Links
PNG Religious Sites
Anglican Church of PNG (Port Moresby Diocese) -- http://portmoresby.anglican.org
Bible Society Work in PNG -- http://www.biblesociety.org/bs-pap.htm
Catholic Church of PNG and Solomon Islands -- http://www.catholicpng.org.pg
Christian Brethren Churches of PNG. -- http://www.dg.com.pg/~cbcpng/
Church of God in PNG -- http://www.zip.com.au/~openshaw/begin02.html
Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG -- http://www.lutheranworld.org/Directory/ASI/EvangelicalLutheranChurchofPapuaNewGuinea.EN.html
Hetune - Community of the Visitation, Popondota -- http://orders.anglican.org/arcyb/cvl.html
MAF Service in PNG -- http://www.maf.org.au/png/pnginfo.php
Melanesia Field is part of Nazarene World Missions. It is part of the Asia-Pacific
Region and has its headquarters in Kudjip, PNG -- http://www.melanesianaz.org/
Nazarene Hospital at Kudjip in the Highlands of PNG is a mission hospital
operated by the Church of the Nazarene, serving the people of PNG since 1967
-- http://www.kudjipnazarenehospital.org
New Tribes Mission Aviation in PNG -- http://www.ntmpng.org/ntma.htm
PNG Christian Links -- http://www.geocities.com/jbnirenga/christ-a.html
PNG Church Partnership -- http://hometown.aol.co.uk/pngcpluxton/PNGChurchPartnership.htm
Pioneer Bible Translators: PNG. -- http://www.pioneerbible.org.pg/
Religious Television Association of PNG -- http://www.rtapng.com.pg
Society of St Francis -- http://orders.anglican.org/arcyb/ssf-pac.html
The meaning of the Vow of Poverty in the third world -- http://orders.anglican.org/arcyb/2000-RichardCarter.html
The United Pentecostal Assemblies of PNG. -- http://www.upcpng.org/
Miscellaneous PNG Websites
- Kenmore group of companies -- http://www.kenmore.com.pg
- Markham Group -- http://www.markham.com.pg
- Milne Bay Estates -- http://www.mbe.com.pg
- National Research Institute -- http://www.nri.org.pg
- PNG Poetry -- http://members.cruzio.com/~png/prev.html
- PNG Woman -- http://www.pngwoman.com
- Seeto Kui -- http://www.seetokui.com.pg
- Keynote Music -- http://www.keynote.com.pg
A parody of Waltzing Matilda called kai kai the buai can be found at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/WM/Kai.html
Traditional Story Illustrations from PNG -- http://www.rosesgallery.com/pngstory.html
Communication Sites
- Alcatel (Now owned by PACOM -- http://www.alcatel.com.pg
- ConXions -- http://www.conxions.com.pg
(also Ericsons PNG)
- PACOM -- http://www.prosec.com.pg/pacom.
- PNG Pacific Mobile Communications -- http://www.tiare.com.pg
- PNG Telecommunications Authority -- http://www.pangtel.gov.pg
- PNG Telikom -- http://www.teklikompng.com.pg
- RAD-TEL Communications Sales and Services -- http://www.radtel.com.pg
- TE PNG -- http://www.tepng.com
- Matryx -- http://www.matryx.com.pg
News Items
Discount Money
It is sad to see that one of the stores not far from the Boroko police station
near Garden City has come up with a scheme to fleece customers of even more
money. If the paper money handed over at the cash register is not crisp and
clean the store deducts a percentage of the value. If you have a note with
the corners missing the note is valued at something less than 100% of the
face value of the note. I am not sure what value the note is reduced to if
it is in very poor condition but I would think that this would be highly illegal.
As far as I know so long as you have the two serial numbers the note is still
worth exactly the face value of the note. Thanks to Gadoeno for that news
item. Maybe it is time to start washing your notes and hanging them out to
dry so you can get better value for your money. Some stores are already claiming
that there is a shortage of one and two toea coins so that they can round
up and sometimes down the purchase price. Other reputable stores seem to be
able to get a good supply of small coins and also accept you money at face
value no matter how torn or dirty your paper notes are.
Fuel Prices
The price of petrol in PNG has risen again. This time it has gone up by 8
toea per litre. Diesel has increased by 2.7 toea per litre and kerosene by
6.3 toea per litre. The hardest hit, aviation gasoline, has gone up by K1.10
per litre. It will be interesting to see what repercussions this has with
the section of the aviation industry that uses avgas.
Telecommunications
The head of the PNG Telecommunication Licensing Authority has said that PNG
has been classified as the lowest ranking telecommunication service provider
in the world. As little as 2 percent of the population of PNG has access to
telecom services.
Red Meat Levy
The Livestock Development Corporation has recommended a levy of ten toea
per kilogram on all imports of red meat into the country. It is hoped that
this would help the ailing cattle industry in the country and encourage the
industry to supply meat for local consumption.
Labour and Employment
On the surface it looks like Air Niugini may have had a win in its battle
against the Labour and Employment Minister wanting to remove the Chief Executive
Officer of the airline. The Prime Minister has removed the Minister from the
portfolio and appointed another to the position. Of course the removal could
be for any number of reasons but who would want to put that in front of a
good piece of gossip!
Air Niugini
The Air Niugini Boeing 767 went in for a service recently and once the service
was completed a test by the pilot indicated something was not quite right.
After many such test flights the fault was finally found and fixed and then
it was time for Air Niugini to make an attempt to return the heavily disrupted
schedule to normal. Well it appears that when you are down you are really
down. It would appear that on return to Port Moresby after a short flight
to Brisbane, Australia the plane had an incident with a bird requiring a replacement
window for the plane and a burial for the bits of the bird that could be found
throwing the schedule out even more. One passenger wonders why they had to
pay an extra K30 facilities charges tax to the PNG Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) on top of the existing K30 facilities tax and K30 departure tax. It
would seem that none of the K60 facilities charges per passenger are being
used by CAA to get rid of a bird problem at Jackson's airport. It would also
appear that very little of the money is being used for any facilities at the
airport.
Domestic passengers are now paying a K10 facilities charge and a recent visit
to the domestic terminal revealed less security personal than when passengers
were paying nothing to CAA. Of course domestic passengers were inconvenienced
even further as Air Niugini used some of the domestic fleet to ferry international
passengers to Cairns, Australia instead of being able to get them to the correct
destination of Brisbane or Sydney. Air Niugini introduces a new domestic timetable
today (16 November) that replaces the last of the F28 1000 series aircraft
with a new, to Air Niugini, Dash 8 aircraft. This will mean longer flying
times for all trips but it is hoped it will mean a more reliable service for
the travelling public. Another Dash 8 aircraft will be introduced soon to
further boost the domestic network.
Gas Pipeline
The Petroleum and Energy Minister has said that he is confident that the
PNG Australia gas pipeline project would be viable by the end of the year.
He said that negotiations with two potential customers in Queensland were
in the final negotiation stages. If negotiations were successful this would
be sufficient to kick start the longest gas pipeline in the Southern Hemisphere.
He said the government was still seeking ways to raise finance for its side
of the agreement.
Corruption
PNG has been rated in a survey as one of the worst countries for corruption
in the world. It will be interesting to see what the politicians have to say
about that announcement. PNG has been rated as the 13th most corrupt country
out of 133 countries rated in the world.
Miss PNG 2003
Miss MRDC Cynthia Vaka Asi has won the 2003 Miss PNG Red Cross Quest. She
was also crowned Miss Charity Queen. The crowning was held at the Grand Palace
Restaurant on Saturday the 8th of November. The Miss PNG second runner-up
was Miss Skala/Evoluxe Alice Solomon and the first runner-up was Miss Milne
Bay, Helen Stephen. The Miss PNG Quest entrants and their sponsors managed
to raise a record for the PNG Red Cross Society of K458,000.
The first runner-up for Miss Charity Queen was Miss RH Hypermart Sibona Bogahenao
who raised K101,255.02 while the second runner up was Miss PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
Stella Lamboku, who raised K77,400.76.
Together, the nine contestants for 2003 made PNG Red Cross proud in raising
a total of K458,711.75.
In the minor prize categories, Miss Friendship went to Miss NCD/Central Red
Cross branch Christine Oa. Miss Photogenic went to Vanimo Beach Resort Jenny
Sourang, Miss Traditional was MRDC's Cynthia Asi, Miss Quest Sponsors Choice
was awarded to Miss Warehouse Nite club Baia Kidu, Miss committee's choice
went to Miss Highway Automotive Mary Efi and Miss people's choice was awarded
to Miss Milne Bay Helen Stevens.
Manus Home Brew
Community policing efforts in Manus are trying to raise awareness of the
effects of consuming home brew. The police have been carrying out awareness
programs over the provincial radio, Radio Manus, as well as talking to Grade
Ten and Grade Twelve students. The efforts are aimed at students who will
be finishing their exams and looking for home brew to celebrate or drown their
sorrows.
Food Crisis
Villagers living on the Carteret Islands and Atolls are struggling to find
food and relief efforts to send food are being hampered by a lack of money
to pay for fuel for the MV Sankamap. Many of the villagers want to move off
the islands that are sinking into the ocean but their efforts are being stopped
by landowners wanting money for the land the villagers are to be relocated
to. To make matters worse business houses in Buka are still waiting for payment
of foodstuffs provided to the National Disaster and Emergency Office four
months ago. It is believed that his food has already been shipped to the islands.
Bank South Pacific
The Bank South Pacific has agreed at a meeting of shareholders to subdivide
the Bank's existing shares on a 10 to one basis. This means that each shareholder
will have ten times as many shares. Each share will only be worth a tenth
of the existing value. It is hoped that the spilt of shares will make it easier
for prospective purchasers to buy shares. The split became effective on the
3rd of November 2003.
Gulf Province
A new ship, the MV Tara Spirit, intended to serve the Gulf Province has run
aground on a sand bank on one of its first voyages to the provincial capital
of Kerema. The Gulf Governor, Chris Haiveta, has questioned the Department
of Transport's maritime division as to what has happened to the navigational
aid equipment project for maritime provinces after the incident.
PNG Cattle
Another export of live cattle is to be made soon for the Asian market. The
most likely destination for the cattle will be the Philippines but there are
negotiations currently underway with other Asian countries to take PNG cattle.
PNG has already made three live cattle exports to the Philippines. Two shipments
last year and one shipment earlier this year. Many small holders are involved
in raising cattle. Out of the last three shipments more than 65 percent of
the cattle have come from customary landholders. At independence PNG had an
estimated 160,000 head of cattle but even after considerable effort has been
made to regrow the herds this figure still only stands at 80,000.
Governor General
The swearing in of the Governor General designate, Sir Albert Kipalan, has
had to be postponed indefinitely, pending the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing.
The swearing-in ceremony was scheduled for Thursday the 30th of November.
World Heritage Listing
The world famous Kuk swamp archaeological site in the Western Highlands has
failed to gain a world heritage listing because the necessary paperwork to
list the site was not in order. The site, in the Wahgi Valley, is reported
to be one of the very first agricultural sites in the world. It is claimed
that the Western Highlands site was tilled more than 10,000 years ago.
ITI Graduation
The International Training Institute held its 14th graduation ceremony at
the Crowne Plaza in down town Port Moresby. Over 250 students graduated with
the main presentation of Diplomas and University of Southern Queensland Certificates
being performed by Dr Ross Cole the Deputy Vice Chancellor from the Pacific
Adventist University. Photo's of the event can be found at the PNG Business
Directory site -- http://www.pngbd.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=600&password=
Education Payroll
Teachers are now getting paid using a new payroll system. Manual cheques
will now be a thing of the past with the new system. All payments will be
by way of a system generated pay advice.
Media Censorship
The Prime Minister of PNG has called on the PNG press to be regulated. Sir
Michael Somare said this in Parliament when attacking the media for reporting
an international perception survey resulting rating PNG as the 15th most corrupt
country in the world. This is a major shift from his previous comments on
the freedom of the press. The Post Courier has said "don't shoot the
messenger" because the rating was done by Transparency International
Berlin in its annual Corruption Perception Index of 133 countries.
Road Safety Campaign
Careless motorists have been warned by the National Road Safety council to
be on their best behaviour over the coming festive season. The Safety council's
"Arrive Alive" road safety campaign begins on the 1st of December
and will go through to the 2nd of January next year.
Fruit Fly
There are over 189 confirmed fruit fly species in PNG but there are others
waiting to be identified. Some fruit flies only take a liking to one particular
type of fruit whilst others attack several types of fruit. For example the
banana fruit fly only attacks bananas. They are considered dangerous pests
and can be found in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.
Drop-in Centre
The Jim Jacobsen Memorial Centre has been reopened in Lae. It was first opened
by the Salvation Army in 1995. With the reopening of the centre the needy,
including HIV/AIDS sufferers, would have available a home-like environment
in which to drop into, be it for fellowship, to get counselling or even acquire
life skills.
Eastern Highlands Roads
It is estimated that the recently reopened roads in the Okapa and Obura districts
of the Eastern Highlands Province are contributing up to K4 million from coffee
sales in the two areas. The two roads had been closed for 15 years but since
their reopening, had resulted in up to K3 million worth of coffee from Okapa
reaching Goroka and another K1 million from Obura.
Languages of PNG
PNG has three national or official languages -- they are Hiri Motu, Tok Pisin
and English. Overall in the whole of PNG the number of languages listed equals
832. Of those, 823 are living languages and nine are considered to have become
extinct in the last fifty years as some groups are absorbed into others and
more influence is exerted by tok pisin speakers to make it a truly national
language for the country.
The Drum
The famous Post Courier Column "The Drum" has been in the electronic
age for sometime now. For all of those people who are familiar with The Drum
you can now email titbits of gossip to thedrum@spp.com.pg or you can still
send a facsimile message to +675 320-1781. For those not familiar with The
Drum then I suggest taking a look at the Post Courier website located at http://www.postcourier.com.pg
and follow your nose to "The Drum".
PNG Media
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