P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 26 Sep 2003

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PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay

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Papua New Guinea Gossip Newsletter


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

Articles for this newsletter

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Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"
Tok Pisin English
ai eye
aiglas spectacles
aipas blind
banis ribs
banis fence
banis wall
bel belly
bel i pas constipated
belhevi regret
belisi calm (person)
bratasusa brothers and sisters
bratasusa siblings
han arm / hand
han bilong pisin wing
han bilong siot sleeve
pas stuck
pas / leta letter

 

 

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 28.5 - 29 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

Want to find out more about Papua New Guinea? Try searching at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo and http://www.michie.net/png_faqs. The PNG Business and Tourism Directory located at http://www.pngbd.com is also an excellent place to look for PNG information.

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.



Links



International Training Institute



The PNG International Training Institute has a web site located at -- http://www.iti.ac.pg -- I found this web site difficult because I do not run my Internet browser as a full screen. This web site does not really allow you to resize your screen without losing information.

ITI provide local courses in Business and Computing at Certificate and Diploma level. They also provide international courses for such organisations such as University of Southern Queensland and British Computer Society.



Education Web Sites





Real Estate Agents Association



The PNG Real Estate Agents Association, a non-profit making organisation operation under the laws of Papua New Guinea has a site located at -- http://www.reaa.org.pg/news.htm



Real Estate Agents



Arthur Strachan (Lae) -- http://www.arthurstrachan.com.pg
Century 21 -- http://www.century21.com.pg/ and http://www.siule.com.pg/
Kohoy Real Estate -- http://kohoyrealestates.tripod.com/
L.J Hooker -- http://www.ljhooker.com
Ray White Real Estate -- monian@online.net.pg
Strickland RE -- http://www.sre.com.pg/
The Professionals -- http://www.theprofessionals.com.pg



The Free Dictionary



The Free Dictionary has a link about PNG located at -- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

 

News Items



New Governor General



The new Governor General elect for PNG is ex-Wabag MP (Enga Province), Sir Albert Kipalan. He was elected Governor General elect by 46 of 91 members of parliament in an exhaustive elimination secret ballot lasting three and a half hours on the 18th of September. Eight people contested the election.



The National Newspaper



The National newspaper is in trouble for its report on the election of the Governor General and has been referred to the parliamentary privileges committee. Bill Skate, the Speaker of Parliament announced the action recently. Mr Skate said the National had misled the nation and failed in its duty to report fairly and professionally the proceedings of Parliament.



Governor General's Election



The Ombudsman Commission has announced that it will conduct a "short and sharp" inquiry into the recent election of Sir Albert Kipalan as the next Governor-General. The Commission has requested that the Government does not convey the nomination of Sir Albert Kipalan to the Queen until all issues have been resolved. Chief Ombudsman Ila Geno also indicated that the Commission has reserved the possibility of referring the election to the Supreme Court for a ruling based on Section 19 of the Constitution on legal interpretation on the election.

The Governor General elect has responded by saying that he welcomes any investigation and that it is a well-known fact that he has three wives. He also says that the Ombudsman Commission has already dealt with the findings of his dealing with the Cairns Conservatory.



Buimo Jail



The Buimo jail near Lae has been the subject of a great deal of controversy in recent months. It is has now been ordered to be partially closed from March 2004 to allow for major renovations. The order came from the National Court in Waigani. Existing prisoners numbering about 500 will have to be transferred to other jails before the order can be carried out.



Counterfeit Goods



People residing in PNG have been warned against buying pirated or counterfeit goods entering the country from Asia. People are warned to be careful when buying goods such as Adidas or Puma shoes, Rolex or Seiko watches and Levis jeans sold in shops throughout the country.



Prostitution



The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) has come out against reported comments by one of its members calling for the legalising of prostitution. CDP has said that it does not believe that legalising of prostitution will solve the AIDS/HIV problem.

The doctor concerned has said prostitution was an immoral activity but at the same time he had highlighted the reality that there were people who have been forced into sale of sex to bring much needed income for their families, for their basic needs like bread and butter, school fees, public utility bill such as water rates, electricity and telephone in these hard economic times.



Children's Plight



The plight of children in PNG and the world will take centre stage this coming week when a major conference for people working with children gets underway in Alotau. The Third National Children's Workers conference starts on Monday and will address issues including the rights of children; child abuse; the value of teaching children; understanding the characteristics of children in different age groups; early childhood; children counselling and parental responsibilities. It is hoped that more than 400 people working with children throughout the country will attend the conference.



Highlands Highway



Following a fight at the Fatima Secondary School parts of the Highlands Highway in the Western Highlands Province have been blocked. Classes at the school have also been suspended following a fight among students. The fight broke out during a rugby grand final match on a recent Sunday afternoon. The fight started at Fatima but later developed into a major problem in which outsiders were involved. The rugby touch game was organised by the Students Representative Council (SRC).



Highlands Highway Tension



Community leaders from the Warakar area will meet today with government and community leaders from the Hagen Central area to sort out ethnic tension at Fatima Secondary School in the Western Highlands province. Administrators of Fatima Secondary School have confirmed that seven students were taken to a hospital for treatment as a result of a fight between two rugby teams. The Principal and the school's governing council board chairman have said in a joint statement released recently that the students were treated and released from the hospital.



Population Planning Workshop



A population-planning workshop for provincial planners has been held in Lae. The first assistant secretary with the National Planning and Rural Development Department said PNG has been struggling and is among the lowliest ranked in the human-development index. He also told the participants that as provincial planners, they had a vital role to play as they were dealing with the majority of the people who lived in the provinces. The workshop was staged with the intention of formulating action plans for the respective provinces based on a concept adopted for the Central provincial population action plan.



AIDS Victim



It has been alleged by police that a 32-year-old man, a defence force soldier, injected his five-months-pregnant wife with a syringe filled with HIV infected blood. Initial tests of the woman returned a negative result, but four months later she gave birth to a baby boy, who became ill and later died. The woman has also tested positive for HIV. Family groups representing husband and wife sought to negotiate a compensation settlement but homicide detectives have intervened, arresting the man recently and charging him with the manslaughter of the baby and with wilfully infecting his wife. They are still investigating how he obtained a syringe filled with the infected blood.



HIV/AIDS Statistics



The latest official HIV-AIDS statistics are causing alarm among health authorities in PNG. New figures suggest that more than 7,000 people could now carry the deadly virus. Prostitution in PNG is illegal but there has been an increasing push for regulation of the industry to control the spread of HIV-AIDS. The President of the PNG Medical Society, Professor Mathias Sapuri, says the situation needs to be addressed.



Australian Police In PNG



It looks as if PNG has bowed to pressure from Australia and agreed to accept at least 200 federal police to help restore law and order. If the plan gets the final go ahead Australian Federal Police officers, supplemented by state police, could be on the ground in Port Moresby and other trouble spots as early as January next year.


Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government has said that it is concerned the Australian Federal Police (AFP) could be asked to send 200 officers to PNG. The ACT Police Minister, Bill Wood, has said he is concerned about the impact on local policing if large numbers of federal police are sent to PNG. He has said that this seems to be spur of the moment thinking without realising that the AFP is a limited resource especially since Australian federal police officers are already assisting in Solomon Islands.



Aitape Oil



An oil exploration program has been announced in the Aitape area of PNG. The Aitape area was devastated by one of the world's worst tsunami five years ago. The tidal wave killed about 3,000 people when it struck the town of Aitape on PNG's northern coast in 1998. PNG Petroleum and Energy Minister, Sir Moi Avei, has awarded a new oil exploration licence to Canada's Scotia Petroleum which says it will commit $US35 million to the search.



National Provident Fund



The first person, who was part of the National Provident Fund (NPF) scam, has been jailed. A former senior officer of the fund has been jailed and fined for misappropriation of over K4000 belonging to a subsidiary company of NPF.



Illegal Fishing



The PNG Defence Force has captured a fishing vessel found catching fish illegally in PNG waters. The 50 metre Indonesian vessel was carrying over 60 tonnes of tuna, mackerel, shark and other fish.



Cisco Courses



James Dugumari, who used to work for the University of Technology (UniTech) in Lae, has branched out and is now the Managing Director of Technology Bridgeways. He is offering Cisco Router courses and an introduction to Unix courses at rates yet to be determined. James has taught at UniTech for the past 14 years and is highly regarded by the students he has taught. He has been fully trained on Cisco Systems and was formerly the founding and Principal Instructor at the UniTech Local Cisco Networking Academy (the only one in PNG).



Copyright



A recent workshop held in Port Moresby aims to educate and create awareness on the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000. It is hoped that this would develop a better understanding on the real nature of the law. The Act aims to protect all literary and artistic works in Papua New Guinea and abroad.



Copyright Law



Artistic works now have the exclusive right to use or authorise others to use their works on agreed terms after the passing of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act by Parliament in 2000. Although the Act was passed three years ago, many did not understand or were not made aware of such an Act. The Act also gives the creators the economic right to benefit financially for a reasonable period of time.



Car Thefts



The theft of cars in Port Moresby is on the increase. Police have warned people to after their vehicles because stolen cars are being shipped to other provinces and sold on the black market. More than 10 vehicles are being stolen every week in Port Moresby.



Budget Cut



The National Government has announced a K150 million cut in the 2003 budget due to the tough economic times confronting PNG. The government will not introduce any new revenue measures including increasing personal incomes taxes. The areas facing cuts are the development budget (K61.3m), national department's goods and services (K59.3m), provincial department's goods and services (K20.6m), and commercial and statutory authorities' goods and services (K9.7m).



PNG Kina



The Prime Minister has maintained in Parliament that the Government has tightened its belt in minimising expenditure to improve the value of the kina.



Chimbu Fumes



The Governor of Chimbu, Alphonse Willie, has challenged the Government to remove vehicles causing pollution from burning fuel from roads. He said that many vehicles, especially the Public Motor Vehicles (PMV's), have been allowed to operate in cities with the black smoke pouring out the exhaust.



Compensation Claims



It has become common practice for people to claim compensation for the actions of the PNG Police Force. Over the last three years the State had paid more than K25 million in compensation to the public for police related compensation cases. It is estimated that the Southern Command has the highest number of cases totalling 268 that has cost the Government about K4 million, followed by Highlands with 108 costing K16 million and Momase Command had 15 cases worth around K5 million in compensation.



Kainantu Hospital



The Kainantu Hospital, in the Eastern Highlands province, is critically short of medical supplies. A truck sent to pick up drugs from the medical store in Lae recently returned empty. The Officer-in-Charge of Kainantu Hospital has sent an SOS message to Save the Children Fund in Goroka recently to try and fix the problem.



Fast Money Schemes



The Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, has described the operators of a fast-money scheme in Morobe province as "conmen and liars". He has warned investors not to be fooled by the operators of such money schemes who claim to have billions of kina in overseas banks.



Air Niugini Fleet



The Civil Aviation Minister has said that Air Niugini has a program to replace its ageing fleet of F28 aircraft. The current fleet of F28s in PNG can really only be used in PNG and the Solomons. They can only land in Australia because of a special dispensation obtained at very senior government-to-government level otherwise they exceed Australian noise levels. It has already been announced by Air Niugini that the company would be acquiring two Dash 8 aircraft in the coming months and that it was still looking at a replacement for the sectors deemed to require something a bit better and faster than the Dash 8 aircraft. It is believed that Air Niugini has been looking at jet aircraft from Embraer, Regional Jet and Fokker.



Masters Program



The University of Goroka has launched its first Masters Degree program after enrolling 40 candidates for a Masters in Education postgraduate course. The Education Secretary Peter Baki, officially launched the program to be funded by AusAID. It is a new program that will be managed by New South Wales based TAFE Global with implementation monitored by Charles Sturt University in NSW. An AusAID representative said that AusAID provided A$1.5 million (K3.4 million) to meet the cost of the students.



Wasu Jetty - Morobe Province



The Wasu jetty in Morobe province needs immediate government funding. The seaport has become dangerous due to lack of maintenance. The port serves the Finschaffen and Kabwun electorates. The wharf is so poor that timber has fallen off the bridge and cargo from ships has been lost at the jetty as a result.



Teacher's Degree



The University of PNG has announced recently that it would deliver an education degree program to some 19,000 teachers throughout the country. Professor Mathias Sapuri, UPNG Acting Vice Chancellor said the teachers are currently teaching in provincial centres and rural areas and do not have the time and resources to travel to universities to undergo studies.



Forged Banknotes



A Bougainvillean and an African man have both been convicted by the National Court for being in possession of forged American banknotes totalling US$100,000. The African was sentenced to three years imprisonment with hard labour and the Bougainvillean was sentenced to two and a half years with hard labour. The Judge recommended that the African be deported after serving his sentence and the false American banknotes be destroyed.






PNG Media


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-- THE END --

Some of the ways of saying "that's all" are courtesy of Liz and her friends at the University of Technology in Lae. http://www.unitech.ac.pg

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

 






Created 26 Sep 2003
Updated 6 Sep 2007

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