Links
Misc Links
Warili Lodge -- http://www.papua-warili-lodge.com/?m=[2]&n=16&p=content
The Swamp Ghost -- http://www.theswampghost.com
Binatang Research Centre -- http://www.entu.cas.cz/png/index.html
Moore Printing -- http://www.moore.com.pg
The PNG Institute of Valuers and Land Administrators -- http://www.pngivla.org.pg/index.htm
The PNG chapter of Transparency International -- http://www.transparencypng.org.pg
Kenmore group of companies -- http://www.kenmore.com.pg
ConXions -- http://www.conxions.com.pg
-- (also Ericssons PNG)
PNG Languages
PNG has three national or official languages -- they are Hiri Motu,
Tok Pisin and English. It has been reported that PNG has one language
for every 900 square kilometres of the country or roughly one language
for every 350 square miles for those readers who don't use the metric
system.
The Summer Institute of Linguistics has a web site about PNG languages
at -- http://www.pnglanguages.org
quote
Papua New Guinea is linguistically the most complex nation of the
world. Over 800 languages are spoken in this Pacific country. This site
aims to show some of this linguistic diversity by making available the
research results carried out by members of SIL.
end quote
The Rosetta database contains information about languages spoken in
PNG -- http://www.rosettaproject.org/live/search/browsebycountryresult?searchtype=countries&searchkey=Papua%20New%20Guinea
-- A rather long URL that may need to be pieced back together if you
are receiving the text only version of the newsletter.
For more information on PNG languages a visit to -- http://www.sultry.arts.usyd.edu.au/ling/research/papuan2.html
-- will start you off in the right direction. Another interesting article
is located at -- http://www.krysstal.com/langfams.html.
-- It deals with language families and mentions the Rotokas language
- Rotokas is spoken in PNG on the Island of Bougainville by approximately
4,300 people and it has the fewest sounds of any language, 11 (compared
to the 44 or so of standard English). These 11 are made up of five vowels
and six consonants: A, E, I, O, U, B, G, K, P, R, T. Six of those are
used in the name of the language.
PNG History
If you are looking for the history of PNG then a good place to start
is the Wikipedia free encyclopaedia as well as the other links below.
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Papua_New_Guinea.
-- http://sg.travel.yahoo.com/guide/australasia_and_pacific/papua_new_guinea/history.html
-- http://www.world66.com/asia/southeastasia/papuanewguinea/history
News Items
Remandee Escape
Seventeen remandees managed to escape from the Boroko police cells
recently. One escapee surrendered to community leaders at Hohola. The
National Capital District acting Metropolitans Supt John Anawe has ordered
an investigation to ascertain how the steel door of main cellblock was
forced open by remandees using metal rods. It is reported that the remandees
contributed money and told the lone policeman guarding the cellblocks
to buy them certain items at the nearby shop before making a break for
freedom. This is the second break out reported from the country's premier
police station in less than a week. Another group of detainees made
their getaway recently after a policeman went to sleep, allowing the
prisoner to snatch the cell keys.
Trukai Fun Run
The recently held Trukai Fun Run raised K360,000 for the PNG Sports
Federation. This is up on the K314,000 raised last year. Twelve centres
around the country participated in the fun run. They were Alotau, Goroka,
Kavieng, Kimbe, Kokopo, Lae, Lihir, Madang, Mt Hagen, Porgera, Port
Moresby and Rabaul. Rotary Clubs raised a further K37,000 around the
country. The money will be used to go towards the 2007 Pacific Games
in Apia, Samoa.
Goroka Roads
The Eastern Highlands provincial is about to inject K500,000 to rehabilitate
the roads in Goroka Town over the next three months. After the roads
in Goroka town have been fixed the road repairs teams will head towards
Kainantu to fix the roads there.
Airlines of PNG
Airlines of PNG are still waiting on government approval to commence
Business Class only flights between Brisbane and Port Moresby. The airline
has leased an aircraft previously operated by Oz Jet to operate the
service. On another note last weeks press release about smoke in the
cabin for an Air Niugini aircraft was quickly removed from the official
Air Niugini web site. For those that missed it here is a link to the
article on The National web site. -- http://www.thenational.com.pg/???13
July 2006??? --- Air Niugini anticipates the withdrawal from service
of the Fokker F100 damaged by a mercury spill earlier in the year, when
a passenger illegally carried mercury on board, when a fourth Fokker
arrives and is put into service very soon.
An Air Niugini F100 has made its first commercial flight to Buka Island
in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville .
Government Jet
A report supposedly from the government to purchase a Fokker jet to
replace the Kumul has been met with opposition by sane minded individuals
and businesses. Businesses claim that such a jet would only be able
to serve a few airstrips around the country and the money used to purchase
the plane would be better used on health, education and other services
sadly lacking around the country. One report stated that it would be
"simply beyond belief". It has been suggested that rather
than invest in a plane that a grant of K10 million to Angau Hospital
would see the reintroduction of the cancer unit and all the ancillary
staff and supplies need to sustain the unit.
Angau Hospital Appeal
As the election year rapidly looms the Angau Hospital Appeal continues
to receive donations. This time K30,000.00 has been donated by Wari
Vele a candidate for the Moresby elections towards the Angau Hospital
Appeal.
Fake Money
All people dealing with PNG currency have been warned that from time
to time unscrupulous people attempt to distribute fake (counterfeit)
money throughout PNG and across the border in Indonesia. Bank South
Pacific managing director Garth McIllwain said fake banknotes were generally
passed onto "unsuspecting" people and often rarely come into
the banking system. Genuine PNG notes have several security features
and the general public have been warned to be careful when accepting
notes. All paper based notes have a silver security thread embedded
in the paper as well as watermarks.
For details about PNG currency -- http://www.michie.net/pnginfo/moni.html
Annette Sete reporting in the Post
Courier has said that tourists from overseas boats visiting East
New Britain have taken advantage of the locals by passing fake US$50.00
notes. The notes were used to purchase souvenirs and artefacts from
locals. The Post Courier
was not able to see any of the notes but genuine notes have the words
"In God We Trust" on them but it is believed that the
fakes notes have the words "in women we trust" on them.
Money Show
The 2006 Money Show is all set to go. It will be held at the Port Moresby
Holiday Inn on the 4th and 5th of August. The key speaker will be Sir
Rabbie Namaliu. Two free and open Special Investment Education Workshops
will also be held over the two day event.
Vanimo - Indonesia Link
Indonesia is preparing for the anticipated opening of the PNG and Indonesia
border highway. The highway links Vanimo in Saundaun province and the
Indonesian city of Jayapura in Papua province. The Sandaun governor,
Carlos Yuni, has deferred the opening indefinitely but it is unsure
whether Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare is aware of this decision.
The Indonesian embassy in Port Moresby, is awaiting confirmation that
Sir Michael will attend the opening of the $US6 million project. Mr.
Somare's Indonesian counterpart president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is
due to travel to Papua province for the ceremony.
Fertiliser Plant
An Indian group of investors is keen to build the world's largest ammonia
and urea fertiliser plant in Port Moresby. The proposed plant will use
50 petajoules of natural gas to produce 2,600 tonnes a day of ammonia
and 4,500 tonnes a day of urea. It is estimated that the plant will
cost around K2.3 billion to build. The company has recently completed
and opened a plant in Western Australia close to the Australian North
West Shelf Gas Project.
Corned Beef Saga
The corned beef saga continues. Earlier Fiji refused to accept imports
of corned beef packaged in PNG because Fiji claimed that the product
did not meet Fijian import requirements. Fiji has changed the Fijian
Animal Importation Regulations to allow the importation of cooked beef
sealed hermetically in cans from PNG provided the beef used is from
carcasses imported from either New Zealand or Australia and appropriate
paperwork is provided to certify that fact.
The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission has approved a
2 percent increase in the price of popular Ox and Palm brand Corned
Beef in PNG. The increase is due to increases in the cost of fuel and
electricity used to manufacture the goods.
Parliamentary Speaker
A diplomatic fellow at the Lowry Institute of International Policy
has written in his latest book that the current Speaker of the PNG Parliament
has written himself into the history books for issuing "highly
questionable rulings".
2007 Elections
It looks like that Sir Michael Somare is well on the way to achieving
something that has never happened before in PNG and that is running
for a full term as an elected Prime Minister. Previous Prime Ministers
including Sir Michael have had to contend with votes of no confidence
motions on the floor of Parliament that have sometimes been successful
in ousting the prime office holder. Work is well underway by the Electoral
Commission to stage the 2007 Elections with recent by-elections in the
Southern Highlands and the National Capital District worrying voters
about the ability of the country to run any election other than a chook
raffle. The Commission are looking at the 2002 elections and all the
by-elections since then to see what problems were encountered and how
they can be solved. The elections will be the first full election that
uses a limited preferential voting system rather than the "first
past the post" system used in previous elections. The limited preferential
voting system, introduced since the 2002 elections, has only been used
in by-elections to date in PNG.
Pterosaurs Again
The reports will not go away. Intermittent expeditions on Umboi Island,
PNG, from 1994 through 2004, have resulted in the compilation of eyewitness
testimonies that substantiated a hypothesis that pterosaurs may not
be extinct.
Long Beach, Calif. (PRWEB) July 20, 2006 -- The conflict between evolution
and creation took a new form with an investigation of reports of a pterosaur-like
creature in PNG. According to standard models of science, all pterosaurs
became extinct by about 65-million years ago, but traditional interpretations
of the Bible suggest that they lived in human times. According to Jonathan
Whitcomb, a forensic videographer who interviewed native islanders in
2004, the "ropen" of Umboi Island is at least similar
to a long-tailed pterosaur. The full report can be found at -- http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/7/prweb413597.htm
Operation Open Heart
As mentioned in previous editions Operation Open Heart (OOH) 2006 is
seeking help with funds for the annual event. Since 1993 OOH has operated
on 406 heart patients, 306 of these have been on children. The success
rate has been very good with only nine of the 406 patients dying. About
K200,000 is needed for OOH and a total of K81,000 has been raised so
far for the event this year. The actual OOH is from the 4th to the 11th
of August 2006 but money donated after this date will go towards the
2007 OOH.
Forged Certificates
School authorities have said to check school certificates closely to
ensure that they are not forged documents. They also said that a photocopy
of a certificate should never be accepted as genuine. Details of Grade
10 and 12 results should always be crosschecked with the Measurement
Services Unit (MSU) database. Certain features are incorporated into
recent certificates. Since 1995, all genuine certificates have had a
raised embossed Department of Education seal on the bottom right hand
corner while in 2002 the seal also had the year on it. Further the genuine
certificates have the word "Original" in faint large
letters printed on the back.
Coming Events
2006 Money Show -- 4th and 5th of August at the Port Moresby
Holiday Inn.
Operation Open Heart -- Port Moresby General Hospital -- first
week of August (4th - 11th of August)
International Orchid Spectacular - Parliament House, Port Moresby
5th and 6th of August 2006
Enga 2006 Cultural Show will be held at the Mommers Oval in
Wabag town on the 11th, 12th and 13th of August.
Air Niugini - Port Moresby / Manila / Hong Kong and return --
8th August 2006
The Institute of PNG Studies Exploratory Workshop - September.
42nd PNG Medical Symposium will be held in Madang from the 4th
to the 8th of September 2006 -- http://www.medsymp.org.pg
PNG 31st Independence Anniversary - 16th September 2006
Annual Hiri Hanenamo Quest and Hiri Moale Festival -
16th September 2006
Goroka Show -- 16th and 17th of September 2007
Kiwi Ball - The fabulous ball held by the Kiwi's will be held
on the 28th October this year. This year the New Zealanders hope to
have a five-piece band to entertain the crowd
Morobe Show -- November 4th and 5th 2006
Milne Bay Kundu and Canoe Festival -- from the 6th to the 12th
of November 2006
PNG Media
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