PNG Gossip Newsletter - 6 May 2005

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haus building
haus house
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haus bilong wasim klos laundry
haus kuk / hauskuk / kisen kitchen
haus lotu temple / church
haus luluai bilong longwe ples embassy
haus mani bank (n)
haus pamuk brothel
haus pekpek man toilet (men)
haus pekpek meri toilet (women)
haus piksa cinema / theatre
haus sik hospital
haus tambaran art gallery
haus tambaran spirit house
haus win garden house / summer house
 
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Remember that this mailing list is meant (mainly) 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 30 - 30.5 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 -- The PNG Business and Tourism Directory also has daily rates based from a PNG perspective

Welcome to the
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 click here and use the submission form.

Articles for this newsletter

To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter -- please click here and use the submission form to make initial contact.

Warning: PNG web sites seem to come and go. The fact of life is that it costs money to host a web site 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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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



Warning: PNG web sites seem to come and go. The fact of life is that it costs money to host a web site 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 them mention that you heard about them from this web site. -- The PNG Gossip Newsletter.



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



PNG Recipes



Learn to make dishes from Papua New Guinea featuring coconut, fruit, vegetables, and fish.

http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/recipe1.html
http://www.anahitagallery.com/ahrecipe04.html
http://www.pngbuai.com/600technology/cookery/



Taklam Guest House



The Guest House, actually it is now called Taklam Lodge and Tours, was originally located in Rabaul but was relocated to Kokopo after the twin volcanic eruptions destroyed Rabaul in 1994. They commenced operations in 1990 offering a home away from home service. A web site is located at -- http://www.taklam.com.pg/



Miscellaneous Sites



Port Moresby Rotary -- http://www.pomrotary.org.pg
Rotary adopt a village -- http://www.ram.com.pg/adopt.htm
Satellite Image of PNG -- http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/Australia/satellite_image.html
PNG Department of Health -- http://www.health.gov.pg
Pacific Dream -- German Language Web Site -- http://www.pacificdream.de/index_ger.html
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research -- http://www.pngimr.org.pg
Daru Research -- http://fp.involved.com/methodsman/Daru%20research.htm



PNG Orchids



If you are interested in PNG Orchids then I suggest visiting -- http://www.orchidspng.com -- this is another web site with layout and design by Wolfgang H. Bandisch.



Internet Service Providers



Daltron -- http://www.daltron.com.pg
Data Nets -- http://www.datanets.com.pg
Datec -- http://www.datec.net.pg
Global Technologies -- http://www.global.net.pg

Rumour has it that Tiare, the organisation that hands out bandwidth, at a price, to the ISP's listed above are about to increase bandwidth into the country by upgrading the link from Australia as well as having a dedicated amount of bandwidth back to the United States. A large proportion of the traffic over the already existing and terribly clogged 8 Megabit link down to Australia is to the United States. Just for those readers that are not aware of how bad Internet capacity is into PNG take note that 8 Megabit is available into domestic residences in Australia - that is it is available to an individuals house!


News Items



Police Brawl




Some things never change. There has been a report of police fighting with security guards outside a supermarket in Wewak and later police ransacked the office of the security firm. It is believed that the police incited the incident by telling one of the security men that his job was rubbish. Another reports has said that a security guard carried out an inappropriate search of a policeman's wife and when she told her husband about the incident the fireworks happened from that.



Police Task Force



The Internal Security Minister, Bire Kimisopa, has come under fire in Parliament over plans to disband police mobile units and task forces, tactical and rapid response units set up to respond to serious crimes and armed conflicts in the country. He was also taken to task over the inadequacy of the number of police personnel in the country, and the low morale they were suffering from due to low wages and poor working conditions. The money situation is so bad that the police have had rationed fuel to 20 litres per day, which was not enough. Mr Kimisopa said the units were being disbanded due to an erosion of discipline within these units.



Magistrate Conditions



The Chief Magistrate, John Numapo, has called on the Government to improve working conditions for magistrates in the country by providing housing and improving their salaries and other conditions. There is a huge disparity in salary and other terms and conditions for employment between judges and magistrates. Many of our magistrates are still living in villages or living with relatives and coming to work. The last review of the terms and conditions for magistrates was done in 1993, nearly 12 years ago.



Chemotherapy



Despite numerous pleas to have the chemotherapy machine fixed or replaced at the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae the machine is still nowhere being fixed yet cancer is now one of the top five killer diseases in the country according to the National Cancer Foundation. This increase can be attributed to the fact that the only machine that can help to treat the disease is not working and therefore unless patients can afford their own treatment overseas they are being given a life sentence. Other reasons behind the increase have been attributed to a change in the lifestyle of the PNG population, especially the diet of people being changed from fresh food to processed food. The PNG Defence Force Engineer Battalion has donated K800 to the Foundation. It has been estimated that a total of K12 million is required to bring back the treatment of cancer patients to PNG.



Baisu Jail



Over 120 remandees at the Baisu jail outside Mt Hagen have expressed their frustration at the failure of the District Court to hear their cases promptly. The Mt Hagen District Court has been closed since the 14th of March due to a lack of housing for magistrates and there are more than 500 cases pending action by the court. The court shut its doors after the National Housing Commission sold one the houses occupied by a magistrate to a local pastor in the province in December 2003.



HIV Estimate



It has been claimed that HIV could claim 38 percent of the PNG workforce over the next 15 years if the incidence of HIV/AIDS continues to claim the young in the population.



New Magistrates



Chief Justice Sir Mari Kapi has sworn in five new magistrates. They are Martin Ipang, Cosmos Inkisopa, Paul N'Ddranoh, Tera Dawai and Sinclaire Gora. At present there are 104 district court magistrates in the country and that figure is 56 short of the maximum allowed. The figure of 104 has declined from a total of 122 magistrates in 2002. Some magistrates resigned to contest the 2002 general elections.



Air Niugini Airbus



For those of you who are interested in aviation here is a picture of one of the old Air Niugini Airbuses taken in very unfamiliar territory for a plane from the tropics. -- http://www.airliners.net/open.file/791474/M/



PNG Citizenship



How long does it take to get citizenship of PNG? Paul Schwarz, a German volunteer, has waited nearly 20 years for the Government to grant him citizenship after applying in 1986. He has spent the last 40 years of his life in PNG with 20 of those waiting for the Government to grant him citizenship in the country he has grown to love. Mr Schwarz runs the PNG Diabetic Centre, a non-government organisation dealing with the country's growing problem of obesity and diabetes. The centre is the only organisation in the country where the medication is free and a small fee is charged for sugar level tests. It is one of a couple of charity organisations he has worked for. He has gone for interviews and paid fees but he still waits.



Melanesian Lotu



Melanesian Lotu Australia Inc. is hosting an "Island Celebration Night"
Date: Saturday 14 May 2005
Time: 7.00pm til 12.30am
Venue: Sydney Markets Industries Club, Flemington Rd (Entry off Parramatta Rd)

ALL WELCOME!! PLENTY KAIKAI!! ENTERTAINMENT & DJ PROVIDED!! BRING YOUR DANCING SHOES!!
Adults: $20 each
Children: $10 each (8-16yrs)
Ticket entry only
Call 0413 703 226 or -- E: bacardi_bruja@yahoo.com -- FOR TICKETS
All proceeds help the Melanesian Lotu Aust. inc. purchase a community bus.



Aid Agencies



A government minister has slammed international donor agencies for continuing to "blackmail" the country by demanding certain conditions be met before they release money for important projects. The Transport and Civil Aviation Minister, Don Polye, said that demands by the World Bank that the PNG Government meet conditions of its Forest Conservation Program (FCP) before it released $US30 million (about K100 million) to rehabilitate the Highlands Highway were unwarranted. He went on to describe the Bank's demands as blackmail and expressed confidence that between K200 and K300 million that was needed to fix the highway could be raised from domestic financial markets instead of going offshore to get a loan.



Bougainville Copper



Judge Justice Gibbs Salika has ordered that Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) pay backdated taxes to the PNG Internal Revenue Commission (IRC). BCL owes over K28 million to the IRC for taxes accrued between 1998 and 2001. BCL operated the Panguna mine, which was one of the largest open cut copper mines in the world until it was forcefully closed by the Bougainville rebellion in 1990. BCL has refused to pay any income tax since the mine was closed.



Airport Security



Passengers at the domestic airport terminal in Port Moresby have had to suffer due to a lack of x-ray scanning equipment. Bits and pieces of the equipment have been used to keep similar equipment at the International terminal going. A long queue of frustrated passengers at the domestic terminal rushing to catch flights doesn't seem to worry the Civil Aviation Authority.



PNG Folktales



One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights:
Folktales from Wantok Newspaper
Translated and Edited by Thomas H. Slone

One Thousand One Papua New Guinean Nights is a two-volume collection of folktales that were originally published in Papua New Guinea's Wantok newspaper. The folktales were in Tok Pisin, the Pidgin English language of Papua New Guinea. The two-volume collection presents the complete set of over 1000 folktales published between 1972 and 1997. The book represents one of the largest general collections of Papua New Guinean folktales and it is worthwhile getting a copy. All of Papua New Guinea's provinces and approximately 35 percent of Papua New Guinea's 800 language/culture groups are represented. The first volume includes the introduction and 550 folktales; the second volume includes the remaining folktales, indices, a glossary, a set of maps and a gazetteer. The folktales have been extensively indexed by author, village, original language (or culture group), province, flora and fauna, and folklore motif.

The book is available directly from the publisher at -- http://THSlone.tripod.com/masalaipress.html

And from Amazon.com -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?tag=abibliogrofmelan&keyword=slone+papua&mode=books

barnesandnoble.com -- http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=slone+papua

and bamm.com -- http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?type=keyword&find=slone+papua&x=6&y=6

Further information about the book and a couple of sample stories can be found at -- http://THSlone.tripod.com/1001PNGnights.html

A different sample story, this time from Milne Bay, reprinted with permission of the author, can also be found at -- http://michie.net/pnginfo/1001.html

Thomas H. Slone is a staff scientist at the University of California at Berkeley.



ECP Bashing



It seems that the media has been having a field day bashing the Enhanced Co-operation Program over recent weeks. There have been various claims one of which is that the Australian Police at Boroko have a direct satellite link back to Australia and that confidential PNG information is being sent over the link daily. A shame that a visual inspection of the satellite dish by my son, un-educated in the art of satellite dishes, wondered why it was not pointing skyward towards the satellites. Other bashing has been that a great deal of money is being spent on paying the Aussie police and other staff. This is probably true but isn't that the cost of doing business? By the way has any one looked at the roof of Garden City or the Hitron building and noticed all those dishes pointing skywards? Maybe there is a rumour to be made out of those antennas?



Rumours



Talking about rumours of satellite dishes has reminded me of the following -- does anyone have information about either of the following rumours? The siege of consular officials at a local, almost private, watering hole or the pressure that the liquidator of a certain institution had to put up with when an angry mob were axing the door to his office?



Telephone Management



If anyone is in PNG and looking for a good telephone management system for their Ericsson, Telikom Oki, Panasonic, NEC or possibly other PABX then I suggest taking a visit to MATRYX -- http://www.matryx.com.pg. -- This PNG system boasts over 100 customers within PNG. The company can also offer web development and various IT services. It is also associated with the PNG Business and Tourism Directory located at -- http://www.pngbd.com



Road Maintenance



The Minister for Works has said that the amount of money allocated towards maintaining roads in the country for 2005 was inadequate. The Works Department initially applied for K60 million to maintain roads but was only allocated K40 million by the government. Many roads around the country are gradually reverting to being little more than bush tracks and not highways.



Coca Cola



The price of a litre of Coca Cola is now over K3.00 a bottle in most shops. It was not so long ago that Coke was a kina a litre. Coca Cola are also responsible for the distribution of Schweppes products in PNG giving them a virtual monopoly in the soft drink market. Since they have had this virtual monopoly the prices have increased many times in a short space of time.



Coming Events



The University of Goroka is holding its 8th Annual Graduation Ceremony on the 13th of May. The previous ceremony was put on hold due to the uncertainty about the quality of fuel provided to airlines in the country.

East New Britain Warwagira and Mask Festival. The Warwagira will be held on the 6th to the 12th of July followed by the Mask Festival on the 13th to the 16th of July. Both events will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Park.

PNG 30th Independence Day Celebrations -- 16th September 2005.
Hiri Moale Festival -- the week leading up to Independence Day
Goroka Show -- Independence Weekend

Mining Conference -- to be held in Lae between the 23rd and 25th of May.



Fly The Flag



Sir Peter Barter has said that the whole of PNG should be flying the PNG flag as the 30th anniversary of Independence approaches to display the pride and patriotism of the country. He has urged the population to celebrate Independence with their hearts and not their pockets. It has been reported that each province will receive K20,000 from the National Events Council to help celebrate the day. The council has also ordered 10,000 PNG flags.






PNG Media


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-- THE END --

In Tok Pisin - em tasol

For other ways of saying the end please pay a visit to -- ../emtasol

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

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Created 6 May 2005
Updated 16 May 2005


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