Links
Warning: PNG web sites seem to come and go. The fact of life is that it costs money to host a web site (try -- http://pngwebhost.com -- for an excellent, reliable but cheap deal) and there is not much return on the outlay to most businesses in PNG. If you do click on a link and use the services or even have some comments to make then please contact the people at the relevant web site and let them know so they at least know that someone has gained some value from their efforts. If you are so inclined then mention that you heard about them from this web site. -- The PNG Gossip Newsletter.
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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
Updated Blogs
http://maxnkaureinalotau.blogspot.com/2007/07/sunny-days-again-in-alotau.html
Miscellaneous Links
PNG Missions
Here are a few of the websites run by PNG Missions overseas. If you know of any other sites please send an email to this newsletter so the list can be updated.
The Official web site of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) High Commission in Australia can be found at -- http://www.pngcanberra.org
http://www.pngembassy.org -- Embassy of Papua New Guinea to the Americas, Washington, DC
Dive Links
News Items
Next Newsletter
The next newsletter will be delayed due to overseas travel and work commitments.
Security
Security around the country has been beefed up in case of any problems after the elections. The Civil Aviation Authority has announced road access to air side at Jackson's Airport has been beefed up in case of trouble. The police have announced extra patrols in the main towns and more patrols along the highlands highway. Police Commissioner, Gari Baki, has said that police are prepared for any post election violence. Many people have warned that if the elections results don't go the way they want them to then they are prepared to declare war on the opposing tribes and clansmen.
PNG Power
The threat of strike action by PNG Power workers has been subdued by the sidelining of the PNG Power Chief Executive, Patrick Mara, until a decision is made about the renewal of his contract. Mr Maso is also reported as making a statement that money to be paid under the 2007 Enterprise Agreement would be halted. The Chairman of the PNG Power Board said this statement would have aggravated the current situation where a country wide strike has been threatened by the workers.
Arrivals Up
The Tourism Promotion Authority has announced that the arrivals for the first half of 2007 are up by 40 per cent. 14,000 more visitors have come to see PNG in the first six months of the year as compared with 2006. A total of 50,000 visitors have come to the country from January to June. Business visitors made up 55 per cent of the figure and holiday and travel visitors accounted for 35 per cent. Positive news for the country is that the growth is not only coming from its traditional, major source market of Australia but there have been an increase in numbers of people coming from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Asia.
Air Fares
Air fares are often quoted as being expensive in PNG. Both Air Niugini and Airlines of PNG have some special fares available. Air Niugini has good fares on all domestic and most international sectors if you get in early and Airlines of PNG have very good fares on its international sectors. Check out both web sites if you are considering a trip on either of the two airlines but please check the terms and conditions. Generally the cheaper the fare the more restrictions are placed on the traveller.
- Airlines of PNG
- Port Moresby to Cairns return - K998
- Port Moresby to Brisbane return - K1198
- Port Moresby to Brisbane return (Executive Class) - K2998
- Air Niugini
- Port Moresby to Cairns return - K998
- Port Moresby to Brisbane return - K1358
- Port Moresby to Sydney return - K1733
- Port Moresby to Fiji return - K1631
Digicel
A competitor to Telikom's B Mobile has successfully launched its new product range in Moresby on Friday the 20th of July only to be told on the 24th that its licence had been revoked and it should stop all use of the frequencies it was using. I am also aware that the equipment at Goroka is also fully tested after talking to one of the engineers up there on weekend. I assume that the other sites of Lae, Mt. Hagen, Madang, Rabaul and Kokopo are all up and running as well. Digicel has offered a few sweeteners to persuade customers to look their direction. Handsets previously selling for a couple of hundred Kina are now on sale for under K100. Their motto of "Expect More. Get More." appears to be true so far. Datanets online shop -- http://www.esishop.com.pg -- has added the ability to top up Digicel pre-paid accounts along with the prepaid accounts of B Mobile accounts and PNG Power.
B Mobile
Telikom's B Mobile has rolled out mobile coverage to Lombrum, Tokua, Toleap, Keravat and Warongoi.
They now offer a service, although some say a dis-service, to
Port Moresby,
Wewak, Kavieng,
Goroka,
Angoram,
Mt Turu,
Yangoru,
Kerema,
Madang,
Lorengau,
Tari,
Ambunti,
Tabubil,
Aitape,
Rabaul,
Kimbe,
Mendi,
Maprik,
Lae,
Kokopo,
Mt Hagen,
Alotau,
Kiunga,
Vanimo,
Wau,
Bulolo,
Ramu,
Wapenamanda,
Oro,
Bialla,
Lihir,
Ialibu,
Buka,
Arawa and
Central Province.
It is amazing what a little bit of competition does for the consumer. Telikom have also announced a K25 start-up kit with K10 worth of calls.
Caving Request
The following request has come in from Tom at the University of PNG.
A Team of Cavers and Biologist would like to explore caves that may exist in PNG especially in
The Nakana Plateau, New Britain
The Muller Ranges
The Hindenburg Ranges
The Upper Sepik
The Fly River
I would appreciate if any information regarding the subject including contact address of individual or organisation could be supplied to me.
Tom Pringel
Strengthening Conservation Capacity Project
School of Natural & Physical Science
University of PNG
PO Box 320
University Post Office
Papua New Guinea
Leave a message at PNG Gossip if you can help.
Remembrance Day
Thousands gathered for PNG's Remembrance Day on Monday the 23rd of July at the Port Moresby Memorial Park on the seafront at Ela Beach. Current and returned PNG servicemen and women and Australian, New Zealand and other diplomatic representatives gathered before a memorial depicting a "fuzzy-wuzzy angel" helping a wounded Australian soldier in World War II, as Papua New Guineans remembered those who lost their lives in military conflict. The Governor-General, Sir Paulias Matane, paid tribute to PNG soldiers who gave their lives in World War II and in the secessionist conflict in Bougainville in the 1990s. Matane also paid tribute to foreign allies who fought and died in PNG during World War II, "especially our close friends and neighbours, the soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and, from afar, the Americans".
PNG's Remembrance Day is held on the 23rd of July in recognition of the first engagement between PNG troops and Japanese troops on that day in 1942 at Awala near Kokoda.
Moti Affair
Julian Moti, who fled PNG in a PNG Defence Force plane for the Solomon Islands, has been appointed to the top Solomon's Attorney position. Moti was ferried out of PNG on the 10th of October, 2006 on the secret flight given the name of the "Great Escape" by the legal counsel to the PNG Defence Board of Inquiry. Moti is wanted in Australia on child sex charges.
Morobe Province
A Curtin University architecture student from Australia is helping to design and construct a health centre in the small coastal village of Labu-Tale in Morobe Province. Kate Ferguson, a fourth year architecture student at Curtin University of Technology, is excited about leading a team of more than 30 Aussie and PNG volunteer architecture students in building the community health centre. Labu-Tale is a village with a population of about 1,000 people made-up mainly of fisher people and farmers and located close to Lae, one of the biggest towns in PNG. The local people have already offered to build traditional huts for the students to sleep in during their stay.
Medical Symposium
The staging of the annual Medical Symposium has received a boost of K145,000 from the current Minster for Health, Sir Peter Barter. The money was presented to the President of the PNG Medical Society, Dr Mathias Sapuri, who gladly accepted the cheque on behalf of the fund raising committee. The symposium will be held in September in Port Moresby. Last year it was held in Madang.
Operation Open Heart
Operation Open Heart has received a boost of K10,000 thanks to PNG Power. This is the first time that the power company has made a financial contribution but the company has always helped in the past by ensuring that the hospital generators have been maintained and that power would not be interrupted if there were problems with the hospital supply. PNG Power will once again ensure the continuity of supply to the hospital during the Operation Open Heart.
West Sepik Earthquake
An earthquake with magnitude 6.0 occurred near Vanimo, PNG at 14:20:47.00 UTC on 22nd July, 2007 -- http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/catalogs/cap/at00174444
The above brings back memories of what happened on the 17th of July, 1998 when people near Aitape in the West Sepik province of PNG felt the tremors from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that shocked the world. The earthquake and resulting tsunami killed more than 2,000 people and left more than 10,000 homeless. In addition, many of the survivors were badly injured, with broken bones and bruising.
-- http://www.ga.gov.au/urban/factsheets/tsunami_png.jsp
-- http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/PNG/Upng/Learned/
-- http://www.designpoint.com.au/atlas/aitape/intro.html
Elections
Please visit the PNG Electoral Commission Web Site at -- http://www.pngec.gov.pg/ -- for all the election results. The 2007 results page can be found at -- http://www.pngec.gov.pg/resultsNat2007/SummaryResults.htm
You can also look at the following news items. It seems that the only local news at the moment is election related. Very little else is being covered in the local press :-)
PNG voters dump Namaliu but poised to choose Chan -- http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=33745
Trawen told to take control of counting -- http://www.thenational.com.pg/071907/nation3.htm
Hidden Valley Gold
The Hidden Valley gold project operated by Harmony -- http://www.harmony.co.za/ -- in the mountain ranges of Morobe province is scheduled to deliver its first gold in the fourth quarter of next year. See -- http://www.harmony.co.za/b/ops_png.asp -- Harmony is the fifth largest gold producer in the world, with operations and projects in South Africa, Australia and of course PNG.
Deep Sea Mining
Nautilus Minerals, a deep sea miner, has been granted eleven new exploration licences covering an area of over 21,000 square kilometres. The area under the current licences in PNG is larger than Greece.
Exchange Rates
The value of the PNG Kina against major currency the Australian Dollar continues to fall. The Kina will buy approximately 36.8 Aussie cents but this figure seems to be dropping even lower as the Dollar continues to strengthen against the US Dollar..
Note the values below change on a daily basis and should only be used as a rough guide. Please consult your local bank for up-to-date exchange rates. The PNGBD Web Site provides a week day update of the exchange rates. Click on -- http://www.pngbd.com -- and follow the links to the exchange rate.
- Australian Dollar AUD = 0.3684
- US Dollar USD = 0.3234
- European Euro EUR = 0.2343
- Canadian Dollar CAD = 0.3374
- Fijian Dollar FJD = 0.5013
- Hong Kong Dollar HKD = 2.5292
- Japanese Yen JPY = 39.42
- New Zealand Dollar NZD = 0.4074
- Philippine Peso PHP = 14.61
- Singapore Dollar SGD = 0.4906
- Solomon Islands Dollar SBD = 2.4725
- Swiss Franc CHF = 0.3882
- Thai Baht THB = 9.6373
- British Pound GBP = 0.1575
The Bank of PNG is trying to increase the value of the Kina against world currencies and counter rising inflation by buying more Kina against the US Dollar. Inflation is reportedly running at 6 per cent. The Kina has appreciated against the US Dollar but depreciated against the Australian Dollar since the end of March.
NRL Stars to Trek Kokoda
Australia's National Rugby League Stars are set to trek the historical war time Kokoda Track in October to raise money for charity. Parramatta Eels star Nathan Hindmash - depending on availability for national duties with the Kangaroos - will join Penrith Panthers and Papua New Guinea hooker Paul Aiton on the challenging 96 kilometre track. Eels team mates Mark Riddel and Daniel Wagon have also put up their hands for the inaugural White Ribbon NRL Kokoda Trek. They will trek alongside White Ribbon Chairman and Channel 7 star, Andrew O'Keefe. Australia's CEO Challenge has announced that the NRL stars will assist Executive Excellence lead two treks of 20 people over the historic trek from October 2-11, 2007 to promote and raise funds for anti-violence education campaigns, in particular White Ribbon Day. (Source-- http://www.nrl.com)
Coming Events
International Orchid Spectacular -- 5th and 6th of August
Milamala Festival, Trobriand Islands on the 11th of August
The 46th Mt Hagen Cultural Show will be held at the Kagamuga Showgounds on the 18th and 19th of August 2007. Last year more than 250 bona-fide tourists visited the show in 2006 over the two day period. It is anticipated that this figure will be beaten this year. the Mt Hagen Show moved from its original site in Mt Hagen itself to the Showgrounds after PNG independence in 1975 -- http://eventsuk.britishairways.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=31325
XIII South Pacific Games -- August 2007. To be held in Samoa
Lukim PNG NAU Tourism Expo -- 9th to the 11th September
National Tourism Conference -- 12th of September
Hiri Moale Festival, Port Moresby - National Capital District -- 13th to 17th of September
The Tourism Promotion Authority has the following to say about the popular annual Hiri Moale Festival.
It will be held at Ela Beach in Port Moresby and organisers say the event, which depicts the historical significance of the Hiri trade between the Motuan people and their Gulf neighbours to the west, will be bigger and better this year. As in the past, the symbol of the Hiri Moale Festivals today remains the giant double-hull Lakatois (canoes) which plied these waters risking many lives over many months to trade fish for food from the west. Today, the Lakatois (sometimes spelt lagatois) are sailed into Ela Beach by certain chosen villages accompanied by singing and dancing. A highlight of the Hiri Moale Festival is the Hiri Hanenamo or Hiri Queen quest.
5th Luk Save Art Show will be held at the Royal Papua Yacht Club, Port Moresby -- 15th - 16th September
PNG 30th Independence Day Celebrations -- 16th September
Goroka Show -- 16th to the 18th of September
National Cultural Commission Arts and Crafts Exhibition, Port Moresby -- from the 26th to the 28th of October
Morobe Show, Lae -- 27th to 28th of October
The Milne Bay Canoe and Kundu (drum) festival is to be held in November from the 2nd to the 4th.
Do you have an event that you want advertised? Send email to -- PNGNews[@]pnggossip.com
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