITI duties as part of a revised schedule of duties for specific public servants. Equally important is ensuring that those officials tasked with EITI duties have the capacity to carry them out. Allocating responsibilities to public servants which are beyond their ability or their level of authority can lead to poor or no decisions being made or actions undertaken. Specifying responsibility and establishing accountability for action is also important.

Creating implementation capacity and establishing independence

Given the constraints facing government institutions in PNG, one option for PNGEITI to ensure it has the required implementation “technical excellence” is to establish the National Secretariat outside government. While the Department of Treasury would remain the lead government agency, establishing an autonomous entity that is accountable to the Multi-Stakeholder Group might provide the basis for more effective implementation. The experience of other countries suggests that the institutional framework for EITI implementation in PNG will be a key factor in determining its effectiveness. A National Secretariat that falls under the management of the Department of Treasury might also face future criticism from civil society members that it is not acting in the interests of all stakeholder groups.

Electronic reporting

Codified and publicly accessible data should be a key output of the EITI reporting and reconciliation exercise in PNG. Achieving this will require, at a minimum, electronic (and ideally web-based) reporting templates for both companies and government agencies that will participate. Getting the data into electronic format from the start of the process will deliver long-term value to PNG stakeholders and will avoid the cost of later having to move from paper-based reporting to electronic reporting, a process that some other EITI implementing countries are having to go through.


Sustainability and self-dependence

Financing EITI implementation typically comes from development partners. This raises a question of sustainability: What happens when the donor money runs out? Papua New Guinea and its development partners should seek to answer this question from the start so to avoid creating a culture of dependency on the World Bank or Australian aid. Foreign aid will of course pay a critical role in supporting Papua New Guinea to get EITI up and running.

However, it should be used strategically rather than financing core operating costs, which ideally should come from the Papua New Guinea government or from companies. Instead, donor money should be used for providing high quality technical assistance and capacity development support to Papua New Guinea in getting EITI off the ground and operating effectively over the coming years, but stopping short of creating an initiative that is unsustainable.

EITI has great potential inPapua New Guinea to strengthen governance of the extractive industries through improved transparency and accountability. Realising this potential can be achieved by Papua New Guinea leveraging the experience of other EITI-implementing countries, by setting its own home-grown objectives for the initiative, and by committing fully to its implementation.

This article was first published by The Guardian Newspaper on the 15th of September 2014
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YOU Promote PNG’s High Level of Corruption If You Want Patrick Pruaitch’s Personal Life To Remain Private!

September 24, 2014, 2:54 pm
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By Wilson M Taku 

The photo is out in the open and the silent majority has spoken on PNG Blogs.   As of this writing, 291 Facebookers gave a thumbs up to PNG Blogs publishing the photo of Patrick Pruaitch looking like a smelly, sweaty street drunk.  This, the man who is the Minister of the Treasury.  

Yes, the silent majority appreciated the exposure of Patrick Pruaitch.   The vocal minority felt differently.  About 85% of those who spoke out with an opinion were against PNG Blogs putting up the Pruaitch photo.  The repeated message of these postings was that Pruaitch has the right to act silly and stupid in private, and that privacy should be respected.  

One wonders about the personal lives of the 85% who didn’t like Pruaitch’s picture being posted.  How many of these Facebookers have their own personal tendency to act worse than Pruaitch?    How many of those who hate what PNG Blogs did by publishing the photos so strongly defend the right of others to misbehave in the hopes that it protect their own “right” to act like idiots?

It’s fair to ask whether  we can legitimately call what’s displayed in the Pruaitsch photo misbehaviour?    Of course we can.   Pruaitch isn’t acting the way we would expect a respectful, admired national leader to conduct themselves.    What percentage of the population actually looks up to and feels respect for a grown adult who acts like a moron when they think the public isn’t watching?   Is staggering around with a bottle of SP, talking nonsense and letting the whole world know that you’re incapable of handling alcohol maturely a sign of leadership?   Does that kind of behaviour symbolise what we would consider to be a thoughtful intellectual?   Or a caring and concerned person working for the good of all?  

Of course not.  Few people respect those who don’t show some personal self control and maturity, both in private and public.   Mature grownups learn to relax, have fun, and get away from the pressure of their jobs without losing their self respect or making fools of themselves.

That’s why it sounds so ridiculous to defend a politician looking like he lives on the streets, like many of you did when the photo came out.   Maybe some of you don’t realise that this photo is just one of many indications of this man’s sad personal conduct.  Pruaitch’s drunken antics used to be so common and so public that even his father in law, Michael Somare finally got fed up with the embarrassment Pruaitch was giving him and screamed at him in private to start acting like a man, not a child.   Pruaitch cultured his alcoholism during the 10 years he spent working for SP Breweries in the Sales and Marketing Section and it appears that the bottle still bosses Patrick Pruaitch.  

That’s only the tip of the iceberg.   Pruaitch is a well known serial adulterer, a few affairs of which turned into serial wives.   The last report, a few years old, is that he had 3 wives:    a Madang woman (bearing son Russel), a Yangoru/ENB wife (bearing daughter Vanessa, son Alec and adopted son Martin), and a New Ireland Chinese/East New Britain wife (bearing son Josh and daughter Patricia).  He discards women, he beats women, and different wives have tried to get away from him.  None of that indicates a person of respectful character.   The more logical picture is that of an individual who thinks only of themselves and their satisfaction, and lacks self control.  

The photo published yesterday on PNG Blogs is merely one piece of evidence out of endless indications that Patrick Pruaitch is one of the worst of PNG leaders, a man who was widely reported to have taken bribes from the Malaysian and Chinese loggers during his time as Minister of Forests and who was up to some kind of monkey business in getting money to fund the 2007 elections.  On 3 April of that year, he joined Somare and Peter O'Neill on a flight to Singapore, during which they acted like they were trying to keep as low a profile as possible.  Following that trip, the NA gained some big deposits into their bank account.  Such corruption have become “normal” for PNG politics but that doesn’t make it right.  It represents the sellout of our nation for personal gain.  Patrick Pruaitch is a symbol of all that is rotten in PNG politics.
Those of you who got angry about the photo because you think it is the right of a politician to act like a common worker or a average Joe, are defending the kind of low standards that pull our whole society down.   The vocal minority in our country conduct themselves disrespectfully often enough that  of course they’re going to defend the right of politicians to do the same.  

Maybe that’s the standard with the average Joe Blow in PNG but it’s not the kind of standard one expects from leaders if, in fact, we ever want to see PNG push away its long standing reputation as a banana republic rule by morons.

As mature, responsible members of civil society, it is within the public’s right to know the private lives of our public figures, especially our politicians.    After all, these national leaders officially represent us all.  Their every move is closely watched and not just within PNG.   If they step out of line, the danger is that we’ll all be painted with the same brush of ridicule and disrespect.   The behaviour of our public officials influence the standards we all operate by and aspire to.  

If our public officials can’t control themselves in private, then one can legitimately suspect, and probably be right, that they can’t control themselves in their role as a public servant, whose paycheck comes from our taxes.  An impulsive drinker has a good chance of being an impulsive adulterer, an impulsive stealer, or an impulsively corrupt con man.   Someone who can’t control the amount of food they eat and can never say no to more has the kind of personality that also cannot resist taking public money when no one is looking.    How a person conducts themselves in private when they think no one is looking says a lot about their personal character.

Why do we defend our public official’s right to keep their immoral and unethical private behaviour unreported and hidden?   Why would we want such people representing us as our leaders?

National leadership is not for the mediocre nor the average Joe who spend the fortnight paycheque on beer rather than family or has his secret romantic flings on the side unbeknownst to his wife.  Of course such scumbags sometimes manage to make it to positions of high power.  They then proceed to abuse that power by violating the 10 commandments right and left.   But their transgressions should not become the national standards, nor should we look on such people with approval or respect.

A big reason why PNG has such high corruption amongst our public officials compared to so many nations is because in PNG we have a  vocal minority who defends corruption by defending the moral and ethical corruption of our national leaders.  They defend the “right” of public figures to act like imbeciles in private.  

This is quite different than what is considered acceptable in societies that have low levels of corruption.  In those countries, you’ll commonly find a public attitude that anyone who chooses to pursue a public life has done so willingly and knowing that their life will become an open book.   Thus, reporters are always looking to reveal unpleasant secrets because scrutinising public figures behind as well as in front of closed doors forces them to be accountable to the people to whom they owe their power and position on a high pedestal.  

Embarrassing scandals of politicians come out all the time in the UK, Australian and American media, and throughout Europe.   Politicians find their entire careers destroyed by one wrong action in private, captured by a hidden camera.  That is as it should be.  It is the only way to keep standards high for leaders of a nation.

In contract to all that has PNG society become so morally low that we would defend the right of our leaders to hide personality characteristics that would give them away as being unfit for public office?   It seems so, looking at the past day’s unhappy comments on the posting of the Pruaitch photo.  
Of course no one is perfect.  Yet surely out of 7 million people we can find 111 individuals who conduct themselves with honour?   Is that too difficult a standard to achieve?    Is it truly impossible in PNG to find and elect leaders who have developed the self discipline to conduct themselves properly in private as well as public?  

We keep repeating over and over again that we’re a Christian nation.  Shouldn't we have leaders who unmistakably follow a Christian pathway in private as well as public life and shouldn't we keep the house clean by removing those who we find out don’t fit high standards?   You who didn't like Pruaitch’s photo being published, why are YOUR standards of how our politicians should behave so low?

It’s time that those of you who defend the right of our public officials to be corrupt and misbehave in private to stop imposing your low personal standards on the nation as a whole.  

The silent majority want PNG respectable leaders who show some self control.  It’s long overdue that all PNG public figures are put on alert that if they don’t serve our nation with distinction, they’re going to be exposed, ridiculed, and run out of public life leaving voids that we can fill with respectable citizens.   Enough of this nonsense where we defend the “right” of our national leaders to act like small children at best, and like dogs and pigs at worse.  

Thank you kindly PNG Blogs for publishing that photo of one of our most consistently embarrassing politician and most distinguished fool, the Dishonourable Patrick Pruaitch.  

My friends, there is no law against exposing the private actions of our leaders.   Let the scandals come out, let their disrespectful private lives be publicised to the entire world.  The unhappy pollies have no legal basis to sue PNG Blogs, and who would they sue anyway?  

Over the past months, thanks to PNG Blogs we have been given a continuing line of details on how pathetic our national leadership actually is.  They are the worst role models available yet we call them Honourable leaders.  Their personal conduct drags down the country and makes us laughingstocks to the world.   Patrick Pruaitch is one PNG politician who richly deserves that his antics be made public.  The published photo is but a small symbol of how pathetic this man really is.   He treats his own constituency with disdain with the assumption that he can always buy their votes.  

May Patrick Pruaitch come to rot in hell, the sooner the better.

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