Links
Do you have a web site or link to a PNG related area on the WWW? If so do you want it mentioned here? Then send an email to -- pngnewsqueue @ pnggossip.com
Lissenung Island Resort
P.O.Box 536 - Kavieng-N.I.P. Papua New Guinea - Phone/Fax ++675 984 2526 -- http://www.lissenung.com
Kabaira Dive Rabaul
Kabaira Dive Rabaul is a member of the PNG Diving Association and a family-owned and operated business that has been operating for the past 4 years. We would greatly appreciate inclusion of our website in your newsletter. -- http://www.kabairadive.com.pg
More Blogs
http://koroboronews.blogspot.com/2007/02/monday-12th-february.html
http://camnjaneinpng.blogspot.com/2007/02/cam-adds-touch-of-class.html
http://camnjaneinpng.blogspot.com/2007/02/blackouts.html
http://fiddlingwithfibre.blogspot.com/2007/02/museum-visit-some-fibre-seen.html
http://islandbaby.blogspot.com/2007/02/blade-to-blade.html
http://la-travelhunter.com/articles/?p=28
http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-logs-papua-new-guinea.html
http://samaritanaviation.blogspot.com/2007/02/medical-supplies-from-denver.html
http://lockfamilyramblings.blogspot.com/2007/01/wilting.html
http://sharminime.blogspot.com/2007/01/news-from-black.html
http://pngfords.blogspot.com/2007/01/2007.html
http://world-passenger.blogspot.com/2007/02/new-guinea-pacific-coast.html
http://cleanacleo.blogspot.com/
Customs Service
PNG welcomes travellers and trade. PNG Customs is the first point
of contact with Papua New Guinea for persons and goods entering the
country and their aim is to make this contact as friendly and helpful
as possible. Customs core business combines revenue collection and
border security and their role therefore is to collect duties and taxes
efficiently and to maintain border security by ensuring compliance
with Customs and border related legislation. -- http://www.customs.gov.pg
PNG History
If you are looking for the history of PNG then a good place to start
is the Wikipedia free encyclopaedia as well as the other links below.
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Papua_New_Guinea
-- http://sg.travel.yahoo.com/guide/australasia_and_pacific/papua_new_guinea/history.html
-- http://www.world66.com/asia/southeastasia/papuanewguinea/history
-- http://www.michie.net/balus/px-history.html (Air Niugini - not
complete)
-- http://www.michie.net/balus/cg-history.html (Airlines
of of PNG - very incomplete!)
If anyone can add to the Air Niugini or the Airlines of PNG (Milne
Bay Air) history please send an email to this newsletter and I will
pass it on. Does anyone have a picture of the MBA, Gruman Goose?
PNG Accommodation
The tourism promotion authority has a list of some of the accommodation
available in PNG located at -- http://www.pngtourism.org.pg/png/cms/services/accommodation.htm.
The Coral Sea hotel group with hotels around the country has a web
site located at -- http://www.coralseahotels.com.pg
The Kumul Adventure Resort Hotel is a new hotel in Enga Province has
a write up on the TPA site -- http://www.pngtourism.org.pg/png/export/sites/TPA/services/accommodation/kumul_adventure_resort_hotel.htm --
and can be contacted by Fax/Phone: (675) 542 1615 and Email: kumullodge@global.net.pg
Also visit -- http://www.pngtours.com/lodges.html
News Items
TB Association
Boroko Rotary Club has donated a new bus to the National Capital District
TB Association. The bus will be used as a mobile treatment van for
TB patients, supervising medical treatment and transporting volunteers
to attend to TB patients. The bus will be used on Mondays, Tuesdays
and Thursdays to visit urban clinics around the National Capital.
Vessels Destroyed
two Indonesian fishing vessels seized by fisheries officials and the
police on Dec 27 and 29 in Daru, Western province, and Orokolo in the
Gulf province respectively have been set alight by fisheries officials
and the national surveillance team. The 26 fishermen from the boats
were arrested and charged, found guilty and sentenced to jail at Bomana
just outside Port Moresby. A fisheries official said that by taking
this step they would be discouraging illegal fishing in PNG waters.
5-Star Boroko Hotel
Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Paul Tiensten has announced that
a five-star hotel, a first for the country, would be constructed at
the Department of Works Plant and Transport yard at Four Mile. The
hotel, to be known initially as Centheim Hotel, will cost US$35 million
and consist of 300-400 rooms, an international convention centre, and
an entertainment centre with a licensed casino strictly for foreigner
and genuine national business persons and other world-standard facilities.
Mr Tiensten said "the hotel aims to develop the tourism potential
in PNG and facilitate international conferences and workshops, increase
earnings in foreign currency, boost economic activity and generate
employment and exchange of knowledge and transfer of skills."
Queen Elizabeth 2
On of the world's largest ocean liners - the majestic Queen Elizabeth
2 will be visiting Rabaul on the 1st of March, 2007. Refurbished in
1999 QE2 offers graceful decor reminiscent of yesteryear and operates
3 classes: Grill, Caronia and Mauretania for cabins and restaurants
rated: luxury, premier and superior. QE2 passengers tend to be discerning
50+ and British and American. It has a total of 982 cabins and crew
of 1016. The Cunard owned and operated cruiseliner is scheduled to
arrive at Rabaul's Simpson Harbour with approximately 2000 tourists
at 8am and depart at 5pm.
Police Commissioner
The recently appointed Police Commissioner, Gari Baki, has been committed
to stand trial in the National Court over charges of causing disaffection
in the police force. Mr Baki was charged under Section 163 of the Police
Force Act for allegedly causing disaffection among members of the police
force and was suspended as the deputy police commissioner (Operations)
last year. He was appointed Police Commissioner by the National Executive
Council while the charge was pending. Mr Baki said he would continue
to perform his role and not step aside.
NCDC Payments
Payments of over K900,000 by the National Capital District Commission
to a security firm has been questioned. Sources said senior managers
put pressure on staff to facilitate the release of the money. Documents
revealed that the security contract was approved by the NCDC Board
without proper tender processes being followed.
Wrong Payment
Two payments made between 2005 and 2006 amounting to about K500,000
have been paid to the wrong person in the Western Highlands. It is
claimed that the two cheques were paid to a solicitor representing
the people affected by a police raid. The Mt Hagen National Court in
2000 ruled in their favour and ordered the State pay them K959,281.39
in compensation. The acting Solicitor-General, David Lambu, has said
he would not entertain any further claims that were dealt with by previous
Solicitor-Generals.
Telikom ISP
It would seem that Telikom PNG is trying to become a retailer as well
as a wholesaler of Internet Services. The Information Technology Suppliers
Association (ITSA), on behalf of the Internet Service Providers (ISP's),
has described Telikom's wholesale price of its broadband service to
end users as a backward step for a developing country such as PNG.
The ISP's have requested the unbundling of these broadband products
by Telikom as is required by law to allow them to continue providing
the best possible level of service to internet users in PNG, by way
of fair and uniform competition.
Chinese Diplomat
The PNG ambassador to China has been recalled to PNG but is ignoring
the call by his superiors. The recalled ambassador been charged under
the Public Service Management Act by the Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department for "illegal dealings". The charges relate to
allegations of "illegal dealings" with Chinese nationals,
especially in the issuing of visas and other travel documents to some
Chinese, who were deemed illegal immigrants by PNG officials.
Moti Affair
Joseph Assaigo, the former Director of the Security Coordination and
Assessment (OSCA), has filed papers in court admitting his involvement
in the flight of Julian Moti from PNG to the Solomon Islands. He is
challenging a decision by the National Executive Council to dismiss
him from office and claims that he was only acting upon orders he had
received from the Prime Minister, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare.
Frontier Gold
Frontier Resources Ltd has announced the discovery of a gold anomaly
that is six times larger than the Kodu copper-gold deposit near Port
Moresby, where there is an inferred resource totalling 507,000 tonnes
of copper equivalent. Frontier plans to commence drilling of the prospect
in the second quarter of this year.
Cheshire Homes
The Indian Association has donated K10,000 to Cheshire homes in the
National Capital. The money will be used to help complete renovations
that are currently underway at the home in Hohola. The Indian Association
of PNG was established 27 years ago to foster relationship between
PNG Citizens and the Indian Community in times of natural disasters,
famine and other worthy causes.
International Singsing Festival
Lae, PNG second largest city, will play host to the International
Singsing Festival in March 2007. The song and dance festival aims to
use PNG's rich traditional and contemporary culture and arts and the
abundant biodiversity as the medium to unite the identity of the people
and raise awareness on issues of importance to their natural environment
and well-being. The festival will start with a three-day seminar from
March 20-22 followed by the actual singsing festival from 23rd to the
26th of March.
PNG Web Hosting
Interested in creating your own PNG Web Site or any web site for that
matter? Worried about the cost? It may be cheaper than you think. Take
a look at pricing offered at the PNG Web Hosting site -- http://www.pngwebhost.com -- Sites with space for 15,000 MB of data, 300 GB transfer per month
and 24 hours a day / 7 day a week ticket / phone support for less than
US$5.00 per month. The larger web-hosting plan at US$9.75 per month
offers 25,000MB of disk space, 400GB transfers and the ability to host
up to 10 domains and 32 sub domains on this one package. All sites
come with a web site builder to make web site making easy! As an added
bonus several PHP and MySQL options are available. The best way is
to visit the web site and see for yourself. Oh, and by the way, DOT
COM Domain Names are as little as US$9.00 per year.
Remember there is no need to spend hours and hours learning HTML code
or graphics editing. No need to worry about details with PNG Web Hosting.
Let the tools such as the Joomla! or Mambo Content Management System,
help you on your way. If that seems too much effort then there is also
a "fill in the gaps" html web site builder available free
of charge. So if you are looking for a permanent home for even just
your email address then take a look at -- http://pngwebhost.com
Traffic Lights
The traffic lights at the Holiday Inn (Islander / Boroko Motors) intersection
at Waigani in Port Moresby have been out for ages inconveniencing the
travelling public. It doesn't appear that anyone in authority must
use that road to get to work otherwise we would have seen some action
on the lights ages ago.
POM General
Thanks to the efforts of the Sri Lankan community in PNG the Port
Moresby General Hospital now has access to more than one cardiograph
machine. The President of the Sri Lankan-PNG Friends Foundation, Wasantha
Kumarasiri, handed over the equipment to Dame Carol Kidu during a brief
ceremony at the Sir Buri Kidu Heart Institute recently. It is estimated
that 20 patients a day will be monitored by the new equipment.
HIV / AIDS Report
An independent report by the Australian think-tank, the Centre for
Independent Studies, has predicted that a million people will die of
HIV/AIDS in PNG if the Government does not tackle the problem head
on. The rapid rise of those infected has been attributed to PNG's low
baseline of general health, with a population already debilitated by
a variety of diseases. The low status of women has also been mentioned
as another factor. Australia has a direct interest in PNG's HIV/AIDS
epidemic because an ever increasing number of PNG nationals are accessing
the Queensland (Australia) health system in the Torres Strait islands
and on Cape York.
Stop n Shop Erima
The Stop n Shop supermarket at the entrance to Jackson's airport burnt
down last weekend - 11th Feb 2007. The store was totally gutted by
fire and a serious loss to the City Pharmacy group of companies, which
owns the chain of supermarkets.
PNG's Frankfurt Office
Ruediger Knospe has headed the PNG Tourism office in Frankfurt for
many years. The office also acts as a sales agent for Air Niugini making
it easier for those wanting to visit PNG. The office has developed
an exciting new website featuring PNG Tourism in some of the major
European languages such as Polish, Russian, Frence, Italian and German.
If you are in Europe and need help on PNG then Ruediger Knospe, who
has 18 years of PNG experienc, along with his six very enthusiastic staff
all excited about selling PNG will be able to help you. Email -- info@pngtourism.de -- http://www.pngtourism.de/ -- Ph: (+49) 69 634 095 Fax: (+49) 69
631 3332
Coming Events
National Surfing Titles in Vanimo in mid-February 2007.
32nd Gaming Fishing Association of PNG titles will be held from the
1st to the 4th April
May Coffee Festival 2007 - cancelled due to 2007 National Elections.
Tufi Cultural Show, Oro Province -- 9th to the 11th June
National Mask Festival, Kokopo - East New Britain Province -- 12th
to the 15th of July
International Orchid Spectacular -- 5th and 6th of August
Lukim PNG NAU Tourism Expo -- 9th to the 11th September
National Tourism Conference -- 12th September
Hiri Moale Festival, Port Moresby - National Capital District -- 15th
to 18th of September
PNG 32nd Independence Day Celebrations -- 16th September
Morobe Show, Lae -- 4th to 5th of November
The Milne Bay Canoe and Kundu (drum) festival is to be in November.
Do you have an event that you want advertised? Send email to -- PNGNews[@]pnggossip.com
PNG Media
If a friend has given or sent you a copy of this newsletter and you would like to keep receiving free copies then please visit -- ../news/index.html - for instructions on how to join the list.
Articles for this Newsletter
If you think you have a PNG page worth mentioning then please click here and use the submission form
To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter queue please click here and use the submission form.
.gif)
.jpg)
View PNG Gossip Newsletter Archive