Links
If you are interested in the languages of PNG then it is worthwhile paying
a visit to -- http://www.ethnologue.com/
Napatana Lodge is the first eco-tourism lodge in Alotau. It is a traditionally
built pole house that has been made from tropical timbers. The lodge reflects
Milne Bay architecture, demonstrating traditional building skills by local
craftsman -- http://www.napatanalodge.com
PNG Weather
Here are a few sites that will give you an idea of what the weather is like
in Papua New Guinea.
Port Moresby -- http://my.iwon.com/weather/obs.jsp?id=PPXX0004
Kerema -- http://my.iwon.com/weather/obs.jsp?id=PPXX0001
Kikori -- http://my.iwon.com/weather/obs.jsp?id=PPXX0002
Morobe -- http://my.iwon.com/weather/obs.jsp?id=PPXX0003
Samari -- http://my.iwon.com/weather/obs.jsp?id=PPXX0005
PNG Institute of Directors
The PNG Institute of Directors has revamped its website with the help of
an AESOP Volunteer, Peter Griffin. It is an excellent introduction to PNG
company law and related governance issues it can be found at --
http://www.pngid.org.pg
Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce
The Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce website is located at -- http://www.pomcci.org.pg
Miscellaneous Sites
Pacific Dream -- German Language Web Site -- http://www.pacificdream.de/index_ger.html
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research -- http://www.pngimr.org.pg
Daru Research -- http://fp.involved.com/methodsman/Daru%20research.htm
Tourism Sites
Air Niugini -- http://www.airniugini.com.pg
DIVErsion Dive -- http://www.diversionoz.com/en/png.htm
Lonely Planet Website -- http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/aust/png.htm
Madang Diving -- http://www.madangdiving.org.pg
Melanesian Tourist Services -- http://www.meltours.com
MV Golden Dawn -- http://www.mvgoldendawn.com
Niugini Art -- http://www.global.net.pg/niugini-art
Niugini Diving -- http://www.niuginidiving.com
Tourism Promotion Authority -- http://www.paradiselive.org.pg
Trans Niugini Tours -- http://www.pngtours.com
News Items
Festive Season
The festive season has taken it toll on the output of this newsletter. The
newsletter normally runs at about 20,000 characters in plain text format but
this one is considerably less than that. For those that celebrate -- Merry
Christmas and for those that don't -- have an enjoyable time over the coming
week as the first weeks of 2004 approach. I hope that 2004 does not go as
quick as what 2003 did!
Happy New Year
Madang Evictions
The eviction of squatter settlers around Madang is underway. It officially
kicked off on the 15th of December. The exercise is under the watchful of
the Goroka Mobile Police Squad.
Lae
The city of Lae was hit by a big storm recently causing many buildings to
be flooded. The rain accompanied by thunder and lightning scared many children
and some adults. Moresby has experienced some heavy rain as well. The National
Weather Service says that the rainy season will last in Port Moresby until
April 2004.
Sandline
Sandline was a mercenary force that brought down the Sir Julius Chan and
Chris Haiveta led government in 1997.
A Melbourne (Australia) newspaper has revealed that two helicopter gun ships
seized by the Aussie government and intended for use by Sandline may be coming
up for sale soon to a potential buyer entitled to buy such gun ships. The
Russian built helicopters have been mothballed in the desert of Australia's
Northern Territory at the Tindal Royal Australian Air Force Base.
Sandline is a Private Military Company (PMC) focusing on conflict resolution.
The company works worldwide and is resourced by professionals with many years
of operational experience at senior rank within first world armies. http://www.sandline.com
UNESCO Award
A University of PNG Academic has been awarded the first ever "Emerging
Pacific Island Researcher of the Year Award". Dr Wilfred Lus from Kumun
village, Yangoru in the East Sepik province is a geologist and experimental
petrologist in the Earth Science strand of the School of Natural and Physical
Sciences. The award is in recognition of the multi-angled research into the
construction and raising up of the landmass of PNG out of the depths 58 million
years ago using rocks from Musa-Kumusi Divide in the Northern (Oro) Province.
Air Niugini
Air Niugini is treating cockpit intrusion very seriously since September
11th. Two captains of the f28 fleet were locked out at Momote Airport recently
when the lockable door between the cockpit and the cabin automatically locked.
Manus being a friendly place no rascals could be found so a sledge hammer
and an extremely long screwdriver did the trick not before the lighter of
the two captains bounced himself off the door and ended up in the toilets
down the back. I am not sure if the rumour that all passengers are now being
requested to provide a coat hanger when they fly PX is true or not.
Kela Smith
It has been alleged that the Governor of Goroka, Mal "Kela" Smith
is not a citizen of PNG and therefore not eligible to hold government office.
The candidate he unseated in the 2002 National Elections has lodged a formal
complaint with the Ombudsman Commission over the matter. Kela has not been
issued with a citizenship certificate although he is in custody of a letter
stating that his application for citizenship had been approved on the 19th
of April 1996.
Kilakila - Horse Camp
The Horse Camp at Kilakila has placed itself under a voluntary curfew in
a bid to curb lawlessness. Leaders of the settlement, next to the Motuan village
of Kilakila, decided to impose the curfew after a meeting with authorities
including police recently.
Salamaua High
Students at Salamaua High in Morobe Province have had to end the year without
the usual graduation ceremony due to lack of funds for the event. The school
says that many parents are partially to blame because they still owe K13,000
in 2003 school fees to the school. The provincial education division does
not see a graduation ceremony as a necessary part of the school year due to
the fact that the focus should be on learning and completing the syllabus.
Malaria Research
Papua New Guinea could hold the key to malaria research. Scientists, from
the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with the PNG Institute of Medical
Research have discovered that a high percentage of the PNG population lack
a sticky protein called complement receptor 1 - (CR1). Previous research into
malaria has indicated that the malaria parasite was sticking to a protein
on the human red blood cell - CR1. Researchers were amazed to find that between
80 to 90 percent of Papua New Guineans have very low CR1 levels in their blood
when compared to Europeans and in some cases no detectable CR1 could be found.
Weapons Disposal
The Piva people from the Torokina District in troubled Bougainville will
go down in the history books as the first people to actually destroy their
weapons. This is the third stage of the weapons disposal project and it has
drawn praise from the United Nations. The weapons were previously collected
and locked away in storage boxes waiting disposal. The leaders of Torokina
have made an appeal to their young men to refrain from obtaining further weapons.
EMTV Daru
EMTV is waiting on the arrival of broadcasting equipment from Italy so that
it can install it on the island of Daru in Western Province. This will be
the first time since the introduction of TV into PNG that the Daru people
will be able to watch broadcast TV. It is hoped that the broadcasting equipment
will have a range of 100 kilometres. The Member of Parliament for South Fly,
Conrad Haoda, donated K85,000 to purchase the equipment.
Parliament Seats
Six seats in Parliament are vacant for one reason or another. They are Chimbu
Provincial, Anglimp South Wahgi, Tewae-Siassi, Yangoru-Saussia, Wabag Open
and Moresby North East. Both Chimbu Provincial and Anglimp South Wahgi are
vacant due to the death of the sitting member. Tewae-Siassi and Yangoru-Saussia
are both vacant because the sitting members were found guilty of misconduct
in office and dismissed. Wabag Open and Moresby North East are vacant due
to successful court challenges in the court of disputed electoral returns.
PNG Credit Rating
International Agency Standard and Poor's Rating Services have lowered its
long-term local currency sovereign credit rating on Papua New Guinea to 'B'
from 'BB-'. At the same time, the short-term local currency rating was affirmed
at 'B'. The 'B/C' foreign currency ratings were affirmed and the outlook was
revised to "stable" from "negative".
Rent a Cars
Budget Rent-a-Car, formerly owned by Steamships in PNG, has been sold to
Hertz Rent-Car. This will make Hertz one of the biggest rental car companies
in PNG. Despite the sale by Steamships it is anticipated that Steamships will
still remain as one of the biggest companies in PNG.
Aid
A conservative think tank has said that Australia's foreign aid program was
an abject failure that had done little to alleviate poverty in the Pacific.
The Australian Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) said the Aussie federal government's
aim of using aid to stop nations in the region from failing and becoming havens
for terrorism was being undermined because the aid program lacked focus. The
institute said much of the help provided by Australia was ending up in the
hands of the elite and the corrupt.
Mount Hagen
The city of Mt. Hagen in the Western Highlands, was overtaken by a violent
rampage and came to a standstill recently. The rampage turned into an ethnic
clash between Western Highlanders and people from the rest of the Highlands.
The rampage originally started as a protest over the killing of a man from
the Southern Highlands allegedly by Western Highlanders.
Porgera Fuel
Over 200,000 litres of fuel destined for the Porgera Gold Mine in the Enga
Province could not get through recently due to heavy rain washing away sections
of the road. The Porgera Joint Venture intervened to help repair the road
and restore traffic flow. Several fuel tankers were left stranded in Goroka,
Eastern Highlands province for four days.
Police Media Relations
A course at Divine Word University (DWU) funded by the Australian government
through AusAID has been aimed at educating PNG police personnel to understand
and appreciate the media and use it effectively to assist them in their police
work. DWU has trained 61 police officers from around the country since the
course was introduced in August 2003. Police officers including provincial
police commanders and police station commanders have taken the course.
PNG Media
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