P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 6 Mar 2003

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay

Welcome to the

Papua New Guinea Gossip Newsletter


A very special welcome is extended to any new readers. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please click here.

C O N T E N T S

Links Vabukori
Napatana Lodge Education Sites
Marine Conservation Unchecked Links
Cancer Centre Private Hospital
Dregerhafen School Squash Championships
Bavaroko School Henganofi
Strontium 90 Tests Metal Recycling
RAM Malaysian High Commission
PNG Citizenship Supplementary Elections
Lae Jail Breakout Mobil Kwik Shops
Security Advisor PNGBC Inquiry
Goods and Services Tax UPNG's Open Campus
Floods Tambul Temperature
Madang Evictions Madang Cruiser
Fake Claims AIDS Law
Air Niugini Manu Autoport
Kina (money) Vanimo
Koiari Landowners Tourism Minister
PNG Media That's All

 

Articles for this newsletter

To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter -- then please click here.

 

 

 

Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
Tok Pisin English
masalai spirit
nambawan best
nambawan first rate
nambawan nogut worst
rausim get rid of / throw away
sem shame
snek snake
spoilim wreck
stilim steal
stilman thief
stilwul steel wool
wankain equal
wankain same
wankain similar

 

 

Remember that this mailing list is mainly meant for people who have an interest and already know a little bit about the people and geography of Papua New Guinea. The PNG Kina, which is mentioned from time to time in this newsletter, is currently worth around 26 - 27 United States cents but varies on a daily basis.

If you are really keen on finding out what the Kina is worth a currency converter for most world currencies can be located at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/moni.html

Want to find out more about Papua New Guinea? Try searching at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo and http://www.michie.net/png_faqs. The PNG Business and Tourism Directory located at http://www.pngbd.com is also an excellent place to look for PNG information.

For those who are not so familiar with the geography of Papua New Guinea I suggest taking a look http://maps.google.com and then click on the find a map option. Go to this link for a quick start to a link to a map of Port Moresby. http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/pom-map.html

Also remember that the accuracy of the information in this newsletter should not be relied upon - it is, after all, a gossip newsletter.



Links


Vabukori Village


The people from Vabukori Village in Port Moresby are putting together a rather nice website located at http://www.vabukori.com.



Napatana Lodge


is the first eco tourism lodge in Alotau. Napatana is a traditionally built pole house that has been made from tropical timbers. The lodge reflects Milne Bay architecture, demonstrating traditional building skills by local craftsmen. An open-air bar/restaurant overlooks the bay, and at night, cool breezes release an ambience of serenity -- http://www.napatanalodge.com -- Box 143, ALOTAU, Milne Bay Province (+675) 641 0588



Education Sites




Marine Conservation



Please also have a look at http://www.egroups.com/list/marinenetpng



Unchecked Links



Logging or conservation on Woodlark (Muyuw) island
http://www.ulb.ac.be/soco/apft/GENERAL/PUBLICAT/RAPPORTS/YOUNG.HTM


OkTedi Mine Operations -- http://www.oktedi.com/operations/operations.htm


The National Museum of Papua New Guinea
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/png_museum.html


IATA Codes for PNG Airstrips
http://www.logistikinfo.de/Logistikforum/Flughafencodes/codes/papua_new _guinea.htm


C47 Flying Dutchman -- http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/png_obree.html

 


 

News Items


Cancer Centre



Following indications of support from key agencies in South Korea and the World Health Organisation (WHO) it is hoped that PNG will soon have a cancer treatment facility. The old cobalt radiotherapy machine at Lae's Angau Hospital served the nation from 1960 to 2000 but replacement has not been found yet due to funding difficulties.



Private Hospital



The hospital on the hill just behind the Port Moresby General hospital built by the then Motor Vehicle Insurance Trust still sits vacant after many years. This is possibly one asset that the government could sell off but as time goes by other private hospitals are being set up and the opportunity is rapidly vanishing.



Dregerhafen School



Sir Michael Somare has given K30,000 to his old school - Dregerhafen High School. The money will be used for the school library and on other developments to school facilities that are generally run down and in very poor condition.



Squash Championships



The Port Moresby Squash Club will hold its annual championships between the 14th and 15th of March 2003 at the Port Moresby Squash Club courts.



Bavaroko



Bavaroko Primary School in Port Moresby is set to reopen after being closed for three weeks due to the toilet facilities not working correctly. The school caters for more than 2000 students who have had an extended Christmas holiday.



Henganofi



MP, Dr Banare Bun, has told parliament that in the last eight to ten years 20 children at Henganofi in the Eastern Highlands province have died from measles because there was no vehicle to facilitate an immunisation program in the district. Dr Bun went on to tell parliament that the health centre at Henganofi has not been able to carry out immunisation programs for measles, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria and hepatitis.



Strontium 90 Tests



Reports by the Australian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) show that 171 Papua New Guineans were part of the Australian government backed nuclear fallout secret research program from 1957-1978. The program was for the testing of Strontium 90.



Metal Recycling



Ex government minister Dr John Waiko is teaming up with a German company to investigate the possibility of setting up a recycling plants in Lae and Port Moresby. The plants would be used to reduce domestic waste by processing and shipping it overseas to be reprocessed into valuable products.



RAM



Rotary Against Malaria (RAM) has been around for about six years and is the brainchild of the Port Moresby Rotary Club. The main aim of the project is to distribute mosquito nets around the country as well as educate people about the benefits of sleeping under a mosquito net. The nets are treated with Deltamethrin that is reported as being harmless to people but deadly to mosquitoes. The treated nets last about one year and need to be treated each year. The chemical comes in a soluble tablet that makes retreating the nets very easy.



Malaysian High Commission



After discussions at Prime Ministerial level it has been announced that PNG will reopen its High Commission in Malaysia.



PNG Citizenship



The citizenship advisory committee has not met since 1997. It is hoped that they will meet soon to clear the five-year backlog of applications for citizenship. The citizenship advisory committee part of the Foreign Affairs and Immigration Department has not had the necessary funds to produce certificates for successful applicants and hold presentation ceremonies.



Supplementary Elections



Security, for the coming supplementary elections in the Southern Highlands, will be beefed up to include over 2,000 security personal. Mobile police squads from around PNG as well as members of the Correctional Institute Service and the Defence Force will be engaged in keeping the peace during the elections.



Jail Breakout



Eight prisoners managed to breakout out of Buimo Jail near Lae after a church service on Sunday. One prisoner is dead and another is in a critical condition at the Angau Memorial Hospital after prison guards gave chase towards the Bumbu River.



Mobil Kwik Shops



The seven shops seen at Mobil outlets in Port Moresby have had to close due to mounting losses. Steamships have had to close down all its retails outlets at Mobil service stations in the nation's capital. The outlets operated under the name of Kwikshop. Lifu Holdings Limited continues to operate the fuel side of the Mobil business. It is hoped that Mobil can find someone else to operate the shops.

The decision has been made by Steamships and is not related to the independent decision made by Mobil to cease the supply of fuel to the Highlands region of PNG..



Security Advisor



The Government is finalising moves to engage a former army chief as a special security advisor for more than K200,000 a year. The role, if approved, would be seen as duplicating the existing roles of members of the National Security Advisory Council (NSAC).



PNGBC Inquiry



The Inquiry of Commission into the sale of the PNGBC to the Bank South Pacific (BSP) has heard about how two directors of the Public Officers Superannuation Fund (POSF) had signed a blank application form for the placement of shares from BSP. The form was completed later to include POSF as the buyer of more than four millions shares in BSP.



Goods and Services Tax



The Value Added Tax (VAT) bill will be amended and changed to be a Goods and Services Tax. It will include amendments proposed by the Morobe Governor, Luther Wenge that allows the provinces to keep 80 percent of the money collected. Currently the provinces keep percent of the VAT. The National Government will still collect VAT on imports and exports.



UPNG's Open Campuses



People who have been unsuccessful at their attempts for university studies have the chance of securing a place at a university through University of PNG's (UPNG) open campuses. Studies conducted by UPNG have shown that anything as high as 25 percent of students attending university failed their courses due to insufficient knowledge gained during their studies in Grade 11 and 12. The open campus will provide a course similar to a preliminary year at Uni. The course will consist of four core subjects, literacy, numeracy, development and civic studies and life skills. Why is the education system failing to teach these students the necessary skills in the first place?



Floods



The National Government is not aware yet of the flood and landslide-affected plight of Angalimp-South Wahgi people in Western Highlands.
Their MP Paul Wai has raised the concern in Parliament, indicating that neither the Western Highlands Provincial Government nor the National Government had taken the trouble to look into the matter.


Mr Wai said media reports had shown that a major flood and landslide in his electorate had destroyed food gardens, coffee gardens and killed livestock as well as washed away a coffee factory worth thousands of kina.



Tambul Temperature



The regular temperature at Tambul, Western Highlands normally hangs around 15 degrees Celsius but it has been known to drop to temperatures below zero. When this happens you can hear the crying of people as they discover their food gardens have been destroyed by frost. Frost has been experienced in 1972, 1982 and 1997. The last severe frost in Tambul was October 2002 when the temperature dropped to minus 0.18 degrees Celsius.



Madang Evictions



The atmosphere is not so tense in the town of Madang since the Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, intervened in police gearing up to evict settlers from land that is not theirs. The Madang Provincial Government had appealed to the illegal settlers in town to pack up and leave or face the consequences of a forced eviction by police. The illegal settlers have had plenty of warning with the exercise commencing on 6th of December 2002.

More than a thousand villagers from Yabob and Amele villages located along the highway that links Madang to Lae and the Highlands have said that they support the Madang Government's eviction exercise.



Madang Cruiser



The Seven Seas Mariner cruise liner dropped into Madang recently with 250 passengers eager to see what Madang had to offer. Another 100 tourists arrived on the MS Deutschland. The visitors paid visits to the museum at the Madang Visitors and Cultural Bureau, the market and Bilbil village. Many of the visitors also attended a singsing at Forum Park hosted by a local hotel. Several of them were lucky enough to have enough time to fly to Goroka and see the world famous mudmen before heading back to the ship.



Fake Claims



The Inter-Government Relations Minister, Sir Peter Barter, has told Parliament that fake claims by 2002 election workers for allowances had amounted to more than K16 million when the actual amount was far less than that. Sir Peter gave an example of the Southern Highlands where the initial claim was for K1.2 million and this was later slashed to about K430,000.



AIDS Law



The National Executive Council has directed the First Legislative Counsel to draft legislation that will substantially improve the management of the related conditions and protect people. It will provide for voluntary, informed consent for HIV testing with pre-test counselling and post test support.



Air Niugini



Gumine MP, Nick Kuman, has quoted the wage bill for Air Niugini as K40 million in wages annually. Much of this bill goes towards the wages of non-national workers. It was also reported that the ex-CEO (chief executive officer) earned around $A1,000 per day before he left last year.



Manu Autoport



A fire has destroyed a Chinese-owned store and sleeping quarters near Manu Autoport in the Port Moresby suburb of Korobosea. An anonymous witness said before the fire started a vehicle was spotted in the area and an occupant allegedly threw a burning object into the building.



Kina



The Kina has gained a bit of ground against other currencies. The most recent rates show the Kina buying between 26.5 and 27 US Cents and between 43 to 44 Australian Cents.

for daily rates please visit http://www.pngbd.com/finance/



Vanimo



The 44-kilometre stretch of road from Vanimo to Wutung in the West Sepik Province is going to be sealed after years of neglect. The road is also known as the border highway as it goes between Vanimo and the PNG Border with Papua in Indonesia.



Koiari Landowners



The Koiari landowners in the Central province have given the National Government seven days to honour its commitment of K2.7 million towards the operations of their business arm, Koiari Holdings Limited. If the payment is not made within the agreed time frame, the people will march to the Prime Minister's office in Waigani with their demand. The Koairis own the land where the dam for Port Moresby water supply is located.



Tourism Minister



Alois Kingsley, the Minister for Tourism, has been charged with assault, possession of a gun while under the influence of liquor, wilful damage and threatening to shoot after an incident that occurred at the PRL ground last year. Kingsley, the Member for Madang Open, was charged and later freed on bail, which was believed to have been K100.

 





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-- THE END --

Some of the ways of saying "that's all" are courtesy of Liz and her friends at the University of Technology in Lae. -- http://www.unitech.ac.pg

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Created 6 Mar 2003
Updated 6 Mar 2003

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