Kramer hopes grant will help tackle violence, abuse

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK - The National

POLICE Minister Bryan Kramer says the European Union (EU) has a K70 million grant to help address domestic violence and sexual abuses against minors.
“I will seek the EU’s help to use the fund to ensure the protection and safety of our mothers and young girls. We will work hand-in-hand with the EU,” he added.
Kramer said yesterday that the people would see big changes in the conduct of policemen and officers in the next three months in terms of attitude and accountability.
“And communities must play their part to help in crime prevention, instead of harbouring criminals.”
Kramer said a good example was the rescuing of a six-year-old child who was sexually abused by a senior family member in Port Moresby with the help of a Facebook posting.
“Today (yesterday) we were able to arrest the suspect and have him charged with sexual violence. That was because a FB member took the initiative to post or tag someone who then tagged me. I brought it to the attention of the police,” he said.
“The posting provided all the details to help the police track and rescue the victim.”
Kramer said that prior to the FB post, the mother of the victim had reported the incident to the Gordon police station.
“Unfortunately, the officers said that due to no car and fuel, they could not respond. The mother was also threatened not to report the matter,” he said.
“Now the mother and victim are in the women’s safe house.”
Meanwhile, Kramer said he had asked Police Commissioner Gari Baki to submit a report on all the outstanding cases, like the 2015 Hanuabada killing, 2016 University of PNG shooting, 2017 election related killing of police officers in Enga and Southern Highlands and the 2018 burning down of the Air Niugini Dash 8 plane in Mendi.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/kramer-hopes-grant-will-help-tackle-violence-abuse/

Aren’t we rich already? | Rosa Koian’s take on the Marape vision for PNG

Posted on My Land My Country

We all want change and we want that change to happen quickly.

Many of us feel deprived of certain opportunities and privileges and therefore miss or forget that we are rich already.

As a country we didn’t have to struggle to become an independent democratic nation.

Beyond that we are rich with our good Papua New Guinean ways, our cultures and traditions. Our people have in them various skills and talents that often are given freely. Our land holds rich mineral and natural resources that today in some parts of the country has become the cause our various divisions and tensions.

What we need is to appreciate this richness. Our constitution speaks of oneness, and respect for each other where we share equally the fruits out of our land and people. Yes we need to engage in the global spheres but our people are central to everything we want to do.

Papua New Guinea needs to distribute its wealth equally so that our children can have free good quality education that is relevant for our sustenance and growth and that our sick can access good quality health care at no cost in country.

We are rich when our women are appreciated as equals and are free from violence and our youth are an integral part of our decision making. We have to stop blaming the youth for our law and order situations and start taking responsibility to guide them.

As a nation going forward when we see and hear more deep thinking young Papua New Guineans coming out of our very own universities and embracing our values we know we are in charge of our destiny. We cannot continue to rely on foreign consultants to tell us how to run our country. Our ways are unique, diverse and deep and only we understand why we do things as Papua New Guineans. We must stop relying on borrowed concepts and ideas.

We want to be free from depending on development aid and foreign ideas that drive our development. It does not make sense when a mineral rich and natural resource rich nation depends heavily on aid. Take a look around, how many development projects are funded by foreign governments?

Annually we import K3-4 billion in food alone according to former National Planning Minister, Mr Richard Maru.  Our dependence on grains has superseded our own food products. We want to stop depending on huge food imports to sustain us. We are rich with land and the right climatic conditions to produce our own food all year round. Rather than taking land from the people we want to help them use their land to produce food.

Lifestyle diseases among young people in Papua New Guinea are rising. Our nutrition status is not getting any better. We need to stop feeding our children unhealthy fast foods and encourage local organic food.

Our own people are paying huge multiple taxes and we let companies get away with taxes. Until our people start earning comfortable wages and salaries then we know we are doing well as a country.

Many of our people who give service to this country do not live in decent homes serviced with proper water and sanitation systems and electricity.

We are rich when our banks and other service providers start doing service for our people instead of building empires based on profits.

Papua New Guinea our land is richly blessed. We have adopted a believe system that commands us to look after our God’s creation. And so when our forests, rivers, sea and land can be free from abuse and exploitation then we know we will be rich forever.

We are rich already. We just need to care more and look at our distribution mechanisms and make decisions responsibly.

Go to this link for more: https://mylandmycountry.wordpress.com/2019/06/20/arent-we-rich-already-rosa-koians-take-on-the-marape-vision-for-png/

Hela community with no access to road pay K620 for return flight to Tari

By PETER WARI - The National

IT costs K620 for a return flight toTari for people living in the Wanikipe community of Koroba-Kopiago of Hela.
Hela health authority emergency operation centre coordinator Rocky Wakinda told The National that there was no road link and people were isolated by swift rivers.
He said people living in Aluni, Ambi, Dodomona, Yokona, Wisky, Maliali, Kopiago, Paga and Trailiva villages travelled to Wanikipe station by raft.
“These people are peace-loving people, they look after health workers sent for vaccination programmes in the past and today for the measles, rubella and polio vaccination programme, they will take the responsibility and support,” Wakinda said.
“Parents dressed in ragged clothes, many children naked – they do their best to support health routine vaccination and that has broken the hearts of health workers who travel there for the vaccination programme.”
Wakinda said the initiative by provincial health authority chief executive Dr James Kintwa for a clothes donation drive would be appreciated by the people.
“It is K310 to travel to Tari town and K310 to return. So they make sure they have about K1,000 to do their shopping and airfares. So people travel to Tari town once or twice in a year,” he said.
Wakinda said people living near Tari town and those living in other districts and have road access were lucky.
They have heaps of clothes, some that are not used should be donated.
He said the donation drive was launched last Tuesday and Kintwa had appealed to people of Hela to donate clothes that they saw as not useful to the, for the Wanikipe community.
Kintwa said not all people living near Tari town and those in other districts were rich in clothes but they were blessed to have easy access to town and had something to wear.
“But for these people, clothes can last them many years while many new born babies and children are naked,” he said.
“We have to help those people by donating clothes to them. They are our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters living in places where there are no government services and we have to help them.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/hela-community-with-no-access-to-road-pay-k620-for-return-flight-to-tari/

Fears Bougainville independence will open Pacific door for China

By Ben Packham - The Australia

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne will visit Bougainville today amid fears an upcoming independence vote there could undermine regional stability and provide an opening for China to establish a strategic foothold in what could become the Pacific’s newest nation state.

The visit is the first by an Australian minister since a bungled 2015 attempt to open an Australian consulate led the PNG government to slap a ban on Australian officials travelling to the autonomous region.

Papua New Guinea, which fought a decade-long civil war with Bougainville rebels ending in the late 90s, is trying to convince Bougainvilleans to remain an autonomous PNG province.

PNG Minister for Bougainville Affairs, Sir Puka Temu, said Bougainville’s people needed to understand what “cutting the umbilical cord from Papua New Guinea” would mean.

“The revenue for Bougainville is only 20 million kina ($8.6m) per year,” Sir Puka said.

“They will need, according to international studies, at least 900 million kina ($390m) a year to rebuild Bougainville as an independent state.” He said independence would also mean “Papua New Guinea will not be able to be politically responsible for an independent Bougainville state”.

Bougainville’s people will vote on October 17 to either become an independent state or to have greater autonomy within PNG.

There is a widespread expectation that Bougainvilleans will vote in favour of independence in a result that would then have to be ratified by the PNG parliament, where it could face opposition from MPs who fear other provinces could follow.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape has said PNG was “stronger with Bougainville than without” but it would listen to the people of Bougainville “and then consult on options for the future”.

Lowy Institute Pacific program director Jonathan Pryke said the referendum outcome would have strategic implications “thanks to the active presence of China throughout PNG and the broader Pacific”. “Given the new strategic landscape, and not to mention the huge reserves left in Panguna (copper) mine, I would expect an independent Bougainville would have a number of potential international suitors to help them with their financial challenges,” Mr Pryke said.

Senator Payne was in Port ­Moresby yesterday for meetings with members of Mr Marape’s government, amid friction over the likely renewal of a $20 million a month Manus Island security contract for Paladin Solutions.

PNG Immigration Minister Petrus Thomas has called for Paladin’s contract to be terminated at its June 30 expiry, but Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton indicated this week it would be extended. Paladin yesterday said a case involving four guards from subsidiary firm Black Swan International who allegedly shot into a crowd, injuring four people, was “considered closed” by police.

Paladin said it had an “outstanding track record as an ethical provider of security, safety, risk management, community engagement and garrison ­services”.

Mr Dutton’s office has refused to release an Ernst & Young report on the awarding of the contracts to Paladin to provide security services on Manus Island.

Go to this link for more: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/fears-bougainville-independence-will-open-pacific-door-for-china/news-story/4f4f0d00293adfd4e9da65621ab73d8d

PNG’s fluid politics: winners & losers from O’Neill to Marape

How members of parliament voted in the first five months of 2019

MICHAEL KABUNI | Devpolicy Blog | Edited extracts

PORT MORESBY – Papua New Guinea politics is fluid. In January 2019 the government voted to adjourn parliament with 88 votes to the opposition’s 23).

On 10 April 2019, James Marape resigned as minister for finance as well as a member of the People’s National Congress (PNC) party led by O’Neill.

Joining the opposition, he was nominated to replace prime minister Peter O’Neill in a vote of no confidence when parliament met on 7 May 2019.

Marape was later followed by 26 other MPs who either resigned as PNC members or left the coalition and joined the opposition, increasing numbers to 50.

To avoid a vote of no confidence, the government voted again to adjourn the parliament to 28 May 2019, but this time by only 59 votes to the opposition’s 50.

After the adjournment, in an attempt to attract more MPs to the opposition camp, James Marape withdrew his nomination and put the position on the table.

Political parties and ministerial portfolios under the O’Neill government

More MPs from the coalition, including 15 MPs from the United Resource Party (URP), led by William Duma, left the government coalition to join the opposition.

In a secret ballot, the opposition nominated Patrick Pruaitch, leader of National Alliance party, as the opposition’s nominee for prime minister.

When the parliament met on 28 May 2019 the opposition moved the motion to replace the Parliament Business Committee – the committee that decides the validity of the motions of no confidence.

They succeeded in replacing the government MPs in the committee with opposition MPs by 67 votes to the government’s 42 votes.

With a vote of no confidence against him imminent, O’Neill resigned on 29 May 2019, in turn creating a vacancy in the prime minister’s position, invalidating the vote of no confidence, and nullifying Patrick Pruaitch’s nomination as opposition candidate for prime minister.

Political parties and ministerial portfolios under the Marape government

Marape then moved to the government side on the same day and was nominated as the government candidate to contest the vacated prime minister position the next day.

On 30 May 2019, Marape was voted prime minister by 101 votes to Mekere Morauta’s eight votes.

Morauta, who earlier supported Marape for prime minister during the vote of no confidence attempts, was nominated as the opposition’s candidate on the floor of parliament.

The sway of votes between the government and the opposition in the first half of 2019 alone goes to show how fluid PNG politics can become.

Coalitions in PNG follow the office-oriented theory, whereby the MPs and political parties form coalitions to access ministerial portfolios. The party with the largest number of MPs usually has most of the portfolios.

Allocation of ministries by region under O’Neill government

The PNC had 46 MPs and 20 ministerial portfolios under the O’Neill government, the highest number of MPs and portfolios. It is the same for the rest of the political parties that were in the coalition, except Pangu Party that had 14 MPs but only two ministries.

This is because Pangu Party was in the opposition when the government was formed after the 2017 national elections and later moved to the government, putting itself at a disadvantage.

Now, under Marape, the Pangu Party with 28 MPs has 13 portfolios and PNC has 18 MPs with nine portfolios. However, People’s Party, Melanesian Alliance and Our Development Party each have only two ministries, even though they have 13, 6 and 3 MPs respectively.

These three parties are also a construct of the crisis leading up to change in prime minister. Melanesian Alliance did not win any seats in the 2017 national elections, but seven members of Pangu Party led by Sam Basil resigned from Pangu and joined Melanesian Alliance.

Ministerial portfolio allocation by region under the Marape government

The other seven Pangu MPs moved to the opposition on 10 June 2019 and remained until 14 of the MPs that resigned from PNC joined them, including two from other parties. Our Resource Party also did not have any MPs until three PNC MPs resigned and revived it in June 2019.

The People’s Party had one MP until 11 MPs resigned from different political parties and joined it between April and June 2019. People’s Party left the O’Neill-led coalition in May 2019.

United Resource Party (URP), which did not get any portfolios, had 15 MPs but seven resigned and joined other parties, leaving eight.

Marape explained that some political parties wanted more portfolios and rejected one or two portfolios he offered to them. It is possible that URP was one of those parties that negotiated for more portfolios and missed out.

There are four regions in Papua New Guinea: Highlands, Momase, Southern and Islands. Portfolio allocations are proportionate to the number of MPs from each region. The Highlands region, with 41 MPs (six provincial governors and 35 open MPs), has the highest number of ministries.

Composition of the Marape Cabinet

Islands has the least number of MPs and ministries. The Momase region had fewer portfolios than Southern in the O’Neill Government but more under Marape.

Chimbu province was allocated four ministries by Marape – the highest – whilst Northern (Oro) Province, Western Province and Bougainville were not allocated any portfolios.

Twenty-one out of the 32 ministers in the Marape government served under O’Neill as ministers. Nine are surviving PNC MPs whilst 12 are PNC MPs who resigned from PNC between April and June 2019. Eleven are first time ministers, and three were appointed from opposition ranks.

The fluidity displayed in the events leading up to change of prime minister is not uncommon in PNG.

Despite critics arguing on social media that portfolios were not distributed fairly (for instance, that Northern, Western and Bougainville did not receive any portfolios), by region, the ministries are proportionate to number of MPs.

As a province, Chimbu province is the biggest winner with four of its seven MPs given portfolios. As a region, Momase gained with three more ministers than were allocated under the previous government.

MPs that joined Pangu had higher chances of being allocated portfolios. The biggest losers in terms of ministerial representation are URP (from four to no ministers) and People’s Party (12 MPs but only two ministers).

Michael Kabuni is a teaching fellow in political science at the University of Papua New Guinea

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/pngs-fluid-politics-winners-and-losers-from-oneill-to-marape.html

Drop In Mineral Exploration ‘Threatens Mining Industry’

Melisha Yafoi | Post Courier | June 19, 2019

The steady decline in exploration activities particularly mineral exploration is a grave concern for the mining industry [but really for nobody else!].

PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum president Gerea Aopi said yesterday that the sector has been depressed and it is of grave concern for the chamber and the industry.

Mr Aopi said the decline threatens the sustainability of the mining industry which has been the back bone of PNG’s economy for more than three decades, adding that exploration is the lifeblood of a vibrant resource sector.

While commenting on this, he said they want to work more closely with the government on the revised Mining Act as it is an important policy that has taken more than a decade to complete.

Mr Aopi said the industry is concerned that some of the changes that have been proposed will have severe negative impacts on the immediate and long-term both existing and proposed projects, to the detriment of PNG’s economy.

“It is important that fiscal and regulatory settings achieve a balance between the expectations of the people, good governance of the nation’s mineral wealth, and the requirements for attracting long-term investments.

“A sound legislative framework provides for a fair distribution of returns between the developer and the state, security of tenure to its investors, and stability of investment terms,” he said.

Mr Aopi said recently the chamber and the mining industry together have contributed to the review currently being undertaken by the government on the country’s Mining (safety) Act and regulations.

“We are fully supportive of this process and are happy with the close collaboration we are having with the government on this review process.

Having an up to date regulation that ultimately promotes the safety of our mine workers and our operation is paramount,” he said.

“We are also ready to support the government’s vision to establish a petroleum resources authority. “We’ve stated publically that industry’s position on many occasions and our position remain steadfast.”

Mr Aopi said the establishment of a strong, robust and efficient regulator that is financially autonomous will have the capacity to promote increased oil and gas exploration and assist the government in regulating petroleum industry activities.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/06/20/drop-in-mineral-exploration-threatens-mining-industry/

Pruaitch lays the blame for PNG’s recent failures on the Clowns of Crown

By Martyn Namorong - Namorong Report

Speaking during the Speaker’s Summit on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Patrick Pruaitch warned against the politics of scape-goating of resource sector for Papua New Guinea’s social and economic ills.

“I am unhappy about the constant harping that PNG laws have been copied from overseas jurisdictions and that they are undermining the national interest,” Pruaitch said.

Pruaitch pointed to the fact that unlike Australia, PNG laws enable state equity participation in both minerals and hydrocarbons.

PNG’s Oil & Gas Act enables the PNG Government to buy a 22.5% stake in any oil or gas development. It includes provisions not seen anywhere else in the world. Besides royalties paid to landowners, a development levy provides additional revenues to Provincial and Local Level Governments.

“In virtually all Commonwealth countries, resource project royalties accrue to the State. In PNG, they go directly to landowners, an initiative that was directly driven by the late Hon. Anderson Agiru, a true son of Hela,” he added.

The late Anderson Agiru spearheaded the 1998 Special Parliamentary Committee on Oil and Gas and made recommendations for changes to the then Petroleum Act. Agiru put his heart and soul into carving out the Oil & Gas Act, and it is a grave injustice to credit the work of this great Papua New Guinean to an unknown foreigner. It was Agiru himself who, subsequently in Kokopo, spearheaded the goal of acquiring additional equity in PNG LNG for project landowners.

Pruaitch reiterated the fact that it is the role of the government to deliver public services to the people.

“I am not aware of any part of the world where mining and petroleum companies deliver education, health and social services,” he said.

Pruaitch stated that PNG’s current difficulties with delivery of goods and services were the result of poor economic management by the previous O’Neill regime also referred to as the Clowns of Crown.

He said that rather than killing the goose that lays the golden egg, the government should reflect on how Clowns of Crown squandered massive revenue growth.

When the O’Neill Government took office in 2012 it managed a record K9.7 billion National Budget. In the intervening period to 2018, government revenue and grants increased by an amazing 45%.

“According to the 2018 Final Budget Outcome released a few weeks ago, government revenue and grants last year hit an all-time record of K14.1 billion,” Pruaitch said.

“So how can we, in the Opposition, believe the nation faces an economic crisis when Government revenue was K1.3 billion more than projected revenues in the 2018 Budget and K2.6 billion more than it was in 2017.

“Virtually any country in the world would have been over the moon with such windfall revenues,”

In PNG’s case, the country got deeper into debt and the government failed to pay for goods and services it purchased.

“The heart of this crisis is simple, “Pruaitch added.

“The O’Neill Government was incapable of living within its means.

“It squandered unsurpassed revenues and borrowed and spent an additional K17.1 billion.

“Debt in 2018 hit a record K25.6 billion, rising from K8.5 billion in 2012.”

The previous NA-led Government had lowered the debt burden, while progressing significant economic growth and diversification. By contrast, the O’Neill Government has overseen falling employment and incomes and a lack of capacity to deal with natural disasters and economic downturns.

There is a danger that current plans, which are driving away foreign investment, will hurt government revenues in the year ahead amidst fears regarding a slowing of the world economy.

In its latest PNG Economic Update, the World Bank warns that “persistently low net inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) indicate a largely unfavourable business environment”. Recent policies, the World Bank warned, will further erode the PNG’s image to foreign investors.

Pruaitch said the government, the community and business sector should work cooperatively in a win-win strategy. This will underpin economic recovery, along with economic diversification and sustainable medium-and longer-term growth.

Such a strategy, he said, will reduce widely experienced poverty levels and keep alive ‘the richest black Christian nation’, aspiration to which Prime Minister Marape subscribes.

Go to this link for more: https://medium.com/namorong-report/pruaitch-lays-the-blame-for-pngs-recent-failures-on-the-clowns-of-crown-ad3eafc2f51b?postPublishedType=initial

More than a million PNG children to be vaccinated in renewed drive

Posted by Radio New Zealand

The head of the World Health Organisation in Papua New Guinea says the government is surprised by the progress in a mass vaccination programme to tackle polio, measles and rubella.

Luo Dapeng says since polio returned to the country last year, huge efforts have been made to vaccinate more than three million children under the age of 15.

26 children are confirmed to have had polio, and one child has died as a result.

That outbreak was linked to poor vaccination coverage nationwide.

Dr Luo said the current programme has traversed the country, combining the polio vaccine with measules, mumps and rubella immunisations to protect children.

Dr Luo said the WHO and the UN children's agency UNICEF have helped to train more 12,000 health workers and the results are impressive.

"The achievement, what the PNG government have actually achieved for the last few rounds has been a surprise to many of the partners, even the government themselves," he said.

"They realise they can do it if they get the proper resources and support from outside, the proper technical support like WHO and UNICEF, they can deliver on the service at a critical time like an emergency."

Luo Dapeng said the current phase of the vaccination programme aims to immunise more than a million children in three weeks.

Go to this link for more: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/392475/more-than-a-million-png-children-to-be-vaccinated-in-renewed-drive

PNG's petroleum minister seeks legislative reform

Posted by Radio New Zealand

Papua New Guinea's government says legislative reform in the oil and gas sector is imperative.

The new Petroleum Minister, Kerenga Kua said the Oil and Gas Act was considered adequate when the legislation was enacted in 1998, but is now in need of change.

He said there's a widespread public view that PNG's burgeoning petroleum sector should provide more returns to the state, including national and provincial governments, and landowners

Mr Kua said this is something that must be addressed in the Oil and Gas Act, and the Income Tax Act.

"Both of them have to be reviewed to see at what levels it can be adjusted and increased, without making an investment unprofitable for other shareholders. So that's a delicate balance that we have to explore. But it is a reform that must take place."

Mr Kua has also confirmed that an internal review will be conducted into the recently signed Papua LNG gas deal will be reviewed.

The move by the former Peter O'Neill-led government to sign with French company Total for the $US13-billion Papua LNG project in Gulf province in April precipitated a series of resignations from cabinet which led to the recent change in government.,

Current prime minister, James Marape, and other MPs who resigned cited concerns that local interests were not being served and claimed mandatory requirements were not fulfilled before the agreement was signed

Mr Kua said the review would be done to satisfy the government and people that the deal complies with all applicable laws and protocols.

He said that as a new government, they had to do their own due diligence to satisfy that two important benchmarks have been satisfied.

"Number one, is that this agreement has been negotiated and signed in accordance with our constitution and our Oil and Gas Act," he explained.

"Secondly, we have to be assured, as a government whose duty it is to look after the interests of the eight, nine million people in PNG, that we are getting a proper return on this investment."

However, the outgoing Petroleum Minister, Fabian Pok, has defended the Papua LNG Project agreement, saying there it was better for the country than the earlier PNG LNG deal.

He said his team had put in a substantial effort to ensure the deal was beneficial to the state, stake holders and landowners.

Meanwhile, Mr Kua is only a couple of days into the new role but has already identified the need for serious changes in a ministry which oversees a sector which is the single biggest source of revenue for the state.

To date, he noted, compliance had been a problem for both developers and the government itself.

From the government side, he suggested the department lacked cohesion because its officers were scattered in various offices rather than one single location. he added that the department had not been resourced properly.

From the industry side, he said despite the government's shortcomings, developers must not be hasty about getting projects up and running in PNG.

What they have to do is go through the checklist, make sure that all the requirements under the Oil and Gas Act are complied with sequentially, instead of jumping a few steps for whatever reason perhaps contributed to by the government, a lack of response or whatever, that should not be the reason for them to jump the steps."

Go to this link for more: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/392431/png-s-petroleum-minister-seeks-legislative-reform