Just one post before this year 2019 comes to a close. It has definitely been a long while since my last post, many many things have happened since for the country of Papua New Guinea.
In Politics, a vote of No Confidence saw the fall of Peter O'Neil and the rise of the current Prime Minister, Mr. James Marape. With him, a breed of young men, Ministers of Parliament who are radical in their own ways who want to rid this country of corruption and greed and see PNG have a very prosperous and bright future.
Social Media is now becoming a platform of change that is being used by many; it brings with it the age of technology for this very nation. About 70-80% are technology illiterate and also a business opportunity for those who have noticed this.
2020 is the year for Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs); Many Papua New Guineans will become employers themselves, new jobs will be created, more graduates will find employment; more taxes for the government and overall better standard of living for all.
With that I wish you an enjoyable Christmas and a wonderful new year.

APEC Meeting in PNG

Due to this meeting, the National Capital District is undergoing major developments especially in Roads and Infrastructure. Much has been said about these happenings through social media and from my readings of these comments from Papua New Guineans, most I can say are negative. But nonetheless tangible change is happening for the good of this very young nation in a short space of time. Stay tuned for more to come....

Developments on the PNG front

Since my last post, what has happened in Papua New Guinea:

1. 5^th Melanesian Festival of Arts.
An event that drew pacific island countries together to showcase their arts and craft as well as traditional dances and more.


2. Peter O'Neil asked to step down.
This is still ongoing and revolves around the Paraka Lawyers case whereby documents suggest that the payments to the law firm were illegal and authorised by Mr. O'Neil as Prime Minister, but all these are yet to be proven true by the courts of PNG.


3. Outcomes of Point 2.
• The Task Force Sweep Team was disbanded by the Prime Minister. Reasons being the team has been compromised and influenced by external sources.
• Attorney General Leo Dion removed from office and replaced by Ano Pala.
• A commission of Inquiry was established by Mr. O'Neil to look into the whole matter and is to be headed by Justice Warwick Andrews.


4. Police Commissioner Saga.
Mr. Tom Kulunga who was the Police Commissioner was found guilty by the courts for his failure to carry out a court order to reinstate Geoffery Vaki and therefore stood down. In his place the National Executive Council appointed Geoffery Vaki as the new Police Commissioner.


5. Major Infrastructure developments.
These include major road upgrades including a fly-over pass from the airport to Independence Drive in Waigani. Freeway construction in various areas of Port Moresby and the reconstruction of the Highlands highway. Pacific games venues are under construction for the 2015 Pacific Games. The swimming complex has just been completed in Taurama recently. PRL stadium in Boroko and the Sir Kilage stadium down at Konidobu are progressing well.

PNG Updates

Much has happened since my last post. Let me just briefly highlight a few;

• Opposition numbers have reduced to now only 3 members.
• PNG Defence Force have assaulted UPNG students taking Medicine at their medical campus due to an assault on a soldier behaving disorderly whilst drunk at the hospital ATM.
• Election for Ward councillors and LLG Presidents is almost complete with quite a few females voted as councillors and presidents.
• Much emphasis is put on the country's SME sector to be developed to bring about much change in the country's economy and lower its unemployment rates.
• Port Moresby is experiencing a building boom, everywhere you go in the city, you will notice new high rises popping up everywhere.
• Former Police Minister, Nixon Duban has lost his court battle on an election petition against him and the seat will re-contested shortly. Mean time, the Prime Minister is looking after the Police Minister Portfolio.

These are some of the developments that have come about since my last post. Hope to keep you informed in a much more regular basis.

Updates in PNG affairs

Much has happened since my last post, some I will mention next.

• PNG University of Technology Saga

Unitech students went on strike demanding among other things the return of Albert Schram who was their Vice Chancellor before being removed by the university council. The government has stepped into the situation and set up an inquiry into the issue. Former judge Mark Sevua has been tasked to conduct the inquiry and come up with findings and recommendations for the government. The inquiry is still on as of the writing of this post.

• Overhaul of the Police Force

The Police Force has been ridiculed alot by the public and as such, the government has made changes to the force. One of the change include the rotation of Provincial Police Commanders (PPC) to different provinces so as to avoid complacency. They have also put a stop to reservists from working as part of the force.

• Election Petitions over

Only one so far I know that has resulted in success and that was for Mr. Aimo's petition against Isikel Anisi which the court ruled in favor of Mr. Aimo and was made Member for Ambunti-Drekikir Electorate replacing Mr. Anisi. All other election petitions have been dismissed and a few have sought a higher court ruling.

• State Entities with new Boards

The government has put in new people as board members to all its state owned entities, including, Telikom PNG, PNG Power, Post PNG, to name a few. This was done to promote effective service delivery.

• Drive to combat corruption

This is one of the governments major pillar to minimize corruption in all levels of government. A task force sweep team was set up and headed by Sam Koim to investigate corruption and fraud in the government systems. Quite a few arrests have so far been done and there are more still to come. Mr. Koim has found a big hole in the procurement process of the finance department where laws need to be changed to close these holes.

• Upgrade of Major Roads

This is another one of the governments major pillar is to increase infrastructure development in the country and the country's major roads are taking up most of its budget. The highlands highway, Lae - Madang highway and new highways connecting Madang - Mt. Hagen, and Kerema and Western Highlands have been prioritised to be worked on immediately.

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.