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.