Sometimes I wonder if it is a case of people getting the leaders they deserve...often we elect people who -

1) Do not have the intelligence and management skills to drive positive change

2) Do not have the heart and compassion to care for the people enough to bring about change

3) Do not have the ethics and morals to prevent them from lying to, stealing, scamming from the people

The result? Poor leadership thus resulting in marginalisation.

Then we must understand that we have a political system that makes it virtually impossible for good leaders to really be able to do anything because the machinery they are trying to use (public service) is often saturated with idiots and corrupt civil servants busy scamming and scheming and avoiding any real work. Sacking them is a near impossibility!

To progress, we must have Ministers who have the will and can do it rather then "take the holistic approach" (in other words "it will never happen") as one particular Minister is often saying every time the issue of reform or change for the Public Service is proposed or debated.

Anyway, we should understand this: who lets them in? The majority of the guardians of the gates to this economy (elected leaders) have always immediately forsaken their post and people and resorted to packaging and selling of pieces of their country as fast as possible oblivious to PNG interests current or future.

At the end of the day, it is our responsibility to develop the parameters (laws) and define them (enforce). This is not happening.

PNG is thus wide open for exploitation by transnational criminals of all shapes and sizes from simple bandits to sinister and ruthless multinational organisations.

They connect with our local criminals and scam maestros and off they go hand in hand with some NEC submission to find a willing Minister...we all know the rest...eg: Borneo Pacific....

Terry, good point there. We can be able to harness that plus others. The point raised in this article is about being too ignorant of the very fact that our national interest are at stake when we keep a blind eye on those things that you have explained.

We want investment and we want a multi-racial society just like any other advancing society - no doubt!

However, we got to get it right, starting with addressing our macro-economic needs through reforms and political decisions as well as foreign policy objectives that serve our development needs well. In this case, the wholesale and retail outlets in major towns and cities imply a 'decay' in our harmonizing of domestic needs with our foreign policy pursuits. This has gone on for years as more new lands are acquired and buildings erected in every busy spot, even in villages. Is that the kind of society that we wanna create? Definitely not.

Mico-economic needs, that is, and a reform is necessary.

We have to get smart and get the Asian invasion to work for the future of PNG.

The current work permit and three-year training program is a total disgrace and abject failure. I have never been able to comprehend the technology transfer involved in making "lamb flap stew" or "flour bombs".

Most of the new Asians avoid paying their fair share of tax as they have a massive "black" cash economy. Most purchases are in cold hard cash - "no evidence".

You will see them daily at the banks transferring cash offshore. An exit tax on transfers offshore should be brought in. This could be by way issuing an electronic card which must be used to transfer funds out of PNG.

There should be an annual fee of K2-3,000 to obtain one of these cards plus a K500 annual administrative fee. Each transaction should attract an exit tax of 15%.

This fee would be partially refunded when and if annual tax returns are submitted. If there are 50,000 illegals in PNG this would reap some K175 million just for the exit card.

The amount earned from an exit tax would run into hundreds of millions of kina. This money could then put into education and creating skilled workers.

The major problem would be how to keep sticky fingers out of it. We have to harness the Asian invasion.

Thanks, folks.

When the SME conference was hosted in Madang recently, Maru, O'Neill, Kua and others sounded very promising; pledging to ensure that the rules of the game will be changed, among others, to give small business such as retail stores back to our citizens.

Capacity will be built and micro-finance schemes will be created increasingly through the National Development Bank to help thousands of PNGuineans do business in SME sector.

We all await.

In the absence of this, business is normal in beautiful Madang as presented in my article.

You have a representative from each country in the Asian region living in PNG. From Sri Lankans, to Nepalese, Filipinos and off course the Chinese.

PNG is becoming multicultural like Australia.

Kela, the political leaders and administrator failed to attend a very important talks show on Radio and Kundu 2 regarding failing health services in the province.

I don't think they would ever agree to go in-front of a camera. Let alone journalists who sometimes get the blunt end of the authorities here for "poor reporting".

Sam, get someone to arrange the media especially EM TV, Kundu 2 and maybe Post Courier to interview all the politicians of Madang and lets hear what they think of Asianization in their Province.