Links
PNG Recipes
Learn to make dishes from Papua New Guinea featuring coconut, fruit, vegetables,
and fish. --
Strange Meals
Thanks to Rick for the following link -- http://www.familyhaven.com/travel/melanesianman.html
-- Make sure you are not eating when you read the contents of this page!
Wrecks and Reefs
"Wrecks and Reefs around Port Moresby" is a book that documents
the history of early shipwrecks and World War II wrecks that lie in the waters
around the capital of Papua New Guinea. This book is primarily intended to
be a guide for scuba divers and it includes tales of cannibals, retribution
for a ruthless Japanese submarine that took the lives of innocent citizens
and the mystery of a lost airliner that disappeared along with thirteen unfortunate
souls.
The books includes information on the history of diving in the Port Moresby
area from the days of the early hard-helmet pearl divers to the modern self
contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba). For overseas scuba diving
visitors there is a chapter on accommodation available in the area. The website
for the book is located at -- http://www.datec.net.pg/~mecba.
World War II wrecks around the Kiriwina part of the Trobriand Islands - Latitude
8° 40' 0S Longitude 150° 55' 0E -- http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/png_kiriwina.html
PNG Diving Sites
The following is sample of some of the web sites dealing with diving in PNG.
It is not a complete list and if you would like your organisation mentioned
in this newsletter please let me know.
Dive Discovery -- http://www.divediscovery.com//png/
Mike Ball Dive Expeditions - Scuba Diving the Great Barrier Reef, diving --
http://www.mikeball.com/
Diving Liveaboards and Diving Resort Packages in Papua New Guinea -- http://www.divingtravel.com/png.htm
Scuba diving Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Liveaboard dive charters, PNG --
http://www.png-diveboat.com/
Diversion Dive Travel -- http://www.diversionoz.com/en/png.htm
Peter Hughes Diving, Star Dancer -- http://www.peterhughes.com/phstar/starmain.htm
MV FeBrina -- http://www.febrina.com
Misc Sites
Port Moresby Rotary -- http://www.pomrotary.org.pg
PNG Department of Health -- http://www.health.gov.pg
Rotary adopt a village -- http://www.ram.com.pg/adopt.htm
Satellite Image of PNG -- http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/Australia/satellite_image.html
News Items
Peter Barter
The Governor of Morobe, Luther Wenge, has said that the only way that the
province of Madang will return to normal is if the Inter-Government Minister,
Sir Peter Barter, returns as the governor of the province. Mr Wenge is concerned
about the political and public service problems in Madang.
Recycling Plant
The government of PNG has signed an agreement to pave the way for a major
waste recycling plant in Lae, Morobe Province. The project is expected to
commence in six months time and it would involve the recovery of scrap metal.
It is hoped that the project would help to clean up the landscape but many
people that rely on telecommunications are worried that more copper will disappear
from the streets of major towns and find its way to the scrap yard in Lae
leaving telephones, fax's and internet communications off the air. It is estimated
that the scrap company will eventually be able to employ 2000 people throughout
PNG.
Tuam - Morobe
Tuam, located on Siassi Island in Morobe Province, is proving to be a tourist
attraction for cruise ships. Tuam offers a mountainous landscape and is reasonably
isolated from the rest of PNG. Many large cruise ships have visited over the
years and each time the local people benefits by the large sums of money left
behind by the tourists for artefacts.
Harbour Fees
The PNG Harbours Limited has increased charges for wharfage and berthing
fees. The new fees came into effect on the first of May. It is expected that
there will further price increases for all goods shipped through the various
wharves around PNG.
Central Public Laboratory
The Australian Government will fund a new K15 million Central Public Health
Laboratory at the Port Moresby General Hospital. Included in the funding will
be training support to improve the technical and managerial skills of staff
as well as raise the standard of service delivery through more efficient use
of the laboratory.
Goroka Coffee Festival
The 75 stalls at the fourth Goroka Coffee Festival attracted a huge crowd
recently. The main emphasis this year was to focus on encouraging school children
to view coffee as an employer. Twenty schools were able to set up stalls at
the festival to display products.
Open Heart
Operation Open Heart is set to get under way from the 5th to the 13th of
August 2004. The medical team comprises of 25 - 30 volunteer doctors, nurses
and support staff. this will be the 11th times that a team has come to PNG
to help people, mainly children, with heart defects.
Fishy Payments
A termination payment of over K306,000 to the former managing director of
the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) has been questioned because the MD
did not have a contract of employment. The Public Accounts Committee has expressed
its concern that the resolution supposedly made by the NFA Board could possibly
be forged because it appears that the some of the signatures on the resolution
do not match the normal signatures of the people concerned. The resolution
is also supposed to be signed by seven of the ten board members but only five
signatures appear on the document.
National Fisheries
The National Fisheries Authority (NFA) has paid K8 million to the government.
This is the second for the year with the NFA presenting a K10 million cheque
to the government in April of this year. The payment was mainly made up of
retained earnings for the NFA. The Finance and Treasury Minister said the
money would be used to support general government spending on goods and services.
Ashdown Medal
Professor John Reeder from the Institute of Medical Research in Goroka will
be presented with the Ashdown Medal from the Australasian College of Tropical
Medicine in Cairns next month (June 2004). This is one of the highest honours
that is given out by the College and is in recognition of contributions to
tropical medicine. Professor Reeder's contribution has been in the area of
research on malaria and he has published over 60 articles in international
scientific journals during the last 15 years.
Lae Airport
There has been yet another call to open the old airport at Lae to third level
airlines. Part of the old airport has already been sub-divided and it may
be difficulty to get the land back. A road also goes across the old runway
from one side of Lae to the other.
Petrol
The price of petrol has risen by about 9 toea per litre. Aviation fuel has
remained the same. Diesel and Kerosene has also increased due to rising oil
prices. Air Niugini is still considering raising airfares for exactly the
same reasons.
By-Elections
The three by-elections currently underway around the country have received
K3.4 million worth of assistance from the Australian Government. The funding
will allow the elections to be staged in accordance with Electoral Commission
procedures and ensure the integrity of the voting process. Australia has also
provided support for Transparency International to have observers at the polls.
Miss PNG Quest
Four girls have entered the Miss PNG Quest for 2004. The girls have been
challenged to use the money raised last year as a benchmark for what they
themselves should be able to raise. Last year K458,000 was raised by the contestants
for the work of the Red Cross in PNG.
UN Concert
The United Nations Concert held by the Port Moresby International School
was successfully held last Saturday. Participants from all over the world
including many traditional dancers from the various provinces of PNG took
part in the event.
Immunisation Project
Health Workers in Rabaul have commenced a one-week immunisation project.
The project will cover immunisation against polio for children up to five
and children from 6 months to 10 years old will be treated against measles.
The children will also be treated with capsules for night blindness.
Unlicenced Firearm
The Kokopo Magistrates Court has charged an expatriate for being in possession
of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. The man claimed that he had sent
away a licenced shotgun for repair and thought the same licence would cover
the smaller rifle. The man has been fined K1000 over the incident.
Lae Quarantine
The lack of a Quarantine Officer in Lae is causing additional, unnecessary
costs for importers. The importers are having to pay extra money to the National
Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection Authority (NAQIA) in Port Moresby to
have goods cleared. The Lae importers are having to pay courier costs, "fast
tracking fees", storage fees and on top of this the cumulative effects
of the goods being delayed. The NAQIA has said that they lacked qualified
staff to be able tom locate an officer in Lae to speed up the clearance of
goods.
Coca Cola
The price of a litre of Coca Cola is now K3.20 in some shops. It was not
so long ago that Coke was a kina a litre. Coca Cola have finally recently
introduced vanilla coke. Coca Cola are also responsible for the distribution
of Schweppes products in PNG giving them a virtual monopoly in the soft drink
market. Since they have had this the prices have increased many times in a
short space of time.
Kavieng
The people of Kavieng are upset with the governor of New Ireland (Ian Ling-Stuckey)
following the death of former governor Paul Tohian. It has been said by the
chairman of a local level government that the governor has shown a lack of
respect to the previous governor by not even making a public statement or
even sending a private condolence message to the family of the former governor.
It has been reported that the New Ireland Provincial government has not contributed
anything towards the funeral expenses. Dignitaries from outside the province
and more than 5000 other people attended the funeral but the present governor
did not bother to attend the funeral of his political rival.
Human Rights
A report by the US State Department has said that there is a pervasive lack
of law and order, poor economic growth and a deteriorating infrastructure
in PNG. The report was mandated by the US Congress and is called the Supporting
Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2003 - 2004. Human rights inside
and outside USA by US citizens is also under question in recent times.
PNG Politics
The Prime Minister has carried out a major reshuffle of his cabinet in the
name of creating stability. Moses Maladina, the Deputy Prime Minister and
Agriculture Minister has been dumped along with five others that were in the
cabinet. Mr. Maladina has declared his allegiance to the Prime Minister.
Those who are out are - Moses Maladina, Kappa Yarka, Tom Tomiape, Peter O'Neill,
and Peter Oresi.
Those that are now in - Mathew Suine, Mathew Gubag, David Basua, Brian Pulayasi,
Posi Menai, Ben Semri, Petrus Thomas, Atimeng Buhupe and Roy Biyama has been
moved from Higher Education to Labour and Industrial Relations.
PNG now has a new opposition leader. Peter O'Neill, the head of the People's
National Congress Party (PNC), has replaced Andrew Baing who had only just
replaced Sir Mekere Morauta for about two weeks. This all happened after the
defection of Sir Mekere to the ranks of the government. Andrew Baing said
the PNC is the largest party in opposition with 13 members so it was right
to give the job to the leader of that party.
Hiri Moale Festival
It is believed that the Hiri Moale Festival committee are still trying to
pay for debts incurred for the staging of the 2002 festival. Claims have also
been made that the committee may be seen to have a bias towards the Motu-Koita
people. Any readers have any comments?
Breakdown Service - Port Moresby
A nationally owned company run by Managing Director Jerry Singirok has started
a 24-hour roadside security service for members. The service is initially
only available in Port Moresby. The concept developed around the fact that
security of motorists especially after dark has worsened and the police are
unable to attend even if they can find petrol for their vehicles. Service
teams capable of proving security and helping with a broken down vehicle will
be on call 24 hours a day.
Tuna Airfreight
A local company is making inroads into the airfreighting of fresh tune from
predominately Lae to the overseas market. The company will ship the tuna from
Port Moresby to Cairns bypassing the direct Air Niugini service to Japan.
The local company has negotiated with an Australian airfreight operator to
airlift PNG tuna for the Japanese market using two aircraft with a combined
payload of over 50 tonnes. Using this method of freight should ensure that
the fresh fish arrives in time for the Friday and Saturday fish markets in
Japan whereas the Air Niugini service arrives late Saturday night after the
market has closed. The local company hopes to be able to eventually ship the
tuna direct from Lae to overseas ports.
NARI Rambutan
The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) has recently introduced
three rambutan clones to PNG. The three clones were selected from superior
female tress that have proven to be high yielding and with excellent fruit
quality. Rambutan is an important fruit crop in the high humidity of the tropics.
Rambutan was first introduced to the Bismarck Archipelago in 1929.
Governor General
The epic to find a replacement for Sir Silas Atopare as Governor General
of PNG drags on. Yet another round of nominations has been made and now everyone
is waiting patiently to see whether this will be the time to elect a real
Governor General or just another chance to continue the mess. This time a
lady, Nahau Rooney, has managed to convince enough politicians to sign her
nomination form so PNG may have a woman as the GG.
Air Niugini
Air Niugini had to suspend flights to Lae recently when navigation equipment
was damaged. An arsonist set fire to the cables controlling the navigation
lights. The Civil Aviation Authority spends over K500,000 every year replacing
and repairing damage to airport systems and facilities caused by vandalism.
Prison Study Leave
A prisoner, on day release to attend university, has had his leave to study
curtailed after he failed to return to Bomana jail after classes recently.
He has now been banned from further study and relocated to the maximum-security
unit. The prisoner, a solder who took part in the Moem Barracks mutiny, decided
to stay with friends on Friday night and returned to the prison on Saturday.
Languages
Some of the 800 plus languages spoken in PNG are under threat of becoming
extinct. The Summer Institute of Languages has reported that at least six
languages have been lost since 1950. Five more have less than five speakers
remaining. The major problem appears to be the widespread use of Pidgin.
Traffic Police
The traffic police in Port Moresby are without transport. Vehicles belonging
to the Traffic Division are off the road due to financial problems. The division
is unable to purchase fuel, replace tyres or do general maintenance and repairs
on the vehicles in their fleet. It is hoped that money is found soon so the
division can get back on the road and do the job it is meant to do.
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