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PNG in the News
Sir Michael off payroll -- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120111/news09.htm
Rabaraba man charged with stealing K41,000 -- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27746
Air Niugini revises Hong Kong route -- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27196
Campaign continues for restoration of Sir Michael Somare as PNG prime minister --
http://giaman.com/pg/?f0b732
O'Neill: I have no regrets -- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20111230/news03.htm
PNG corruption task force investigates Somare -- http://giaman.com/pg/?a3b5af
Grade 7 Student Murdered by Police -- http://ohepng.wordpress.com/tag/goroka
Man obtains 'fake' money from ATM -- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27791
PNG's most tumultuous political drama -- http://giaman.com/pg/?f66800
Debts cripple Defence Force -- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120113/news01.htm
PNG political parties compete to establish offices around the country -- http://giaman.com/pg/?9668b3
Misc PNG Links
Scuba Ventures - Kavieng -- http://www.scubakavieng.com
UPNG Bookshop -- http://www.pngbuai.com/buybooks/index.html
UPNG Press books in print -- http://giaman.com/pg/?34beeb
Laif FM 93.0 Wewak listen online -- http://www.fmradiostationz.com/laif-fm-wewak
PNG Expats -- http://www.pngexpats.com
Ulumani Treetops Lodge, Milne Bay -- http://www.pngbackpacker.com
Melanesian Brotherhood - Diocese of Port Moresby -- http://giaman.com/pg/?ce202d
PNG Online -- http://www.png-online.com
Blogs about PNG
Circled by Sea on PNG -- http://www.circledbyseaonpng.blogspot.com
PNG, Alotau -- http://giaman.com/pg/?901242
Sigabaduru -- http://sigabaduru.blogspot.com
Madang - Ples Bilong Mi is back in Madang -- http://www.messersmith.name/wordpress/2011/12/25
Expat Blog - PNG -- http://www.expat-blog.com/en/destination/oceania/papua-new-guinea
Malum Nalu: Somare: Probe politicians laundering money -- http://giaman.com/pg/?ab941b
Treason, sedition and the attempted Coup-De-Tat conspiracy from the Chief Justice to the Somare Court -- http://giaman.com/pg/?3f4e13
PNG Images
Bird Of Paradise, Ulumani Treetops Lodge, Milne Bay -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMf420R7eAg
Hooked on paradise -- http://giaman.com/pg/?ffabec
Xmas Canoe in Rabaul -- http://www.truenorthmark.com/blog/2011/12/22/xmas-canoe-in-rabaul
Take A 4-Minute Trip to PNG -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPgSKHUEWYI
News Items
Helifix
Helifix Operations has taken delivery of a new Bell 407 helicopter. P2-HFN arrived on Friday the 13th and a picture can be seen at -- http://michie.net/balus/helifix10c.html
-- http://www.helifix.com.pg -- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Helifix-Papua-New-Guinea/109292365805448
Ramu Nickel Mine
The Ramu Nickel Mine refinery predicts it will be able to produce 32000 tons of nickel and 3300 tons of cobalt a year but the villagers of Mindere want to shut it down for fear of devastating environmental damage caused by the toxic slurry the miners leave behind.
-- http://giaman.com/pg/?3e3690
School Certificates
The Education Secretary, Musawe Sinebare, has been reported as saying certificates for students who have successfully completed grade 10 and grade 12 are still at the printers. Students will be issued with Temporary Statement Of Results (SOR) letters and these will be valid until the 30th of April, 2012.
-- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120112/news24.htm
Bougainville Budget
The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has passed a budget worth K264,651,600 for 2012. This is a record and an increase of 45.7% over the 2011 ABG budget.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27247
Disaster Contacts
National Disaster Centre -- http://www.pngndc.gov.pg/site
PNG National Disaster Management Office -- http://giaman.com/pg/?17e9d5
NDES hotline is 325 0239, 325 0410, 346 2610, 346 2611.
The PNG National Weather Service hotline is 325 2788, 311 2385, 324 4587.
Indonesian Problems
Officials from Indonesia and PNG put on a friendly face recently as they insisted everything had been smoothed over after a recent bout of diplomatic snippiness.
-- http://giaman.com/pg/?d9323c
PNG irked by RI jet incident -- http://giaman.com/pg/?40dff5
-- http://giaman.com/pg/?a51cbb
Sinivit Shut Down
New Guinea Gold has had to shut down the Sinivit mine site in East New Britain province due to landowner problems. New Guinea Gold is seeking court orders for their removal before pursuing a negotiated settlement with the landowners.
-- http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=65286
Nav Aids Problems
Air Niugini recently suffered a navigational problem at both Rabaul and Kavieng airports due to the outage of aids at these airports. The relevant authorities said the problem had been fixed on the 23rd of December.
Osborne Ejected
Graham Osborne, a New Zealander and the operator of the bar and restaurant at the Ela Beach Hotel, has been unceremoniously ejected from the country. Sir Michael Somare was reported to have used the Ela Beach Hotel as a base camp during the recent political turmoil.
Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Jamie Maxtone-Graham said Prime Minister Peter O'Neill had instructed him to get rid of foreigners who had entered the country illegally, conducted illegal businesses, involved in local politics and entered corrupt deals.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27302
Somare government would allow deported man to return -- http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/201112/s3400059.htm
Osborne allowed to seek redress -- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27798
Manus Hospital
Medical treatment at the Manus General Hospital has had to be scaled down due to water problems. The hospital has been without water for at least 8 days.
-- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120112/news19.htm
OBE Needs Support
Michael Uglo, a local publisher based in Port Moresby, says the Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) curriculum is good but needs attention to make it work. Uglo said one of the setbacks in the curriculum was the lack of relevant learning materials for PNG students.
-- https://ohepng.wordpress.com/tag/lae/
Dog Squad Nabs Drugs
The dog unit has apprehended eight young people in possession of 2 kilograms of marijuana at the Wanigela / Koki settlement in Port Moresby. The suspects were brought to Badili Police Station where formal investigation were conducted before being ushered into the narcotics centre for interrogation to find the source of the drug syndicates behind street distribution and sales of marijuana.
-- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120113/news09.htm
Ok Tedi Mine
The Ok Tedi Mine has ordered a 91m container ship and three 4,000dwt bulk ore/fuel carriers from Keppel Singmarine. The container vessel to be built by Keppel Singmarine will be capable of carrying 236TEU of containers or of loading 3,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, while the three small bulkers will each be able to carry 4,000 tonnes of copper concentrate or 1.9 million litres of bulk diesel fuel. All four vessels are scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2013.
-- http://giaman.com/pg/?1d20c3
PNG Ports Boss Suspended
Brian Riches, the Chief Executive Officer of PNG Ports, has been suspended from office. Mr Riches was suspended by Deputy Prime Minister and acting Public Enterprises Minister Belden Namah. Mr Riches said the IPBC, nor the National Executive Council had any specific powers under the IPBC Act to appoint or terminate the appointment of the CEO of PNG Ports Corporation or any other State Owned Enterprise.
-- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120111/news08.htm
Airlines PNG
The Airlines PNG Dash 8 plane leased to Solomon Airlines has been experiencing High Frequency (HF) radio and Global Positioning System (GPS) problems causing problems for the airline and passengers.
-- http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/business/13418-faults-limit-dash8-operation
Anglicare
Anglicare PNG is taking a new approach in tackling the growth of HIV/AIDS by using the community conversation initiative concept. The non-governmental group has conducted trainings for its programme officers from the five branches across the country to equip them on basic understanding and execution procedures of the programme.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27326
Modilon Hospital
Modilon General Hospital has recently received a couple of donations. The Ramu Nickel Mine donated a vital signs machine with am Uninterruptible Power Supply and local businesswoman Joan Bird donated a digital blood pressure machine and thermometer. Both donations combined are valued at over K22,000
-- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20111228/news06.htm
Central Budget
Central province has passed an K88m budget. Central Provincial Government's Chairman of Finance Lofa Loea said the Alphonse Moroi led government has taken a new approach and has increased the budget from K76 million last year to K88 million this year.
-- http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120112/news02.htm
Tulait Market Raided
Stalls at the tulait informal sector market at 5-Mile Tulait market, National Capital District were destroyed by police during a recent evening raid. Armed policeman raided the 24-hour market at around 7pm and forced the vendors to vacate the area as they were trading on the roadside and causing an inconvenience to traffic.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27241
Timber Contract
Malaysian firm, Takaso Resources, has signed a heads of agreement with Kayu Mas (PNG) Ltd, finalising the first formal step towards a timber concession project that could yield a net profit of US$72mil (RM230mil).
-- http://giaman.com/pg/?4f6930
Raicoast TV
The people of the Raicoast District of Madang will soon be able to tune into their favourite FM radio stations or view local television programmes thanks to the use of taxpayer's funds by Madang Governor James Gau. The installation of the transmission tower is expected to be completed this month so the project can be launched in early February.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27331
Alcohol Bans Extended
Most of the Highlands have extended liquor bans to cover the New Year and generally stepped up their war on alcohol for the New Year and deeper into 2012, when mid-year elections are expected to trigger violence. the Eastern Highlands province, whose capital is the coffee town of Goroka, is the only place in the region where alcohol can be legally purchased.
Menyamya to Bulolo
A road link has been made between Menyamya and Bulolo. People in the district are now able to access basic government goods and services.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27203
Yaws
Yaws is a disease affecting mostly poor children in the tropics. It eats away at skin, cartilage, and bone, affecting an estimated half-million youngsters in Africa, Asia, and South America. The normal treatment is a dose of penicillin. In a recent study of about 250 children, half received penicillin injections, the others were given azithromycin in pill form. After six months, the results were similar for each group: nearly all children were cured in both groups, and no serious side effects were reported.
Russell Hays, a physician at the remote Lihir Medical Centre in PNG, says "For every one case of active yaws that we see, the estimates are that there's up to eight cases of children infected with the yaws organism who don't present because they don't have symptoms at the time".
-- http://giaman.com/pg/?b36362
Salt Shaker
Launched in early December 13.3m LOA (ICON 42) vessel, named Salt Shaker, will soon be shipped to Madang, where it will be used for day game-fishing trips and overnight cruises. Salt Shaker has a no-compromise fishing cockpit, with dedicated fishing tackle locker, liberal numbers of rod holders and the obligatory game chair. The base price of the vessel starts at just under seven figures in New Zealand Dollars.
New Maps
Geoimage will be distributing NEXTMap products in Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Pacific countries, after signing an agreement with Intermap Technologies.
-- http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1868167860
Kina Securities Group
PNG-based financial services company - the Kina Securities Group - has announced the appointment of Sir Rabbie Namaliu as the new chairman of the group.
-- http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/27226
Coming Events
Note: please verify any date mentioned as dates change and events can sometimes get cancelled. Of course I may also put down a wrong date.
Ride the Rivers Enduro - 24 and 25 March 2012
South Pacific Export Papua New Guinea Golf Open - May 2012?
National Elections - Scheduled for June 2012
2012 PNG Games - Kokopo, East New Britain
Olympic boxing qualifying tournament - April 2012
2012 Milne Bay Critter & Adventure Expeditions with Bob Halstead & Graham Abbott
Milne Bay-Critters-Milne Bay: 17th April 2012 to 29th April 2012
Milne Bay-Critters-Milne Bay: 1st May 2012 to 13th May 2012
Alotau-Adventure Diving-Kimbe Bay: 15th May 2012 to 30th May 2012
-- http://diving4images.com/trips/milne-bay-critter-cruises
Mt Hagen Show - 11th and 12th of August 2012
Samarai and Milne Bay Reunion - Rydges Oasis Resort, Caloundra, Australia between the 7th and 9th of September 2012 -- http://www.loosenuts.com.au/www/index.php -- http://www.facebook.com/groups/121192744602253/
Pacific Mini Games - Wallis and Futuna 2013
2013 Pacific Netball Series (hosted by Fiji)
Full Pacific Games - PNG 2015 -- http://giaman.com/pg/?081f78
Pacific Mini Games - Vanuatu 2017
Do you have an event that you want advertised? - Use the submission form located at -- http://www.pnggossip.com/misc/ctc.html
PNG Media
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