George Ireng, the kid from Madang who has become an ever deepening thorn in the side of MCC, the Chinese government company that owns the Ramu Nickel Mine, has again made the developer and the PNG government uncomfortable.
Rowan Callick - The Australian
Update 6 May: The Kapris videos are back on YouTube in a new location and the links below have been updated so you can view the tapes (thanks Ari for the information).
Update 5 May: The Kapris videos have been removed from YouTube and can no longer be viewed using the links below. If they become available again we will update this page.
Rowan Callick - The Australian
A CABAL of top public servants and lawyers have hijacked Papua New Guinea’s government chequebook, plundering more than $300 million through sham compensation claims. The rorts include Finance Secretary Gabriel Yer initiating a spurious claim of $700,000 for himself and 225 people from his home village. He delivered the money to a dozen of them whom he had flown to Port Moresby, in a case containing 50-kina notes.
A New Solution to Building Road and other Infrastructure in Papua New Guinea by NASFUND
With the growth of Papua New Guineas economy, we have seen an almost equal a reversal in the maintenance of all our major highways and roads. From the Highlands Highway to the Madang Highway and other major roads - pot holes, washed out bridges and roads in total disrepair are sadly all to common in this ludicrously resource rich democracy.
Opposition to proposed changes to the law to weaken the powers of the Ombudsman Commission and protect Members of Parliament from investigation for fraud and corruption is intensifying ahead of the reconvening of Parliament on May 4th.
Latest developments in the last few days include:
The benefits expected from the Exxon-Mobil liquefied natural gas project will not be realised unless corruption is weeded out say the Catholic Bishops meeting for their annual Conference.
Catholic Bishops meeting in Lae for their annual conference have highlighted the fact that major resource projects in PNG have generally failed the people and have had more negative consequences than positive ones.
“For many people the most obvious outcome of so-called development has been more negative than positive, for example, widespread corruption, poverty and violence are on the rise”.
“Wealth hasn’t trickled down throughout society and so urban settlements are growing and rural areas are becoming poorer,” say the bishops in a Pastoral Letter.
The Ombudsman Commission's opposition to the proposed changes to the Leadership Code could not be clearer, despite mischievous claims from some politician that the Commission supports the amendments.
In May 2009 the Ombudsman Commission submitted an 11 page brief to the National Executive Council (which can be downloaded below) setting out its concerns about so called "Maladina" amendments and making clear that it did not support the changes.
The Ombudsman Commission submission makes clear that the proposed changes:
The proposed amendments to the Organic Law on the Duties and Responsibilities of Leadership - the so-called 'Maladina amendments' - have created a lot of controversy.
The Community Coalition Against Corruption is mounting a major campaign to try and persuade Parliament not to enact the proposed amendments.
The Ombudsman Commission, whose powers would be restricted by the proposed amendments, is against the changes (despite apparent claims to the contrary by the Government in Parliament).
But what are the proposed changes?