Vanimo focus of Frieda River project

Source: The National, 01st March 2012

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

VANIMO town in West Sepik province will be the focal point of development in relation to the Frieda River copper-gold project, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced yesterday.
O’Neill said the government would be talking with developer Xstrada to relocate the project to the township of Vanimo.
Speaking at Vanimo yesterday, he said the country’s economy would double and even triple over the next few years with major resource projects coming on stream.
He said the government would like to see host provinces taking ownership of major projects and to equally benefit from other spin-off business activities and employment opportunities.
O’Neill said Frieda River project was in Sandaun and rightfully so Vanimo should be the project capital.
He said PNG would get two LNG projects: one to start production in 2014 was in Southern Highlands and the second LNG project would be in Gulf province.
The government had asked that the project be based in that province and not Port Moresby.
“In the same way, we will relocate Frieda project operations to Vanimo because Wewak, Madang and Lae have already developed,” he said.
“In the same vein, we the government through Petroleum and Energy will be meeting with Frieda mine developers to relocate the project to Vanimo.”
When the LNG project begins in 2014, the economy would double from K10 billion budget this year to about K20 billion, he said.
“If we cannot manage K10 billion,  how can we manage K20 billion?” he said.
“And that is why we need good quality leaders who have the country at heart to manage the huge revenue inflow.”
He said the second LNG project would come on stream and mining at Wafi, Bulolo, Yandera, re-opening of Bougainville, extension on Ok Tedi and Lihir would further increase economic growth. –  See Editorial Page 35

Business skills training helps people find jobs

Source: The National, Wednesday 22nd Febuary 2012

MANY people who take part in a basic business skills training have gone on to find employment in the private sector, an official said.
Some have used the knowledge they have gained by improving their small businesses.
The latest batch of 120 graduated last week at Joyce Bay, Sabama, Port Moresby – thanks to the Digicel PNG Foundation.
Yumi Lukautim liaison officer Lawrence Martin said 70% of the 800 people who participated in Ginigoada’s basic business skills training had gone on to do job training in various organisations and subsequently retained as permanent employees.
“You have been at the crossroads and Digicel Foundation and Ginigoada have shown you the way.
“The decision is yours – if you plant a seed and neglect it, it won’t flourish.
“With the basic business skills that you have acquired within the two weeks of training, go and plant a seed, nurture it and it will flourish,” he said.
 Martin encouraged them to stay focused and use the certificates to their benefit.
Speaking on behalf of the graduates, course participant Dorothy Lua said: “We have learned so much in these past two weeks.
“I am a mother who has a market stall and the money I make all goes to buying food for my family.
“Before undertaking this training, I had no knowledge of budgeting and the importance of saving in case of an emergency.
“I have learnt the importance of budgeting and saving and I am ready to put that into practice and improve my life and that of my family.”
Dorothy was also proud to notice the changes at the Joyce Bay community since the inception of the training.
In the past two weeks, she said youths there had changed their ways after taking part in the business  course.
“I used to walk down the street and youths would throw beer bottles and swear and often would get drunk and fight,’’ she said.
“During and after the training, nothing like this has happened.”

Ok Tedi posts net profit of K1.24bil

Source: The National, Friday 02nd March 2012

By BRIAN GOMEZ
in Sydney

OK Tedi Mining Ltd has announced after tax profit of K1.24 billion, down 40% from K2.03 billion in 2010, on sales revenue totalling K4.5 billion, down from K5.09 billion in 2010.
The company, which is now fully PNG-owned following the buyout of the 18% stake held by Canada’s Inmet, also maintained its status as PNG’s biggest corporate tax payer.
Corporate tax last year amounted to K604 million, down 30% from the K840 million the company paid government   in 2010.
The comparable corporate tax figure for the country’s second biggest corporate tax payer, Oil Search Ltd, was K509 million, up from K196.6 million in 2010.
Other payments made by Ok Tedi show the incredible depth of the contribution the company is making to PNG even though its operations is scheduled to be shut down by early 2014 in the absence of a government agreement to allow its operations to continue.
After paying off K881 million to purchase the remaining foreign equity in the venture, Ok Tedi paid out dividends totalling K774 million to PNG Sustainable Development Corporation and to the national government.
Additionally mining royalties, which fell by 8%, amounted to K42.9 million paid to the Fly River provincial government and a similar sum paid out to mine area landowners.
Other payments for compensation and benefits amounted to K70 million.
OTML reported that total taxes paid to the national government, inclusive of pay-as-you-earn deductions from employees and the mining levy, amounted to K1.2 billion.
It also noted that purchases of goods and services from PNG suppliers were valued at K988 million last year.
The annual results statement from OTML did not make any reference to badly-stalled negotiations with the national government on the possibility of mining operations continuing until the end of the decade in the light of ongoing feasibility studies.
However, it said copper and gold production had fallen by 18% and 14% respectively to 130,456 tonnes of copper and 417,236 ounces of gold after a month-long shutdown caused by the rupture of the pyrite concentrate pipeline last May.
Copper concentrate shipments fell by 10% due to lower head grades, suspension of production and a force majeure declared by Japanese smelters in the wake of the tsunami that hit that country.
OTML realised an average copper price last year of US$3.73 per pound, slightly higher than the US$3.68 per pound received in 2010

Did you know that ticks are harmful to humans?

Source: Weekender, Post Courier, February 25-26, 2012

By Deborah Moses

Have you even realised that the health of your dog can contribute towards a healthier you? I suppose you may ask, why worry? Well, here are some reasons why we should be conscious. Firstly, one of the most common health issues with pets is the tick and flea problem. This problem can be easily identified amongst many pets in PNG. However, we fail to see this as a threat to our well-being. Ticks are small spider-like animals that bite to fasten themselves onto the skin and feed on blood. Ticks live in the fur and feathers of many birds and animals. Tick bites occur most often during in hot/wet season and in areas where there are many animals and birds. Most ticks do not carry diseases, and most tick bites do not cause serious health problems. But it is important to remove a tick as soon as you find it. Ticks can be harmful if you are bitten during feeding. Many of the diseases ticks carry cause flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and muscle aches. Therefore, it is important for us to prevent this from happening.
The RSPCA vet clinic sells shampoos and tick collars, which could help prevent tick bites. However, another option would be to keep an open eye for RSPCA ads in the media for RSPCA pound dog baths or Community Dog Dips to rid your pet of the tick and flea problem. The RSPCA will be hosting pound dog baths every first Saturday of every month. So, if you’re interested, the RSPCA will be hosting a dog bath on the Saturday 3rd of March. Community Dog Dips are an outreach program organized with the help of various communities. If you think, your community would like RSPCA to conduct a community dog dip in your area, please do not hesitate to come into the clinic to enquire or call us on 325 2363. During this organized dog baths, Dogs are washed in medicated warm hydro-baths, and later, trained RSPCA staff ensure that the dog is cleared from head to tail and toe from ticks and fleas. Picture caption: A dog being treated for tick problems during a RSPCA pound dog bath

PM: Decision on Tuesday

Source: The National, 01st March 2012

By JEFFREY ELAPA

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has told landowners camping outside Morauta Haus that he would make a decision on their money next Tuesday.
The landowners claimed they were owed funds under the memorandum of agreement, business development grants and infrastructure development grants.
They had been holding under siege the Morauta Haus and Vulupindi Haus in the past two week.
They claimed government ministers had been delaying the payment for too long.
Last Friday, the landowners stormed Morauta Haus after being misinformed that they were going to be paid on that day by Finance and Treasury Minister Don Polye.
But early this week, O’Neill removed the ministry from Polye, saying there would be a cabinet reshuffle soon.
He told the landowner leaders at his Morauta Haus office that they would be paid but he had to receive all submissions from the various departments before he could make a decision.
He would meet the leaders again on Tuesday to announce his decision.
But the landowners told him that all infrastructure development grants should be paid directly to them and to their respective provincial governments.
They wanted this done by Tuesday.
In another development, a group called from Hides asking O’Neill to consider the submissions endorsed by the developers and their partners who knew who the legitimate landowners were.
They alleged that there were many “paper landowners” in Port Moresby trying to claim funds belonging to the clans and warned the government to consider the submissions.
Ipuele Wap, the chairman of Ira Lama Aya Tamea and Chief Tayali Ola from the Tamea clan, said they were waiting for the payment in the village.
“Government must consider the cries of the landowners at home because we have never benefited from any government assistance even since the BP and Oil Search operated 20 years in the area.
“This is our first time, especially for the PDL 1 areas of the Hides LNG project. Therefore, we want the government to consider our application.”
They warned that many of the project activities were taking place on their land and if they missed out on the payments, they would take their land back.

Namah: Give me 12 months

Source: The National, 01st March 2012

By ISAAC NICHOLAS
DEPUTY Prime Minister Belden Namah has announced that parliament is looking at deferring the general election for 12 months to allow the government to fully implement its major po­licies.
He said if he had the support of the prime minister, he would use all his resources to ensure Peter O’Neill was returned as prime minister after the election.
Namah made the announcement yesterday at the Independence Oval in Vanimo in front of O’Neill and half his cabinet ministers plus members of parliament.
Namah had invited the national parliamentarians to West Sepik province for two days.
He said this in response to O’Neill’s address to hundreds of people that the government would be funding major projects in West Sepik totalling more than K140 million (see story, page 5).
The prime minister had earlier told the Sepik people: “We had to change the government and give it back to the people.
“We have introduced free education for a total cost of K700 million and have already front-loaded K300 million to all schools.
“We have sold the Falcon jet, which has been used as a private PMV and given the proceeds of that sale, K350 million, to the health sector. We have introduced basic free health care for our people.
“This government is people-focused and people-friendly. In seven months, we have shown our true colours compared to nine years of waste,” O’Neill said.
He said the government he led was for the people, not for one man or one family.
Namah, in reply, told his home crowd that he would use all available resources at his disposal to retain O’Neill as prime minister for a new five-year term after the general election.
He stressed that there was no guarantee that a new government would support the development package that the O’Neill-led government had introduced in the past seven months.
Namah said the Electoral Commission had failed the people, the national population census had failed and PNG needed a system for a fair, just election so that quality leaders were elected “instead of coming through the window”.
On O’Neill’s reference to the scheduled election, he warned: “You said to hold the election by April 27 this year and a new government comes in. The projects will not be implemented and the government policy of free education and free health care will be dismantled.
“This government must continue.
“How do you make a comparison between a government of nine years and government
of six months?
“The Electoral Commission has failed the people. The census has failed. We do not know how many people are in this country?
“There are a lot of mistakes in the common roll. For example, a ward in Koroba has 467 eligible voters and that number has soared to 4060. We must have been working very hard overnight.”
Namah said 40% of the roll had not been completed in the highlands region alone.
He said the new bio-metric system must be in place to ensure a fair and just election.
“The government has plans to delay the election for 12 months to fully implement government policies and ensuring a fair election.”

Polye loses powers

Source: The National, Tuesday 28th Febuary 2012

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill yesterday removed all financial powers from major coalition partner Don Polye.
Polye, who leads the new Triumph
Heritage Empowerment Party and who was instrumental in putting O’Neill in power, was until yesterday Finance and Treasury Minister.
Today he is vested with Treasury, Border Development and a sprinkling of statutory institutions.
In a letter, O’Neill informed Polye that
his removal stemmed from recent events concerning the payout of landowner funds and also cited “runaway expenditure” in
the Department of Finance.
Polye only last week assured frustrated gas and oil landowners in Port Moresby that they would be paid their Infrastructure Development Grants (IDG) but only after all necessary government processes had been completed.
Last Friday, the landowners converged on Morauta Haus, which houses the offices of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to vent their frustration again.
“These project grants are to fund infrastructure projects such as public roads, bridges, schools, clinics, hospitals and so forth,” Polye had said.
“These funds are not cash handouts to landowners but are specifically grants made to those pro­vinces and local level governments affected by the PNG LNG project.”
Polye yesterday revealed that at least K129 million in IDG funds had been disbursed outside approved processes.
He said this was unlawful and promised an investigation.
Polye’s statement did not appease the prime minister who said in his letter on the decision to relieve him of financial powers:
“This decision is in light of complaints in relation to various landowner funds as per the state’s responsibilities and commitments under the Oil and Gas Act and UBSA (umbrella benefits sharing agreement) and various LBBSAs (licensed-based benefits sharing agreements) under the PNG LNG Agreement.
“Furthermore, the continuing lack of ability by the department and ministry of finance to contain expenditure overruns outside of the budget appropriations has not aba­ted since I wrote to you last,” O’Neill said.
“This decision is taken in the best interest of the government.”
Polye is now the minister for Treasury and Border Development,
the latter role having been
removed from the ministry of
Inter-Government Relation and District Deve­lopment.
O’Neill said last night the measure was temporary to resolve the pressing landowner issues and runaway expenditure.
But he did not indicate when the Finance portfolio would be returned to Polye.
He also hinted that a major reshuffle was imminent

Polye vows to find ‘missing’ K129mil

Source: The National, Tuesday 28th Febuary 2012

TREASURY Minister Don Polye yesterday promised an investigation into the disbursement of K129 million in landowner funds outside government approved processes.
Polye, who had the Finance portfolio stripped from him yesterday, said in a statement that since 2010, the government had placed aside K120 million a year under infrastructure development grants or a total K360 million to date. But K129 million has been paid, without sanction, by the expenditure implementation committee or central supply and tenders board.
“This is unlawful and will be investigated,” he said.
The government is con­tracted with landow­ners, provincial governments and local level governments impacted by the PNG LNG project to provide K1.2 billion over 10 years for new infrastructure and maintenance or rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
These project grants were for infrastructure and not to be handed out in cash to landowners, the minister said.
The EIC is to process and implement the IDG projects, specifically to fund infrastructure in the four affected pro­vinces – Southern Highlands, Central, Gulf
and Western.
Polye said ministers, department secretaries, provincial governors and provincial administrators did not have any authority to pick the projects for these funds to be expended on.
That is the job of the EIC which is the sole authority charged with this responsibility.
The EIC is made up of the secretaries of National Planning and Monitoring, Petroleum and Energy, Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs, Works, affected provincial administrators and the project deve­loper.
All projects approved by the EIC that were in excess of K300,000 would need central supply and tenders board approval to comply with the Public Finances Management act, Polye said.
“IDG is not a cash benefit. I implore landow­ners to respect our laws and the UBSA which their representatives sign­ed and not to coerce the national government into doing illegal things by physical threats,” he said.
“We need to break with the past. K129 million has already been released from the IDG funds but no infrastructure has been delivered.
“This is wrong both in law and importantly, for me, morally.”

Somare: Stick to election schedule

Source: The National, Tuesday 28th Febuary 2012

By ISAAC NICHOLAS and JEFFREY ELAPA

GOVERNMENT’S proposal to postpone the election found ready opponents yesterday who say there are no valid reasons to support such a move.
Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah floated the idea on the weekend, saying updating the electoral roll was behind schedule and the introduction of a bio-metric-based voting system would need six months to implement.
But deposed prime minister Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, the Trade Union Congress and non-governmental agency
Transparency International felt that the explanation was flimsy at best.
Sir Michael said the news should not come as a surprise to people of Papua New Guinea.
“The move is consistent with the string of other actions by the O’Neill-Namah regime since taking office illegally on Aug 2 last year.
 “Knowing that the election cannot be deferred they will have to suspend the Constitution.”
He said the people of Papua New Guinea must stop listening to their reasons for continually violating the standing orders of parliament; the Personnel Management Act and the Constitution.
 “We cannot allow the elections to be deferred or the Constitution to be suspended.
 “I call on O’Neill and Namah to go to the election and prove your legitimacy.
“You cannot defer the elections. In the interest of the people of Papua New Guinea the elections must go ahead,” Sir Michael said.
TUC general secretary John Paska said the congress strongly opposed the government’s intention to postpone the 2012 general election.
 “It is very disturbing to hear of reports of the O’Neill government faction’s intention to postpone the election.
“There just isn’t any credible justification to do so,” Paska said.
Paska, from Kavieng, New Ireland province, said there could be justifiable reasons to postpone election in the Southern Highlands province out of fear of violence but the rest of the country remained peaceful and keen to exercise their right to choose a legitimate government.
“These invaluable rights cannot be held to ransom by the un-preparedness of one or two provinces.”
The congress had consulted national and provincial electoral officers as well as the police who had said they were prepared to conduct the election.
 “So where is this preposterous idea coming from?”
Paska said serious constitutional questions still remained unresolved over the legitimacy of the government.
“This latest gimmick cuts deeply into the constitutional rights of the people of PNG, giving rise to the perception that the O’Neill faction is predisposed to reshape and bend the Constitution any which way they choose to suit their ends.
“It cannot and must not be
tolerated under any circumstances.
“We condemn it in the strongest possible terms and call on the Opposition and MPs not to support it,” Paska said.
Transparency International PNG chairman Lawrence Stephens said: “We have the experience of eight elections and the efforts of a large number of good people behind the preparations for the coming election.
“We view with the greatest concern suggestions that we should delay the elections scheduled to commence on June 23.
“The people of Papua New Guinea know that it is their right to vote for their representatives now.
“They know that the thought of hanging onto public office for a little longer is very attractive to those about to face the judgement of their electorates.
“It is too easy to say we are not prepared for the election and use this as an excuse to stay in power longer.
 “It appears to us that we are, once again, witnessing MPs looking for a way to exempt themselves from facing the consequences of their actions.
“TI PNG is reliably informed that the electoral rolls are as ready as they have ever been and possibly more so.
“It is extremely disappointing to hear that MPs are deliberately creating fear with the impression that we are less prepared than we have been in the past.”

Wilshere facilitates football clinic for school kids in Wabag

Source: The National, Tuesday 28th Febuary 2012

WABAG Primary School in Enga is the first beneficiary of the Fresh Water Grassroots football clinic after the launch in Port Moresby last month.
The clinic aimed to teach boys and girls at the ages of 12 and 16 basic ball handling and defensive skills for both rugby league and union.
School principal Mark Sakol invited the foundation to hold a clinic for the 17 schools in the district.
Wabag MP Sam Abal supported the clinic with logistics for the team to travel to Wabag in an effort to engage local children in activities that build team spirit and camaraderie.
Abal urged other MPs to assist their local schools in bringing the clinics to the children in their communities.
More than 180 school children from the Wabag district participated in the clinic.
The clinic was hosted by former PNG Kumul captain John Wilshere.
The clinics aim to develop youth football and teach not only basic skills but also lessons about healthy living and healthy lifestyles, and team work on and off the field.
As part of the clinic, 20 volunteers from the school community were trained to conduct clinics so that they could continue after the team departs.
A workbook complete with drills will also be sent to schools to assist those conducting the clinics, and to complete the skills transfer process from trainers such as Wilshere to the volunteers in the local community.
The Fresh Water team also donated sporting equipment to support future clinics.
To initiate a clinic at your local school contact Fresh Water via P&B Cheung, Koki in Port Moresby