Mt Hagen Show draws 90 traditional groups, 500 tourists

By ELIAS LARI - The National

THE 60th Mt Hagen Show attracted more than 500 tourists and 90 traditional singsing groups and was opened by the Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae.
Police Minister Bryan Kramer, Australian High Commissioner Bruce Davis and Western Highlands Governor Paias Wingti were among the guest.
Torres Strait dancers from Australia also took part and sky-diving added colour and thrills to the two-day event that ended yesterday at Kagamuga showgrounds.
Sir Bob encouraged Papua New Guineans to fully adapt to culture and traditions because that aspect of the country’s pride had to be passed on to future generations.
He said cultural activities attracted tourists and they had to be practised continually so that they could reveal pride and identity.
Sir Bob said that his concern was how future generations were going to adapt to the cultures.
He said once people started to take part in such activities, it would give them courage and encouraged them to maintain the standard.
“I want the future generations to maintain that standard and look back at what our ancestors taught us and how we should abide by that rule,” he said.
“I’m feeling honoured by this cultural show because it is revealing the country’s pride and identity and we have to continue maintaining that.”
He said that he was happy that tourists from overseas had come to watch the show.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/mt-hagen-show-draws-90-traditional-groups-500-tourists/

Marape pledges K100 million

By Rebecca Kuku - The National

PRIME Minister James Marape, pictured, committed K100million to next year’s population and housing Census that was launched at the Stanley Hotel ans Suites in Port Moresby on Saturday.
Marape said Census was an important process that the Government attached great value to due to the need for evidence-based planning and decision-making and was a universally recognised standard for efficient management in any country.
“In acknowledging the need for the comprehensive national population and housing Census for our county, I would like to announce a commitment of K100 million on behalf of the Government for the 2020 Census,” he said.
“This funding is to support the 2020 Census operations from 2019-2022. This leaves a funding gap of K98 million.
“I therefore would like to appeal to our development partners and all the stakeholders (including corporate entities operating in the country) to partner with us in all possible ways, financially and materially, in filling this funding gap.
“Whichever gesture possible will go a long way in ensuring that together we can at the end have a successful Census to provide us with the much-needed factual information for all spheres of our development aspirations.”
Marape thanked the United Nations through their lead agency on population United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for committing technical support to ensure the quality and efficiency of the Census.
“Many, if not all, of you are aware that the UNFPA has a long history of working with different countries around the world in the undertaking of national population and housing Censuses and their assistance in the 2020 Census is well fitting,” he said.
Marape called on the people to take ownership of the Census.
He said the Census would provide key information on population and housing and that huge data set was a vital information source for the development, monitoring and evaluation of various socio-economic policies, strategies and development plans at national, sub-national and sectorial levels.
“It will allow us to see population changes in the last decade, covering many aspects of our population, including size, structure and distribution, fertility, mortality, migration trends, education, employment, and other vital information pertaining to their living conditions.”
“It is also critical for monitoring the achievement of the internationally agreed indices related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and as well as development targets which we have set for our country.”
Marape said that in 2000, the Census recorded the country’s population at close to 5.2 million.
“In the 2011 census, the population rose to over 7.2 million. It is clear that in between 2000 and 2019, a lot had changed in regard to the population and socio-economic landscape of our country.” The 2020 Census will be the fifth census conducted for the country and will cost K200m.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/marape-pledges-k100mil/

Better drug deal sought

By Rebecca Kuku - The National

PRIME Minister James Marape says the Government is reviewing and looking into alternative ways to improve its procurement and supply of medicines (pharmaceutical drugs) for the people.
“And we will be talking to donor partners, including Australia, on how best to procure and supply medicines in the country,” he told The National on Friday.
Marape was responding to The National’s front-paged report on Friday titled “Doctors: Stop drug contracts”.
The report quoted the National Doctor’s Association (NDA) questioning the Government’s rationale of awarding contracts to the private sector for the supply of medical kits and medicine.
“Why can’t the Government set up its own department to procure medical kits and medicine directly, either, from the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended agents, like the International Dispensary Association (IDA) or equivalent, or directly from manufacturers in Asia, Australia, the US or Europe?
“Generic medicines procured this way will be cheaper and effective,” NDA secretary and chief of emergency medicine Dr Sam Yockopua lamented.
Marape said the two contracts, worth more than K100 million, awarded to Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical Ltd (BPPL) to supply medical kits and antibiotics, as announced by Health secretary Pascoe Kase on Wednesday, was only for one year to ensure the country did not face shortages of medicine.
“It is only for a year and the contracts have already been signed,” he said.
In December, 2013 Australia withdrew its funding for a A$38 million (K87 million) project to Papua New Guinea’s health centres due to concerns on the way contracts for the supply and distribution of medicines and pharmaceutical drugs were awarded.
Meanwhile, Yockopua said the NDA would be presenting their demands to the Government tomorrow for the immediate change of the health secretary and the suspension of the two contracts awarded to Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical Ltd.
Yockopua said that doctors would walk off their jobs if their demands were not met in seven days.
“We have 10 valid points on why we want the secretary to be changed, shortages of medicine and a review and revamp on the procurement and supply of medicines and pharmaceutical drugs,” he added.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/better-drug-deal-sought/

Chinese counterfeits are killing PNG’s embryonic fashion industry

By Annette Sete - My Land, My Country

LAE - Papua New Guineans in the creative industries will never win against cheap Chinese copies unless and until the Papua New Guinea government tightens up on some of the laws safeguarding our businesses.

Chinese imitations of local designs and fake or counterfeit products will continue to flood our markets.

This past week my total of Chinese copies reached eight. Six of those we attempted to fight against, but high legal costs meant we can’t afford to do it all.

I read with interest and frustration as Papua New Guineans call for protection of our rights.

The intellectual property office can advise on your rights but ‘yu yet nid lo go fight dis.’ They can register our trademarks, but that’s about it.

The police obviously cannot raid shops without a copy of a lawyer’s  letter (which you have to pay for) and you need to prove you own the designs.

Legal fees will mean you prioritise cases or you drop fighting Chinese shops and move on.

If you fight Chinese shops, you struggle to find who actually owns the shop. The Chinese watching over the cash register at the shop is not the owner.

Almost all of them don’t speak English, and some claimed to not know who their bosses are. (Would love to check their work permits and visas!)

Then there are those Chinese that look genuine but are extreme capitalists who would do anything to make money including copying you and fighting it in court (because they can afford to).

So here’s my proposal.

Is there a lawyer or law firm out there who wishes to take up the challenge of representing me?

I’m looking for a litigation lawyer. I can’t pay you upfront but I’d be happy to discuss the cases with you to see if they are worth the fight.

The aim is to win at least a case that we can highlight our copyright infringements and teach these Chinese or any others for that matter that they can’t just continue to copy.

If you win the case; you get your fees paid and we split the settlement 60/40. I’ll take the 40%!

The aim is to raise awareness and end the current nightmare of Chinese copies in fabrics, shirts etc – with no regard for intellectual property rights. No regard for our people for that matter.

That’s my fight to #takebackpng

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/08/chinese-counterfeits-are-killing-pngs-embryonic-fashion-industry.html

PNG aims to retain 30% of exported gold, may change currency pegs

By Jonathan Barrett - Reuters

Papua New Guinea wants to retain at least 30% of the gold it currently exports as it transforms its economy under a new government leadership, the country’s commerce minister said on Monday.

PNG was the world’s 14th largest gold producer in 2018, according to the World Gold Council. Its assets include the Porgera gold mine, majority controlled by a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corp and Zijin Mining Group , which has a lease currently up for renewal.

PNG’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Wera Mori told an investor forum in Sydney that the resources-rich nation was developing policies to keep more of the commodities it produces in the country to improve its economy.

“We are in the process of developing the framework to retain at least 30% of our gold that we export every year,” Mori told an investment forum in Sydney.

Mori said that PNG would also consider pegging its currency, the kina, to gold, rather than the U.S. dollar.

PNG’s central bank currently fixes its currency to a narrow U.S. dollar band, propping up the kina’s value while creating a shortage of dollars available in the Pacific nation.

James Marape, the former finance minister who became PNG’s new leader in May after winning a vote in parliament, has put some of the world’s biggest resources companies on notice over a perceived lack of wealth flowing from their projects back to communities.

This includes sending a team to renegotiate its Papua LNG agreement with French oil major Total SA.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/png-aims-to-retain-30-of-exported-gold-may-change-currency-pegs/

KPPA AND OTHER STAINS ON THE NEW MARAPE GOVERNMENT

Posted on PNG Blogs

New Prime Minister James Marape has loudly trumpeted his commitment to fight corruption and he has vowed an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) will soon be established.
But actions speak louder than words.
After all, Peter O’Neill came to power making very similar promises.
Indeed, the exact same commitment to establishing an ICAC was the centrepiece of O’Neill’s rhetoric from day one. It was included in both the Alotau Accords (I and II) and the National Anti-Corruption Strategy. Yet, for all the talk, nothing was ever delivered.

Marape was voted into power on 30 May, so we should not jump to judge too quickly. But it is concerning that after more than two full months in power we are still waiting to see a draft ICAC law published and we are still waiting to hear who has been appointed to chair the UBS/Oil Search Commission of Inquiry.
Meanwhile, corrupt institutions that even the previous O’Neill government promised to shut down, seemingly have a new lease of life under the new government.
It is claimed Minister for Housing Justin Tkatchenko is reviving the notorious National Housing Estate Limited.
NHEL is a body that PNGi has previously exposed for its misdeeds and it was none other than James Marape himself, as Minister for Finance, who supposedly signed the company’s death warrant in 2017.
Meanwhile, Minister for Petroleum Kerenga Kua, is also playing with fire.
He has been holding high-level meetings with the disgraced Chief Executive Officer of the Konebada Petroleum Park Authority, Donald Valu.
KPPA has attracted widespread criticism.
In 2017, the National Research Institute was the first to ask whether the whole organisation might not just be a scam, created to defraud the public purse and customary landowners.
Deeper research published by PNGi revealed the Public Accounts Committee had long condemned the KPPA for its financial mismanagement and pointed to a whole range of irregular transactions and governance weaknesses.
This was soon followed by further revelations.
First PNGi exposed that in a single year, 2016, KPPA had apparently spent 50% of its K5.6 million government appropriation on hire cars. Eighteen different firms were the beneficiaries, one alone receiving K580,000.
PNGi then exposed several more layers of controversy, involving further mysterious corporate sales and purchases, links to Hong Kong and China, life-long appointments, possible conflicts of interest and potential breach of PNG’s strict citizenship laws.

Then serious allegations of fraud and mismanagement were made against the KPPA Chief Executive Officer, Donald Valu.
Those allegations were given even greater weight in April this year, when PNGi exclusively revealed a Ministerial Briefing Paper which states that
“On the January 13th 2019, Finance Department filed a non-compliance civil proceedings against the CEO of KPPA, Donald Valu in the National Court for non-compliance to statutory financial instructions in accordance to PFMA and alleged misappropriation of the Petroleum Park Authority Funds totalling over K13m during the periods 2010 to 2015”.

Given this very public history, it is perhaps not surprising a number of attempts have been made to abolish the KPPA. Since 2017, the National Executive Council has variously ordered its abolition, ordered its senior management be investigated and ordered its functions be divided up between Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited and Treasury.

Yet, despite all these NEC decisions and public revelations, just four weeks ago, on July 9, new Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua invited Valu and his cronies to give a presentation to him at the Hideaway Hotel.
Although the Minister also invited KPPA staff members – who have been patiently waiting for their retrenchment since November 2017 – to attend the briefing, when they arrived they were told they were not welcome and had to leave. Yet, it is alleged, former Treasurer and Finance Minister Don Polye was allowed into the meeting and took a seat right alongside Valu.
Also present were Ori Avea, KPPA Executive Manager Corporate Services and co-signatory to KPPA funds, Samuel Pepena, Managing Director of KPPA subsidiary Petroleum Parks Holding Limited, and two former Department of Petroleum and Energy staff members, Kepsey Puiye, former acting Secretary, and Channan Kumalau, a previous Director Corporate Services. 
Since the meeting with the Minister, Valu has continued to hold office as if nothing is amiss and he is still in full charge of a functioning institution. He has even issued a letter of termination to one staff member, while telling other staff by email to:
“Please wait patiently as we get KPPA back to normalcy under the new Minister Kua and Prime Minister Marape’s Government”. When we see government decisions to abolish outlaw organisations being ignored or quietly stepped over, and very serious allegations of fraud not been referred to the police, it is easy to see the game that is being played.
Sometimes media exposure and public disgust can create so much pressure on an issue that politicians are forced to be seen to be taking seemingly decisive action. But then, as with both the National Housing Estate Limited and the Konebada Petroleum Park Authority, the issue can quickly fade from the public consciousness. And, in truth, nothing is ever done, decisions are ignored, or worse, quietly reversed and those who have been scoffing at the feeding bowl quietly resume their feasting.
The stains on the Marape government are already appearing and until we see action on an ICAC, action on the UBS/Oil Search COI and see that organisations like NHEL and KPPA finally disappear and their leadership facing criminal charges, those stains will only grow.
In the meantime, we should all fear that our new Prime Minister is not at the helm of a new government at all, that the deckchairs have simply be rearranged on the decks of a sinking ship and that in Papua New Guinea it is business as usual for a corrupt political elite and the hungry mouths they feed.

Go to this link for more: http://www.pngblogs.com/2019/08/kppa-and-other-stains-on-new-marape.html

Team aims to renegotiate gas deal

Posted on The National

A state negotiating team (SNT) led by Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, pictured, left for Singapore on Thursday aiming to renegotiate the terms of the Papua LNG gas agreement.
The agreement on the US$13 billion (K44bil) project was signed by the previous government on April 19.
The Papua LNG project will develop the Elk Antelope gas fields which is expected to produce close to 2.7 million metric tonnes per annum.
Former Petroleum Minister Dr Fabian Pok told The National earlier that the State had signed on “what percentage shares to take, what per cent of benefits goes to the State, the developer and the provincial governments”.
Pok had said after the signing, French developer Total could then go to the financial institutions to raise funds for its investment in the project.
Kua said since the current government took office on May 30, it took the firm view that the Papua gas agreement was disadvantageous to the State and the people in certain respects and resolved to seek a renegotiation.
He cautioned that considering what was at stake, the peoples’ expectations needed to be guarded during this period.
“The negotiations could work out well or even disastrously, but either way, the people must be ready to accept whatever the outcome. As a nation, we have reserved all our rights in law as we move down this path,” Kua said in a statement.
“Success in the discussions could lead to an early progress of the project.
“By the same token, failure could have very serious ramifications. But failure must not be ruled out and must remain within our contemplation.
“The final outcomes will be briefed to the Prime Minister James Marape and the National Executive Council, and the final decision will be taken by the NEC.
“Considering our nation’s economic circumstances short and long term, no stone must be left unturned at such important junctures.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/team-aims-to-renegotiate-gas-deal/