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Welcome to the Papua New Guinea Gossip - 8 Sep 1998. 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@png-gossip.com Articles for this newsletterTo send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter -- please e-mail your contribution to pngnews.queue@png-gossip.comRemember 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 local currency is called the Kina - 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. |
* Police News
Police have seized an arsenal of weapons and over K700,000 in cash after a recent raid in Korobosea (a suburb of Port Moresby). One of the seven men arrested has been charged with the robbery of the PNGBC office at Jackson's airport last week.
PNGBC is now known as the Bank South Pacific - BSP.
* Hospitals
The multi million Kina private hospital for Port Moresby, being built by the Motor Vehicle Insurance Trust is expected to be ready in a few months
City Pharmacy has opened an outlet in the Port Moresby General hospital to sell drugs at a cheaper price. This brings to ten the number of City Pharmacy outlets in Port Moresby.
* Southern Highlands
The National Provident Fund (NPF) is to give the Southern Highlands province a loan of K17 million for roads in the province.
* Manus
Works Minister Yauwe Riyong has said that the Manus govt is not ready for the World Sea Kayaking championships to be held next month. Air Niugini has been told to be prepared for an influx of visitors to Manus.
* Aitape Disaster
There have been concerns that the millions raised for the Aitape tsunami disaster are not being forwarded for the cause. There have also been reports that the money that has been forwarded has been used to buy stereo cassette players and other luxury items.
* Ben Micah
Ben has resigned as the chairman of Telikom. He has resigned to contest his election petition against the current encumbent Ian Ling-Stuckey.
* National Housing
A United States based company is reportedly suing the National Housing Corporation for breach of contract over the scrapping of the 5000 new houses.
* National Capital District
The National Capital District (NCD) Commission has started work on the Remembrance Park at the 5-mile traffic lights after winning a court injunction against a naturalised businessman.
Governor Philip Taku has lifted the ban on swimming at Ela Beach after the water company - Eda Ranu - had installed two standby generators which enable the sewerage to pumped further away from the beach even when the electricity is off.
* Parliament
The poor parliamentarians are suffering just like the rest of us for once. The "B" wing at Parliament House has has air-conditioning and water problems. Umm?? Just like in the village they represent.
* The Independent
The newspaper had a very sad picture of a person who had found his dead wife almost seven weeks after the tidal wave went through. He was shown on his way to bury her.
* Rice
The price of rice is supposed to have fallen this week due to the increase in the Kina against the United States Dollar.
Rice donated by the Japanese for drought relief has been allowed to spoil. Foreign Affairs Minister, Roy Yaki has commented that it is only 330 tonnes of rice that has gone bad. Whilst this might be better than the 8000 tonnes reported the other day it is still a lot of food for people who need it.
* Madang
The trial of the Madang Governor has been deferred for two weeks due to the Governors work commitments. The Governor allegedly, along with three policemen, tried to stop a plane from taking off earlier this year at Madang Airport.
In a letter to the editor of the Post Courier Peter Barter had the following to say about the opening of a health centre on the border of Madang and Morobe Provinces. He wrote, "neither national, provincial or local governments contributed a brass razoo to the people. The people themselves carried materials from the coast to the health centre 5000 feet above sea level. They cut timber etc free of charge. On the opening day numerous politicians, administrators etc flew in by expensive helicopters to officially open the centre, in doing so they spent more on travel than the cost of the whole building! The Lutheran Church rep who made a lot of it possible travelled by banana boat and then walked to the site with the people."
* Pricing
Toba Motors are advertising Mitsubishi FS428 Twin Steer trucks for K179,000. The trucks are advertised to have 28 foot trays, twist lock, bull bars, tail light protectors as well as large fuel tanks.
Mainland plumbing and building supplies have advertised 75 x 50 DAR Hardwod for K1.69 per lm
* Overseas
- and when you thought it could only happen in the land of the unexpected the following item will prove that it's not only PNG where things go wrong. It is reported that the main library at the University of Indiana sinks over an inch a year because the engineers failed to take into account the weight of the books that would occupy the building.
The following page is worth a mention. Please take a look at some real news items from Papua New Guinea.
PNG Independent - Newspaper - I fully recommend their Beehive column for a good source of PNG Gossip.
* Disclaimer
Do not rely on the information in the PNG Newsletter. It is possible that the info could be out of date or inaccurate.
PNG media related sites
- Post Courier Newspaper -- http://www.postcourier.com.pg
- The National Online Newspaper-- http://www.thenational.com.pg
- Chin H Meen (Music) -- http://www.chmsupersound.com
- EM TV (Television) -- http://www.emtv.com.pg
- Hitron (Cable TV) -- http://www.hitron.com.pg
- Pacific View Multimedia http://www.pvm.com.pg
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Articles for this newsletter
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