A coalition involving Transparency International, business houses in Port Moresby who have supported the creation of a Business Against Corruption Alliance, civil society and PNG's peak legal professional body is calling on the Government to address a number of serious issues including:
By Charles Mende*
I have heard and read about the current appointment of the Governor-General with interest and since it is a constitutional situation involving the representative of the Head of State it deserves extensive and thorough public discussion. It appears that there are some improprieties as a result of the conduct of the Parliament in the appointment of the G-G then it should be challenged in court.
On June 30th over 3,000 people peacefully marched through Madang town to protest the government's amendments to the Environment law that take away landowners rights and grant immunity to foreign companies for the environmental damage they cause.
[img_assist|nid=1269|title=Madang protest 2|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=400|height=267]
[img_assist|nid=1271|title=Madang protest 3|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=400|height=267]
Controversial plans for PNG’s first Special Economic Zone, the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone in Madang, have hit a legal hurdle.
Although the government had negotiated a $180 million loan from the Chinese government to fund the building of the industrial park, that loan is in breach of PNG law. This is because under the loan agreement one particular Chinese company will get to build the park and 70% of the loan monies have to be spent on Chinese goods and services. This breaches PNG laws that require open and competitive bidding process that includes at least 3 companies.
The Prime Minister's arrogance and lack of respect for the law and proper process seems to know no boundaries.
By JOHN FOWKE from an AIDWATCH report edited by TIM ANDERSON & GARY LEE*
IT SHOULD NOT be surprising that many Australians understand so little about Melanesian customary land.
They do not understand how land title not written down in a government register can be “secure”.
They do not understand how people can own land without being able to sell it.
The PNG government through the Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management is undertaking a Mining policy and legislative review exercise in 2010.
The legislations and mineral policies of the Government of PNG as well as draft legislation and policies previously drafted are attached below for comments from the public.
The following documents are attached:
Prime Minister Michael Somare's attempts to rule Papua New Guinea like an African dictator have taken another step forward with an Edict from the Minister for Justice (see attached pdf below) that bans public debate on the Environment Act amendment and orders the police to stop any public gatherings or protests.
Prime Minister, Michael Somare, has a secret legislative plan that will make the proposed changes to the Leadership Code and even the recent amendments to the Environment Act seem relatively benign and insignificant.
The PM is waiting for the opportunity to again by-pass proper Parliamentary process and bulldoze through legislation for a Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that will further impoverish rural Papua New Guineans and boost the profits of foreign multinational companies.
ABC RADIO
ELIZABETH JACKSON: Covering politics can be a tough gig for journalists; there's always lots of speculation and big egos. Reporters are often critical of politicians, but it's relatively rare for the criticism to flow the other way, publicly at least.
Not so in Papua New Guinea, where journalists recently received a tongue-lashing, courtesy of the prime minister Sir Michael Somare.
And as our PNG correspondent Liam Fox reports, it's not the first time it's happened.