P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 24 May 1999

PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay
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Welcome to the Papua New Guinea Gossip. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please e-mail them to giaman@pnggossip.com

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To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter queue -- please e-mail your contribution to pngnews.queue@pnggossip.com

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, is currently worth about 31 - 33 United States cents but varies on a daily basis.

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.

If a longer URL in this newsletter appears to be broken, please manually cut and then paste the link into your browser.

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. -- The daily rate for Kina from several banks in PNG can be found on the PNG Business Directory -- http://www.pngbd.com




Air Niugini

Air Niugini has recently advertised for sale two of its assets. They
are the housing estate that is called Air Niugini Hill, Korobosea and
the Lodge, located at 6 mile.

The Korobosea Housing Estate consists of 42 x 2 bedroom units,
68 x 3 bedroom units, 48 x 3 bedroom houses and 16 undeveloped
blocks of land.

Here is a bit of gossip about the newly arrived 4-engine jet on loan
from Australia. If anyone has been to Moresby you will realise that
the international area has always been different to the domestic
section of the airport. The new terminal is no different except the
distance between the two is greater. Of course the new jet arrived
at international from Cairns and then had to be towed to the
domestic area for the next sector. Needless to say that someone
had forgotten to send up the tow bar for the tug so I think Air
Niugini had to bus the passenger from the domestic terminal to the
plane located at the international on the first day.

Forestry

The National Forest Service may seize a stockpile of logs worth
about K3m in the Makapa project of the Western Province.

Apparently 16,000 cubic metres of logs owned by Innovasion
(PNG) have been seized because the company has not complied
with requirements set by the Forestry Act.

Free Press

Prime Minister Bill Skate has promised to uphold the freedom of
the press. He said, "It is my hope the spirit of free press is never
extinguished in Papua New Guinea."

Ted Diro, a provincial governor, challenged Prime Minister Bill
Skate to prove his support for a free and independent media by
ensuring an open, transparent and accountable government.

Public Curator's Office

It is reported that close to K5 million is reported to have been
misappropriated in the past eight years by the Public Curator's
Office.

Attorney General's Department Secretary Michael Gene said that a
recent review, which began in January this year, revealed that
accounts in the office had not been reconciled since 1991. He also
said that established procedures for proper accounts keeping were
never followed and in some instances proper documentation for
payments and receipts were never completed.

Bougainville

Representatives from the National Government, the Administration
of Bougainville, the BRA, the Resistance and the security forces
held talks in Arawa recently regarding the disposal of weapons. So
it is hopeful that all can agree so that peace will be allowed to
prevail.

Meanwhile the New Zealand High Commission office in Port
Moresby has confirmed that the planning for the installation of
telephones throughout Bougainville has been completed. It is now
down to physical application of the plans, which are to be carried
out in two phases. This will cost the New Zealand Government a
total of $NZ1.9 million (K2.28 million) with the first phase costing
$NZ1.2 million (K1.44 million).

Public Officers Superannuation Fund

About K63 million is required from the state by the Public Officers
Superannuation Fund (POSF) to payout around 10,500 ex-service
member's entitlements in this year's exit cases. There are about
3,500 members expected to be paid out along with 7,000 others
under the government's retrenchment exercise.A senior official
with the POSF who made this revelation said the recent K17.6
million paid by the state would only clear the members who left the
public service workforce in 1998 and not 1999. The government in
the last two years has been having budget problems and this is
affecting superannuation payments.

UPNG

The University of PNG Council has appointed the university's pro-
vice chancellor, Dr Cecelia Nembou, 46, as acting vice chancellor
of the University while the search for a permanent appointment
begins. She will be the first woman to take up the post, either on
an acting or a permanent basis.

New Government

Bernard Narokobi recently announced that the opposition would
only need five more members from the present government to be
able to form the next government. He added that the intention of
the Opposition to form the new government is not to change the
government for the sake of it, rather, a need for doing it, in the best
interest of the nation and for the sake of the people of Papua New
Guinea.

Sandline

To pave the way for the paying out of a total of US$25 million
dollars by the PNG government to Sandline, both parties agreed to
discontinue all commercial litigation and refrain from initiating any
fresh actions relating to the contract, both in Papua New Guinea
and abroad. Due to this the PNG government has have directed
that all litigation proceedings be discontinued as the first step
towards an agreed out of court settlement between the two parties.

East New Britain Landowner Payment

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court has delivered a landmark
decision, compensating landowners from East New Britain for
illegal logging. The K2.3 million is for damages and costs for
trespass and breach of contract and would be paid by two logging
companies and the State.

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Recommended Site
A site worth visiting, especially if you are
into diving is
http://www.diversionoz.com/epngdive.htm

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PNG newspaper sites

Post Courier
http://www.postcourier.com.pg

National
http://www.thenational.com.pg
http://www.wr.com.au/national

The Independent (now closed down)
http://www.tiare.net.pg/independent
http://www.niugini.com/independent


 

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