P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 24 Mar 2002

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay

Welcome to the Papua New Guinea Gossip - 24 Mar 2002. A very special welcome is extended to any new readers. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please e-mail them to giaman@pnggossip.com

I have been having trouble with the main PNG Gossip Newsletter site located at http://www.png-gossip.com -- if you are also having problems then please visit the mirror site at .. likewise if you are trying to send email to any of the @png-gossip.com email addresses and the mail bounces back then please try the @pnggossip.com addresses.

Articles for this newsletter

To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter -- please e-mail your contribution to pngnewsqueue@pnggossip.com

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 in this newsletter, is currently worth around 26 United States cents but varies on a daily basis.

If you are really keen on finding out what the Kina is worth a currency converter for most world currencies can be located at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/moni.html

For those who are not so familiar with the geography of Papua New Guinea I suggest taking a look http://maps.expedia.com and then click on the find a map option. Go to this link for a quick start to a link to a map of Port Moresby. http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/pom-map.html

Also remember that the accuracy of the information in this newsletter should not be relied upon - it is, after all, a gossip newsletter.

Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
bilong = from
bilong = in order to
bilong bisinis = commercial
bilong em = her
bilong em = his
bilong husat = whose
bilong longwe ples = foreign
bilong ol = their
bilong wanem, long wanem, bikos = because
bilong wanem, wasmara, watpo = why
bilong wanem? = what for?
bilong yu = your



Sir Kingsford Dibela

Former politician and ex-Governor General of PNG, Sir Kingsford Dibela has passed away. Sir Kingsford was from the Dogura area of Milne Bay Province. Being a Wedau speaker he had close ties to all of the Wedau and Wamira villagers around the country.




Links

A parody of Waltzing Matilda called Kai kai the buai can be found at

Weather

The weather in PNG has been considerably wetter than usual. For those interested weather details for around PNG can be obtained from the following weather sites. (http://www wunderground.com and http://weather.yahoo.com)




University of PNG

The 47th graduation of students from the University of PNG in Port Moresby tried a new way of giving out diplomas and degrees to students. This was the first time that the ceremony was split into two sessions. The first session was in the morning (22 March) and the second, starting on time at 2 o'clock, in the afternoon. Approximately 700 students received diplomas and degrees up to Masters level. I understand that no one received a PhD. (http://www.upng.ac.pg)




University of Technology

The 34th Annual Graduation Ceremony at the PNG University of Technology (UniTech) is set to go ahead on the 5th of April. (http://www.unitech.ac.pg)




South Pacific Exports

Peter Goleby from South Pacific Exports will be in the country soon. If you need that hard to get part for your electrical / communications gear or even a special tool send email to Peter at sp.exports@bigpond.com - he might just be able to help you out or point you in the right direction. Peter claims he will attempt to get anything for you so long as he can add a bit to cover his own costs.




Illegal Ammunition

A government minister has had ammunition confiscated by security staff at Jackson's Airport in Port Moresby. For unknown reasons Air Niugini staff have been doing manual checks at the airport despite this usually being the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority. Is this another case of the K30 Passenger Facilities Tax not being applied in the appropriate areas? Or perhaps it is indeed a facilities tax but not for the benefit of passengers rather it is only collected from passengers to make facilities for the Civil Aviation Authority better?




Raun Raun Travel Show

After visiting an IT show in Sydney and then a car show in Melbourne earlier this month I was disappointed with the Raun Raun Travel show. Other people who attended were not as disappointed as I was so maybe I just set my hopes too high for the event. Are there any comments from other readers who attended?

For those traveling to PNG the Aabon Holiday units had a decent display with reasonably priced rooms available for one to many people. http://www.aabon.com.au for more information.




Air Niugini

The National Airline (http://www.airniugini.com.pg) has suffered yet another financial setback. This time a kite hawk has caused the emergency stop of a departing Fokker F28 aircraft form Nadzab (Lae) airport. The hawk was ingested into the engine during takeoff requiring the captain to do an emergency stop resulting in two burst tyres and a plane stuck on the runway. It has been estimated that the bill to Air Niugini will be about K1.5 million. Once again it seems that the Civil Aviation Authority may not be doing as much as it should to ensure that the bird population at airports around the country are kept to a manageable and safe level.

You win some and you lose some. Just as Air Niugini is able to fly into Mendi after many problems with the airport and tribal conflicts in the town they now have had to cancel flights to Wewak due to the conflict with rebel soldiers who recently took over Moem barracks. It is believed that Air Niugini may have acted on incorrect information erring on the side of safety.




Qantas

Qantas, (http://www.qantas.com.au) the Australian airline, has resumed flights to and from PNG. Qantas is flying four flights a weeks from Sydney via Brisbane to Port Moresby and return. After the collapse of Ansett Australia, Qantas entered a code sharing agreement with Air Niugini so that Qantas could use the normal plane that served the PNG route on domestic routes in Australia.




InterOil

The company developing the Napa Napa oil refinery just outside Port Moresby made a loss of K4.8 million last year.




New Britain Oil Palm

New Britain Oil Palm has announced an operating profit of K26 million for the year 2001. This is lower than the K47 million made the previous year but was anticipated due to depressed world oil prices.




Voters

More than 2 million people have enrolled so far to vote in the coming elections. The deadline for enrolment is the 4th of April 2002.




PNG Advertiser

A new newspaper has been released in Port Moresby. The PNG Advertiser is available for 20 toea a copy. (About 5 - 6 US cents)




Clipper Odyssey

The Clipper Odyssey has been cruising around PNG this last week. It has visited Port Moresby where one group of passengers flew to Cairns and then back to USA whilst a fresh group of passengers flew up from Cairns to join the cruise. The ship has also visited Watts, Kitava and Iwa Islands in Milne Bay, Rabaul in East New Britain and Tingwom and Tsoi islands in New Ireland province.

The captain of the ship was once stationed in PNG waters whilst serving as a captain on a patrol boat in pre-independent PNG.




Watts Island

A reader is interested in how Watts Island was named. If anyone has any information then please let me know and I will pass it on. -- watts.island@pnggossip.com




Taro

The National Agriculture and Livestock Institute have developed three new hybrid taro varieties. The hybrids, which are resistant to leaf blight diseases, produce higher yields and are reported to be better tasting than traditional taro grown in PNG. Taro is a staple food for many people around PNG and is also a traditional item of wealth in PNG society.




Mt Hagen

The Mount Hagen Technical College has resumed classes after being closed for about three weeks. The school was closed due to a dispute by disgruntled landowners who claimed that land payments for the land the school is situated on were unpaid.




Culture

The British High Commissioner to PNG has said that young people in PNG should grow up knowing their culture and the cultures of others.




National Provident Fund

The National Provident Fund (NPF) Commission of Inquiry has referred accountant Rex Paki to the Waigani Committal Court on a possible charge of perjury for evidence he gave during the NPF inquiry.




Swimming

PNG swimmer, Ryan Pini, has swum the 7th fastest time at the recent Australian Commonwealth games swimming selection trials in Brisbane, Australia. He managed to swim the 50 metre backstroke event. His time of 26.82 seconds was not that far away from the time of Geoff Huegill the world champion in this event. Huegill swam a time off 26.71 seconds. Pini's other times during the competition have all been PNG records.




Wau and Bulolo

A swoop by police in the Wau and Bulolo area of the Morobe province has caught six policemen in the procession of illegal police equipment. The police raid recovered police radios, guns and ammunition.




Wheelchairs

A group of Japanese tourists donated five wheelchairs to the Creative Self-help centre in Madang on a recent visit. The wheelchairs will be kept at the centre until suitable users are found.




Madang

The Kusbau Community School in Madang has lost a classroom after an electrical fire destroyed the room and equipment to the value of K70,000. Four classes have been suspended until alternative accommodation can be found.




Street Scene

Street Scene is offering free embroidery artwork and layout setup for all orders of 100 pieces or more until the 30th of April. For details contact streetscene@datec.net.pg




Basketball

The standard of basketball in PNG has dropped whilst other countries in Oceania have improved according to Oceania zone development officer, Stuart Manwaring.




Moran Petroleum Project

The project has lost more than $US1 million since the operator Chevron Texaco shut down the oil wells after landowner representatives moved onto the drilling site wanting demarcation of the site between the Huli and Hewa people and also to have a share in the business development previously taken by the Fasu landowners of the neighbouring Kutubu project.




Wahgi River

After two days of heavy rain the Wahgi river has burst its banks leaving many houses and food gardens submerged in the Baisu area of the Western highlands.




Road Work

Roadwork around Port Moresby still continues despite tropical downpours washing away segments of the new work. Students at Port Moresby Grammar, Port Moresby International, St Joseph International, Caritas and Bavaroko Community schools have to walk through the mud to get to and from school. The work down at Koki Point is progressing slowly one year after it was commenced.



Road Work. Whoever gave me this photo - thanks very much.


Rugby League

The PNG Red Cross Society has received rugby league jerseys from Australian Rugby League Cowboys and Broncos teams. The jerseys have been signed by the team players that recently played in Townsville, Northern Queensland.




Porgera Gold Mine

Seven clans living close to the Porgera mine site have asked the Porgera joint venture to relocate them to vacant land. The people claim that they have been affected by the waste and chemicals used buy the mine to extract gold. The seven clans claim they have been affected for the last twelve years.




Kanudi Water

The Prime Minister has officially opened a residential water supply scheme at Kanudi settlement. The scheme sees the installation of pipes and taps to convenient parts of the area for people to use and save the long walk that they used to have to find fresh water.




Able Computing

Able Computing (http://www.able.com.pg) have opened a new store in Port Moresby located in the old Dwyers office supplies store along Waigani Drive. That section of Waigani Drive has changed considerably in recent years. Once all that could be found along that area of the road were Dwyers and Steamships Machinery and now there is a branch of the Bank of South Pacific, Air Niugini, National Quarantine and Agriculture Service, Territory Cellars and Stop n Shop Supermarket. A few months ago Datec (http://www.datec.net.pg) also had an office in the same area.




Online South Pacific

Online South Pacific is offering email accounts for customers from as little as K24 per year. Contact http://www.online.net.pg for further information. Online have points of presence in Port Moresby, Lae, Goroka, Tabubil and Madang and use radio links to their full advantage.




Bouncing Back

The formerly sacked manager for planning and development of the Tourism Promotion Authority has bounced back to become the appointed chief executive of the organisation. Sir Pita Lus, the minister responsible for Culture and Tourism, announced John Kambowa's appointment. It is not known what has happened to the court case being taken by the previous chief executive of the organisation.




US Army

An eleven-member team from the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii is back in the country to help recover the wreck and remains from a World War II B24 bomber in the Kabwum region of Morobe province. It is hoped that from information gathered on a previous trip they will be able to recover the remains of four servicemen. The remains will be flown to Hawaii for DNA testing to determine the identity of the remains.




Interest Rates

The Bank of South Pacific (BSP) has cut rates on home loans. The new rate is 11.75 percent which is now the, lowest in the market. The ANZ bank is charging 15.5 percent whilst the PNGBC is charging 12.75 percent. Westpac, the remaining bank, is charging their customers 13.5 percent. It is anticipated that when the merger between BSP and PNGBC goes ahead the PNGBC rate will drop to 11.75 percent as well.




Mobile Phone Rentals

If anyone is thinking about visiting PNG and is used to being able to use their digital mobile then be warned - PNG is still using an analogue system and your digital phone will be as useful as a Philips head screwdriver trying to undo a flat head screw.

A.C Fox and Associates (http://www.acfox.com.au) can rent you a Nokia or Motorola phone. Contact karinah@dg.com.pg - If you are going to be around for a while then I suggest contacting the Motorola agents in PNG for the best deal in PNG. salespom@pacom.prosec.com.pg - they may even be able to rent you a phone for a short period. Their website is located at http://www.prosec.com.pg/pacom




Moresby Aussie Rules

The Moresby club that was disbanded in the mid 90's is set to make a comeback into the Port Moresby AFL competition. Moresby, Aviat and Boroko clubs, once pioneers in the Aussie Rules in PNG, all folded in the 90's. The following clubs are expected to take part in the 2002 competition in Port Moresby -- Defence, University, Tisa Jets, Koki Dockers, Moresby, Koboni and Wests.




National Game Fishing

The National Game Fishing titles are underway in Lae. One of the anglers has come all the way from Dubai to compete in the event. He will be fishing alongside an angler from Sydney. Over 250 anglers will be taking part in the competition using over 50 boats.




Road Compensation

Villagers alongside the main highways have been warned not to claim payment from passing motorists for repairs that they have done to the road. People in the Eastern Highlands have also been warned not to claim compensation for the highway maintenance currently underway and being funded by AusAid. The Highlands highway links the five highland provinces to the coast.




Rice

Trukai Farms is buying Paddy Rice for K394 per tonne if delivered to Trukai Farms rice receiving Depot at Erap in Morobe Province.

PNG media related sites

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If you can add to this list then please send email to PNG-News@pnggossip.com


I have been having trouble with the main PNG Gossip Newsletter site located at http://www.png-gossip.com -- if you are also having problems then please visit the mirror site at .. likewise if you are trying to send email to any of the @png-gossip.com email addresses and the mail bounces back then please try the @pnggossip.com addresses.

Created 24 Mar 2002
Updated 24 May 2002
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www.michie.net


©2002 - 2008 Gia Mann