Medicines secured

By REBECCA KUKU - The National

BORNEO Pacific Pharmaceutical Ltd has been awarded Government contracts to supply medical kits and antibiotics valued at more than K100 million.
Health secretary Pascoe Kase, pictured, said the National Executive Council approved the recommendation by the Health Department which saw Borneo Pacific win the medical kits supply from three other bidders and antibiotics from 14.
He said the two one-year contracts were handed to Governor-General Bob Dadae only on Tuesday and he thanked him for signing them promptly at Government House yesterday.
“The country is crying out for medicines and his fast action would ensure that medicine supplies would soon reach the people,” Kase said.
“In two weeks’ time, the medicines will be handed over to the Health Department and we will then distribute the supplies through our four logistics companies.”
One contract worth K65,271,000 is for the supply of medical kits and the other, valued at K43,465,000, is for antibiotics.
Borneo Pacific chairman Sir Martin Poh said he was aware of talks about the quality of the medical supplies.
“There have been talks about the medicine supplies not being up to standard, but it’s just rumours. Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical is the only ISO certified health distributor in the country,” he said.
“We have the capacity and the qualification to procure and supply, and get our supplies from various countries. All the medicines are tested for quality at a WHO-certified testing facility and comes with a proof of quality test.
“We are Papua New Guinea citizens and the company is 100 per cent nationally owned. Our heart is with the people and we want to ensure that people have medicines.
“So we procure and supply with our own money, and the Government pays us later. In fact, the Government still has outstanding payments from 2018 but, like I said, we are Papua New Guineans and want to ensure that our people have medicines. We are willing to procure and supply using our own funds and give the Government time to pay us later when they are ready.”
The contracts were tendered last February for the procurement and supply of the 100% Medical Kits and the antibiotics.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/medicines-secured/

Australian teenager Emai Owen was burned in a fire as a baby in PNG — but she insists she's lucky

By Suzie Raines - ABC News

Emai Owen describes herself as a "glass half full" person. 

When she was five months old, she was so badly burnt in a fire in a remote village in Papua New Guinea her head was fused to her neck.

Her mother believes it was a deliberate act of violence perpetrated because of a land dispute.

Since that attack in 2004 she's had 19 reconstructive surgeries. Now at 15 years old, she lives in Melbourne and counts herself lucky.

"Me getting burnt in that fire was heartbreaking," she said.

"Do I wish that it never happened? No.

"That probably seems like a pretty odd thing to say, but if I didn't get burnt in the fire, I wouldn't be here."

WARNING: This story contains images that some readers may find distressing

'It's not worth trying to save her, just let her go up to God'

PHOTO: Emai as a baby sitting on her mother Elsie's shoulders.(Supplied)

Emai's mother, Elsie Owen, believes her daughter was deliberately placed in the fire by enemies of the family, an act of violence perpetrated because of an ongoing land dispute.

"People lifted her from her bed and deliberately pushed her face into the fire and that's how she got burnt," Mrs Owen told the ABC.

She detailed what happened in a statutory declaration — an official document signed and declared to be true in the presence of an authorised witness.

In that document, Mrs Owen recounts walking from her village of Musave to stay a night in the neighbouring village of Katipro so she could take Emai to a clinic for immunisations the following day.

Both Musave and Katipro are very remote villages in PNG's Eastern Highlands.

Mrs Owen said she left baby Emai on a bed in her deceased parents' hut, surrounded by objects, and went to wash in a stream.

PHOTO: Emai Owen's burns fused her neck to her forearm. She required multiple reconstructive surgeries. (Supplied)

She said she was gone about 20 minutes and on returning to the house, found Emai in the fire.

"The cooking pots [on the fire] and wire frame had been removed and she had been pushed to the centre," Mrs Owen said in the declaration.

"Her mouth was full of ash and she made no sound.

"I believe she was deliberately harmed by persons in the village who had an ongoing disputation with my family."

Emai was rushed to a nearby health centre where they applied sugar paste, toothpaste and aloe vera to her burns.

It took Emai's parents five hours to carry her from the village to the nearest hospital in the town of Goroka.

"They said in their own words it's not worth trying to save her, just let her go up to God," Emai said.

"Basically, there wasn't anything they could do, [they] were just telling my parents that they should just let me die."

'The most severe burns I'd treated at that age'

PHOTO: Surgeon Christopher Coombs said Emai's burns were the most severe he'd seen in a child her age. (Supplied)

Despite her severe burns, Emai survived in Goroka Hospital for almost a year before an Australian nurse found her.

Arrangements were made with the Goroka Rotary Club and Children First Foundation for Emai to be medically evacuated to Australia.

PHOTO: Emai has had 19 reconstructive surgeries after the fire fused her head to her shoulder. (Supplied)

"When she came to Australia, she was one of the most severe burn survivors I'd treated at that age," said reconstructive surgeon Christopher Coombs.

"She was only about a year and a half old and because they had limited ways to treat her, she ended up with severe scarring. In fact the side of her face was welded to the forearm."

Since arriving in Melbourne in 2004, Geoff Clarke and his late wife Catharine McKean have supported Emai, who lives at their home in East Melbourne.

"When she was small she sometimes got stared at by other small children and she found that distressing, but that's all passed now," Mr Clarke said.

"I think she's had a very normal life to date apart from all the surgeries she's had."

PHOTO: Emai is a keen basketball player. (Supplied)

The teenager said she's grateful for her education at her Melbourne school.

Her childhood injuries haven't stopped her from pursuing her passions, like shooting hoops with her basketball team and playing the drums.

"I believe in every bad situation, there comes a good situation out of it," she said.

Along her road to recovery, Emai was granted a protection visa and Australian Citizenship.

PHOTO: Emai is thriving in Australia where she is able to pursue her passions, like music. (ABC News)

Emai's parents believe their child would be at risk of harm if she returned to Musave village.

Mrs Owen's statutory declaration reveals further details about attacks perpetrated against her family because of the land dispute.

"My parents were poisoned in 2003 and 2004. Family enemies sought the services of sorcerers to disempower them, and enable the delivery of a lethal injection of chemicals," she said in the document.

The Home Affairs department declined to comment on Emai's case, but reiterated the purpose of a protection visa is to safeguard people who cannot return to their home country "due to a well-founded fear of persecution or risk of harm".

Pervasive violence in PNG

PHOTO: Emai had an emotional reunion with her family in PNG after not seeing them for two years. (Supplied)

Mr Clarke and Emai travelled to Papua New Guinea to visit Emai's parents in June, and they met in the town of Goroka because of safety concerns.

"There is a significant underlaying problem of sorcery being believed in and people with injuries or disabilities bringing bad luck to the village," Mr Clarke said.

"There's been a rise in sorcery recently with innocent people being accused of being witches and these people are being brutally, brutally dealt with."

Violence is not uncommon in remote PNG and children can be attacked or caught in the crossfire, said Denga Ilave, operations director of Femili PNG.

"Sorcery-related accusations and violence — it's a reality in PNG," she said.

"Especially up in the highlands, the dangers surrounding this type of accusation are a reality that affects women and children … and it puts life at risk."

She said there was the persistent threat of accused sorcerer's houses being burned down or people being forced from their homes, and police are sometimes too afraid to intervene.

"They lose everything they own and in fear of their life, they will try to run away to escape the violence," she said.

"If the community people outnumber the police officers, it can be risky for our police to intervene."

PHOTO: Geoff Clarke and his late wife supported Emai to build a new life in Australia. (ABC News)

It was an emotional reunion for Emai and her family in PNG, but Mr Clarke says she's thriving in Australia and is a person with "great inner strength".

"She was born with spirit, and she tackles everything with spirit," he said.

Go to this link for more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/how-girl-from-remote-png-survived-a-fire-in-land-dispute-attack/11412190?fbclid=IwAR23tcBz6ZSExOz0BV6rVwOdtYING6vsZGSKjqd4Z4sKaQAMgcwxo8iKAwg

‘Company met key requirements’

Posted on The National

HEALTH and HIV and AIDS Minister Elias Kapavore, pictured, says Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical was awarded the contract for the procurement and supply of the medicines because it was the only qualified company that bided with the lowest amount.
Kapavore told The National that despite the rumours about the quality of medicines and materials supplied by the company, he had come to see that the company was not only qualified but had the capacity to procure and supply.
“Like everybody else, I asked the same questions about Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical but going through the documents and seeing how they met the key requirements and also how they were qualified and had the capacity to procure and supply, I brought the submission to the National Executive Council (NEC),” he said.
“And after it was initially rejected, I had to bring it in a second time for it to be finally approved but I can honestly tell you that many ministers were against it.
“So yes, we are listening to the concerns raised but these are all just rumours and allegations,” he said.
Kapavore said that all medicine and pharmaceutical drugs were checked at World Health Organisation (WHO) certified testing facilities.
“The contract was put on tender in February of 2018 under former Minister Sir Puka Temu, and for 18 months the department had made sure the company met the requirements before recommending it to National Executive Council for approval.”
“The packing, labelling and quality checks are all done before the supplies are imported; we even test the samples.”
Kapavore said the vetting process and monitoring process involved professionals from the department and relevant state agencies.
“Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical satisfied and met all the requirements and complied with, no evidence of any poor performance so the contracts were awarded to them,” he said.
Kapavore also said that the contract was only for one year and was awarded because the country was in need of medicines and Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical was the only company that had the capacity to supply the needed efficiently and at a reasonable cost.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/company-met-key-requirements/

Govt seeking to pay off retrenched staff: Abel

By HELEN TARAWA - The National

THE Government will need a significant amount of money to pay retrenched staff currently on its payroll, Finance and Rural Development Minister Charles Abel, pictured, says.
Abel, without elaborating on the amount of money required, told The National that there was a significant number of public servants who had for one reason or another not working any longer but were still on the payroll.
“They may have reached retirement age or have voluntarily retired or while in the process of going through some sort of restructure in the public service lost their jobs,” he said.
“The issue is that it’s significant money to pay them off, so what happens in the meantime is that they just stay on the payroll until their retrenchment exercise is fully completed by paying them out.
“We cannot pay them out, they continue to remain on the payroll so it is another area where we have to budget properly so we can remove these people on the budget by paying them and they go.
“This is one of the areas that continue to be highlighted but we just don’t have the resources to address these things properly,” Abel said.
He said there were about 120,000 public servants on the Government payroll every year.
Abel said the Government continued to recruit several thousands more because people were coming out of the teaching colleges, nursing schools, doctors and police.
“We still have to factor for this but everything needs to be properly captured in the budget.
“The other issue is the right balance so it’s good to bring on more teachers, no one is arguing about nurses, doctors and police – we need them.
“But on the other hand, do we need some of the other people that are coming on the system?
“Do we need a lot of the administrative type workers who are also coming on the system?
“We just have to make sure we have the right balance so we are spending more money on payroll for more people in Waigani or unnecessary new agencies.
“You can’t stop the wage bill growing but you just need to keep at a sustainable level.
“We need to keep it within five to six per cent of the Gross Domestic Product level, that we should keep the wage so that we have the right size public service.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/govt-seeking-to-pay-off-retrenched-staff-abel/

Aid sought to save Pacific from rising sea

Posted on The National

PRIME Minister James Marape, is insistent on the use of modern technology towards land reclamation by the advance economies to save small Pacific islands from rising sea levels.
He made the statement yesterday during discussions on climate change matters at the 50th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ meeting currently underway in Funafuti, Tuvalu.
“My message is that I’m not here to talk about relocating people,” Marape said.
“I’m talking about ensuring that they build-up resistance to climate change locally by use of land reclamation as well as permanent seawalls. This can be assisted by advance economies,” Marape said.
He said the smaller Pacific islands were paying the price of climate change caused by big, advanced economies and they should assist with modern technology and planning future for the smaller islands affected by climate change.
Marape also appealed to all the 18 member countries of the Pacific Islands Forum to unite as one bloc, not suggest as a regional group but more importantly at the global forum to raise the issue of climate change strongly so that it could be heard.
In today’s discussion, Marape is expected to propose a strategy to involve bigger nations to assist smaller nations exposed to climate change by modelling them, finding ways using modern technology to prevent sea-level rise, build-up land reclamation programmes that could be beneficial in the long-term.
He gave an example of how Singapore as a small nation was reclaiming land in a big way and could also be done in the Pacific if everyone worked together.
Marape said he would be vocal about climate change and bring the idea forward when he presented his speech later this year at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
The forum will end tomorrow.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/aid-sought-to-save-pacific-from-rising-sea/

Stop wasting time going to court: PM

Posted on The National

PRIME Minister James Marape, pictured, says time has come for leaders like Patrick Pruaitch (Opposition leader) to admit that generational change has taken place and join hands to work together instead of wasting the country’s time by going to court.
He said this in response to the Opposition leader challenging his election as the eighth prime minister of PNG, questioning whether it was constitutional.
“Our country is going through a tough phase, including a tough 2019 fiscal year, and I do not know what the Opposition leader and his cohorts, including a few senior leaders of the former O’Neill-government, will achieve by going back to courts on my Parliamentary election as prime minister on May 30,” Marape said.
“Since assuming office, we have been looking retrospectively on how we have come as an economy and it does not look good when we are trying to fix our struggling economy that was caused by recklessness, laziness and lack of innovation by treasurers and PMs of recent past.”
Marape said Pruaitch, along with O’Neill, had run the economy as Treasurer and PM from 2007-11 and Pruaitch was again Treasurer from 2014 to 2017.
“The Treasurer and PM are key leaders responsible for our economy and as a former finance minister responsible for expenditures in the same period, I saw first-hand their lack of foresight and innovation in diversification of our economy. Their weak and lazy approach – just depending on commodity-price boom and when revenue drops, they run to quick and easy but expensive domestic debts – the reason why we are struggling today in our economy.”
The prime minister said when he talked about taking back PNG, he was also talking about taking it back from politicians who were lazy and weak to take the country to the next phase, from politicians who were susceptible to individual and corporate greed.
“We have failed our citizens in the last decade yet we hide our greed for power under the auspices of procedural compliance and good governance and we use institutions of states like courts to run personal agendas.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/stop-wasting-time-going-to-court-pm/

Marape Backs Moratorium, Leans Towards Ban On Experimental Seabed Mining

By Matthew Vari - Post Courier 

Prime Minister James Marape has indicated he will support a proposed regional moratorium on seabed mining, however, could not go as far as to say a ban outright would be needed.

In an interview with the Post-Courier at the opening ceremony of the Pacific Islands Forum on Tuesday, Mr Marape responded when asked in relation to Fiji’s stance on the matter, that he would support the move, making specific reference to what he described the Nautilus Solwara 1 project as “a total failure”.

During Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s opening remarks at the Sautalaga climate update meet on Monday, he informed leaders present of Fiji introducing its own climate change act, of which the country will push an ambitious proposal for both its national and a regional moratorium on seabed mining.

“I ask you all to join in this ambitious venture and also support a 10 year moratorium on seabed mining from 2020 to 2030 which would allow for a decade of proper scientific research of our economic zone and territorial waters,” Mr Bainimarama said.

Sentiments supported by James Marape regarding the proven viability of deep sea mining, which he said is not yet a proven concept. “As a nation we have lost over K300 million in a concept of deep sea mining.

“Until that deep sea mining technology is environmentally sound and takes care of our environment at the same time we mine it, then at this point in time, I support the call made by the Fijian Prime Minister, we just need to have the best technology available,” Mr Marape sternly said.

When asked if it could go as far as supporting a ban, the Prime Minister left this option out adding just as the moratorium aims to prove the viability- that process will prove “on a case by case basis going into the future”.

“If there is an opportunity for deep sea mining, so long as environmentally it is friendly and the harvest of resource is done in a sustainable manner then we can give considerations to this, but right now it is a show.

“We don’t have the luxury of that informed decisional research.

“This is because that technology is not proven anywhere and PNG we burnt almost K300 million in that Nautilus (Solwara) 1 project on a concept that someone told us it can work, but it is a concept that is a total failure as I speak,” the PM said.

Apart from 15 per cent state investment in the project, Kumul Mineral Holdings is also seeking redress for the unearned revenue to the tune of US$51 million (K173m).

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/08/15/marape-backs-moratorium-leans-towards-ban-on-experimental-seabed-mining/