2013 Budget - Rural Focused

The Government has just announced that the 2013 Budget will be Rural Focused as most of it will go directly to the District levels via the Provincial Governments and their LLGs for themselves to administer. This is to relieve the mass misuse of funds when it all sits in Waigani, Port Moresby. This concept will also relieve the national government in administering the full budget but focus mainly now on major national infrastructures and the public service. The provincial governments will in turn administer its own roads, bridges, schools, health and provincial assets. So, should the province not see any benefits or improvements then they themselves will be held accountable. The budget will also assist farmers in subsidizing the short fall in prices for their cash crops hence empowering the small-holder farmers to keep on producing thus the agriculture sector as a whole will improve. Basically the whole aim of the government with this budget is to see provinces be financial independent.

Recent Past Issues

Much has happened since my last post in the likes of the Royal visit to the country by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla. A lot of talk was said about the improved road conditions that came about as a result of the visit by the Royals in a short period of time and only to the locations where the Royals will be visiting, hence causing the buzz by the people. Otherwise, the visit went smoothly, with Prince Charles giving his speech at the Sir John Guise stadium where he made the crowd go up in roar as he spoke in the local language of Tok Pisin. There is also the Asylum Centre in Manus which is now complete and awaiting the arrival of the first refugees to enter any time now. The locals on the island and their members have negotiated a development package with the Australians as part of the agreement. Some of the assistance to the islanders include the upgrade of the road from Momote Airport to the town centre. The Lorengau hospital will be renovated and upgraded. There will be 20 classrooms built as well and 10 teachers offices, and the upskilling of medical officers to name a few. Air Niugini's Boeing 737 which usually services the international routes has now been made to run domestic routes with the first domestic port to fly to is the Momote Airport on Manus Province. Its other domestic ports include Tokua Airport in Kokopo, Boram Airport in Wewak and Gurney Airport in Alotau to name a few. There is also the K6 Billion Loan from the China EXIM Bank which debates about it are ongoing in the media and social network sites. Recent media reports say that the loan process has been approved and is nearing completion in its details of the loan. From this loan, much will go into the infrastructure developments in the likes of major roads like the Highlands highway and various other roads throughout the country. Still on infrastructure, it is said that improvement of our current Power and Communication infrastructures will be done with the help from this loan also. The Taskforce Sweep Team has also made inroads in arresting and charging individuals in various corrupt practises and is still ongoing. A recent talk by the Team Leader Sam Koim in Sydney about the various properties owned by Papua New Guineans in the North Queensland area by certain high profile individuals to a total value of more than K1 Billion is questionable as to how this was possible. Otherwise much of the big news that happened recently in the country has just been briefly mentioned and smaller issues will be discussed in my later posts.

37 Years old and counting

Papua New Guinea just turned another year older on the 16^th of September, last Sunday. The nation came out in colours of Black, Yellow and Red to display the country's colours and celebrate its 37^th Birthday this year 2012.

In Port Moresby, celebrations were held at the Jack Pidik park at 5mile with traditional dances and singsings, as well as Art and Crafts were sold. Over at the University of Papua New Guinea, the annual independence celebrations were staged there also. University Students came out in their traditional attires and sang their traditional songs to show their culture and tradition to all in celebration of the country's birthday.

Over in Goroka, the Goroka Show was held as is every year to showcase all the culture and traditions that Eastern Highlands has to offer as well as celebrating the countries day of Independence.

In Aussie, Papua New Guineans came together also as was seen in Brisbane over at Roma Parkland where all came together to celebrate and meet and greet with other Papua New Guinean's on this day of Independence.

In all, every Papua New Guinean whereever he/she may be, it was a time for one to show and say I am a true Papua New Guinean.

Papua New Guinea Tuna Fishery

PNG TUNA FISHERY

These are the four main tuna species now commonly referred to as the highly migratory tuna species. They are commonly known as Skipjack, Yellow fin, Big eye and Albacore. From 2005 to 2010 the average annual catch for PNG was 500, 000 mt. In 2010 PNG made a record catch of 749, 000 mt. At the going Skipjack price of US$1, 800 per metric ton. The 500, 000 mt average PNG catch is valued at US$0.9 Billion. There are three main commercial fishing methods used in the capture of tuna being; Purse Seine, Long Line and Pole-and-Line. The Western and Central Pacific Ocean is bordered by 400 North and South of the Equator and 1100 East longitude and 1500 East Longitude. This Ocean is referred to as the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Tuna Fisheries in the WCPO is managed under the WCPO Tuna Commission. The multi-gear Tuna Fisheries in the WCPO made an average annual catch of 2.2 million metric tons between 2005 and 2010. The average annual tuna catches in the PNA waters for the same period is 1.4 million mt representing 32% of the world catch and 64% of the WCPO. PNG's catch represent 54% of PNA and 34% of WCPO. At the 2011 tuna price of US$1, 800 per metric ton. The value of world catch is US$7.7 billion. The estimate value of raw tuna to PNA member Countries is US$2.5 billion and PNG is US$1.35 billion. The status of the principal species, (Skipjack) stock taken by Purse Seine Fishery in WCPO was in a very healthy status whilst the other two species, yellow fin and in particular the big eye stock was low and pose a management concern by the WCPO Tuna Commission.

Having understand this huge potential in revenue that can be gained from this industry, the government of this country should very much invest heavily into this industry as it is self-sustaining and a renewable resource. Currently we have foreign nations taking a huge chunk out of our tuna resource for their benefit giving very little back. Papua New Guinean's and those in power should open their eyes to this and come up with Policies and Laws to benefit local participation into this industry and phase out foreign companies.

Service Delivery Mechanisms Reviewed

It is good to read and see the news of members of parliament expressing concern and taking action to review the service delivery mechanism for our country. The Public Service institutions of our country has too many complacent workers occupying these positions for a very long time and have lacked the initiative and drive to carry out their duties to serve the people of this nation quickly and on time. The Prime Minister is angry that his recent initiative to provide free education for all grades up to grade 10 isn't being delivered well, as the second and final payment of the school fees have yet to be paid to the schools because the people responsible in the education department are not actively doing their jobs. As a result, the chief secretary Mr. Zurenuoc has expressed his disappointment over this issue and will be disciplining those responsible for their slackness. This is one of the many examples that clearly show that the public service machinery needs to be reviewed and overhauled so as to bring out the much needed change that it requires. With this sort of mindset that our members have and backed by our Prime Minister, PNG is definitely set to see some major changes in the next 5 years. Let us the people of this good nation assist our elected leaders where we can to bring about this change for the good of our nation.

2012 PNG Government Formed

The elections are now over and government has just been formed, Peter O'Neil has been unanimously voted in as the Prime Minister for Papua New Guinea's 9th Parliament. Last night he allocated the 33 ministries to his government members and they are as follows:

Prime Minister - Peter O’Neill.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Inter-Government Relations - Leo Dion.
Minister for Treasury - Don Polye.
Minister for Public Enterprise and State Investment - Ben Micah.
Minister for Forest and Climate Change - Patrick Pruaitch.
Minister for Transport - Ano Pala.
Minister for Agriculture and Livestock - Tommy Tomscoll.
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration - Rimbink Pato.
Minister for Public Service - Sir Puka Temu.
Minister for Religion, Youth and Community Development - Loujaya Toni.
Minister for Environment and Conservation - John Pundari.
Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and technology - David Arore.
Minister for Justice and Attorney General - Kerenga Kua.
Minister for Defence - Fabian Pok.
Minister for Education - Paru Aihi.
Minister for Finance - James Marape.
Minister for Petroleum and Energy - William Duma.
Minister for Housing and Urban Development - Paul Isikiel.
Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture - Boka Kondra.
Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry - Richard Maru.
Minister for Sports and Pacific Games - Justin Tkatchenko.
Minister for Labor and Industrial Relations - Mark Maipakai.
Minister for Health and HIV-AIDS - Michael Malabag.
Minister for Police - Nixon Duban.
Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources - Mao Zeming.
Minister for Correctional Services - Jim Simatab.
Minister for Communication and Information Technology - Jimmy Miringtoro.
Minister for Mining - Byron Chan.
Minister for Works and Implementation - Francis Awesa.
Minister for Autonomous Regions - Steven Kama.
Minister for Lands and Physical Planning - Benny Allan.
Minister for National Planning - Charles Abel.
Minister for Civil Aviation - Davies Steven.

There are quite a number of new members taking up ministries as well as Loujaya Toni, a female to be given a portfolio. We shall wait and see how these Ministers manage their respective portfolios before we can make our personal judgements on their performances.

Third Female Member of the 9th Parliament of PNG

Julie Soso has just been declared as the member for Eastern Highlands Province defeating Sir Barry Holloway by eight thousand votes to pass the absolute majority. This now brings to three the number of female members of parliament which in itself is history in the making as being the most number of female members in a term of parliament. The other two female members are Dellilah Gore for Sohe Open and Lojaya Toni for Lae Open. Don Polye's THE party has now its second female member besides Dellilah Gore boosting its total by one and placing it as the party with the second largest number of declared members after Peter O'Neil's People's National Congress (PNC) Party. We congratulate the women of this country on their strive to be heard as equals in the running of this country.

PNG Parliament appoints Theo Zurenuoc as Speaker for the 9th Parliament

After the courts this morning dismissed the case to stop parliament for having its first sitting today the 3^rd of August, 2012. Parliament was convened at 10am today to appoint the speaker of the 9^th parliament. Nominees for the Speakers chair were, Francis Marus for Mr. Namah's team and Theo Zurenuoc for Mr O'Neil's team. Theo Zurenuoc was appointed with the majority as the Speaker for the Parliament. Having decided the speaker, the parliament has adjourned for next week to appoint the Prime Minister of the country.

Olympic Schedule - Olympic Results - All Events | London 2012

The Olympic games is on again, this time in London. PNG has fielded its team for this event and the first event PNG took part in was Judo which started last night. The first fight was lost, but fingers crossed for better news for our country. Overall, the team from China has dominated the first day with lots of Medals, most of them Gold. Brazil too has won its first Gold Medal with its first ever individual Gold in the Olympics in the sport of Judo in Sarah Menezes who won the women's 48Kg title. Find out more about the events and their times in the link below:

Olympic Schedule - Olympic Results - All Events | London 2012

Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neil Reconcile

What a glorious day it is for Papua New Guinea. To see two leaders humble themselves, push aside their differences and come together as one to form the next government of Papua New Guinea is one truly and unique Melanesian spirit of our people. Nowhere in the world will you see such a feat, this goes to show that we Papua New Guineans are very unique in our way of life, culture and tradition. I salute Sir Michael Somare for humbling himself and come to make peace with Peter O'Neil as it truly shows that our leaders care more about their people's needs and interest before their own. 

Left-Right: Pais Wingti (PDM), Sir Michael Somare (NA), Peter O'Neil (PNC) & Sir Julius Chan (PPP)

Parties aligning with Peter O'Neil's People's National Congress Party (PNC) include, Sir Michael's National Alliance Party (NA), Pais Wingti's People's Democratic Movement Party (PDM), Sir Julius Chan's People's Progress Party (PPP) and other smaller parties like that of Powes Parkop's Social Democratic Party (SDP). Due to this reconciliation and teaming up of past Prime Ministers, other elected members are moving in to join up with them to form the next government of Papua New Guinea. We will have to wait and see what unfolds in the next couple of weeks.

Will Papua New Guinea come under anarchy in the future?

Before we go into answering this question, let us first define anarchy. What is Anarchy? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anarchy), Anarchy is A: absence of government. B: a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of government authority. 

Now on to our answer on this matter; Will Papua New Guinea be without government rule in the future? I'll let my elder sibling, Slaggie, answer this question for us.

Whilst our current political environment has displayed indicators of a potential anarchy, I personally think we as a people will steer our government away from leading us into this potential chaos.

My reason for this is because:

• 90% of our country's population live a subsistence lifestyle, fending for oneself.  This same 90% has custodian of the 90% of land in this country. They have been living their daily life with very little or no help from the government. Hence, should there be an anarchy it will have no trickling effect to this 90% of the population.  Their lives will continue as usual because they have their own societal order well before outside government influence.

• In recent times, the age of technology (internet) has given our educated elites and the silent majority a voice/forum to express ourselves.  Those forums have allowed the once government fearing individuals to be able to voice their concern, criticise our politicians and bring people together to protest against issues of anarchy.  Hence, our politicians and government of today and tomorrow will be more careful in how they run our country because they now know that their political career will be thoroughly scrutinized by the public as compared to their predecessors.

• Our past governments have been voted into parliament along ethnic lines with very little consideration on the policy platform which they stood for in the first place. Candidates were voted in not based on their skill set or knowledge and experience but based on clans/tribes status and allegiance. Hence, we have been experiencing what we are currently experiencing as indicators of an anarchy . Having said that and with the influence of technology, the majority of our population are now becoming more educated in the type of people they should be voting and in addition our working class population are now participating more in the voting process.  Hence, you will have noticed that our people are no longer voting along clan lines but voting a candidate which they believe will deliver to them.  With such calibre of people we have in parliament, the more debate will we have in the house.  Thus, the chances of an anarchy is slim in the near future.

• My last point, we are a very unique group of people in the world.  We are called Melanesian. Our style of governing is very unique and vibrant at the same time. The way in which we manage this country has brought us to situations which according to the outside world "we are at the brink of an anarchy". At the end of the day our Melanesian side of life kicks in, we all come together in a houseman spirit, or clans gathering approach and express our apology over some bettlenut and pigs, shake hands and we forget the past.  We are a truly unique group of people in this world.

In all, Papua New Guinea will not likely go into anarchy.

2 Female Candidates elected - PNG 2012 Elections

What great news it is for the womenfolk of Papua New Guinea and the many others who support women in parliament. The first female to be declared was Delilah Gore for Sohe Open electorate with affiliation to Don Polye's THE Party. The other was Loujaya Toni, a singer and journalist who unseated his grandfather, Bart Philemon to win the Lae Open seat. Both have received praises from other elected members also and are now in camps with other parties to try and form goverment in the eight parliament of Papua New Guinea.

PNG Electoral Commission must employ Volunteers as polling officials in future elections

This is a recommendation to the Electoral commission to seriously consider doing in future elections. There are quite a number of complaints aired out already on obvious things the Electoral commission has failed in doing, preparedness for one, but what I'd like to talk about here is to do with the stoppage in counting due to polling officials complaining of not receiving their allowances or allowances being not enough. The commission should recruit volunteers to be polling officials to do the counting. We are always demanding and asking too much from our government, in times like this we should give back to our people, our government. We should volunteer to become polling officials and do the work for free, do it as a service to your government. If the Electoral commission employ volunteers, I'm very sure, the counting process will be less troublesome then it is now.

PNG 2012 Election Updates - Party standing as at 16:07, 18th July

The Status of all Parties in the 2012 National Election

Below is the party status showing the number of candidates endorsed, how many members have been elected and how many are currently leading in their respective electorates. Many elected thus far have been returned by their people, but unfortunately for some, the people have decided against, some of which include:

Job Pomat for Manus Open, Michael Sapau for Manus Provincial, Tony Aimo for Ambunti-Dreikikir Open, Arthur Somare for Angoram Open, Gabriel Kapris for Maprik Open, Koni Iguan for Markham Open, Martin Aini for Kavieng Open and Andrew Kumbakor for Nuku Open to name a few. We wish them well in their future endeavours and hope that they continue their desire, in their own little ways in helping improve the livelihood of their people.

Party	Endorsed	Declared	Leading
People’s National Congress Party	89	5	20
People’s Progress Party	40	4	1
Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party	72	3	11
PNG Party	90	2	7
National Alliance Party	75	2	5
Independent	2195	1	14
United Resources Party	48	1	6
People's Party	49	1	4
People's United Assembly Party	29	1	1
Melanesian Liberal Party	5	1	0
PANGU Pati	60	1	0
New Generation Party	27	1	0
Social Democratic Party	40	0	4
People’s Democratic Movement Party	19	0	3
Our Development Party	22	0	2
Coalition for Reform Party	15	0	2
PNG Country Party	46	0	1
People's First Party	1	0	1
People's Movement for Change Party	51	0	1
PNG Constitutional Democratic Party	39	0	1
PNG Labour Party	35	0	1
New Dawn Transformation Party	29	0	0
Mapai Levites Party	8	0	0
United Party	20	0	0
Mama Papa Graun Pati	20	0	0
League for Democracy Party	35	0	0
Kingdom First Party	5	0	0
Indigenous People's Party	44	0	0
Melanesian Alliance Party	37	0	0
Papua New Guinea National Party	43	0	0
People’s Freedom Pati	26	0	0
People’s Heritage Party	10	0	0
People’s Resources Awareness Party	10	0	0
Christian Democratic Party	26	0	0
People's Republlican Party	5	0	0
PNG Conservative Party	4	0	0
PNG Destiny Party	4	0	0
PNG Greens Party	6	0	0
PNG New Vision Party	12	0	0
Rural Development Party	2	0	0
Stars Alliance Party	22	0	0
Transform PNG Party	3	0	0
People’s Labour Party	24	0	0

2012 PNG National Elections - 2 more Candidates declared

Manus Province has completed its counting yesterday with a further 2 more declared MPs for the eight House of parliament which brings the total thus far of declared candidates to 3 including Peter O'Neil for the Ialibu-Pangia seat. The two MP's are Ronnie Knight for Manus Open defeating Job Pomat, the former seating MP, and Charlie Benjamin for Manus Provincial ousting Michael Sapau. With the 3 declared, the Party with the leading number of MPs so far is the People's National Congress Party with 2, Peter O'Neil and Charlie Benjamin, and second is the New Generation Party with 1.

What Now? For a Losing candidate...

Being in Government is not the only way to help your people. You in your own capacity can do little things to alleviate the everyday troubles of your people. Seek funds from business houses, government grants, Donor groups or outside the country to help implement your plans for improving the lives of your people. For those that have surplus finance or some remaining from your campaign in the elections, you can use it to start your plans to help your people. Help finance a new classroom or teachers house for the children; Build a bridge or repair/improve the road conditions in your area so that your people can get their produce to the market; Pay the school fee for all the children in your community that cannot go to school as a result. Create an avenue where youths can venture into like sports, create a tournament and sponsor it, identify talents and nurture them. These are some of the many things that you can do by not being in the Government and still carry out your desire to help your people, after all it is this desire that caused you to contest the elections, IS IT NOT?

PNG 2012 National Election Update

Almost all provinces have finished voting and are now into counting of votes. Only one electorate has completed its counting and declared a winner, that is the Ialibu-Pangia Electorate with the declared winner as  Peter O'Neil. Other electorates within the Southern Highlands region are almost complete as well. Sir Michael Somare is currently leading in the East Sepik Provincial electorate. Other current sitting members currently leading in their respective electorates include, Powes Pakop in N.C.D Provincial, Andrew Mald in Moresby North-East, Gabriel Kapris in Maprik Open, Job Pomat in Manus Open, Sir Julius Chan in New Ireland Provincial, Byron Chan in Namatanai Open, James Marape in Tari Open, Don Polye in Kandep Open and Samuel Abal in Wabag Open, to name a few. Similar to previous elections, anomalies are encountered during the counting but otherwise all is going well.

2012 PNG National Election Candidate Listing

Greetings Friends, find in link below, the list of candidates contesting the 2012 P.N.G National General Elections. As we go to the polls to cast our votes, let us ask our good Lord to guide us and be with us as we choose the right leaders who have the people at heart and are willing to serve others needs before their own.

2012 PNG National Elections Candidate Listing

Fixes for Computer/Laptop with very slow response rate

Do you have a PC or Laptop that just seems to respond to your commands at a very slow rate? Well, do not be alarmed as there are quite a number of possible causes for this problem. Attempt the following fixes from top to bottom:

1. Virus Infestation.
Some viruses cause your computer to slow down, so do not forget to do Anti-virus scanning and removal. It is recommended to run anti-virus programs in safe mode or at boot level as viruses are not active then hence easy to disinfect and clean off.
2. Hard Drive Storage space is full or almost full.
Do some housekeeping by way of doing the Disk Cleanup to remove temporary files, Registry Cleanup to clear off dead registry entries, Disk Defragmentation to defragment files on your hard drive, Uninstall software/programs not essential or used regularly, etc..
3. Not enough memory/RAM capacity to process all the commands at once.
Check your RAM/memory capacity; if it’s too little, then it’s advisable to upgrade your RAM to 512MB or 1GB or more, the higher the RAM, the faster your computer responds due to sufficient memory capacity.
4. Low Voltage or current passing into your computer.
If the above 3 checks has been performed but still no improvement, then check the voltage or current received by your computer. If you are not that tech savvy, then use in place of your current power adapter another one from a good computer or purchased new from a retail outlet and try it on.

With that I trust that you should have fixed the slowness of your computer or laptop by now. 

Practical Village Concept # 2: Village Event's Calendar

The second village concept is to have a calendar for annual village events. The councillor and village elders should get together and pick out significant traditional cultures and assigned dates of the year for these events to take place. The year should be planned out strategically so that people have the time to prepare well for each event. These events and their scheduled dates should be made known to the villagers such that it becomes a part of them. Examples of these annual events could be a "Village day" (similar to Provincial day), Canoe Racing Day, End of year celebration, and the list goes on. Once these events become annual events, it will become attraction events for tourists to come celebrate, enjoy and provide income for the people as these events are regular annual events with specific dates for them to happen. This idea again is attributed to my elder sibling for another brilliant practical village concept.

Practical Village Concept # 1: Village Census Data Keeping

This is my first post on the topic of village improvement in terms of living standards and quality livelihood of the village people. This first concept I wish to point out is that of a database or record of all the people that live within the village to be made, kept and maintained. The idea is that, the village councillor, as part of his duties to collect all the information of the individuals and families within his village and kept as his record for the village. Every six months or at the end of every year he/she should conduct a village census and keep a record of the village's own population. In that way when the country conducts its population census, the village will be prepared and have readily available the village census information to provide to the country's population census office. The data could also be utilized for other ways to improve the quality of life for the people. I attribute this concept to my elder sibling for this very practical idea.

New Look Lae City

On a recent visit to Lae recently at the end of May this year 2012, after 5 years since my last visit, I've noticed that Lae has definitely changed in a big way. The pot holes of Lae city are now fast turning into concrete paths for vehicles to drive and people to walk on. A couple of shots below show the concrete roads of the new look Lae Town.

Central Avenue towards Vele Rumana

6th Street and Central Avenue

6th Street to Telikom Building

Central Avenue towards Town Bus Stop

Planet Rock or The Liquid Inn building is now no more and Theodist and other buildings have taken residence along the Markham Road. The old Lae Airport now is a container yard as can be seen below also.

Theodist located along Markham Road

Container yard at the old Lae Airport

Eriku has also changed with Bar fences fencing the Huon Road on both sides and the new Raumai 18 building is pictured below as well.

View of Eriku with new Raumai 18 Building from Andersons

Fenced Huon Road along Eriku shopping Centre

You will have to visit Lae for yourself to see the new look Lae City.

EMTV's Election Focus Program

The Election Focus program aired on EMTV every Sunday is one really good pragram that EMTV has come up with. Mr. Eggins, the host of the show interviews people, so far, current members of parliament in the likes of Mr. O'Neill, Mr. Namah and Mr. Polye about their actions and future endeavours as leaders of the country. I congratulate EMTV for coming up with this program, as it puts our leaders on the spot, it asks them to justify their actions as well as seek their opinions on current issues, and we the citizens of this country can really see for ourselves what they are really like. I encourage the PNG media society to do more of this type of programs and interviews.

Something for the voting public to think about

I'd like to make a point here for all eligible voters to take note of when listening to candidates' campaigns to lure your vote. Listen carefully to what they are saying, if they preach about bringing water, electricity, etc... to your area, they must explain how they are going to do it. Do not be fooled by their talks, they must tell you how they plan to achieve what they want to do for you. Anybody can say what they want but only the ones who have the skills to attract investors, seek and obtain funds for their projects are the real leaders you want to vote for. These leaders will actually deliver their promises to you. So be aware when you listen to candidates preachings and pick out the ones that know how to deliver or have set plans on how to deliver their promises to you.

Listen carefully now and vote the right leader who will deliver for you.

Papua New Guinea 2012 National Elections

It's the time of the year again, where the nation goes to the polls to elect the best person to represent them in the house of parliament for the next five years. The Electoral Commission as well as serveral intending candidates have been making awareness for all to choose carefully who they want to represent them, as the next five years will see alot of revenue coming into the country mostly through the LNG Project. The right leader will ensure all these funds will go to the right areas whereas a crook leader will misuse these funds, hence awareness is made to the public to choose good leaders. Here in the nations capital, campaigning is full on with cars installed with loud hailers promoting their candidates throughout the day and posters and banners of candidates almost everywhere you look. It is said there are about 3400 people contesting for the 111 seats of parliament and about 45 different political parties vieing for the Prime Ministers seat. June 23rd is said to be the start of voting, so little time is left for candidates to convince the people to vote for them by getting their policies and messages across to the people.

PNG turmoil UPDATE

The protest march conducted yesterday was somewhat successful as the Prime Minister said to repel the Judiciary Bill on the condition that the Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia and Judge Nicholas Kirriwom step down as judges pending investigations. He also appealed to Legal professionals to point out the exact clause(s) in the act that needs to be taken out. As to the deferment of elections, the Electoral Commissioner himself has declared upon consultation with all stakeholders that the issuing of writs will be delayed by 3 weeks and not 6 months as parliament voted. This means that the election campaign period for intending candidates will be shortened by 3 weeks to only 5 weeks instead of the normal 8 weeks. In all, everything turned out to be a success for the people of Papua New Guinea.

PNG in turmoil

10^th April, 2012, marks the day PNG citizens make known their intentions to the country’s Political leaders, its government in particular, to show their grievances, against the government’s recent political decisions. The first is the passing of the Judicial Review Act and the other is the deferral of elections by a further 6 months. The Judicial Review act in brief empowers the Legislative arm of the government to place judges under investigation for misconduct or biasness in their official duties, as a recommendation to the Governor General to appoint a tribunal for review of the case. The deferral of elections by 6 months due to a parliament decision by vote of 63-11 to defer the elections by a further 6 months has been seen as again an act of disregard or disrespect to the country’s constitution. As a result, the people have decided to take action against the government by conducting a protest march to parliament today to have them repeal their decisions with regards to the mentioned decisions discussed above. The groups involve include the student groups from the countries universities especially UPNG and Unitech, NGO group’s, Trade Union Congress and all its affiliated association members (where all workers of PNG fall into through their respective unions), civil society members, women’s groups, and the general public. School for all kids has been cancelled, many business houses are closed, public transportation has been reduced to a minimum and police presence is on a high.

Opportunists have used the occasion to disrupt normalcy by doing some of the following:

• TST Waigani has been destroyed by a mob from Morata.
• KMC at Badilli has been set on fire by a mob there.
• Mobs have been reported to chase away Asians and loot their shops at 6 Mile area.

These reports will have to be confirmed, but the general public has been warned to take extra caution when moving around the city.

This is the news as of lunch time today. Whatever develops throughout the afternoon, will be made known later. May our good Lord step in and take command of the situation.

Rainy Season

Its been raining lately here in Port Moresby; for the last couple of weeks, it was sunny during the day and in the late afternoon and into the night it would rain. This went on till today as I awoke this morning to the sound of heavy rain outside. I was deciding whether to go to work or not and was leaning towards taking the day off until I noticed an umbrella leaning beside my refridgerator. I prepared myself and with the umbrella, headed for work. Upon clocking in, I mentioned to my Team Leader that I almost stayed back at home today; and the response I got was, "You could have stayed home and come tomorrow and submit a leave without pay form". I just laughed, knowing I made the right decision to come to work instead, otherwise, my next pay would include a day's pay deducted :-) Anyways, hopefully tomorrow will not be a repeat of today with the rain and all.

Signs of the coming Rain

Boarding Life @ Malala Catholic Secondary School - Madang

If ever you’ve been a school boarder, will you really appreciate how much it has given you. No parents to guide you in your daily activities, you manage yourself instead. Weekdays, you wake up to your own methods, to ensure you have a bath, dressed for school and in mess before breakfast begins. You pray before receiving your meal and you pray to give thanks after your meal. You then have 15mins to prepare yourself before the first lesson of the day. There’s no recess, you learn all through to lunch where again, you will have 30mins to prepare for lunch with plate and spoon washed and ready. Another 15mins break before the afternoon period starts. By 3:30pm when all classes end, you have 30mins to get into your work gear for work parade. After an hour of grass cutting, raking, weeding, drainage cleaning, ablution cleaning, meal preparation, or whatever else you were assigned to do, will you have an hours break before dinner. Many after a shower tend to visit the afternoon markets where the local villagers come sell their produce in the likes of Fruits, betel nut, smoked and fried fish, mumu tapiok(mashed cassava, cooked in an earth oven) and Kulau (Young coconut). Many go for the mumu tapiok, banana and Kulau combination. Others with more finance visit the trade stores for coke and biscuit, and by the way, cold water is a luxury. By 6pm the buzzer sounds for dinner and all head to the dining hall for dinner, normally consisting of brown rice and tinned fish, two tins for a table of 10. An hour and a half of night study takes place after dinner in one’s own classroom where the duty teacher ensures all is present for roll call and ensuring quietness is maintained during study. At 8:30pm the buzzer signals the end of study to give each student 30mins preparation for sleep before the lights go out at 9pm, yep that’s right, the school’s uses a generator which supplies the school with its electricity, the government’s power grid hasn’t reached the schools location as yet. Weekends are great with Saturday starting off with an hour of work parade and then the rest of the morning is free. It is also market day for the nearby communities who come to market at the school, and this is one of those times where you get the chance to eat different kinds of food. After lunch is sports for the boys and the girls are locked away in their dormitories. Saturday sports include basketball and touch rugby whilst Sunday afternoon sport is soccer. Sunday begins early with church at 7am where of course all have to attend; the class in charge of providing music has to be in church earlier then 7am to prepare. The church service ends an hour later with students going for “peace walks” down the beach before heading to breakfast. There’s free time after breakfast where most spend the rest of the morning doing their laundry if not done on Saturday. After lunch is, sports again for the boys and girls stay confined in their houses till the afternoon. All in all, I can say that, one who has undergone a boarding lifestyle will face life equipped with the skills for life as an independent individual.

Note: Some of the times mentioned may be a bit off as its been some 10 years ago now :)

The Secret: Law of Attraction

Isn’t it funny how the secret to being anybody you want is simply how you perceive yourself or your life. Yep, that is basically the secret of life according to “The Secret”. You know how sometimes when you think about something so much that it actually happens to you in time. It’s called, the Law of Attraction, when you think of something and in detail, you are actually sending a request to the universe to make that thought come to you in physicality or form. Hence, should you be having bad thoughts, you will in no doubt be experiencing something negative in the near future. So stray your thoughts from negativity and perceive only good and positive things. You may doubt this, but try it out and I’m sure you will come to accept this reality of life. Should you want in-depth information on this then find “The Secret” DVD or Book and have a read or listen to learn more.

2012, What a year

If I may stress it again, this year has received so much already. I personally have got a boulder thrown over my shoulders to add to the mix :( ....

I got alerted today that I will have to find some way in sourcing some funds to ensure that a child gets his education this year. I am proactive in my approach and thus all things coming my way I get myself prepared for beforehand; but this situation caught me by surprise, well not fully anyway, I was surely not prepared to shoulder the full cost. Fees nowadays are ever so high as compared to my days. To make things worse, the last day of registration is tomorrow, Saturday. What could I do or where could I go on a weekend to source some funds? Nowhere. And so there is nothing much that can be done until next week, and by then if and when funds do come available, an added penalty for late registration will have to be met also. That is why, I stress whenever I get the chance to, is to conduct oneself proactively. Planning is the key in all aspects of life. Get it into your system, all of you and things will become much easier and life will be more enjoyable, fun and worthwhile. As for me, I have faith that all will go well in the end. Funds will come available somewhere, somehow and a couple of months down the line, I will look back at this and just smile. In God, you can definitely trust. Through him, in him, all things are possible. All glory and honor to you, Lord.

Very Strong Winds playing a hand in the sinking of MV Rabaul Queen

I have noticed over the last weeks that the weather seems very odd. Even though, my dwelling is in the interior of the city with surrounding hills, I find it rather odd to be experiencing these strong winds. It would be normal to be experiencing these winds near the sea, but not here. I wonder what it is like out in the ocean, if I can say that the winds are strong enough here, than out there, it must be much worse and the seas really really rough as a result; No wonder, the MV Rabaul Queen, a passenger and cargo ship capsized in the waters of Lae, Morobe Province near the Finschaffen area last week. Whilst the official numbers of dead are yet to be made known, estimates are about 100 plus mostly women and children. My condolences go out to the family and friends who have lost loved ones in this unfortunate tragedy.

A weekend without electricity

Last weekend was one of the boring weekends for me in 2012. As I went home from work on Friday, on my way to the house I passed some PNG Power Linesmen checking out a power pole along my street. Having arrived at the house, I met up with my Unit mates informing me of the blackout which was currently on and the Linesmen I came across were trying to restore the power. After about 30mins, the power came on and I went down to my Unit. At about 8 O’clock that night, the power went out again. I decided to have an early night coz of this; at about 10:30pm the power returned as I noticed the fan coming on and dozed back off to sleep. I woke up next morning only to find out that the power was off again, it most probably went out at around midnight as there was heavy rain and strong winds that night. I found out a little later that the strong winds blew down a tree on my street damaging the power lines. The PNG Power linesmen returned to fix this problem and took them all of the afternoon, and power was restored around 8:30pm that night. It only lasted this time for about 20mins before going out again simultaneously as we heard a loud bang down the street. This we found out to be a blown transformer on one of the power poles on my street. I realized this would be another big problem to fix. I went off to bed and woke up the next day Sunday 5th of February, 2012 to no power. During the day, I was not able to charge my cell phone hence was out of communication with the outside world, The radio or TV couldn’t be switched on also so I resorted to reading my novel I bought recently on a trip down under. Once in a while having a buai (bettlenut) break and cursing the Power Authority. Finally around 7pm, the PNG Power linesmen returned to fix the blown transformer. I realized today whilst on the way to work that a new transformer was installed to replace the old blown out one. Power was eventually restored at 10:30pm that night. From then to now it is still on and I’m hoping it remains that way forever, and no repeats of this kind ever again.

Mutiny Neutralized

Col. Tom Ur and his men have overthrown the so-called Mutiny commander, Yaura Sasa and his men 12 hours after their successful attempt into holding the Brigadier General of the PNG Defence Force under house arrest and taking command. The Brigadier General Francis Agwi has resumed command of the Defence Force and all is back to normal again. The O’Neill/Namah government condemned this act and has placed these renegade soldiers under arrest to face charges for their act in the so-called Mutiny.

Mutiny in PNG

26^th January 2012, Papua New Guinea is today experiencing I believe for its first time a possible Military coup. The Brigadier General of the Defence Force has been put under house arrest and a new commander proclaimed. Currently they’ve put a road block at Murray Barracks main gates at Hohola and the Police have also put a road block at the roundabout at Hohola Police station. These two I know for sure, but there may be more around Port Moresby. There is an unconfirmed report of airport closure so no entry of people into Port Moresby also. According to an ABC report, it is said that this all started with a few soldiers supporting the ousted Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare raiding the Defence Force headquarters at the Murray Military Barracks and placed the head of the army under house arrest. The soldiers from the other military barracks, Taurama, made their presence felt by showing force at the Murray Barracks by way of discharging their firearms, as reported by another source. Some company’s and businesses have been forced to close early with their staff sent home due to all this. I do not know what’s to come out from all this, but I hope and pray that all will return to normal very shortly.

Free Healthcare for the people

The O’Neil/Namah government has done it again, this time allocating a substantial amount of money towards healthcare. Last week, the Government declared that from then onwards, healthcare will be free in the country’s general hospitals. Port Moresby General Hospital received K50 Million whilst Lae, Goroko, Nonga and Boram each to receive K30 million and all remaining Provincial Hospitals to receive K10 Million each, all totaling to the amount of K350 Million. Of course we already have critics’ expressing their views against this saying the amount is not enough to cover all the hospitals’ bills, etc. But nonetheless, the people are happy as they are or will be directly benefiting from this as is from the free education assistance as well.

Port Moresby Fuel Price as of 18th January, 2012

Yesterday afternoon, I had a stroll through one of the Fuel service station here in Port Moresby and had a stopover at one of the gas pumps to check out the fuel prices. Petrol (Unleaded) was K3.30/L and Diesel was at K2.91/L, a difference of 40^t. Many cars here in Port Moresby are powered by Petrol and this high Petrol price compared to Diesel is really putting a big hole in the pockets of vehicle owners. This should be a hint for potential car owners to purchase a Diesel powered vehicle instead of Petrol to ease their spending on fuel for their vehicle.

2012: DOOMSYEAR

It has been widely reported on the news and over the net that 2012 is the year the world as we know it is supposedly going to end. It is said that the Mayan civilization had their calender end on this year, scientists have also proven that this year, the sun will align itself in the centre of the universe and this alignment brings with it much earthly distruction enough to bring the world to its end. As the recent new year dawned, and the Doomsyear started, I could not believe what I was reading and seeing on the news as reports after reports of tragedy, crime, disaster, etc, as events to start this year off. I'm starting to question myself, are these predictions about this year 2012 coming to fruition? I so dearly hope not and pray our good Lord will not let this happen.

Sydney Festival 2012 with DJ Norman Jay

What an afternoon it was yesterday in the City at Hyde Park where the Sydney Festival was held, DJ Norman Jay in his big red bus got the crowd dancing with his vibrant music beats. I could feel my heart pump to the beat and my body urging me to dance along, fortunately though, I had a camera with me to capture a glimpse of the show to share with you instead. if you're in Sydney and got nothing to do, do head on down and enjoy what the Festival has to offer.

Papua New Guinea, Digicel and Facebook

My sincere Thank you to Mr. Zuckerberg and his brainiest invention, "Facebook", as well as compliments to the communication firm "Digicel". We all know that the world is moving into the Technological age where everything is directly or indirectly controlled by computers. Developed nations are already embracing the realities of this technological era whereby the use of your ordinary mobile phone to do all your daily transactions is one such example. We developing nations are yet to fully realize these so-called 'miracles' of this technological age,..... but not for long. With Digicel's introduction of advanced communication technology we are gradually entering into the technological era, along with the social site Facebook, we Papua New Guineans are fast becoming acquainted with this new age. Facebook being a social site has greatly influenced both young and old to come to accept computers in its various forms and the use of it as a necessity of our future.

Two Governments, No Opposition

Following on from my last post, you will notice its been quite a long while; the political situation has not changed much. Following are the events that unfolded to now:

• The court submission submitted by the overthrown Somare/Abal government through the East Sepik Province over the process of removing and voting in a new Prime Minister by the O'Neill/Namah government has been deliberated upon by the country's supreme court and has been upheld as incorrectly performed with 3 votes for to 2 against.
• From this decision of the Supreme Court, Sir Michael Somare immediately appointed his cabinet and announced his faction as the legitimite goverment seeking the Governor General, Sir Michael Ogio's formal recognition through a swearing in ceremony.
• Before the Supreme Court made its ruling on the matter, parliament set and amended the Parliamentry Act which says that a member of parliament(MP) is disqualified as an MP if he does not attend 3 consecutive parlimentary sittings.This was done to remove a loophole which brought about all this political chaos.
• As soon as the decision was handed down by the supreme court, parliament declared the seat of Sir Michael vacant according to the amendment made recently and thus the speaker asked for nominations to take up the Prime Minister's seat. All members present at parliament appointed and voted Peter O'Neill as the Prime Minister.
• Peter O'Neill appointed his cabinet and also seeked the Governor General's recognition as the country's Prime Minister but was locked out by the Police from entering the Governor General's official residence where the swearing in should take place . The Governor General on the other hand swore in Sir Michael Somare and his cabinet instead.
• Later the Governor General swore in Peter O'Neill and his cabinet and recognised them as the legitimate government.
• To date, all Statuatory bodies and institutions recognise Peter O'Neill as the legitimate Prime Minister with their majority numbers in Parliament. Sir Michael Somare on the other hand is still insisting he is the legitimate Prime Minister.

In all the general public and the citizens of this country do not care much about their political ranglings, but wish for the up coming election in a couple of months time to see all this put to rest.