John Momis - winds of change blow for this towering figure in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville politics

ANNMAREE O’KEEFFE
| The Interpreter | Lowy Institute

SYDNEY - Bougainville’s president John Momis has long been a towering figure in local politics.

President for two consecutive terms since 2010, he was a leading instigator of the archipelago’s early secessionist movement in the 1970s while still a Catholic priest, then an important facilitator during the protracted peace process in the 1990s, and later governor from 1999 to 2005.

PETER KRANZ

MORRISET - If you live in a Pacific nation and are having trouble or being delayed in getting a visa to Australia, there are likely to be two reasons:

One - visa processing has been outsourced to a private UK company called TT Services.

Two - all visa approvals are now managed by the Australian High Commission in Fiji, even if you are from Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu or Tonga.

Auditorium and mess at Mougulu High School (Sally Lloyd)

PETER DWYER & MONICA MINNEGAL

With a rare and wonderful book. Download here: 'Taim Bipo - People of the Nomad District. When the White Men Came'

MELBOURNE - In late January 2020, Bedamuni (Biami) people hosted an inaugural Strickland, Sisa, Bosavi cultural festival.

There were guests and performers from all neighbouring language groups.

WILL OWEN
| LNG Industry

FARNHAM, UK - Reuters is reporting that Oil Search Ltd is working to revive talks between Exxon Mobil Corp and the Papua New Guinea government regarding a plan to double the country’s natural gas exports.

Oil Search’s new CEO, Keiran Wulff, has told Reuters that he hopes that negotiations could resume within weeks.

Writers Betty Wakia, Caroline Evari and Jordan Dean await prime minister Marape. “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet,” said Aristotle

CAROLINE EVARI

PORT MORESBY – To try to get a high level discussion underway on Papua New Guinea literature, we’ve tried on two occasions to meet with prime minister James Marape.

The first time was on Wednesday 22 January after we received information that Mr Marape was willing to meet Betty Wakia , Daniel Kumbon and me in his office at the Manasupe Haus at 2pm the following Friday.

Line cutting crew on an exploration camp helicopter pad

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - From the mid-1980s until about the last five years or so, many ex-kiaps went to work in Papua New Guinea on petroleum and mining exploration projects.

For the exploration companies, the kiaps’ expertise and knowledge of the country, the people and their customs were invaluable assets.

SAMANTHA KUSARI

ADELAIDE - I attributed my desire to study in Adelaide to one of my favorite British singers Adele.

I think there is a striking resemblance between her songs and the place Adelaide, apart from the name of course.

Adele sings beautifully. She’s got the voice of an angel and she sings heartbreaking songs. I wonder why such a beautiful woman like her sings sad songs! Does her heart really get broken or are they just songs?

Herman Melville - his epic book, 'Moby Dick', sold a squillion, but only after his death

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Herman Melville (1819-91) published his famous novel, 'Moby Dick', in 1851. Sales were very slow.

The novel was out of print during the last four years of his life, having sold 2,300 copies in its first 18 months and an average of 27 copies a year for the next 34 years for a total of 3,215 copies.

PETER KRANZ

MORRISET - A recent report by ACOSS [the Australian Council of Social Service] and the University of NSW highlighted the rates of poverty in Australia, particularly for children.

Two years ago the Asia Development Bank and the Borgen Institute produced a similar report for Papua New Guinea.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - I’ve been ruminating about the successes and failures of Papua New Guinean literature since Keith Jackson and I kicked off the Crocodile Prize in 2010.

In the scheme of things, the prize and what spun out of it was really the only game in town for quite a while. Things were happening elsewhere but not on the same scale.

KERRY KIMIAFA

GOROKA - It would be absurd to blame effects of climate change as the sole reason for sudden and unprecedented flooding in certain parts of Papua New Guinea, such as the recent case here in the Highlands.

But the truth is that we humans have abetted and induced flooding through land use changes, especially massive vegetation clearance.

NEWS DESK
| PNG Advantage | Edited extracts

PORT MORESBY - Despite significant volatility, Papua New Guinea’s largest businesses remain optimistic about the year ahead.

That’s according to the results of the latest PNG 100 CEO Survey, released jointly by Business Advantage International and Westpac PNG, which feature for the first time the country’s inaugural Business Expectations Index.

Ian Ling-Stuckey - "O’Neill dragged us into a debt trap. His economic mismanagement increased PNG’s debt by 435%"

IAN LING-STUCKEY
Papua New Guinea Treasurer | Edited extracts

PORT MORESBY - Peter O’Neill does shame to his role as former prime minister by continuing to lie to the country about his economic legacy.

During the years of his autocratic rule, he produced fake budgets, fake national accounts and fake growth figures.

I had hoped that, when he was caught out for his fraudulent behaviour and deceptions through the due diligence exercise and confirmed by the independent International Monetary Fund, at least he might stop lying to the people of this nation.

Yokomo - 1960s Papua New Guinean satire?

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - In 1729 the eminent Anglo-Irish writer, Jonathon Swift, suggested in an essay that the poor of Ireland should consider eating their own babies.

The dissertation was entitled ‘A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being A Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public’.

AARON SMITH
| Guardian Australia | Extracts

SYDNEY - Travel between the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea has been banned after unconfirmed reports of a coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak in the Western Province of PNG.

The PNG government has yet to confirm any cases of Covid-19 in the country but councillor Kebei Salee of the Western Province village of Sigabadaru, said there were unconfirmed cases in the villages of Buji and Ber, while cautioning that “we are waiting for the results of testing”.

JACK KLOMES

PROLOGUE – 7 NOVEMBER 2018

Port Moresby, National Capital District

“Daddy! Daddy! I’m home, where are you?” The girl’s voice filled with giggly excitement tore the quietness of the house into shreds.

She burst into the house with exuberance, threw her school bag onto the table and ran to her Dad, some books in her arms.

MARTYN NAMORONG

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea’s parliament passed historic whistleblower protection legislation on Tuesday following a commitment made by prime minister James Marape last month.

The passing of the Whistle Blower Act coincided with the tabling of enabling legislation for the creation of an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

DAVID KITCHNOGE

PORT MORESBY - I have read the organic law on the Independent Commission Against Corruption 2019 (OLICAC) bill and, on the whole, I think it is a great law that equips ICAC with real teeth to go after corruption.

You can download the bill here from the Act Now PNG! website.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY – Authenticity. It’s a concept that repeatedly appears in modern advertising.

It can range from claims that foods are just like grandma used to make, beers are ‘hand-crafted’ and motor vehicles have a link to our adventurous spirits or penchant for luxury.

The reality, of course, is completely different.

Sir Albert Kipalan (with spade) on the spot where Fr Jerry Bus settled at Kopen

DANIEL KUMBON

PORT MORESBY – In 1948, there was a sudden rush by Christian denominations to establish mission stations after the colonial Administration lifted restrictions of movement to unpacified areas of what is now Enga Province.

Prior to that there had already been rivalry between Lutheran and Catholic missionaries to win new converts around Mt Hagen.

PNG troops preparing a mumu in Omeo to mark the end of the bushfire deployment. Their presence was greatly appreciated and highly praised by Australian authorities and the local community (ABC News)

ROSS WILKINSON

MELBOURNE – What follows is a story that fills me with mixed emotions.

Many thanks to the Papua New Guinea government and its Defence Force, particularly those members who responded so quickly to support the East Gippsland community with the recent bushfire crisis.

For several years I was the risk manager for the East Gippsland Shire Council which includes the Omeo area.

The grandeur of a mature raintree

PETER S KINJAP

PORT MORESBY - Both in government corridors and private sector spaces, environmental conservation is now a hot topic.

Whether we talk about an international conference or the launch of a new green project, people are talking about preserving our Earth, incorporating a great deal of green innovative effort.

Martyn Namorong - "The consequence of a constitutional contradiction is that colonialism in PNG has a Melanesian face"

MARTYN NAMORONG

PORT MORESBY - Recent media reports have highlighted the problems faced by Daru in terms of its ailing infrastructure and the chronic shortages of almost everything that could make urban life liveable.

Daru is a stone’s throw away from the first world existence of Australia yet a million miles away from access to reliable safe clean drinking water, decent sanitation and healthcare.

Exxon’s conduct has been criticised by the PNG government as being “exploitative”

BAL KAMA
| The Interpreter | Lowy Institute

CANBERRA - The recent announcement of the Papua New Guinea government to cease all negotiations with one of the United States’ largest oil and gas companies, Exxon Mobil, over the P’nyang LNG project, a new gas field in PNG, has broader implications for the US and PNG.

At first glance, the decision against Exxon for allegedly acting in bad faith is part of a wider crackdown by the government of prime minister James Marape to ensure greater fairness in the resource sector.

SIMON DAVIDSON

Politicians, what a mediocre bunch,
Rising to political limelight,
By hook or crook schemes,
Seeking power, vanity, glory.

Often with rhetoric and fakery,
Not synchronising very much,
Because they say one thing,
If only to do the opposite.

Traditional green axes by Simeon Nikints (Peter Kinjap)

PETER S KINJAP

PORT MORESBY – For thousands of years before the first Australian patrol reached Mt Hagen in 1933, stones axes (known as ‘green axes’) were used daily in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, and were widely traded often in the context of ceremonial exchanges.

In more recent times, a group of ‘factories’ located in the Waghi and Jimi Valleys accounted for the bulk of production of green axes.

JAMES MARAPE
| Facebook | Extract

Yesterday PNG's parliament passed a law to protect whistleblowers but a bill to establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption will have to go to a parliamentary committee before being voted on. Mr Marape wrote this before parliament sat - KJ

PORT MORESBY - I gained office with no money, no political party, no lobbyist, and not too many friends except a few loyalists including MPs and the general people of Papua New Guinea who wanted change plus the Hand of my Creator God.

Please circulate that I don’t have agents and if anyone, whether the fake accounts holders in Facebook or others in private who might request help as if coming from me, report them.

PNG Attitude apologises for the less than usual amount of information on our blog  in recent times, but Keith has been quite ill over the past month or so and  as a result his output has been reduced. Full service will resume before too long.

Eddie Tanago - "A public register of beneficial ownerships would make it much harder for corrupt politicians and bureaucrats to hide their crimes"

EDDIE TANAGO
| Act Now!

PORT MORESBY - The latest corruption scandal involving a government minister and a foreign oil company emphasises once again the need for the government to legislate on hidden or ‘beneficial’ company ownerships.

Allowing people to register a company without revealing who are the real owners or beneficiaries creates a massive information vacuum that enables corruption and tax evasion to happen right under our noses.

Lutheran Church pastor Ango Panao with his son and grandson

DANIEL KUMBON

WABAG – “Call me Joseph. I am not Kurai anymore,” Joseph Kurai Tapus said to his friends, associates - and anybody he met - soon after Fr Peter Granegger SVD baptised him at Sari Catholic Mission on 8 April, 1977.

Not many Christian converts are known to have done that, but Kurai made public announcements of his conversion and subsequent name change.

WARDLEY D I BARRY

he wanted a woman with sparkling eyes
that cannot see beyond the kitchen
he wanted her to have big ears
for him to shout into
and fine lips he could kiss
that will never talk back
she must use her head but not think
a woman who when hurt
can scream but not speak
her pain is private

John Gordon-Kirkby's old patrol box

DANIEL KUMBON

PORT MORESBY - Many kiaps [patrol officers] and other expatriates left Papua New Guinea in the years immediately before and after independence in September 1975.

Imagine the memories they took with them and may still have in their minds today?

One of the last kiaps to leave the highlands Enga District [now a province] was John Gordon-Kirkby who liked to eat sweet potatoes roasted in an open fire.

Transparency PNG's Peter Aitsi - minister Duma must be directed to step down and an independent investigation into corruption allegations immediately undertaken 

NEWS DESK
| Transparency International PNG

PORT MORESBY - TIPNG is calling for the prime minister and relevant Papua New Guinean agencies to investigate what appear to be serious allegations of grand corruption against state minister William Duma, as reported in the Australian Financial Review.

As parliament prepares to convene its first sitting of the year, TIPNG urges prime minister Marape to live by his words that he will fight corruption and that the example must now start with his own cabinet.

Commerce and industry minister William Duma says he did nothing wrong

EDITORIAL
| Australian Financial Review

SYDNEY - The Australian Financial Review’s investigation into the issuing of Horizon Oil’s lucrative petroleum development license in Papua New Guinea in 2011 has raised serious questions about the conduct of the company.

Chairman Mike Harding has acted properly by standing down CEO Michael Sheridan – who in 2011 was Horizon’s CFO, company secretary and a board member – pending an independent investigation into the corruption allegations by Herbert Smith Freehills and Deloitte, which will be overseen by an independent board committee.

JACK KLOMES

Dedicated to those young Papua New Guinea men who will leave their homes, tough it out with friends and relatives as they hunt for a job. May you have experiences that will warm your soul and give you encouragement to succeed

MADANG - It was a beautiful day. Remember the benches under the marmar trees that lined the road? Remember sitting and looking at the greenish sugar fields and the blue mountains away in the distance, the white clouds building up around them.

Serene, almost dreamlike, as in a painting. Yes, the small township of Ramu Sugar. Gusap Downs, as it is officially known.

"It is to the advantage of Bougainville that we have John Lawrence Momis as a uniquely experienced leader"

JOACHIM LUMMANI

RABAUL - The parliamentary select committee on constitutional law headed by former Papua New Guinean chief ombudsman Simon Pentanu is looking at Bougainvillean views on whether their constitution should be modified to allow the current president to recontest for a third term.

The committee is also considering whether to abolish the three seats reserved for ex-combatants from the three main parts of Bougainville.

This is because of the critical importance of Bougainvillean unity and leadership continuity to enable successful negotiations with the national government in this post-referendum period.

Eddie Tanago -  Even under Marape, the  government is still disenfranchising customary landowners and diluting rural resilience

EDDIE TANAGO
| Act Now!

PORT MORESBY - The Land Minister’s announcement of a new pilot project to further disenfranchise customary landowners is part of a misguided promotion of private sector greed over people’s need for income generation.

The Papua New Guinea government should be focused on empowering rural people to build resilient communities on their own land rather than serving the greed of foreign owned banks and big corporations.

James Marape speaking at the launch of the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index. He said he would set up a national ICAC in 2020

NEWS DESK
| Transparency International PNG

PORT MORESBY - With the resignation of former prime minister Peter O’Neill last May after a seven-year tenure, many citizens hailed the resulting appointment of the Marape-Steven government as an opportunity to start afresh.

A staggering K26 billion mountain of debt and an inefficient and incredibly costly public service has forced the new government to implement a number of unpopular, yet arguably more fiscally responsible, initiatives.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Some time ago I was sitting in the international departure lounge at Jackson’s Airport in Port Moresby waiting for the big balus to arrive from Brisbane.

It’s always interesting when a big balus lands because you can watch the new arrivals go past the glass doors on their way to immigration and customs.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

DAGUA - Papua New Guinea's current population growth rate is above 2%, the rate having gradually slowed from 3.1% since 2000. This trend is expected to continue over the next few years.

PNG's National Statistics Office reported after the 2011 census that the population had reached more than seven million.

DAVID KITCHNOGE

PORT MORESBY - I want to share this little tale my grandfather told me when I was small.

When he was young, my grandfather had a champion hunting dog called Zikiam.

On one particular hunting expedition, the trees and vines bore plenty of wild fruit, berries and nuts and the forest floor was unusually busy.

Misima gold mine

TIM TREADGOLD
| Forbes | Extracts

PERTH - Investors with a taste for gold, and who hasn’t in the current climate, can thank one of the world’s great financial institutions, the Bank of England, for creating an opportunity to buy a slice of the proposed redevelopment of a once fabulous goldmine.

It was back in 1999 when Britain’s central bank made one of the worst-ever business decisions. It starting selling its gold reserves, eventually parting with 395 tons of gold over a three-year period at an average price of $252 an ounce — 460% less than today’s gold price of $1,554/oz.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

I dedicate this poem to my wife Julieth and son Boaz. Boaz came into this life on 28 August 2019 through Caesarean section at Boram Hospital, Wewak

I am born of woman 
Who I call my mother 
My first life lived in her 
Before I became man 

I am made in woman 
Who first feels my flutter 
And sleeps with her fear 
When I am not yet man

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Apparently philosophising is good for you. The harder you think the better off you become.

This is especially so when compared to passive mind activity, like watching television or social media.

“As an energy-consumer, the brain is the most expensive organ we carry around with us,” says Dr Marcus Raichle, a distinguished professor of medicine in St Louis, USA.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

The once big river is dead 
It died somehow silently
None came to the funeral 

But people wept with stories 
Of how great the river was |
When it fed and nourished 

Each and everything that were 
It looked after all that came 
For life, food and cool

The Aruamu people drill a new well (Tim Wint)

JOHN HALL
| Baptist Standard

PLANO, TEXAS - For years, Marsha Realya-Miles had prayed for 36 remote villages in Papua New Guinea. She lived in them and ministered among them.

She and her husband created the first written language for many of the Aruamu people. They translated the first New Testament in that language in 2005.

Soon, the first complete Bible in the Aruamu’s language will be published.

They knew people in these isolated places thirsted for the Living Water that is Jesus Christ, as well as clean drinking water that wouldn’t make the children sick and cut their own lives short.

The couple first arrived in 1986 as Pioneer Bible translators. The field was fertile spiritually, and people responded. Churches were started—and even a Bible college. The gospel took root and is flourishing.

Physical water proved more challenging. Realya-Miles tried every avenue she could find.

Local drillers couldn’t get their equipment in. Some non-profit organisations could drill the well but weren’t working in the area. Others could teach churches how to drill a well.

Then she learned about Texas Baptist Men.

“We were the only people who could do both drill wells and teach churches how to do it,” said DeeDee Wint, vice president of TBM water ministry.

“We couldn’t get it out of our minds. We felt God impressed it upon on hearts. We had to do it. We don’t decline projects just because it’s hard.”

For Wint and her husband, Tim, it didn’t matter that it took three days to get from Texas to the Papua New Guinea villages. Or that it took three days to gather supplies or another day crossing World War II-era bridges to get where they needed to be. Or even the notion of sleeping in open bamboo huts with little electricity and no running water.

All that mattered was the need and God’s call to meet it.

Still, with the rainy season nearing, it seemed all the effort to drill a well in late November would be for naught. When the rains begin, transportation in or out of the villages is impossible.

After two weeks of hard work, it came down to one day. If they were successful, the first village would have clean water. If not, the entire effort would have to wait another year.

“People doubted that it could be done but they had underestimated God’s people. We were amazed at the Aruamu people’s capacity to learn, their physical strength, their faith in God and their positive attitude.

“They didn’t see obstacles. When something went wrong, they just figured out how to fix it—no complaining, no doubts,” DeeDee Wint said.

“At one point, we thought the borehole had caved in on the bit 40 feet down. If this happens, you cannot only lose the borehole; you will likely lose the bit and drill pipe. Replacements are in Utah.

“After prayer and discussion, they just went back and started drilling again, and it worked. We still don’t know exactly what happened. It was another God thing.”

The entire community participated in the effort. The hope and desire of the village was clear as they worked together for the betterment of all.

“The entire village came and watched and helped,” DeeDee Wint said. “The ladies carried water. The men worked the rig. The children dug clay out of the ground and made clay marbles to seal the borehole below the surface. When it was done, it was a community accomplishment.”

When the community dedicated the well, tears filled people’s eyes. When a child filled a five-gallon container with clean drinking water, people felt they were seeing the impossible. Several individuals remarked how God had shown himself to be “plenty big” enough to meet their needs.

A local church team, Aruamu Water Projects, has the TBM drill and can use it in other villages.

DeeDee Wint dedicates a new well (Tim Wint)

To qualify for a well, a village must raise 15% of the needed funds, form a committee to care for the well and have at least one toilet. Already, communities are working to become eligible.

Another TBM team will visit the area in June to further train and drill more wells and encourage the church.

Everywhere the church goes with its drill, lives will be changed.

“They will be healthier because they’re not drinking out of a contaminated river,” DeeDee Wint said. “With open defecation everywhere, the water is quite bad. They are sick all the time.”

Church members also will share the gospel as they drill each well. People will be healthier physically and spiritually. It is a visible reminder of how God loves his people, the Wints noted.

Ambassador Xue Bing - "The xenophobic attacks against Chinese people are more serious than the corona virus itself"

NEWS DESK
| National Broadcasting Corporation

PORT MORESBY - Chinese citizens in Papua New Guinea are being urged to be cautious in their movements after growing discrimination due to the corona virus outbreak.

The Chinese embassy in PNG said it's worried about the stigma and hate speech the virus has caused on Chinese people, not only in PNG but in other countries as well.

Chey Scovell - "A number of manufacturers have had to put their expansion plans on hold"

CHEY SCOVELL
| Business Advantage PNG

PORT MORESBY - It is shaping up to be a difficult and frustrating year. Manufacturers, like anyone else, require people to be spending money to buy our goods and there is just not much money going around.

If you go to the supermarkets there is nobody in line and everyone has a small basket because they can’t afford to fill up a trolley. In the rental market there is a 40 to 50 per cent vacancy rate.

Phil Fitzpatrick - "Fake government applying Band-Aids and painting over them with  spin and empty rhetoric"

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - When mounting evidence suggests that a government is corrupt and they fail to adequately address the evidence, what can be done about it?

The short answer, of course, is not to vote for them. But if they are electorally secure and their term of government has some time to run, well, other options are severely limited.

P'nyang gas field - Is PNG squeezing energy companies too hard when it should be fixing a leaking pipe?

IAN RITCHIE

PORT MORESBY - "A fair deal is not merely squeezing a large slice of ice cream out of our development partners and then losing most of it through a horribly broken and hopelessly leaking pipe," wrote David Kitchnoge in PNG Attitude yesterday.

A clear and pragmatic observation.