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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.