LITIA CAVA | Fiji Times

SUVA - “It is a victory for the media in Fiji and we should be encouraged to keep going and to stay within the law.”

These were the words of an emotional publisher and general manager of the Fiji Times, Hank Arts, after high court judge Thushara Rajasinghe concurred with the unanimous not guilty opinion of the three assessors and acquitted him and two other senior officials of the Fiji Times, the company and a letter writer of sedition charges.

Emotions were high as the judge delivered his judgment in a packed court room at the high court in Suva on Tuesday afternoon.

Justice Rajasinghe ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the article published in the Nai Lalakai newspaper on 27 April 2016 was seditious and that it had the tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility among Muslims and non-Muslim.

Nai Lalakai writer Josaia Waqabaca was acquitted of sedition while Nai Lalakai editor Anare Ravula and Fiji Times editor in-chief Fred Wesley were acquitted of aiding and abetting the publication of the article. Mr Arts and Fiji Times Ltd were acquitted of publishing a seditious article in the Nai Lalakai newspaper.

“We should now be encouraged to keep going with the way we have been, stay within the law and decency but report honestly and balanced without fear,” Arts said.

“That is what we stand for, that is what we do and we will continue to do that.”

Wesley said he was overwhelmed and thankful of the support that was rendered to the team during the course of the case.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those people who have been calling us. People I had met on the streets, people that had sent me text messages, emails and those that just picked up the phone and made a call to wish us well,” Wesley said.

“It has been a very humbling experience for me and in terms of editorial matters it would go on as usual from tomorrow (today) and we will continue to do, share, balance and offer a level platform for people to voice their concerns and we will continue to be there to raise issues of concern and be there for the people.”

The Chinese embassy in Port Moresby - never mind the graffiti, think of the money

CHRIS OVERLAND

ADELAIDE - It didn't really need the resources of the CIA to uncover the nature of China's grand strategy in the Pacific.

That said, I think it is a serious error to underestimate just how effective this strategy will ultimately become.

History tells us that big powers like to dominate small powers within their self-described sphere of influence and will do whatever it takes to achieve this objective.

So China is simply proceeding down a well-trodden path and one which is entirely consistent with both its history and its current ambitions.

It amuses me when the governments of tiny and penurious countries like Vanuatu proclaim they can and will resist pressure to allow China access to ports or airstrips. This is simply whistling in the cemetery.

The truth is that they will, eventually, do as they are told because they will have no other sustainable options.

If they imagine that simply reneging on their debts is a viable option, then they ought to look at Argentina as a guide to their likely fate.

Argentina is battling with 40% interest rates, a desperate shortage of capital and a great deal of social dislocation and misery.

In addition, the government is fighting off law suits from creditors who are determined to extract their financial due from the beleaguered country.

Countries like Vanuatu are ludicrously ill equipped to cope with the impact of any economic meltdown whereas the Chinese can weather global financial storms with relative impunity.

One-third of China's tropical logs come from the forests of PNG. If lined up, in 2014 alone the logs from SABLs would stretch from Port Moresby to Beijing

And make no mistake, the financial winter is coming.

Total world debt now exceeds $US200 trillion, or 300% of world GDP, interest rates are rising (notably in the United States).

Unless the rules of economics as we know them are entirely wrong, the day of reckoning for the over leveraged is coming.

It requires truly heroic optimism to believe that we collectively can somehow deleverage our enormous indebtedness without pain.

There is literally no example of such a painless transition in history: the usual pattern is an enormous economic implosion followed by widespread impoverishment and dispossession.

It requires even more heroic optimism to believe that the current crop of politicians around the globe possess the insight, judgement and resolve to actually manage a successful transition onto a more sustainable footing.

In this context, in the absence of any other plan, perhaps Vanuatu and the rest of us might as well continue to whistle in the cemetery.

"Moses was a superstar - his stardom reached every corner of our nation"

JASEY V | Jasey V Diaries

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” – Oscar Wilde

DIASPORA - On 16 May an iconic Papua New Guinean departed this world for the next on the very day of his birth.

Moses Tau,or Moshanty as he was affectionately known to the nation of PNG, lived his life with no regrets and certainly breathed every word of Oscar Wilde’s quote right till the very end.

With a distinctive voice and tunes that latched onto listener’s brainwaves, Moses took to the stage, and graced our screens, with hits such as ‘Ito Paka Paka’, ‘Temarama’ and the all-time favourite ‘Helalo Une’.

Ask many from our island nation and we will tell you that Moses is a national treasure. For those of us Papua New Guineans that live abroad ‘Helalo Une’ has become a regular at our independence day celebrations and on our ‘homesick’ playlist.

That voice and those lyrics tend to bring home that little bit closer and ignite the inner Motuan in us that some of us are not even by blood.

Moses was a superstar. His stardom reached every corner of our nation, even spreading across the Pacific and beyond; evident from the tributes that have been shared on all social media platforms.

I have seen commentary from people in the Solomon Islands, Cook Islands and Fijian islands. Tributes have been given by members of all walks of life from prime ministers, to businessmen and ordinary people like myself.

The reach he had in our hearts transcended music. He represented PNG as a passionate ambassador at events such as the South Pacific Islands Pageant to the infamous Mardi Gras held annually in Sydney, Australia. He stood proud of being an advocate for unapologetically being himself, a voice for members of the LBGTI community.

Having met Moses on a few occasions, it is easy to understand the heartfelt tributes. With Moses or Moshanty, I should say you always felt like you had an instantaneous connection and had made a friend for life.

One the few occasions I was fortunate to meet “Aunty Moshanty” as he had told me to call him, I usually left his presence with a smile or laughing uncontrollably at something he had said that was incredibly ridiculous yet hilarious.

His zest for life and infectious humour touched many lives and I know for many he will always be Aunty Moshanty or Mama Mou as many have referred to him in the past few days.

In a country that is yet to join the world in decriminalising homosexuality and recognising the LGBTI community, Moses was a visionary. Certainly for me, as a young child growing up in PNG struggling with sexuality and gender issues. Moses put a face in the media that those of us ‘living in the shadows’ could relate to.

His attendance at the 2000 Mardi Gras in Sydney was an eye opener for many in PNG and one that stands out in my memory. We have a lot to thank him for because he started the conversations for the LGBTI community in our country.

Before Moses, it was virtually unheard of for a Papua New Guinean to have attended the parade. I am certain that there were probably already a few who had attended from PNG, however none with such great sass and diva-ness as Moses had, attending the event as the ‘Queen of the Pacific’ irrespective of the attacks made at him by the general public.

Moses in an interview with World News Australia in 2012 spoke of his struggles with being gay in PNG, how difficult it was and his feelings toward matters affecting the LGBTI community. I can attest that it was not easy then and still is not easy today.

An advocate for LGBTI rights, he stated that we are all just going about our lives trying to figure out what our message to the world is and what our story is. Moses certainly found his purpose and brought to the world his story with an incredible talent and voice. His music and the effects his music had on the lives of many show just how much of a force he was.

Moses loved PNG like no other and was a proud citizen. This love for his country and people can be seen in the interview with World News Australia, where he spoke of how many in the LGBTI community with the means to, had left the country because of the discrimination they faced but, for Moses leaving PNG was just not an option: “I can’t go. I love my country, this is my paradise”.

PNG has lost a gem that cannot be mined elsewhere and never again will our nation, nor the world, see anyone as talented, as entertaining, as humorous and as loving as Moses Tau.

Moses, you were a unique, beautiful and talented soul. You may have left this world but your legacy will live on forever through your music. You will always be part of PNG history.

Bamahuta, Aunty Moshanty, we will miss you!

Poster in a Lae Seventh Day Adventist Church extolling a good family man's attributes (Michelle N Rooney)

MICHELLE NAYAHAMUI ROONEY, MIRANDA FORSYTH, MARY AISI & DORA KUIR-AYIUS | DevPolicy Blog | Extracts

You can read the complete article on this important research project here

CANBERRA - We conducted research in Lae for three weeks in April to explore the connections between women’s experiences of seeking support to address family and sexual violence in their lives and their children’s wellbeing and opportunities for education.

Emerging findings from this research have highlighted the multiple financial and social considerations that limit women’s ability to seek certain types of assistance.

The research also highlighted the gap between formal systems of support and the reality for most low-income families whose children tend to fall out of the education system because of the immediate and longer-term impact of family and sexual violence.

Many of the women we interviewed have extremely low incomes and low educational levels. Their experiences of violence reflect deeply-entangled cycles of poverty, marital breakdowns and chronic episodic violence – all of which reinforce each other.

Many women are supporting others while also dealing with their own experiences of violence, and the research revealed the critical role that neighbours, family members, other survivors, schools, and churches play in assisting those experiencing family and sexual violence. Lifetime experiences and episodes of violence can also involve multiple factors and relationships.

The economic (financial and opportunity) costs of seeking support, particularly from the state, are a major constraint on women’s ability to address the violence in their lives. Many of these costs are related to their ability to provide for their children’s housing, food, education, and other basic needs.

These costs are exacerbated by the lack of knowledge and confusion over the support services available. Another important reason why women do not pursue the formal route for addressing family and sexual violence is the fear of losing the family income if their partner is sentenced to jail.

For those living in Lae’s informal settlement communities, even if they wish to resolve the matter locally in the community, they must pay ‘table fees’ for local leaders and komiti [committee] members to hear their cases of domestic violence.

These local mediation fees can range from K10 to K50 per party to the dispute. If there are multiple parties in the complaint such as when there is a polygamous relationship, these costs can escalate to include other costs such as compensation.

When women do choose to seek support through the formal police and court system, their strategies vary and the outcomes are mixed depending on their personal circumstances.

Many women acknowledged the improvements in the police responses and attributed these to the current strong leadership in the Lae police hierarchy, including the introduction of a toll free number for the public to call.

However, most responses suggested that from the perspective of women experiencing family and sexual violence, there is a need to improve information about the processes and access to police and other services.

Women from Lae’s informal settlements (also called ‘compounds’ or ‘blocks’) talked about being sent between the local mediating komiti and the police station, often giving up in the process. Costs include being asked to pay the police for fuel or other enticements before they will attend to a domestic violence incident. The delays in responses often mean that the perpetrator has run away.

Some women expressed concern that they are required by police to directly request a perpetrator to come to the police station to face a complaint. Others noted that police, magistrates, lawyers or local mediators were often known to both parties, making it difficult for complaints to be dealt with independently.

Many women also expressed wariness about the formal process especially because they fear the violence worsening if the process is unsuccessful or when the perpetrator is released from jail. For this reason, many women prefer to resolve matters within the family, the church or community. Many women said that they turned to religious spirituality for comfort and hope and found social support within their church networks.

The responses suggest that the stronger presence of police is having a positive outcome in terms of deescalating or preventing episodes of violence. Currently, the police accept women’s agency in determining how to proceed with their complaints, accommodating their demands to bring their partners in for mediation, or even calling the perpetrators to warn them about the potential legal consequences of their violence.

Despite the general view expressed by our interviewees that domestic violence is a matter for the private space, we were heartened by the responses and the frank discussions in which there was an overwhelming consensus that this is a major problem faced by families, and women especially, and that a collective effort is required for any change to occur.

Although our research has focussed on women’s perspectives on these issues, a strong message from women was the need to involve men, including sons, in this kind of research. A collective effort that also includes support for relationship mediation and counselling is needed to address family violence

A Huli man at Ambua Lodge near Tari in the Southern Highlands Province

RASHMII BELL

BRISBANE – “2018 marks the centenary of the first forced placement of people on Palm Island and we, the Palm Island Community, are inviting you to ‘Share Our Journey’ as we hold a series of events.”

This handful of words is part of a large, bold statement that introduces the online visitor to a calendar of activities in which the Bwgcolman (‘many tribes, one mob’) of Palm Island will reflect on the past, celebrate the present and look to the future.

Palm Island’s status as former penal colony was never imparted during my Australian school education, and to come across it is revelatory.

Instead, we are exposed to the story of a wayward society lacking in cohesion and a hot bed of violence cultivated in the blackwashed hyperbole with which the Australian media relayed the tragic events of 2004.

Touted as ‘the Palm Island riots’, repetitious coverage of smoke billowing from a police station paired with angry members of the indigenous population walking the streets conveyed the community’s outrage over the suspicious death in custody, less than an hour after arrest, of Mulrunji (Cameron Domadgee).

Missing from the reporting was the turbulent, heartbreaking and unpublicised history of Palm Island, specifically the nature of relationship between indigenous and white Australia.

Against this backdrop, the escalating outrage of the indigenous community when their pleas for arresting officer Sergeant Christopher Hurley to be removed from Palm Island are better understood. After a controversial career Hurley retired from the police medically unfit early last year.

SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, in the courtyard of the Avid Bookstore in Brisbane’s West End, the launch of literary journal Griffith Review’s ‘First things First’ afforded another, much-needed occasion to continue unravelling the historical impact of colonisation and, at its centre, the inter-generational implications for the indigenous population of Australia.  

Author and lecturer in Australian social history and health, Dr Joanne Watson, delivered an overview of her featured essay, ‘A century of activism of heartache: the troubled history of Palm Island’.

Watson provided a comprehensive account of resistance to 1800’s colonial intrusion and the subsequent ‘frontier war’ tactics used against the traditional home of the Manbarra and Buluguyban people. She focussed her oration on the language that saturated media coverage of the Palm Island riots.

Watson made reference then Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence describing Palm Island as a “dysfunctional community” where few people had any sense of social obligation. Premier Peter Beattie referred to a “dysfunctional council that should get off their bums”. It seems the spin doctors had decided ‘dysfunctional community’ was a useful slur.

The council to which Beattie referred is Palm Island Community Council, established in 1968 after decades of penal rule. Thousands of Queensland’s indigenous people had been deported to the island.

Watson’s advocacy over 30 years for the Palm Island community has pointed to white Australia’s continuing failure to address indigenous disadvantage and its brutal history.

As Jack Jeweller wrote in Overland, this lack of progress is due to the historical subjection - systemic control, everyday racism, institutional racism and containment by police.

Jeweller concluded that the outrage surrounding Mulrunjii wasn’t just because of the brutality but also the lack of transparency and the evident collusion involved with the investigation surrounding his death.

The hopelessness experienced by the Bwogcolman people is a logical outcome of nearly a century of containment.

A recent opinion piece by Luke Pearson, founder and chief editor of @IndigenousX, comments on the trajectory of indigenous Australians affairs under the Abbot and Turnbull governments. “Both agendas were plagued by bureaucratic incompetence and malfeasance,” he writes, adding that it is the historical and present-day treatment of Aboriginal people that are causal factors that need to be addressed, not Aboriginality.

We ought to seek out new stories, concludes Pearson, stories that bring depth, understanding and compassion and which seek to find solutions rather than scapegoats.

AS I REFLECT on this point, I cannot help but to look at Papua New Guinea.

A recent article by Francis Nii looked at the aftermath of Jubilee Australia’s report on the ‘resource curse’ impacts that have descended on PNG since the money started to flow from liquefied natural gas developments.

Right on cue, there followed a volleying of blame shifting and finger pointing between key players Oil Search Limited, Exxon Mobil and the PNG government.

In attributing community discontent and violence to inaction by the government of paying royalties to landowners, Oil Search chairman Rick Lee is reported to have said, “Clearly it’s the lack of distribution [of funds], not the lack of payment [by Oil Search], that is the cause of it”.

Unfaltering in its quest to erase corporate responsibility, the company loftily advocated more transparency in the handling of the gas project royalties and trumpeted the benefits of publishing a detailed public breakdown of payments as a mechanism for curbing corruption.

Simultaneously, in an interview with Radio New Zealand, an ExxonMobil official said it had invested “$US246 million to build infrastructure, develop social programs and implement skills training”.

Huli woman

As fast as lightning, PNG government petroleum minister Dr Fabian Pok issued stern words to Oil Search not to shift blame while doing some blame shifting of his own: “In PNG LNG project, ExxonMobil on advice from Oil Search Limited, rush(ed) on Section 47 requirements and relied on social mapping reports as complete and pushed ahead with the project development”.

Perhaps reeling from the shock, a subsequent media release from Oil Search adopted a different tone and language, segueing to a position no longer isolated from the PNG government and declaring it was “committed to PNG and will continue to work with the State, the developer, its joint venture partners and the communities to ensure the benefits are distributed as soon as possible”.

This back-pedalling by vocal white men was signed and dated by Oil Search communications manager Ruth Waram, a Papua New Guinean woman no less. But it failed to hide who had control over the narrative.

And yet, amongst all the politicking and unravelling of opaque dealings and dismal accountability, the real story is about the Papua New Guineans who have had to live with the consequences of the decisions made by whoever was responsible for this gross mismanagement.

The Monthly magazine’s May 2018 issue delivered a timely snapshot of this through Jo Chandler’s outstanding long form journalism.

Entitled ‘The Resource Curse: Papua New Guinea’s boom gas project is burning up’, he article reviews the US$19 billion liquefied natural gas project from the first meeting between ExxonMobil and PNG representatives in Brisbane in February 2010 to the present-day anger and anguish replete with unpaid royalties, toxic and violent law and order problems and the steady disintegration of the lives of the people of Hela Province who host the LNG project.

While the PNG government, ExxonMobil and Oil Search issue glowing statements of their performance in bringing social and economic benefits to PNG, the people of Hela say otherwise. Men, women and children gaze on a blank landscape, once promised to be rich with tertiary campuses, roads and all manner of other benefits.

Passivity is not within the repertoire of the Huli people of Hela. “We are the women of Hela, but we are not benefiting,” Janet Koriama, president of the Hela Council of Women, tells Chandler.

Koriama recounts her conversation with ExxonMobil and government personnel when she travelled to Port Moresby in search of answers about where the ‘big money’ had gone. Her questions were unanswered, and they remain unanswered. She blames to the government: “Our own sons, who were educated, who were supposed to put it all together.”

Janet Mbuda, a highschool teacher from Hides, drew attention to the young men. “Their mindset is spoiled,” she says, describing teenage boys who left school following the disruption that stalks the gas project. “They can kill anyone. The white men, the black men, they don’t care…”

Chandler refers to an earlier essay when she told of how Powerpoint slides shown by PNG specialists to ExxonMobil in February 2010.

The final slide said: “I will be 18 years old in 2022 and, if I have not been educated and I am still a subsistence farmer living in relative poverty, I am going to be really angry! I may be armed and dangerous!”

The words were juxtaposed with imagery of a small Huli boy crouched by the side of the road with a barefoot youth bearing a high-powered automatic rifle.

The article articulates the feelings of the should-have-been beneficiaries: the women, the young men, the children of Hela Province. It offers a deeper understanding of the plight of those forced into the trajectory of a grim future.

These voices of the indigenous people must be fostered and elevated above all. When the final story is told, it would be ideal if the needs of the people were seen to have overshadowed corruption, blame-shifting and scapegoating and that there had been a steady movement towards inclusive solutions.

This ideal narrative would show that Western operators and the PNG government had eventually chosen to commit to delivering on all those promises made to the people of Hela so many years ago.

This article was prepared under the My Walk to Equality Writer Fellowship 2018 sponsored by Paga Hill Development Company. Attendance at the Griffith Review 60: ‘First Things First’ launch (Avid Bookstore, West End) and the purchase of a copy of The Monthly (May 2018) were undertaken as literary activities of the fellowship. The fellowship commenced in mid-March 2018 and will conclude at the end of September 2018. Information and regular updates of activities undertaken by fellowship recipient, Rashmii Bell, may be found here or via Twitter: @amoahfive_oh

Jimmy Awagl

JIMMY AWAGL

SIMBU - A dawn of a new day with the ascending rays of the sun painting the fog red. A lone boy rests upright against his dirty pillow in the small hut beside the gorge.

The young man is about to turn another year older. He pulls on a yellow and black striped shirt with the word ‘BII’ printed on it. Many years before people in the street had adopted ‘Bii’ as his nickname.

Bii lives on the periphery of the Sikaku tribe at the eastern tip of Yongos. He walks downstream on fine afternoons cutting across to the roadside market in search of vegetables.

He strolls gently, a stick clutched in his hand, whistling his favourite courtship song imagining courting with cute girls.

On this day, at a bend in the road, he encountered two girls returning from afternoon classes at Mai High School.

Caught by surprise, and feeling embarrassed that he has had no schooling, he Bii gave a guilty smile. Unable to find words to express his feelings, he looked at his feet.

Then, glancing up suddenly, he caught a smile shining like a full moon on the face of a pretty ambai [girl].

Bii silently thanked his luck, paused for a moment and nodded his head with pleasure a few times.

Then, as he turned to the ambai again, he saw that she and her friend had resumed their walk home, their bottoms swaying rhythmically.

Such, impression disrupted his feelings and emotion. He ran out of words to express how much he was captivated by the eye sight.

“She must be a ghost,” thought Bii, “I have never seen such a girl before.”

As he reached the market, he stood in the crowd thinking about what he had encountered. A close friend walked up to him and offered a betel nut.

“My friend, paint your lips with this stuff,” he said to Bii.

“Surely! Thanks!”

“Seems you look miserable, what’s the cause?” asked his friend.

“My brother, it’s a mysterious moment for me. Since I met a cute lass with blue eyes, amazing smile and possessing the colours of an orchid,” replied Bii.

“Oh, my god! Who’s that?”

“I may have met a river ghost, since I have never seen such an ambai along that path,” said Bii.

“Anyway, let it go for today and we will pursue a search tomorrow,” said his friend, and walked off into the crowd.

“Time to head home before darkness catches up,” Bii thought.

He walked home with a feeling he may meet the river ghost anytime. However, he did not and reached home as the final eye of the sun set behind the tree tops near his house.

Bii walked inside and sat beside the fireplace. Sliding his head beneath his knees he fell asleep.

He dreamed of catching that beautiful smile again.

But that was just a wishful dream. The ambai was a river ghost who had appeared on the road to catch his eye and cause him a lifetime of wondering whether he would see her for a second time.

PATRICK (BIG PAT) LEVO | PNG Post-Courier

PORT MORESBY – Down memory lane can only be a nostalgic yet lonesome place.

And the pages of time, soiled by the minutes of a bygone era, hold their own abundant place. And the space afforded in the liberty of the black and white typeface of a bold bygone era.

As these two oldies discovered when scrutinising the first issue of the PNG Post-Courier, time does dispense eternal friendships.

After many years of separation, with wizened bald patches and diminishing waistlines, the two old mates got together again to search for their bylines in the first ever Post-Courier edition of 1969.

They were young, daring and sparing of thought, but in their sprightly nuances, they forgot that the hot metal typesetting of yesteryear spared no-one, not even the brightest ink toasting spark.

Their impromptu meet and greet in the Post-Courier newsroom foyer created a mini sensation in Sela Haus, drawing curious stares from today’s generation of PC workers and editorial staff.

Sinclaire Solomon & Biga Lebasi study the first issue of the Post-Courier - and reminisce about those good old days

On the right is the aging but nonetheless effervescent Biga Lebasi of Suau in Milne Bay Province, and on the left is the equally ageless Sinclaire Solomon of Mengar village, Wewak, East Sepik.

A youngish Solomon rolled into the typewriter strewn and smoke filled newsroom at Lawes Road as a cadet in 1976, a year after PNG gained its Independence from Australia.

Lebasi was chief of staff of the Post-Courier, the first Papua New Guinean to hold that post and seemed generously aghast at the youthful exuberance of Solomon.

It became an affectionate friendship crafted out of crossword clues and the endless travails of the comical Bluey & Curley, the Les Dixon strip in the PC back then.

Over the seamless march of time, both have written their own eloquent chapters in their life stories as journalists and their endless anecdotes keep popping up on fresh pages almost as eternal as the sand on Wom Beach near Mengar or the waves that batter Suau.

Surprisingly in the historic 1969 copy is a black and white picture of Lebasi on a farm admiring a rather bemused ‘bulumakau’ (cow).

 It’s his attire – short trousers with long white socks and shoes – that elicited giggles of guilt and uproarious laughter of disbelief to enlighten a rare reunion.

No wonder – 50 years on – that poor old quarantined cow was and remains rampantly bewildered, buried in history with bigger than bubbly Biga!

Nursing school principal Noelyn Koutalo from New Ireland and deputy Janet Nakore from West New Britain

DANIEL KUMBON

WABAG - It was a rare sight to see two women – the principal of a nursing school and her deputy - marching to petition the Papua New Guinea government to stop the warfare on Wabag's doorstep with a more effective intervention.

Principal Noelyn Koutalo from New Ireland and deputy Janet Nakore from West New Britain said they joined in the protest march because Enga is now their home and they were sad to see the suffering, death and destruction resulting from the prolonged tribal war between the Kii and the Kala tribes on the edge of town.

Noelyn Koutalo graduated from Sopas School of Nursing when it was operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church before it moved to the Pacific Adventist University. She was appointed principal when the provincial government established the new college in 2013.

She has lived in Enga for nearly 25 years and her deputy, Janet Nakore, has been at the college for eight years. Both were very near the fighting zone and experienced the effects of the tribal fight.

So they decided to joinehundreds of people including the principal of Kopen Secondary School, Dominic Lawton, and church and community leaders from Kopen, Kamas, Kaiap, Sopas, Lakaiyok and many other areas to ask the authorities to stop the fighting and restore services.

The protesters said the government must immediately ensure that electricity was reconnected to the school of nursing, the secondary school, churches, businesses to homes which had been without power for some time.

Gunfire caused Wabag Primary School (foreground) to suspend classes as the fighting raged behind the tall trees (centre distant)

The fighting has affected the lives of thousands of people in Kandep, Laiagam and Porgera that, when they travel, they are forced to use a long and circuitous route to avoid Wabag when entering Enga Province.

Kandep Primary School headmaster Markus Kandai who had travelled this roundabout route just two days ago was nevertheless robbed at knifepoint by a couple of youths suspected to be from the Kala tribe.

The petitioners asked Kala and Kii tribesman not to rob townsfolk, travellers or block the main Highlands Highway.

The warfare has affected the education of students living near the fighting zone between Amala and Teremanda.

Students from the Kala tribe cannot attend the School of Nursing and the Secondary School while students on the Kii side cannot attend Enga Teachers College and Wabag Secondary School, let alone come into town to do business.

Ms Koutalo said five students on the Kala side have been missing classes at Sopas Nursing School and Kopen Secondary School for eight months since the tribal war erupted following last year’s national election and disputed voting results.

Because both the Kala and Kii tribes live along the Highlands Highway, students find it dangerous to pass through and are forced to stay away from classes.

Kopen Secondary School principal Lawton said since the Kii and the Kala resumed fighting three weeks ago over a piece of gardening land, his students have stayed away from classes.

Both Ms Koutalo and Mr Lawton said the fight was affecting the future of the students and the two tribes must agree to stop their fight which in the end achieves nothing but pain and heartache for all involved.

The two principals said the serious drug shortage in hospitals throughout PNG meant that people who were seriously wounded in the fighting had died at both Wabag General Hospital and Sopas hospital.

Community leaders listen to speeches after presenting the petition

Over 20 young men have been killed so far, many others have been seriously wounded and millions of kina worth of property has been destroyed since the warfare began eight months ago.

The fighting has continued even though 60 defence force soldiers and the same number of police have been deployed to Wabag.

The most recent casualty was a young man, a mercenary from Kandep, who was killed last Monday.

The army has now cleared the Highlands Highway and traffic has to flowed normally for the past three days.

Let’s hope the protesters march into town will motivate the government to find a lasting solution.

Bill Brown as a young kiap in the 1950s

BILL BROWN | Ex Kiap Website

SYDNEY - A fellow cadet patrol officer, Vince Smith, introduced me to kiap nicknames during my first week at the Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) in June 1949.

He found Michael Joseph Cockburn's name was too formal and renamed him Sizzledick. Not content with that travesty, a few days later he truncated it to Sizzle, a diminutive that we used with affection for more than 25 years.

ASOPA was no Ivy League college. We had no hallowed halls of learning but took our lectures in two refurbished mechanical workshops. We learned in one.

Next door, the old timers—the kiaps down from New Guinea to attend the first Long Course— toiled in the other and called their youngest member Thrasher. John Gibson epitomised youthful exuberance.

I thought those nicknames were pretty smart until I met some people in the commercial world. The manager of Mandated Airlines at Lae in the early 1950s, Harold Hindwood, knew and enjoyed his nickname of Timber Arse.

The boss of Burns Philp in Kieta in 1971, an Englishman, was not so sure about his moniker. Mr Breathing’s parents had given him the incongruous first name of Hartley. In Kieta, and throughout Bougainville, they called him Hardly Breathing, and they called his wife Scarcely.

Papua New Guinean members of the police detachment often gave nicknames to kiaps based on a physical characteristic.

A kiap who hobbled, or who had a poor gait, was often referred to as Scru i-lus; Kokomo had a prominent nose; Muruk had long, muscular legs; Kela was bald; those with a moustache or beard were inevitably called Mausgras.

Some of the nicknames were relevant only to one government station, but at least four transcended the bounds of every district.

Keith (JK) McCarthy was Makarti and Jimmy Hodgekiss was Masta Wiski. Ralph (RG) Ormsby was Big Bel for all his later years. The last of the four, Joe Nombri, relished his Mausgras sobriquet in 1964 but was still using it in 1978 in Tokyo when he was Papua New Guinea’s ambassador to Japan.

There were other enduring nicknames. District Officer George (GWL) Townsend acquired one when he worked behind the cashier’s counter in Rabaul in 1925, and he answered to the German title, Kassa, for the rest of his life.

Medical Assistant, Patrol Officer, District Officer, World War II coastwatcher, hotelier and finally sub-district office clerk, Eric D Robinson MC, pronounced his surname Wobbinson. He had a speech impediment and would have been known as Wobbie or Robbie when he enlisted and went to France with the 38th Battalion, AIF in 1915.

He was known as Sepik Robbie when he was District Officer at Ambunti in 1932; Robbie when he was the clerk at Angoram; and Sepik Robbie again when he died in 1961.

The origin of District Officer, later District Commissioner, Rigby’s nickname, Reckless Reg, was obscure even though it endured. Rigby was said to be ultra-conservative. Certainly in 1953 he kept the Sepik District’s only case of nails under the marital bed and dispensed them one at a time to outstation supplicants.

Kiaps tended to identify their confrères by their surnames, sometimes adding a diminutive. Corbett William Kimmorley was always known as Kim, but the logic ended there. Some diminutives were confusing: Bernard Raphael Corrigan was Brian; Virgil Baden Counsel was Bert or Bertie; William Andrew Lalor was Peter; and Fulton Clyde Driver and Herbert Percy Seale were both known as Bill.

There were at least three kiaps of very short stature. Two of them: Arthur (AT) Carey and John (JJ) Jordan answered to Shortie, but Dick Name-Withheld was not a Richard. His nickname was said to be related to the adage “Big man, big dick. Little man, all dick!”

In the expatriate community, JK McCarthy was often identified by his initials pronounced phonetically, Jay Kay. District Officer John (JJ) Murphy was Jay Jay; and Tom (TWE) Ellis was a severe Twee.

Ellis had other nicknames. In the Sepik, but never to his face, he was “Laughing Boy” because he seldom cracked a smile. And on the ex kiap website, Frank Martin noted: “Rather than his well-known nickname of 'God' I prefer to remember him as 'Uncle Tom' which we called him on the 1956 Long Course.”

In the 1950s, Bobby Gibbes labelled a sedate, gentlemanly kiap at Goroka in the Eastern Highlands, with the not too subtle nickname Morphia.

Gibbes, a wartime RAAF Spitfire pilot with DSO DFC and bar, had a wicked turn of phrase. When one of his heart valves was replaced by a substitute from a pig, he maintained that his friends asked, “Do you grunt when you root?” And in his later years, when they asked, “How are you getting on?” he replied, “Infrequently!”

A handful of kiaps gained friendly, jocular nicknames. Algernon Brontislavus Besisparis was “the Beast from Paris”. Des (D) Clifton-Basset was “Junket Bum”. Jack (EJ) John Emanuel was “Sloppy Chops”. Allan (AF) Gow was “Ghostie”. Ted (EG) Hicks was “Pretty Boy”. Doug (DJ) Parrish was “The Black Prince”. Bill (WT) Tomasetti was “Commo Tommo”. And John Williams was “Screaming Johnnie.”

Derisive nicknames like “Argus the Boy Wonder,” “Bonehead,” “the Little Fuhrer,” and “Unfriendly Neighbour” were self-explanatory but some others were obscure. “Harpic” (from the name of a product used to clean toilet bowls) was around the bend; “Orbit” was in space or another world; “Pissed-on” was a corruption of one of John Preston White’s given names.

Common nicknames were also in play. Several Boots, Jocks, the prosaic Buck (Rogers), Chips, Doggy, Darkie, Dusty, and Swampy. Basher (O’Connell) and Fensep (Fenton) needed some explaining.

Are there stories behind those more recent nicknames: “Cockroach”, “Pretzel Legs” and “Tutu”?

What other kiap nicknames are out there? Who can add to the list?

STAFF REPORTER | Kirby Institute & UNSW Media | Extract

SYDNEY - Researchers from the Papua New Guinea Institute for Medical Research and the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW say expanded health services are needed to tackle high rates of HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infection among key populations in PNG.

The study, Kauntim mi tu (“Count me too”), represents the most comprehensive understanding of PNG’s HIV epidemic among the key populations considered to be most in need of HIV-related health services.

It provides crucial clinical and behavioural information to assist plan a national response to support the country’s efforts in prevention and care.

The survey, the first of its kind conducted in PNG, collected data from populations considered most at risk for HIV and sexually transmissible infections (STIs): female sex workers; men who have sex with men; and transgender women.

Dr Angela Kelly-Hanku, principal investigator on the study, says the research provides clear information to guide where the country’s limited resources need to be targeted to turn the epidemic around.

“HIV prevalence among female sex workers in Port Moresby was 14.9%, Lae 11.9% and Mt Hagen 19.6%. Even more concerning is that less than half those with HIV were aware they had the virus. Far more work needs to be undertaken to ensure increased access to testing,” said Dr Kelly-Hanku.

The report showed that among men who have sex with men and transgender people, HIV prevalence was 8.5% in Port Moresby and 7.1% in Lae.

STI rates were similarly concerning, with more than half of female sex workers and over one-third of men who have sex with men and transgender women diagnosed with one or more STIs, excluding HIV.

“The rates of HIV, hepatitis and STIs in these populations are alarming. However, equally concerning is the high prevalence of stigma, sexual and physical violence, poverty and depression experienced by these populations,” said Dr Kelly-Hanku.

The report revealed that almost half the female sex workers, men who have sex with men and transgender women surveyed said they felt they needed to hide their sexual practices when accessing health services.

“People who are concerned about stigma from health services may be deterred from attending and will not be able to receive the full range of services available,” she said.

“This is why a holistic approach to HIV and STIs is urgently needed in PNG, alongside a scale-up in supply of essential antibiotics and HIV treatment.”

Phil Fitzpatrick

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - In light of revelations about money laundering in Australia and multi-million kina overseas investments by politicians, one can’t help wondering how they do it and how so many of them seem to get away with it.

Also of interest are the uncaring mentalities they must possess to drive them to deprive the people of such large amounts of money.

I’m no expert on corruption and I don’t fully appreciate the technical details of such blatant dishonesty but it appears to me that larceny on such a grand scale must involve complicity across a wide range of individuals and agencies.

This must include fellow politicians, public servants and lawyers, both within Papua New Guinea and in Australia.

Any politician contemplating such crimes and devising the crooked schemes required to carry them out must have to involve other individuals and agencies.

Curiously, on the rare occasions when one of them gets caught, you don’t hear much about the network that obviously supports them.

Presumably, while the odd unlucky and hapless politician might end up doing jail time, his cohorts and cronies survive to perpetuate their dishonest networks to benefit the next political punter.

Aside from financial opportunity, we know that the major motivators for people entering politics are ego, power and ideology. These are particularly apparent in politics in developed countries like Australia.

Ego, for instance, is a major motivator for politicians like Malcolm Turnbull and Donald Trump.

Power comes a close second in both these cases but ideology seems to lag well behind. No one really knows what either of these characters actually stands for.

Ideology also seems to be lacking among most of Papua New Guinea’s current crop of politicians. If you asked any of them to articulate what they stand for many of them wouldn’t be able to do it.

Of course, the general public and any interested observers know exactly what they stand for. They stand for themselves.

Apart from immediate electoral bribes, candidates contemplating running for parliament in Papua New Guinea rarely seem to consider what they can do for their people. Instead, they contemplate what they can do for themselves.

All they think about is the big salary and the opportunities to rort ministerial or provincial funds so they can buy a big house and flash car and the status they will bring. And maybe they think about purchasing a property in Queensland that is well out of reach and the sticky fingers of their wantoks.

In short, they see a corrupt system and contemplate the joys of winning a seat so they can thrust their snouts into a deep trough of bank transfers.

I can understand how difficult it is to do anything about it in Papua New Guinea, where almost everything in public life has been corrupted, but I cannot understand how the Australian agencies in involved, right up to governmental level, can stand by and let it happen.

That they know what is going on is beyond doubt. If Blind Freddy can see it they must also be able to see it. They can’t possibly be so dumb, can they?

That they do nothing about it, and I don’t buy the ‘Papua New Guinea sovereignty’ crap they trot out, the only conclusion is that they are somehow complicit too.

Australia doesn’t want to rein in Peter O’Neill and his cronies, even though they know he is taking Papua New Guinea down a bad road.

Why don’t they?

Dr Schram & associate were delighted to see his Netherlands passport returned last week - now he has said he will not come back to PNG to face trial 

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – In a shock development in the Schram case, the former vice-chancellor of the PNG University of Technology has said he will not return to Papua New Guinea “until major changes occur in the country”.

Dr Schram said he has been the subject of a “political prosecution” and will forego bail rather than return to an uncertain legal future in PNG.

“[We entered] a parallel world where lies are truth and all people are blind, deaf and mute,” he wrote in Facebook of the charge of 'false pretence' he is facing.

“In this world, you are completely alone because there is no point in trying to have a reasonable conversation with anyone. A truly terrifying world, but the truth will set us free.”

But Dr Schram said he will still go through “the costly process” of getting his original doctorate legalised and send it through diplomatic channels to the committal court in Waigani.

“This should clear all charges for ever,” he said.

Last Tuesday, against the wishes of police prosecutor Kila Tali, national court judge Panuel Mogish had varied Dr Schram’s bail conditions and ordered his passport be returned to enable him to travel to Italy to obtain the credentials which would have been prime evidence in a court hearing on a charge that Dr Schram engaged in ‘false pretence’.

Dr Schram and his wife Paulina left PNG yesterday ostensibly to retrieve the doctoral qualifications from the European University Institute in Florence.

“We got out,” Dr Schram emailed me from Singapore late this afternoon, “probably not able to come back until major changes occur in the country."

“In his judgement on 22 May on the bail conditions, the judge in the national court was deliberately explicit on the substantive case," Dr Schram has written on his Facebook page.

"There is not a shred of primary evidence suggesting I have falsified anything, while there is overwhelming evidence that in fact my doctorate is genuine,” he said.

“Finally an independent judge has said what anyone with common sense could have concluded since the complaints were made in 2012.”

Dr Schram quoted Justice Mogish as writing in his judgement:

"In spite of this overwhelming evidence (presented by Dr Schram) Mr [Ralph] Saulep continues to dispute the authenticity of the applicant's doctorate degree. I find this ridiculous and difficult to fathom especially when neither he or the police are in receipt of evidence from the European University Institute in Florence Italy, confirming their allegations and suspicions".

The judge continued:

"The current charge, with respect, lacks the primary evidence to prove the elements of falsity. Whether they will have such evidence by the 12 June 2018 (the next hearing) is anyone's guess. The reality is that they have failed to do so when the allegations were raised in 2012.”

“It stands to reason the case will be thrown out at some point in time and my innocence will be established,” Dr Schram said.

“All this is of course is damaging for police and the complainant - former pro chancellor Ralph Saulep….. Since the conditions for the settlement with the [current Unitech] Council, which included no criminal prosecution, have now been violated, I do not consider myself bound to this agreement.

"In any case, for justice to prevail and the people of PNG to be liberated from police abuse, I must describe the facts."

Dr Schram said he and his wife Paulina “did not come to [PNG] to get rich but neither did we expect the financial ruin we are facing now.

"The legal fight with the [Unitech] Council for wrongful dismissal first and now the fight for my malicious prosecution by the police has drained all of our resources.”

He said he missed two job interviews because of his arrest and, when the charges are cleared, he will claim damages for “all the financial losses, opportunity costs and defamation of character I suffered”.

Dr Schram also said a parliamentary inquiry is warranted into police abuse in his case.

He concluded:

“Like for all of us academics, journalists and other knowledge workers who cannot return to the country, it makes us sad that until amends are made and the police have been restructured and [brought] under control, we will not be able to see our friends and our new and beloved family in PNG.”

When varying the bail conditions last week, Justice Mogish said it would be academic and career suicide for Dr Schram to abscond from bail and not return to PNG.

“I do not think any reasonable man would just walk away leaving a trail of serious allegations unanswered,” he said.

“His standing in the academic world would be seriously affected.”

Whether or not the judge’s words will be borne out, time will tell.

But it does seem that, given these dramatic circumstances, Dr Schram’s hopes for vindication are unlikely to be realised.

Then again, Albert and Paulina Schram may feel this is a small price to pay.

They had found themselves is a totally powerless position on what appeared to be a trumped up charge in a country where they doubted the politics surrounding their predicament would allow justice to prevail no matter what the court decided.

This has emerged as something of a cautionary tale for outsiders who sail too close to Papua New Guinea's political winds.

PNG Reserve Bank governor Loi Bakani - good, bad & confusing economic news

PAUL FLANAGAN | PNG Economics | Edited

CANBERRA - There has been some good, bad and confusing news in recent monetary policy statements from Papua New Guinea’s central bank governor Loi Bakani.

In summary, the good news is:

• the central bank has committed to end its imprudent and risky practice of printing money to finance budget deficits
• the balance of payments has improved (but there have been massive changes both up and down)
• possible moves towards a more flexible currency – but there are political obstacles and still a long way to go to fair value
• inflation is at 4.7% and seems well under control

The bad news is the very worrying downward trends in key economic indicators:

• a collapse in employment growth to negative 4.8% in 2017 building on three years of negative growth; this is a sustained employment downturn and bad news for jobseekers in PNG’s already small formal employment wage sector
• private sector lending down by 3.4% in nominal terms (so closer to 8% after allowing for inflation) representing less domestic investment in businesses, houses, vehicles etc
• foreign investment into PNG continues to decline despite a few high profile, government-supported projects (unless PNG becomes a more attractive place for private sector investment then any gains from APEC will come to nought)
• sales figures are negative even in nominal terms (there was an especially bad second half of 2017)
• important information continues to be hidden – including the national accounts as far back as 2015

While the confusions are as follows:

• there is little clarity on use of a K492.4 million cheque float in 2017 that was used to pay for government expenditure as well as much more reliance on private domestic purchases of government securities than expected
• new repo (repurchase) arrangements now require government security backing
• silence on the worst downgrade in PNG’s credit ratings in its history, possibly violating the Central Bank Act 2000

More detail on these factors is available at the PNG Economics website here.

Overall, the recent monetary policy statements were much more balanced than we saw in 2017.

There were no foolish attempts to defend the indefensible – such as blaming foreign exchange shortages on the banks and claiming money printing actions were fully offset. In particular, the moves towards more flexibility on the exchange rate are very welcome, and there are some positive signs in monetary policy (although still too much complacency about falling private sector credit).

However, the overwhelming message from these recent statements is that on most indicators of economic performance, 2017 was probably again a very bad year for PNG.

This would build on what was likely to have been a very severe recession in the non-resource sector in 2015, a likely modest post-drought recovery in 2016 and a likely return to recession in 2017.

PNG needs to turn this around – even more urgently than is being done currently on the fiscal and monetary fronts.

However, even if these macro-impediments are removed, PNG also needs much more concerted action on structural policy changes to improve the health, vibrancy and inclusiveness of the economy.

Moves towards more protectionist policies (such as the tariff increases in the 2018 budget and targeted infant industry attempts which have failed so badly for PNG in the past) are still very worrying examples of policy positions that are strangling sustainable growth.

Increased regulations in areas around foreign exchange management and foreshadowed legislation in other areas are also steps away from improving PNG’s poor ratings on creating a conducive atmosphere for business.

And work is needed to try and reverse what seems like growing moves to punish anyone in government that dares suggest a contrary position – whether it be a well-respected manager in public works raising questions about road construction costs or even a vice-chancellor (since dismissed) seeking greater financial accountability.

There are many parts to the complex puzzle of creating a successful country that is worthy of the people of PNG.

The worried views of international credit ratings agencies, leading to the combined worst downgrades in PNG’s credit rating history, suggests the government still needs to be acting more urgently and on a wider front to undo some of the damage it has done in recent years.

Arthur Williams & photo album at home in Wales - 'too many of my PNG friends got an education but not a career'

ARTHUR WILLIAMS

CARDIFF - My wife’s extended family in rural Papua New Guinea are subsistence folk. Any of their children able to reach higher education rarely find paid employment back home where they can use their learning.

So they migrate, often forever, to the urban areas of PNG where they live in sub-standard homes in settlements or on the fringes of town.

They are expected to repatriate some of their salaries to help mum and dad pay for sibling to get educated, with a little money left over for a bag of rice and some sugar.

Thus, when the Malaysian loggers come along accompanied by an educated wantok spiv, the opportunity of getting a 20 kina note or more is hard to resist. After all, they only have to say yes and sign an official form in English legal jargon.

In the late 1980s, I worked at Gogodala in the Western Province employing mostly local staff. One of my female workers decided to get married to a recently qualified wantok policeman stationed in Moresby. So she sailed away to live with him in the big city.

I didn’t see her again until some years later when I was working in Moresby and she came looking for a job in a new tiny retail unit I had built at the side of my company’s head office. I remembered her well and had always thought highly of her work so gave her a job.

One day I drove her home so I could meet her husband. I was amazed that they lived underneath a wantok’s small fibro-walled home near Badili. Their one room was on the sloping rocky land of the hillside on which the original house had been built.

I can’t forget them. Two young married people both fully employed and yet with no real home in which to bring up their first child. The three of them were still there when I returned to New Ireland a couple of years later.

They had some relatives who I also met. Mr X (not his real name, as I think you’ve guessed) was from the Gogo area too and worked as bookkeeper for our company.

I asked him if he was hoping to go home for Christmas and was amazed when he replied, “I hope I never have to live with those primitives again!” His exact words. And he was a young educated Christian man. I still wonder if he was really as bad as he seemed.

On the Aramia River in the Western Province I was piloting my flat bottomed ‘river truck’ when its outboard engine gave out. We had about mile or so of our up-river journey to go and daylight was dwindling.

We had three paddles for the three of us. My Highlander Huli colleague grabbed one; I took another and we both looked at our passenger, John, who just sat there.

He was a local Gogodala man who worked in our Moresby office and home for the weekend to attend a customary feast.

“What’s a matter John?” I asked.

“I don’t know how to paddle Arthur.”

“But you’re from here!”

“But I haven’t lived here since I was two. I’ve lived in Moresby all my life.”

So a Welshman and a Huli highlander managed very, very slowly to paddle safely home.

'If an educated man is enticed into a con men’s den to drink home brew or smoke weed, he will be bestowed with grandiose titles & praised for his great wisdom'

KELA KAPKORA SIL BOLKIN

PORT MORESBY – Papua New Guinean society has changed rapidly from good to bad and with it people’s ethical behaviour. The Pidgin English language has changed too.

The betel nut and mustard markets and the dens of the drug addicts are also factories where the latest Tok Pisin is manufactured.

Old and young alike are now savvy in manufacturing words and there is no keeping adult-only language away from kids.

Coarse language, sexually explicit songs and dirty jokes are aired freely in the internet and social media, in ordinary conversation and on radio stations [referred to as Tok Pisin Kilim Ol [‘having infinite vocabulary in Pidgin’].

In this overwhelming melee of information, Kenyan money schemes and Filipino global money pyramids send chain emails and Facebook messages to lure people into false wealth arrangements.

Some smart people in PNG have also learnt a few tricks from these money scams and devised their own swindles to make money, acquire mobile phone credits or have sex on dinau and flee without paying.

The words manufactured and used by con men, pimps and drug addicts inundate villages, towns and settlements. They are words cooked up to massage educated fools and wannabe politicians to ego-climax even as their money is siphoned off.

Strangely, it’s a tactic that is somehow tolerated and has taken hold on society. Maybe desperate people will believe anything.

In Simbu, some of the fabricated titles are Daddy Boss, Fada, Paps Mahn, Senior Mangi, Yalkuru, Leader, Apkuru, Chief, Fitman and more.

If an educated man goes into a pub or some con men’s den, one of them will politely stalk him and then minutes later a crowd will circle and start bestowing him with titles.

“Chief, when did you come? Oh, please, some extrasensory wiring in heaven must have been switched on between us when you contemplated coming here.

“I actually uttered tributes about you yesterday to some people from the other tribe. Chief, you can ask Tom, Dick and Rose and they will confirm what I just told you.”

Rose will loudly lecture fellow pimps, “Paps Mahn actually schooled to the cliff-edge of knowledge. There is no more left that he can study”.

These and more feel good sermons flow uninterrupted until the addressee’s legs grow longer and head bigger quick time.

Only a handful of educated people and village tycoons tell these scammers to shut up and vanish but many with leadership obsessions and scholarly egos unfortunately do not sieve genuine conversation from the gibberish of vanity stroking.

Many targets succumb to the bait of the con men and women and squander their hard earned cash.  In fact, many believe this foolish talk and resign from good jobs or halt their entrepreneurial ambitions to run for elections, unfortunately going bankrupt in the process.

In last year’s national election, for example, the con men, pimps and drug addicts targeted Simbus in the diaspora who were returning to contest one of the province’s seats.

Most of these outsiders who came back to join the contest possessed wealth and highly credentialled CVs and were subjected to a range of scams and gimmicks to siphon off their wealth.

And what happened at the polls? Well, the people voted for Simbu-based candidates and not a single person from the diaspora was elected to any of the seats in any capacity at all.

At that point they realised they were in fact not the heroes they thought they were in the pubs and addicts’ dens.

Many of those fooled and duped are now themselves smoking marijuana and sipping homebrew with the drug addicts.

Others are back in Port Moresby looking for a big contract or following politicians around the corridors of power seeking to amass some wealth, presumably so they can return to feed the pimps and savour more ego-inflating titles.

To many people, the best music to their ears is not hearing the great Pat Siwi or Tom Lari but hearing their own name on the lips of another person. Especially if it preceded by Daddy Boss, Fada, Paps Mahn, Leader, Chief or some other honorific.

The truth is that names are a part of every culture and they are of enormous importance to the tribes and the people who receive them.

There are no lesser names in a tribe; all names are to be revered and these are more important than addressing a person with manufactured titles.

Aspiring leaders and educated men should be able to sieve genuine sentiments from gibberish and ego stroking. They need to tell these con men straight to their face to call them by their mothers’ given names and nothing else.

Aspiring leaders and educated people have to know how to communicate, interact, bridge and bond with genuine people in the mountains and valleys if they wish to successfully pursue their political or other ambitions.

MERIBA TULO | Asia Pacific Report

PORT MORESBY - With just a year to go before the people of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville go to the polls to determine their political future, the Papua New Guinean government has defended its handling of preparations.

Prime minister Peter O’Neill said the government had done more for the Bougainville during his term than at any other time.

He said next month’s Joint Supervisory Body meeting between the national and Bougainville governments will be of the utmost importance for the referendum next June.

In parliament, the MP for South Bougainville, Timothy Masiu, asked a series of questions regarding the government’s efforts in support of Bougainville’s preparations for the referendum.

Of particular concern, according to Masiu, was the recent appointment of a Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Bougainville Affairs which he claimed would cause challenges for the region on conducting the referendum.

The prime minister emphasised the steps taken by the national government and Bougainville government to have a chairman of the Referendum Commission appointed as well as on reaching agreement on the referendum questions.

While there have been sentiments expressed regarding possible independence for Bougainville, the prime minister was quick to point out that it would be difficult to let go of the autonomous region, especially at a time when there was need for unity in Papua New Guinea.

The supervisory board meeting to take place in Arawa is expected to iron out several issues relating to the referendum, including the all-important referendum question or questions which will be put to the people of Bougainville.

Meriba Tulo is an EMTV reporter. This story was first published by EMTV News and is republished with permission

A G SITORI * 

A 2013 report by the late Justice Sevua legitimated Dr Schram's doctoral credentials. Now attempts are being used to disprove this. Is Dr Schram needlessly defying the courts or are they being manipulated as a political plaything by his enemies? Who should really be on trial here & what are the implications for the rule of law in PNG?

PORT MORESBY - Dr Albert Schram, who had my support throughout his hardships, has now lost it if his intent in seeking a variation to his bail was to abscond and not return to Papua New Guinea to honour his commitment to the national court.

Whatever systems we have in place in PNG are our systems and we need people of great calibre like Dr Schram to accord our court system due respect, notwithstanding it being tinged in whatever shades of grey.

If Dr Schram does not return to PNG, as he has suggested, the esteemed doctor and his lawyer may have got the national court in bed with them to commit a felony.

It would be best for him to turn up in court and produce that authentic doctoral document.

Don’t force the court seek Interpol assistance to get him back to PNG. This time it may be jail and no bail variation application is going to help.

It is this same court he will need to appear before to lodge any damages claim against his accusers. The courts may not always readily avail themselves to his interests.

Dr Schram may also have his lawyer in trouble for pulling wool over the court’s eyes, when the real intent was to go wokabaut. It is possible the search clerk beside him in the PNG Attitude picture may soon not have a job.

On 12 June, the date Dr Schram is due back in PNG, the poor lawyer will attend court and explain to the judge why the doctor is not here and why he cannot produce a proper authenticated PhD accreditation.

This may also be a precedent for any other expatriate person seeking a variation to a court order; which may not be granted so readily if it is seen as a means to get them out of PNG legal jurisdiction.

All that is required is a genuine copy of the PhD certificate from the university in Italy signed by a public notary.

If the applications were made in court, this could easily have been arranged between police and Interpol in PNG and police and Interpol in Italy in compliance with the court’s order and directions.

* A G Sitori is the nom de plume of a senior judicial administrator in PNG

Albert Schram finally at liberty in Singapore - "A truly terrifying world, but the truth will set us free"

ALBERT SCHRAM

SINGAPORE – On his way back home to Verona in Italy during a stopover in Singapore, Dr Albert Schram wrote a lengthy article on his scarifying experiences in Papua New Guinea. It provides a detailed background and analysis of what befell him when he ran foul of powerful political players. You can read here the original Facebook piece, from which this extensive extract is drawn - KJ

My Arrest

Now that I have safely left Papua New Guinea, I feel free to write about what happened and was not reported in the national media.

As Vice Chancellor (President) for the PNG University of Technology appointed for two terms, I worked with seven Ministers of Higher Education, and three different Chancellors.

My achievements in this period speak for themselves. Most significantly, after an independent account went over all the university accounts, we achieved an unqualified, clean audit report by the Auditor General for the first time in over two decades, and became one of the handful of agencies with this distinction.

This has been my commitment to the UNITECH community from the outset….

We completed 13 major infrastructure projects on campus, restored the reputation of the University internationally by signing 23 agreements. This allowed us to send 77 PNGeans abroad for training of which 27 for doctoral programs, of a total of about 150.

Despite active internationalisation and professional accreditation strategy which required our presence elsewhere, we sent over 10,000 emails per year, chaired over 60 meetings on campus per year, spent each year over eight months on campus and in country.

To be accused by former colleagues of being dishonest, lazy and incompetent is truly bizarre in the light of these facts. Might does not make right, and a lie does not become true the more you repeat it.

The five years I was on campus, however, there were four attempts to dismiss me, an almost yearly exercise. The first time was for disclosing confidential information, then for false pretence, then for inciting ethnic tensions, and finally again for false pretence.

This last time, after receiving an infamous catalogues of bizarre and baseless allegations, we decided we had enough, and when the Council’s lawyer came with a proposal to settle the matter, I accepted this on 18 April 2018.

On 1 May 2018, while returning to the country on a tourist visa, I was detained at Jacksons airport in Port Moresby, not while attempting to exit the country as reported by the media.

The police took my passport to assure I would turn up for an interview at the police station the next day, but then refused to return it and did not charge me with any crime within 24 hours as is required. Police practices in the country have been reason for concern, as can be seen in the recent report of Human Rights Watch.

The next day, 2 May, the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands, Stan Joyce, came personally to demand the return of my passport which by international law must occur within 24 hours. The police waited him out, and held on to my passport until they charged me on 7 May for “false pretence” alleging I had presented a false doctorate with the purpose of obtaining employment in the country.

The incident has cause a stir in the international press, most notably in The Australian and in The Times Higher Education in the UK, a leading industry publication. Prof Stephen Howes, who is one of the leaders in the academic collaboration between Australianand PNG, wrote: "These developments are outrageous, damaging, and scary". In my home town in Verona Italy it was even front page news.

Verification of Academic Credentials

Supposedly only the production of an original doctorate would prove my innocence. The verification of academic credentials, however, never rests on the production of an original, but always involves direct communication with the originating university and higher education agencies in the country. I produced a certified copy for the police which was sent directly sent to the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands [in PNG].

The current secretary of the Department of Higher Education and his predecessor went through a rigorous verification process communicating by email, by speaking to the [European] university and communicating with the professor members of the thesis committee who were present during my thesis defence. This should have put the matter to rest, but instead confusion was allowed to prevail.

Some journalists contacted these same professors, and in fact I published in 2014 one of their emails on this blog hoping that would be the last word on the issue. My book was also published by Cambridge University Press in 1997, which is based on my doctoral thesis from 1994.

I have answered all other questions raised regarding my doctorate and none of those questions prove any wrongdoing. The police however refused to acknowledge any of this evidence, although they received it….

The National Court Has Spoken

After the hearing in the National Court on 22 May we received the headline that we needed: ‘Schram allowed temporarily to leave the country’. We did not get the headline we deserved, however, which is ‘Schram first wrongfully dismissed and then unlawfully charged on false pretence’.

In his judgement of 22 May on the bail conditions, the judge in the National Court – the second highest court in the country - was deliberately explicit on the substantive case: there is not a shred of primary evidence suggesting I have falsified anything, while there is overwhelming evidence that in fact my doctorate is genuine.

Finally, an independent judge has said what anyone with common sense could have concluded since the complaints were made in 2012.

The judge blasted the police and the complainant Ralph Saulep, and wrote in his judgment:

"In spite of this overwhelming evidence (presented by Dr Schram) Mr Saulep continues to dispute the authenticity of the applicant's doctorate degree. I find this ridiculous and difficult to fathom especially when neither he or the police are in receipt of evidence from the European University Institute in Florence Italy, confirming their allegations and suspicions".

The judge continued:

"The current charge, with respect, lacks the primary evidence to prove the elements of falsity. Whether they will have such evidence by the 12th of June 2018 (the next hearing) is anyone's guess. The reality is that they have failed to do so when the allegations were raised in 2012"….

Since 2012 when the complaint was filed by the former [Unitech] pro-chancellor Ralph Saulep the police have failed to produce any evidence, and in fact cannot do so because there is no basis for it in fact and in truth.

In a state of law it is not up to the accused to prove his innocence, but for the police to prove substantial primary evidence of a crime and proof guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The judge regretted I had been put in a position to prove my innocence, but pragmatically accepted the situation and my commitment to proof my innocence: "The refusal by Mr Saulep and the police will now cause the appliance to use his own expense to prove his innocence".

It stand to reason therefore the case will be thrown out at some point in time, and my innocence will be established….

All this is of course damaging for police and the complainant - former pro-chancellor Ralph Saulep, in 2012 dismissed by the Minister with former Council members for mismanagement - and the University Council, which [earlier this year] dismissed me for no valid reason. The lack of evidence had already been indicated earlier by Keith Jackson.

Since the conditions for the settlement with the Council, which included no criminal prosecution, have now been violated, I do not consider myself bound to this agreement. In any case, for justice to prevail and the people of PNG to be liberated from police abuse, I must describe the facts.

This whole case is hugely damaging for the country where human rights and the police force are already severely criticised in the recent report from Human Rights Watch in New York.

If any tourist can be arrested for not being able to prove anything about his/her identity (birth, credentials etc.) and subsequently charged on "false pretence", and then having to incur costs and waste time to prove his/her innocence at their own expense, we must warn all tourists and visitors.

The Joys

From 2014 to 2016, though I had three wonderful years when Sir Nagora Bogan, a wise Chancellor kept the politicians out of my hair, [when we] focused all our energies on the development, and on efficient, transparent accountable management, of the University.

Despite these recent experiences of politically driven persecution, my wife and I love the wonderful people of Papua New Guinea. We did not come to PNG to get rich and worked on local salaries paid in the national currency, but we came to make a difference. Although many things we tried, failed, our records of achievements speak for themselves.

So far, I have lived in seven different countries in Latin America and Europe, but the people of PNG are the most warm, welcoming and generous people I have had the honour of meeting. After six years, for example, we have six wonderful young men who call us father and mother, three babies named after us, and I have four new brothers, subsistence farmer or fishermen living in villages like 80% of the population.

In addition, we have been adopted as Chiefs (for external affairs) in Busama Village, which is arguably a greater achievement than being appointed Vice-Chancellor. This new family is not after our money, but genuinely included us in their families, and communities.

The Sorrows

Regrettably, when Sir Nagora Bogan resigned as Chancellor at the end of 2016, politics crept into the University governance with a deadly combination of external meddling and toxic internal administrative politics.

In 2016, we dealt as best as we could with major shortages in funding, and a terrible student crisis instigated from outside the university.

The University crisis in 2016, which led to the students wounding and killing each other on the campus of the PNG University of Technology, and the shooting of students on the campus of the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby was a direct consequences of politicians and aspiring politicians using students to fight their proxy fights before the elections in 2017.

A similar thing happened on the campuses in 2011 the year before the 2012 election, and let's hope it does not repeat itself in 2021.

In 2017, it got worse with a battle for the control of the development rights of Uni-City on campus land, and land held by the University Development & Consulting Ltd, the commercial arm of the University now chaired by Sam Koim.

First the two Australian consultants, the urban planner and the financial consultant were pushed out and then apparently it was my turn. The transparency in the expression of interest process has now been lost, and it is rumoured that the development of this "prime real estate" will now occur with the support of Chinese government companies.

The Need for Truth Telling

The feeling of being object of political prosecution is strangely familiar to me and my wife after my earlier experience of being deported three times from Papua New Guinea in 2013.

There is nothing quite like it. Entering a parallel world where lies are truth, and all people are blind, deaf and mute. In this world, you are completely along because there is no point in trying to have a reasonable conversation with anyone. A truly terrifying world, but the truth will set us free.

In 2013, while holding a current work visa for Papua New Guinea, I was denied entry twice on 8 March and 9 May and deported to Australia…..

My deportation was done with the consent of someone at the highest level government and, given the circumstances at the time, may actually have enhanced my personal safety considerably, or possibly even have saved my life.

While we must recognise each country has the sovereign right to deny anyone entry, there must be a process in place, and the visa must be cancelled formally.

We all have two eyes to see reality and two ears to hear what others say, but only one mouth to speak the truth. If one eyes, or one ear fails, we can still be part of the world around us and work hard to make a positive difference. When our only mouth fails, however, we are condemned to live in a world created for us by others, and unable to control anything.

Telling the truth for me is not about revenge, nor is it not about me. A world where those in leadership position are in a state of delusion and denial, and base their decision on incorrect information, the rule of law cannot possibly be upheld.

A world with no consistently applied rules is bound to descend into chaos and anarchy. As a higher education leader, such a world makes higher education unnecessary and redundant because qualification and competence do not matter, and academic credentials have no meaning.

What’s Next?

As I said my wife and I did not come to the country to get rich, but neither did we expect the financial ruin we are facing now. The legal fight with the Council for wrongful dismissal first and now the fight for my malicious prosecution by the police has drained all of our resources we needed to sustain ourselves while I am still unemployed. I missed two job interviews because of my arrest.

Our lives have been turned upside down. We seem to be the only ones to pay the price for the fight for good governance at the PNG University of Technology and for a police that upholds the rule of law. Why?

Because I gave my word to the court, I will go through the costly process of having a public notary in Italy legalise my original doctorate and send it through the appropriate diplomatic channels to the committal court in Waigani. This should clear all charges forever.

Afterwards I will claim damages for all the financial losses, opportunity costs and defamation of character I suffered. Some people will lose face, be demoted or lose their jobs, but without accountability there is no justice, and without justice there is no peace, healing and the opportunity to advance.

It is anybody’s guess what happens next. Given the series of incidents of abuse of ministerial authority and police power, and the recent publication of the Human Rights Watch report, in my view it seems a parliamentary inquiry into police abuse is warranted.

The current debacle shows that the performance of the University Council also fails to impress, and it seems time now to implement the long awaited reform and create independent university council of no more than 13 members, rather than the current councils of 30+ members filled with political appointees.

It is too easy for the University Council to simply distance itself from my arrest, while it failed to clear me of those charges after the Sevua Investigation in 2014. In 2018 brought these same trumped up charges based on the identical materials from 2012, and failed to see there was no evidence.

For me personally, my case should be thrown out for lack of primary evidence, and then it may not be necessary for me to return for a hearing on 12 June, if a hearing will even take place at all.

It is also likely my government will file an official protest and not allow me to travel back to PNG given the abuse of police power and the state of lawlessness this has produced in the country.

There is no limit to madness once it takes root: will I be charged for indecent exposure for having lost a few buttons on my shirt during the flight? Just saying, anything seems to go now.

Negative travel advisories for tourists from different may be issued, and universities will be unable to recruit qualified academics. Last week, for example, Unitech already lost a head of department, who is now back in the USA, and another respected academic because of what happened to me.

Like all of us academics, journalists and other knowledge workers who cannot return to the country, it makes us sad that until amends are made and the police has been restructured and under control, we will not be able to see our friends and our new and beloved family in PNG.

Selected References

Australian National University, Development Policy Blog “The Outrageous & Unfounded Arrest of Dr. Albert Schram” (13 May 2018, Canberra, Australia) http://www.devpolicy.org/albert-schrams-arrest/

The Australian, Tim Dodd “PNG Vice Chancellor Albert Schram Charged with False Pretence” (16 May 2018 - Melbourne, Australia) https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/png-vicechancellor-albert-schram-charged-with-false-pretence/news-story/27f51e82a24e9f67fddaa294dce40174

Times Higher Education, Chris Havergal “Former V-C Arrested upon Return to Papua New Guinea” (16 May 2018 - London, UK) https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/former-v-c-arrested-return-papua-new-guinea

PNG Attitude blog, Keith Jackson “National Court Mulls Albert Schram’s Application to Leave PNG” (18 May 2018 – Noosa, Australia) http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2018/05/national-court-mulls-albert-schrams-application-to-leave-png.html

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – The Post-Courier newspaper reports today that the Papua New Guinea government intends prevent access to Facebook for one month for so-called “research purposes”.

Communication minister Sam Basil has established no date for the shutdown, nor has he revealed how he will achieve it.

He has also not stated how the country will cope if access is prevented to the many substantive and legitimate sites that are used for day-to-day commercial, government, personal and emergency transactions in PNG.

Basil said his Communications and Information Technology Department and National Research Institute will conduct “research and analysis” of Facebook’s use, adding that his ministry was trying to enforce the 2016 Cyber Crime Act.

“The time will allow information to be collected to identify users that hide behind fake accounts, users that upload pornographic images, users that post false and misleading information on Facebook to be filtered and removed,” he told the Post-Courier.

“This will allow genuine people with real identities to use the social network responsibly.

“What I’m trying to do is to ensure the law is enforced accordingly where perpetrators can be identified and charged accordingly.

“We cannot allow the abuse of Facebook to continue in the country.

“I will now work closely with the police for them to be properly trained and informed to fully enforce the Cyber Crime Act.”

Indicating that PNG may be contemplating echoing the closed Chinese approach, Basil said: “We can also look at the possibility of creating a new social network site for PNG citizens to use.”

China banned Facebook in 2009, later ousting other Western social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter to establish its own tightly controlled outlets.

The biggest and most popular is WeChat, a blend of Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Skype where users get almost everything they need without ever having to leave the platform. It has nearly one billion users.

“If there need be then we can gather our local applications developers to create a site that is more conducive for Papua New Guineans to communicate within the country and abroad as well,” Basil said.

CHRIS OVERLAND

ADELAIDE - I think the article, 'Dr Schram is a great man but he should respect our courts',  reflects pretty accurately the delusional state of those administering much of Papua New Guinea's judicial system.

The author mistakes the abuse of the judicial process for the proper administration of justice.

Dr Schram has been subjected to a perverted process whereby the onus of proof has effectively been reversed, leaving him forced to prove his innocence.

It is always open to a judge to dismiss an action because he or she forms the view that the claims made have no merit or are merely vexatious.

Given reports of the judge's scathing comments about the plaintiff's inability to offer any evidence to support their claims this option was certainly available, yet it has not been pursued.

References to getting Interpol to drag Dr Schram back to PNG to face its version of justice border on the bizarre.

Just what does the author think Interpol exists to do? Further the ambitions of cynical, process abusing shysters such as those pursuing Dr Schram?

The ugly truth is that this entire fiasco has been a monstrous abuse of process that has, in practice, denied Dr Schram both due process and natural justice.

As has repeatedly been pointed out, it would have been very, very easy for any competent authority to confirm the validity or otherwise of Dr Schram's qualifications, yet this was never done.

The take home message from this case is that PNG's judicial system can be easily abused by those determined to do so.

It is another example of the maladministration, incompetence and corruption that is a rampaging cancer within virtually all PNG's important institutions.

No academic administrator ought to now be in any doubt that any attempt to impose necessary reforms upon the management and direction of PNG's institutions of higher learning will be resisted by those who feel it is against their interests, including by using spurious charges to harass and intimidate.

This case will do enormous damage to PNG's interests in both the short and long term.

Quite how it can hope to attract the services of top class academics in the future is beyond my comprehension.