P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 16 Nov 2004

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay

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Papua New Guinea Gossip Newsletter


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Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
Neo Melanesian
English
bilas finery / jewellery / decoration
bilasim decorate
bun bone
bun i bruk fracture / broken bone
bun nating thin
de bilong malolo day off
de bilong wok workday
de day
dukduk ritual costume representing a spirit
gras / gras bilong het hair
gras grass
hariap quick
hariap hurry / hurry up
haus building / house

 

 

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 29.75 - 30.5 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.expedia.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



http://www.mrbeem.com/ -- Read about a BMW motorcycle rider and his travels around the world including Papua New Guinea.



Dive Boat Web Sites



http://www.bomatu.com/MVTiata.htm -- MV Tiata
http://www.chertan.com/ -- MV Chertan
http://www.febrina.com/ -- MV FeBrina
http://www.pngtourism.org.pg/png/export/sites/TPA/diving/mvpsport.htm -- MV Paradise Sport
http://www.mvgoldendawn.com -- MV Golden Dawn
http://www.peterhughes.com/star/Star_dancerindex.shtml -- MV Star Dancer



Tourism Web Sites



http://www.tourismmorobe.org.pg/morobe.html -- Morobe Tourism has a new website
http://www.pngtourism.org.pg -- PNG Tourism Promotion Authority
http://www.pngbd.com/ -- PNG Business Directory and Tourism Information
http://www.pngtravels.com -- PNG Travels Tourism Promotion Site
http://www.em.com.pg -- Eco Tourism Melanesia
http://www.spto.org -- The South Pacific Tourism Organisation
http://www.milnebaytourism.gov.pg -- The Milne Bay Tourism website



Port Moresby and Central



Coral Sea Hotels -- http://www.coralseahotels.com.pg
Ela Beach Hotel -- http://www.elabeachhotel.com.pg
Golden Motel -- rbasix(at)daltron.com.pg
The Weigh Inn Hotel -- theweighinn(at)global.net.pg
Granville Hotel -- http://www.islandshotels.com.au
Magila Hotel & Backpackers -- http://www.magila.com
Loloata Resort - 15 minutes from Port Moresby -- http://www.loloata.com
Pondorosea -- P.O.Box 6361, Boroko Fax - (675) 323 4555
Budget Inn -- budget-inn(at)dg.com.pg Fax: +675 321 7396



Napatana Lodge - Alotau



Napatana Lodge is the first eco-tourism lodge in Alotau. It 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 craftsman -- http://www.napatanalodge.com



Masurina Lodge - Alotau



Masurina Lodge is the oldest hotel in Alotau. For many years it was the only hotel. The website to visit for Masurina Lodge is --http://www.masurina.com -- and not -- http://www.masurina.com.pg -- The .com.pg site is a mess when viewed with my version of Internet Explorer (v6) and virtually unreadable. The straight .com site is much better and is now the official site. The site is linked to the Marlin 1 dive boat charters website located at -- http://www.marlin1charters.com.au/ -- The Marlin 1 site claims that you can see the best of coastal PNG from the Safety and Comfort of a well equipped and surveyed live-a-board charter boat.


 

News Items


Miss PNG Red Cross Competition



The new Miss PNG Red Cross for 2005 is Miss Warehouse - Ashwin Samson. Ashwin also won the Miss Charity Queen, Miss Traditional and Miss Photogenic titles. Ashwin and her fund raising team managed to raise over K25,000. Miss Western Highlands - Priscilla Daniels was the Miss PNG runner up and was also named Miss People's Choice and runner up Charity Queen.



Aussie High Comm



The Australian High Commission has revised its travel warning for Australians visiting PNG. The full text can be found at -- http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Papua_New_Guinea



Car Sales



The Toyota dealer in Port Moresby, Ela Motors, has claimed that they have 58 percent of the motor vehicle market in the country and that the nearest competitor only holds a 14 percent share of the market. Ela Motors went on to say that this is the first year for many years that the sales graph has started to go upwards. If this is related to the economy improving then that can be seen as a good sign.



Car Dealers



+ Boroko Motors -- http://www.boroko-motors.com
+ Ela Motors -- http://www.elamotors.com.pg
+ Hertz Hire Cars -- http://www.leasemaster.com.pg
+ Freeway Motors -- http://www.freewaymotors.com.pg



Western Highlands Province



The Holy Trinity Teachers College in the Western Highlands has recently opened a new state of the art Information Technology Learning centre valued at more than K1.3 million. This is the fourth centre in PNG to be funded by the AusAID program run by the Australian Government. The centre boasts a total of 27 computers along with centralised printers and scanners.



Go Karts



After being kicked off the PNG Defence Force Air Transport Squadron's base due to safety and other concerns the Port Moresby Kart Club now has a permanent home with a recently constructed track at the Port Moresby Country Club. The track was officially opened for practice on the 14th of August and followed by three races shortly thereafter. The karts unlike the dirt track ones that use to grace the Moitaka Showgrounds in the 80's are built for racing on bitumen. Many residents of Port Moresby will have fond memories of soccer in the 80's and early 90's being the Sir John Guise Stadium was built where their little under 7 kids competed in packs against other teams at the Cathay Club (now Port Moresby Country Club). The soccer ground has now been dug up and extended into a magnificent bitumen track for the go-karts.



Port Moresby Hospital



Due to staffing restrictions nurses at the Port Moresby General Hospital labour ward are in very short supply. There are often over 35 births day at the hospital and there are only two nurses per shift rostered on to help deliver babies. On occasions nurses from other wards at the hospital are able to help out but due to the unpredictability of giving birth this is not an ideal solution to the shortage brought on by cutbacks in public service recruitment.



Melanesian Discover



The Melanesian Discover operates various cruises throughout the year. Some cruises go from Madang and head towards the Sepik and others head towards the Trobriand Islands. Occasionally the ship heads towards Port Moresby fro dinner cruises around the Port Moresby harbour. The next anticipated visit to Port Moresby will be in December from the 9th to the 18th of December just in time for people to organise a Christmas party aboard the boat. For more information contact -- mtsmanager(at)mtspng.com -- or visit the web site at -- http://www.mtspng.com



Maprik Vocational Centre



The Prime Minister has presented the people of with K150.000 to help build a vocational school and upgrade the Brugam Community School to high school status.



Dentists



Many people fear visiting a dentist but in PNG it has been reported that there are only 12 professional dental surgeons in the country so it is only the lucky few that get to visit a dental surgeon. The University of PNG is reintroducing the Bachelor of dental surgery starting in 2005 to alleviate the shortage. AusAID has helped to fund the reintroduction by contributing K1.5 million and the university has been able to find K500,000 as well.



Manus Asylum Centre



The future of the asylum centre in Manus Province will be discussed at a joint Australian / PNG meeting to be held in Lae next month. The last "resident" of the centre left in May but the centre has not closed its doors yet.



Malahang Tech School



The European Union (EU) has said that for PNG to develop money needs to be invested in education. The EU has invested K1.6 million worth of infrastructure to the Malahung Technical High School in Lae, Morobe Province.



Taxes



Global Construction, a locally owned company, has managed to find enough money to pay over K9.5 million in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Commission Global Construction was founded over 13 years ago at Mendi in the Southern Highlands.



PNG 2005 Budget



The government is set to announce the budget for 2005 today (16 Nov 2004). The major strategy of the budget will be to target economic growth. Treasury officials have already indicated that the budget will be a "pro-growth budget, with more money going to priority areas such as health, education, police and better roads to support a stronger economy". It is hoped that petty politics do not cloud the issue when it comes time for the budget to be passed by parliament.



Security Bill



Parliament has passed a security bill unanimously that is aimed at regulating the security protection industry. The presently unregulated industry is riddled with unacceptably low wages for guards often along with a lack of character check on labour before employment. The low wages paid to the men who perform the real work has lead to many owners of companies becoming very rich at the sake of their men. This has also meant that it often difficult for the honest companies to win job contracts and survive.



Bougainville Milestone



A major milestone for the move towards an autonomous Bougainville has been reached. A total of 76 of the 96 Bougainville Constituent Assembly (BCA) voted to adopt the joint recommendations developed in Madang and Port Moresby. The recommendations provide a way forward on most of the outstanding issues concerning the need for the Bougainville constitution to be consistent with the PNG constitution.



Tourism



The Tourism Promotion Authority, with the endorsement of the National Executive Council, will set up a Tourism Office in Australia. The office, to be set up in Sydney, will coordinate the marketing of PNG in Australia as well as New Zealand.



Diabetes



No figures or facts are available on diabetes in PNG but it is fast becoming an epidemic in PNG and to make matters worse there is no dialysis machine in PNG to treat people with failing kidneys. Diabetics in PNG are often sentence to a death sentence unless they can seek treatment overseas. Diabetes, as a result of a growing obesity problem, is on the increase.



Teacher Scam



A "teacher", in the Eastern Highlands, has been picked up by authorities for having forged teaching documents. The documents have been produced with the help of modern computer technology such as colour scanners and computers. There may be as many as 100 teachers with forged documents that have been purchased from a man operating in Morobe Province. Authorities are investigating the incident.



Divine Word University



The Divine Word University, in conjunction with the European Union, has launched Divine Words first doctoral program. Two candidates have been nominated as the first people to do the doctorate. Both are from the University of PNG.



Kickboxing Title



Kartu Arang was set to defend his featherweight World Kickboxing Federation (WKBF) title in Brisbane last weekend but his contender for the crown failed to reach the weight limit for the class. It was then decided that the two would fight for the vacant next higher division title, the WKBF lightweight title. Kartu lost the 7 x 2 minute rounds fight on a points decision. Kartu still holds the WKBF featherweight title.



PNG Telephones



According to available data from the Department of Trade and Industry PNG has the worst telephone landline penetration in the Asia pacific region. PNG can only boast 13 telephone lines for every 1,000 people compared with close neighbour the Solomon Islands that has 18 and Fiji that has 106. Near neighbour Malaysia has 199. Only 13 percent of the PNG population lives in the urban areas. Figures also reveal that PNG has one doctor for every 13,699 people.



Wabag Elections



Police usually stationed in Wabag have been instructed to steer clear of the elections today and allow the special police squads shipped in from other provinces take care of looking after the elections. The previous election in 2002 saw the Wabag police station stormed by gunmen and ballot papers destroyed this nullified the election and is the reason for this by-election.



Aiyura National High



It has been reported that Aiyura National High School in the Eastern Highlands has managed to rid the school of a satanic cult. It has also been reported that the school is also owed K200,000 in school fees for the year. Students who have recently completed grade 12 will not be given their certificates until outstanding fees are paid.



Tapini Highway



The highway from Tapini to Port Moresby has been closed for over ten years but it is almost ready to reopen to the general public. The road was recently used by Tapini police to transport a rape suspect to Port Moresby. Tapini is a little less than 120 kilometres from Port Moresby.



Coming Events



The eighth PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference will be held at the Sheraton on The Park Hotel in Sydney, Australia on he 6th and 7th of December this year. A brochure and online registration form can be found at -- http://www.pnginvestment.cia.com.au.



Milne Bay Canoe Festival



From all reports the Milne Bay Canoe Festival held from the 5th to the 8th of November 2004 was a huge success. If you are after info on the event then please contact Tim Seeto at Alotau Enterprises (+675 641 1246), Eimi Kigolena at the Milne Bay Visitors' Bureau (+675 641 1503) or Gretta Kwasnicka on telephone number is +675 641 1290 or +675 641 0588 for more details.



Moresby North-East Election



No sooner has the dust settled on the recent Moresby North East election and the winner, Casper Wollom, installed into parliament than his election is challenged in the court of disputed returns. The matter is set to go before the courts on the 28th of November for further deliberation.






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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

If you can add to this list then please send email to PNG-News@pnggossip.com

 






Created 16 Nov 2004
Updated 26 Nov 2004

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