Frustration in Papua New Guinea

Most Papua New Guineans are fed up and frustrated with the situation in the country. What has transpired in parliament yesterday where the vote of no confidence by the opposition was not given an opportunity shows that democracy was buried. That was the end of democracy in this country because the current government is being controlled by outsiders. Changes in the Environment Act by the government is just one of the major outstanding issues which this government is avoiding to deal with.

The people had enough of this government. They were hoping that the Prime Minister and National Alliance - the ruling party are replaced but that was not the case. The way the Prime Minister along with his ministers have behaved like criminals yesterday by calling certain leaders in the opposition as dead meat. This is unbecoming of leaders and is totally unacceptable. Infact, it is a disgrace to the people of Papua New Guinea.

Now that we can not expect change at the political level our hope is with peoples' power. People should come out from their cells and speak out. They have to organize and put pressure on the government because the power of the people is equivalent to the power of politics. Our people need to realize that they still have the power regardless of what happened yesterday. What happened yesterday was educational to the people. They have to ensure that they do not vote for the same people and party in the 2012 elections. There is no more time to talk and do awareness, it is time to ACT NOW.

PNG's prime minster to MP: 'you are dead meat'

PNG's prime minster to MP: 'you are dead meat'

Last Updated: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:51:00 +1000


A session of Papua New Guinea's parliament has ended with an extraordinary outburst by prime minister Sir Michael Somare, who threatened to kill an opponent.

After a ceremony in parliament to swear in the governor-general, the leader of government business moved to suspend parliament until November 16.

When the speaker called for 'ayes' and 'no's', the no's were noticeably louder.

But the speaker said "the ayes have it" and adjourned parliament without calling for a division to count the numbers.

As members were leaving the house, Sir Michael walked towards the opposition benches, pointed at MP Bart Philemon and yelled in pigeon: "I'm going to kill you outside".

But the prime minister's office has told the ABC that Sir Michael has been misquoted. The PM's office says that Sir Michael actually said to the opposition MP "you are dead meat".

Only hours earlier the opposition gave the speaker notice for a motion of no confidence in Sir Michael.

Chaos reigns
Earlier, there were scenes of chaos at Papua New Guinea's parliament during a ceremony to swear in the Governor-General.

Parliament resumed to swear-in Sir Paulias Matane for his second consecutive term as Governor-General, but before that could happen, the opposition called for a vote to defer the ceremony.

It believes the process to re-appoint Sir Paulias was flawed.

As foreign dignitaries looked on from the gallery, MPs hurled abuse across the floor of parliament.

After a lengthy discussion with the clerk the deputy speaker allowed the vote to precede - and it was lost 42 to 59.

The opposition leader and his deputy then left the chamber in protest while Sir Paulias was sworn in as PNG's head of state.

Pacific News Email for Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Change Government Now!

The countdown has begun before we know whether the National Alliance the current ruling party in parliament will survive. The same can be a said about the Sir Michael Somare who is the PM of the country. There is going to be a vote no confidence in today's parliament session a 2pm.

Just listening to the talk back show this morning, there are a lot of frustrated people out there who sharing their sentiments against the current government. They are saying that this government has a lot to answer for for the many problems we face in this country. Stone throwing by the Tari people of Southern Highlands to the Prime Minister (PM) last week sends a big message and a symbol of peoples' disrespect and trust in the PM. What if the stone was bullet?

Most people are saying most of the leaders in the country have served their purpose in a particular time and those times are long gone. Most of these leaders are currently ineffective and are not contributing positively to the development of the nation. They are in parliament for their own gain. Very few of these leaders have new ideas and vision in-order to take this country forward. Some of these prominent leaders are implicated in most of the corrupt and fizzy deals taking place nowadays and nothing is being done about them. This frustrates the hell out of our people. This is one of the reasons why people are calling for the PM and others to step down. New leaders and visionaries are now needed quickly as the symptoms of a very sick and weak society are now obvious in this country.

Claims PM offered ‘K40m to drop case’

As seen below the government does not know how to deal with the current situation on hand. The Prime Minister who heads NA - the New Asian Party is making secret trips to Madang and also meeting with 1 of the plaintiff of the current court case between the Raicoast Landowners, MCC and the government of Papua New Guinea. The PM is trying to get the landowners to drop the court case by offering K40m to them. Apparently the landowners remain firm in their stand.

It is sad to see how the PM is bringing himself down so low to deal with the issue of the Ramu Nickel Mine. The government has once again shot itself on the foot by having the PM to meet with an individual plaintiff as this can be regarded as contempt of court as the matter is still before court. This shows how desperate the government is and one should ask who is putting the pressure behind the PM?

By STAFF REPORTERS

THE Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare is alleged to have offered a substantial amount of money to have disgruntled landowners drop their court challenge which has stopped development of the deep sea tailing placement project in Basamuk by Ramu NiCo Limited (MCC).
The offer is alleged to have been made to Sama Mellambo, who is one of the plaintiffs in the court case, during a closed door meeting held with Sir Michael at the Madang Resort on Monday morning.
Mr Mellambo when responding to questions put to him by this paper yesterday confirmed that an offer had been made to him for K40 million to withdraw the case.
He said he had received a call while he was at home, from a person whom he did not name, and was told that the Prime Minister was in town and wanted to meet with him.
He said a vehicle was sent to his family home and because there was nobody else to go with him, as a witness and for court purposes should the need arise, had opted to take his wife along with him.
He said at the hotel they were instructed to wait until the PM was ready. At 11am, he and his wife were ushered into one of the conference rooms where they met Sir Michael. Mr Mellambo said during the exchanges he was presented with a document containing social and economic development projects to the tune of K40 million and asked to “sign off’’ on it. He said the projects would cover all four impact areas.
“I was put in an awkward position and I don’t know why I was being asked to sign off on the deals when rightfully these were matters that should be dealt with by the respective landowner chairmen. Because the issue of the Ramu Nickel Foundation (RNF) was brought up I thought I should pursue it in the discussions as this is something that is well overdue.
“I am fighting for my land and my people and I would like this to be made clear and this to be respected,” he said. Mr Mellambo said because the projects were part of the project agreement and would include a number of areas and involve the RNF he had asked for Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet and Raicoast MP James Gau Gelak to be at the meeting and to also have a look at the document.
He said he was told there would be a follow-up meeting next Wednesday.
Following the meeting with Mr Mellambo, Sir Arnold and Mr Gau had called a press conference during which Sir Arnold said that he Mr Gau were helping with talks with landowners, civil society leaders, ward councillors and the LLG presidents and church leaders who were open to transparent dialogue.
He said that they were also in the process of getting the company involved, government, Environment plan, Mineral Resources Authority and the Mineral Resources Development Corporation to explain to the people about the DSTP.
During the conference Mr Gau said that when he met Mr Mellambo, he was critical about the DSTP but he said that Mr Mellambo told him that the reason behind the people taking out a court injunction was the Government’s failure to honour its commitments which the PM personally committed to, including the establishment of the RNF to be funded by the Government for K20 million.
Mr Gau said that among other things, the landowners were denied spinoff benefits too, prompting the court injunction as well. He said that the Government was in negotiations with the landowners to settle the matter of court in “the Madang way’’. He said that they had reached an understanding with Mr Mellambo to resolve this issue and also to advise the plaintiff’s lawyer to settle the matter out of court.
Mr Gau said that Mr Mellambo had given an undertaking that as long as the Government honoured its commitment, he would withdraw the case. Mr Mellambo is just one of the five plaintiffs who have taken out a court injunction stopping work on the DSTP.

Post Courier July 14 2010

Mine will affect us

I agree with John Nonggorr’s call for the PM to step aside. Recent events show that the PM has lost the plot.
Although there are many examples from which to choose, the amendment to the Environment Act is the worst abuse of legislative power by the Government. According to Sir Michael, he went to China to bring in MCC. If the PM negotiated the deal, did he tell his Chinese friends, the MCC that unlike China, PNG has strict laws on environment? Did he tell them that they would have to comply with the laws like all other developers? Why amend the Environment Act because MCC is having a hard time? The Government says the mine will bring development. Yes, but what kind of development? A few roads and bridges in exchange for hell? How about the widespread pollution and environmental damage? The mine will not go on forever.
Our people will live on their land and fish the seas forever. When the mine closes and MCC leaves PNG, what will happen to the people who will be unable to garden on their land and fish in the seas? Will they all jump on a ship and sail to China to spend their days with MCC? What is amazing is the failure by the Government to appreciate that the landowners are not against the mine.
They simply don’t want tailings to be dumped into the sea. The PM should understand this and explain this to MCC.

Mangi Saina

Post Courier, June 17, 2010

Ramu concern intensifies

By ROSALYN EVARA

CONCERNS have intensified over the possible closure of the Ramu nickel project and attempts have been made to get the people who have taken out the injunction on an developers to withdraw their case.
The attempts were made during a meeting which Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet organised last week in the provincial capital between the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and leaders from the four mine impact areas. Also present was Sama Mellombo, who is the fifth plaintiff in the case, who was the last of the appointed speakers to officially address Sir Michael with his grievances. Mr Mellombo reiterated yet again that it was not the project they were up in arms over rather the method of mine waste disposal the Chinese Metallurgical Construction Company (MCC) and the State were adamant on pursuing.
Mr Mellombo, who had been employed by Highlands Pacific Limited (HPL) for eight years before leaving, said there were four options which had been recommended for the tailings disposal, three of them land-based. He questioned why they were so adamant on pursuing the Deep Sea Tailings Placement and even prepared to risk the lives of so many people when there was a lot of evidence already indicating how detrimental this would be.
“DSTP is the cheapest option compared to the options that have been suggested and do we (the people) want to cop the shit that will come with it? No! “No-one of you (leaders) will be here to live with the effects if it is allowed to go ahead. We are the one and we say no to it,” he stressed. Sir Arnold said from his assessment as a judge the court battle could take over three months before it is over. He said there had already been indications from the developer that if they were not allowed to go ahead with the DSTP there would be no project.
He said should this happen the Chinese, who were understood to be losing millions with the delay, would most probably leave and all the work they had done would go to waste.
Sir Arnold alluded to the fact that this could all be avoided if the necessary experts could put to rest all the doubts the people had, including those heading the charge against the company, and the case be withdrawn. “You (respondents) can withdraw the case or continue to pursue it, this is not being said to undermine your rights.
“I believe the way forward would be to ensure that more awareness is carried out while this is happening,” he said.
Kurumbukari landowner chairman David Tigavu cut in while Sir Arnold was concluding his address to the people to also appeal to the non-government organisations to withdraw the case.
Mr Tigavu said over the 85 days that the company had stopped work it had cost them $US85 million. He said if the project was forced to close down the people would suffer the most.
He urged that whatever their grievances were that they speak to the Governor and other leaders and just allow the project to progress.

Post Courier, June 16, 2010