rait man's blog

PNG needs a new breed of politician

By Reginald Renagi

AFTER more than three decades of gaining independence, PNG now needs more young politicians in parliament.

After years of the same political leadership, many Papua New Guineans feel this is a good time to have more young politicians in the Haus Tambaran.

There is merit in this suggestion and it should be encouraged by all major political parties.

Watch Papua New Guinea fall

From a Frustrated Citizen writing on Papua New Guinea blogs

Papua New Guinea as we know is now totally corrupt, the Judiciary the last beacon of hope for PNG is not as impartial as it used to be. In recent months we very experiences Judges sitting in the National and Supreme Court have been made to quit without having their tenures extended only to be replaced by senior lawyers who have been part of this government’s grab of power and statutory corruption at the beginning.

A letter to Julia Gillard

By Trevor Freestone

Dear Julia,

I have attempted to draw attention to the serious situation in Papua New Guinea to Kevin Rudd as Foreign Affairs Minister and Tony Abbott as Leader of the Opposition. Their staff thank me for my communication and things end there.

The situation is so serious that Australia needs to become aware of what is happening and develop a plan that will be of benefit both to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Billions lost to fraud says top cop

PAPUA New Guinea loses about 50% of its budget directly to fraud.

“This is equivalent to K4 billion a year which has gone into the hands of corrupt public servants and senior bureaucrats, many of whom have invested these gains overseas,” acting deputy police commissioner Fred Yakasa said this week at a workshop in Port Moresby.

How can we force mining companies to act responsibly?

In Papua New Guinea we are only too aware of the social and environmental problems that foreign owned mining companies can cause. Ok Tedi, Panguna, Porgera, Tolukuma, Misima and now Hidden Valley have all come with an enormous cost that is paid by local people while the mining company and their shareholders earn massive profits. How can mining companies be made more responsible when they operate in countries like Papua New Guinea?

Violence the new law

From The National

OVER the course of the last two weeks, the country has been rocked by one violent episode after another.

Two episodes involved groups flagrantly breaking the law and one tragic incident involved a perpetrator who, by all accounts, should have known better.