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Articles for this newsletter
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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 32 - 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.google.com/
Also remember that the accuracy of the information in this newsletter should not be relied upon - it is, after all, a gossip newsletter.
Places to visit.
The Alotau International Hotel in Milne Bay has a website located at http://www.alotauinternational.com.
For any one interested in the news of PNG then visit these newspaper sites for al the up-to-date news and sports results.
Post Courier
http://www.postcourier.com.pgThe National
http://www.thenational.com.pg
Cancer Machine
It is hoped that the faulty cancer treatment machine at Lae's Angau Hospital will be replaced soon. The present machine has been out of action for over a year.
Lae Technical College
With a donation of office facilities and equipment to the value of K2 million from AusAID Lae Tech is set to become a fully pledged trades testing centre. The assistance is part of a five year National Trades and Testing Certification Systems project worth an approximate K31 million.
Apprentice of the Year
An apprentice with the Hebou Construction Company has won apprentice of the year. Owen Thavara, a Heavy Equipment fitter, beat nine other finalists.
School Grants
The Japanese government has allocated K135,000 to the Kuso Memorial School in the Eastern Highlands Province for upgrading of school facilities. The Japanese have also allocated K88,000 to a school at Bomana on the outskirts of Port Moresby.
School Supplies
As mentioned previously many schools are still waiting for their year 2000 allocation of supplies. Two companies were awarded contracts, totalling K4 million in May this year, to supply basic classroom items such as rulers, exercise books, and pencils for primary school. It is hoped that the schools will receive the year 2000 supplies in time for the start of the 2001 school year.The two companies concerned have said that so far no money has been paid to them for school supplies.
Air Niugini
Along with the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu consultancy to help speed up the privatisation of Air Niugini the Chief Executive Officer of PX has enlisted the help of an ex Qantas General Manager to help with the Engineering, Operations and Security aspects of the company. The Ambidgi Group and Allens and Arthur Robinson, a leading law firm in the Asia Pacific region, are helping Deloitte's with the privatisation exercise. Partial sale of the airline is expected to happen by the first quarter of 2001.
Arafura Games
Air Niugini has pledged support to send sporting teams to the Arafura games in Darwin next year. It is hoped that the following sports will be able to attend the games -
- Athletics
- Aussie Rules football
- Basketball
- Beach volleyball
- Disabled Sports
- Hockey
- Lawn bowls
- Netball
- Rugby league
- Rugby union
- Softball
- Touch football
- Women's soccer
Orchid Garden Restaurant
The downtown Chinese restaurant burnt to the ground on Sunday night. It is believed the fire started when an unattended frypan set fire to the kitchen.
Bank South Pacific
Work is well underway, at the old Boroko Burns Philp location, with the building of the new Boroko branch of the Bank of South Pacific. The Burns Philp supermarket was burnt down many years ago as was the old Boroko branch of the bank. Lets hope the new building doesn't suffer the same fate.
Malaria
500 million infections of malaria occur annually and of these infections about 2.5 million people die annually from malaria.
Workers Mutual
Work being carried out by Kumagai Gumi is proceeding on the new Workers Mutual office complex in Gabaka Street Gordons.
Stevedoring Licences
The Harbours Board have advertised an expression of interest for stevedoring licences as all current licences expire on the 31st of December for all declared ports within Papua New Guinea.
Registrar of Companies
Willie Marum, the Registrar of Companies has had to close the office down due to a lack of air conditioning. Mr Marum said the office would remain closed indefinitely until the air conditioning was fixed.
Public Servants
It is estimated that the government will be retrenching around 1400 public servants at the end of the year followed by a similar amount next year. It is anticipated that moves will be made to strengthen the ombudsman commission, the auditor-general's office, the fraud squad and the public prosecutors office.
Retrenchment Tax
Legislation has just been passed so that retrenched public servants do not have to pay as much as 47 per cent on their payouts. The rate is expected to be nil for people receiving less than K5,000 and up to a maximum of 15 percent for anyone earning K20,000 or more per year. The concessional tax rate will be valid up until the end of 2003.
Privatisation
Ben Micah has predicted that the privatisation exercise will result in more jobs being created. The Trade Union Council representative, John Paska, has said that "Unless Mr Micah is a genius and there is no apparent reason to believe that he is, the claim is the most misleading one made by him to date."
Earthquakes
The recent earthquakes in the islands region have left many people homeless and others with flattened water tanks. The double quake, one on Thursday and the other on Friday also caused 2.5 to 3 metre tidal waves in the area followed by as many as 16 smaller ones.
Birth Certificates
It has been recommended that the system that issues birth certificates be decentralised as much as possible and the issue of certificates be given out for free.
Cement Factory
The Japanese company, Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, has taken over the running of the Halla Cement project in Lae. Taiheiyo is regarded as one of the world's leading cement manufacturers.
Bank of PNG
Benny Popoitai has been appointed as one of the two deputy governors of the Bank of PNG. The appointment is for a period of five years. Mr Popoitai was the manager for overseeing both exchange control and banking supervision.
Bereina - Laloki road
Expressions of Interests have been called for consultancy services for the Central Province Road upgrade and sealing project from Laloki to Bereina. The upgrade consists of approximately 145 kilometres of road and the upgrading of 16 bridges and culverts.v
Foreign Affairs
Sir Michael Somare has suspended the Secretary for Foreign Affairs over allegations that he has not attended to the many reports of passport scams and other matters relating to management of the immigration and citizenship division of Foreign Affairs.
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PNG Newspaper Sites
Post Courier
http://www.postcourier.com.pgThe National
http://www.thenational.com.pg