PNG Gossip Newsletter - 26 Jan 2006

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Neo Melanesian

"Pidgin English"

Tok Pisin English
botol bottle
kap cup
kap bilong ti tea-cup
op tin bottle opener / tin opener
tin can / tin
tin pipia rubbish tin
glas glass (container)
kapet cupboard
bokis box (n)
bokis ais ice chest / refrigerator
 
Interested in having your own Web Site? Worried about the cost? It may be cheaper than you think. Take a look at pricing at the PNG Web Hosting site. Sites with space for 15,000 MB of data, 300 GB transfer per month and 24/7 ticket/phone support for less than US$5.00 per month. -- DOT COM Domains from US$9.00 per year.
 

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.



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 and if you want to donate to keep this newsletter coming at least twice a month then click on the "donate" button above. -- The PNG Gossip Newsletter.

PNG Web Hosting
Cheap, reliable web hosting
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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.google.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 then mention that you heard about them from this web site. -- The PNG Gossip Newsletter.


New Sites



SP Brewery -- http://www.sp.com.pg

Coral Sea Hotels -- http://www.coralseahotels.com.pg

TNT PNG -- http://www.tnt.kenmore.com.pg

The above sites have all been prepared by CyberMasta Web Design -- http://www.cybermasta.com



Updated Sites



The exchange rate, loan calculators and online loan applications pages of the Bank South Pacific website have been updated / rewritten recently -- http://www.bsp.com.pg

The Lamana Hotel website has also been updated -- http://www.lamanahotel.com.pg

The above sites have all been updated by CyberMasta Web Design -- http://www.cybermasta.com



Miscellaneous Sites



Port Moresby Stock Exchange -- http://www.pomsox.com.pg

National Capital District Commission -- http://www.ncdc.gov.pg

Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry -- http://www.pomcci.org.pg

South Pacific Motor Sports Club -- http://www.spmsc.org.pg

Rocky Roe -- http://www.rockyroephotographics.com

National Research Institute -- http://www.nri.org.pg

CyberMasta Web Design -- http://www.cybermasta.com/portfolio.htm



Milne Bay Accommodation



The Tawali Resort is located on a volcanic bluff overlooking the clear protected waters of Milne Bay and accessible only by boat. The Tawali Resort web site can be found at -- http://www.tawali.com/tawali/

Email link for Masurina Lodge -- <masurinalodge@masurina.com.pg>

Email link for Napatana Lodge -- <napatanalodge@global.net.pg>

The website for Ulumani Tree Tops Guest Haus located at Waga Waga in Milne Bay can be found at -- http://www.pngbackpacker.com

The Milne Bay Tourism website can be found at -- http://www.milnebaytourism.gov.pg



Automotive Related Sites

Avis PNG -- http://www.avis.com.pg

Boroko Motors -- http://www.boroko-motors.com

Ela Motors -- http://www.elamotors.com.pg

Freeway Motors -- http://www.freewaymotors.com.pg

Hertz PNG -- http://www.leasemaster.com.pg

Thrifty Hire Cars -- http://www.lamanahotel.com.pg/lamana_thrifty.html


News Items

Special Care Unit



Rotaract is raising funds to rebuild the nursery (Special Care Unit) at the Port Moresby General Hospital. The nursery is the only facility within the National Capital District (NCD) and surrounding villages for premature babies or newborns that need special attention. It was last rebuilt in 1972. Currently it is considered a fire hazard, is overcrowded and deteriorating. It is by no means up to the standard a Special Care Nursery should be in!



Post Courier



The Post Courier had a minor hiccup the other day and had to produce a black and white masthead on the front page. It managed to have some pages with colour though -- http://www.postcourier.com.pg



Bech-de-mer



The six-month moratorium on the collection of bech-de-mer has come to an end and buying and harvesting has rapidly started. Many villagers have jumped at the opportunity so close to the start of the school year to earn some much needed money to be put towards school fees. Each province that has the ability to collect bech-de-mer is allocated a quota. For example Milne bay province is allocated a total catch of 120 tonnes. Sources have said that bech-de-mer is so plentiful in the province that this amount is easily reached before the season closes.



Air Niugini



After getting the Boeing B767 back in the air after suffering wind shear while attempting to land at Sydney's Sir Kingsford Smith's international airport the Boeing schedule has once again been thrown into chaos by the bad weather at Tokyo's Narita airport. The airport was closed due to severe snow and ice. The plane had to be diverted to Nagoya and then had to stay until the next day whiole passengers stuick at narota had to make tehir way to Nagoya. Once again the national airline had to enlist the support of its Fokker F100 fleet to fly passengers to and from Brisbane while the Boeing caught up to the scheduled timetable.

Reported in an earlier newsletter -- the current CEO of Air Niugini, Rod Nelson, did the right thing and advised the Air Niugini board that he would not renew his contract in June. The board, just having got rid of Joe Tauvasa as Chairman voted to pay Mr Nelson out rather than find a suitable replacement and have an orderly handover. The Finance and Administration General Manager, Wasantha Kumarasiri will act in the position of CEO until a suitable replacement can be found.



Boram Hospital - Wewak



Nurses at the Boram Hospital in Wewak have gone on an indefinite strike until the Health Minister and Health Secretary personally visit the hospital and address the nurses. The nurses are concerned over the recent appointment of a senior hospital official.



Porgera Strike



The strike at the Porgera Gold Mine has ended and ownership of the company has changed hands. Barrick Gold now have a majority shareholding in the Porgera Joint Venture Company.



Telecommunications



It is likely that the mobile phone monopoly enjoyed by Pacific Mobile Communications will be broken next year. Plans are currently underway to allow two-more mobile phone carriers into the country to allow competition. It is anticipated that, along with extra competition, the cost of mobile phone calls will drop and services will be extended to other areas of the country that currently do not have mobile phone coverage. The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission is currently drawing up tender documents that will be ready to be issued in March.



James Yali



The Governor of Madang province has been convicted of raping the 17-year-old sister of his defacto wife in October 2004. The Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee has applauded the recent sentencing of the Raikos MP and said that the sentencing indicates that no one is above the law. His lawyer will appeal against the 12-year sentence.



Western Highlands Budget



The Western Highlands Provincial Assembly has passed a K66 million budget for 2006. K8 million has been given to prioritise roads and bridges in the budget. The provincial government has also earmarked K100,000 for environment and conservation, K150,000 for Habitat for Humanity and the allocation of K650,000 in church grants for major development projects.



September Quarter Exports



PNG was able to export goods to the value of K2504 million in the September quarter last year. This is a 37 percent increase over the same period in 2004. The increase is mainly attributed to increases in the prices paid for gold, copper, crude oil, coffee, cocoa, copra oil, forestry and refined petroleum products. These increases offset the fall in the prices paid for palm oil, tea, rubber, marine products and other non-mineral products.



Human Rights



PNG has bee mentioned as a country where human rights are abused and nearly always go unpunished. The annual World Report prepared by Human Rights Watch's group in USA said that PNG Police regularly used violence and torture against individuals in custody, with children as frequent targets. The report went on to say that violence against women and girls were pervasive with police often ignoring complaints of sexual or domestic violence.



Bougainville By-elections



The counting of votes for the recently held Bougainville by-election have started. Police will be present to provide security during the counting of the votes. The election for a new governor began early this month to replace John Momis the former governor. The New Zealand High Commissioner is one of the key figures witnessing the counting of the votes.



Chamber of Commerce and Industry



The Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry are hosting their next breakfast at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Port Moresby from 7am to 9am on Tuesday 30th January, 2006. The guest speaker will be the Mayor of Townsville, Mr Tony Mooney who will speak on "Business Opportunities in North Queensland / PNG Gas Project".



Port Moresby Rain



The wet season has hit Port Moresby with the usual flooding of roads. It is the time of the year that food gardens and soil from mountaintops ends up clogging the drainage system and causing water to backup over roads and footpaths. The end result is that the existing potholes are getting bigger and deeper and more suspension wrenching than ever.



Mekeo Floods



Villages, food gardens, betel nut and coconut trees in the Mekeo area in Central Province are under water. Parts of the Hirotano highway are under water and four-wheel drive vehicles can only traverse some parts.



Morobe Landslides



A massive landslide in the Buang area of Morobe province has buried thirteen people alive. Eight bodies have so far been recovered and the rest remain unaccounted for.



Legal Head



It has been announced that PNG will soon have an Australian as its Solicitor General under the revised Enhanced Co-operation Programme (ECP). Four Australian judges will also be deployed in the country. The Justice and Attorney General Department, Correctional Service and the Judiciary will engage the Australian personnel.



Enhanced Co-operation Programme



The second attempt at the Enhanced Co-operation Programme or ECP Mark II as it is known is under fire by Western Province Governor Dr Bob Danaya. The first ECP was stopped in its tracks when Morobe Governor Luther Wenge mounted a court challenge over the legality of certain points contained in the original package. The first ECP was then declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court leading to the revised Mark II programme being announced. Dr Danaya has raised questions about the legality of an Australian citizen holding the Solicitor General position.



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.



Cabinet Reshuffle



A reshuffle of the cabinet led by Sir Michael Somare has been tipped for either late January or early February. It has also been tipped that the current Opposition Leader, Peter O'Neill will be given a post in the cabinet. Vocal Morobe Governor, Luther Wenge, has said that Mr O'Neill must resign as he has compromised the position of Opposition Leader by courting the Prime Minister Mr Somare.



Police Recruitment



The Chief Instructor at the Bomana Police College just outside Port Moresby has announced that the college will recruit 100 people to start training in June and another 100 in October. A further thirty recruits will commence as officer cadets in June.



Police Roadblocks



The NCD and Central Province Police Commander has reiterated that motorists are not required to pay fines to police at roadblocks. The correct procedure is that the police should issue a Traffic Infringement Notice that can be paid at the Boroko traffic office where an official receipt will be issued for the fine. It is also the right of the motorist to be allowed to dispute the fine in court.



Goroka Hospital



Goroka Base Hospital has had to send patients to private pharmacies to buy medicine needed for their treatment by the hospital. The hospital has only about a quarter of the medical supplies deemed to be necessary for the running of the hospital. There are even reports of family members having to buy the special dye that shows up in an x-ray so a sick family member could be diagnosed. This type of chemical is very expensive even for a family that has someone working but many people, especially in the rural area, rely on subsistence farming for a living.



PNG Coffee



As a result of hurricanes destroying coffee crops in Central America exporters of PNG coffee have sold all their green coffee beans to overseas buyers and they are looking for more to buy and sell. The price of local coffee has increased as the world begins to feel the pinch of the shortage of supply.



Coming Events



Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry -- Breakfast Meeting -- Tue 30th January, 2006

Boroko Amateur Swimming Club -- first scheduled carnival for 2006 -- Sat 28th Jan

Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games -- March 2006.

8th of April to the 16th of April 2006-- National Game Fishing Titles

PNG 31st Independence Anniversary - 16th September 2006






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

If you can add to this list then please send email to -- PNG-News@pnggossip.com

 






Created 26 Jan 2006
Updated 6 Feb 2006

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©2006 - 2011 Gia Mann