P.N.G. Gossip Newsletter - 31 July 2000

PNG Gossip Newsletter Meri Milne Bay
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Welcome to the Papua New Guinea Gossip. If you have comments or suggestions to make then please e-mail them to giaman@png-gossip.com

Articles for this newsletter

To send a message for submission to the PNG Gossip Newsletter queue -- please e-mail your contribution to pngnews.queue@png-gossip.com

Remember that this mailing list is mainly meant for people who have an interest and already know a little bit about the people and geography of Papua New Guinea. The PNG Kina, which is mentioned from time to time, is currently worth about 35 to 36 United States cents but varies on a daily basis.

If you are really keen a currency converter for most world currencies can be located at http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/moni.html

For those who are not so familiar with the geography of Papua New Guinea I suggest taking a look http://maps.expedia.com/ and then click on the find a map option.

Also remember that the accuracy of the information in this newsletter should not be relied upon - it is, after all, a gossip newsletter.

If a longer URL in this newsletter appears to be broken, please manually cut and then paste the link into your browser.



Prices around Port Moresby

Computers and Communications

This company no longer operates in PNG.
http://www.computers.com.pg -- have various Epson Ink Cartridges on sale:

Black Cartridges
Colour Cartridge
Note: all the prices listed above include VAT

Courts - Furnishings

From time to time readers ask about the price of furniture in PNG so here are a few prices for items from Courts who have stores in Port Moresby, Lae, Kokopo, Mount Hagen, Goroka and Madang. It is very difficult to give prices on unseen items but here goes.

Bicycles

PNG Fibreglass Manufacturers -- Boats

Both of the boats mentioned above come with 3 life jackets, two paddles and an anchor.

Private Hospital

What has happened to the private hospital being built by the Motor Vehicles Insurance group of Finance Pacific? The hospital appears to have been completed many months ago and the rumour going around is that although the construction work is finished there is no money to stock the hospital with such things everyday items such as beds. Wasn't that what stopped the Japanese funded Port Moresby General Hospital upgrade from opening years ago.

Post PNG

If I didn't know better I, like the contributor of this article, think that maybe we should send some Post PNG staff over to help them out!

"NEW YORK (AP) - Because of a problem with new software, tens of thousands of pieces of certified mail have piled up in postal warehouses, including important tax payments and legal documents. In one Connecticut case, a certified letter containing a $10 million check for a tax payment was delayed. On Thursday, New York City finance department officials met with Postal Service executives to ask why $75 million of tax payments sat in the Church Street post office in Manhattan from mid-June until mid-July."

Internet Access

It has been rumoured that users of the Internet in PNG will soon have access to double the bandwidth. Currently the international gateway is set at one megabit per second but soon it will be upgraded to 2 megabits per second. Wow, I'm sure I know some people in USA that have that bandwidth into their own house!

Maybe this will be like the proposed upgrade of the mobile telephone system from analogue to digital - forever on hold!


Enga Show

The Enga provincial show is all set to go on the 11th to the 13th of August. The show events boast such things as singsing groups from all over the highlands, ritual demonstrations, primitive arts and crafts, archery, traditional axe making and wood chopping, traditional salt making, initiation rites, corporate displays, traditional bridge construction and a whole lot more.

All of that and the gate entry has been set at only K2.00 for adults and K1.00 for children. If anyone is interested then the Enga Cultural Show Society can be contacted at PO Box 124, Wabag, Enga Province, PNG Fax/Phone (+675) 547 1128


All-Women Cultural Show

The show, recently held in Goroka, proved that women in PNG are often underestimated. All gate takings, all stall displays, all of the traditional dancing and judging were performed by women. The women even won the greasy pole contest. The event was a major tourist attraction and all accommodation in Goroka was fully booked out.

Besides the women from Eastern Highlands women from Chimbu, Enga, Western Highlands and Southern Highlands took part.


Airfares

Once again it seems that the travelling public are about to be hit with yet another rise in airfares. This time the increase will be in a bid to make the Civil Aviation Authority self supporting financially. It might also take some of the burden off the airlines that have been paying for cleaners and security for many years at various airports around PNG.


MBA Airlines of PNG

28 employees of MBA have been laid off due to a downturn in the number of people travelling. This number includes nine licensed aircraft mechanical engineers, six aircraft mechanical engineers, three assistant aircraft mechanical engineers, two vehicle mechanics, three aircraft cleaners, two secretarial and data operators, two storemen and a sign writer. Some of the lay offs were possible due to a recent rationalisation of aircraft by MBA.

It is also believed that Air Niugini is embarking on another attempt to reduce staff numbers especially in the engineering area also due to a rationalisation of aircraft and downturn in passenger numbers. (One Airbus and one Dash 8 have been returned for sale.) A previous attempt by the airline failed.


Salvation Army

The Salvation Army's Red Shield appeal has raised K215,000 for the 1999 - 2000 period. This was about K5,000 more than what the Appeal committee expected.


Madang Town

Apart from the fact that the Governor of Madang has gone into hiding after a nasty road accident over 500 houses in Madang will soon be connected to their own septic tanks and will be able to throw away the buckets they have been using for more years than most people would want to remember. Progress certainly takes a while to reach some parts of PNG especially when reported on the same day a 30-year-old designed Concorde has crashed and the international space station took a step forward with the docking of a Russian made module.

Relatives of the man who died in the Madang Governor's car crash have sought K10 million in compensation from the Governor.


Telecommunications

Here is a small article that appeared several weeks ago and I managed to overlook it, or maybe I thought it was too close to being the norm to be worthy of mention to readers in PNG?

The telephone link to Mendi in the Southern Highlands province has been cut for the last seven months! The cut has affected all of the province. An official of Telikom has said it would be a while before the service is restored.


Mt Hagen

Paul Pora, the member for Hagen Open electorate, has pledged more than K200,000 out of his Rural Action Program funds to build six classrooms in his electorate. He has also committed funds to fund three water projects valued at K300,000


Free Trade Zones

West Sepik, Gulf, Western and North Solomons provinces have been declared free trade zones in a bid to attract investment from local and overseas businesses. One of the aims is to attempt to lower unemployment in the four provinces. Any company that invests in any of the four provinces will be eligible for tax exemptions on import, export and sales tax.


Road Safety

Continuing on from previous comments on road safety the police have indicated that the main cause of road accidents is drinking particularly in the 18 to 24 year old age group.


Road Conditions

The condition of the roads in and around Port Moresby has deteriorated to stage where even a few of the smaller four-wheel drive vehicles would have trouble negotiating some of the roads in the National Capital. Not only are the older roads breaking up but the new road outside the Australian High Commission is fast becoming little more than a goat track.

The Minister for Civil Aviation and Transport has recently given an undertaking that the National Government is committed to maintaining roads to an acceptable level to avoid accidents. However I don't think he actually gave a date as to when that would happen.


K7 Million Man

The courts have ruled that Hamidian-Rad, the former chief economic advisor, was not liable to pay income tax. He was classified as a non-resident and was not covered by the Income Tax Act (1959). This means that the taxman will miss out the assessed amount of more than K1 million.


Pyramid Schemes

Yet another fast money scheme, this time in East New Britain province, has failed with investors missing out on the promised 400% profit on their invested money as well as the money invested.


Bougainville Potatoes

A plea has gone out to the European Union to help people in the Rotokas area of Bougainville grow English potatoes. Villagers, from the village of Central Bougainville MP Sam Akoitai, made the plea during a recent meeting with Stan Basiou, the European Union program coordinator for Bougainville.


Rotokas Language

Did you know that the Rotokas language of Bougainville is spoken by about 4,300 people and it has the fewest sounds of any language, 11 (compared to about the 40 to 45 of standard English). These 11 are made up of 5 vowels and 6 consonants: A, E, I, O, U, B, G, K, P, R, T. - can you imagine that - a language with only 11 sounds. Six of those are used in the name of the language.


World Health

PNG has again been rated in a low position in the world and in the South pacific region. This time the World Health Organisation has ranked PNG as being 148 out of 191 countries. This is the organisations first analysis of the health system in the 191 countries. It is said that Papua New Guineans live about 14 per cent of their lives with some sort of health problem.

The country has a new ten-year health plan that will cover the years from 2001 to 2010 which hopes to improve the failing health system.


Medical Symposium

Plans for the 36th annual medical symposium are well underway. The PNG Medical Society will hold the symposium in Port Moresby in September from the 3rd to the 8th. So far the organisers have raised over K110, 000 towards the event. It is hoped that papers covering malaria, diabetes, yaws, drug trafficking and HIV will be presented.


Census 2000

The counting of votes in Bougainville has been slow. The counting has been postponed in some areas to give officials more time to discuss the issues at various meetings. The main problem seems to be that the people have doubts as to what the census people are doing and whether there is a hidden political motive.


National and Supreme Courts

A K78 million complex has been proposed for the National and Supreme Courts at Waigani. The building, if approved, would take two years to build.

An AusAid funded project, called Access to Laws Project, has helped to compile some of the PNG legislation onto CD ROM. A book titled Selected Laws of PNG, which contains 48 volumes of the most commonly used PNG statutes, would accompany the CD.


Niugini Air Rescue

Cathy Bowen, a person who helped to form Niugini Air Rescue has been asked to give a 45-minute presentation on the establishment of aeromedical and hyperbaric services in PNG. Cathy said she will be telling the truth about PNG to the conference.

She went on to explain that whilst the cities and major towns faced law and order problems she has had to go to many remote sites to evacuate patients and here the people were always very helpful.


Computer Companies in PNG


Links

Links to visit.
Take a look at DIVErsion Dive Travel & Training in Cairns, Australia at http://www.diversionOZ.com/epngdive.htm
Blue Sea Charters - http://www.blueseacharters.com
Some photos of Papua New Guinea can be found at http://www.worlddive.com/phgal/png/pngpix.htm
For an online tourist guide to Papua New Guinea visit the Lonely Planet Website at http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/aust/png.htm

Aviation Websites



Mining Websites

Another site worth a visit is Papua New Guinea Adventure Travel, Tours, and Trips http://www.journeys-intl.com/NewGuinea.html


PNG newspaper sites

Post Courier
http://www.postcourier.com.pg

The National


http://www.thenational.com.pg


 

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Created - 31 Jul 2000
Updated - 14 May 2001
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