Social Concerns

A comment sent after the article on shortage of nursing staff in the March Notes. “After discussing some of your issues last night I was told one of the reasons why there is a shortage of nurses is the fact that new graduates cannot get registration. There are several around Moresby in secretarial position as after working for well over 12 months in a hospital without getting registration they gave up.”

The final report of the UN Special Rapporteur for Violence against Women in PNG is out and those interested can find it here:

Click to access A-HRC-23-49-Add-2_en.pdf

Recommendations (to the PNG Government) include the following:
(g) Make the necessary amendments to the current Family Protection Bill to ensure that:
(i) Acts of economic violence are included, such as withholding food, retaining income from marketing and other activities, or preventing women’s access to their financial and other assets;
(ii) Emergency or expedited protection orders are easily obtainable by victims;
(iii) Protection orders do not impose any restrictions on victims;
(iv) Women victims are not compelled to provide testimony or evidence, or to participate in counselling and/or mediation without their consent;
(h) Enact the Family Protection Bill as a matter of priority;
(i) Include within national legislation the explicit prohibition and penalization of sexual harassment;
(j) Entirely repeal the Sorcery Act of 1971, as recommended by the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission, and ensure that all cases of assault or murder based on sorcery accusations are treated swiftly and effectively by the National Court;
(k) Adopt international standards and norms for the protection of women prisoners and detainees and incorporate these into the national legislation. The Government should ensure that women in prison receive adequate food and services, including physical and mental health care. Vocational training and income- generating activities should be offered to incarcerated women. Furthermore, the Government should guarantee the adequate care of children of incarcerated mothers. Alternatives to incarceration should be considered, particularly for women detainees who are primary caregivers of their children.
(l) Formalize and permanently integrate the Family and Sexual Violence Units into the structure and budget of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, including with adequate human and financial resources; and ensure their presence in police stations in all provinces;
(m) Strengthen the Family and Sexual Offence Unit within the Office of the Public Prosecutor by allocating adequate staff and resources and supporting the establishment of such units in provincial branches of the Office. Launch pilot programmes in courts, together with the Family and Sexual Offence Units, to adequately prosecute and punish perpetrators of violence against women;
(n) Demonstrate commitment and political will to regulate the operation of companies in remote provinces, including the fishing, logging and mining industries, by establishing adequate monitoring and inspection mechanisms, and investigating any allegations of violence against women committed by company employees. Regular inspections of nightclubs and bars should also be undertaken, to ensure women are not being sexually exploited in these businesses. These efforts should reflect the international human rights standards as per the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
(o) Review and make the necessary amendments to the human rights track within the Supreme and National Courts, to ensure that cases of violence against women are given priority and are resolved swiftly by the courts;
(p) Take measures to strengthen the provision of legal aid to women who have been subjected to violence, including women who have been charged with the murder of their abusers;
(q) In cooperation with women’s organizations and development partners, and as a matter of urgency, develop a project for the establishment of a government- run shelter for women victims of violence in the Highlands region;
(r) Establish a coordinated and integrated referral system to include all sectors, such as the health, police, legal, social welfare and education sectors, with a view to address the protection needs of women and girls who have been subjected to violence. Develop, to this end, the necessary regulations, protocols and instructions to provide clear guidance to service providers;
(s) Put in place emergency procedures to rescue and resettle women who are at risk of suffering sorcery-related violence in their communities;
(t) Establish and enforce sanctions against entities that charge women victims of violence for health services or medical reports;
(u) Cooperate closely with and provide support for non-governmental organizations, particularly those operating in remote regions, to ensure their full participation in all efforts aimed at eliminating violence against women.

UN Condemns Sorcery Killings

The National, 12th April, 2013
THE United Nations (UN) is deeply disturbed by the increasing reports of violence, torture and murder of persons accused of practicing sorcery around the country.
UN agencies functioning in Papua New Guinea said in a joint statement yesterday that they condemned and demanded an end to extra-judicial killings related to accusations of sorcery in PNG.
“These vigilante killings constitute murder and must not be treated with impunity,” their statement said.
“Thorough and fair investigations of such actions should be conducted and perpetrators tried in court accordingly.
“This year alone cases have been reported in the Highlands, Madang and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, thus it is an issue of national concern. 
“These reports raise grave concern that accusations of sorcery are used to justify arbitrary and inhumane acts of violence. 
“The UN strongly advocates that cultural and traditional beliefs can never be used to justify the murder, torture or brutal attack against another person. 
“All criminal cases should be pursued through the judicial system.”

UN: PNG govt, address sorcery now

Post Courier 12 April, 2013
The government of PNG is urged to uphold its commitments to protect the human rights of all its citizens enshrined in the PNG Constitution as well as carry out its international commitments. Multiple international bodies have recommended to the government of PNG to address the issue of extra-judicial torture and killings related to accusations of sorcery as a priority concern. 
Since 2010, these calls for action have been echoed by the UN Human Rights Council on the PNG Universal Periodic Review, the Recommendations on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Report on PNG by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the Report on PNG by the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Womenand Girls. 
In February 2013 the Minister of Police also endorsed the COMMIT Campaign to end all forms of violence against women.

Amnesty International calls on end to sorcery-related violence

The National, 08th April, 2013
AMNESTY International has again started its calls to put an end to the sorcery-related violence taking place in Papua New Guinea. 
They resumed their action early April after receiving reports that six women had been tortured with hot irons during an Easter “sacrifice”.
Amnesty said the PNG police had been investigating the incidents. 
However, police in Port Moresby were not able to confirm that an investigation was taking place.

It was reported in The National that six women and a man who were accused of sorcery were tortured and referred to as Easter “sacrifices” in a Southern Highlands village.
Komape Lap said that he fought with the wild mob and had escaped from them but that he didn’t know what happened to the six women. 
Two of the women are Komape’s wives and have not been seen since the incident.

Sorcery related murders rise

Post Courier 26 April, 2013
EASTERN Highlands Provincial Police commander John Kale has confirmed that the number of sorcery related murders is increasing and called on the authorities to do something to end these senseless killings.
Commenting on a spate of sorcery related killings, especially in the Highlands, Mr Kale told the Post-Courier yesterday: “The number of sorcery related murders is getting out of hand and the authorities need to look for ways to prevent these senseless killings.” 
These murders are increasing alarmingly, with people being killed and dumped into gorges, rivers or burnt inside houses, especially in the Highlands region. 
These brutal murders committed through allegations alone are being taken as normal and are not reported to authorities and law enforcement agencies, especially those taking place in the rural and remote places. 
In some instances, family members are being killed and maimed for life as relatives of people who die of natural causes look for reasons and blame innocent people for the sudden deaths of relatives from natural causes. 
For example, three people were reportedly murdered in sorcery related attacks in Eastern Highlands and Jiwaka provinces in the last two weeks. 
A man in Banz in Jiwaka Province was murdered last week and another man was chopped to death over allegations of sorcery in Tumuki village, Okapa, in Eastern Highlands on Monday. 
The bodies of three women, also believed to have been murdered in sorcery related cases, were found in Kamaliku outside Goroka last week.

Women beheaded

Post Courier 8 April
SORCERY-related killing has again shown its ugly face, this time in Bougainville where two elderly women were be-headed on suspicion of practicing sorcery.
The incident occurred at Lopele Village, in the Bana District of South Bougainville on Thursday around 6pm.
Police confirmed the incident on Friday, describing the killing as ‘barbaric and senseless.’
The killing has shocked the people in the district and the region as a whole.
Police who were present at the scene watched helplessly and could not do anything as they were out-numbered by the angry Lopele villagers who were armed with five high-powered firearms, knives and axes.

Diocese response

Part of Response from Bishop Bernard Unabali, Catholic Bishop of Bougainville.
• Prayer groups/vigils for God’s answer/intervention
• Condem poison/ witchcraft belief
• Recognize poison/ witchcraft to be the work of the Devil (Core divide and rule tactic to implant ways to destroy relationships of community, respect, peace, harmony to hate, suspicion, jelousy etc)
• Stand by to support both sides but especially victims relief needs
• Help with ways to find justice including arrest of perpetrators and safety of victims
• Immediate action on formation of people on the “exposition of evil” in the lives of people in the diocese pastoral plan “Renewal into Balance Life” (especially spiritual understanding, ritual and other all rounded support)
• Help to lobby for law and justice

Law to deal with abuse

The National, 03rd April 2013
THE family protection bill when it becomes law will ensure perpetrators of domestic violence will be properly charged and dealt with, an official said.
Family sexual violence action committee national programme coordinator Ume Wainetti said currently there were no laws governing domestic violence.
Those accused of bashing up their partners are charged with 
common assault.
“Domestic violence is everybody’s business. Now the law is going to confirm that it is everybody’s business and we are really happy that the bill has been approved by the national executive council because it is an initiative of family sexual violence action committee,” she said.
“The family protection bill encompasses a lot of things which cover all forms of abuse including mental, physical or verbal abuse.”
She said it would enable various charges to be laid against perpetrators and accommodate interim protection orders and complement the Yumi Lukautim Pikinini Act.
“It is called family protection because it focuses on family and victims can be either female, male or even children,” she said.
“A wife can report her husband if he is not giving her money or constantly bashing her up or a man can report his wife for verbal abuse (coarse language) and the appropriate charges will be laid against her.

Teachers Call for Better Security

The National, 03/04/2013
Members of the Papua New Guinea Teachers Association (PNGTA) working in the remote highlands districts want better security to safeguard their lives. The teachers held a meeting in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, last week after a teacher from Hela was attacked by criminals along the Ambua Gap in Tari. Police said the thugs thought that the teacher was carrying cash being the school’s allocation of the tuition-free fees. “Teachers are risking their lives and their families’ when they are posted to areas which are not safe. And people should respect such people who are sacrificing their lives to educate and develop a person to become a valuable resource in future,” Mondo said, adding that it was not the first time teachers had been attacked.

Mobile Pornography a concern: Report 


Post Courier 11 April.
CHILDREN’S access to pornography brought about by the introduction of mobile phones and the internet is a big and growing concern in Papua New Guinea, according to the findings of a recent workshop.
This is one of the conclusions of a four-day workshop conducted by Family Sexual Violence Committee (FSVAC) in Porgera, Enga province at the end of last month (March).
 Speaking about the workshop, an FSVAC officer said traditional norms, especially the big-man mentality, and the access to mobile phones has increase gender based violence.
She pointed out that even kids are accessing pornography on their phones, which is a grave concern.

People’s Micro Bank a Hit

NBC Facebook Newspage, 10/04/2013

The newly opened People’s Micro Bank is experiencing an overwhelming turnout of customers. Within only three days of opening for business, it has recorded close to 1,000 customers. Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Dela-cruz says, it’s likely a second and third branch should be opened for Port Moresby alone. Dela-cruz says people turning out to open their accounts are from the informal sector. “We are really very excited because it’s a first time we see a large from informal sector, vendors, street sellers, small-medium enterprises (SME’s), business operators, Liklik Business operators come to open an account at Peoples Micro Bank. So far, close to a thousand customers have been served. That’s in a matter of three days”.

Another Port Moresby community bulldozed

PNG development blogs 19 April
The sudden and violent eviction—using bulldozers and armed police—of the residents of Port Moresby’s urban settlements is not new to the National Capital District (NCD). The State rhetoric surrounding evictions is usually about moving unlawful settlers from State land which has been bought by a private entity or sending a message to settlement dwellers that crime and filth, for which they are often blamed, will not be tolerated. In 2008 hundreds of people were left homeless when Tete settlement in the suburb of Gerehu was torched and bulldozed after the murder of a prominent businessman in that area. The State was sending a message to the settlement community to stop criminal activities.In 2012, around 2000 people’s homes were destroyed when another urban settlement, based at the foot of Paga hill, was bulldozed violently when the purported holders of the title tried to evict settlers who have been living there for decades.
For more, see http://devpolicy.org/another-port-moresby-community-bulldozed-2013040/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=9ae75ef1c6-Devpolicy_Blog_Digest_June7_1_2012&utm_medium=email

Compulsory school up to Grade 10 from 2014 (or is it Gd 8?)

The National, 15th April, 2013

EDUCATION for students attending elementary to Grade 10 will be compulsory from next year, says Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
And parents who fail to send their children to school will be charged and taken to court.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill issued the warning while addressing the annual general meeting of the PNG and Solomon Islands Catholic Bishops Conference in Madang last week.
O’Neill, emphasising government’s reforms on education, health, the judiciary and management of the country’s wealth, said it was time to go back to basics.
He said this meant going back to improving and decentralising systems that in the past failed to allow the smooth flow of services.
He said starting next year, parents who did not send their children to school “would be held accountable”.
“We have to get back to the basics.
“We need to adequately train and equip those in the front line who are responsible for the upkeep of the important pillars in our judiciary, health, education, natural resources and economy,” O’Neill said. 
He said the country had surplus wealth but that did not trickle down to the rural areas and nothing tangible came out of it.
“The management of the country’s wealth has gone to the dogs. We have so much wealth but in the last five years we have not built one school, hospital, bridge or road,” he said.
He thanked the Catholic church for its continued service in areas where the government has not provided.

PNG among Most Corrupt Countries

The National, 15th April, 2013
PAPUA New Guinea is rated 150 out of 176 most corrupt countries in the world, according to the International Corruption Perspective Index.
Snr Insp David Suagu from the Correctional Services Training College said these alarming statistics highlighted the need for stakeholders to refocus themselves and come up with ways to reduce corruption.
He was speaking last Thursday in Kokopo during the closing of a two-day anti-fraud and corruption workshop for Kerevat CS officers.

Suagu and six other trainers conducted the training.
The workshop covered what corruption was like in PNG compared to the world and how CS officers could address corruption and one of core areas looked at was assessing individual code of ethics.

K9bil Gone

The National, 12th April, 2013
A MINISTER last night revealed that K9 billion appears to have disappeared from government-held trust accounts between 2007 and 2011.
Works and Implementation Minister Francis Awesa said much of the money could have been applied to urgent infrastructure projects around the country.
Awesa said an investigation must be conducted and quickly to uncover where the money had disappeared to.
“Some K9 billion is missing in trust accounts,” Awesa said.
“Nobody can account for it. There are no records to verify how the funds were used.
”When my money from the LNG project comes in 2015, I don’t want the same thing to happen.
“We have missed out big whenever we took in big windfalls from major projects. I want to address issues of infrastructure,” he said. The minister made the same remarks when he addressed a gathering in Wabag, Enga, last Friday.
Last night Awesa said: “We seem to be forgiving and forgetting all the time even though we talk forever about corruption.”
In his own area, he said he had uncovered instances where companies and individuals had been double dipping in contracts.
He said if a donor funded a project, companies that won contracts would collect money from the donor and then go to treasury or finance departments with the same claim and, using their cohorts within the system, would extract payment and he would not tolerate such actions.

Govt Calls for Church Health Services Commitment

Post Courier 17 April
THE minister for Health and HIV AIDS has called for church health services to stand committed with the government to deliver much needed health service to the people of Papua New Guinea.
Speaking at the 43rd Church Health Services annual conference in Port Moresby yesterday (Tuesday), Minister Michael Malabag said the O’Neill-Dion government is committed to making a difference to improving church health services, including church training institutions in the country.
This comes with a major shift in increased funding and other associated support. 
Churches health services account for 50 percent of total health services, 70-80 percent of rural health in some provinces, and have 720 facilities that include 17 rural hospitals. It accounts for 3557 church health workers and receives a support budget of K94 million per year from the government.
While commending churches for their services, he outlined government priorities that churches must support to implement. 
He said the health ministry has submitted to NEC for increased funding to support churches for unfunded facilities and staffing positions.
Other priorities include a centralised and computerised payroll system for CHS with support from the Department of Personnel Management.

Banks Record Healthy Profits

The National, 15 April 2013
Papua New Guinea’s top banks and financial services firms recorded healthy profits in 2012 citing overall strength of the local economy. On March 18, Bank South Pacific posted an operating profit before tax of K545.3 million for 2012, up 14.8% from 2011’s figure of K475 million. General finance company Credit Corporation saw profits rise some 250% year-on-year to reach K106.11 million last year. The company also reported that its core business cash operating profit, which includes financing, property and dividend revenues, increased from K74.16 million in 2011 to K80.79 million in 2012. Also, first listed investment company, Kina Asset Management, announced that it had recorded a net profit of K4.73 million last year following a significant improvement over the net loss of K9.43 million in 2011.
The gross domestic product growth is projected to fall from 9.2% in 2012 to 4% this year. And it is expected to jump to 20% in 2015 when the PNG LNG project reaches peak production.

Malaria a top Killer Disease

The National, 17 August 2013
Malaria remains one of the country’s major public health problems. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported last April on World Malaria Day that approximately 1.36 million people were diagnosed each year, according to the Pacific Friends of the Global Fund website. The website also quoted WHO’s report that malarial infection was the second highest leading reason for hospital admission. Under Round 8 Malaria Control Programme and Evaluation (2010-14) additional Global Fund funding has been secured to introduce new malaria treatment, improve prevention and control, distribute more treated mosquito nets and create more awareness. A household survey conducted by the PNG Institute of Medical Research between 2010 and 2011 showed that many people who experienced a fever did not seek specialist treatment at a health facility even when they had access to it. “Any person experiencing fever should seek a malaria test and if it is positive, a Mala-1 prescription from a health facility within 24 hours of symptom onset, so this is one area where improvement is needed,” Dr Justin Pulford, head of Population/Health and Demography Unit said. “All fever patients should get tested for malaria by a rapid test and all positive cases should be given Mala-1. No one should be given old anti-malarial medications (for example, chloroquine) anymore.”

Sexual violence has long-term effects

The National, 19th April 2013
PHYSICAL injuries suffered during sexual violence will heal but the psychological damage cannot heal completely, a community health worker and trainer says. 
“We can only help them to deal with their trauma through counseling but the mental scars remain with the victims forever,” Paul Kunump of the family support centre said.
The centre is funded by donors as an alternative public medical organisation in Lae.
Kunump told a workshop attended by Lae district community development officers that the physical treatment of a rape victim was immediate and short but the psychological part would be long and difficult.
“In 2011 we were taking in on average 45 rape cases a month and more than half involved children,” said Kunump.
He said there was an appalling child sexual abuse situation in Lae city.
“It could be more,” Kunump said, referring to unreported cases attributed to compensation payments.
He said sexual abuse of children was gradual and moved over time to more serious forms of abuse, including rape.
“Any form of penetration, whether sexual or with a finger, is still rape and must be reported. 
“Members of the community need to be trained to identify the symptoms early to prevent the abuse continuing,” Kunump said.
The trainer also urged authorities not to entertain compensation payments for sexual assault. 
“In our communities, the victim’s relatives will be up in arms and I know you leaders will have to mediate between the parties to maintain peace but do not accept compensation as payment for rape,” he said.
“The victim must be brought for treatment and the crime must be reported.”

Leadership leads to ‘Woman of Courage’

The National, 23rd April 2013
A LOCAL woman who was seen as a leader through her exceptional courage and leadership in advocating social progress was awarded “Women of Courage” in Port Moresby yesterday.
Matilda Pilacapio was given the award by the US ambassador Walter North and the occasion was witness by the students of Don Bosco Technical Secondary, Caritas Technical School and her family.
Pilacapio, from Milne Bay, grew up learning about environmental issues which motivated her to do more. 
She thanked the US embassy for the award and said it was unexpected. She encouraged students to value their education.
North said the US honoured women around the world who advocated human rights. And it took one person to make a change for their country and Matilda had been a grassroots leader. 
“It takes courage to pick yourself up and fight for the life of your fellow citizen,” he said. 
“There is something for each one of us to do and it is to achieve quality and justice.”

Porgera locals want review of deal

The National, 23rd April 2013
PORGERA mine landowners in Enga have called on the government and the miner to explain the prolonged delay in reviewing the mining agreement.
They are concerned that many outstanding land and environmental issues needed to be resolved.
Porgera Landowner Association chairman Mark Tony Ekepa said they were affected by outstanding issues such as tailings disposal, environment damages, industrial risk accident and injuries and local workers employment conditions.
“The Porgera mine agreement should also cater for infrastructure development programmes, local business spin-offs and balance distributions of wealth creation but that have all been denied under the pretext of delaying the mine review,” he said.
“The review exercise is the only option for check and balance that will examine adequate and accurate process for the stakeholders’ benefits, including the landowners’ welfare since 1989.” 
He said the state through its agencies, were not complying with the conditions of the mining agreement.
“We want the state through the Department of Mining and the Mineral Resource Authority to furnish full benefit programmes on issues raised.

Church gets serious about child protection

The National, 26th April 2013
THE Catholic Church is serious about the protection of children and has begun drafting a child protection policy.
“Efforts have begun with awareness talks and child protection programmes aimed at helping individuals, families and communities reflect on the problem of child abuse,” Archbishop John Ribat said.
“This along with domestic violence in general has become an increasingly serious concern in PNG in recent years.”
Ribat urged members of the church and people who cared about children to familiarise themselves with the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2009.
“We strongly urge law enforcement agencies and the courts to diligently enforce the Act. The most evil form of child abuse is abortion – the deliberate killing of the unborn.
“We suspect that abortion is already routinely practised by some health professionals and we earnestly pray that our political leaders will have the wisdom and strength to resist the temptation to make it legal.”
Advocate of child protection Sister Mary Claude believes that the key to preventing any form of child abuse is to educate the public.
“These awareness programmes aim to make people agents of change,” she said.
“Many people see children as little adults but that is a very wrong. They are little human beings that have yet to grow and mature to adulthood. Our goal is to create a child-safe Papua New Guinea and I wish that we can bring PNG up to be at least among the top ten nations in the world who know how to take care of their kids.”

Aid Funds Spread Too Thinly, Says Abel

The National, 23 April 2013
The use of technical assistance (TA) and foreign consultants has consumed a lot of from the aid budget, says National Planning and Monitoring Minister, Charles Abel. The minister made the comment while addressing the heads of donor agencies and government departments at a technical team meeting on development effectiveness in Port Moresby. Abel said PNG received a substantial amount of aid funds on an annual basis but there was little impact on the ground. “This has led to general dissatisfaction and triggered heated debates in parliament and elsewhere that appropriate measures should be taken to improve on the aid delivery methods,” he said. He said the government’s medium-term approach to addressing this situation was to cut down on the use of TAs and instead redirect the funds to financing initiatives that would result in tangible outcomes. “In fact, the government would like to see redirection of those resources to fill the skills gap. One way to do that would be to strengthen the capacities of the universities such as through provision of new library books, personnel to teach post graduate and research degree programmes.”

AROB to Introduce Education Conscription

Post-Courier, 23 April 2013
A new law in Bougainville will see compulsory education for all school age children. The new education law which will be tabled and endorsed in the Bougainville Executive Council (BEC) meeting in June will make sure all children from Elementary to Grade 10 are ‘forced’ to attend school. There won’t be any excuses for those who don’t want to attend or run away from school because they will be arrested by police once this law is formally passed by the BEC. This very important announcement was made by Bougainville Education Chief Officer Bruno Babato in Arawa last week. Mr Babato said when this law was passed no child would be staying home as police would have the power to arrest school-age children in the villages. Parents harboring their children at home would also be arrested. “All students must be in class from June onwards when the law is passed,” Mr Babato said adding that the police and education authprities would arrest and force them into class if they failed to do so. Mr Babato who returned from Port Moresby after a meeting with overseas education experts on the matter said this would be a big challenge for his division to implement. He said this new law would address the illiteracy rate which is very high among many young people with many of them cannot read write which poses a threat to development aspirations of the region. “We have no time to rest until all Bougainvilleans go to school to read and write,” said Mr Babato. He said if the region was talking about Referendum and Independence they had to educate their young people to read and write in order to see and bring about the development aspirations. . Mr Babato outlined South Bougainville with the highest rate of illiteracy with 79 percent, Northern Region with 35 percent and Central Bougainville 26%.

Crime on the Rise in PNG Urban Areas

PNG Blogs 29 April, 2013
The National Capital District and East New Britain are two of the most developed and affluent areas of PNG. Citizens and residents of NCD and ENB enjoy a higher standard of living than people in other provinces.

In particular, the NCD enjoys the special status as the nation’s capital, hosting the seats of government and commerce as well as Port Moresby city whose privileged population enjoys a lifestyle that most citizens can only dream of. Despite their high political and socio-economic status, the NCD and ENB are two of the worst crime areas in the country.

Like social diseases, crimes such as rape have become prevalent in both pla­ces, according to police. Yesterday, acting NCD metropolitan commander Pe­rou N’dranou lamented the increase in rape cases in the nation’s capital and warned women and young girls to be extra careful about their safety. And in today’s paper, ENB police commander Anthony Wagambie Jr confirmed that there was an increase in gang rape, especially in the Rabaul area. Wagambie said this after po­lice held 15 men for questioning over the recent rape of a woman at Malaguna. Both police commanders reported an increasing number of rape cases in the past week in which women and young girls fell victims to men who would rather be known as animals of the worst kind. N’dranou and Wagambie are extremely concerned about this alarming trend –and so should all law-abiding citizens in the country, especially those in the nation’s capital and ENB.

Why should rapists be allowed to roam our streets, suburbs and villages at will and continue to commit this horrendous crime? Is it because our laws are too soft or it is because we don’t want to know as long as it is not our sisters, wives or mothers who being violated by these packs of rabid dogs? Somewhere along the line, something drastic needs to be done to control the rising trend of rape and other social crimes such as incest and domestic violence. Crimes such as rape need more than the police to bring under control. Community involvement and efforts are essential in cleansing our streets, suburbs and villages of people with rapist tendencies and behaviour.

Indeed, Christian churches in PNG should be at the forefront of the war against social evils such as rape and incest. Why have our church lea­ders been so quiet on the law and order situation in this country? Aside from some comment by the Catholic church on the recent sorcery-related killings, the silence of the other mainstream and Pentecostal churches is deafening. Whilst the government is concerned about the increa­sing rate of crime and the private sector is equally alarmed at the impact of crime on their business activities and profitability, the churches are seemingly indifferent in their outlook and response to se­rious social and crime-related issues in PNG. Isn’t it part of their mission to save condemned souls such as rapists and other sex offenders? Or would they rather preach the Gospel from the safety of their pulpits? PNG is a Christian country and its church leaders must also walk the talk of Christ, not only at Easter but throughout the year.

They must begin to play a leading role in changing the mindset of citizens who have become victims of the rapid lifestyle changes that are ta­king place in this country. More than any time in PNG’s short political history a concerted effort is needed by all sectors of our society – from the public and private sectors to the churches and civil groups – to control and quell the rising trend of crime before the purveyors of these evil activities overwhelm us.

It’s never too late to educate our younger generation to become law-abiding and God-fearing citizens of our beautiful country.

Past issues of Social Concern Notes may be found at http://tokstret.com


Health dilemma

Post Courier 20 March

MORE than 300 nursing positions advertised for the country’s biggest referral hospital are all yet to be filled.
The positions for Port Moresby General Hospital were advertised last year; unfortunately most were not filled because people have not applied, or those who applied have not met the criteria set down. These positions will be re-advertised later this year.
One of the main reasons the hospital lacks these important people is that health workers are leaving the public services to seek better jobs elsewhere or with the private health institutions, the mining companies or the LNG project Medical Services Director for Port Moresby General Hospital David Mokela gave an example of the PMGH four operating theatres where is only one in use with 12 nursing staff working 24 hours. 
The operating theatre lacks 50 percent of nursing staff to fully equip it to make it complete. A stroll down the labour ward reveals signs of over worked and stressed midwives working tirelessly. They too lack in numbers. PMGH currently has 19 midwives at its labour ward, delivering 40-50 babies per day and approximately 1200 babies per month and over 12,000 a year.
The president of PNG Midwifery Society and labour ward supervisor last year, described the workload as “just too much” for her and her workers.
One of main outstanding issues is the lack of human resource, particularly nursing staff to mend the special nursery care centre. The facility needs at least a total of 40 registered nurses and community health workers (CHW). However, at present there are only 14 nursing officers and CHW’s.

Workforce need triggers poor health indicators

Post Courier 22^nd March

THE shortage in the health care workforce is one of the main reasons why the country is riddled with poor health indicators.
The human resources must be addressed by relevant authorities and if nothing is done, the health system may collapse with indicators spiralling downwards. This is a concern shared by the Churches Medical Council of PNG.
Chairman for the Council, Wallace Kintak, in a response to this paper’s report on the shortage of nursing staff at Port Moresby General Hospital said the shortage was felt in all health facilities in the country.
“Major hospitals are struggling to keep the operation going. Church health services are struggle so badly to keep their operations going because of salary disparity and also of less number of health care workers. Their staff ceiling has not been increased in the last 10-15 years. Rural health centres are suffering most, this trend is leading to more deaths, and people are dying silently because of literally no health workers to serve them. Human resource in health sector is a major constraint in achieving health outcomes and objectives,” World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 23 health workers per 10,000 residents to provide basic care, including vaccinations; PNG has five nurses and doctors per 10,000 residents. 
According to a government report in 2012, PNG health worker density is estimated to be 0.58 per 1000 population compared to the recommended density of 2.5 per 1000 for the effective provision of primary health care.
The report also points out that 20 percent have passed the legal retirement age of 55.

Resistant TB on the rise

Post Courier 6 March 2013

FOUR people are confirmed with Extreme Drug Resistant (XDR) TB in Western Province, 
according to the National TB program.
There are also 90 confirmed cases of Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) TB in Western province
Multi-Drug Resistant TB or MDR-TB is a form of TB that is difficult and expensive to treat because it fails to respond to standard first line drugs.
Extensively Drug Resistant TB or XDR-TB occurs when resistance to second-line drugs develops on top of MDR-TB. 
XDR-TB is virtually 
untreatable. 
Preventing MDR-TB must begin by ensuring patients take their medication every day until cured. Inconsistency, is the predominant means by which a resilience to first line drugs is developed.
In a media visit to two TB clinics in the nation’s capital yesterday, Sister Miriam Avae, a TB nurse at 6 Mile clinic confirmed 800 patients were reported to the clinic last year. 
She stated new cases are recorded and on the rise but did not compare with previous years. 
Currently, the clinic sees 40-50 patients every day, from within 6 Mile, Gordon, and parts of Central Province. 
Badili clinic sees about 10 patients daily.
Sr Miriam said her main frustration is patients defaulting from TB treatment. Her frustration is shared by many other people in the 
fight against TB.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/png-2012-poll-systemic-failure-observers/story-e6frfkui-1226590960986#ixzz2MhypgcgP

TB Horror

The National, Thursday 07th March, 2013

ONE Papua New Guinean dies from tuberculosis every two hours, according to a fact sheet provided by World Vision.
And it says that every year, 16,000 new cases of the disease are detected. It includes 2,900 people also infected with HIV.
The statistics were provided during a panel discussion organised by the national TB programme.
Programme manager Dr Paul Aia said tuberculosis had become a social welfare problem in the country which needed a collective effort to fight it to bring it under control. Aia said about 20,000 cases were recorded in the country in the last quarter.
He said the figures were from cases reported at health facilities around the country. But it could be more than what was reported.
“We need everybody to come onboard to stop the transmission,” Aia said during a panel discussion on the programme with the media on Tuesday.
TB is an airborne disease caused by a germ and is contagious. It is spread from a sick person to other people through coughing, sneezing or spitting.

TB doctor: TB germ is everywhere

Post Courier, 25 March

TUBERCULOSIS (TB) germ is everywhere and can be in any person’s body without the person knowing.
According to a TB doctor, the germ is in everybody’s human system, but is dormant until right time.
Port Moresby General Hospital TB specialist and clinician Dr Joseph Bana-Koiri said people must not be alarmed by this message.
To avoid getting infected, his message on World TB which fell yesterday, is for people to live simple lives, live healthy, eat well and exercise. 
He also said the eliminator of TB was not drug; it was a person’s responsibility to live a healthy life.
He noted that the biggest problem why TB was around was because patients defaulted from medication and when this did happen, it became a problem for the patient, the health worker and the health system.
Another TB specialist with the Port Moresby General Hospital Dr Philip Golpak compared TB cases in adults and children at PMGH in the past four years.
He said in 2011, PMGH had a total attendance of 3466 cases of TB both at adult and paediatric clinics. of this, 2520 were adults while 946 were paediatric TB cases.
In the past four years (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011), adult population with TB were lower compared to children. 
The clinical indicators show a decrease in adult cases while there is an increase in children’s cases. The comparisons at the adult clinic are: 2008 — 5058; 2009 — 6176; 2010 — 7008; and 2011 had 2520 cases.
Paediatric cases show: 2008 — 2322; 2009 — 2354; 2010 — 1480 and in 2011, there were 946.
Dr Goldpak cautioned that it is predicted by survey that one child in every 13 born in PNG die before the age of five years, a rate far higher than in any other country of the Pacific Region and that includes those children dying of TB which is a preventable disease.

Churches praised for providing health services

The National, 27th February, 2013

CHURCHES have been praised for their commitment in providing basic services to the people despite little support from the government.
Health and HIV/AIDS Minister Michael Malabag said the government acknowledged the role of the Church Health Services (CHS), which was a major health service provider to the rural population.
He said the government was committed to increasing its funding to support CHS in the operations and management of their services.
“The government will continue to increase the operational and staffing grants to CHS through the Health Department,” he said.
“My department, with the support of Finance Department, will establish a computerised payroll system for Church Health Services. It will be managed by the Churches Medical Council.”
CHS secretary Baru Dirye said despite the lack of funding, church health workers were committed to providing services to the people.
CHS manages 12 community health worker training schools and operates five out of eight nursing colleges in the country with full government funding.
It has a current staff of 3,557 trained health workers of which 3,027 positions are funded by the government while the rest are paid by the churches.

‘Informality’ in the World Development Report 2013: implications for PNG

Development Policy Blog February 5, 2013

The World Development Report (WDR) which takes ‘Jobs’ as its subject adopts a broad definition of ‘jobs’, pointing out that ‘almost half of all workers in developing countries are engaged in small-scale farming or self-employment, jobs that typically do not come with a steady paycheck and benefits’. This new WDR is notable for a positive, if somewhat qualified, endorsement of the value of informal economic activity.

Asking ‘why some jobs do more for development than others’, WDR 2013 concludes that jobs with the highest ‘development payoffs’ are not found only in the formal sector. Indeed, ‘informal jobs can also be transformational’ (WDR 2013, xiii). The task for government is to ‘identify which jobs would do the most for development given their specific country context’. This implies that in some ‘country contexts’ informal economic activity could be embraced as a transformational element in a national development strategy. Such an approach has already been advocated, here and here, for the specific circumstances of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Paving the way for Port Moresby, Lae and other urban centres in PNG to become ‘economically dynamic’ will include providing national and international ‘connectivity’ (including ICT, transport and logistics) and the growth of capacity in professional services, all delivered in an environment of law and order. Of course such conditions are also appropriate to the needs of a resource rich economy, but the essential difference for PNG, considered as an agrarian economy, lies in the parallel necessity to increase the productivity of its agriculture. This is true for both subsistence and market agriculture. It is also necessary for PNG to create non-agricultural ‘jobs’ in rural areas, adding value to agricultural produce and providing the services for which demand grows as agricultural incomes rise.

Killing according to beliefs

The National, 25 February 2013

The gruesome killing of a woman last month in Mt Hagen for the charge of witchcraft or sorcery has been roundly condemned by all and sundry. This may appear an inexcusable act perpetrated by uneducated and illiterate village folk but the first step to solving any problem is understanding. What makes a normally sane person/s act in such a barbaric manner to another fellow human being? And, more importantly, what are the factors that make such violent and brazen acts still prevalent in the 21st century? The belief systems in Papua New Guinea are very much dominated by culture and tradition. Such significantly social norms such as marriages, deaths, lineal relationships, conflict resolution, leadership and decision making are still oriented toward our cultural roots. Christianity and western philosophies (education) on law and order and moral conduct are not always aligned with how our ancestors ordered their lives. Unfortunately, many people in this country still hold fast to customary practices that seem out of sync with the modern course that we tread in these times. One must remember that around 70% of Papua New Guineans are classified as rural-based and subsistence farmers.  That means many people are illiterate or uneducated and continue to cling to what they know.  We must not discount the strength of these beliefs no matter how antiquated, how backward or counter-productive we may consider them to be. The point here is that the people (Papua New Guineans), for better or for worse, believe wholly in their ancestral traditions. It is presumed that every society that inhabits this land has in their oral tradition stories and rituals regarding the spirit world and the super natural powers that are supposed to exist alongside man in the environment. These beliefs are what they use to explain the various occurrences such as death, personal misfortune, calamitous events and the like. There must be an explanation to every event. Beliefs are powerful no matter how crooked or unethically they may appear. The young woman burned alive last month may have been as innocent as the next person of any particular crime in the eyes of the law but her killers were acting within the confines of their beliefs. They justified it as such and carried out their actions without consideration for the consequences. They were acting for the good by removing an evil or a blemish on their community they believed existed. The people, who perpetrate these heinous crimes, are for the most part normal functioning members of their societies. In certain parts of the Islamic world women and girls are stoned to death for perceived transgressions against the moral code adhered to by Muslims. This is an extreme interpretation of Sharia law but that is not to say that is not done based entirely on belief. History also shows instances of people killing for their beliefs no matter how unfounded they may appear today. The witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s shows that even the governing authority of the day was not immune from acting on claims and accusations that could not be quantified or scientifically proven – it was all done on hearsay and largely a matter of what society held as evil and needed to be destroyed. The question now is how do we eradicate this practice in PNG? Making laws specific to the crime is the obvious solution.  Going as far as treating these acts as capital crimes should be a formality. Enforcing these laws is the real challenge. There cannot be any justification to behave this way in a country that not only claims to be Christian and professes to follow religious doctrine as its core truth but is in the on the path to assimilate completely to a modern world. Education or enlightenment must be a long term solution to putting an end to sorcery killings. People must understand that no matter how profound their belief, this is neither the time not the place to be killing on the misguided assumption that they are doing the right thing.

Urgent laws on sorcery required

Post Courier 4 March

THE Churches Medical Council of Papua New Guinea has called on the National Government to outlaw sorcery related killings. 
Chairman for CMC Wallace Kintak said last week.
“This superstitious belief is affecting the modern society of PNG. Even educated citizens and Christians who are supposed to advice and do the right thing in their communities are being led into these superstitious beliefs,” Mr Kintak said.
Mr Kintak added that many innocent lives are being lost in the rural areas of PNG. The CMC head said victims admit to practising sorcery after they are tortured. They have no choice under the circumstances and admit and name other innocent people and it becomes a chaotic situation for the 
community. The second provision of the law is to stop a bush doctor who is after money and claims to be a fortune teller or becomes a bush doctor who can identify a sorcerer. They claim to have special powers to identify sorcerers; they need to be punished as well. The third provision of the law should also say that, when a person opens his or her mouth that “this person has sanguma”, he should be charged 
by law.
“We also urge that all perpetrators, including the witch doctor who is said to have identified the suspects, should be detained for the “heinous crime and punished very severely through the courts in order to deter such acts by senseless fools in future,” Mr Kintak said.


The disabled lack access to buildings


Post Courier 5^th March

SUCCESSIVE governments had no plans to provide easy access in public buildings for people living with disabilities in order for them to access public goods and services in the country.
Papua New Guinea Rehabilitation Centre chairman Brown Kapi in an interview yesterday said the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People Living with Disability states that governments should consider and provide easy access for people living with disability.
He said since independence, no successive government had addressed this concern. A clear example is the National Parliament where it has no pathways for people living with disabilities to move in and out of this people’s house to watch their appointed leaders (MPs) make decisions for the country.

CHS workers lauds MP

Post Courier 5^th March

CHURCH Health Services has applauded the Health and HIV/AIDS Minister Michael Malabag for his commitment to address terms and conditions of the health workers throughout the country.
“We applaud the minister’s decision to have all our CHS workers put on computerised payroll system where it will be managed by CHS. Our partnership has a long tradition and we provide services where the Government cannot provide and our partnership needs to be strengthened at all levels from province to national level,’’ a statement from CHS stated last week. 
The Minister acknowledged church health services is by far the biggest partner in the provision of health service delivery and training of health workers in the country and took time to meet with CHS. 
A total of 27 Christian denominations operate these facilities ranging from rural hospitals to health centres and aid posts. CHS has a staff establishment of 3557 trained health workers. From these, 3027 positions are funded by the Government while the rest are paid by the individual churches.

Transparency International:  2012 Elections far from free and fair

The National, Tuesday 5th March, 2013

TRANSPARENCY International reported that 21% of the election process was reported as “very unfair” with 34% reporting the elections as being “very fair”.
Forty five percent stated that elections were “mostly fair”.
Despite the relative peace, the observers reported that “the elections were often far from fitting with the traditional view of a free and fair election as stated by the International Parliamentary Unions”.
The report states in part: “No election commission should see it (the statistics) as acceptable that in 45% of polling places that observers found that elections were only mostly fair and that 21% of polling places observers thought they were either mostly unfair or very unfair.
“We can see that there were regional differences with the Highlands reporting the highest levels of mostly unfair or very unfair followed by Mamose.
“No observers in the New Guinea Islands Region rated the elections as very unfair and 60% of observation in that region thought they were very fair.
“This is markedly different to the Highlands where only 12% thought they were very fair.”
Typical of comments from those who thought the election was unfair were comments relating to helpers at the polling booths being chosen by candidate supporters rather than by the voter

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/png-2012-poll-systemic-failure-observers/story-e6frfkui-1226590960986#ixzz2MhypgcgP


PM assures students of bright future

Post Courier 6 March

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has acknowledged that an educated and skilled human resource is essential for national development the world over and is among a nation’s greatest wealth.
Speaking during the Divine Word University’s 31st graduation ceremony on Sunday, Mr O’Neill said his government recognizes this fact and will do all it can to ensure Papua New Guineans become successful in life.
While congratulating the 1741 graduating students from the faculties of arts, business and informatics, education, flexible learning, health sciences and DWU’s affiliated colleges, Mr O’Neill said not all will find jobs in the formal sector.
However, this should not stop them from persevering in life, whether in paid employment or as self-employed businessmen and women or entrepreneurs.
Mr O’Neill also acknowledged the role of churches in partnering with government to provide much-needed services like education and health, especially in rural areas throughout the country.
“On behalf of the government, I thank the Divine Word University for its role in training fine elite graduates who will contribute towards the development of this nation,” he said.

11 year-old girl finally accorded a decent burial

The National, 8th March, 2013

THE body of 11-year-old Stella Fono will finally be given a decent burial, thanks to the Women of Hope Ministry.  This was done out of love and faith in God, ministry founder Veronica Charlie says.  The body was left at the Port Moresby General Hospital morgue for almost a year before the ministry assisted in organising a burial at the 9-Mile cemetery. Stella’s mother, Theresa Fono of Lufa, Eastern Highlands, was satisfied her late daughter finally left the morgue after being there since April last year.
“I am finally satisfied she has a place to rest. I have gone through a lot in trying to repatriate the body back to Goroka. And with a fragile family background, there was not enough support,” she said.

The World’s Third Worst Firm Runs Manus

PNG Blogs 8 March. The full article was first published by NEW MATILDA on the 7th of March 2013

Last week detainees on Manus Island reported acute water shortages. Who is responsible for sanitation? Wendy Bacon investigates G4S, the company contracted to operate the facility. Asylum seekers on Manus Island say their hopes were crushed by visits from the Minister for Immigration Brendan O’Connor and his shadow, Scott Morrison last week. The visits took place during six days of water shortages which left toilets overflowing. Some 274 detainees, including 34 children and six pregnant women, were unable to shower or wash in the hot humid conditions. Neither politician took time to carefully investigate the conditions in the camp, in which the detainees have been imprisoned for months. Detainees told the RAC that Morrison spent 15 minutes inspecting the compound and five minutes talking to them. They say they told him about lack of water, electricity, air-conditioning, proper medical facilities including any access to emergency treatment and the problems being experienced by pregnant women. “We told him that we sleep in wet beds and about the mice and snakes,” the RAC was told. They did not see him visit the toilets.

Following the politicians’ visit to Manus, a 17-year-old Tamil girl attacked her body with a plastic knife after hearing news that a fellow asylum seeker friend on the mainland is going to school. While she suffered no serious physical injury, it was a sign of severe mental distress. Even those detainees who have been motivated to write stories say their hopes for freedom and an education are subsiding into a deep depression for which there is no treatment apart from counselling which they do not find helpful. Their depression, which psychiatrists have repeatedly warned is produced by indefinite detention, is exacerbated when toilets overflow and there is no water for showers and washing in the stifling humid conditions that have left beds and tents sodden. This was the situation when the politicians visited.

The latest person to want to investigate complaints for herself is Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs. But the Government has advised her that she cannot go to the island to verify complaints although she does have the power to investigate them from Australia.

Study: Men and boys also victims of violence

The National, Monday 11th March, 2013

MEN and boys are also victims of gender violence, a study has found.
The study was organised and supported by the United Nations Development Program, the National AIDS Council Secretariat and the Department for Community Development to assess the readiness of service providers to deliver HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence services.
It was conducted between 2010 and 2011 in Western Highlands, Chimbu, East Sepik, Madang and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville to assess the  services across health, justice and social health sectors in the country to implement GBV and HIV programmes.
Services included in the study have established response to physical, sexual and emotional abuse of women by their husbands, partners, sexual assault by non-partners and the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children. 
The findings were compiled and put together in a report titled “Gender-Based Violence/HIV Services Delivery Readiness Assessment Report” that was launched in Port Moresby last Friday, coinciding with International Women’s Day.
It was reported that although the majority of the victims were women and girls of all ages, men and boys were also both direct and indirect victims.
The report stated that the effects of all forms of violence against both genders were physical and psychological, and had long-term consequences for the victims and their communities.
“

Urban primary schools in PNG: A decade of (rusty) swings and roundabouts

See http://devpolicy.org/urban-primary-schools-in-papua-new-guinea-a-decade-of-rusty-swings-and-roundabouts-20130312-02/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=35be241a56-Devpolicy_Newsletter_July7_18_2012&utm_medium=email

Challenges and opportunities at the frontline of service delivery in PNG: Enga province

Written by Andrew Anton Mako on March 1, 2013

See http://devpolicy.org/challenges-and-opportunities-at-the-frontline-of-public-services-delivery-in-png-enga-province-20130301-2/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=35be241a56-Devpolicy_Newsletter_July7_18_2012&utm_medium=email

Sexual violence in Lae: impunity and resistance

Written by Stephen Howes and Kamalini Lokuge on March 19, 2013 · 10 Comments

See http://devpolicy.org/sexual-abuse-in-lae-impunity-and-resistance-20130319/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=2d0d6522a1-Devpolicy_Blog_Digest_June7_1_2012&utm_medium=email.

Institute releases findings

The National, Friday 15th March, 2013

A REPORT has found that alcohol and illicit drugs abuse has increased the risk of HIV infections among Papua New Guineans.
The report titled “Emerging HIV risk in Papua New Guinea: Alcohol and injecting and other drug use and HIV risk” was prepared by the PNG Institute of Medical Research.
It was commissioned by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime with funding from UNAIDS.
The institute carried out its field work in September last year in four provinces – National Capital District, West Sepik, Western Highlands and Morobe.
The provinces were chosen in partnership with the study’s research advisory committee, which included UNAIDS, Correctional Services, police and other stakeholders.
Principal investigator of the study Dr Angela Kelly said they found that there was a widespread culture of intoxication due to alcohol and marijuana, often consumed simultaneously.
She said use of illicit drugs that were either injected or swallowed such as heroin or ecstasy was less common but present.
Kelly said misuse of alcohol and drugs often caused negative social and health impacts, including the increased risk of HIV through unprotected sex, whether consensual or violent.
She said despite the long term acknowledgement of the negative impacts, surprisingly little was done that was known to be effective to address the reasons for addiction, or the addiction itself and that PNG did not have trained drug and alcohol councillors, and few medical staff specialised in treating people with drug dependency

Support Road Show on Child Labour

The National, 15 March 2013

Why do Papua New Guineans have to wait for an “international day” to condemn social evils such as violence against women and girls in our country? By the same token, why do we have to wait for the ILO to initiate a road show to educate our people about child labour issues? Seemingly, our political leaders and bureaucrats are incapable of initiating these measures and therefore rely on “foreign stakeholders” to tell them what to do. Their silence on some of these social issues is almost deafening and an acknowledgement of their ignorance, deliberate or otherwise, of the seriousness of our situation. Child labour, violence against females and child prostitution are glaring examples of social evils that are turning our paradise into a devil’s backyard. We boast about being a modern Christian nation and yet allow our women and children to be susceptible to violence, sexual abuse and immoral practices. Let’s face it, more and more Papua New Guinean children are being forced to work for a living, including under-aged waitresses and courtesy girls in nightclubs and guesthouses that have been mushrooming in Port Moresby and other major centres. The city streets are crawling with under-aged vendors selling all sorts of goods and gadgets. Many of these children should be in school with the advent of free education by the O’Neill government. It has always been part of our tradition for children to learn manual labour skills at an early age to equip them for lifelong sustenance. In the village situation, children help their parents with gardening, fishing and cooking while city kids are required to do some household chores if they are not watching TV or playing with their mobile phones. Such work is not defined as child labour as it is neither fulltime nor paid employment and in the village context, it is an education process. The intricacies of modern life have prompted the use, or rather abuse of child labour, hence, the need by the ILO and the Labour and Industrial Relations Department, to closely scrutinise this issue. It is our duty as right-thinking, law-abiding citizens to protect and preserve the basic rights of our children, including the prevention of child labour. | [Source:

Community raises K2million for projects

The National, 15 March 2013

After waiting in vain for the government to bring development services to its doorstep, a community in Western Highlands has decided that it would wait no more. The Humul community in lower Nebilyer, through its Tilga Walya Yamb development association, has displayed a rare show of self-reliance by spending more than K2 million over the last three years to generate development. More than 2,000 people in the community are willing to spend more to bring services that would improve their lives by starting other projects. Association project coordinator Adam Aru revealed this during the launching of the community’s rural electrification project recently. This is the latest of a string of self-help projects undertaken by the community that wants to transform its small, under-privileged hamlet from rural to almost modern. Located about 15km from Mt Hagen city, the Humul community has lacked basic services for many decades, prompting the few elites in the area to form the association in 2003.

Silence on HIV concerns Advocate

Post-Courier, 14 March 2013

The silence on HIV is disturbing, a long-time advocate has warned that the virus is spreading fast, but people seemed to have forgotten or do not care. “I feel that information on HIV is dribbling off, it’s only being given out on special days, that’s not the way, we should be taking about it.’’ Tessie Soi, Founder and Executive Director of Friends Foundation Inc, said these words when commenting on how people came forward for Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials FFI had distributed during the walkathon on Saturday. The hunger for information shown on their faces surprised FFI.

Protection needed in prisons

The National, Monday 18th March, 2013

A report by the institute titled Emerging HIV risk in Papua New Guinea: HIV risk, prevention, treatment and care in closed settings highlighted that unsafe, forced and consensual sex between men and between women and men  in prisons and police cells occurring.
“The greatest risk for HIV in prisons or holding cells is sexual transmission,” principal investigator of the study Dr Angela Kelly said in a statement.
The study found that sex between males was reported in the four provinces’ prisons that were visited despite denial from senior staff and prisoners.
It include long term relationships, sex for goods or as punishment. Sometimes it involved one or more men.
Women on the other hand were safer in prison. But in police cells they faced sexual assault and rape and offers of “snake bail” – sex for bail money, the study found.
.
“The study recommends that UN agencies in PNG push for open discussion about sexual violence in prisons and holding cells and better security, including separate holding cells guarded by female wardens for female detainees in holding cells.

Mother, baby missing after holdup near Tari

The National, 19th March, 2013

HELA police are searching for a mother and baby who were dragged into the bushes by armed robbers when a bus was held up at Ambua Gap last weekend.
Hela provincial police commander Supt Jimmy Onopia told The National that passengers of a 25-seater bus travelling from Tari to Hagen were robbed before the woman and baby were taken away.
Onopia said the driver of the bus, realising that there was a road block on the national highway, reversed the vehicle some metres and as he swerved it to turn it around, the bus rolled.
He said several of the passengers were injured and they were transported to Tari Hospital for medical attention.
But the mother and the baby are still missing. The robbers who struck at the Ambua Gap also robbed a Dauli Teachers’ College bus loaded with rations and equipment for the college while the principal and his staff watched helplessly.
He said the bus was travelling from Mt Hagen and the teachers from Chimbu and Eastern Highlands were held at gunpoint and their belongings ransacked.
Police in Hela could not respond quickly in such situations and emergencies because they lacked vehicles and fuel, which has hindered operations, Onopia said.
“We only have five donated vehicles left and another five are not in operation.”
The police force in Hela has not been given fuel since November last year but Oil Search Ltd has helped them by supplying 1,500 litres of fuel every month, Onopia said.

Chimbu youths surrender homebrew equipment

The National, 20th March, 2013

YOUTHS in the Sinasina-Yongomugl district voluntarily surrendered two truck-loads of equipment, accumulated over 20 years, used for making homebrew.
Speaking during the surrender at Mok village, which was witnessed by local MP Kerenga Kua, youth leader Gideon Naime told of how they turned to illegal homebrew production on a large scale following the liquor ban in 1993.
“I am the owner of the company which I started in 1993 and successfully managed until I decided to wind up the company today as a sign of respect to our MP,” Naime said.
All the speakers during the surrendering ceremony told of the negative impacts and social problems that had resulted from homebrew drinking in the district for the past 20 years and commended the youths for their decision to quit production, sale and consumption.
Kua praised the youths saying: “Your decision will make a difference in your future. Your sacrifice is a first sign of many good things to come.”

Human exploitation high

The National, Monday 25th March 2013

THE domestic and transnational trafficking of adults and children are occurring at a high rate in PNG for forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, according to the International Organisation for Migration. 
IMO chief of mission Giuseppe Crocetti said this last Friday in Port Moresby during the launch of the country’s first report of human trafficking.
Titled Trafficking in Persons and People Smuggling Baseline Data Assessment Report, it establishes a baseline assessment of current trafficking in person’s statistics in the National Capital District, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, West Sepik and Western.
Crocetti said the report showed that irregular migrants entered PNG assisted by organised crime rings whereas the organiser provided onward travel, employment and accommodation to smuggle persons in PNG.
He added that the logging industry received the highest results by survey respondents as a business sector that exposes persons to risks of trafficking.
“Persons who work in and around market places, bars, restaurants and gaming clubs, were also indicated as being at heightened risk of exposure to trafficking,” Crocetti said.

Disappointment over no SABL report

Post Courier, 27 March

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has expressed disappointment over the failure by the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Special Agriculture Business Leases (SABLs) to present a final report after more than one-and-a-half years of inquiry that has cost the people of PNG and the State K15 million.
Mr O’Neill said in a statement to Parliament that SABLs existed since 1979, enabling customary landowners to surrender their land and enter into leasing arrangements with the State, basically “unlocking” customary land for development.
“By the 1990s, foreign businesses began acquiring large tracts of land through SABLs and landowners were not receiving any real benefits,” the PM said.
Mr O’Neill said studies have now revealed that more than 5.2 million hectares of customary land have been acquired for commercial use and the amount of customary land has decreased from 97 to 86 percent.
“In most cases, land has been logged and no other economic or agricultural development has occurred,” he said.
PM O’Neill said it was with regret that he had to inform the House that Chief Commissioner John Numapo and Commissioners Nicholas Mirau and Alois Jerewai have failed to provide him a final report. The interim report deals with only three of the 10 terms of reference. SABLs soon.”
Mr O’Neill said despite the slow action of the CoI, his government remains committed to bringing down the final report on SABLs and exposing abuses that have occurred, promising the people of PNG that and people responsible will be exposed.
During debate yesterday, Parliament rejected the interim report and demanded that the final report be presented in the next session in two months time.

Demystifying law enforcement

By Sam Koim  PNG Blogs 22 March. (Sam Koim is the lead investigator of the government-sanctioned Task Force Sweep team)

My role has brought me to confront the mysteries of law enforcement in contemporary Melanesia. I have come to appreciate that we have adopted western laws that are individualist oriented, to be applied and enforced in our communal setting. Our communal existence imposes certain obligations that more often clashes with the demands of the law. For instance, you try to hold one person responsible for his/her own wrongdoings but, more often, you find yourself dragging the whole tribe/group. The society is conditioned to protect even the worst criminal.

In Western cultures, when someone commits a crime, everybody, including their immediate kinship, treat that person as undesirable for the society and readily have him handed over to be dealt with according to law. While in our culture, we are prepared to protect the perpetrators, even to the extent of putting up a fight. Say, in a case of a rape, we put compensation money and hide the perpetrator. If the victim’s people insist to go after the perpetrator, we are prepared to fight. In so doing, we pervert the course of justice. Yet, we complain of lawlessness.

In electing leaders too, we vote according to our tribal/kinship lines even if we know that the person is not the right person. Even Christians pray hard for a right leader and blindly vote the wrong person in. Remember what Jesus said: “Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation.”

Yet, we complain of corruption. Shame on us. And, to a certain extent, when law is about to catch up with them, there is a general expectation for a level of tolerance by law enforcement agencies. That is because traditionally, we are supposed to respect, protect and be loyal to our leaders even if they do something wrong.

Of course, there are many other factors that contribute towards the breakdown of law and order, such as incidents of bribery and external influences that may temper with objective law enforcement. Those incidents have led our people also to be skeptical about law enforcement, which in turn diminishes the respect and legitimacy of the people it should otherwise deserve.

People are inclined to build nexus to tribalism and rivalism as the first point of reason whenever law is enforced. Notwithstanding all of that, our customary values and expectations also have some influence in law enforcement in Melanesia. While the process of occidentalisation had helped to develop our country in many respects, there is also an obvious disconnection, in that our people had not been fully acculturated to the Western cultural values. Unless we take a paradigm shift, we will still have law and order problems.

Social Concerns Notes this month presents a rather gruesome view of the social situation in Papua New Guinea.  Good things happen, but sadly acts of cruelty and violence have hit the news during the last month, some of which appears below – ed.

See the link for article by Jo Chandler

http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/its-2013-and-theyre-burning-witches/558/

Burnt alive!

Post Courier 7 Feb.

A TRAGIC and brutal sorcery-related murder took place in full view of hundreds of onlookers in a Mount Hagen City suburb in Western Highlands Province yesterday morning.
The relatives of a six-year-old boy doused petrol on a woman whom they had suspected of killing the boy with sorcery and burnt her alive. 
The torture and brutal murder of a mother of two provided a photo opportunity for many of the onlookers, including school children, who crowded around and took photos of the woman being consumed alive by the fire.
The perpetrators tied the woman up with rope, drenched her with petrol, placed her on top of a heap of rubbish then placed used tyres over her before setting her alight. 
City firemen rushed in their fire tender to the scene around 7am to put out the fire but the angry perpetrators and their supporters chased them away. Several policemen present at the scene were helpless to do anything to save the women because they were outnumbered by the perpetrators and their supporters.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Archbishop Douglas Young SVD.  Archbishop of Mount Hagen

“Thou shalt not kill”.  It is a sin to take innocent life. It seems that some people in Papua New Guinea, when confronted by belief in sorcery and witchcraft feel they can ignore this commandment from God.  Torturing with heated iron rods, dousing with petrol and the shameful, humiliating and degrading burning of a person by a mob is a relatively new practice in Papua New Guinea. We must find ways to stop the spread of such a cruel and superstitious practice.  Cases, such as the brutal killing of the young woman Kopari Leniata in Mt Hagen must be dealt with for what it is – murder.  These cases occur often in remote areas of PNG. This one, in a city, may attract the attention necessary to generate  a serious response.

Some will argue that the woman confessed.  But confession under duress during torture with burning iron rods is no credible confession. Even without the torture there are complex reasons why an innocent person might still confess to sorcery in these circumstances . That no one came to her help, but apparently stood by taking photos, is typical of this evil practice in Papua New Guinea. Usually the person accused is weak and defenseless such as an older widow or in this case a young mother from an isolated valley in Enga. A man or woman with strong male sons is seldom accused. It is the weak and the poor who become the scapegoats. Even if they have supporters, most often they are afraid to intervene lest they too be accused and suffer a similar fate.

It is high time that the work of the Law Reform Commission completes its work on revising laws on Sorcery so that this inhuman practice of accusing and murdering the weak is dealt with as murder.  Whatever evil there may be in the supposed practice of sorcery it is nothing to the evil done against alleged sorcerers. However, laws are not sufficient. The Churches and all citizens must take measures to ensure that such practices cease. This will mean extensive education programs so that people are conscious of the various reasons why people die.  Did Kopari Leniata’s accusers ask the doctors in Hagen for a medical report?  Moreover we need people of deep Christian faith who, when a family member dies, are prepared to exercise proper leadership at funerals, so that anyone who starts talking about sorcery and witchcraft is silenced, and any moves to involve a “glasman” are stopped immediately.  Life is a gift from God. Followers of Christ are called to be supportive and compassionate at funerals and in times of mourning, such as on hearing the sad news of the young six year old boy who died. But any talk or moves that lead to torture and further loss of life are unchristian, inhuman, and actually against the more profound values of our culture. They are to be totally condemned. Everyone involved in the speculation, blaming, “investigations”, and rumour mongering that creates the fertile ground for such evil share in the responsibility of the taking of an innocent life.

Stop the killing!

U.N. Calls on PNG to Curb Violence after Burning Death of Woman

NEW YORK TIMES  8 Feb 2013

Spurred by the killing this week of a young woman accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea, the United Nations on Friday called on the country to address increasing vigilante violence against people accused of sorcery and to revoke a controversial sorcery law  “This case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.

Rescued

The National, 13th of February, 2013

POLICE saved two women from being burnt alive in Mt Hagen where a 20-year-old mother of a baby girl was thrown into a fire and burnt two days earlier.
Assistant Police Commissioner and Highlands Divisional Commander Teddy Tei said last Monday, two women were tied to pillars by relatives of a girl they were accused of killing through sorcery.
However, Tei said the eight-year-old girl the women were accused of killing was “gang-raped and killed by two known suspects”.

He said the relatives of the girl, also from the Kandep, accused the two elderly women of performing sorcery and killing the girl on Jan 29.
The relatives of the deceased engaged a man claiming to possess supernatural powers, commonly known as “glassman” who identified the two women as sorcerers and blamed them for the death of the girl.
Tei said the “glassman” and the two rape-and-murder suspects, together with those ready to set the two women on fire, tied up the women

Culture responsible for acts of sorcery in PNG

Letter in The National 21 Feb.

I wish to write in response to so many critics and condemnations by our law enforcement agencies, international human rights groups and the general public alike both locally and abroad. 
There has been so much critisism about the torture of two women and burning alive of a young women in Mt Hagen in recent weeks in relation to allegations of sorcery. 
Now, from a westernised point of view, this act is barbaric and inhuman. Well, that is absolutely true from an outsiders point of view and views of few westernised Papua New Guineans who deliberately try to ignore the fact of their age old cultural belief systems. 
It is also understood that our laws are derived from the Westminster legal system or the British common laws which do not have room for such culturally related offences at a cultural level in a Melanesian context. 
For decades, culturally related practices such as sorcery and black magic in particular have been very difficult to dealt with in the Westminster legal system. 
However, every Papua New Guinean including the Prime Minister comes from a cultural society and there are certain cultural values, practices and belief systems that constitute these diverse cultural societies. 
Now, being Papua New Guinean and Melanesian, let us be realistic with sorcery and see this cultural practice from both sides of the coin. 
Black magic and sorcery is real because that is what our ancestors have been doing and it has been passed on from generations to generations. 
We cannot pretend to the outside world and deny the existence of such practices and giving the fake impression to the world that sorcery is not the real cause of many deaths in our society, though some deaths could be caused by the western or introduced diseases and illnesses such as HIV/Aids, TB, or cancer to name a few. 
The real issue is that, we are applying alien’s laws to deal with our own issue which seem inappropriate in our cultural context and looking at it culturally, there may be less avenue for justice. 
Sorcery is actually the use of super natural powers to protect oneself from harm and danger or even to acquire benefits in materials and fortunes or any other benefits that come with it. 
Interestingly, Christians refer to sorcery and black magic as the works of the devil and they literally believe that with their hearts because the devil or Satan is real. 
Now, if you read the article about the lead up to the torturing and burning alive of the young mother in Mt Hagen, you will confirm that as the suspects interrogate the two elderly women accused of their involvement in the death of a young boy through sorcery, the two elderly women literally admit that they ate part of the boy’s heart and they claimed it was the young mother (deceased) who actually took his heart out and shared it with them. 
Does that make any sense in believing that sorcery is real in Papua New Guinea and Melanesia or is it still not real after the accused women have themselves admitted it? 
It would be frightening if a survey is to be carried out right across the country to find out about peoples’ beliefs in sorcery and the type of sorcery that differs from culture to culture. 
Talking about sanguma, poison man, kambang man, and the black magic from the Tolais, Samarais, Koiaris, Papuans, Morobeans, and so and so. 
It would be interesting to see how many people actually believe in all those black magic even at this present times. 
This, as we know, involves some kind of supernatural powers that only our belief can help us come to terms with it. 
It is time now the government immediately review some of our laws to cater for culturally sensitive cases. 
As it is today, once accused to be a sorcery, many such people might continue to be tortured because that is what people believe in. 
The main issue now is that a western law cannot be used to bring justice over such offences, it will rather make the problems worse for people who feel have lost their loved ones through such tragedy. 
Finally, let us be realistic and look at issues about sorcery related killings in Papua New Guinea from two different angles. 
I welcome any comments. Email me on trango91@yahoo.com.


T. Rango Port Moresby

Sorcery killings widespread

The National, Friday 22nd February, 2013

THE burning alive of the young mother for alleged sorcery in Mt Hagen is not an isolated incident in the country. Nor is it the first.
There have been similar incidents in other areas of the country which have remained unreported.
Tolsep Ifitimnok, a man from Telefomin in West Sepik, told The National that the Mt Hagen incident prompted him to reveal similar killings in the district that were never attended to by the authorities.
He said in 2009, three men living in Tabubil suspected of practising sorcery or witchcraft, were flown in an aircraft from Tabubil to Feramin village, west of Telefomin where they were tortured and murdered.
“Police in Tabubil and Telefomin were aware of this but nothing was done to arrest the suspects.”
Two years later, he said, a woman was assaulted by a group of men from Telefolip village. She was dragged out of a plane at the Telefomin airstrip and killed.
The Telefomin men had suspected her of practising sorcery.
“This happened in front of policemen stationed in Telefomin but nothing happened,” he said.
Before the end of 2011, Iftitimno said, five men suspected of sorcery were tortured and killed outside the Telefomin government station.
“Among those murdered was a student selected to do Grade 11 at Vanimo’s Don Bosco Secondary school the following year. Once again this happened in front of policemen but nothing was done about it,” he said.

Two women chopped to death


Post Courier 15 February.

TWO women were shot by guns and then chopped to pieces while a two year-old boy received gun pellets to his head during an ambush in Kagua Erave District in the Southern Highlands Province on Monday.
Cathlina Rusa, aged 21 called her brother over the mobile phone while she was being attacked and her brother listened to all that was done to her on the other side of the phone.
Cornilius Rusa, who heard over his mobile phone the last agonizing words of his sister being killed on the other side, the woman pleaded for her life but was mercilessly chopped.
“I heard her pleading to her attackers that she is from another tribe but her pleading were interrupted by a blow sound which I thought was the sound of a bush knife across her face and that was followed by many bushknife blows to her body,” the killed woman’s brother said.
I heard silently from the other side of the mobile phone when my sister’s wailings faded away and I knew she was dead when one of her killers turned off the phone.”
According to Kagua Central community leader, Kenda Nakasi Kagua, late Cathlina and her husband travelled all the way from Lae with the body of the father of her husband to be buried in their village when they were ambushed.
 Mr Nakasi said.
Sothern Highlands Police confirmed the killings but said they could not go to the area because of logistic problems.

Ribat: Cater for poor too

The National, Tuesday 5th February, 2013

LEGAL services should serve not only the rich but also poor people in PNG, Catholic archbishop John Ribat says.
He told lawyers, judges and members of the legal fraternity during the opening of the 2013 legal year in Port Moresby yesterday that the legal system was about justice.
And when administered well, it is a good expression of a society where human dignity, integrity and freedom are respected and promoted, he said.
“When it is not well administered, it is an expression of a lawless society and the atmosphere of lawlessness promotes it.
“The legal system should provide protection to all citizens especially the vulnerable, the children and the poor,” Ribat said.
The archbishop, who was the main celebrant during service at St Mary’s Cathedral, said the success of the work of the lawyers and judicial services depended very much on their commitment, their faith, their love for God and people of this nation.
He said unless the legal system functioned well, it was difficult to work for the common good.
“You can find in the Word of God, the light and guidance to help you fulfill your work with diligence and honesty,” Ribat said.

Scathing Report on Manus

PNG Blogs. February 15, 2013,  Newcastle Herald

A SCATHING report on conditions on Manus Island has urged incoming Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor to stop sending asylum seekers to the remote Papua New Guinea site until sweeping recommendations are considered. The report by the United Nations refugee agency accuses the Australian and PNG governments of being in breach of international treaty obligations and expresses particular alarm at the plight of children in the facility. Its release coincides with the 10th transfer of asylum seekers to the offshore processing centre, which now holds 254 asylum seekers, 34 of them children. “They’re being treated like animals at the moment, including the children,” Senator Hanson-Young told Fairfax Media.

More than 20 recommendations include calls for review of pre-transfer assessments in Australia to ensure that vulnerabilities of individuals who may have suffered torture or trauma are considered. It says no further transfers of children should occur until “appropriate legal and administrative safeguards” are in place, including their placement in an open centre, as opposed to “the current environment of detention”. “Asylum seekers are distressed and confused about their situation. They are in closed detention, without a process in sight. They feel they have been forgotten,” said the UNHCR’s regional representative, Richard Towle. Senator Hanson-Young, who was forbidden from taking photographs inside the facility on her visit, said the lack of privacy for single men was reflected in the absence of doors on toilets. “There is just no trust at all in the system,” she said, saying asylum seekers told her they had no warning they were being sent to the island. Both the UN agency and the senator expressed alarm that children and family groups were not kept completely separately from the single men.

Debate on polygamy continues

The National, 1st of February, 2013

THE plan to introduce a bill to stop polygamy in the country by Eastern Highlands’ Governor Julie Soso has created much debate nationwide.
The highlands region is mainly known for polygamous practices where men gain status by having many wives.
PNG Women in Business president and founder Janet Sape has shown support for Soso’s plan.
Soso’s plan is being hailed by most women in the country, while some men seem against it in the name of tradition, as it has been a customary practice for generations, particularly in the highlands.
Many are saying that under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every human being, male or female, have equal rights and that polygamy should be barred.

Commission seeks court ruling on polygamy


Post Courier 11 February.

Polygamy in simple terms is: “men showing dominance over women and taking them as mere objects that can be bought and sold.”
Chairman of the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC) Benjamin Poponawa said this when commending the CLRC for taking the initiative to seek Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of polygamy.
He was speaking soon after his swearing-in as the chairman at Government House on Tue February 5.
Mr Poponawa told reporters that polygamy was once common mainly in the Highlands but now it is creeping into other parts of the country. 
The chairman said he was speaking as a leader and one who also comes from the Highlands.
Mr Poponawa said polygamy also leaves the questions of the right of the children to have their father staying with them in the same house every day. “Money and material goods cannot replace the bond of a wife to her husband and a child to his or her father,” Mr Poponawa said.
Meanwhile, CLRC has sought a Supreme Court reference on polygamy and Mr Poponawa said depending on the outcome of this Supreme Court reference, he would ask the CLRC to seek public opinion on this issue throughout the country.

School gangs a time bomb

Post Courier 11 February

AN entire generation of young people in primary and secondary schools in Lae will lose their future if school gangs are not stopped immediately.
After 20 years of uncontrolled growth in schools, the cult gangs are stopping at nothing to increase their numbers and influence on students in just about all schools in Lae.
The Vice Minister for Education Gisuwat Siniwin wants these cult gangs in Lae schools weeded out once and for all.
And he has committed himself to raising the matter with the government to find solutions to it.
Mr Siniwin who is the immediate past principal of the Bumayong Lutheran Secondary School and Member for Nawaeb, said cult gangs have no place in schools and must be completely weeded out of the Lae schools as a matter or priority and urgency.
While political leaders talk about dealing with the problem, a prominent Morobean citizen says Lae City is sitting on a time bomb which has wired up its schools with a deadly fuse that is about to be set alight and explode.
Its school cult groups have become so entrenched it will need a major national effort to help clean up the evil that has spread its wings to every corner of the Morobean capital.
A large number – if not the great majority of young people in school belong to school cult gangs.
It is said that the typical age range of gang members were between 10 to 22 years old. 
By all accounts, the number of youth gangs and their members in the city continues to grow. 
There are estimates of 10 youth gangs with more than 15,000 members in the high schools and community schools in Lae city, according to highly placed sources in Lae.

Technical support needed in curbing school gangs


Post Courier 11 February.

RUSSEL Merpe is the Lae District education adviser.
His duties involve providing technical support for all schools in Lae City.
Mr Merpe has been aware of the school cult activities for a number of years and has gathered together principals and senior teachers of schools in the city to look at the problem and recommend strategies to deal with it.
He says in a report he gave to the school heads that the passing on of ‘generation names’ by students in school sub-culture groups has been associated with:
Harmful initiation rites,
sexually promiscuous behavior,
 Drinking and smoking rituals,
 Bullying of other students,
Claiming of territory within and outside of schools, Making high-performing students complete assignments for other group members, Creation of hierarchical structures of power amongst group members, In some extreme cases devil worshipping and occult rituals.
 Mr Merpe identified in his report reasons why students might engage in anti-social sub-cultures.
 The reasons, he stated, include:
 The need for friendship and security,
Poor self-image,
 Problems with family,
 Being away from family and lack of supervision,
Experimenting something new,
 Excitement over something new,
 Sense of belonging, Protection,
 Peer pressure or intimidation,
 Existing beliefs in witchcraft/sorcery,
 Envy. 
Mr Merpe then went on to suggest reasons why negative subcultures exist in schools.
These include:
Poor behaviour management in school,
Absence of disciplinary policy or procedures,
 Insufficient counselling and student support,
 Official student leadership (SRC) ineffective or bypassed
, Lack of alternative healthy extra-curricular activities,
 Poor leadership in school,
 Poor supervision of students,
 Staff lack confidence/knowledge/understanding of how to handle the situation,
 School boards not functional and are not able to make effective decisions on disciplining students. 
In that Mr Merpe went on to look at strategies to deal with student subcultures in school. 
He suggested proactive strategies which include, among others:
 In-service training for staff and community leaders on ‘cults’ and brainstorm solutions,
 Teach social and life skils through personal development curriculum,
 Review anti-bullying strategies,
 Enforce regular supervision of students,
 Ensure all school boards are fully operational and in-serviced on their roles and responsibilities,
 Support existing recreational clubs and establish new activities,
 Establish a process of registering genuine student interest groups,
 Set up times and location where student groups are authorised to meet,
Strengthen SRC to promote positive student behaviour amongst students,
 Establish guidance and counselling program for the school, 
Involve parents and community in awareness,
 Support male and female school-based counsellors and give them adequate support to help students.

Anti-cult site tells tales


Post Courier, Feb 11

YOUNG Papua New Guineans have taken to social media to reveal the highs and lows of cult groups within their schools.
 A Facebook group “Against cult groups in PNG schools” was created in October last year to collect personal testimonies and to expose cult groups in various schools around the country. 
The group has had close to 600 Facebook “likes” since its inception, confirming that the issue is topical among young school-aged Papua New Guineans.
A number of Port Moresby and Lae schools were mentioned in the Facebook group as having cult groups while the other postings by youth highlighted the negative effect that the cult groups have had on their studies.
“I finished year 12 last year, am currently in college! Got sacked weeks before the national exams bcoz of cults,” posted one Papua New Guinean.
While another, who appeared to be in support of cults, said: “I just think groups in schools are not cults. They are just as normal as the organizations…they love, care, protect and so forth.”
 The postings on the Facebook group suggest that binge drinking was a key feature for many of the groups and on a few occasions individual members of a group attacked their rivals or had sex with female colleagues.
A 2011 AusAID-funded report Urban Youth in the Pacific highlighted the growing problem of cults in PNG schools, mainly the National Capital District (NCD). Assault, arson, rape and sexual favours were part of cult groups’ initiation ceremonies, the reported stated.

H’lands HIV cases double

The National, Thursday 21st February, 2013

TWO highlands provinces recorded 431 new HIV cases last year, almost double the number in 2011.
The Southern Highlands provincial monitoring, evaluation and surveillance team reported that 172 males and 259 females in Southern Highlands and Hela have contracted the virus.
Monitoring and evaluation officer Willie William Tom said out of the 431 new HIV cases, Tari-Pori district recorded the highest with 157, Imbonggu district with 74, Ialibu-Pangia 68, Mendi-Munihu 65, Komo-Margarima  26, Nipa-Kutubu 14, Koroba-Kopiago district 12 and Kagua-Erave 5.
The 2011 figure was 240 (91 males and 149 females).
The team tested 19,500 people in the two provinces last year.
Tom said people were tested for HIV at 38 sites in the two provinces.
Tom credited surveillance partners such as the Catholic church (HIV programme) which conducted tests for 45% of the people, Oil Search Ltd HIV programme 32%, Clinton HIV programme 20% and other institutions such as the Mendi General Hospital blood bank tested 3%.
He said the Oil Search programme was coordinating HIV/AIDS services in the petroleum development impact areas of Southern Highlands and Hela.
“The three districts, Kagua-Erave, Koroba-Kopiago and Nipa-Kutubu HIV positive recording cases are lower due to less number of people going for HIV testings,” he said.

NGO: More students, more pressure on resources

The National 31 Jan, 2013

A possible increase in student enrolment at schools due to the government’s subsidised free-education policy will put resources and facilities under pressure, a non-governmental organisation warned yesterday. “I call on the local MPs to help build the capacity of the education sector given that the national government is fully subsidising students’ school fees this year,” Langa Kopio, acting secretary-general for Tsak Union Incorporation, said yesterday. He said the Office of Higher Education should also address the strain on the availability of teachers in tertiary institutions to cater for higher numbers. “The number of school leavers and non-school leavers must keep pace with the availability of space in the colleges and universities. But we do not have enough space to cater for them so there is a need to establish more tertiary institutions in the country.” The free-tuition fee policy would not only help relieve parents from school fees burdens but also provide them with an opportunity to save money to improve their living standard, he said.

Hospital in dire straits

Post Courier 7 February

SERVICES at the Goroka Base Hospital, a major referral hospital in Eastern Highlands, has dropped so much that has resulted in more deaths in the last 12 months.
Goroka MP Bire Kimisopa brought the issue to light during Question Time in Parliament yesterday.
 Mr Kimisopa said this hospital for the last five years had barely struggled to survive.
“It is a referral hospital now called the Eastern Highlands Provincial Hospital. Patients from Kundiawa come to Goroka. We do not go to Kundiawa but now we have been doing that for the last two years.
“The sterilising equipment is obsolete since Independence. So we have bundles of all surgical equipment bundled up and taken to Madang to have it sterilized, taken to Lae, Kundiawa and Mt Hagen to have it sterilized.
“We are referring all our surgical patients to Kundiawa who are saying enough take them elsewhere. Where can I go? They are telling our hospital staff in Goroka that they cannot sterilize any more of our equipment.
“We have a pathological service in Goroka using x-ray machine that’s already collapsed, This was acquired straight after Independence. There is a lot of deaths during the last 12 months.
“How soon can you come to Goroka and how soon can you sack the management?” Mr Kimisopa said.
Mr Malabag in response said all hospitals had similar problems

Hot water germ is a known killer

Post Courier 6 February, 2013

In 1981, when ELCOM enforced the ban on automatic hot water heating, very little was known of Legionella. “Today, we know that Legionella bacterium multiplies in lukewarm water between 25ºC and 51ºC. This situation can occur in shower systems and has killed many people in other countries,” he said. He said the banning of automatic hot water heating has created a dangerous life threatening situation for the people of Papua New Guinea. If the days are overcast and there is insufficient solar heating and the residents do not use the one-shot switch to boost the water temperature the water temperature could drop below 51ºC for many days. He explained that Legionella bacteria occurs naturally in water and given the right conditions can quickly and easily multiply throughout water systems. When water contaminated with Legionella is released into the atmosphere in vapour form, such as the mist produced from shower heads, the bacteria can be inhaled deep into the lungs. Inhalation of contaminated water droplets in this way may lead to the contraction of Legionnaires disease. Infection with the Legionella bacteria is fatal in approximately 12 percent of reported cases. People who are immuno-compromised or who suffer from respiratory disorders are at the highest risk of contracting Legionnaires Disease.

Legionnaires disease can have symptoms like many other forms of pneumonia, so it can be hard to diagnose. Signs of the disease can include high fever, chills and a cough. Some people may also suffer from muscle-ache and headaches.

Govt plans conference on alcohol

The National, 21st February, 2013

THE government is addressing the problem of alcohol abuse in the country, according to a government statement.
A conference – called Alcohol in PNG: The next step forward – will be held to discuss the problem and come up with recommendations on how it could be solved.
“The conference will report back to the community and stakeholders the findings from the investigations made by government, as tasked to the law and justice sector,” according to chief secretary Manasupe Zurenuoc.
 The conference is geared towards a proactive approach to alcohol interventions where its presenters will discuss key areas identified as requiring attention.
These target areas are based on recommendations drawn from the alcohol abuse report published last year by the law and justice sector.
The recommendations included:
Review of liquor laws;
Enforcement;
Protection of
women and girls;
Focus on youths; and
Conducting public awareness.
 The conference would be held at the PNG Institute of Public Administration on Feb 25-26.

Alcohol conference a waste of time

The National, 21st February, 2013

A CONFERENCE is being organised next week to look into alcohol consumption and abuse in Papua New Guinea.
While we are happy this conference is going down, even if way overdue, we wonder at what might come out of it.
There is absolutely no doubt that alcohol abuse in Papua New Guinea is a killer, literally and metaphorically.
Drinking kills productivity and, therefore, affects the economic life of the country adversely as drunken people take unnecessary time off from work.
Drinking is the cause of many misery-filled lives, not the least of them being caused by domestic violence which is prevalent throughout PNG.
Let it be said: Many Papua New Guineans do not have it in them to control drinking or be responsible drinkers.
So, something has to be done – but what?
We do not believe that a conference is the answer.
Conferences should be held only to canvas diverse and differing opinions on issues in order to plot a collective way forward.
The way forward requires strong government policies and implementation of them, not conferences.
Remember the excellent gun summit of several years back?
The nationwide roadshow and the final summit in Goroka were well
attended.
A huge report was compiled with more than 200 recommendations on a way forward in the immediate, medium and long
term.
To this day, we have no idea what happened to this conference.
We fear a similar failure with the alcohol conference which will receive overwhelming attendance and alcohol abuse be given a rousing condemnation after which nothing will come of it.

CHS workers’ terms to improve

Post Courier 26 February

THE Government is awaiting clearance from the Department of Personnel Management for a decision to approve terms and conditions of church health workers.
That is the assurance by Minister for Health and HIV AIDS, Michael Malabag, when witnessing a graduation at Nazarene College of Nursing over the weekend in Jiwaka.
The salary review is well overdue and just on Saturday the minister was challenged yet again by the Chairman of the Churches Medical Council and Principal for Nazarene College of Nursing Wallace Kintak.
A Similar call also came from Nazarene Hospital Administrator Dr Scott Dooley when the minister was given a tour around the facility.
“While most of out staff salaries come from the government to Church Medical Council, they do not quite match Government positions in numbers needed or in pay equivalent to their Government counterparts,” Dr Scott told minister. The minister told those gathered at the 38th graduation that a Cabinet policy submission, seeking NEC’s approval for a whole new government approach to address disparities include:
Review past NEC decisions made by past governments to address disparity in personnel emoluments for church health workers;
Increase operational funding for CHS operations;
Establish adequate manpower numbers for CHS based on the national health services standards;
Approve the proposed salary structure and costing for CHS;
Establish computerised concept payroll for CHS to be managed by CHS;
Establish formal payroll for CHS to be managed by the CHS; and 
Establish formal partnership arrangement between the Government and CHS for effective resources management and service delivery accountabilities.

Schools not paid due to wrong details

The National, 26th of February, 2013

THE Education Department listed 1,399 schools that have not been paid tuition-free fees because of improper bank account details.
The list, published exclusively in The National yesterday, showed that most of the schools were from the remote provinces of Morobe, Northern, West Sepik, Southern Highlands and Western.
Acting secretary for education Luke Taita said the schools could not be paid their subsidies because of  “missing bank details and incorrect bank details. To help the schools, the education department has provided a tuition fee free hotline for them to make any queries on payments. The telephone numbers 7056 7866 and 7056 7870 will be staffed by department officers from 8am to 5pm from Monday to Friday.
Taita said parents and the public could also call these numbers to report any mismanagement of TFF funds.

PNG to join campaign to end violence against women

The National, 4th February, 2013

A GLOBAL campaign pushing to end violence against women is coming to Papua New Guinea on Valentine’s Day, Feb 14.
The United States- based One Billion Rising campaign is calling for one billion women and men around the world to raise awareness on violence against women by walking and dancing on the streets that
day.
Women and men in PNG have been invited to join the global campaign.
The PNG theme for this year is “Break the silence – make a statement”.
The family and sexual violence action committee of the consultative implementation and monitoring council will be leading the campaign in Port Moresby.
Project coordinator Isi Oru said,
“In light of the recent widely circulated e-mail, two female workers from a prominent hotel in Port Moresby were almost abducted in a taxi.
“They cheated death by jumping out through a smashed window and onto the road whilst the vehicle was moving at high speed.
“They were hospitalized. The national coordinator for the campaign Ume Wainetti said the campaign was about men and women taking a pro-active stance against all forms of violence perpetuated against women and girls.

Churches need to preach the Word of God

Letter in Post Courier, February 5th (abbreviated)

I REFER to the reports in our daily newspapers regarding the ministers and MPs tithing to churches.
The churches have become agents of the government to provide social or physical services and charity to change the lives and improve the living standard of the people, but misunderstand their responsibilities. 
The churches cannot be the agent of both earthly kingdom and Heavenly Kingdom or cannot serve two masters as it is not acceptable to God, (Mathew 6:24). The Government has given millions of kina to churches over the years, and they have provided physical services and charities to the communities, … but there is no impact of change in the behaviour and attitudes of people, instead more social problems are rising in this country. They must be very cautious of where they lay eggs; it could hatch out scorpions to fight back at them. 
 Christian Observer

Papua New Guinea ‘witch’ murder is a reminder of our gruesome past

PNG Blogs 22 Feb 2013  –  The Guardian

Earlier this week, police charged two people from Mount Hagen, in the western highlands of Papua New Guinea, with the murder of Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old woman and mother. Accused of bewitching a six-year old boy who had recently died in hospital, Leniata was stripped, tortured with a hot iron rod, doused in petrol, and burned on a pile of rubbish and car tyres.

Anyone with a reasonable knowledge of history will quickly think of the legalised witch killings of Europe and North America as comparisons. These offer a sobering broader perspective. In Germany, Switzerland, Britain and New England, perhaps 50,000 alleged witches were tortured and killed by the most educated and powerful men in society. By definition, most of their supposed crimes were sheer impossibilities. But the forgotten history of witch attacks is perhaps more surprising still.

In England, the Witchcraft Act of 1736 outlawed any further prosecutions for witchcraft. Yet in the sleepy Hertfordshire village of Long Marston in 1751, the law did not protect 69-year-old Ruth Osborne. Accused of bewitching cattle, she was watched by a large crowd at the village pond that April, where a man named Thomas Colley ducked and drowned her. Though Colley would hang, many stayed away from the execution in sympathy – but the witch attacks were far from over.

With a present-day population of around 800 and a late-Saxon church, Great Paxton in Huntingdonshire now looks charmingly picturesque. Its past is rather darker. One Sunday in April 1808 the church’s minister, Isaac Nicholson, could be heard attempting to talk his parishioners out of their belief that Ann Izzard had bewitched several locals, including three girls who had fallen sick. As Stephen A Mitchell notes, Nicholson was right to fear he had scarcely dented the prevailing superstitions. One night that May a mob dragged Ann, naked, from her bed into the yard outside her house. They scratched her arms with pins and beat her face, stomach and chest with a stick.

These are just a handful of those who suffered for superstition long after the law had sought to end attacks on “witches”. Around 1880 an old Indian woman was stoned to death in Pine Nut Valley, Nevada, as a witch, and in about 1885 two men in southwest England were jailed for killing a woman thought to have bewitched their cattle. Nor were such attacks purely rural affairs. On Sunday 24 June, 1827, a crowd of over 300 people rushed down Marlborough Street in Dublin, literally throwing around a woman amid cries of: “A witch! A witch! Burn the witch!.” The victim was narrowly rescued by one brave young man and dragged into a nearby police station.

Come the 20th century, there were witch murders or attacks in Arizona in 1952, Switzerland in 1959, and Bavaria in 1963. At times witch attacks may have involved personal grudges, and at times victims may have been singled out because they looked different (the Dublin woman was said to be “dwarfish and deformed”). But time and again the chief factor, amid the sick children, cattle, or failing crops was still more basic – a problem which needed someone to blame it on. If there is one wider moral of all these tragic events, it is this: those who seek scapegoats – whether witches, outsiders or immigrants – usually hit the wrong target.

[There have been some excellent articles relevant to Social Concerns in recent times, but it is not possible to include them in full within the limits of this monthly blog. Those with internet access might access an excellent article by Jo Chandler: Muddy Waters http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/up-the-fly-without-a-paddle/523/

I will include edited versions of four other articles in the first pages of this month’s Social Concerns notes.  The first is by a Papua New Guinean writer and scholar Andrew Anton Mako.  The second, by a Papua New Guinean woman Serina Sesingian, the third by veteran PNG politician Bart Philemon and the fourth from NRI on the economic situation.  I think these articles are worth reading and and reflecting upon as we start into a new year – ed.]

Bad governance and politics and PNG’s lost decade

By Andrew Anton Mako on April 12, 2012

http://devpolicy.org/bad-governance-and-politics-and-pngs-lost-decade/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=39ca1ecc22-Devpolicy_Blog_Digest_June7_1_2012&utm_medium=email

In the last 10 years, PNG has experienced unprecedented, high economic growth. However, that decade can be seen as a “wasted decade” of missed opportunities for the resource-rich country. There is little to show on the ground in terms of tangible development. Most major towns of the country have faced dramatic fall and deterioration of public infrastructure and government services. For example, Madang which was once affectionately called “beautiful” is now dirty and is witnessing a rise in criminal activity. One can only imagine what the situation is like in the rural areas where more than 80 percent of the country’s population lives. Public services and infrastructure are collapsing, and the rural population is being affected the most. PNG’s Human Development Index (HDI) continues to fall – it was positioned 153 out of 187 countries in 2011 by the UNDP. Corruption remains a huge development hurdle for PNG, and in 2011 PNG was ranked 154 out of 182 by Transparency International.

I am from a very remote village deep in the Highlands of PNG. In the last fifteen years, the single health center, the primary school which I attended as a boy, an airstrip that brings supplies to the village, and agricultural extension services have all closed down, and shrubs are now growing on a new road which was built in the late 1990s to connect my village to the nearest town. The 10,000 plus people in that part of the country are literally struggling each day. That is the grim situation of most parts of rural PNG.

On International Women’s Day this year at ANU, Dame Carol Kidu spoke about one aspect of PNG’s decade-long record economic growth and the opportunities the country has missed to improve the lives of the people – the deterioration of the national health system broadly, and  the appalling state of maternal health and child mortality in particular in rural PNG. A key cause of this, as Dame Carol pointed out, is the lack of effective leadership and management at all levels of government – local, provincial and national.

At a public lecture organized by ANU’s National Security College in March 2012 titled ‘Papua New Guinea: Where to Now?‘ three experts on PNG affirmed that political issues, especially the struggle among political leaders and their cohorts for power in government has had a direct and negative impact on PNG’s socio-economic conditions. This mismatch between PNG’s record economic growth and the fall in governance and basic public services are symptoms of the so-called “resource curse” or the “paradox of plenty”.

Because people in rural areas see that they have been neglected by their elected leaders and that basic services do not reach them through the normal process, their attitude towards the government and its public service machinery have dramatically changed. To most, the government is now a cash-cow to milk. This could explain why people who live along the Highlands Highway continue to claim huge sums of compensation from the government before they allow it to fix the highway after a landslide, for example. This is also part of the reason why people continue to vote along their kinship ties rather than along political party lines.

This shift in the mindset of the people is being compounded by the increase in resource projects in the country. As the government seems to have failed its own people in providing basic services, the people, especially the landowners from the resource projects, see the resource projects, and the compensations and royalties they provide as a quick and easy way out of poverty and to catch up with the rest of the country. However, without financial literacy and proper cash-management skills, most go on a spending spree on goods such as flashy vehicles. Although there is now a long history of such improper use of resource funds by landowners the lesson has not been learned. The government, especially at the provincial and the national levels, seems to care little of such issues, as they are pre-occupied with the “competition” to be in government and control the huge resource rents (the excess mineral revenues, in particular) the country earns. Indeed, there has not been any major economic policy or reform enacted in the last ten years to turn the country’s fortunes into tangible development which could improve the country’s low HDI and poor governance and improve the lives of the common people in rural areas.

If history and what is currently happening in PNG’s politics is any indication of the future, I doubt that this will change in the next twenty or thirty years. Many people, including myself, were hoping the recent change in government would at least start to turn things around. However, observing the events which have unfolded since the change in government makes it clear that PNG continues to go around in a political circle. It seems that the country will not break out of this circle until after the next election at the earliest, and perhaps not even in the next decade unless there are fundamental political reforms. The resource rents will increase when the LNG project starts production, and it will continue to undermine effective governance as greedy politicians compete for power and control over the rents. Unless there is a radical change in the political landscape, things will not change at all for the better. …

Development will also require a radical shift in the mindset of the people. Voter-education is crucial so that people start to vote along party lines instead of voting their village chiefs or their “in-laws”, who will return their favour when they are in parliament. These would be radical departures from the status quo, but ones that would have lasting positive impacts on politics, governance and the socio-economic development of PNG.

Andrew Anton Mako is a postgraduate economics student at the ANU Crawford School. Prior to that, he worked at PNG’s National Research Institute, and at the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat.

 Social challenges in PNG

By Serena Sasingian on October 4, 2012

http://devpolicy.org/social-challenges-in-png/

For thousands of years my people lived in harmony with the environment and each other. There were strong social structures that held the community together. A river, a mountain, dense forests or plains of grassland isolated tribes. This mean that unique communities evolved, each with their own rich customs, traditions and languages. It is from this background that our first generation of nation builders emerged. These were people, like Bart Philemon and Rabbie Namaliu, had to walk for hours to get an education, had to deal with the imposition of a foreign language and embrace values that were different to those of their cultural background.

I can only imagine the challenges that generation went through. A new generation is emerging, the generation of their children (like myself) who have grown up with less confusion, better quality education and technology, like the internet and social media. Sadly this experience accounts for less than 15 percent of our total population. The rest continue to rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. For them, life has not changed greatly since independence, but we are seeing an erosion of customary social structures and the systems that supported communities for thousands of years.

37 years after independence PNG is still developing as a nation. You will notice I say “developing as a nation” and not “developing nation” to avoid the negative connotations associated with this. I consider growth and development of a nation to be like a child that is eventually fits the clothes they are wearing. We were given democracy, you and I know that democracies work on the premise that there is an educated, engaged and informed population able to elect parliamentarians capable of producing laws and policies that serve the interest of the people. In PNG we have a long way to go before we see that happen. Much of the population are uneducated and they vote according to “big man culture”.

Social indicators show that the incidence of poverty in PNG is increasing and that in recent decades educational outcomes have been falling. Our HDI value for 2011 was 0.466 — in the low human development category — positioning us at 153 out of 187 countries and territories. Between 1980 and 2011, our HDI value increased from 0.313 to 0.466, an increase of 49.0 per cent or an average annual increase of about 1.3 per cent. This still places us at the bottom 20 percent of countries worldwide, and is a major development challenge for our future as the development of our people is key to seeing progress achieved.

Youth are a critical component when we talk about development because PNG has a very young population: 40 percent are under the age of 15. Unfortunately they are entering adulthood amid a range of health and social issues. As Professor Ross Hynes of the University of PNG has pointed out, the socio-cultural setting in which young people operate displays multi-layered value systems including: traditional- customary; Christian; good governance; opportunistic-exploitative; sorcery; and warrior values. Good personal and community decision-making is often compromised by this complexity.

Many young people do not have a vision for their lives. They live surrounded by violence, poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, purposelessness and idleness. A significant factor in the creation and sustainability of positive communities is to give our young people a sense of purpose. We need to be enabling them to realise their potential and their responsibility to use their gifts, talents, passions and dreams to serve the world. The two most important factors on the social development agenda to ensure a vibrant and dynamic population of active citizens are education and health.

Education

According to statistics from the PNG National Statistical Office, over one third of school aged youths have not received any form of formal education, and females are worse off than males. The Department of Education tells us that approximately 80,000 young people leave the school system each year. The formal labor force has been able to absorb less than 10,000. What then becomes of the rest of this vital resource?

With the introduction of the government’s free education policy to ensure that all people receive their basic human right to an education, one must raise the question: is it free education that we are looking for or better quality education that is needed? … It is not only access to education that must be given consideration but important components of the curriculum and pedagogy. Individuals can both acquire and employ skills, which will reproduce society, or they can accumulate the skills needed to transform society. We can no longer reproduce the values and structures that have positioned our people on the lowest rankings of governance and other human development indicators.

Health

While there a number of issues to discuss which are pertinent to health, one that is very close to my heart is maternal mortality. How can the beauty of giving birth to life be mired in the reality of so many women dying in the process? PNG’s maternal mortality rates are some of the highest in the region. According to a health demographic survey, there has been a more than two-fold increase in PNG’s mortality rate from 370 to more than 730 per 100,000 in the past 10 years. Poor maintenance of health facilities has affected the ability to attract and maintain staff and provide high-quality and safe care.

Conclusion

… Without active and engaged citizens issues of corruption begin to erode service delivery and impede progress in lifting the standard of living for all Papua New Guineans.

Serena Sasingian is the Executive Director of The Voice, a youth development organisation based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. This is an edited version of a presentation Ms Sasingian delivered at Devpolicy’s 2012 Pacific Update at the ANU on September 6, 2012

PNG 37 years after Independence: the question of leadership

By Bart Philemon on November 9, 2012

http://devpolicy.org/png-37-years-after-independence-the-question-of-leadership/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=c3b68fdbc8-Devpolicy_Blog_Digest_June7_1_2012&utm_medium=email

PNG’s founding fathers searched internationally and domestically, in the oracles of our ancestors and in the chronicles of the established nations to determine a way forward for the nation that they were prepared to give their all for. They wanted the citizens of PNG to be holistically strong, equal and to participate in the nation’s development. They wanted them to be proud and patriotic in their national identity, environmentally conscious and independent, respectful, appreciative and to adopt PNG ways and incorporate them into modern ways. That vision was incorporated into PNG’s constitution, the legal framework of the new nation that was born 37 years ago in 1975.

37 years on, how has the nation of PNG developed in light of the vision of her founding fathers?

Education. The O’Neill/Namah government has recently introduced free education from elementary school to grade 12. However, classrooms and teacher accommodation are either rundown or of an insufficient quantity. Access to basic supplies and utilities are non-existent and many facilities are remote and too expensive to service. Free enrollment will place additional demands on these facilities as children progress through grades. And, because of the lack of basic services such as accommodation in remote areas, the trend of teachers avoiding, refusing, or deserting remote areas, rural schools and the public education sector in favour of more lucrative jobs in urban centres will continue. The capacity building in higher educational, technical and vocational schools to compliment an increased demand for output is simply not there yet. While Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) projects promises jobs, they are mostly for top graduates who constitute a mere 20-30 percent of those seeking work. What will other job seekers do in a saturated market where there is up to a 60 percent unemployment rate?

Health. The government has earned the public’s accolades for enacting free public healthcare but the trend over the past ten years has been to close down aid posts due to a lack of medicine and orderlies. Delivery of medicines is often delayed, making them out of date and useless, and continues to be an administrative and logistical challenge. International pushes on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness and immunisation programs for tetanus and smallpox steal the spotlight from silent,widespread killers like TB, malaria and pneumonia.

Transport. In air transport, the closure of a number of air strips as well as safety concerns surrounding access to functional air strips, combined with the number of third level airlines operating in PNG, means that access to much of our hinterland is closing up.

In sea transport, even though 15 out of 20 provinces are maritime provinces, most of our jetties and wharves are deteriorating and in need of repair. Government trawlers, once the pride of these provinces and synonymous with the presence and service of government, are just memories. Their replacement with motorised dingies and coastal shipping services lacking adequate regulatory oversight have been fatal for seafarers. In land transport, PNG still struggles to maintain 10,000 km of national highways. 17,000 km are provincial roads. Funds distributed to provinces are used to build new roads at the cost of maintaining those that already exist.

Public utilities. PNG is held to ransom by debt-ridden and incapacitated state-owned enterprises caught between survival and political priorities while attempting to provide electrical, water, broadcasting, works and telecommunication services. State-owned companies like Telecom PNG Limited, PNG Power Limited and the National Broadcasting Corporation are performing far below their capacity, leaving district capitals ineffectively.

These snapshots are enough to cause our founding fathers to turn in their graves. During the 20 years that I have spent in parliament, serving 12 years in opposition and 8 years in government, I have come to the conclusion that the solution to PNG’s problems rests squarely on the type, character, experience and the professional capabilities of our leaders. PNG needs good leadership to extricate itself from the damning paradox of being a poor but resource rich country.

Lessons from PNG’s budget trends over the last decade

By Stephen Howes and Andrew A. Mako on November 12, 2012

http://devpolicy.org/lessons-from-pngs-budget-trends-over-the-last-decade-2/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=c3b68fdbc8-Devpolicy_Blog_Digest_June7_1_2012&utm_medium=email

It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. PNG has experienced massive revenue growth over the past decade. How has it made use of that revenue, and what lessons can be learned from those choices? In nominal terms, national revenue nearly tripled to an estimated K10.2 billion in 2012 from K3.6 billion in 2003. Adjusting for inflation, revenue increased by about 75 percent. Aid did little more than keep pace with inflation. This large increase in revenue led both to improved public finances (including a fall in public debt and an improvement in fiscal balance) and also a significant increase in public expenditure, mainly post-2007. Adjusting for inflation, total expenditure increased by less than 5 percent between 2003 and 2007. By 2012, however, total expenditure was almost double its 2003 level (a 94 percent increase), even after accounting for inflation.

Government spending is increasingly in the development rather than the recurrent budget. Recurrent budget as a share of total expenditure fell from two-thirds or more in the early 2000s to about half by 2012. Unlike ten years ago, the development budget is now largely financed by the Government of PNG rather than by donors. Trust funds were used in the middle of the decade to mop up a surge in revenue and direct it to various projects, but this is widely viewed as not having resulted in productive spending.

One way to summarise the experience of the last ten years is to observe that the total increase in revenue over this period, compared to what PNG would have seen if revenue had stayed at its 2003 level, has been K32 billion. Where has that that K32 billion gone? One-quarter (K8 billion) was needed just to keep pace with inflation. After adjusting for inflation, just over half (K17 billion) was used for additional development budget and trust fund projects. K2 billion was used to improve the fiscal position, and less than K5 billion was used to meet recurrent needs.

These trends have resulted in a number of positive developments in PNG. Compared to ten years ago, the national government has almost twice as much revenue (after inflation). It also has twice as much choice in how to spend each Kina because the share of salaries, interest and aid (all areas over which the government has no or very limited discretion) has halved. Importantly, spending in priority areas of national development, such as health, education and roads maintenance, has risen sharply.

Negative points. Expenditure levels did not kept up with population growth prior to the last decade, and even now are only back to the per capita levels of expenditure seen at Independence. All areas of public expenditure have increased – there is no sign of a shift in focus to priority areas. And, despite increases in spending to date, there are still massive funding gaps in critical areas. For example, to fully achieve targets in education and maintain priority national roads, an extra K1 billion and K1.4 billion, respectively, is needed annually (according to the partnership agreements signed between PNG and Australia). Filling these gaps largely requires increases in recurrent funding, whereas it is the development budget which has been increasing rapidly to date. To add to the challenge, revenue growth in the next few years may be slow due to subdued global economic conditions, the maturing of current mines and oil fields, and delayed revenue from new minerals projects due to tax arrangements.

There are challenges ahead. The key funding gaps – education, law and order, health, roads maintenance – are in the recurrent budget, so there needs to be a shift in the focus of public spending away from the development budget to give more priority to recurrent spending. More funding should be allocated for the maintenance of existing public infrastructure, for example, rather than building new roads or other assets.

Outlaw polygamy

The National, Tuesday 11th December, 2012

Highlands Governor Julie Soso plans to introduce a bill to outlaw polygamy in the country next year.
Soso, the country’s first female governor, said custom once allowed a tribal leader to marry more than one woman.
“But nowadays, any man can have more than one wife and that is creating a problem in our society,” she said in a statement.
“Polygamous marriages are not conducive to women making their own decisions. It is an outdated practice,” she said.
“Young girls are dropping out of school at an early age and they are getting married to a married man and becoming the second or third wife. Soso said poverty was driving some girls into polygamous marriages in PNG.
 Meanwhile, a member of Catholic Professional PNG Paul Harricknen also joined the move to outlaw polygamy, saying it was unchristian and against United Nations’ Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. He said the convention provided for women rights to be respected and any form of relationship that was of that nature was against women’s right to liberty.
“It’s been long overdue and Soso is right.

Polygamy not wrong, says father of five

The National, Friday 14th December, 2012

A FATHER of five who has two wives says there is nothing wrong with polygamy because it helps take care of women who could not otherwise support themselves.
John Gane, from Hela, has challenged Eastern Highlands Governor Julie Soso, who recently revealed her plan to move a motion in parliament to outlaw polygamy, instead promote the legalisation of prostitution.
 Gane said if Soso wanted to outlaw polygamy, she should first try to legalise prostitution as an income-generating avenue for unmarried women and girls who had no one to look after them.
 “That should be one condition if polygamy is to be outlawed. Another would be for government to put all the citizens on pension,” Gane said.
Gane said such a law could result in poor women and girls suffering because they lacked financial, material and security support.
 Gane said he never thought of getting married until 1997 when he met a woman who became his first wife.
 He said the woman had been in a “slavery” situation and staying with her aunt.
 “She was living in poverty when I rescued her,” he said.
 Gane said his second wife was in similar situation when he met her in a kai bar in Port Moresby in 2008.
 He bought some food for her and her sister who looked famished.
 “While they were eating, she told me her story. I asked her if I could marry her and she agreed,” Gane said.
 He said the woman’s parents and relatives did not agree with her marrying him because he was old and had grey hair.
 Gane said she told her parents that men his age looked after their wives properly so she married him.

Girls opting for wealthy men ‘promote polygamy’

The National, Monday 17th December, 2012

YOUNG girls preferring wealthy men are promoting polygamy in PNG, a youth leader in Goroka town, Eastern Highlands, says.
 Mike John, from Genoka settlement, blamed young women who dropped out of school and found themselves facing a bleak future.
“These young girls leave their school boyfriends and go for wealthy men with material wealth, especially money that they can easily access to sustain their livelihood,” John said.
 He said most of the men were married with grown-up children but went for young girls and offered money, houses and other material wealth.

Girls forced to marry for money

The National, Wednesday 12th December, 2012

MANY under-aged girls are forced by their parents into marrying older men in the LNG project areas for the greed of money such as bride price payments and to appease landowners, says a church leader.
 The practice is tantamount to child abuse as some of the girls have yet to reach child-bearing age, according to United church pastor Samuel Kusa. 
“The PNG LNG is driving people crazy to sell their daughters to older men who would die soon, leaving the girls and children behind,” Kusa claimed.
 “Some of them are getting married to men who have more than six or seven wives and they are just like daughters to their husbands,” Kusa said

Vunapope sees increase in teenage pregnancies

The National, Friday 28th of December, 2012

SAINT Mary’s Vunapope Hospital in East New Britain recorded a significant increase in teenage pregnancy this year.
While the hospital saw a steep increase in the number of births until Christmas Day, there was concern for an increasing number of teenage mothers, aged between 14 and 19 years. 
The hospital’s maternity ward officer-in-charge Maria Posanek, even without a breakdown of the hospital’s statistics, said there was a significant increase in teenage pregnancies with a lot of new mothers being students.
 Posanek said it was important for teenagers to realise that parenting came with big responsibilities.

680,000 children illiterate

Post Courier, 11 Jan, 2012

ABOUT 680,000 children do not go to school in Papua New Guinea, according to former Lae MP Bart Philemon. 
He says this means that 50 per cent of school-age children stand no chance of being able to read or write in order to effectively contribute to nation-building.
 This also means that 2-3 million Papua New Guineans out of a population of more than seven million are illiterate. Mr Philemon says that four million of the population is between 7-21 years of age (school age), according to the 2011-2012 National Population Census report. The statistics say that more than half a million of the school-age children are not in classrooms throughout PNG.

PMGH short on doctors and nurses

Post Courier, 11 Dec, 2012

THE Port Moresby General Hospital is down on manpower by 300 nurses and 60 doctors to cater for the pressing needs, hospital board chairman Sir George Constantinou said yesterday.
 Sir George said the hospital is in the process of recruiting foreign doctors and nurses on a trial basis to fill the shortfall in medical and nursing staff.
 Chief Executive Officer Sam Vegogo said Minister Malabag had already made an undertaking to take this matter up as a matter of urgency, including talking to the executives of the Nurses and Doctors Association to seek their understanding on the urgent issue of lack of human resource in the health sector.
 “There will be major reforms in the health sector to ensure the people feel the health services right up to their doorsteps,” Mr Malabag said.
“I will be talking with relevant government agencies and unions that we are running short of manpower at all the hospitals throughout the country. “If we are short, lets go and recruit whether domestic or internationally to meet this shortfall. Our people’s lives are at stake and we cannot be pussy-footing around,”

Women seek change

The National, Tuesday 11th December, 2012

HUNDREDS of women from the Yamka tribe, Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, gathered last Saturday to fight for change and bring development to communities by launching their association. 
The Kumbaun Ambnga Numan Tenta Association (Kumbaun women in one mind association) was formed to equip women as development partners to work with the government, non-government organisations and donor agencies to fight corruption, bring change and development into communities.

 “It is time we, the mothers, move forward and find the treasure for our children,” association president Martha Gibson said. 
“We have been treated as the weaker vessels and told only to follow orders. But this is our time to stand, fight for our right and our households, community, province and the country.”
 “The association has the vision to educate and encourage women to lead and make bold decisions from the village to the national level.”
 Yamka councillor Charles Kenken praised the women for creating history when they were figuring out their purpose in life. 
Kenken said he was happy to move along with such an association.

Death Penalty

http://ncronline.org/node/40231

As of October 2012 more than two-thirds of nations on earth have eliminated capital punishment either by law or in practice. 58 nations still have the death penalty on the books (including Papua New Guinea), though the number in which executions are actually carried out is smaller. In 2011, executions were performed in 20 nations.

In 2011, there were an estimated 5,000 people executed around the world, of whom roughly 4,000 were put to death in China. The United States was in fifth place worldwide in 2011 in the number of people it put to death, with 43. At the moment, 3,189 people are on America’s death rows.

Four core arguments against the death penalty surface repeatedly:

• It’s morally corrosive. Mario Marazziti of the Sant’Egidio community in Rome argues that “when the state kills in the name of the entire community, it lowers the community to the level of the murder.”
• It doesn’t deter crime or keep society safer. George Kain, police commissioner in Ridgefield, Conn., says that if he thought the death penalty kept police and correctional officers from harm, he’d be all for it. Instead, he said, research shows it doesn’t.
• It’s applied in a disproportionate manner to minorities and the poor, thereby encapsulating the prejudices of a society. For instance, Marazziti cited an exhaustive study of every execution in the United States for the crime of murder up to 1989. Out of 15,978 executions, only 30 involved a white person sentenced to die for killing a black person.
• It’s a definitive and irrevocable penalty applied by a fallible legal system that can and does make mistakes.

HIV drugs not reaching many areas in PNG

Post Courier, 3 December 2012

Christine Dee, President of the Western Highland Women’s HIV/AIDS Positive Network said that the continued negligence of people living with HIV by the nation’s health systems was unacceptable.
 “ART’s should be accessible to all those who need them, rural, urban, all over the country,” she said.
 In the last 18 months PNG has faced national shortages and stock-outs of HIV/AIDS medication on four occasions, the effects of which were felt throughout the country.
 UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Stuart Watson said that these stock-outs may have led to a significant increase in HIV/AIDS related illness, treatment failure, and even possibly deaths. “ART stock-out’s, if not urgently and sustainably addressed, will lead to the continued growth of HIV infections and unnecessary decline in health of people living with HIV. The current system has allowed this to happen and must be prevented from ever happening again.” he said.

85% denied banking services

The National, Monday 03rd December, 2012

AN estimated 85% or five million of the seven million people in PNG do not have access to banks or any other financial institutions, according to Bank of PNG.
 The bank released some statistics in Lae at the weekend and Treasurer Don Polye and BPNG Governor Loi Bakani were concerned over the alarming figures.
 They attributed it to the high percentage of Papua New Guineans living below poverty line.
 While both called for greater inclusive participation in the financial sector as the way ahead, Polye advocated for a radical change in attitudes towards managing personal finances.
 Polye said the government’s priority was to create an inclusive, yet sustainable economy that would generate wealth for all Papua New Guineans using the small to medium enterprises concept (SMEs).

Midwives get K147 million aid

Post Courier, 5 Dec 2012

THE Australian government has committed $A66 million (K147 million) to fund 1400 scholarships for Papua New Guinean midwives and nurses.
 Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Bob Carr announced the funding yesterday during a visit to the Mt Hagen general hospital in the Western Highlands province.
 Accompanied by his PNG counterpart Rimbink Pato, Australia’s top diplomat said PNG’s high maternal and child mortality rates compelled the Australian government to act. 
“This fund would help to combat the high maternity deaths in PNG. Every mother in PNG has the right to live healthy. But lack of better rural health services and unskilled midwives and nurses result in mothers and women dying during and after pregnancy. Geographic difficulty is also a contributing factor,” said Mr Carr.
PNG-based medical and nursing schools would be the main beneficiaries of this funding, which would enable them to graduate 450 community health workers, 450 nurses and 500 midwives by 2015.

SIL expands for deaf


Post Courier 6 December, 2012.

Imagine a life in which a child never hears a sound or . . . a word. Many deaf children in remote villages of PNG grow up without learning any words, sometimes not even knowing their names. Children with hearing loss may be labelled as unteachable and are often not sent to school.
“This misunderstanding has caused deaf people to be marginalised or excluded from the society, which is absolutely unnecessary. Sign language users are not mentally disabled; the only difference is that they just use their hands and eyes to communicate instead of using their voices and ears,” says Nathalie S. Juhonewe. 
Nathalie, who is deaf, came from Sweden as a botanical researcher. An estimated three percent of any rural community may be deaf. Thus, over 210,000 deaf individuals may be living in PNG. 
Nathalie and her deaf Papua New Guinean husband, Foreting, also want to help meet the deaf community’s spiritual needs. One of the most frequent questions asked of Nathalie is: “Please, ‘you who can sign our language’, can you tell us who is God and why are people going to His house every week?”
Summer Institute of Linguistics Global Sign Languages Team (SIL GLST) was formed to support sign language translators as they work in language development and Bible translation for the deaf communities all over the world. Nathalie is a Sign Language Survey Specialist and is also a Consultant-in-Training for SIL GLST here in Papua New Guinea. They are working as consultants for Callan Services, which runs almost all of PNG’s deaf schools, assisting them in the creation of this sign language training book.

TIPNG, partners launch project to support democracy

The National, 6th December, 2012

TRANSPARENCY International PNG, in partnership with the European Union, yesterday launched the “Open Parliament Project” in its continuing fight against corruption in the country.
 The project agreement between TIPNG, the Speaker’s Office and the EU has for the first time come up with the initiative to support the democracy and policies of the parliament in order to bring sustainable development to the country.
 TIPNG executive director Emily Taule said the project was a way of promoting openness so people could have access to parliament information.
 TIPNG project advocacy and education division’s Simon Jenkins said the activities would give MPs an opportunity to publicity.
  “We will collect information on official activities of MPs and put in a database on a website, link database to phone network, prepare annual report on parliament and put the information in publications,” he said.
 
The MP performance report (1) will include:
 Membership on committees;
 Portfolios assigned;
 Questions asked in parliament;
 Days MPs in attendance;
 Voting records; and
 Public statements on TI value areas. 
MP performance report (2) will include:
 District support grant acquittals and reports;
 Declaration of  interests;
 Remuneration rates; and
 Overseas trips made or conferences attended.

Local industry feels pinch, sends SOS to govt

PNG Blogs.  December 17, 2012

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is upbeat about creating thousands of new jobs for Papua New Guineans in the coming years. He, according to the PNG’s private sector, seems think he has the right recipe to create more jobs for young Papua New Guineans leaving the school system. But the engine for growth—the private sector—is not so sure about the claim.

Top private sector chiefs say the lack of government action to protect the local industry is posing a serious threat to thousands of jobs now held by Papua New Guineans in the private sector. Furthermore, it is stopping the creation of many new jobs for young Papua New Guineans leaving school and preparing to enter the work force.

Certain industries in the manufacturing sector are now facing difficulty against an avalanche of imports which are being retailed at much cheaper prices in the PNG market. For example, Papua New Guinea’s largest soft drink manufacturer Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) has appealed to the government to help the local soft drink industry, which it says, is being seriously affected by the onslaught of imported soft drinks from Asia. CCA employs around 900 workers throughout PNG. The poultry industry, which directly employs around 4,000 people, is also feeling the effects of imports of Australian poultry products which are being retailed at much lower prices than the local product. PNG’s only sugar producer Ramu Agri-Industry which employs 4,000 Papua New Guineans is also facing stiff competition after the O’Neill Government decided to slash tariffs for imported sugar. Ramu Agri-Indusry says it lost 31.5 percent of sales since the government slashed import tariffs on foreign sugar.

PNG governments since 1995 have liberalised import tariffs, allowing imports into the country and being retailed at much cheaper rates than the local industry, which employs thousands of Papua new Guineans. Whilst allowing imports to flood the local market, PNG governments have made no improvements to help established local industry.

Officer: Child sex crimes kept secret

The National, 21st December, 2012

SENSITIVE child sex crimes involving underage girls marrying elderly men with the consent of parents is kept silent because of the huge benefits acquired by the girl’s family, a Salvation Army child protection officer said in Port Moresby yesterday.
 Gini Kevin, who works as coordinator of network for victims for family sexual violence and juvenile justice based at the Waigani court house, said although the problem was increasing in the country even though there were no reported cases.
 “In most instances the young girl and her family receive large sums of money … that’s why these cases are never reported to the courts or authorities.”

Couple welcome first child

Post Courier, 27 Dec. 2012

What an early Christmas present for a couple who have been married for 26 years and finally received a blessing they have been longing for.
Gregory Sumi, 49, a senior construction superviser with Oil Search Ltd and wife Catherine Sumi, both from South Bougainville, were blessed to welcome their first baby girl born on December 17, 2012.
 According to Gregory, he tied the knot with Catherine at Monoitu Catholic Mission, South Bougainville (Siwai) on an Easter Thursday in 1986.
 Since then they were hoping to be blessed with children and to build a healthy and happy family. 
Mr Sumi said they had been trying for for a child but lost hope along the way.
 “We were not sure if the problem is with my wife or me,” he said.
 Mr Sumi said he gave up hope along the way but his wife had faith all along and was confident that they would still be able to have children and so he had to hold on and keep the faith.
 “We went for medical check-ups but found that nothing was wrong with the both of us. We always prayed to God for a miracle to happen and hold on to each other having faith everything will be alright,” Mr Sumi said.
Eventually after 26 years my wife fell pregnant for the first time and gave birth to our lovely bundle of joy Mary Jessica Sumi at Flores Clinic & Diagnostic centre (LAE Town) at 12pm on Monday.
 Our princess is 2.5kg and was named by the catholic priest of Christ the king Parish (11 mile church).
 He said nothing can express how him and his wife are currently feeling to finally have their own flesh and blood, half the time staring in amazement at the child, studying her from head to toe. He said this is an encouragement to young couples and those that are married for years without a baby. They must not give up but hold on to each other and have faith that the good Lord will bless their marriage.

There is no copyright on these notes.  Feel free to share them.  An archive of previous Social Concerns Notes may be found at  http://tokstret.com

The Dreams of Ordinary Papua New Guineans

PNG Blogs Nov 7, 2012

Everyone has dreams. Every year more then 60,000 school leavers enter Papua New Guineas job market, most certainly with dreams and hopes of finding a job and earning a living. For a very select few, they come true, for others, the dreams and hopes evaporate and are replaced with reality, bitterness and struggle, accepting whatever one can. Every one wants a good life, not everyone gets it. What is a good life? There are of course many possible answers but basically it is to have a home, to be gainfully employed, to live in a safe and secure environment, to be able to provide, to care for ones parents and the ones you love, family and friends to be able to enjoy the simple things in life that make life sweet, listening to a favorite song or watching a movie, sharing a cup of coffee, playing with your children, hearing them laugh and be happy. That is a good life.

Such a life eludes an increasing population of Papua New Guineans. Eventually, one has to make do with reality and let go of dreams, even if for only a while, although only for a while can be anywhere between tomorrow and a lifetime. Opportunities make dreams come true. The opportunities will most certainly present themselves as a result of increasing exploration and discovery of our resources, globalization and increased investment. But will these opportunities be ours to seize? Already we are competing with citizens from other economies, already our protected sectors of business have been opened up to off shore investors and already we are becoming spectators on our own land and already our country is being packaged for sale to whoever comes along for instance with a bag of money…in a jet perhaps…citizenship application in hand…

 Choose Life, students told

The National, Monday 19th November, 2012

“CHOOSE life not death” was the main message delivered at a graduation ceremony last Friday at the Father Peter Secondary School, Fatima, Jiwaka.
A total 219 Grade 10 and 192 Grade 12 students were told to live a life of honesty and stand firm to avoid corruption.
Catholic Archbishop Douglas Young reminded the graduates they were now entering a new journey where they needed to take stock of their lives.
He said Papua New Guinea was a spectacular country, truly blessed with vast resources, but the problem was corruption. “Corruption means decay and it stinks. Corruption is what happens to a dead body and it is death, not life,” he said. “Each of you has to make a choice whether to be on the side of honesty and integrity or to be on the dark side of society, which is corruption.

How home skills can save you money

The National, 10 October 2012

People in remote areas of the country can make their own necessities like cooking oil, livestock feed, soap and fuel for lamps with the resources found on their land, a man who does just that says. Gibing Oboko, from Gawenglabu village, Finschhafen, Morobe, has been doing that for the past 10 years and is eager to pass on the knowledge to others. He said for many people in remote areas, their land and forests already had an abundance of material they could use to be self-reliant. He said people could grow their own herbs, fruits and nut trees, peanuts, sweet potato, tapioca and taro and turn them into soap, medicinal oil or cooking oil or make them into fuel to light their homes at nights.  “Planti taim ol manmeri long ol insait ples isave laik kam long Lae long baim samting olsem sop, oil blong kuk na bilasim bodi tasol oli no save olsem ol yet iken wokim ol displa samting long ol diwai na kaikai blong ples yet (Many times remote villagers come into town just to buy soap, oil for cooking or their body without realizing they can make their own out of local plants and staple food,” he said.

 PMIZ on hold indefinitely

PNG Blogs 23 Oct

THE state’s controversial Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) project – a USD$235 million proposal to develop a free trade industrial zone in Madang – is officially on hold. Madang Court ordered all progress on the PMIZ project to cease until the court makes a decision on whether the proposed development has sufficient legal grounds to proceed. The decision put an immediate freeze on a US$200 million Chinese loan to develop the project – just a week before the PNG Government was to access $3 million from the loan to progress development of the PMIZ. Lawyers representing hundreds of aggrieved customary landowners in Vidar, Madang will seek to have the loan agreement put on ice permanently when they return to court next month.

Teacher, students robbed

The National, Wednesday 24th October, 2012

TEACHERS at a school in Port Moresby want tighter security after a teacher and his students were held up by armed  robbers in their classroom.
The teachers and the Grade 6 students at St Paul’s Catholic Primary School at Gerehu were attacked by the armed thugs who had entered the school compound last Tuesday.
Teacher Moses Kwana said he was in the middle of a lesson when he heard a knock on his door. He opened it thinking it was other students.
He was held up at gunpoint.
“They came in with one home-made gun and a bush knife. One of the thugs was swinging the knife in front of the poor kids,” Kwana said.
He said he was hit with the barrel of the gun and fell to the ground. The thugs collected money and other items from the students.

 Students robbed 

Post Courier 30 Nov.

THIEVES brazenly looted the Divine Word University’s St Benedict’s Campus at Wewak on Tuesday, within sight of a graduation ceremony attended by East Sepik Governor and former Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.
Despite a heavy university security and police presence for the annual event, thieves entered the campus unseen, stealing everything they could carry from one of the female students’ dormitories.
Some of the resident graduate students, from across PNG, were packed ready to leave Wewak and had left packed suitcases and other possessions in the dormitory.
 The robbery took place even as the campus vice president Fr Patrick Gesh was making an address, criticising the level of security at the Educational facility.
“ We (have been living) with a deteriorating set of law and order concerns,’’ he told Sir Michael and a crowd of several hundred people .
He said the campus had suffered regular intrusions by “offensive” outsiders, some of them violent.
Some students lost everything.

Deadly new TB threat

Post Courier 26 Oct.

THE World Health Organisation has confirmed seven cases of Extreme Drug Resistant TB (XDR-TB) in PNG, which have been identified by Brisbane SRL laboratory.
The XDR-TB is a form of tuberculosis caused by bacteria that are resistant to some of the most effective anti-TB drugs. 
XDR-TB strains have arisen after the mismanagement of individuals with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). 
TB germs are released into the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings.
These germs can float in the air for several hours, depending on the environment. 
Persons who breathe in the air containing these TB germs can become infected. Minister Malabag said: “XDR-TB is now a time-bomb for PNG and unless we pay attention to addressing it, many of our hospitals, will be filled with TB patients and the treatment costs will be high that human resources will be stretched to the limit.”

 NEC okays biometric system

The National, Thursday 1st November, 2012

THE National Executive Council has approved the introduction of the biometric electronic identification system in the country.
The US$76 million (K158 million) national electronic ID card system has been awarded to the Chinese company Huawei Technology, the second largest technology company in the world, according to National Planning Minister Charles Abel.
Abel said the funding of the project would come from the Exim Bank of China, as part of the K6 billion loan facility.
A total of K20 million as counterpart funding will come from the next year’s budget.
He said during the exercise, all citizens would be registered electronically with a biometric identification based on fingerprints.
“This will give the government the platform to support activities such as the national census, electronic voting, e-passport and general data and statistics generation,” he said.

 Serena Sasingian presenting at the ANU 2012 Pacific Update

Development Policy Digest   5 Nov 12.

A new generation is emerging in PNG, a generation who have grown up better quality education and technology, like the internet and social media. Sadly this experience accounts for less than 15 percent of our total population. The rest continue to rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. For them, life has not changed greatly since independence, but we are seeing an erosion of customary social structures and the systems that supported communities for thousands of years. 37 years after independence PNG is still developing as a nation. You will notice I say “developing as a nation” and not “developing nation” to avoid the negative connotations associated with this. We were given democracy, you and I know that democracies work on the premise that there is an educated, engaged and informed population able to elect parliamentarians capable of producing laws and policies that serve the interest of the people. In PNG we have a long way to go before we see that happen. Much of the population are uneducated and they vote according to “big man culture”. Youth are a critical component when we talk about development because PNG has a very young population: 40 percent are under the age of 15. Unfortunately they are entering adulthood amid a range of health and social issues. The Department of Education tells us that approximately 80,000 young people leave the school system each year. The formal labor force has been able to absorb less than 10,000. What then becomes of the rest of this vital resource?

 We want what the Ok Tedi women have!

Development Policy Digest  5 Nov 12

The Ok Tedi mine has a well known and troubled history with impacted communities, yet in the minds of some, the women at Ok Tedi had secured a good deal. In securing control of 10% of benefits , the women at Ok Tedi did something women hadn’t done anywhere else in the country – and as far as we can discern, anywhere in the world. And the deal is quite lucrative – from 2007-2010 AUD$33m has been set aside for women and children.  In addition, women secured rights to half of all educational scholarships and reserved seats at all levels of the deal’s governance structure. Fairness aside, the deal was a significant advance on the status quo. Women decided to initially spend the bulk of their 10% on three learning centers (to build skills to engage in processes of development) but progress is slow, decision processes are not widely understood and the impacts unfelt in the villages we visited. At the same time, one change that is having a real impact is the use of family – rather than clan – bank accounts for cash payments. Women – and youth – report this has greatly increased their chances of seeing the money and controlling how it is spent.

 Minister: Only 200 airstrips operating

The National, Monday 5th November, 2012

OF the initial 900 remote airstrips, only 200 are now operating and the country is on the verge of losing all its airstrips if no proper aviation policies are put in place, parliament has heard.
This was highlighted by Civil Aviation Minister Davis Steven in parliament. ”Currently we have MAF, SDA aviation, other third level and mission operators’ servicing our airstrips in remote areas and the government hopes to work with them to ensure this service is continued.”
Davis said during the CAA reforms in 2008 that funding and management of rural airstrips were handed to provincial governments, but some airstrips had ceased operations.
He said there had been continuous negligence by former governments to address this area.

Trucks bogged down in EHP

The National, Friday 9th November, 2012

TWENTY-two heavy trucks were bogged down in the Eastern Highlands section of the Highlands Highway over the past five months, police said yesterday.
Eastern Highlands provincial police commander John Kale said half the number of those trucks had their contents looted.
“Youths and people of Daulo district took the law into their own hands to overpower police to loot eight trucks that got bogged down in their district,” Kale said.
“Seven of them had gone down due to bad road conditions, while one was due to driver negligence
“Over 20 trucks getting bogged down from June to October 31 (five months) reflects the deteriorating condition of the highway,” he said.
“We found that people living along the eastern part of the province (Henganofi, Kainantu and Yonki) have started to take care of trucks that broke down.
“However, the Daulo people have a track record of looting all the trucks that break down in Daulo,” Kale said. He reported that a 22-year-old youth was run over by a truck at Kassam Pass this week as he was trying to chop the driver of the truck.
Kale said youths at Kassam Pass were patching potholes and were demanding money from passing trucks and vehicles.
When the driver of the truck told them he had no money, the deceased youth got onto the driver’s side and tried to chop him with a bush knife.
“As the truck took off the youth jumped off but unfortunately went under the truck and was run over by the back wheels. He died instantly,” he said.

 Study links hospital woes to LNG project

The National, Friday 9th November, 2012

THE liquefied natural gas project has affected the implementation of the national health plan (2011-20) at the Port Moresby General Hospital, a study shows.
Hospital chief executive officer Dr David Moekela told the week-long national health conference in Kimbe, West New Britain, that the project had caused an influx of people into the National Capital District, Central and Gulf.
Moekela said the population in NCD and the two provinces before the LNG project was 600,000 and that had jumped to close to a million.
Moekela said the inpatient bed capacity was 900 and the bed occupancy rate had steadily increased with patients having to wait two to seven days for beds.
He said the hospital was now struggling with the sudden increase in the catchment population to keep up with its implementation of the national health plan.

 Action needed to stem sex violence

Post Courier 12 Nov.

IT IS time to turn policy commitments into actions to end family and sexual violence in the country.
This message comes from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF international president for MSF, Dr Unni Karunakara, told Radio Australia briefly while in Tari that MSF’s focus was to put the spotlight on the problems that tend to be neglected by the national health care system for the community at large, but MSF was struck by the high levels of social violence in the Highlands.
“Violence is sort of normal there, it is an every day fact of life.”
In a report by MSF titled “Hidden and Neglected” there are shocking reports of unmet and emotional needs of survivors; and a shocking number of victims are children.
According to the report, in Lae, Morobe province, between January 2008 and October 2011, MSF and Angau Hospital treated 6869 survivors of intimate partner violence — the equivalent of 149 victims a month — and 1,599 survivors of sexual violence (35 victims per month). 
In Tari, Hela province, from September 2009 to October 2011, MSF and Tari Hospital reported 1,471 survivors of intimate partner violence or 59 per month and 398 survivors of sexual violence or 16 cases per month.

 Project affects food supply

The National, Wednessday 14th November, 2012

THE LNG project in Hela is affecting food supply because people have abandoned their gardens to work in project areas, a teacher says.
Primary school teacher Michael Molomb said Hela natives were concentrating on making money by working in project sites and other activities.
Molomb said they were not gardening anymore and that had resulted in an increase in the price of goods in mining townships and a low supply of garden produce in markets.
He said there was a demand for food but the supply was low because locals could not produce enough.
“As a result, the price of goods have sky rocketed,” he said.
“A small piece of cooked kaukau now costs K2, while small bundles of greens are being sold for K2.
“Cabbages are being chopped into quarters and sold for K3 or K4 each. Molomb said there had been an arrangement between him and his students who volunteered to help him with firewood and garden produce.
 “Students help me, as well as other teachers, with garden produce and firewood but they are not bringing it anymore because they don’t have any,” he said.

 O’Neill reveals grim education figures

The National,Monday 19th November, 2012

ONLY 3.3% of the country’s college-aged population are enrolled in higher education institutes, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has
revealed.The grim figures were disclosed by the prime minister during the launch of the Institute of Business Studies Mt Eriama Campus in Port Moresby last week.
“We have 800,000 people between the age group of 18 and 25. Out of this, a mere 28,000 are enrolled in our 32 declared higher and technical education institutions,” O’Neill said.
“That is to say that only 3.3% of our college-aged population are currently enrolled. O’Neill said the economic and social development of any country depended on the education of its people and Papua New Guinea was no exception. O’Neill said to achieve the aims, existing state and private providers would be asked to scale up their operations while new private providers, including reputable providers from overseas, would be encouraged to enter the higher education market in
PNG.

 Villagers conserve land, refuse mining and logging

Post Courier 20 Nov.

THE MANAGALAS people in the Afore district of Ijivitari electorate in Northern Province have donated their 360,000 hectares of land to the Government of Papua New Guinea to serve the people of the world as a conservation area for biodiversity.
A five-day district-wide combined forum held in Tahama village (Zone 5) from November 13 to 16, 2012, revealed that the project to conserve the area was discussed by the people in the plateau for the last 28 years.
Forum facilitator Mr Brian Tasira said in the forum that the people of Managlas have agreed to conserve the land for the future of their children.
He said that it was not a one-man decision to conserve the land, but all the people in the plateau took 28 years to educated themselves before they decided to opt for conservation. “They say no to mining and logging to take place in their untouched, virgin environment because what they have learnt from such activities is that they bring negative impacts to the local communities and the future of their children,” he said.

 More than 700 living in tents

The National, Tuesday 20th November, 2012

MORE than 700 people, including children, displaced by the ethnic clashes last year in Lae, Morobe, are still living in a makeshift so-called  “care centre” made up of tents at an out-of-way location known as Kamkumung Gravel.  A visit by The National yesterday revealed some shocking and unsafe living conditions, especially for the many women, girls and children living there.
There is no fence around the area, no electricity and no connected water. The centre is located minutes off the Uni Gate road and has been in existence for more than a year now.
Shockingly, the 700-odd people had the use of just one pit toilet, as permitted by the customary owner of the land on which they were squatting, spokesman for the centre Simon Kulame said yesterday.
“It is much worse (than it seems) because we have been allowed to build and use only one pit toilet,” Kulame said.
He also pointed out that a tent accommodated up to 20 people, including children and babies, in cramped and unhygienic conditions that significantly increased the risk of contracting diseases.

 Report: 2012 election most expensive

The National, Friday 30th of November, 2012

AN ELECTION campaign finance report launched by Caritas PNG reveals that the 2012 general election is the most expensive for the country to date.
Speaking at the launching in Port Moresby yesterday, Caritas PNG national director Raymond Ton said the report revealed that apart from the extensive costs incurred by the electoral commission in running the elections, there was a huge increase in campaign finance expenditure.
The report said the upward spiral in money politics provided fertile ground for the payback of campaign debts in the form of political favours, which led to the corruption, abuse of power and undue influence.
Caritas PNG representatives said the challenge for the country was to find the best ways of matching the need for a sustainable financial base for parties, with the wider public interest of reducing corruption and avoiding undue influence in politics.
“This report will form the basis for Caritas PNG’s advocacy and awareness activities into the future regarding the role of money in politics and its effect on governance practices in this country,” Ton said.

 Land Owners plug sewerage; hospital panics

Post Courier 22 Nov.

MOUNT Hagen Provincial Hospital will be forced to shut down and discharge its in-patients as early as tomorrow if nothing is done immediately to remove stones and other rubbish blocking the city’s main sewerage system. 
The hospital management fears that if two manholes situated at the lower end of the hospital premises, that were blocked by land owners early this morning, are not cleared, there would be a backflow of human waste that would create havoc for the hospital.
The landowners, in pursuit of an outstanding claim for compensation from the national government, decided to draw its attention by blocking off major manholes around the city as early as 3am, stopping human waste from flowing into the town’s main sewage pond.
Chief executive officer of the Western Highlands Provincial Health Authority, Dr James Kintwa, said such an act would put a lot of lives in danger and urged all parties involved to come up with an amicable solution that doesn’t put the lives of people at risk.
“We already have enough sick people in our wards. We cannot accept any more because there is just not enough space for additional patients.
“The blockage must be removed immediately or else waste would flow back and spill onto the ground through other manholes and spread diseases and put innocent lives at risk,” he said.
“Who is going to be blamed if we are forced to discharge our in-patients without them recovering?” he asked.
Mt Hagen police could not do much to stop the landowners.

 Polye and Manase urged to stop tribal war

Post Courier 23 Nov.

Treasury Minister Don Polye and lawyer Alfred Manase are being urged to return to Kandep immediately and fix up the chaos in the electorate. 
The two leaders are wanted by police, the Enga provincial government and the people of Kandep to return and broker peace among the election related warring tribes and enable government services to flow into the remote electorate. 
Government services ceased following the voting during this year’s elections. All schools, health services and other government services closed down and staff fled as tribal clashes erupted sporadically all over the electorate. 
A fight between Mr Polye’s and Mr Manase’s supporters in the Marend LLG, which allegedly involves over 36 council wards, has so far resulted in an unconfirmed 50 deaths, according to Kandep police.

 Catholic church continues to serve

Post Courier 23 November

The Catholic Church has been contributing immensely in Papua New Guinea’s development in providing basic services to the people for the last 165 years.
The Church has been in the fore front of the country’s development in giving much needed basic services in education, health, youth, family and general community development.
In Education, the Catholic Church has well over 1,700 elementary schools throughout the country with over 116,395 students. 
It also has 1102 primary schools which caters for 181,721 students and 38 secondary schools with over 15,000 students.
The Catholic Church also holds six technical secondary schools with 2630 students, 51 vocational training centres with 5688 students and three teachers’ colleges with well over 2000 students.
The Divine Word University in Madang Province is also a Catholic institution which enrols more than 5000 students while the 14 Callan service centres has over 1,300 students.
The Church also has an HIV/AIDS Committee that serves a total of more than 5 million people in 116 Centres in 19 Dioceses for Anti-Retroviral Treatment for HIV/AIDS Patients.
It has 18 HIV/AIDS treatment Centres, 49 ANC Testing Sites to provide PPTCT and 25 sites for couple counselling.
The Catholic Church is also the largest health service provider in PNG with a total of 177 hospitals, aid posts and health centres which comprises of five Catholic rural hospitals, 132 aid posts and 40 health centres.

 Education gets K484mil increase

The National, Friday 23rd November, 2012

THE government’s spending on education has increased by K483.5 million to K1.8446 billion under the 2013 Budget announced on Wednesday.
 The government will provide an additional K2.4 million to universities, taking the total allocation for universities to K120.7 million.
The national scholarship scheme will also receive a boost of K6.5 million, which would provide more than 10,000 tertiary students with K30 allowances per fortnight for 40 weeks.
An extra K33.2 million has been earmarked for the existing tertiary education scholarship and assistance scheme (TESAS).

 The Pacific’s digital future

http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2012/11/21/The-Pacifics-digital-future.aspx

In a new Lowy Institute Analysis research paper launched today, Digital Islands: How the Pacific’s ICT Revolution is Transforming the Regionoutlines how about 60% of Pacific Islanders now have access to a mobile phone and this figure continues to climb. This has coincided and fused with another global phenomenon, the rise of social media. This growth in mobile phone access is extraordinary given that only four years ago, six countries (PNG, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands) had penetration rates of 16% or less, meaning less than just 1 in 5 people had access to a mobile phone. In 2006 only 2% of PNG’s population had access to a mobile phone; today this figure is fast approaching 40%. The mobile growth statistics are impressive, but the region is home to some of the lowest internet penetration rates in the world. For example, Only 2% of PNG’s population had access to the internet in 2011 and in Solomon Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu, it is less than 10%. However, web-enabled mobile phones and Facebook phones are enabling the region to leapfrog barriers (such as remoteness, cost and availability) to computer-enabled internet access. PNG is leading the region’s growth in social media use with Facebook membership nearing 150,000, a figure which has tripled since mid-2011.

 Asylum Seeker Policy Chaotic, Inhumane and Explosive – Priest

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese, 
15 Nov 2012http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2012/20121115_872.shtml

Father Jim Carty, Coordinator of the Marist Asylum Seeker and Refugee Services says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees alarm that conditions on Nauru for more than 400 asylum seekers have become “unbearable” is well founded. In June this year the Government commissioned an Expert Panel led by Air Vice-Marshall Angus Houston and comprising refugee advocate, Paris Aristotle and Professor Michael L’Estrange to develop a series of recommendations to stop asylum seekers risking their lives on boats. The recommendations were handed down by the Expert Panel three months ago and were immediately adopted by the Government. “What is happening in Nauru today was completely predictable. Quite simply, people went mad. Most were eventually found to be genuine refugees and were settled in Australia but almost all continue to struggle with mental illness as a result of their time on the Island,” Father Carty says. “What the Government hasn’t made clear to Australians is that many asylum seekers who arrive on our shores have already spent five or six years waiting in Malaysia or Indonesia or other countries for resettlement and finally in desperation to find safety for themselves and their families decide to risk their lives at sea,” he says. “For them threats of Nauru are simply a Sophie’s choice between sitting in a country with no rights, no access to work and living a life of deprivation or gambling that at the end of the boat journey, they may find safety in Australia.” [ Now some asylum seekers are being sent to Manus Island in PNG]

 Asylum seekers to relocate

The National, Monday 26th November 2012

THE asylum seekers camp in Lombrum, Manus, will be relocated to a new place on the island, a government official said last Friday.
A senior military officer based at the Tarangau (Lombrum) naval base, who did not want to be named as he is not authorised to speak on the issue, said the administrators of the facility wanted to move the centre to a new location.
The official, who is familiar with the matter, said: “Around 9,000 asylum seekers are expected here, we were told.“Right now, the facility can cater for 500 people.
“This is a temporary facility.”
He confirmed that 19 people, among whom were four children, arrived at the facility last Wednesday.
“They just live in tents and bunkers erected by the Australian army.”

 ‘No advantage’ policy more harmful than leaky boats

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=34265

The Australian Federal Government is using its imagination and casting around for further ways to be cruel to asylum seekers living in the community on bridging visas. Fairfax reported on Friday that the Immigration Department has invited church groups to suggest measures that would make the lives of asylum seekers more difficult, as part of its ‘no advantage’ policy.

The policy is the most politically palatable of the measures recommended by the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers when it handed down its report in August. It promotes disincentives that will cause asylum seekers to decide against taking ‘irregular maritime voyages’, by ensuring that they gain ‘no benefit by choosing not to seek protection through established mechanisms’.

Last week, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced conditions under which asylum seekers will be released into the community. These include a living allowance that is less than the dole and a ban on working for five years, even after they have been granted asylum.

The fact is that if you treat people harshly, you will diminish them as human beings, and they will cease to value their own lives. Already they are prohibited from working. They will have difficulty sustaining relationships and it is unlikely they will feel that they can make a positive contribution to society, perhaps ever. This undermines the justification for the initial harsh treatment. One of the stated reason for the ‘no advantage’ policy is that dangerous maritime voyages put the asylum seekers’ lives at risk, but surely no more than the ‘no advantage’ policy itself.

 Mt Hagen not safe for girls: police commander

Post Courier 27 Nov

THE Western Highlands Provincial Police Commander has issued a strong warning to teenage girls in the province to take extra precaution while moving around in Mt Hagen city or the main market areas.
PPC Superintendent Kagilo Ambane issued this warning recently.
From the 20 major crimes reported in the province last week alone, unlawful sexual penetration and rape cases topped the record where many of the victims are teenage girls while murder and other crimes were second on the list.
Mr Ambane said many young women were falling prey to opportunists and rapists who were forcefully holding up vulnerable women and girls who were alone and are forcefully sexually assaulting them or raping them.
“These rape cases are becoming more often around the main markets in Mt Hagen and the streets of the city itself,” PPC Ambane said.

 MP prefers four seats

The National, Tuesday 27th November, 2012

SOHE MP Delilah Gore is calling for four reserved seats for women in parliament instead of the 22 that has been suggested.
Highlighting this yesterday, Gore said 22 seats were too many. However, she proposed there be only four, one representing each region – southern, highlands, Momase and the New Guinea Islands. 
“I don’t support the 22 reserved seats for women because this would only contradict how I came into parliament. But I would like to see women given autonomy through these four reserved seats – to be the voice for women in each of their regions,” Gore said.
Her comment supported that of fellow female MP (Lae) and Minister for Religion, Youth and Community Development Loujaya Toni’s about how women should seek parliament representation through elections.
Gore said being equally elected members of parliament, she and her other fellow female MPs (Toni and Eastern Highlands Governor Julie Soso) had gained equal respect from their male counterparts to have their say in parliament.

 Doctor: Govt needs to address social chaos

The National, Tuesday 27th November, 2012

THERE is a need for the government to address increasing social disorders in the country, a doctor says.
Former Tari hospital chief executive officer Dr Bravy Koensong said social disorders were “eating away the core of the society”.
Koensong said domestic violence, rape, abortion, prostitution, women’s health issues, HIV/AIDS and infertility, among others, were affecting families.
He said obesity, lifestyle diseases, mental disorders and similar issues were part of the social disorders hindering the livelihood of the people.
He said a tribal war had erupted at Sugu valley in Kagua district, Southern Highlands, as a result of an abortion, while wife-beatings, HIV/AIDS, divorces, rape and infertility had sparked disputes.
Koensong, who is the deputy administrator  for Southern Highlands, said the government needed to look at ways to address these increasing chaos at the community level.
He suggested government begin by setting up family life support centres and frequently monitor them with funding.
 “It is now up to the government, through the Community Development Department, to fund family life support centres and look into new ways of addressing disorders at the community level.”

 Pacific kids learn survival through nursery rhymes

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacific/2012-11-27/pacific-kids-learn-survival-through-nursery-rhymes/1052146

An Australian charity [Caritas] has developed a DVD which uses nursery rhymes to help early childhood teachers in the Pacific teach techniques on surviving natural disasters. Adam Elliot, Caritas program manager in the Solomons has told Radio Australia, children are among the most at risk from natural disasters. “We found that kids were vulnerable in emergencies, particularly to panic, and as adults we’re all inclined to worry about our families first,” he said. “So the possibility was there for kids to be left behind or forgotten in the event of an emergency, and we felt that we need to start to prepare the kids.” Mr Elliot says children are taught nursery rhymes with accompanying actions that contain memorable and simple emergency response information. “Teachers [will] identify something…as a risk for their community, and they’ll talk in their group and find a common tune that they all know, and that they think their school kids know,” he said. “Then with the disaster management office, they’ll develop simple lyrics to fit that tune, that follow the best and recommended response in the event of something like a cyclone.”

 Pirates rob passenger ferry

The National, Wednesday 28th November, 2012

A PASSENGER ferry was held up by pirates in coastal waters off Bukawa between Finschhafen and Lae, Morobe, yesterday morning.
They held up passengers and crew of the mv Geyam­sao and made off with the ship’s takings.
Some of the men boarded the vessel as pretending to be passengers at Buki, with guns and bush knives hidden in their luggage.
He said the onboard pirates waited until they arrived at Cape Arkona, off Yambo and Widuru villages, before they took their weapons out and ordered everyone to lie face down on the lower deck.
Men armed with bush knives then rummaged through the belongings of some passengers and stealing whatever they could find.
 The ship’s mastera said he was at the wheel when a man armed with a gun appeared on the port side and ordered him to do as he was told. 
Another man then entered the wheelhouse and damaged the ship’s communication equipment. 
The robbers left in two banana boats that had come to pick them up in what was obvious­ly a planned operation.

 IT, OBE blamed for poor English

Post Courier 28 Nov
.

A teacher who taught 10 years in secondary school revealed that mobile phones, Outcome based education and educational structural reform are among other factors that contributes to the fall in the Standard of students English in the country. 
Tobias Yambe, a teacher at Fr Peter Secondary, Fatima, in the Jiwaka Province said that communication via mobile phones was very much abusing the basic structure as well as the phonetic alphabet. He said there was non-existence of letter writing from one student to another or to institutions. “We do teach the correct formats and provide samples for students to follow, but I wonder if students would use them accurately in the real world. Much of the written communication is done using sound symbols (numbers and letters of the alphabet),” he said.

 PM: Curriculum not ready

Post Courier 28 Nov.

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has expressed fears that a new curriculum to replace the OBE may not be ready before schools begin classes next year.
Mr O’Neill said the government had decided to abolish the Outcome Base Education but there had been very strong resistance by the Department of Education.
He said it was the government’s intention and parents desires that there needs to be changes in the education system.
“It is the concern of all parents and the government that OBE must go but somehow this has fallen on deaf ears.”
“We are working with our development partners to get a new curriculum in place before school begins next year. I fear it will not be ready.” Mr O’Neill said.

 PNG hands down big spending budget

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-21/an-png-hands-down-big-spending-budget/4383952

The government in Papua New Guinea has handed down a big spending budget with a focus on rebuilding the country’s crumbling infrastructure. At just under six billion dollars it’s PNG’s biggest ever budget and the government is going to have to borrow more than a billion dollars to fund it. Some of the big ticket items include 200 million dollars to start rebuilding the country’s main economic artery, the Highlands Highway, and 140 million dollars to comprehensively restore the Port Moresby General Hospital. The budget predicts growth will fall from 9 per cent this year to 4 per cent next year. Inflation is expected to climb to 8 per cent.

Director of PNG’s Institute of National Affairs, Paul Barker has told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat that although he considers the budget conservative, the government is counting on the situation in Asia improving. “With a decline in the growth of some of the major Asian economies – like almost recession in India again, Chinese growth back to 7 per cent, this is resulting in lower commodity prices and we’re dependent on those commodity prices for getting us the level of revenue that are expected particularly from the mining sector and through taxes,” he said.

“What was concerning me was that there doesn’t seem to be anything, as far as I can see so far, for building up the capacity building at the local level – the district, local government level – there seems to be an indication that this would be left to the development partners,” he said.

 Budget strategy paper

http://www.treasury.gov.pg/html/national_budget/files/2011/budget_documents/Related%20Budget%20Documents/budget_strategy_paper.2012.pdf

Feel free to distribute these Social Concerns Notes.  Archives of previous notes may be found at http://tokstret.com

Koim: Half of development budget stolen

The National, 8th October, 2012

HALF of the development budget over three years has been fleeced off in corruptive activities, the country’s top corruption investigator told an Australian audience last week.
That is a staggering K3.8 billion out of PNG government component of K7.6 billion for 2009, 2010 and 2011 that has ended up funding the business and personal interests of a corrupt few and not towards funding development projects, goods and services. Head of Task Force Sweep Sam Koim told the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) major reporters’ meeting in Sydney last Thursday that much of this money was finding its way into Australian financial institutions and property.
 He described Australia as a haven for money laundering and a housing for the proceeds of corruption from PNG. He said the largest investors in property in north Queensland were PNG residents and that only six politicians had invested between them K48.92 million (A$22.9 million) in properties in Cairns alone.
 Koim said although Australia was aware of the rampant corruption, little was done by its institutions and agencies to prevent proceeds of corruption being processed in Australia.

Change Women’s Role, says Kidu

The National, 26 Sept. 2012

Dame Carol Kidu says the role of the culturally-centred women in society needs to be changed. She presented a paper on “Challenging cultural myths about women’s role in society” at a conference in Port Moresby. “A socially just society is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, understands and values human rights, and recognises the dignity of every human being.” She said there was a need for honesty about the culture and there was need for action to change the abuse of culture. She said there were three issues identified with development partners to change the abuse of culture about women’s role in the society. They were: Women’s political participation – more women must be involved in politics and decision-making in the highest levels to address women’s issues; Gender-based violence – women’s rights should be freely exercised and voiced in all levels of the society; and Economic empowerment – the resources must be equally distributed and reach everyone in the society.

Which way Papua New Guinea?

Post Courier, 5^th October, 2012.

We report in today’s paper about students facing a crisis in schools, not only in Port Moresby but in most schools in provincial centres throughout the country. And it’s to do with drinking alcohol and smoking.

 A student, A.S., made some startling revelations about smoking and drinking at her school.
 “Eighty-five percent of my class either smoke or drink alcohol. And by smoking I mean cigarettes, spear and marijuana,” she said.
“With alcohol it is coffee punch, moskow, beer – anything that they can mix to make ‘steam’. 
“I am referring to both boys and girls smoking and drinking alcohol, although boys smoke marijuana more than girls and boys mainly come to class with hangovers.” 
It is also sad to hear that most of the students have no idea what they want to do when they leave school, with most of them choosing international sports stars, singers and actors as role models.” The youths do not see local (PNG) leaders as role models to aspire to greater heights,” S. says.
 We must have an educated population in order to compete with the rest of the world. But an educated populated will not serve our purpose if we have a sick population, in mind, body and spirit.

PNG land grab update

http://devpolicy.org/png-land-grab-update/ Written by Colin Filer on August 22, 2012.

It is expected that the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into Special Agricultural and Business Leases (SABLs) will shortly be tabled in Papua New Guinea’s national parliament. The question is how it came to pass that more than 5 million hectares of customary land has been alienated in recent years through the grant of SABLs to landowner companies associated with some rather dubious ‘development partners’, most of whom appear to be logging companies seeking to exploit a loophole in the Forestry Act on the pretext of clearing native forests for large-scale agricultural projects that are unlikely to materialize. …

The PNG National Gazette published on 27 July announced the grant of two new SABLs in Oro Province, both for a period of 50 years. At first sight, the notices might not seem too alarming, since the areas covered by these two leases were said to be 21.520 hectares and 16.830 hectares respectively – a mere drop in the ocean of more than 5 million hectares already removed from customary ownership. However, officials in the Lands Department have developed an odd habit of substituting full stops for commas. The last SABL to be gazetted before the announcement of the Cabinet decision was said to cover an area of 109.58 hectares, but was later revealed to be an area of 109,580 hectares – a thousand times larger.

Council manager received praise for employing youths

The National,  21st September 2012

LAE city council manager Roy Kamen has been praised for creating employment opportunities for youths in the city by engaging them in beautification programmes.
Nelson Zatura, a community chief at the Talair compound, commended Kamen for his work and urged him to continue his efforts to engage youths by creating jobs for them.
“Since Kamen took office, he has taken youths out of the slums and provided jobs for them to alleviate poverty,”  Zatura said.
He said when youths were left to roam the streets, they engaged in the use of drugs and alcohol, which contributed to the rise of crimes in the city.
 “Kamen has touched the heart of the problem by employing these youths.
 “When youths have jobs, they have money in their pockets and do not have time for other activities that are criminal in nature.”

Women with disabilities want change

The National, 21st September 2012

WOMEN with Disabilities (WWD) in Lae, Morobe, are willing to see change and focus on their ability rather than the label “disability.”
 The group got together this week to find ways to sustain their living by earning an income through arts and craft, with assistance from Andrea Niblet.
 Vice-president for Morobe Disable Agency and Mamose representative for disability on the national board of persons with disabilities Mittie Katu-Bradford said they wanted WWD to be included in society and seen as women leaders.
“We really need to get out there and empower women with disabilities,” Katu-Bradford said. 
“Their is life even though you are disabled. It doesn’t mean you are disabled, we don’t like the term disabled because when you are disabled you cannot do anything. We like to be call people with disabilities because we have different abilities.

PNG Party for Change? Well change this!

PNG Blogs 24 Sept

In the remote Central Province district of Goilala, all 15 of the government aid posts are closed. For the villages of the district the nearest facilities are now in the township of Tapini.  Yet, in Port Moresby, the PNG government has, in its employ, ‘managers’ responsible for the running of the aid posts – they have nothing to do, but they still collect their pay cheques every fortnight. This notwithstanding, there’s no available government money to keep the aid posts operational. The Catholic Mission has stepped into the breach, providing 85% of the district’s medical services.  An especially serious consequence of the closures is that most of the people who were receiving treatment for TB at the aid posts have become ‘defaulters’ as they fail to complete their treatment due to the distance to Tapini. What’s more, every time the clinic in Tapini runs out of the treatment drugs – a regular occurrence – their patients become unwitting defaulters and are at risk of developing the multi-drug-resistant strain and infecting others. I visited and watched in the waking hours of the morning as people queued quietly and patiently.  Kope, a two-month-old baby, snug in his adopted mother Maria’s bilum will never know his biological mother. She died from TB.  Kope has it too. Yet these are the lucky ones – they will be treated.  TB, untreated, is usually fatal.  In Goilala people are dying. “You see dead people walking around,” said health co-ordinator Leontine Javia remarking on the prognosis of many of the sick in Tapini. For even in the health centre in Tapini, a chronic lack of funding means they operate with a dearth of equipment and an unreliable drug supply.

Bishop sworn in as hospital’s new chairman

The National, 24th September 2012

Catholic Bishop of Wabag diocese Arnold Orowae has been sworn-in as new board chairman for the Wabag Hospital along with eight board members last Thursday.
The government has endorsed the head of Catholic church in Enga to restore trust and confidence in the management of the hospital that is currently reported to be in a deteriorating situation with lack of specialist doctors, life-saving drugs and equipment.
Enga Governor Peter Ipatas told a huge crowd at the ceremony, that Orowae had been recommended for the job to ensure a transparent working relationship with stakeholders, including his administration.
 “I am happy that he (Orowae) has accepted the responsibility. 
“We want a person of his calibre to provide the right direction on using resources that are meant for saving lives of people who are now dying of curable diseases,” he said.
 The Enga government has already committed more than K3 million to meet different costs involved in the planning stage of a new hospital over the last five years.

Homebrew affects community

Post Courier 25 Sept

MORE than 100 women, girls, boys and men living in one of Lae’s notorious suburb’s, West Taraka, handed over their homebrew equipment to their councillor last Friday.
Ward Six (6) Councillor Peter Wagu said yesterday that the people decided to call it quits after realising the effects and damages being done to their community.
 Cr Wagu said it was a tough call for the people who heavily relied on the production and sale of homebrew (steam) to sustain their livelihoods.
 He said many people had made a living from the production and 
sale of homebrew for a long time now.
“There are mothers, children, youths and men heavily involved in producing homebrew,” he said.
Cr Wagu said there were many reasons given by the people for their reliance on homebrew upon handing over the equipment.
One young girl told us that she sold homebrew to assist with her bus fare to and from school,” Cr Wagu said.
 A mother said that she sold homebrew to assist with providing food for the table since her husband was not employed,” he said.
However Mr Wagu said the people themselves saw the disadvantages of the business and decided to put a stop to the activity and surrender the equipment.

Who benefits from growth?

Post Courier 27 Sept (Editorial).

PAPUA New Guinea has experienced unprecedented economic growth in the last five years or more.
 Unprecedented because this has been the longest period of such growth while most of the developed and developing countries are not so fortunate.
 But PNG’s situation will not remain robust for much longer, with Finance Minister Francis Marape telling PNG this week of a slow-down in economic growth from next year, and warning of belt-tightening to cope with what is coming.
… Prime Minister Peter O’Neill keeps telling us that money is not our problem. Our problem is to set our priorities right and to use the resources that we have available in an honest, transparent and accountable manner to a effectively deliver adequate and quality services and infrastructure to help and benefit the majority of our people living in rural PNG.

No funds for rural health

Post Courier 28 Sept 2012.

Rural Health has been a major concern for provinces in Papua New Guinea, according to Sundaun Governor, Amkat Mai.
Mr Mai, in a statement yesterday, said that he has not seen a way forward for his remote Telefomin district and his province. 
“It seems that rural health delivery in Papua New Guinea is the last place the national department of health would rather concentrate on. Rural health is an issue that must be made a priority immediately,” governor Mai said. 
He said that it is not the sole responsibility of churches, Non-government organisations and AusAid, who work tirelessly to improve rural health care in this country. 
The governor said that a health symposium held at Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby a few weeks ago, cost a staggering K100,000.00. 
“We are spending on workshops, conventions, and conferences, and then we tell churches and NGOs that there is no funding,” he said.

New Ireland govt rewards villages for cleanliness

The National, 27th September, 2012

FIVE villages from the nine local level governments in New Ireland have received K2,000 each as reward for their cleanliness under a village beautification programme. 
The New Ireland provincial government announced the winners during Independence celebrations.
Apart from the 45 villages and schools that won, the rural health joint patrol received a special governor’s award of K3,000 in recognition of its combined effort and coordination in the public service throughout the year.
Governor Sir Julius Chan said the programme had greatly enhanced people’s basic health, with first-hand medical attention and it had provided sufficient data for the provincial administration to plan and rehabilitate the 24 run-down aid posts in the province.
“Our efforts are consistent with the government’s policy of giving to the needy areas in line with our policy of ‘the further you are, the more we care’,” Sir Julius said.

PNG PM wants easier visa access to Australia

PNG Blogs, 26 September, 2012

“We give Australians visa on arrival, they (Australians) dont need to go to Canberra to get a Visa, the same principal should be applied to PNG visitors to Australia”. (PNG Prime Minister)

Police call for tougher penalties for alcohol abuse

Post Courier, Oct 1.

NCD Metropolitan Commander, Chief Superintendent Peter Guinness has called on Parliament to review penalties on abuse and dealing in and the consumption of alcohol because it is costing the country hundreds of millions of kina. He gave as an example last week’s ethnic clash between the Taris and Pangias in Port Moresby. He said this clash started because of people getting intoxicated with alcohol which had led to the torching of several houses and as a result, innocent people are now suffering from their losses.
The other incident was at the PNG Defence Force Air Transport Squadron settlement behind Port Moresby’s Jackson airport on Saturday.
 Chief Supt Guinness said a person trying to catch a PMV bus was badly assaulted by a group of drunkards for no reason at all. 
This resulted in the victim mobilising his relatives who burnt down the tables of innocent market vendors.
 The third incident was at the Vadavada settlement in Port Moresby where it was alleged that the son of a soldier was 
beaten up by settlers after a drunken brawl. 
The son went back to Taurama Barracks and a convoy of soldiers returned and set fire to two houses at the settlement, destroying the personal belongings of the families of both houses. 
“While investigations will be carried out, the causes of all these incidents point to alcohol and homebrew drinks, but when you look at the penalties for these offences (of alcohol abuse), they are nowhere near the cost of destructions caused,” Chief Supt Guinness said.

Use sports to deliver health, education

The National, 1st October, 2012

A RESEARCH aiming to identify people’s access to information has concluded that there is a hunger for sports programmes among people between 15 and 34, both males and females.
 The Inter Media Group, a London-based organisation that carried out the research in four provinces said: “The huge hunger for sport content might also provide a vehicle to deliver educational, health and gender-related content.
“Treat sports programming not as a genre, but as a platform or a vehicle to deliver other content.”
 The research found that health and education stories fare in the middle while environment, crime and law and order, were the least favoured type of information.
People across PNG are hungry for information on topics of their interest and often feel frustrated with the lack of regular, in-depth coverage on these topics,” the authors reported.
“Provide detailed and practical information on topics related to people’s livelihoods. Content targeted at school-leavers and job-seekers may be particularly attractive and engaging.”

Diabetes on par with HIV,TB

The National, 1st October, 2012

A HOPE Worldwide (PNG) report says diabetes is fast matching serious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in the country.
 The Hope Worldwide annual report 2010 says most people are not aware of the disease and that resulted in inadequate treatment.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of diabetes complications, including kidney disease leading to renal failure, eye damage that can result in blindness and a substantially increased risk of heart attack,” it said.
 The report highlighted that serious efforts should be put to capacity building in the health system through public and health workers awareness on the disease and the need for screening, compliance to medical advice and adopting a healthier lifestyle.
 “Studies from parts of the world show that healthy lifestyles can improve glucose control and reduce complications and prevent diabetes,” the report said.

Judge: Beating women a crime

The National, 2nd October, 2012

BEATING a woman is a crime and will not be tolerated by the courts, Judge David Cannings told two men when imposing a jail sentence on them for causing grievous bodily harm to their wives.
 Announcing jail sentences for the pair, the judge said it should be a lesson to all women beaters.
 At the Madang National Court, Jacob Eddie of Samgik village in Maprik, and Yata Gumaira of Warabung village in Yangoru, both in East Sepik, were convicted on Sept 11 for assaulting their wives.
 The court was told that Eddie, on July 9 last year, had arrived home drunk and wanted to listen to music but his wife did not allow him to by turning off the switching.
 That caused anger in Eddie so he decided to hide to catch his wife in the act after turning on the switch again.
 His wife, unaware, was caught in the act and Eddie pounced on her with a bush knife.
 She received cuts to her shoulder, head and face and one of her teeth was broken as a result of the assault. 
The wife managed to escape but collapsed and was rushed to hospital.
In Gumaira’s case, the argument started over a remaining last cigarette which his wife smoked, angering the man.
In his rage, Gumaira kicked a chair and rubbish bin before turning on his wife, kicking her in the right forearm.
 The kick broke the wife’s hand and despite her pleas for mercy, Gumaira pulled her inside the house and continued punching but stopped when he realised her hand was broken.

City markets unsafe

The National, 2nd October, 2012

A UNITED Nations study says the rate of violence against women and girls in Port Moresby’s markets is alarming.
The recently completed safer cities scoping study, conducted under the UN Women’s Global Programme, surveyed a number of women, girls, men and boys from Gerehu, Gordon, Tokarara, Malaoro, Waigani and Hohola marketplaces in Port Moresby.
 UN Women said in a statement yesterday the key finding was an alarming rate of multiple forms of violence in all marketplaces, making them unsafe especially for women and girls.
With women making up 80% of vendors in these areas this is not a problem to be overlooked.
 “This prevalence of violence was linked to the threat of gender-based and sexual violence including verbal and visual harassment, robbery, threats, intimidation, stalking, assault, rape and gang rape.
 “The current low level of security, fragility of law and order and high incidence rate of violent crime leads to a reduction of women’s safety in markets, the most heavily populated of city public spaces used by women.
“This limits women’s access to economic opportunities and reduces their rights to enjoy public spaces and freedom of mobility.”

Church supports army callout


Post Courier 12 Oct.

THE Catholic Bishops Conference has supported the views of NCD Governor Powes Parkop that the PNG Defence Force be called in to patrol the city for at least one year. 
They made this call amid reports of worsening law and rder situation in Port Moresby. 
“Pick-pocketing, rape and killing have become part of the normal life in the city. Two weeks ago, we read in the newspaper of the cruel rape of a mother in broad day light in Gordon’s market. The culprits go scot-free and the victim is afraid of lodging a case with the police.
“The mindset of the criminals should be weeded out. They commit the crimes and they know that neither the police nor the public will do anything to deter them. The public is also of the same attitude. It takes a few months or perhaps a few years to take away that mind-set. It is good to start now.” 
General Secretary of the Bishop Conference Fr Victor Roche, in a statement said: “The police are unable to curb the rising crime in the city. The public have become silent and passive observers of these crimes and the church supports the view of NCD Governor Powes Parkop that the army is called in to patrol the city for at least one year.

Little to show for K366m, says AusAID

The National, 2nd October, 2012

AUSTRALIA’S major aid agency has released a report criticising the performance of HIV/AIDS-related programmes in Papua New Guinea.
 AusAID spent more than A$170 million (K366 million) on the programmes in PNG between 2007 and 2010.
But there is little evidence that the support has limited the spread of the virus, according to the report.
But public health organisation Burnet Institute partly funded by AusAID and works in PNG on HIV/AIDS programmes, defended the efforts made to manage the spread of the virus.
Burnet Institute director and chief executive officer Brendan Crabb told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat last week that while there were failures in AusAID’s PNG HIV/AIDS programmes, they needed to be understood in their context.
“There was a prediction five to 10 years ago that we could be looking at a million Papua New Guineans HIV positive by now, out of the seven million who live there,” Crabb said.
 “The real number is around 50,000.”

PNG’s growth rate harmful


Post Courier, 3 Oct.

AUSTRALIA’S peak scientific body says Papua New Guinea’s growing population is more of an immediate threat to the region’s sustainability than climate change.
 James Butler, leader of CSIRO’s environment and development team, who released the report, says the window of opportunity for aid spending on the problem is “pretty small.”
“We’ve probably got about 10, 15, 20 years to really get it right,” Mr Butler told Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific.
 Papua New Guinea’s last census in 2011 by the World Bank found that the country had just over 7 million people, an increase of 1.8 million from 2000. 
Mr Butler says when population growth is combined with climate change, natural resources, particularly around the coast, will come under extreme pressure.
“There’s no question, over the centuries people in Oceania have coped with all sorts of tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes and so-on and are actually very adaptable in some ways,” Mr Butler said. 
“But the problem is if you increase population pressure on top of that, it makes basic services like electricity and water much harder to provide.”

Below is a comment on the above from person in PNG with a different view.

“That report would make sense if PNG is like Australia, where almost everyone has access to water and electricity provided for by the government. With over 75% of PNGeans still leaving in rural areas while maintaining a livelihood from the land – having bigger families increases the adaptive capacity of those families to impacts of climate change. Smaller families trying to survive in this rural economy will struggle because they have to put in more effort to achieve an outcome similar to the family with many children. This sounds counter intuitive and but unless you have any experience being part of a rural community, you will see what I am saying. Having more people in the family is advantageous when it comes to family projects like building house and canoes to withstand the impacts of climate change. The chances of a family member getting a job in town is also increased in big families and the other family members benefit from cash remittance. For rural communities, being able to adapt to climate change seems to be with families with bigger numbers.”

2,200 homeless

The National, 3rd October, 2012

THERE are more than 2,200 homeless men, women and children struggling to survive on the streets of Port Moresby, a Salvation Army study has revealed.
 Some of the children, as young as 10, were being encouraged by older people to become sex workers to earn money to survive.
 “Twenty-five per cent of these girls (who sell themselves for sex) are also given drugs and/or alcohol by their aunties or parents,” Salvation Army PNG programme secretary Major Rex Johnstone told The National yesterday.
 “At the beginning of this year, a couple (Captains Michael and Giam Dengi) was specifically appointed to find out why people were living on the streets of Port Moresby.”
“From a survey that was conducted in Boroko, Waigani, 4-Mile, Ela Beach and the central business district (over March and April), it was estimated that there are about 900 adults and 1,350 children living on the streets of Port Moresby.
 
“They are living under bridges and in doorways of shops,” Johnstone said.
 “Only 10% of the children went to school, leaving the other 90% to beg or collect plastic containers to sell for income.
 “Boys and girls also enter the sex trade to earn money to survive.

PNG to ratify Convention on disability

Post Courier
4 Oct.

THE Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced yesterday at the Second Forum Disable Ministers Meeting in Port Moresby that PNG will ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this year.
 The Prime Minister said: “Our government is an inclusive government.”
“That means the disabled in the country will be recognized in the years to come.”
 Mr O’Neill said that the able-bodied people should be creating a barrier-free environment that is encouraging and supportive of people with disabilities.

Women’s report to UN missing

Post Courier

 4 Oct. 2012

A CRUCIAL report on the PNG government’s advice to the UN on sorcery and witchcraft killings and women’s political participation in PNG parliament, was never presented at the New York meet in July this year.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) interim report for PNG, was never officially formulated and presented at the 52nd United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women meeting, in New York this year by representatives from the Department of Community Development. 
The PNG Government submitted its combined periodic CEDAW reports in 2010 and was tasked to report back in the 52nd session after recommending that sorcery and witchcraft killings and women’s political participation needed serious address.
 Two months after the New York meeting, senior officials who were tasked to present the report, returned tight lipped about the trip. 
One senior officer described the New York trip as a ‘shopping trip’.

Why discriminate against women?


Post Courier 4 Oct (Editorial)

In today’s paper we have a story about our Papua New Guinea country report on sorcery and witchcraft killings and participation of women in politics not being presented at the United Nations General Assembly. These two issues – killings related to sorcery and witchcraft and women participation in politics – are related and go to the core of how men, our culture, belief systems, our laws and government policies, programs and systems treat our womenfolk. 
Let us not forget that women – and that includes babies and girls – constitute about half of our population of seven million people.
 Two of the key legal instruments that bind PNG are the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and our own domestic law, Lukautim Pikinini Act, which is based on the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Children.
Former Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu spent her time as a politician doing her best and is credited for taking the cause of women and children to new heights in PNG and internationally.
 She has left behind a large vacuum in this regard.

PNG Needs to Build a Classroom Each Week

The National, 5 October 2012

The high population growth rate in the country will require Papua New Guinea to build one classroom per week to keep pace, AusAID head Stuart Schaefer says. Schaefer highlighted the critical situation when opening five double-storey dormitories at Divine Word University in Madang last Saturday. The dormitories were funded by AusAID’s PNG Incentive Fund at a cost of K8.3 million. Schaefer said PNG’s population growth rate was 3% annually and this was a high growth rate that was exerting pressure on social services like education. He said the high population growth rate would require PNG to build a classroom a week. Schaefer said an educated population was important for PNG to address the many socio-economic challenges like the increase in population, maternal health and safe motherhood, sustainable living and law and order.

Beware of kidnappers: Police

Post Courier 8 Oct. 2012

NATIONAL Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent, Peter Guinness, is appealing to all parents and child minders within the city to be alert and aware of their children’s movements at all times. 
Chief Supt Guinness made the call following at least five missing children reports filed at various police stations in the National Capital District within the last seven days.
 “Fortunately, two of those children have been recovered. One was a two-year-old child who “went missing” for eight days. The child was last seen with her mother at TST Supermarket in 4 Mile, NCD on September 27,” he said.

Mr Guiness said that in the case of the two-year-old, the parents of the child were called when the Police Media Unit made an appeal and offered a K1000 reward for the child’s return on the Crime Stoppers Program on EMTV. 
“Instead of getting the reward the young man, who we alleged had kidnapped the baby was apprehended by the Police Media Unit at Horse Camp in Kilakila and brought to Badili Police where he was charged,” he said.

Unemployment rate a big worry for govt


Post Courier
 8 Oct. 2012

THE rate of unemployment in Papua New Guinea remains around 80 percent with the bulk of the potential workforce unemployed and remaining in subsistence farming-based communities. PNG’s unemployment numbers in the formal sector will remain and increase each year with 20,000 school leavers from high schools and secondary schools joining the informal sector each year. 
Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Richard Maru said the trend would not change unless PNG successfully invested in and grew the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) sector as other countries like Australia, England, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan have done. 
Mr Maru said Taiwan had recently announced that its SME sector employees were more than eight million people, which meant that its SME sector accounted for 90 percent of employment in the formal sector.
 Successive governments, since independence, have not developed and successfully implemented holistic and comprehensive strategies to develop the SME unlike other countries,”

Toni lashes out at fellow MPs, cronies

The National, 11 October, 2012

COMMUNITY Development, Youth and Religion Minister Loujaya Toni has taken to task fellow MPs and their cronies whose selfish attitudes are posing roadblocks to development, she says.
 A visibly angry Toni, claimed that some MPs had already lost focus to get into power.
 “There are people existing in the system of the government up at the top level right down to the district level who refuse to change, who refuse to except that time has moved on, that we have a new prime minister and new ministers in government,” Toni said. “I now understand the whole system and that some people refuse to change and that’s the problem. 
“I’m not up there to fill up my pockets and grow my tummy or go live in Cairns and spend money there.
 “I am concerned and can be proud that at the end of five years when I come back, at least Busulum compound and every other residential area (in Lae) has good electricity and water supplies and people live as human beings in good conditions  that is what I am concerned about,” she said. “I am getting angry because the system is a perfectly good system but people sitting in there don’t want to change.
 “I am asking every one of you to work with the councillors, work with presidents. The money and the legislation to make it happen is my problem, that is not your problem,” she said.

UN anxious about Manus refugees 


Post Courier, Oct 12, 2012.

THE United Nations refugee agency has detailed five major concerns about Australia’s plan to send asylum seekers to Manus Island in the coming weeks.
 They include PNG’s failure to sign international treaties against torture and for the protection of stateless people or to formally withdraw seven reservations it has about the refugee convention.
The agency is also worried by the absence of national, legal, or regulatory framework to address refugee issues in PNG — or even laws or procedures for the determination of refugee status.
 In a letter to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, welcomes a commitment from PNG to withdraw reservations about rights that would apply to those found to be refugees, but says “they remain extant at the time of writing.’’ 
Dated October 9, the letter also describes an absence in “any national capacity’’ in PNG to implement international obligations. The letter also highlights the agency’s reservations about the “no-advantage test’’ that is intended to apply to those sent to Manus Island and Nauru, whereby they will remain at these locations for the time it would have taken for them to be processed and resettled from transit countries.

Kua clams UNHCR assessment

The National, 15th October, 2012

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Kerenga Kua says the country’s legal system is equipped to deal with refugee processing and human rights issues  in the wake of a tough assessment by the United Nations.
Last Friday, Kua dismissed an assessment by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres that PNG lacked “any national capacity” to implement its international refugee obligations.
Australia is preparing to send refugees to a facility on Manus Island within weeks following negotiations with the government.
 “I refute that totally,” Kua told AAP.
 “I don’t see how one could possibly say that PNG has inadequate regulatory or legal framework to deal with the issues when we have one of the best constitutions in the world in as far as protection of human rights is concerned.

Dutch disease hits agro sector

The National, 12th October, 2012

THE dreaded Dutch disease has hit the manufacturing and agricultural sectors hard, a government advisory committee heard yesterday.
This phenomenon, also called the resource curse, is the damaging effect on an economy as a result of large inflows from the exploitation and export of natural resources, in PNG’s case – the liquefied natural gas project.
 Orrell said effects of the LNG and major mining and petroleum sectors, which he terms the extractive sector, would affect all cash crops and the forestry sector, but the palm oil industry would be most affected.
“Real appreciation of the kina (Dutch disease) will reduce the competitiveness of PNG produce in global markets and increase domestic costs of production,” he said.
“Although the massive PNG LNG project has not yet reached production phase, the impact of kina appreciation is already biting.
 The Manufacturers Council expressed similar sentiments.
 Council’s Chey Scovell said there has been a 35% appreciation of the kina against the US dollar which has hit manufacturers hard.

Students, celebrate without grog

Post Courier 16 Oct. 2012 (Letter)

Just two nights ago, as I was thinking about students in school, I thought of the many who would be in celebratory mood in these later months in the year. These days, the celebratory mood means there will be alcohol involved and a few other things.
If you are a student reading this, I hope you take note. Do not be reckless after exams this week. Yes, you can celebrate but do so with your family and without alcohol.
 Is it really necessary that people should celebrate after exams.
Shouldn’t they wait until after the grades and offers come out – and then celebrate?
Why celebrate with a party filled with alcohol (and other stuff) only to be told a few weeks later that you have flunked most of your subjects and will not continue the next term or semester?
 A  female colleague I agree that the time to celebrate is not when you  graduate but when you bring your first pay packet home. Even then, the contents of the pay packet (or the food it buys) must be shared by those who helped you get to where you are.
Even then, you should not be the one celebrating as in eating a lot. 
Let those who come to the table feast on what you bought. Celebrate with them by watching them eat what your sweat and hard work brought to you – and to them.
I think that is the more Papua New Guinean way to celebrate.
 PNG Tauna

Minister praises MAF’s efforts

The National, 18th October, 2012

CIVIL Aviation Minister Davis Steven has some generous words of appreciation and praise for the Missionary Fellowship Aviation for its contribution to the country over the past 61 years.
The MP for Esa’ala open said MAF was not just another ordinary airline company but, a “very special” one carrying out a “special role” in PNG.
 Speaking at the Kagamuga Airport yesterday about MAF’s dedicated service and celebrating the arrival of its new Cessna aircraft from Australia, Steven said: “I want to thank and congratulate MAF on behalf of the people in the country for playing a very significant role in serving the remote people where no other aircraft could serve.
 “I see a new partnership with MAF because this is not just another ordinary airline company.”
 Steven said MAF’s dedicated and committed service was highly appreciated.
MAF’s operation manager Patrick Williams said the new plane brought the total number of aircraft to 15 in the country.
He said MAF served 250 rural airstrips in the country.

Deterioration of public administration – views of eminent public servants

By Terence Wood, 21 Sept 2012. Devpolicy Newsletter July 7, 2012 (http://devpolicy.org)

Lynn Pieper’s  just released paper on public administration in Papua New Guinea is important – not just for the subject matter but also because it draws on a fascinating data source: the recollections of a small group of long-serving, respected, senior (or formerly senior) civil servants. These are informants who possess a wealth of inside knowledge born of lifetimes of experience, and Pieper does an excellent job of curating the information they share.

The third factor that the paper identifies is politics. Or, more specifically, the swallowing of the bureaucratic sphere by the political sphere in PNG: “Public resources increasingly became controlled by politics rather than public policy, and politicians began involving themselves in administration, project management, and senior [civil service] appointments.” Of all the forces behind declining public service performance in PNG, politics strikes me as the most important by a considerable margin. Ultimately, it is politicians who decide the rules governing the public service. And politicians shape the incentives that bureaucrats labour under. If politicians reward bureaucrats for performing well and providing high quality impartial advice, or at the very least don’t punish them, then good advice is likely to flow. And if politicians allow staffing in bureaucracies to be governed by meritocratic processes staff quality will likely improve. On the other hand, if they dole out positions on the basis of patronage quality will get worse. And this is what has happened in PNG.

Girl builds a Library

Post Courier, 11/09/2012

A young Sepik girl’s dream to build a library full of books for her village school came true at last. On September 6, the brave 9-year-old, Deborah Buasin, was present to cut the ribbon and open the library. The ceremony was held at Saint Theodore Primary School at Woginara near Maprik where Ms Buasin comes from. Ms Buasin lives with her family in Lae but was determined to raise funds for a building and also to purchase books after visiting her village school. She said her grandfather Anton Namuesh rightly described a library as ‘a house of knowledge’. She said: “In the library are many books filled with all kinds of information about almost everything. “I believe library is a place where people from the past share their information through books so that we can use their information to navigate today and into the future.” “In my school, during the book week every student had to pick a book character and dress up like that character and during the day when you walk around the school, you have to carry that book with you, cover facing out so others can relate you to the book.” She told her people she hoped the government will stand by its decision to roll out Libraries in all schools in our country so that every child can truly be given an equal opportunity to learn as much as possible and effectively participate in the development of our country.

Manus centre expects 600 people

Post Courier 12 Sept, 2012

PAPUA New Guinea may take up to 600 asylum seekers into the Manus Detention Centre once all negotiations are complete.
But already, an Australian team comprising Defence Force personnel and immigration officials are making their way to PNG to start work on setting up the asylum seeker processing facility on Manus Island.
PNG Foreign officials and Immigration office told the Post-Courier yesterday that the agreement signed by Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato in Russia with Australia now paves way for the two countries to start working on the asylum centre.
They said last night that the “nitty gritty of things”, the information on the money involved, the full number of asylum into Manus and all other benefits would be penned down when the next official meeting convened.
They also confirmed that Australia had appointed the Salvation Army to help the asylum seekers with training and other programs.

Lawyer finds faults in asylum seekers deal



Post Courier 18 Sept.

A HUMAN rights lawyer has accused Papua New Guinea of being influenced by money to enter into an unlawful and inhuman deal with Australia to accept asylum seekers.
Lawyer Paul Harricknen questioned the PNG Government’s motives in accepting these people. 
He said PNG could not rely on the Migration Act to allow asylum seekers into PNG because that legislation did not apply to them.
If Australia has legislated to bring these people in, PNG should also legislate to accept them into the country, and any such legislation should fully comply with the provisions of the Constitution, he says.
“What sense does it make for PNG to overlook and ignore the human rights of these desperate and vulnerable people? As it is, PNG has succumbed to the powerful influence of money to enter into an unlawful and inhumane deal,” Mr Harricknen said.
“The governments of PNG and Australia recently signed an MOU in Russia to allow the boat people to be detained on Manus awaiting the processing of their refugee status. As we would expect from our 2003 experience, these people will comprise men, women and children. In 2003 there were 356 people: 232 adults and 124 children under 17 years of age.
“It is a fact that Nauru and PNG are not the destinations of choice for these asylum seekers. These people want to go to Australia. The Australian Government will be forcefully taking them to Nauru and PNG. … There is no concern about the human rights of these people guaranteed under the Constitution.’’

What would become of PNG after LNG?

PNG Blogs 19 Sept

With an expected budget deficit of K500+ million for 2012 and the intent to borrow K6 billion from China, the O’Neil Government intends to steal more from future generations from the anticipated LNG benefits. The national debt from foreign and domestic lenders accrued over the last few decades already tips the scales at K9 billion. The K6 billion from Exim Bank will close to double the national debt overnight to a whopping K15 billion. Some of them are so-called “permanent funds,” born of the philosophy that benefits from a country’s nonrenewable resources belong to all future generations, not just to the generation that discovered them.

Today’s soft loans totalling K15 billion at 3% interest will result in total repayments of K50 billion in the next 40 years (principle + interest). In other words PNG will pay K50 billion over the next 40 years to service today’s soft loans hovering on or above K15 billion.

This is a terrifying scenario as K50 billion is the total anticipated revenue flow to the state during the life of the LNG Project over the next 40 years….zeroing out all the benefits from LNG.

Govt revenues questioned



Post Courier 13 Sept.

PAPUA New Guinea has experienced rapid increase in revenues over the last decade but this was coupled with massive funding gaps especially for critical service and infrastructure, according to an Australian academic.
Director of Development Policy at the Australian National University (ANU), Professor Stephen Howes, made these remarks at the National Research Institute (NRI) in Port Moresby yesterday.
PNG is confronting serious challenges in translating resource benefits from mineral booms into effective development outcomes and there is need for promoting effective public expenditure, he said.

Some of the challenges highlighted by Prof Howes were needs on prioritising and filling funding gaps in priority areas such as education and health.
He said the Government should give more priority to the recurrent than the development budget and more evidence on expenditure effectiveness was required.

He said spending was on goods rather than salaries, with implementation aspects at the national rather than the provincial level.
He said National departments had commanded about 90 percent of the total goods and services spending.
Meanwhile, Minister for National Planning Charles Abel said the real problem on services not reaching the mass population was the delivery mechanism.
He said there was too much involvement by bureaucrats seeking funds and using public funds while the people continued to miss out on basic services.

Shortage of funds hindering health services

The National, 13th September, 2012

HEALTH services throughout the country are deteriorating, yet more than 50% of the national budget is dedicated to capital developments, National Economic and Fiscal Commission chairman Nao Badu said.
According to the World Health Organisation, PNG is third last of the health funding of member countries.
Speaking at the Australian National University and National Research Institute’s budget forum yesterday, Badu said health services were stalling due to less increase of health funding per capita – less than 7% a year.
The rate of the development budget for capital investments and other development was higher than the recurrent budget which covered basic services such as education, health, roads and infrastructure.
Badu said the government was now focusing on new projects and has not injected funds to renovate old buildings in the hospitals, health centres and aid posts in the rural areas, where the majority of the population lived, and other infrastructure rehabilitations in the health sector.
The health infrastructure would continue to deteriorate if the government continued to under-fund the sector.

10,000-odd subscribe to Haus Lain

The National, 18th September, 2012

MORE than 10,000 people have subscribed to Haus Lain, the first free national health SMS group in the country, in order to receive weekly tips on counselling, maternal health and sexually transmitted infections.
Population Services International (PSI) Papua New Guinea country representative Cynde Robinson said Haus Lain built on the positive role that mobile phones played in the country.
She said Haus Lain was launched last month and aimed to provide tips on how Papua New Guineans could keep their family healthy.

“To date, health tips have addressed a wide range of issues from maternal health, preventing child and infant deaths from diarrhoeal disease and malaria, prevention of the transmission of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and helping married couples better communicate to maintain strong, healthy relationships,” she said.
“Papua New Guineans can use the health tips to take action to protect the health of their families.
“We’re very excited to see that so many Papua New Guineans have joined Haus Lain and look forward to developing more ways to use mobile technology to support them,” she said.
Any Digicel mobile user in PNG can text the words, “Join OK” to 16321 to join the Haus Lain and receive free, weekly health tips.

Modilon hospital sets up bone fracture facility

The National, 18th September, 2012

MADANG’S Modilon General Hospital has established its first orthopaedic ward to cater for the increasing number of patients with broken bones.
With the support of Cabrini sister hospital in Melbourne, Australia, the unit was established in early June but was not functional because it lacked equipment and staff.
Last Monday, 12 staff were engaged to work under the leadership of Dr Jerry Kuzman and unit manager Sr Jenny Pitpit Pokaran. With visiting orthopaedic surgeon John Griffins and his team going to Modilon to conduct operations which started yesterday till Saturday, it was noted that most equipment was lacking.
“We were privilege to have the ward open but have yet to install required life saving equipment,” Pokaran said.
The 12 staff will attend to their first patients on Monday.

Message from Sir Julius Chan

Post Courier 19 Sept.

PAPUA New Guineans will continue to remain second-class citizens in their own land and vulnerable to all forms of social and economic injustices until the laws are changed so they become main beneficiaries of the resources they own on their land and in their seas.
This is the powerful message that founding father and Chief Governor Sir Julius Chan gave to his people of New Ireland and Papua New Guinea as part of the 37th independence anniversary celebrations in his provincial capital Kavieng on Sunday.
Sir Julius urged his people not to be fooled by the status quo, saying PNG is now at the cross-roads and it is incumbent on the people to take a stand by asserting their rights, claiming their birthright and working hard for a better future.

We are at a turning point in our history. Everywhere we look, we see huge developments taking place; huge mines, oil or LNG projects being implemented. The big boys say this is good for PNG; that our economy is growing faster than any other economy in the Pacific. But is this really true?”
Sir Julius said he sees things differently.
“The economy is growing but that growth is not leading to better lives for our people. We have huge gas, oil and mining projects but where is the money going? I call on all New Irelanders to stop thinking about today and the short term. … We need to start thinking about the future – 20, 50 and 100 years into the future.

Reduction of Infant mortality

Post Courier 19 Sept

Countries across the world are making rapid progress in reducing child deaths, demonstrating that it is possible to radically reduce child mortality over the span of two decades, a UNICEF report has stated. 
The 2012 Progress Report on Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed examines trends in child mortality estimates since 1990, and shows that major reductions have been made in under-five mortality rates in all regions and diverse countries. This has translated into a sharp drop in the estimated number of under-five deaths worldwide. “But there is also unfinished business: Millions of children under five are still dying each year from largely preventable causes for which there are proven, affordable interventions.”
“These lives could be saved with vaccines, adequate nutrition and basic medical and maternal care.

Antenatal care vital


By Tim Costello – first published by The Australian

THE maternal mortality rates and neonatal rates for PNG are decreasing and the global rates by UN are misleading according to Professor Glen Mola.
The head of the Department for Obstetrics and Gyneacology at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences said neonatal rates of 55 per 1000 and maternal mortality rates of 733 per 100, 1000 for PNG is misleading.
He said this at the second day of the medical symposium when presenting a paper on ‘Child Survival — The Need For A New Neonatal Focus.’
 Professor Mola said that in PNG’s case, MMR is decreasing much slower than the rest of the world. Neonatal rates vary in provincial hospitals with 6-9 per 1000.
Professor Mola said many countries in the world, including PNG, have made good progress towards achieving MDG4 (Child Survival) however, if the other goals are to be achieved, then the trajectory downwards needs to be accelerated. Evidence shows that the only way that most developing countries will achieve MDG4 is to improve on neonatal survival; this is because while survival after the first month of life has improved on target, neonatal lags behind. Neonatal deaths now take up more than 40 per cent of child deaths and 60 per cent of infant deaths in many developing countries including PNG.

Dr Lahui Geita – also speaking at the symposium – said there are a number of multiple factors that contribute to PNG’s high MMR with low rates of supervised deliveries being one of them. Supervised deliveries is one of the most effective interventions to reduce maternal mortality worldwide.
The coverage and outcome of supervised deliveries itself can be outdone by a number of different factors such as early recognition of danger signs, timely decisions to seek care, access to appropriate care or health facility.

Maternal deaths high in remote villages

Post Courier 14 Sept

A YOUNG mother from Tsumba village in Madang’s Middle Ramu district is dead as a result of complications she experienced while trying to deliver her third child.
Maternal deaths are said to be quite high and a common occurrence in this remote and isolated village that it has become “normal” according, to Harry Tine, a community leader from Tsumba.
Mr Tine said the woman was due to give birth and with health services non-existent, the women-folk in her village would have assisted her under normal circumstances, as is usually the case. However, they were not able to do so this time because the baby was not positioned correctly inside this mother’s womb.
Realising that the expectant mother would need help, her husband and several villagers, including Mr Tine, quickly built a makeshift stretcher, put her on it and carried her on their shoulders as they set out on a grueling journey to get help.
Mr Tine said they walked at least three hours on foot to get to the Ramu River then travelled four hours by boat to get to the nearest facility at the Base Camp at Bogia. They arrived only to find out that the health worker in charge of the facility was not at work and was out gardening.
After a three-hour wait for the health worker to finally show up, they discovered that the women’s situation had got worse as the baby’s arm had already surfaced from the birth canal and that she needed urgent help.
The mother was moved onto a vehicle and rushed to Bogia Health Center but both the mother and the baby died soon after.
“We did a U-Turn and returned the same day with both mother and baby. Such deaths have become common that it has become part of our everyday life.

Doctor: Too many mothers, babies dying

The National, 7th September, 2012

A DOCTOR says East New Britain is one of the provinces with the highest maternal and child mortality rates.
Dr Tanmay Bagade, of St Mary’s Vunapope Hospital, said this had to be reduced through antenatal care.
Although he was unable to provide statistics, he said women’s poor health associated with high blood pressure, anaemia and others could be detected through antenatal clinic.
Bagade said that it was important for pregnant women in the province to consider antenatal care during pregnancy to reduce maternal and child mortality.
“A strong woman means a strong nation, a healthy woman means a strong family,” he said.

More space for mums

The National, 7th September, 2012

AN East New Britain businesswoman has contributed K30,000 to help extend the Mother and Child Health Centre at the St Mary’s Vunapope Hospital in Kokopo.
Tropicana Ltd general manager Sandra Lau said the extension would allow mothers more space and a comfortable area to sit while waiting to be seen.
 She said women should receive better services as they were the foundation of their families and played an active role in building the future of the nation.
 Statistics from the health centre showed that 300 women visited the clinic monthly for their first antenatal clinic on Mondays and Tuesday visits totalled 800 monthly.
Nurses at the centre said the new extension would go a long way to serving many more mothers as it now provided more comfort.
While thanking Lau for her financial assistance, the nurses called on the government to increase staffing at the hospital as work load was pretty heavy
and it was expected to get heavier.
They said the centre was badly in need of two more midwives, a family planning officer, two additional nurses and a health educator to help train students.
They also called on the government to help improve other health centres in the province to help mothers.

Carterets families sign relocation deal

The National, 19th September 2012

EIGHTY-three families living in the Carterets Islands, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, have signed up to be relocated to the mainland, local non-governmental organisation director Ursula Rakova says.
Rakova, who heads the Tulele Peisa, said the families had met the relocation guidelines in terms of vulnerability, willingness to relocate and participate with host community as well as the size of the family.
Programme manager Basil Peso said intermarriage was one of the criteria for relocation.
“There is emphasis on intermarriage because it binds and creates unity in inheriting and acquiring land,” Rakova said the Carterets had lost more than 20m of land to salt water invasion during king tides over the past 30 years.
She said since 2009, five families had been relocated to Tinputz Catholic mission.
She said although the church had gifted the land, the Tinputz community had been very welcoming towards their relocation process.
“They consider the relocated Carteret islanders at Woroav as a village and not a settlement,” Rakova said.
She thanked the church as well as the people of Tinputz for the 71ha of land, saying each family would receive a hectare each.
She said the remaining land would be used to farm cocoa so that the community could sustain itself economically.

Police search for HIV trio

The National, 3rd September, 2012

POLICE in the highlands region are looking for three HIV-infected men who are allegedly among 37 others who deliberately infected two women in a gang-rape in Mul-Baiyer district, Western Highlands.
Highlands Criminal Investigation Division officer-in-charge Madzuc Rubiang said two women had reported they were raped by 40 men and that three of them men were HIV-positive.
[Why look for these 3 and not the 37 others! (ed.)]

Doctor: Stick to treatment guidelines

The National, 4th September 2012

MALARIA diagnosis in the Papua New Guinea must change from clinical to parasitical, an expert says.
World Health Organisation technical officer Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe said PNG must use the T3 method or test, treat and track initiative.
“Nowhere in the world should people be treated without diagnosing parasitically,” Abeyasinghe said.
He said nearly 90% of patients in the country visiting outpatient clinics today were prescribed anti-malaria drugs on suspicion rather than through tests.
Abeyasinghe said clinics treated patients on suspicion because there was no proper equipment such as microscopes to diagnose parasitically through blood tests.
He highlighted a case in the New Guinea Islands where 10 people were suspected of having malaria but only three tested positive.
He said clinics were using anti-malaria drugs unnecessarily.
“Unless the patient is critically ill with symptoms of malaria then it is justified. Otherwise it’s not,” he said.
He said with microscopic or parasitical treatment the country would see a decline in the parasites.
Abeyasinghe called on hospitals to stick to the malaria treatment guidelines.
He said it was important for patients to complete treatment of Mala 1 or athamether lumefantrine.
He said the athamether was a highly sensitive drug that reacted quickly to malaria parasites but if few parasites survived they were taken out by the lumefantrine drug.

Papua New Guinea’s future and Australia?

PNG blogs 4 Sept

On the flight over to Papua New Guinea last month, I realised that the patch of water below me carried with it a moral significance. At one shoreline, state-of-the-art healthcare for all; at the other end, complications at birth carry with them a death sentence. Papua New Guinea is our nearest neighbour, just a stone’s throw from our own coast, and yet the two nations sit 151 places apart on the Human Development Index. There is a profound challenge here.

While other countries are fast making ground to achieve the Millennium Development Goals – the world’s blueprint for tackling poverty – PNG is losing ground. About 50 per cent of children don’t attend primary school and there are only 0.6 health workers per 1000 people.

At one remote health clinic in Madang province, I met Sister Grace; a woman with a beautiful, shy demeanour. Not wanting to push her own needs, it took some time to draw out her story. Finally, she explained that she worked in that tiny outpost far away from her own family, without a doctor, desperately trying to serve the needs of a vast catchment area. She worked without electricity, delivering babies by torch light. The sacrifices she made to serve her community overwhelmed me. Not once did she complain, but in her eyes I sensed a determination. The sort of determination that says, “this isn’t good enough”.

Gun Violence a Growing Concern in PNG

By Catherine Wilson PNG Blogs 5 Sept

Gun violence is no stranger to the small Melanesian communities in this part of the world, which over the past quarter century have experienced the Bougainville independence struggle (1989–1998), civil war in the Solomon Islands (1999-2003), and four military coups in Fiji between 1987 and 2006. Papua New Guinean civilians possess the largest number of guns in Melanesia, with an estimated 72,000 or 1.2 guns per 100 people, while police and defence forces hold approximately 19,000 firearms. New Caledonia is second with up to 50,000 civilian-held guns. And in the Solomon Islands, since disarmament, during which 90 percent of firearms were surrendered, there are believed to be 1,775 privately owned guns, or 0.35 per 100 people.

Gun violence is a serious issue in Papua New Guinea. The capital, Port Moresby, with a population of 450,000, has a murder rate of approximately 54 per 100,000 people, compared to an average global rate of less than 7 per 100,000 people. And in the Southern Highlands, where an estimated 90 percent of firearms are illegally owned, 23 percent of households have been victimised by guns.

The Small Arms Survey, an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, concludes that crime is driven by the breakdown of traditional values, limited employment opportunities, inequality and disputes over resource ownership. Incentives for acquiring guns include self-defence and a sense of duty to defend tribal or clan interests. The majority of firearms used in conflicts and crime in Melanesia have been leaked or stolen from legal police and military sources

In 2005, Papua New Guinea’s Guns Control Committee produced a report which made numerous recommendations for gun reforms. But these have never been acted upon. Ultimately, reducing the quantities, circulation and misuse of guns in Melanesia also entails diminishing their demand through raising levels of development, socioeconomic equality and human security, and effectively tackling corruption.

Fake drugs sold widely in PNG

Post Courier 6 September

COUNTERFEIT drugs sold and circulated on the streets of Papua New Guinea are a real threat to patients.
The scariest part is that these drugs which are below the International Pharmaecopeia Standards like antibiotics (such as amoxicillin) and antimalarials (amiodaquone) have found their way into hospitals or even at registered pharmacies. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products and counterfeit products may include products with the correct ingredients or with the wrong ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient active ingredients or with fake packaging.”
Separate studies by students from the University of Papua New Guinea School of Medicine and Health Sciences showed counterfeit drugs are being sold in large quantities.
There is ongoing research at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences which highlights the seriousness of poor-quality drugs.
As a result of the studies, calls have been made to authorities to urgently monitor all imported drugs.

Prevention of blindness committee launched

The National, 6th September, 2012

EYE care in Papua New Guinea received a shot in the arm with the launching of the National Prevention of Blindness Committee (NPBLC) in Port Moresby yesterday. 
Speaking at the launch, chairperson of the committee Dr Jambi Garap said: “The eye is not an isolated organ. Impairment of vision affects people’s quality of life and opportunities to work and employment, and also contributes to poverty.”
She said eye care stakeholders from both the government and non-governmental organisations would work together under the NPBLC to address the major barriers to eye care services, which included disease control, human resources and infrastructure.

WHO standard is one doctor for every 100,000 patients.
However, in PNG the doctor-patient ratio is 1:500,000.
For a population of about seven million, PNG has only 18 ophthalmologists, out of which only 14 are practising.

Educate people to stop chewing buai

The National, 12th September, 2012

A FORMER CEO of the Tari Hospital recently declared that tuberculosis (TB) is spreading rapidly and that it would be disastrous for PNG.
Dr Bravy Koensong said TB was preventable and blamed the health sector and stakeholders for not doing enough.
He said people were dying and the government would now have to spend more money to buy powerful drugs for treatment.
While I commend him for highlighting this, I am surprised Dr Koensong did not highlight that TB was spreading because of the buai habit among Papua New Guineans.
Buai chewers spit anywhere they please and if they suffer from TB, they also spread the disease through their spittle.
So much has been said about the dangers and unsightly consequences of this habit.
Unfortunately, the people choose to ignore it and continue to chew and spit as they please… 
Our health authorities should take a good, hard look at the issue and come up with appropriate laws.

Anti-buai
Port Moresby

Torture serious

Post Courier 13 Sept.

THE Government of PNG has been tasked to seriously address torture and inhuman treatment of its people.
In a two-day meeting conducted by Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council in Port Moresby yesterday, key stakeholders have been challenged to discuss findings and recommendations of a 2010 human rights report conducted by independent investigator Manfred Novak, and how the recommendations and findings can be appropriated and effectively implemented.
 The reports states severe beatings of by police as form of punishment. 
Impunity for torture and ill-treatment is fueled by the lack of effective complaint mechanisms, independent investigations, monitoring or similar safeguards.
The special rapporteur found a general atmosphere of violence and neglect in places of detention and overcrowding and filthy cells. The report also stated that police juvenile and policy protocol are not applied. In detention, women are extremely vulnerable to sexual abuse from police officers.

Divisional Commander for Highlands and Assistant Commissioner of Police Teddy Tei said police have come down hard on some officers involved such as arresting, charging or dismissed them from work.
He suggested avenues or channels such as police investigative units or Ombudsman Commission where people should seek assistance if they fall to police mistreatment.
Some stakeholders suggested positive changes have been made and these are areas where gender sensitising and gender-based program have been introduced to RPNGC and the Correction Services.

Drive message on HIV/AIDS to impact Communities

The National, 13th September, 2012

GREATER HIV/AIDS awareness is needed to educate coastal pipeline and impacted communities along the Basamuk nickel mine processing plant in Rai-coast, Madang, Ken Mulou says.
“The impact of the Ramu NiCo project, coupled with the influx of people and movement positions most communities in a risky situation requires greater awareness to educate people,” Mulou, the landowner company liaison officer, said.
Mulou said the company was prepared to help and called for community support, a change of mentality and behaviour so people could take ownership and fight against the epidemic.

“Responsibility to take care of individual and family lives rests on ourselves and the landowner company is prepared to strengthen and amplify community initiatives with materials to help use available HIV/AIDS programmes to ensure people are educated with cross-cutting issues,” Mulou said.

We need to be mindful of foreign influence and be rational rather than emotional in our decisions,” Pariwe said.
“Sports unite, attract and create opportunities to prosper. It attracts sexual desire and emotions that we need to control and play it safe because HIV/AIDS is a human issue and human life is a crucial gift and precious.”

Kandep Students worry



Post Courier 14 Sept

FORTY lives have so far been lost and the Murip wheat project worth more than K3 million was burnt down to ashes among many villages destroyed in the current tribal war in Kandep, Enga province.
Over 100 people have been wounded and thousands homeless. Women are being raped and the disabled are forced into burning fires, and children are being killed.
Kandep High School, the only high school in the district, and other primary and elementary education institutions and health services have been closed and are no longer in operation. 
District service providers and business houses have fled in fear of losing their lives and businesses. 
But no one is taking the initiative to stop the fight and the whole Kandep District is under serious threat.
Lives are not the same anymore.
Concerned Kandep students from the University of Papua New Guinea and working class living in Port Moresby in a joint media statement yesterday pleaded to responsible politicians and leaders to stop the bloodshed immediately.

The Kandep students gathered at UPNG yesterday and pledged they unity, stand united. They strongly called on the leaders in the province and the electorate to immediately do something about stopping the fight.
The students said that they are demanding the politicians because it is an election related tribal fight.

Social indicators poor despite ecomonic growth

Letters Post Courier 10 Sept

DESPITE positive economic growth rates over the last decade, PNG’s social indicators are among the worst in the Asia Pacific. The majority of PNG’s mainly rural population remain poor and an estimated 18 per cent are extremely poor.
Poverty, unemployment and poor governance contribute to serious law and order problems. Improving the lives of poor people and promoting stability is claimed to be the central part of the government‘s interest but the tangible signs of that are very far from being realized. It should aggressively pursue: 
Eradicate Poverty: Around 40% of PNG’s population lives in poverty and 85% of the population live in rural or remote areas with inadequate access to health care and employment. Increase Education Participation: estimated that half the adult population cannot read and over 500,000 kids aged 6-12 do not go to school. Improve Health: Nearly 7% of kids do not live past their 5th birthday, the life expectancy for men in PNG is only 53 years, females it’s 54 years, people continue to die of preventable causes. 
The people are tired of MPs paying lip service,

Derrick Nagul

Aussie Premier praises PNG women in Parliament

Post Courier, Sept 10, 2012

THE steady and successful rise of Papua New Guinea’s three new women Members of Parliament has drawn praise from the Premier of Tasmania, Hon. Lara Giddings. Giddings was the youngest woman ever to be elected into Australia’s Parliament at the age of 23 in 1999. However her interest in PNG politics and especially the three women MPs is because she has a much deeper connection to PNG. Giddings was born and raised in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province where she spent much of her childhood. She has been following PNG’s recent elections with much interest and praised Loujaya Toni, Dellilah Pueka Gore and Julie Soso on their win.

In an interview with the Western Independent, Premier Giddings said: “As a woman born in the Eastern Highlands of PNG, and as a member of the Tasmanian Parliament, I have watched with pride the recent PNG elections where a record number of women have been elected to Parliament, including Julie Soso now Governor of the Eastern Highlands. Considering much of PNG society, especially the Highlands, operates under patriarchal structures, this is a huge achievement.” “Ideally, Parliaments should reflect the make-up of their communities and with women consisting of almost half of the population in PNG, it is important women are represented in this important democratic institution,” Premier Giddings said.

Chinese doctors visit hospital to give assistance

The National, 12th September, 2012

FOUR doctors from the Chinese province of Guangdong are in Port Moresby to provide assistance and expertise at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
The doctors are obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr Wang Zi Lian, rheumatologist (arthritis and joints diseases) Dr Lian Fan, paediatrician Dr Jiang Xiao Yun and endocrinologist (diabetes and hormones) Dr Li Yan Bin.
They arrived yesterday from Guangdong where they practice medicine in one of China’s best hospitals, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University.
 Health Minister Michael Malabag, who met the doctors on arrival, said the long-lasting bilateral relations between the Chinese and PNG governments had led to much-needed assistance such as this medical team to PNG.
Malabag said he hoped the short visit by the doctors would shed light on addressing some of PNG’s health issues such as procurement of anti-malarial and anti-AIDS drugs and to treat curable diseases.

Speaking through a translator, Wang said the team came not only with expertise but with friendship.
He said he understood that although they would not be in Port Moresby for a long time, this was the beginning of a medical relationship.
He invited PNG medical practitioners to visit Guangdong, which has more than 150,000 medical centres.

What Now After Royal Visit?

Solomon Times, Sept 21st

What an insane few days it’s been with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge coming to the Solomon Islands.

For two days the streets were jam-packed with people and cars, wherever Prince William and Kate walked people would run alongside with a breathless excitement.

And suddenly they were gone along with the 70-plus international media that came in their wake and its life as usual in Honiara.

The pages of the local newspaper – once full of photos of Prince William and Kate talking to smiling people – have been replaced with the usual.

The Prime Minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo, must be wishing for the return of the royal couple.

There is a story about his trip to the United Nations meeting in New York – where he is leading a team of 16 people including his wife, executive secretary and a number of political appointments.

Quite rightly there is outrage over how one of the poorest countries in the Pacific can afford to send 16 people to a UN meeting. The simple answer is it can’t.

The rather weak response is the big team needs to go to build on the Rio Plus 20 summit, to push for nomination for some UN bodies and to promote gender equality.

That’s nice. Maybe two people could do that.

You see, here’s the thing. The Prince William and Kate tour was amazing – it really was. The Solomons did a great job hosting them and will hopefully benefit in tourism dollars. But life goes on. Unemployment is incredibly high with a ballooning youth population, there’s weak governance and low levels of investment.

Politicians can’t ride on that royal wave of success now, it’s over.

The tide has gone out and it’s time to do the job the people elected them to do

Maiden Speech by Opposition

Facebook, Sept 9, 2012

Sam Basil MP

The speech being delivered from the floor of Parliament on the 4th of September, parts of it will be removed from HANSARD because it contains the NPF Issue – Says the Honorable Speaker of the 9th Parliament.

[The following is a section from the speech – (ed.).] 4.0 Fight against Corruption

Mr Speaker, it is good to hear the Honourable Prime Minister declare his determination to weed and stamp out corruption in our country with the introduction of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). …

On ICAC, the Opposition would like to buy into something that is genuine and not a window-dresser. We want something that is feasible and can stand the test of political pressures. ICAC must be punitive to wrong-doers and send signals that there is no escape for white-collar criminals posing as leaders.

We must stop issues like the daylight robbery of members superannuation savings like that exposed in the NPF inquiry, the abuse of members’ fund in the (then POSF) purchase and head-lease arrangement of The Cairns Conservatory and Malagan House in Brisbane.

We must stop issues like the Julian Moti affair where decisions from the Office of a Prime Minister resulted in breaking of a multitude of laws – domestic and international – which is likely to reincarnate and devour funds which are needed to save and improve the lives of our people.

We must stop issues of international embarrassment like the stealing of state funds from the Taiwanese government in pretense of diplomatic recognition knowing very well that PNG – was one of the first nations to recognize and maintains a “One China Policy” recognition of the mainland Peoples Republic of China.

We must stop political engineering of clashes between the executive, judiciary and parliamentary arms of government;

We must stop political engineering of divisions within our disciplined forces nationally and/or setting them up against each other;

We must stop renting crowds and inciting riots to achieve our political ends with a view that the “end justifies the means”.

If we are honest, there will be a lot of confessions in relation to these gestures. We all know that to date, no one has been successfully prosecuted and put behind bars for many of these offenses which are criminal in nature.

Mr Speaker, Corruption – and the fight against it advocated by so many of us must translate into practical action. We must rise up – even beyond ourselves – we must rise up against it, and fight to completely eradicate it.

K500m used in national elections

Post Courier 8 Aug.

AN international observer group has estimated that approximately K500 million was used before, during and after the 2012 National Elections by political parties, independents and international financial backers.
In a summary brief the observers, who did not want to be named, also say part of the funds were used by parties for marketing purposes, posters, advertisements, and most of it before, during and after the elections.

Money has been the centre of these election and we are saying these because we have been observing elections for decades and times have changed a lot. PNG is also moving with the times and that also costs money,” the officials reported. “We have spoken to candidates that have spent money to win this election, to those who have drained their businesses and to those who have struggled to get a placing in this election. We have also spoken to some political party leaders on how much they spent to get their numbers home this election and that’s how we arrived at the figure,” they said.
It is now time for the 46 Political Parties to provide their election and party acquittals to the office of the Registrar of Political Parties to CEO Dr Alphonse Gelu and his officers.

Blood bank needs donors

The National, July 31st, 2012

THE blood bank at the Port Moresby General Hospital is making an urgent appeal for blood donations.
National Blood Service manager Dr Merrilyn Mathias said
yesterday the supply in the country’s 35 blood banks was not enough to meet demand.
“We need at least 150 bags of blood a day at Port Moresby General Hospital for the next two weeks on standby for any emergency that may arise and for our in-patients.
“We are appealing to the public to come forward and donate blood
“Please advice that anyone aged above 16 and healthy, not on any drugs or medications and females who are not pregnant can donate blood.” 
They will also receive free blood test and pressure check.

Puppets and Puppeteers

PNGblogs.com August 1, 2012

I watched the blatant abuse of the Constitution at both its spirit and its letter. I watched the sheer cravings to gain and hold on to power mar good politicians. One puppeteer had the strings snatched from him by another, while he was too sick to hold on to it. The puppets moved and voted accordingly; what strings were used on them we can only speculate.

More rushed Acts were enacted than ever before. Authoritarian laws were born way before the people even knew they were conceived. In the GC puppet show at least we debated and protested. But it was in vain because those acts were passed. In the PO govt we didn’t even get the luxury to protest! Until after the fact! The Acts were mostly for political expedience, but were gift-wrapped in the “National Interest”. Did I mention the same puppets who passed laws under the GC repealed them again under the ONamah regime?

We watched in horror as the man who helped found this nation was “removed” from Parliament by a speaker-for-hire who had no legal power to do so. And then that GC was called a “stranger in the house” by a man whom PNG had thought showed wisdom beyond his years.

PNG saw a new style of politics. One that saw the emergence of “straight-shooting”. So much straight shooting Involved misfires and blank-shots, immature, emotionally-charged childishness, folly-filled words. Bordering on arrogance and vanity, and blatant hypocrisy. As money was obnoxiously and illegally thrown around to “fund” campaigns some of us feared that our government had become “purchasable”. That fear lingers… I sure hope we get a leader – one who attracts the following of men and women with dignity, who need not purchase, extort or blackmail their support.

 Cancer on the rise in PNG

The National, 3rd August 2012

A CANCER control workshop in Port Moresby heard that non-communicable diseases like cancer are on the rise and have become a significant health problem.
The workshop was told mouth, cervical, breast, liver and children’s cancers were more common in the country today than ever before.
Participants and speakers from provincial hospitals said there were 10,000-15,000 cases per year but somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 cases were presented to a health facility annually and the numbers were steadily increasing. 
Angau Memorial General Hospital chief executive officer Dr Polapoi Chalau said diagnostic treatment and palliative care services were limited and poorly resourced and manpower needs were insufficient.
“A significant proportion of our population continue to lead lifestyles that exposes them to risks of cancer, which means that we must concentrate a significant effort on public health education programmes for cancer prevention.” Those patients requiring radiotherapy treatment were given options of going overseas at their own expenses, while the majority who could not afford suffered and died in their villages.

Poor upkeep of records

The National, 3rd August 2012

MEDICAL humanitarian agency Medecins Sans Frontieres has called for better keeping of data on domestic and sexual violence in Papua New Guinea, as research shows extremely high levels of domestic abuse in the country.
MSF said specific data-keeping would help address the problem in PNG, which had one of the highest rates of violence against women in the Pacific.
It said about two thirds of PNG women had been abused by their partners.

In Papua New Guinea, they keep good records of medical care, but they include any kind of violence-related injuries as one topic included under accidents.
“In the data you would see someone who was injured from a car accident, someone injured from tribal violence and then someone injured from sexual violence all coming under the same category,” Kaufman said.
MSF said in PNG:
70% of women experienced domestic violence.

Trawen: Elections achieve milestone

The National, 3rd August 2012

ELECTORAL Commissioner Andrew Trawen says the 2012 general election is another milestone achieved in the democratic process of the country.
Speaking on the successes and mishaps during the electoral process, Trawen admitted the main setback was the quality of the electoral rolls experienced throughout the country.
“The main problems have been identified and will be improved for the next general election. The electoral roll being the main one, with works and options in place to improve that,” he said.
He said the general outcome was successful.
Trawen made a run through of election figures.
They are:

3,443 candidates contested;

1,245 endorsed party candidates;

97 party endorsed candidates elected;

2,198 independent candidates contested;

134 female candidates contested (101 in 2007 election);

Three female candidates elected;

65 new elected members (excluding electorates to be declared); and

40 sitting MPs re-elected.

He said the new parliament would have 61% of new members, while 39% were re-elected members.
Trawen thanked the government, Papua New Guineans and Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for their help in the elections.

Changes in Fiji

NZ Herald 6 Aug 2012 Editorial:

Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s regime has shown sufficient evidence of progress towards democratic elections in 2014 for NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully to decide travel bans will be eased and high-level diplomatic representation restored in Suva. Australia has also agreed to start re-establishing old ties, following a meeting between the three nations, the first since 2010, in Canberra. This reflects what appears to be justified optimism that for the first time since Bainimarama’s coup six years ago, the future for Fiji and its people is definitely brightening.

This year, Bainimarama disbanded the Great Council of Chiefs, a leadership tradition that dates back more than 130 years. This was to prevent the council being written into the new constitution. Last week’s imprisoning of Laisenia Qarase, the country’s last democratically elected Prime Minister, on nine charges of corruption was also a conveniently-timed damning of the pre-regime government. Bainimarama has further decreed that the term Fijian applies to all 837,000 people in the archipelago, including the 37 per cent who are Indian.

Homebrew-related deaths rising

The National, Weds August 08th, 2012

DEATHS, fights and accidents resulting from the consumption of homebrew are on the rise in West Sepik, the province’s top policeman says. Provincial police commander Insp Michael Tilae said two separate homebrew-related deaths were reported to police on July 27.
Tilae said police received reports from communities that homebrew was no longer distilled in the bush but in the family home with the knowledge of home owners.
“Adults are involved in this business,” Tilae said.
“This is a serious problem. We cannot enter people’s homes unless we have a search warrant,” he said. Police said there was high demand for the brew in the province, particularly among the youths. Tilae said a small container of brew was selling for K10 while a 500ml Coke bottle of brew was going for K20. He said that probably explained why many households were producing the drink.

Study shows 43 percent of students leave school due to school fees

Post Courier, 8 August, 2012
A STUDY revealed that 43 percent of students in primary and 52 percent in the secondary schools were unable to remain in the schools because of parents’ inability to pay school fees.
That means the Department of Education is losing thousands of students annually.
Manager for Research and Data Analysis James Agigio said this yesterday during his presentation on factors affecting student retention in PNG schools in a Regional Consultative Meeting (RCM) in Kimbe.  The reasons highlighted that prevented students from completing their education include not able to paying schools mainly becuase they come from large families, having single parents, peer pressure, teacher absenteeism, poor counseling services in the schools and family problems. He said the figures have shown that from 2003 to 2009 there were 101,121 intakes in the education system and 279,200 were retained while 153, 340 students left school at some stage. These figures show an annual average loss of 25,557.

Tuition fees yet to reach schools

The National, Weds August 08th, 2012

MORE than 2,000 schools have yet to receive their 2012 first payment from the government’s tuition fee-free and subsidies education policy. A regional consultative meeting in Kimbe, West New Britain, heard there were 1.7 million students in the national education system and that 1.4 million of them had received their tuition fee, while 300,000 students were still waiting.
Education Department acting principal statistician Michael Peter said that was caused by many factors that the department, provincial education administrations and banks could overcome so that all schools received their tuition fees. “A timeframe needs to be set so that all data can come in from all provinces on time, banks should respond faster and schools must send in the correct data and bank details quickly,” Peter said. This year, the government allocated K302 million for tuition fee free payments and an additional K32 million was given by AusAID.
Peter said the rate of distribution by sector for the tuition fee free education was 100% for elementary to Grade 10, 75% for vocational to Grade 12 and a fixed rate for other sectors.

2233 schools may miss out

Post Courier 21 Aug

TWO THOUSAND two hundred and thirty three schools that have missed out on the first payment of K50 million may miss out on the second payment of fee-free tuition and subsidies if the necessary documents are not sent to education department for processing.
These schools missed out because they did not send in school census forms by March of the academic year for monies to be processed and transacted to their accounts.
They have been advised to send the right information in now.
Acting Secretary for Education Luke Taita last Friday said that the Education Department is asking the Provincial Administrators to urge provincial education heads to push schools to have this census forms sent to the department immediately or they will miss out.
School Census Forms are forms that contain information of particular school accounts, school names and school population or enrolments. 
This information is vital so subsidies are distributed accordingly. This information determines how much money a school receives.

K200m subsidy paid

Post Courier 23 August

The Department of Education paid more than K200 million towards the second payment of tuition subsidies yesterday.
All the registered schools which have accounts with Bank of South Pacific, ANZ and Westpac will now get their school fee subsidies.
Minister for Education Mr Paru Aihi officially handed a total of K201,470,951 in cheques to Bank of South pacific, ANZ and Westpac banks. The bank representatives were there to receive the cheques.
Minister Aihi said that elementary schools will get K33,107,635, primary schools K104,679,182, high and secondary K53,060,440, national high K914,523, and vocational schools K9,649,171.
He said that from the report, there are 1.5 million students in the country that will benefit from the money.
He had clarified last Friday that the number of registered schools which have accounts with banking institutions are: Bank of South Pacific 10,846; ANZ 322; Westpac 107 and PNG Microfinance 65.
 Mr Aihi further stated that all the schools must provide acquittals by the end of September 2012 and they must submit their expenditure plans on how they will use the money.
He warned the schools that if no acquittals are provided then they will receive no subsidies for the next year Education.
Minister Aihi said this money is from the K302m budgeted for the second payment. The remaining funds will go to those schools who are yet to submit their accounts.

No ban set on SABLs

The National, August 10th, 2012

THERE is no moratorium on issuing special agriculture business leases (SABLs) even though the national executive council (NEC) said there should be one when it set up the commission of inquiry (COI) a senior official says.
The Lands Department has continued to issue leases to incorporated bodies and companies rather than to the incorporated land groups (ILGs).
Commission secretary, Mathew Yuangu, yesterday cleared the air saying:  “Essentially, the NEC’s decision on a moratorium could not be enforced or implemented because the COI had no power to enforce.
“The authority for declaration of moratorium is with the Minister for Lands and it is a separate issue that is under ministerial power,” he said. 
Yuangu said the commission was tasked under its terms of reference to investigate and inquire into 72 specific SABLS that were individually named.  
“The elections disrupted the commission from presenting its report to the prime minister so this will be done at the end of this month when everything settles down,” he said.

Control children’s use of cell phones 

The National, 6th August, 2012

PARENTS must control the use of mobile phones by young children, a National Court judge says.
Dismissing a rape allegation against a minor, Justice Catherine Davani said allowing children to use mobile phones was destroying their mental aptitude and their vocabulary.
She said that impeded their education in dismissing a rape case involving two primary school aged students from the north coast area of Madang.The boy and the girl used mobile phones to communicate and set a location to meet and have sexual intercourse. Davani said the responsible authorities and, in particular, parents need to control the use of mobiles among young children as the courts were already experiencing and dealing with more underage sexual intercourse cases, where mobile phones were used to set up meetings. “At this juncture, the rate of children using mobile phones is at an alarming stage and if we are not mindful, our community and society will be severely affected and destroyed in the near future,” she said.

Nothing has changed

PNG Blogs, Aug 4, 2012

I find it funny how easily we all are led to believe that something has changed when we hear the word “change”. Papua New Guinea has several parties currently registered, I hear 42 or something like that. Of those political parties, the People’s National Congress has struck ‘gold ‘this time around with others such as Triumph Heritage Party, Papua New Guinea Party and the National Alliance Party tagging along.

My question now really is what has changed? A general observation tells me that all the former National Alliance party members have more or less returned, without some and an addition of others. So tell me, what has changed about the government? Peter O’Neill is now at the forefront but wasn’t he also with the former coalition as well?

The reality is this, we still have issues in our country that are not being addressed! I only want to see issues in my beloved nation being addressed and addressed properly too!

PNG to continue downward spiral

PNG blogs  August 6, 2012

The problem list still stand tall regardless of K76billion spend in the last 10 years….constant power blackouts,  incompetent Telikom PNG with unreliable services, Papua New guineans being paid under colonial pay grade as compared to their expatriate colleague with little experiences, roads system crumbling down. Still no company has found innovation in building tar roads that will last for more than a year. Housing and health care is a problem for all urban areas in PNG and the worst is still in the rural areas. Why do Papua New Guineans recieve cheap bribes from Asians and other foreigners? This is a crime of treason and betrayal of our sovereignty why do people continue to migrate from the villages to the town regardless of the K10million DSIP fund to service the districts and rural areas? Why is 98% of each provincial budget used up as administrative costs and nothing gets left every year to bring and sustain services to the rural areas? Why are so many productive age group youths and people out on the streets selling 40 lus and K1 buai?? Really nothing has changed.

Recognise, involve persons with disabilities, says Kapi

The National, August 07th, 2012

THE inclusion of persons with disability in the election process should be the way forward for recognition and inclusion of this special category of people in the national life of Papua New Guineans, National Board for Disabled Persons chairman Brown Kapi said.
“For the first time, the government has recognised a group of people who were seen as marginalised to participate in this year’ general elections,” he said, “And we are hoping that what has happened is a stepping stone for people with disabilities to participate,” Kapi said.
He also called on business houses and government departments to re-look at their policies and programmes to find out where PLWDs could be taken on board.
“What has happened now is that our rights as marginalised people have been recognised and we have felt that we were empowered for more PLWDs to cast their votes and even contest for the next general election in 2017.”

Disability policy needs improvement

The National, 20th August, 2012

THE National Disability Policy is one of the many agendas that needs special attention to improve, National Board for Disabled Persons chairman Brown Kapi says.
Speaking last Tuesday, he said many issues had not been attended to by the government. 
The national policy covers all people living with disability.
It targets 11 areas in education, training and employment, rehabilitation and assistive devices, legislation and accessibility and communication.
“The lack of realising the policy is a problem that not only is affecting the lives of people living with disability but the country in terms of achieving development,” Kapi said.
Kapi said he hoped to see the policy implemented under the leadership of Loujaya Toni.

Shocking literacy statistics

The National, 16 August.

It has been revealed that 43.8% of Papua New Guineans are illiterate. National Literacy Awareness Secretariat director Willie Jonduo said census 2000 showed that from a population of about six million, only 56.2% were literate. The latest census is only due to be released in mid-2013. Jonduo said the statistics were alarming because when the country was compared with the rest of the world using the United Nations Human Development Index, it was placed 148 out of the 182 listed countries. He said something had to be done and that was why the Education Department, the Office of Library and Archives and the National Literacy Awareness Secretariat have joined forces to strive to improve the national literacy rate every year.

UN Special Rapporteur calls for end to torture and inhuman treatment in PNG

http://www.un.org.pg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:un-special-rapporteur-on-torture-calls-for-end-to-torture-and-inhuman-treatment-in-png.

The Royal Papua New Guinea’s Constabulary needs a complete overhaul to effectively protect and promote human rights, according to the UN Special Rapportuer on torture, Prof Manfred Nowak. Prof Nowak said  the PNG  Constabulary is not always in a position to enforce the rule of law due to insufficient human and financial resources, a high level of corruption and unprofessionalism, difficulties in accessing remote rural areas and a lack of political will. “ These deficiencies have led to private security companies carrying out some of the main duties of the police. Particularly worrying is the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary’s lack of capacity to prevent and to investigate crimes relating to domestic violence, tribal fighting and to victims of accusations of sorcery”, he said. “My main concerns are systematic beatings of detainees by the police upon arrest and within the first hours of detention, including during interrogation,” he said “This regular practice of police violence, corroborated by medical evidence, often reaches the level of torture,” added the Special Rapporteur.

He was particularly concerned that “prisoners who escape are subjected to severe punishment, amounting to torture, including through brutal beatings with bush knives and gun butts, shooting detainees at close range and cutting their tendons with axes and bush knives after they are apprehended, with the intent of disabling them. The victims are usually kept in punishment cells, without any medical treatment, which sometimes even led to their death.

Debate on Manus ‘processing centre’

Post Courier, 16 August

IT is unconstitutional to deny or deprive any person, citizen or otherwise, his constitutional right to liberty. Liberty simply means freedom from captivity. 
That’s from former acting Judge and senior Constitutional Lawyer, Nemo Yalo yesterday in relation to the Manus Processing Centre been reopened.
He said “ If the asylum “Processing Center” in Manus will resemble the jails in PNG and if the asylum seekers right to liberty will be deprived or limited or restricted like for those persons in jails throughout PNG, under law it will be unconstitutional under Section 42 of the Constitution if PNG is to build a processing center and keep asylum seekers. In a statement he said “The governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia are currently discussing the possibility of reviving the asylum seekers “processing center” in Manus Province. There is currently public debate for and against the issue. 
Others like the Governor of Manus Province are welcoming the idea and one can only speculate that he may have a shopping list in respect of infrastructure development to present to Rimbik Pato and Bob Carr.

Should PNG government jump to its feet and extend an outdated “yes master” gesture and dance to the dangling carrots tunes oblivious to her sovereignty? Does PNG have the relevant laws that respond to this particular issue? There is currently no law in PNG that deals with the issue.

Settlements must have access to service

Post Courier,

Aug 16

MEMBER for Port Moresby North West Michael Malabag wants settlements in his electorate to have access to services.
He said settlement dwellers do not have access to water, sanitation and electricity because they are not recognised in town planning. 
“Where they are not recognised, this is where major services cannot go through. These are real issues,” he said. He was referring to settlements from Baruni to the public dump site.
Like all MPs who have a lot of plans for his electorate so has Malabag. He plans to have a bypass built at Baruni village and a four-lane road from Badihagwa to the LNG site at Papa and Lealea.

PNG babies dying

The National, 16th August 2012

PAPUA New Guinea, has a high child mortality rate.
One child in every 13 will die before the age of five years, a rate far greater than any other in the Pacific region.

“I have eight children,” one mother said.
But only four children could be seen playing together in the yard.
When asked where the other four played, she answered: “They died.”
 Experts debate the reasons.
Is the cause of poverty lack of knowledge?
Many people agree education plays a big role in bringing people out of poverty.
Regardless of the reasons why Papua New Guinean babies are dying, at least part of the solution is empowering local mothers with knowledge and hope.

In PNG, From the Field to the Rubbish Heap

PNG Blogs, 16 Aug

Agriculture provides a livelihood to the majority of the population in Papua New Guinea. However, the loss and waste of an estimated half of all fresh produce between harvesting and marketing is threatening improvements to food security and local incomes. Yer Kirul, a fresh produce grower and vendor at Gordon’s food market in the capital, Port Moresby, told IPS: “We sell our produce, but not always all of it.  What isn’t sold is either given to street vendors at the end of the day or thrown away. There is a lot of waste.”

The FPDA reports that up to 50 percent of food produced in Papua New Guinea is lost in the post-harvest phase. The agency says quality is a critical issue, with a significant proportion of fresh food not meeting the standards of large buyers and wholesalers, often resulting in produce being sold at negligible prices or thrown away.

“Poor roads and transport infrastructure are a big issue in regard to post-harvest selling in Papua New Guinea,” said Nalau Bingeding, a research fellow at the National Research Institute. “A lot of garden food is produced in rural areas, but due to lack of roads and markets for the produce, the food is either wasted or fed to livestock.”

The Department of Works reports that only 2,609 kilometers of a total road network comprising 8,738 kilometers is rated in good condition and 64 percent of all national roads are unsealed.

Meanwhile, the FPDA, according to a spokesperson, is currently focused on developing the domestic market with many of the country’s food producers not yet ready to supply an overseas market. The agency is training farmers and developing technologies to improve the quality management of fresh produce and developing linkages between farmers and commercial buyers.

NSO Reveals Census Report out Mid-2013

The National, 16 August.

The final census report is expected to be out by mid-2013, National Statistician Joseph Aka said yesterday, Aka, chief executive officer of the National Statistics Office, said they were now working on the final stages of coding all forms and entries for storage and the final report would be released next year.  In April, the office disclosed preliminary figures, which showed the population had increased by 36%. The office said the population was now almost seven million. Aka said the final results would contain migration, labour force, unemployment and other development details. He said data entry into the process started last month where data was fixed into separate tables or categories to give specific information on areas of development. Census data is vital for government funding and planning of social and economic developments in the country. Aka said work was in progress to get the final report out. The preliminary report said there were 3,663,249 men and 3,336,249 women in the country.

Pregnant woman pack raped, dies

Post Courier, 22 Aug

A YOUNG pregnant woman died after she and her two friends were pack raped by criminals in Middle Ramu a fortnight ago.
The incident happened while the deceased and her two friends were travelling from their village in Yamo to Madang.
The three women were on their way to a base camp in Bogia to sell their garden produce and other items at the local market when they were attacked by criminals.
The women’s property, including cocoa beans, betelnuts and food crops, were taken by the criminal before raping them.
He said the women were continuously raped throughout the night until the next day when they were released.
He said the women then got onto their canoe and returned home where the pregnant woman was taken to a Catholic church–run health centre at Kwanga for examination but she died soon after arrival.
“It’s a day to day activity; people are being harrashed, beaten up and even slashed with knives and their goods stolen from them” A villager, speaking anonymously said. “There is no law and order, it’s an outlaw world where innocent people are targeted and people fear for their lives so they can’t report these matters to police” he said.
He claimed that the rape incident was never reported to the police as the villagers are afraid that the criminals will retaliate if they do so.

“There are only two police vehicles in Bogia but both of them are not roadworthy and the police cannot do much because they don’t have the resources,” the villager said.

Parents’ call on PNGEC

Post Courier, 23 Aug

THE parents of Western Highlands school children have called on the Electoral Commission (PNGEC) not to involve community, primary and secondary school teachers in future national elections.
They have blamed the commission for the delay in the resumption of classes in most schools throughout the province for the third school term.
Moge leader and councillor Jacob Wari raised the parents’ concern yesterday in Mt Hagen, saying if the Government was really concerned about the education and future of hundreds of thousands of school students throughout the country, it should direct Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen and his management team not to use teachers in any future national and local level government elections. The primary role of teachers is to teach. They are paid to teach. They do not work for the Electoral Commission,” he said.

Concerns raised over food safety

The National, 22 Aug

Food safety is not being prioritised by the national government, health department environment health manager Rose Kavanamur says. At a food safety workshop organised by EDES yesterday, Kavanamur told participants the food safety division in the health department was underfunded EDES, Greek for eat, is a four-year programme funded by the European Union that aims to strengthen food safety systems based on risk analysis in African, Caribbean and Pacific [ACP] Nations. To check food safety, especially imported food, we have to get tests done at laboratories and these labs charge fees that we cannot afford because there are no funds, she said. She said the division had only two staff responsible for food safety. Kavanamur said the Food Safety Council formed in 2002 had been inactive for the past two years. The council is supposed to meet four times a year but they didn’t meet over the past two years. She said an example was the proposed ban on lamb flaps, which could not be implemented because there was no scientific evidence to prove to the World Trade Organisation that it was a health risk.

Query on SABL inquiry


Post Courier 30 August

A concerned local villager from Hoskins, West New Britain, is querying the Commission of Inquiry into Special Agriculture and Business Leases and is calling on the Government to come out and tell the people of the outcome.
David Kura, Chairman of Rigula ILG of Hoskins, West New Britain, one of the largest oil palm estates acquired under the Lease-lease back system by multi-million kina company, New Britain Palm Oil Limited, said that a Commission of Inquiry has been held nationwide recently. But the aggrieved landowners were still waiting to know of the decisions pertaining to large tracts of their traditional land acquired in dubious means under this land acquisition mechanism.
He said it was obvious the people had suffered loss of their land and blamed the Department of Lands and Physical Planning for facilitating failed land reform evident in continual changes effected on, especially the process of registering Incorporation Land Groups. 
He said that the K50 per hectare monthly rentals was peanuts and the 10 percent monthly ffb (fresh fruit bunch) proceeds was not enough to raise the people’s standard of living in any given society.
He said that the NBPOL needed to come out and do a case study on how the livelihoods of the local people had been impacted by the oil palm industry and produce a realistic report on the whole issue rather than making biased reports.

Repentence Day does not serve its purpose

Post Courier, 29 August

MAY I add my voice to the chorus that you will receive protesting about the imposition of an unclear national holiday? It is supposed to be a Day of Repentance, but it is hard to see how repentance can be achieved by a paid holiday. The only ones doing penance are employers, including mainline churches, who have to find the money to pay their workers for doing nothing on this day! Other victims are the children in our schools desperate to catch up for lost time in the elections, and all the other recipients of our services. It seems to me that this imposition is the result of a powerful lobby of Zionists who do not provide any vital service and represent the majority of Christian’s views.
if the State wishes to recognise the role of Christianity in PNG Beyond the existing Christmas and Easter, and beyond the already gazetted national Day of Prayer associated with the Independence Day Holiday, then they should consult with the wider Christian community through the PNG Council of Churches and the Evangelical Alliance. The churches that have been part of the fabric of PNG society for over a hundred years are better placed to provide advice on this than a relatively new, small, movement within Christianity.

Douglas W. Young, SVD
 Archbishop of Mount Hagen

How you voted

Weekend Courier 11-12 August, 2012
OUT of the 4.8 million eligible voters who enrolled for the 2012 National Election, a total of 3.7 million cast their ballots and 1.1 million of them didn’t vote for various reasons, according to preliminary figures released by the Electoral Commission this week.
Of the 3,571,072 million people who voted in the first preferences, 101,179 votes were declared as informal.
The report provides details for polling from June-July in all the 111 open and provincial electorates, including the two new provinces of Hela and Jiwaka.
The report says that 4,776,096 eligible voters enrolled, 3,672,251 million actually voted and more than 1 million didn’t vote.
According to the Electoral Commission, the preliminary figures for the 2012 polls for each of the provinces are as follows:
Bougainville – 151,793 voters enrolled; 60,797 voted; and 50, 000 didn’t vote.
Central – 153, 439 enrolled; 123,496 voted; 29, 943 didn’t vote.
Chimbu – 257,791 enrolled; 256,122 voted; 1, 669 didn’t vote.
East New Britain – 158,630 enrolled; 92,241 voted; 64, 389 didn’t vote.
East Sepik – 277,524 enrolled; 198,955 voted; 78, 569 didn’t vote.
Eastern Highlands – 437, 139 enrolled; 430,560 voted; 78, 560 didn’t vote.
Enga – 344,501 enrolled; 329,015 voted; 15, 486 didn’t vote.
Gulf – 88,955 enrolled; 62,399 voted; 26, 556 didn’t vote.
Hela – 222,309 enrolled; 147, 831 voted; 74, 478 didn’t vote.
Jiwaka – 206,280 enrolled; 196,741 voted; 9,439 didn’t vote.
Madang – 306,888 enrolled; 206,465 voted; 100, 423 didn’t vote.
Manus – 32, 879 enrolled; 24,391 voted; 7,488 didn’t vote.
Milne Bay – 148,968 enrolled; 108,117 voted; 40, 851 didn’t vote.
Morobe – 416, 850 enrolled; 289,578 voted; 127, 272 didn’t vote.
NCD – 253, 880 enrolled; 107,990 voted; 145, 890 didn’t vote.
New Ireland – 84, 533 enrolled; 57,624 voted; 26, 909 didn’t vote.
Northern – 102, 524 enrolled; 72, 491 voted; 30, 033 didn’t vote.
Southern Highlands – 395,713 enrolled; 371,465 voted; 24, 248 didn’t vote.
West New Britain – 146, 886 enrolled; 92,291 voted; 54, 595 didn’t vote.
West Sepik – 149, 412 enrolled; 111,534 voted; 37, 878 didn’t vote.
Western – 123, 729 enrolled; 73,281 voted; 50,548 didn’t vote.
Western Highlands – 229,952 enrolled; 278,901 voted; 43, 382 didn’t vote.
About 76.89 per cent of the total eligible voters participated in the 2012 National General Election.

Has it been a free and fair election in Papua New Guinea?  Maybe it depends on the criteria used to respond to that question.  The writer has video footage of an elderly woman going to vote and a supporter calling out “She’s mine, I paid her already.”  Was the old lady forced to accept money for her vote?  Yet, presumably having accepted the money it appears that she had also mortgaged her freedom.  How fair is it when people must weigh up the cost of not voting for a candidate when that might put their public service jobs in jeopardy?  If measured on the scale of one person, one secret vote,  the election as I witnessed it in the Highlands was neither free nor fair.  On the other hand, there has been a communal expression of opinion that has resulted in a relatively peaceful change of political leadership in many electorates. So, though it seems hardly to apply to the situation I have witnessed over the past month, the question of a free and fair election must continue to be raised so as to further the dialogue between present realities and the democratic ideal.

See Key findings of the Commonwealth observers’ interim statement on PNG’s National Elections on the last pages of these notes.

Game of money and PNG Politics

Henry Lubang in  PNG Blogs June 25, 2012

MONEY has always been a part of politics – but it should not be a determining factor in the outcome of elections. Many citizens, including non-incumbent intending candidates, often argue that last-minute funding is nothing but some sort of pork-barreling used by MPs to entice voters.

In the fear of being voted out due to reasons such as years of inactivity in office, incumbents sometimes resort to pork-barreling.

The challenge now appears to be one where there is a need to identify which is pre-election funding and which is campaign funding. Apart from this, it would also help to place a time limit (eg six months before writs are issued) on the delivery of programmes and projects funding, especially during the election year. Perhaps, this will help everyone by clearing the air from allegations using pre-election funding for campaign purposes.

Audit needed after elections

Editorial – The National, 12th July 2012

THE Commonwealth Observer Group’s findings this time are, of course, the same as the findings of the 2007 commonwealth observer group. This time, as last time, the team has pointed out:

The need to improve management of elections;
That common roll be drastically improved;
The huge discrimination against women voters;
Bribery which is rampant;
Delays in polling and counting;
Lack of concern and urgency by election officials; and
The list goes on. This is nothing new.

The question we must ask again is whatever happened between 2007 and 2012?
Why were all the problems observed above in 2007 not fixed in time for 2012?
After 2007, the Australian taxpayer, through its government, poured in millions of kina under the electoral support programme to see improved elections management, elections operations, with particular emphasis on the updating of the common roll.
There was no doubt that a huge effort was being made to improve elections.
Alas, it has come to nothing.
The problems that marred the 2007 elections, which the programme was meant to minimise or eradicate altogether, have remained and have been compounded in the 2012 national election.
By many accounts, they have got worse. How worse, we shall have an answer when the elections are concluded.
We would ask that following the elections, an inquiry or even an audit of the elections be undertaken by a reputable and independent team of people.

Papua New Guinea is sick and tired of corrupt Leaders.

From PNGblogs.com  24^th July.

PNG this elections do not want a repeat of what we have seen in the last 12 months- where waigani was looted of over K500 million by the government, our Judiciary and government institutions were fragmented and left in tatters, and our Constitution torn to shreds.

We want stable intelligent respectful dignified honest and honourable leaders, fit to hold our hopes and our asperations as a nation in their hands, and carry us through what promises to be a prosperous and yet very turbulent period of our history. We want maturity. We want leaders who look like and who carry themselves and who personify the nation of Papua New Guinea.

We dont want leaders who will for the sake of their business interests sell this nation out to other nations. Papua New Gunea is not a comodity or a play thing for politicians to further their own private business and economic interests.

We have gone to the elections to forget, and get away from the nightmare of the last twelve months, not to legitimize it. Let every MP vote wisely and vote freely for the best interests of this nation.

Politics and Religion don’t mix

The National, 17th July, 2012

We have been receiving increasing number of correspondences from people throughout the country who hold a dim view towards men of the cloth entering elections to become politicians.
Indeed, priests, pastors and other ordained members of Christian churches have always been popular candidates in many elections.
It is easy to see why.
They are seen to represent all the good attributes the people want to see in a leader – God-fearing, honest and fair with a heart for the people. Whether or not the men of God exhibit any of these attributes once they gain membership to parliament is another story.
People have had enough of them in parliament to be able to form their own judgment.
By and large, with the exception of a leaders such as John Momis, formerly a Catholic priest who has won every Bougainville election since pre-independence days prior to the crisis, the people have rejected church leaders after a single term.
Jesus’ message remains. Religious teaching does not praise wealth or politics but, today, religious practice would appear to be the shortcut to both.
Take, for example, the slender almost-starved bible-wielding preacher at the market place. He only remains starved for the time it takes to gather enough followers.
Once he has the necessary following, he forms a splinter church group under some nice sounding name, acquires land in the name of God, builds a church which provides accommodation and transfers land titles to himself and then he grows fat on tithes with an attempt at politics a distinct possibility. Yes, churchmen and women are citizens with equal rights including the right to stand for public office but they must be genuine. If they are serious, they must stand down as church leaders, resign their church positions and enter politics.
Politics and religion, ever since the great teacher himself ruled those dimensions apart, can never be united.

The Force shows appreciation

Post Courier  27/7/2012….

Rabiamul Primary School in the heart of Mt Hagen City got a boost this week from their neighbouring friends who are members of PNG Defence Force.
Members of Quick Reaction Force and composite company who reside at Mt Hagen Rabiamul Camp presented two sets of gifts as a token of appreciation to Rebiamul Primary School for being good to them since the beginning of their operation.
There were two sets of gifts presented to the school by the two units. Gardening tools were purchased and presented by members of the Composite Company while Quick Reaction Force Unit had bought and presented sporting gifts to the school.
The officer in command Captain Raymond Pakii led his troops into the school to present the gifts at the school grounds on Wednesday.
Captain Pakii said from the first week of their arrival at Rabiamul Camp, the school had been so kind to them by donating huge amounts of garden foods and fruits which they shared among the entire operational forces.
In return the two units had bought them these gifts to be used in school activities.
Captain Pakii told the students that in the next election the power of voting will be in their hands and they must vote in good leaders that will develop their schools, roads and hospitals.
Rebiamul Primary School Head Teacher William Yoka in return thanked the PNGDF personnel for being kind enough to return their favour.
“When new people come into our land to provide services to our people, we need to feed them so that they got enough strength to perform their duties and that’s what Rabiamul Primary did,” he said.

Hospital in Hagen adopts local solution

The National, 29th June, 2012

MT HAGEN provincial hospital in Western Highlands province has begun using the new hand-washing solution.
This solution, known as the alcohol hand-rub solution, would reduce infection at the hospital and health facilities in the rural areas.

The mixture of liquids, compromising ethanol, hydrogen peroxide and glycerol, is recommended by the World Health Organisation.
The solution would be used by medical officers, nurses and community health workers.
Quality assurance officer Sister Lynette Babah said where there was no water and soap for health staff to wash their hands after attending to patients, they could use this solution to clean their hands.
Dr Guapo Kiagi said the new product was not a substitute for water and soap for hand washing and urged all staff not to use it if they had access to water and soap.

Airstrips shut down. Goods, services not reaching remote villages

Post Courier 29 June

Millions of people in remote villages where there are no road links are silently suffering from basic services as a result of hundreds of remote airstrips in the country being forced to close due to lack of maintenance. 
MAF International development director Bill Harding brought the issue to light in yesterday’s meeting with stakeholders.
 MAF services 250 airstrips in the country carrying medical supplies, goods and other essential items.
It was revealed that MAF carries 40,000 passengers annually which includes church and health workers, teachers and students, medavacs, and freights.
Freight flown weighs up to 3,000,000kg annually. Despite all the hard work and dedication MAF loses K2,000,000 every year and yet they continue to fly with minimal Government support.
During the meeting, Mr Harding highlighted a case study conducted by MAF on the deteriorating state of airstrips in the country. One such case was the case of Wangeto airstrip where a MAF aircraft that flew two government workers with their families faced a hurdle during landing when the aircraft plunged into mud on a soft spot of the runway.

PIH works on 80-bed hospital

The National, 29th June, 2012

AN international standard of medical care not available in the country will soon be provided by the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby. The new hospital will have a cardiac centre, chemotherapy infusion centre, advanced radio-imaging and minimum invasive surgery options.
Hospital consultant ophthalmologist, Dr Amyna Sultan said “phacoemulsification” cataract surgery was introduced in November, 2010. It was the first keyhole surgery for cataract in Papua New Guinea. “With its success, we realised that it is important to bring to PNG such keyhole surgeries that are a very safe way of treating patients worldwide,” she said.
She said in minimum invasive surgeries, there were no big incisions and scars, wounds healed quicker and a patient’s recovery time was substantially reduced.

The hospital has carried out around 3,000 free eye checks and 1,200 free dental checks as well as free mammography, which is a breast X-ray for screening and early detection of breast cancer.

Judge: Improve detention centres

The National, 05th July, 2012

A JUDGE has ordered government authorities in Madang to assist the police and correctional services in improving conditions in detention centres. Resident judge Justice David Cannings has given a list of things to be fixed in the jail and police cells by the end of the month, to comply with constitutional requirements on the respect of basic human rights.
There is the right to be free from inhuman treatment under certain sections of the constitution.
He ordered that at the Beon jail:
– Water supply be restored, and the sewer system repaired;
– Ablution blocks be cleaned out thoroughly;
– Ablution facilities to be operational;
– Four new 2,000-gallon water tanks be installed;
– Bed and blankets to be supplied to all prisoners including treated mosquito nets;
– All cell blocks to be fly screened; and
– Water supply and septic system in the female compound to be given special attention.
In Jomba, Cannings ordered that sewerage and waste be pumped out and the cells be cleaned up.

The jail commander, Jomba police station commander, provincial health advisor and Water PNG branch manager are summoned to the court on Aug 10 to give a report of what they have done.

Night clubs under close ‘scrutiny’

Post Courier 18/7/2012

A striking revelation has been made by members of the taskforce “Rausim Alien”.
The group are tasked to investigate the conduct of foreigners in Papua New Guinea over working conditions of PNG females in foreign owned nightclubs.
“It has been discovered that female hostess employed at the night clubs are required to consume only certain alcohol beverages (Moscow/Scotch whisky) which cost around K12 per bottle and out of that K12 every K3 goes back to make up wages for the hostesses.
Indirectly this means that the more beer a hostess drinks, the more money she makes for her wages. Thus this employment condition forces the ladies to drink as much as four to six cartons of alcohol in a week. And in order to make more money, more the hostess are required to entice the customers to buy more of that alcohol so that the club can make more money at the expense of these ladies.

Consider the nation’s health

Editorial. The National, July 19th, 2012

PAPUA New Guinea has myriad challenges in just about every sector of its society.

Health has been one area that has suffered due to a lack of funding and a proper national strategy to deal with the challenges of a population that is largely rural based but moving to urbanised settings in increasing numbers. The main problems with health care in PNG are that the service does not cater for the population, particularly in rural areas, mostly because the state has not increased its funding to match the needs of today, and there is a shortage of qualified medical personnel.

In terms of facilities, our major hospitals have lacked key diagnostic and other machinery used to treat the sick. In the urban areas of the country, the problem is more of cost and lifestyle while the rural majority must contend with a lack of basic medicines, staff and facilities. This trend must be changed or we will continue to have unnecessary deaths especially to the economically and socially productive members of our communities.

According the United Nations Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific in 2011, PNG has the fourth lowest life expectancy with the males averaging 59 years and females at 64 years. Only Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Afghanistan rated worse than us.

Our Pacific Island neighbours fared much better with 66 years (male) and 72 years (female) for Fiji. Samoa and Tonga’s figures were even better with men averaging 69 years and women at 75.

The state and provincial governments must make health a primary, and mandatory, concern in their budgets.

Cultural Identity and diversity 

The National, July 20th, 2012

TOO engrossed in our elections, much of PNG did not follow what went on for the past two weeks in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara. More than 22,000 people converged on the small Melanesian neighbour over the two weeks which we are certain was a welcome respite for the country struggling economy.
There a cultural extravaganza was in full blossom with participants from no less than 23 countries of the South Pacific. Papua New Guinea, at the cost of K900,000, sent a 130-member delegation to the South Pacific Arts festival. The 130-member PNG team was formidable but, unfortunately, could only manage four troupes. There was a mask dance crew from New Ireland and Gulf, the famous Asaro mudmen from Eastern Highlands and a Sepik contemporary dance crew from the Maprik.
A bigger team with perhaps more different performances or even the teams were able to perform a variety of different dances and costumes from throughout the country might have helped display PNG’s rich cultural diversity far more.

To its eternal shame, Papua New Guinea has done little over the years to promote the richness of its diverse people. Slowly, over time cultural museums in the provinces have evaporated.
There are no longer any contemporary song and dance groups.
The rare skills of carving, of ornate designs in belt making, of fashioning canoe heads, the art of making bilum, are all but extinct today.
Yes, culture is dynamic and that nothing can remain static but at least the old ways must be remembered before the change of times can be added to the original.
Without a cultural identity, this nation is without a soul.

Sapuri: PNG reports high cancer Rate 

The National, July 20th, 2012

PAPUA New Guinea has one of the highest rates of oral and cervical cancer in the world, a gynae­cologist says. At the launching of the new vaccine, Gardasil, last week at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby, Dr Mathias Sapuri said a health department report had shown increases in cases of cancer among women. He said statistics from 2000-04 showed breast cancer in the 15-44 age groups rose from 8.49 per 100,000 in 2000 to 46.5 in 2004.
Cervical cancer increased from 69.8 per 100,000 in 2000 to 96.7 in 2004.
Oral cancer also rose from 26.6 100,000 in 2000 to 41.7 in 2004 in the same age group.
“Real figures could be higher as technology and data are not up to date,” he said.
Sapuri said cervical cancer was the leading killer of women in the country, claiming more than 3,000 lives every year.

Social transformation & violence in Papua New Guinea

From   Pacific Institute

Engendering Violence in Papua New Guinea. Edited by Margaret Jolly and Christine Stewart with Carolyn Brewer. Available online or in paperback from ANU E Press

 THIS COLLECTION BUILDS on previous works on gender violence in the Pacific, but goes beyond some previous approaches to domestic violence or violence against women in analysing the dynamic processes of engendering violence in PNG.

‘Engendering’ refers not just to the sex of individual actors, but to gender as a crucial relation in collective life and the massive social transformations ongoing in PNG: conversion to Christianity, the development of extractive industries, the implanting of introduced models of justice and the law and the spread of HIV.

Hence the collection examines issues of ‘troubled masculinities’ as much as ‘battered women’ and tries to move beyond the black and white binaries of blaming either tradition or modernity as the primary cause of gender violence.

Free shopping rumours create chaos [in Wewak]

The National, 25th July, 2012

WEWAK town was thrown into chaos yesterday morning after rumours circulated that there would be free shopping. People, mainly youths, wrestled with security guards to try to enter supermarkets and shops. There was total confusion as all major shops and supermarkets in town closed out of fear of looting. Police mobile squad personnel who were in the province, joined local police in preventing people from entering the shops. The rumour that shops would open and let people pick things for free started spreading around Wewak soon after Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare’s election victory was announced last Saturday.

The shops remained closed in the morning and reopened at midday with armed policemen stationed outside.

Get serious with education

The National, Thursday July 26th, 2012

The question of having the nation’s children and youth educated without cost to the parent is a utopian ideal. Very few countries in the world have tried this policy, and those that have could not sustain fully the costs associated with the public service.
If the new government is serious about staying the course providing free education, then the honeymoon is over with regards to the pronouncements and posturing. The 2013 school year is barely seven months away and an O’Neill-led coalition government, which would be formed after the return of writs, would have to make the call on rolling out the policy in effect come 2013.
Is the timeframe feasible? Can it be done?
We would have to answer in the negative, simply for the reason that the whole polling and counting period has been a protracted affair with so many instances of irregularity and foul play being alleged in electorates across the country. The courts will be swamped with many a losing candidate disputing results. That alone virtually assures a government with preoccupations taking it away from its job of governing the nation. Despite this potential delay, if free education is to become the reality many parents are hoping for, then, there is another set of entirely different and, perhaps, more important questions that must be answered sufficiently before the policy can be implemented.
If you increase the volume of students through school gates overnight, then, that too will bring on problems of its own. PNG schools and education institutions must be suitably staffed, equipped and built up to cater for this expected increase in student numbers. This is where the real costs lie as many schools already operate on a bare minimum of facilities and materials.

Presently, the statistics quoted by various state departments, including education and labour, estimate that of the 50,000 (secondary and tertiary) school leavers churned out annually, only a fifth can be absorbed directly into the workforce. This means the government is faced with a problem that is growing rapidly. Job creation is the obvious answer but the graduating student must also be of a standard that allows him or her to find employment.
Urbanisation has recently become a buzz word in economic circles. But the incoming government must set aside resources and come up with workable strategies to reshape  the country’s economy back to one where there is more emphasis on agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry and cottage industries. They should be re-established as the backbone of the economy.
So the conundrum the next prime minister faces in relation to the free education policy, if he chooses to pursue it, is to provide every child an education and, at the same time, maintain and improve the quality of schooling. And at the end, provide jobs for the graduates the system produces. It is a tall order but one that holds the key to the nation’s future.

20 die in Southern Highlands after facilities close

The National, Friday July 20th, 2012

AT least 20 people have died in Southern Highlands’ Nipa-Kutubu electorate after health centres serving about 100,000 people closed last month due to a shortage of medicine. District administrator for Nipa-Kutubu Robin Pip told The National yesterday from Nipa that all the health centres shut down early last month. Pip said a private company engaged by the Health Department to deliver medical supplies to his district failed to do so in the past four months.
He gave his district vehicle to the staff of Nipa health centre on three occasions to drive into Mt Hagen to enquire about their supplies. The workers at the area medical store assured them of the supply but didn’t deliver, Pip said.

Cop admits to raping suspect

The National, June 25th, 2012

A POLICEMAN has admitted raping a woman inside a room at the Boroko police cell.
Danny Karayo pleaded guilty before Justice George Manuhu in the Waigani National Court last Thursday.
Police said on March 7, 2010, the victim was sexually assaulted by Karayo inside the finger-printing room. The woman had been detained for questioning.
Karayo, who was on duty that night, approached the victim between 4am and 5am and threatened her into having sex with him.
He told the woman that if she refused, he would take her to where 50 other detainees were kept and they would all rape her.

Treasury: LNG proceeds won’t impact in leaps and bounds

The National, July 13th, 2012

DESPITE all the hype, proceeds from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will not impact the economy significantly in the short to medium term, according to the Treasury Department.
The economy will continue to grow between 2013 and 2016 but not in the “leaps and bounds” fashion many associate with the advent of the first gas in 2014. Total revenue is projected to grow from K8.9 billion next year to K11.8 billion in 2016. Recurrent expenditure is projected to grow by K1 billion a year from K6.06 billion next year to K9.15 billion three years later. Development expenditure – that money to develop the country – will actually be stagnant over the period and indeed will recede. Anticipated development expenditure for 2013 is K4.29 billion. Come 2016 this expenditure will be only K4.1 billion. A paper was presented recently by Nancy Lelang, acting assistant secretary for the forecasting branch of the Economic Policy Division.
It is critical that government expenditure be kept stable in line with projected revenue over the medium term. Any uncontrolled spending by the incoming government this year will impact significantly in future.

Chase your dreams, says Mek

The National, July 27th, 2012

PRESIDENT of the highlands region council of women Paula Mek says women in PNG should take advantage of the momentum set by the new female MPs and chase their dreams.
She said their victory was an eye opener for every woman in the country and they should look ahead and aim for their goals. Now is the time for women to carry on with what they think is healthy for them, their families and the nation. Speaking to The National at her Paula Haus Win guest house in Mt Hagen yesterday, Mek said woman had the potential to take up politics and businesses, and address issues affecting the country. She said Delilah Gore’s victory in the Sohe open seat and Loujaya Toni’s in the Lae open seat was a triumph for women in this country.
It needed only commitment and concentration to move things ahead, she said.
She said Dame Carol Kidu’s decision to quit politics may have caused some women to think they could no longer share responsibilities with men in the decision-making roles.

The Word from Anna

THE DRUM   Post Courier  26/7/2012
FORMER WORD Publishing newspaper GM and long serving journo Anna Solomon was a very happy woman yesterday. She proudly quipped: “Three of the current MPs are all ex Word Publishing products. Current NCD Governor Powes Parkop started as a journo at The Times before Anna sent him off to law school. New Lae MP Loujaya Toni was also a Wantok reporter before Anna saw her singing talent and packed her off to music school. Then there was in the days of ‘cut and paste’, a young paste up artist named Titus Philemon at Word Publishing, now the returning Governor of Milne Bay. Philemon left Word because he wanted to help set up a bakery back home. It now seems the dough has risen, the buns have been baked and we are now awaiting the bread crumbs!

Greenpeace Report on SABLs in PNG

http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/PageFiles/441577/Up_For_Grabs.pdf

The report also reveals that

– Log exports in PNG grew by almost 20 per cent in 2011 due almost entirely to logging within SABLs.

– Since 2006, logging companies have exported over 1.5 million cubic metres of whole logs from SABLs, amassing over USD 145 million for the companies involved.

– 75 per cent of SABLs are controlled by foreign-owned corporations and almost all the logs are being exported to China.

– The PNG Government was grossly negligent in its responsibility to protect the rights of customary landholders while they were being pressured by logging companies to hand over their land.

Commonwealth observers’ interim statement on PNG’s National Elections   http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/248442/110712pnginterim.htm

Key Findings

Papua New Guinea’s 2012 elections have seen some progress and some setbacks in the country’s efforts to strengthen its democracy. Up to this point, some of the benchmarks for democratic processes have been met, but several serious concerns need to be addressed for the future. Significant challenges remain to achieve the efficient and effective management of elections to ensure maximum franchise for citizens, appropriate and consistent electoral practices for the exercise of that franchise, and a strong culture of democracy throughout the country.

Legal Framework

· Overall, the legal framework in Papua New Guinea provides the necessary foundation for democratic elections. This includes universal suffrage, and the safeguarding of human rights such as freedom of association, assembly and movement.

· A major remaining obstacle to democracy is the widespread, deeply-rooted discrimination against women. The Commonwealth Observer Group strongly emphasises the need to accelerate efforts to establish a legal framework and other measures to address the very uneven playing field for women’s political participation.

The Campaign

· Those with whom we met in the final days of the campaign period reported that the campaigning was competitive, and mostly peaceful. Candidates generally complied with the campaign deadline of 22 June 2012.

· Concerns were raised, however, with the Group about the rise of money politics in these elections, including widespread reported attempts by candidates to bribe voters directly, on a scale far greater than ever before. The Group encourages the further strengthening and enforcement of laws relating to campaign financing, bribery, treating and undue influence.

Election Management

· The staff of the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission, both in Port Moresby and around the country, worked hard in very challenging circumstances. Nevertheless, the Group observed that there was an unfortunate level of disorganisation and inconsistency in aspects of election management.

· Widespread delays in the polling schedule were of concern, given their potential to confuse and disenfranchise voters, and the cost and security implications of further extending an already lengthy election period. Delays occurred in certain places due to weather conditions, but in many cases were caused by late distribution of polling materials and personnel, tardy payment of allowances to officials and security forces, and failures in logistics planning. Commonwealth observers sometimes detected a lack of urgency to ensure that the polling schedule was met. Attention needs to be given to the further strengthening of election management, including refining the systems for delegated authority to the provincial and district levels, to ensure the necessary efficiency, oversight and accountability for a timely and effective poll.

Electoral Roll

· The Group observed problems with the electoral roll in all provinces visited. The proportion of voters turned away varied between areas, and there were multiple apparent causes including: the integrity of the electoral roll itself, confusion over names used by voters, a lack of clarity in the allocation of voters to specific Wards, and the limited ability of polling officials to verify enrolment information on polling day.

· The widespread disenfranchisement of citizens of Papua New Guinea who wished to vote is a serious problem that must be addressed through a more reliable and efficient voter registration and electoral roll management system, including the incorporation of some form of voter identification, and better measures for verification and redress during polling. This issue has been repeatedly raised during past elections in Papua New Guinea, including by Commonwealth observer groups. It must be addressed as an urgent priority following the 2012 election.

Voting

· There were significant delays to the opening time of polling stations almost everywhere, and this was exacerbated by the observation of Commonwealth Observer Group members in many places that polling stations also closed earlier than 6pm. Failure to accord sufficient respect to the designated polling times has the potential to disenfranchise voters, and is a serious concern.

· The Group witnessed wide variance in voting practices around the country. In coastal and islands provinces, the procedures were correctly followed in most respects, and voters (whose names were located on the electoral roll) were able to exercise their votes freely and in secret.

· In the Highlands provinces, on the other hand, a great many anomalies were observed in the practice of voting. Most of the polling stations we visited did not provide for the secrecy of the ballot, with voting taking place in public and often being done by polling officials or even by candidates or scrutinisers on behalf of voters. Our teams also saw multiple voting, “bloc” voting, and apparently underage voters, in a number of locations.

· We were also concerned by reports of intimidation of voters by candidates and their supporters at certain polling locations.

· The Group welcomed the initiative taken to provide for voters with disability in the 2012 election. Members of the Group visited the dedicated facilities established for disabled voters in Port Moresby and Lae, and also witnessed disabled voters being given priority and assistance in several other polling places. These steps toward empowering persons with disability as participants in the electoral process are laudable, and the Group hopes they can be further built upon in future elections.

The Count

· Although there have been some procedural disputes and delays, the counting process, as observed by members of the Group so far, has been conducted in a transparent and diligent manner.

· A positive development observed by the Group was the new system for digital transmission of results from counting centres to the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission, which allowed for timely updating of results on the Commission’s website and through the media. This has increased the transparency of the counting process, and is to be commended.

· The Group will continue to monitor the counting and results processes in the coming days.

Security

· The Commonwealth Observer Group welcomes the patience and restraint of the vast majority of people involved with the election, and the excellent work of many members of the security forces, which have resulted to date in a largely peaceful poll.

· There have been, however, some serious incidents of election-related violence, some of which resulted in the tragic loss of life and destruction of property. The Group is also aware of some attempts to disrupt the election in particular locations, including by hijacking or destroying ballot boxes. The Group welcomes the efforts of security forces to stop these actions and arrest their perpetrators, and urges all Papua New Guineans to refrain from criminal acts that interfere with the election process.

· Concerns were raised with the Group about some members of the security forces in certain areas acting in support of particular candidates. The Group emphasises that all security personnel must remain completely objective and impartial at all times in the performance of their duties.

At this crucial stage in the electoral process, the Commonwealth Observer Group urges all Papua New Guineans to continue to exercise patience and to allow the election process to be completed in a peaceful and lawful way. The Group likewise urges the Papua New Guinean Electoral Commission and other relevant authorities to ensure that the counting and results processes and those steps which follow, including any election-related legal matters, be concluded in a timely and transparent manner, in order to ensure full accountability for, and confidence in, the outcomes of the election.

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 11 July 2012