The arrest of Peter O’Neill

BRYAN KRAMER MP
| Kramer Report | Edited

PORT MORESBY - When will Peter O'Neill be arrested? The appropriate authority to answer the question of when the former prime minister will be arrested to face the many corruption allegations against him is the police force.

But if someone were to ask for my opinion, I would say the short answer is sometime this year.

It’s public knowledge that O’Neill is accused of being at the centre of numerous corruption scandals, including the K71 million Paraka saga, the K50 million LR Generators issue and  the K3 billion UBS loan, to name just a few.

There are many more allegations being investigated.

So why hasn’t O'Neill been arrested and charged?

Well, because he has been evading arrest by refusing to avail himself to the police, hiding out in hotel rooms, fleeing the country and filing fake court documents to obtain stay orders.

So he has been able to continually avoid arrest due to a dysfunctional and ineffective police force which is a result of years of neglect and political interference.

In my view, the best means to fight corruption, including having O'Neill answer to the allegations against him, is to first fix the police force.

This includes taking immediate action to restore discipline, ensure sufficient funding as well as address the many welfare issues, including basic entitlements, adequate pay, housing and paying outstanding allowances.

Under the Marape-Steven government there has been significant improvements in the police force and it has been the number one issue on the floor of parliament and in the media.

2020 will be a blockbuster year for our police force as it addresses many internal issues as well as coming out to bat against corruption and addressing escalating law and order issues around the country.

There have been claims that I’m scared of Peter O’Neill?

Well, the last time I checked, I wasn’t the one hiding out in hotel rooms, crouching in the back of vehicles or fleeing overseas to avoid arrest.

People who are innocent will always be happy to make themselves available to the law to prove their innocence.

Those who are guilty will always run and hide.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/the-arrest-of-peter-oneill.htm

Making a start on a PNG book catalogue

By BAKA BINA - PNG Attitude 

PORT MORESBY - Writings about Papua New Guinea and books by Papua New Guinean authors are multiplying but scattered all across the country.

There has never been a central reservoir of information about them. And there should be.

Most of these books are self-published by the authors, sometimes assisted by experienced people like Francis Nii and Jordan Dean, and produced using the Amazon hard copy and Kindle Direct Publishing ebook platforms.

Libraries For All has helped several authors including Caroline Evari while others like Ms Solien does her own publishing.  I am also doing my own.  A few others are engaged with commercial publishing companies.

But we do need a central information data place to list all these books. I’ve made a rough start at a catalogue which you can download here.

Download Catalogue of books by PNG authors as at January 2020

Not mentioned? So how about you get your title and name on the list? Just email me here with a short description and cover shot of the book.

And include this information:

Book title
Author
Category of book (see my note at the end of the catalogue)
Year published
Number of pages
Publisher

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/making-a-start-on-a-png-book-catalogue.html

Cash crunch as debt repayment soars

JONATHAN BARRETT & CHARLOTTE GREENFIELD
| Reuters

SYDNEY & WELLINGTON - Papua New Guinea’s annual debt repayments to China are forecast to increase 25% by 2023, new budget figures show, at the same time as the Pacific nation falls to its largest ever deficit.

The resource-rich country, which is at the centre of a diplomatic tussle between China and the United States, has blamed extravagant spending by the previous administration for its souring finances, which will require the government to borrow even more to pay the bills.

Balancing its books has been made more difficult by recalculations to the country’s outstanding debt. It has soared 10% since the last annual budget to 42% of gross domestic product, above the legal limit of 35%.

“You have some of those loans clicking in; the repayments are going to be a problem,” said Paul Barker, executive director of Port Moresby-based think tank the Institute of National Affairs.

Formerly administered by Australia, PNG has in recent years turned increasingly to China for financing as Beijing becomes a bigger player in the region.

The US has repeatedly warned that China was using “predatory economics” to destabilise the Indo-Pacific; a charge strongly denied by Beijing.

Although the total debt owed to Beijing was not disclosed in PNG’s budget documents released on Thursday, repayment schedules show China is by far the biggest bilateral creditor, with annual repayments to the Asian giant projected to increase 25% to about K160 million by 2023.

Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey said that past excesses, including extravagant spending linked to hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum last year, were emblematic of the financial problems that had been building up.

“At that time, we were in the midst of the APEC extravaganza with our new APEC Haus, red carpet, fancy new roads all focused in Port Moresby, and Maseratis,” he said in a speech delivered to parliament on Thursday.

“Now, we have a new prime minister that travels economy class.”

The purchase of a luxury fleet of cars during the forum, including 40 slick Maserati Quattroporte sedans, sparked public protests at the time, given the country is beset by poverty.

Prime Minister James Marape took over as leader in late May after Peter O’Neill lost the support of the parliament following almost eight years in power.

Adding to the fiscal strain, income from the country’s natural gas sector has also repeatedly come in below forecasts.

PNG’s total expenditure in the 2020 budget is forecast to reach a record K18.7 billion against an anticipated K14.1 billion in revenue, creating the largest deficit it has ever faced, according to budget documents.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/cash-crunch-as-debt-repayment-soars.html

Under Marape, rights getting worse - report

NEWS DESK
| Radio New Zealand

AUCKLAND - A human rights organisation has released a damning report into the state of Papua New Guinea, where a change of prime minister has done little to tackle rampant violence and corruption.

Human Rights Watch's annual report reveals rates of violence, domestic abuse, corruption and foreign debt haven't improved over the past year, where weak enforcement and a lack of accountability fostered a culture of impunity and lawlessness.

Its deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, said despite a change in prime minister, progress was still slow and the key findings were dire.

"We are talking about a very desperately poor country. One where there is a lot of violence that's committed with impunity ... where women are particularly affected, as well as children.

"Forty percent of the population still lives in poverty, and this is a very resource-rich country. Twenty five percent of the children are not in school, and our estimate is that one in 13 have died of preventable disease."

The report found more than two-thirds of women and girls were subjected to domestic violence, while 75 percent of children surveyed across 30 communities experienced violence at home.

"PNG has an underfunded health system and children are particularly vulnerable to disease. An estimated one in thirteen children die each year from preventable diseases, and large numbers of children experienced malnutrition resulting in stunted growth," it said.

There was little chance of redressing it with the culture of corruption and impunity that had been fostered, the report said, with corruption convictions rare and prosecutions for brutality at the hands of the state and military few and far between.

To date, no police officers had been prosecuted for killing 17 prison escapees in 2017 and four prison escapees from Buimo prison in Lae in 2018, the report noted. Police officers who killed eight student protesters in Port Moresby in 2016 had also not been held accountable.

A new prime minister, James Marape, had done little so far to rein in corruption, it said, and the unequal distribution of the revenue from the country's natural resources was creating friction and eroding land rights in rural areas. In multiple cases, landowners had been mistreated by foreign mining companies, it said.

Robertson said PNG had not really worked to dig itself out the hole it was in, and it was only getting worse.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/under-marape-rights-getting-worse-report.html