PETER KRANZ

MORRISET – When I first went to Papua New Guinea, my pastor Dad gave me one bit of advice.

"Peter you must listen to the church choirs."

And, what do you know, my university-assigned house at Fort Banner was next door to Vincent's, who was the conductor of the local Catholic church choir.

I was able to enjoy hearing them practice every Friday evening.

During my time at the university, I was privileged to travel all around PNG from Tabubil to Bomana to Buka and never missed the chance of listening to a church choir.

They were wonderful experiences, so thank you Vincent and your choir members, wherever you may be. You gave me hope, and a belief that humanity and its love of beauty is universal.

I know this choir is from the Solomons but the spirit of the music is the same as it is in Papua New Guinea.

And be assured Vincent's choir practising at Fort Banner was even better.

Here the choir of All Saints, Honiara, is singing ‘God yu tekkem laef blo mi’ (God, take my life).

It’s a remix and the original is better but it's so beautiful I felt I must share it with you this Sunday morning.

ROBERT FORSTER

A local policeman joins the front rank to show his enthusiasm to put a stop to inter-clan fighting, Minj, 1972 (Robert Forster)

NORTHUMBRIA, UK - This photograph was taken at Minj in the Western Highlands early in 1972 and supports Phil Fitzpatrick’s view that good ‘bush policemen’ made their own special contribution to the development of rural Papua New Guinea.

It also contradicts a post-independence view, put forward by a number of opinion formers, that before 1975 many PNG policemen were self-serving individuals more interested in feathering their own nest than promoting social stability at village level.

The photograph shows armed clan warriors, who have decided to give up more than three months constant confrontation with a neighbouring village, on their way to a peace-making ceremony.

They are led, and this was no surprise to the kiaps who had organised the lull in hostilities, by a senior policeman (two stripes, probably a corporal) who lived close to the feuding communities.

Can anyone looking at this 47-year old photograph doubt his enthusiasm for what is about to take place?

His behaviour is active not passive, he has a front row position among clan leaders, he is part of the initiative – not a spectator - and he is waving his baton with all the eagerness and authority of a conductor leading an orchestra.

Some may say he should not have being taking part so directly.

However it would have been difficult to stop him.

He had nagged local kiaps incessantly in his efforts to encourage the restoration of village stability and must be credited with a positive contribution to the welcome halt in what had been regular and destructive fighting.

RASHMII BELL

BRISBANE - In October 2017, Keith Jackson AM enquired whether I would be interested in attending the Women In Media Conference and, if so, he would sponsor my attendance at the two-day event at Bond University on the Gold Coast.

Without any journalism or media training, I wavered as to my suitability of being seated in the same room as a bunch of over-achieving women in the context of the high-powered organisations headlining the event.

Yet, being closely mentored by Jackson throughout the pilot phase of the ‘My Walk to Equality’ project through preparing media releases and participating in print and radio interviews, I accepted the opportunity he was championing for me.

It would stand as a serendipitous moment in the convergence of literary activities I undertook in 2018.

Enmeshed in stories of professional battle scars and tales of tested wisdom, I walked away from the near-filled auditorium with a key message: ‘If you believe you are deserving and are willing to back it up by working hard - ask! If you don’t ask, someone less deserving will be granted the opportunity’.

This philosophy with the aid of Jackson and Phil Fitzpatrick, encouraged my proposal to Paga Hill Development Company (PHDC) for a writer’s fellowship. On International Women’s Day 2018, PHDC awarded me the inaugural ‘My Walk to Equality’ fellowship.

As a beneficiary over the past two years, I have experienced and observed first-hand the impact of PHDC’s commitment to fostering the development of Papua New Guineans (especially women) who write creatively, critically and strive to engage in public discourse through informed, independent-thinking, articulate and structured prose.

Sincere thanks for this go to PHDC chief executive Gummi Fridriksson and his colleagues for their unwavering support of Papua New Guinean writers.

The increasing activity and influence of a number of Papua New Guinean writers is due to PHDC’s sustained collaborative efforts with the PNG Attitude virtual community.

I should also take this opportunity to thank the invaluable mentoring team of Keith Jackson, Phil Fitzpatrick, Bob Cleland, and Joan and Murray Bladwell and the continuing support of Betty Wakia, Elvina Ogil, Vanessa Gordon, Betty Chapau, Dominica Are, Alurigo Ravuriso-Kali and Emma Wakpi.

The constant chatter and encouragement motivates me to keep on with what we started with the publication of our anthology in 2016.

I also want to express appreciation to Charlie Lynn OL OAM and the Adventure Kokoda team, chief executive Rebecca McDonald, Dr Lara Cain Gray and the Library For All team, whose time and generosity encouraged me to contemplate (and act upon) what I had not thought possible in the arc of creativity.

My home of writing, PNG Attitude, has long been instrumental in editing, publishing and facilitating a wide readership (in the Pacific and globally) on those regular occasions when I have reported about my fellowship and its related activities.    

Accessibility to this effective online-platform has been invaluable in encouraging and promoting Papua New Guinean-authored literature. And yet, the circulation of my activities on other platforms has subjected me to uninformed criticism.

On those occasions, I have been sincerely grateful for the public solidarity demonstrated by informed readers when I needed it most.

Like the MWTE Project Report 2017, a document has been prepared to PHDC to account for the financial sponsorship, demonstrate key learnings and skills acquired and demonstrate how these were shared with the PNG Attitude community.

Some of the highlights of the fellowship have been:

A letter of commendation from the Brisbane Writers Festival 2018 volunteer team supervisor, Meg Vann.

Country nomination for the ‘My Walk to Equality’ project in the United NationsGirls and Women’s Education Prize 2018. This was submitted by Ponabe Yuwa, director of the education program in the PNG National Commission for UNESCO and endorsed by His Excellency Joshua Kalinoe, PNG’s Ambassador to Belgium.

Podcast interview with Elvina Ogil, creator of Papua New Guinean women-focused feminist podcast ‘Who Asked Her’. As one of two guests for the first episode I was able to discuss my personal experience as a Papua New Guinean woman writing and publishing in PNG Attitude, the MWTE project and the PHDC Fellowship. The episode remains the most popular so far with 1,296 listens (excluding downloads).

Panelist at the ‘My Fathers Daughter: Telling Stories Series’ pilot event organised by Vanessa Gordon. This was a sold-out live-audience discussion about mental health and Pacific Islanders.

Invitation by Paige West, Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, to submit PNG-related blog posts to http://www.envirosociety.org.

Development and publication of the ‘Trail of Woe’ series, a seven-part documentary narrative of observations and feedback from carriers, guides and communities impacted by the present-day operation of the Kokoda Trail trek tourism industry. The series was written following the completion of a 10-day trek of the Kokoda Trail with Adventure Kokoda under trek leader Charlie Lynn. The series can be accessed at the PNG Attitude blog here.

Print and radio interviews regarding the Kokoda Trail trek tourism industry on ABC Pacific Mornings, the ABC Wantok program, Radio New Zealand Pacific and the Pacific Media Centre.

Sponsorship by Keith Jackson to attend screenwriting with Wendall Thomas lecture series in Brisbane. My article on the seminar article may be read here.

Interview with Dr Ceridwen Spark, the vice chancellor’s senior research fellow at RMIT University, Melbourne. I was interviewed to provide commentary for publication on my personal views of current and future directions of Papua New Guinean women in the leadership of Papua New Guinea.

All in all, it has been a busy, enthralling, fulfilling and educational period of my life. I’m now looking forward to applying these skills and more in the pursuit of a brighter literary future for Papua New Guinea and especially for Papua New Guinean women.

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – At a court hearing in Goroka in 1978, Wayne Ryan – who grew up in the Papua New Guinea highlands and lived there in the 1960s and 1970s - was found guilty of the manslaughter of Caroline Benny after a domestic argument.

Mr Justice Pritchard said “the death of Miss Benny, 21, from Losuia in the Trobriand Islands, had occurred in distressing circumstances during an emotionally violent scene”.

Ryan, who was 23 at the time and originally charged with murder, spent three years in gaol in Lae. His family still believe the death was an accident.

Susan Francis is completing a memoir, which will soon go to the publisher, and had been urgently seeking further information on this matter.

Many thanks to Arthur Smedley from Milne Bay who provided some first rate detail for which Susan Francis has expressed deep gratitude. She will soon be rushing to the publisher with the final manuscript.

Scott Morrison (Mark Metcalfe)

ALAN BOYD | Asia Times | Extracts

SYDNEY - Australia’s efforts to woo Pacific states away from China’s embrace kicked into a higher gear with a rare visit by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to Fiji and Vanuatu.

Despite the symbolism of a head of state visit, Morrison’s tour was a sobering reminder of how little control he has over the counter-balancing agenda.

To be sure, there were plenty of sweeteners on the table, including allowances for Fijians to work in Australian rural regions, new teacher training programs and funding to broadcast Australian TV programs in the island nation.

But Morrison’s counterpart, Frank Bainimarama, had a different issue in mind: climate change.

“I urged your predecessor [Malcolm Turnbull] repeatedly to honour his commitment to clean energy. From where we are sitting, we cannot imagine how the interests of any single industry can be placed above the welfare of Pacific peoples and vulnerable people in the world over.

“Consensus from the scientific community is clear and the existential threat posed to Pacific island countries is certain,” Bainimarama said.

Frank-Bainimarama (Christoph Sator)

Pacific island nations are on a precarious front-line of the climate change debate as rising sea levels sink portions of their land masses and wreak havoc on their coastlines.

Morrison’s muted response was to praise Bainimarama’s “passion” and global leadership on the issue, but there was no offer of any assistance.

His ruling Liberal-Nationals coalition is hopelessly split on the future of fossil fuels and has no coherent policy on clean energy or reducing gas emissions.

On the Vanuatu leg of his trip, Morrison did promise Australia would fund projects to mitigate the impact of climate change, but there is not much expectation this will happen.

The Liberals will almost certainly lose the next election, opinion polls show, and the opposition Labor Party will no doubt pursue its own separate agenda.

Therein lies the crux of Australia’s Pacific problem, analysts say. It is hard to get any meaningful rapport with Pacific leaders when domestic politics block potential collaboration and cooperation.

“The inability of the Morrison government to align its Pacific islands policy announcements with domestic policies … constrains any genuine deepening of Australia’s relationships with Pacific Island countries,” said Jenny Hayward-Jones, an analyst with the Lowy Institute think tank.

Morrison was putting out political fires set by other government members, even as he was boarding the plane to Fiji.

One came from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who declared that Islamist extremist Neil Prakash would be deported to Fiji after being stripped of his Australian citizenship because he had Fijian residency through his father.

Fiji said that wasn’t the case and refused to allow entry to Prakash, who is now being held in a Turkish jail. Suva was furious the announcement had been made without any consultation, and saw the affair as confirmation of Australia’s distant and patronizing approach to smaller Pacific nations.

Hayward-Jones said the clumsy handling of the issue was a mark on Australia’s diplomacy, noting it was “hardly in the national interest to send a convicted terrorist to Fiji at a time when Canberra is committing serious military and other financial resources to improve its security relationship with Suva.”

Then, former international development minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells tossed a symbolic grenade over Australia’s plan to set up a US$1.4 billion infrastructure fund to counter China’s growing economic influence in the Pacific paved by its US$1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative.

“Let’s be clear. A loan is a loan. It needs to be repaid. Given the Pacific’s debt is already about A$5.5 billion (US$4 billion), including A$2 billion (US$1.4 billion) to the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, and A$1.5 billion (US$1.08 billion] to Beijing, why are we even contemplating saddling our neighbours with more debt?” Fierravanti-Wells asked.

Morrison said two-thirds of the lending to the region was in the form of concessional finance, which usually means low-interest loans, with the rest disbursed as grants. China’s lending in the region, as elsewhere, has recently come under fire for creating sovereignty-eroding “debt traps.”

Australia and New Zealand are also pushing the idea of a free trade pact, known as the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus, that might eventually reduce the reliance of island nations on outside aid.

So far, however, only those two countries have ratified the deal, though it has been signed by Vanuatu, Samoa, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Tuval, Niue and Tonga. Fiji has said it is ready to sign, but hasn’t done so. Papua New Guinea, the region’s other growth economy, has also stayed outside of the pact.

The opposition Labor Party hasn’t said whether it will continue with these policies if it wins this year’s election, or if it will devote any more time to Pacific affairs than the Liberals.

Peter Kinjap

PETER S KINJAP

PORT MORESBY - One of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper and gold deposits on the Frieda River, a tributary of the Sepik, is opposed by local indigenous landowners and all right-thinking Papua New Guineans.

The Frieda River deposit is thought to contain 13 million tonnes of copper and 20 million ounces of gold and tens of thousands of people fear the likelihood of serious river system contamination and the threat to the ecosystem that supports them.

A spokesman for environment group Project Sepik, Emmanuel Peni, said there was widespread opposition to the mine’s development plan.

“From Iniok village, which is where the barges and ships stop at the Frieda River, right down to the mouth of the Sepik, people are against the mine,” Peni said.

“They are concerned about possible contamination of the river system and the destruction of the environment along the Frieda and the Sepik River system.”

The East Sepik Provincial government and the national government had not yet responded to the concerns and grievances that have been raised.

Land in the Papua New Guinea context means the natural environment including land, rivers and seas.

In Madang Province, the landowners of Basamuk, Begesin, Ramu and Kurumbukari villages are affected by the Ramu nickel mine in various ways.  The Chinese state-owned mine has been polluting the beautiful coastal seas and people have been denied their food gardens and fishing waters.

In a recent documentary, ‘Uprooted’, the people clearly showed their pain about the river system contamination and the environmental destruction. They are fearful of losing their land to large scale development.

The deep sea tailings placement (DSTP) method of mine waste management and disposal which the Ramu mine proposed and was approved by the PNG government is causing a lot of environmental destruction and river contamination. 

“I belong to the government and the government belongs to me,” Martin Dampat, a Mindere landowner, said in the documentary. “How can it abandon me? It must do all that it can to ensure that I am able to feed myself.

“It has the ability to do so. But, if it chooses not to, then I know the government has no concern for me.  We have reached our limits. We have done all we can. They’ve rejected everything we’ve said.

“We feel we can’t do anything anymore. Some have given up trying,” he said.

“There is a great heaviness in all our hearts. I don’t think anyone can remove it from within us. We will go. But our grandchildren bear hardships even greater that what we’re experiencing.”

Another disgruntled landowner, John Oma from Ganglau Landowner Company, said: “They don’t have the land to grow their food. They won’t have an ocean to catch their fish.

“Where will they eat from? Nowhere. Great hardship awaits them. We won’ be able to avoid the troubles that will come. It’s the same sea. Life will be difficult for them too.”

And Sama Mellombo from the Pommern Land Group in Ramu said, “It’s a fearful feeling when you think about the health effects on people and the inhabitants of the seas. If we take action now to tell China to find an alternative method, I think that’s the right approach. Find an alternative method instead of dumping waste into the sea. We live by the sea.”

Former Madang governor, Sir Arnold Amet, said: “The government has endorsed the actual deep sea tailings deposit and an environmental plan. I think it is our assurance that the laying down of the pipe will not affect the lives of our people.  

“And the whole project has been signed and sealed by the national government and relevant agencies.”

A confused landowner from Ramu said: “We hear that the minister has come. We hear that the member has come. We hear that the mine boss has come. But we’re confused. For the people here in Mindere and Ganglau, we feel like we’re about to die because we don’t have a Father. Our Father – the government - isn’t here.”

Bong Dampat, a mother and a Mindere villager, said: “We fear for our children’s future. It’s going to be a long time. When waste dumped here, unborn children could be affected. The government and the company must pay attention. They cannot ignore us. What kind of a future will our children have? They have to pay attention.

“When a mining development contract allowed the Chinese to own and operate the mine, there was no concept of safety or environmental standards.  It was a cowboy operation. You did whatever you wanted and it didn’t matter if you were injured. It seems they came with a set of rules that didn’t comply with the rules of our country.”

“This is not a fight against development. No. That isn’t why we’re campaigning,” said Ramu landowner Michael Kasuk.

“We are fighting to protect and save our environment, our forests, our land, our river systems and our seas because our existence is connected to the land, forests, river systems and the sea,” Mr Kasuk said.

Peter S Kinjap is a freelance journalist, email pekinjap@gmail.com

PHIL FITZPATRICK

Phil Fitzpatrick

TUMBY BAY - In 1958 a clash between the colonial Administration and Tolai dissidents in New Britain led to a review of the functions of the role of kiaps in Papua New Guinea.

The man tasked with the review, Professor David Derham, was an early version of the long line of consultants that Canberra has engaged to advise it on what to do in PNG.

Derham spent 37 days in the territory and did not seek the advice of kiaps in the field.

Nevertheless he seemed particularly offended by the kiap practice of informal mediation in local disputes and much preferred a formal system similar to the one used in Australia.

JK McCarthy, the director of the Department of Native Affairs, said in 1963, "The Derham Report, written by a man who had no practical experience of the country, and who undoubtedly was inspired by an equally ignorant person [the Minister for Territories], was accepted without question.

“As a result of it, the multiple powers once necessarily held by a DC [District Commissioner] are now, or will be, split between several officers - and this 'compartmenting' is fatal to good government.”

What McCarthy was talking about was the transfer of policing powers from the kiaps to a new department of police.

Instead of going to the local kiap to have legal issues resolved, many people now had to seek justice in the towns.

Under the expanded police role people were directed to local police stations, where the judicial system had been taken over by the police.

Junior police officers, some with not more than a primary education and a few months of service, began dispensing a brand of rough justice that they were totally incompetent by training or experience to prescribe and had no authority to perform.

As the police acquired this quasi-judicial status the crowds around the police stations grew larger. Members of the constabulary encouraged this attention and sought opportunities for graft.

As the level of police corruption grew, the next stage in the decline of rural administration was inevitable. The people grew tired of making long journeys to the police stations in pursuit of justice that was no better than what they could improvise themselves.

As a result powerful persons emerged in a new generation of ‘big men’. In place of traditional elders came younger opportunists. Some were former members of the Army, the public service and the police force.

The judicial system was subverted and ‘pay-back’ compensation was resumed. Personal issues took precedence over crime prevention. Criminal activity could be excused if one’s clan had enough money to buy off the wronged or offended.

Since there were no legal rules that all could respect, the strong subjugated the weak.

By 1970 law and order, particularly in the highlands, was rapidly breaking down. Tribal and group warfare was higher than before the outbreak of World War II.

By taking the advice of a well-meaning but totally inexperienced consultant, the Australian government had ensured the destruction of a perfectly functional administrative structure and created a nightmare where crooks and carpetbaggers posing as ‘bigmen’ could thrive.

And once those neo-‘bigmen’ realised the opportunities the administrative changes offered to them there was no turning back and Papua New Guinea’s fate was sealed.

Mark Hitchcock

KEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY – The general manager of Bougainville Copper Ltd, Mark Hitchcock, has cast serious doubts on the credibility of the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association which he says has created a misleading impression that it represents several hundred Panguna customary landowners.

Not only is it not representative but nor does the Association “own the mineral rights at the old Panguna mine” as its so-called developer of choice, RTG Mining Inc, has asserted, Hitchcock said.

Hitchcock cited a letter from Michael Pariu, chairman of the Panguna Developments Company, to the Department of Mineral and Energy Resources which states that “the membership of the PDC, comprising legally appointed block agents and next of kin, completely reject the validity of the above Association to assume they represent ex-SML [special mining lease] landowner blocks and their landowner community”.

The letter went on to say that the Association “enjoys no status under the Bougainville Mining Act and is currently embroiled in a legal action against itself”.

Hitchcock said that “in recent times issues around the leadership and legitimacy of the Association as a representative body have been both controversial and contested” and “there remains a lack of clear definition about the actual make-up of [its] membership”.

At its annual general meeting last month, the Association formally approved RTG Mining as preferred developer for the Panguna project.

“This endorsement ignores the lack of ABG [Bougainville government] support for RTG,” Hitchcock said.

“The endorsement could also be seen to disrespect the indefinite moratorium the ABG has put in place over Panguna and overlooks a travel ban to Bougainville imposed on a number of RTG representatives by the PNG government, at the ABG’s request.

“It should be noted that while a judicial review is underway of the decision by the ABG not to renew BCL’s exploration licence over the project area, BCL remains the holder of the exploration licence until any final determination by the court.” Hitchcock said.

He added that BCL “remains heartened by the strong levels of support we continue to receive from authorised blockholder representatives and, also by the positive relationships we maintain more broadly.

“Our ongoing work in collaboration with ABG departments and others in the community to deliver worthwhile community projects is a clear demonstration of this.”

Jon Bartlett - a good life

COLIN MIDDLETON | Edited extracts

NEWCASTLE NSW - Jon Bartlett was a country boy from Wagga, whose family antecedents were Irish and Chinese.

Asked why he spelt his name without the ‘h’ of ‘John’, he said he liked swimming and was an admirer of Jon Henricks, the Australian Olympic and world swimming champion and changed the spelling of his name to match.

Jon was a self-effacing and caring family man of considered thought. He loved music, food, cooking, beer, fun and laughter. He had a keen sense of humour and had an infectious laugh.

After school, Jon worked for a time with the Dalgety wool company in Wagga. He enjoyed his time with them in the saleyards which taught him many things about stock and especially working dogs.

Jon joined the Papua New Guinea Administration in the last permanent patrol officer intake of 1963 – probably completing the one month ASOPA course before a month-long orientation in Port Moresby before his initial posting to the Kainantu Sub District.

His first patrol as a cadet patrol officer was with Peter Broadhurst in April 1963. Jon related how he was attacked whilst relieving himself at night on the bush toilet. Broadhurst later put his hand up to say he was the culprit, not the local people.

I first met Jon in the Western District when I was posted to Daru in 1972. Jon had transferred from the East Sepik to a newly created position of welfare officer. Daru and the Western District had the reputation of being the last posting you would want to take but we were fortunate to have a great district commissioner, Ken Brown, who had been in the Western District as a patrol officer in 1951-52.

Daru at this time was a great and lively place to be living. Jon met up again with kiaps he had worked with in Chimbu in 1966, Fred Parker and Paul Bourne. The community - ranging across kiaps, business development people, PWD, police, trade store owners, high school teachers, crocodile shooters and professional fishermen and the local Kiwai people - got on well.

Weekends entailed a number of going out in a highly unstable ‘banana boat’ to the nearby reefs for fishing, snorkelling and spearfishing. Warriar Reef was particularly favoured. Jon and Paul Bourne became constant companions and soon very adept spearfisherman, bringing back catches of crayfish and fish that were shared with us all.

Cooking was a passion of Jon’s. We used to have ‘progressive dinners’ which were a lot of fun. On dinner nights we would go to upwards of five houses for the different courses. Night caps were at the ‘liklik kiaps donga’. There was one rule, Jon was made to cook the rice as he was the only one who could make the rice fluffy and not gluggy.

Bernie Seeto, the local Chinese store owner, would be bribed to bring his delicious Singapore chilli mud crab dish and Hazel Beckett, the wife the officer in charge of the marine workshop, would be pressed upon to bring her famous battered fish fingers. When Jon was asked the secret to cooking the rice he would say it was the absorption method. It wasn’t until years later we discovered that he had an electric rice cooker.

Jon loved music and had an eclectic taste ranging from the old standards to modern and popular. He loved singing and had a good voice. On returning to Australia he took up singing and joined the local branch of Australia Sings. He also enjoyed dancing and, later in Newcastle with Tin Tin, took dancing lessons. They were a force to be reckoned with on the dance floor.

I left PNG at the end of my contract in Christmas 1974 and returned to my parents sheep and cattle property, Buckanbe, in Western NSW on the Darling River at Tilpa. But I continued my friendship with Jon. We would swap the traditional Christmas missives on our year and sometimes spoke on the phone.

By this time Jon was Assistant District Commissioner at Misima in Milne Bay. I sent him a large batch of taped music of all the hit records I had recorded at the local community radio station, 2WEB in Bourke, where I used to compere a Saturday morning show called ‘Mids Morning Mania’. Jon told me he really enjoyed it, good music for the station parties and it was a break from local string band music.

Jon and I had a mutual interest in Spain, its food and bullfighting. One night I received a call from Jon asking me to get myself organised as he was in Spain and wanted me to meet him in Cordoba at the end of the week as he had arranged to see the famous bullfighter El Cordobes. Unfortunately we were shearing at the time and I couldn’t get away.

On coming south in 1981, Jon based himself in Potts Point where, along with ex kiap Mike Eggleton, he dabbled in the stock market and the Kings Cross night life. It was at his apartment in Potts Point in early 1982 that I met Tin Tin, a lovely Chinese Indonesian woman from Bandung who Jon was courting.

At Easter 1982 Jon and Paul Bourne flew to Bourke to attend my wedding. They had both had a very heavy night of partying the previous night in Sydney. The flight was the milk run route that landed at Dubbo, Nyngan, Brewarrina and Bourke. It was a rough trip and both Jon and Paul had occasion to go for the brown paper bags.

On arrival in Bourke the Rev Keith Sandars, my school chaplain at Trinity boarding school in Sydney, who had come out to officiate at the wedding on the same flight, remarked to the boys, “We didn’t think you two were going to make it.” They made a remarkable recovery and Jon was the official photographer for the wedding and took some great shots.

Jon also married not long after to Tin Tin and we both went on to have families. Our children were all around the same age and there followed a long family friendship. This saw the Bartletts visit our Tilpa property and the Middletons visiting Narrandera where by this stage Jon was returning officer for the Riverina-Darling Electorate.

I saw Jon’s kiap census taking skills come to the fore when he rang me one day and questioned why I was registered as a station hand of 1 Darling Avenue, Tilpa. and not a property manager of Buckanbe Station, Tilpa.

I told him that the local postmaster Fred Davidson had asked me to put my name down as a resident of Tilpa as he needed one more elector on the roll to keep the polling station open. Jon, being a pragmatic ex kiap, duly made the necessary adjustment and the Tilpa booth remained open for the next two decades.

Jon was very proud of his time as a kiap and the achievements of the Administration of Papua New Guinea. He encouraged get-togethers and reunions and went out of his way to maintain contact with his kiap mates.

One of the reunions was on my sheep station, Buckanbe, at Easter 2005, where there was a gathering of about 30 people, mostly from PNG’s Western District. It was spread over the long weekend and included tours of the property, locally killed roast mutton dinners, beer and wine, fishing and the mandatory trip to address the bar at the Tilpa Hotel. Jon said to me afterwards that it was the best reunion he had been to as the venue, Buckanbe, was just like a PNG government out station!

Jon, Tin and the children visited us on numerous occasions. They came for the annual shearing and for the Tilpa sesquicentenary celebrations. We also visited them regularly once they moved to Newcastle where Jon had his last position as Electoral Commission returning officer before he retired in 2005.

In 2011, along with many ex kiaps and friends, we attended Jon’s 70th birthday and I seem to recollect that again I was the last to leave.

Jon encouraged me to join the PNG Association of Australia in order to receive ‘Una Voce’ which he read avidly. He also encouraged me and fellow kiaps to apply for the Police Medal which he believed was a deserved acknowledgement of our service to Papua New Guinea.

A Papua New Guinean National Fisheries Authority observer

RAYMOND SIGIMET

DAGUA - A high risk job undertaken by young Papua New Guineans has been working for the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) as a fishing observer on foreign fishing vessels.

A fishing observer enforces standards, records catch volumes and prevents the exploitation of fish stocks by fishing vessels within PNG’s territorial waters.

Fishing observers live with foreign fishermen aboard foreign-owned fishing vessels on the open seas for weeks on end.

The NFA fishing observer program started in mid-2000 and PNG has one of the largest observer programs in the South Pacific. Currently there are about 65 observers stationed on fishing vessels in PNG waters.

The central task of observers is to ensure fishing vessels operate in a sustainable and responsible manner within the National Tuna Fishery Management Plan. This framework covers longline, purse-seine and pole & line fishing.

There are about 130 fishing vessels operating in PNG waters, which has fishing access agreements with Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines and China and a multilateral treaty with the USA. The catch from these vessels is divided about 50:50 between onshore installations in PNG and the foreign purse-seine vessels that catch most of the tuna for overseas processors.

PNG has the largest commercial tuna fishing zone in the South Pacific, an area exceeding 2.4 million square kilometres with the potential of an estimated annual catch of 250, 000 to 300, 000 metric tonnes. PNG waters account for about 10% of the global fish catch.

Fishing observers have contributed millions of kina in taxes and fees to the NFA which is one of the few government entities that continues to pay dividends to the government. Fishing in PNG waters is a lucrative business for foreign owned fishing vessels supplying both onshore and offshore processors.

With the high value for fish products, unscrupulous vessels try to bypass sustainable management practice in their race to meet demand and make as much money as they can.

Last week, the Post-Courier newspaper reported on some harrowing cases of missing Papua New Guinean observers on fishing vessels.

Charlie Lasisi was reported missing from a Madang based RD Tuna fishing vessel in March 2010 near the PNG-Indonesian border. The vessel captain claimed that the last time anyone had seen Charlie was when he was drinking with the crew and then left to go to the mess. Six Filipino crew members were charged with his murder but were acquitted because of lack of evidence. The remains of Charlie Lasisi were later discovered bound in chains off the coast of West Sepik.

Observer Wesley Talia was reported missing in the waters of New Ireland in 2015. Locals later said they saw his body floating in the sea in clothing similar to ship’s standard clothing.

Larry Gavin was an observer who went missing at sea in 2016. Authorities had no records of which ship he was on, where he was from and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. No investigation was carried out to find the cause of his disappearance.

James Numbaru Junior went missing from his vessel in 2017, the crew alleging he had fallen overboard in waters of the coast of Nauru.

East Sepik governor Allan Bird raised the issue of Numbaru’s disappearance in parliament, saying it was his understanding that in 2017 up until July, four Papua New Guineans had been lost at sea without a trace.

“It is understood that before [2017] there had been 18 Papua New Guineans lost at sea without a trace or any witness and as far as I know, no one has been found guilty of any foul play and this is strange,” Governor Bird said.

Around the same time, Numbaru’s case and related disappearances received considerable attention from a Twitter post and an article by Keith Jackson in PNG Attitude in an article entitled ‘On the trail of the missing PNG fisheries observers’.

The article highlighted the alarming cases of missing PNG fisheries observers on board foreign fishing vessels in recent years.

The recent Post Courier article stated there has been minimal PNG government intervention or inquiry so far into these disappearances and purported murders of PNG fishing observers.

Despite these disappearances being of “critical importance”, the government continues to adopt an “inherently negligent approach”. According to the article, the family of James Numbaru has taken it upon themselves to push for an inquiry into his death.

It is paramount that the government and NFA should take proactive measures and come up with protective laws and operational protocols to safeguard our young fishing observers. These men cannot just go missing if there is a suspicion of foul play by unscrupulous crews on fishing vessels.

In any reported case of a missing observer, a coronial inquest must be forthcoming. If there is proven foul play, criminal proceedings must be instituted against crews of fishing vessels and vessel owners who must be penalised and punished according to the laws of our country.

This increasing number of Papua New Guineans missing at sea on foreign vessels is alarming. Young fishing observers must be guaranteed their safety and protected from intimidation, threats, harassment or assault.

The missing cases of observers should not be covered up by authorities or swept under the carpet.

Justice must prevail to bring comfort to their families. In our pursuit of wealth and prosperity for our country, we must not disregard the patriotism and bravery of these young fishing observers. They went missing while performing a national role. Their job put them in a position where they are alone by themselves, far from their homes and out in unforgiving and sometimes hostile environment.

We cannot just honour them as heroes of the sea. We owe the families of these four men, and the many others whose names were not made public, closure and an explanation of the circumstances that led to the men’s untimely end.

Stan Gallaher in the wheelhouse

STAN GALLAHER

Stan – a wild man of Papua New Guinea – died in Port Moresby three years ago and his son Luke Gallaher thought we’d find one of his letters of interest. It was written to his family in Australia in December 2002 and offers an insight into life in Papua New Guinea on the ground floor – where money is tight and relationships direct.

“My father made friends and enemies of prime ministers and was Kostas Constantinou's golden boy at one stage,” Luke says, “and was famously know in PNG as a man who would give the shirt off his back to anyone. Some say he couldn't see colour in people.” After Stan’s death, Luke made sure he obtained Australian citizenship for three of his half-siblings who now live in Australia with Luke and his family. Here’s Stan’s story written in his own inimitable style….

POPONDETTA - Its 0630 hours Sunday here and we have overcast skies just starting to lift, the sun burning the mist off the ground and birds have been at it in the mango tree for the past three hours.

PNG music playing in all the houses up and down the street, each trying to play their stereos higher than their neighbours, kids starting to give mums heaps waiting for breakfast, the normal shit that goes on every morning with the exception that its Sunday.

Some are on their way to church to confess their sins so they can start the next week off with a clean soul and do it all over again. It’s a ritual, rape , pillage, maim, steal and destroy all week but go to church on Sundays, that way its OK to do all the things you do during the week and it helps when you go to court to answer the charges if you tell the beak that you are a good churchman/woman.

Excuse me if I sound cynical, may have been here too long. There are some good people here but you can count them on your hands and feet if you have your boots off.

Right now we have half of Julie’s family here in the house, her old man has been very sick with TB for the past year and he lost the battle last night at eight, they came round this morning to let her know. This is the second time he has died, we got word last week that he had passed on but in fact he just went to sleep until one of the sons bit him on the hand and woke him up.

I think they are sure this time, they took him out of the hospital and put him in the morgue last night. Poor old bastard, he has had a hard life with a ballbuster for a wife and seven kids and only one who would cook and wash for him and she has been with me for the past year and a half so his last year has been a real shit for him.

Julie has been going down to the house every second day to cook his food and wash his gear. The mother works and so do two of the sons but the rest are too busy doing nothing to look after him. The mother won’t cook for anyone except herself, buys her own food, she won’t do their washing and puts no money into housekeeping, she looks after her self and F--- the rest of the world. She used to come here demanding money from Julie every week until she discovered the real meaning of F --- OFF.

Now we will get to the big bite, they will want money to pay for his planting, all sorts of bullshit will come our way now, Julie is married to a white man and he must have plenty of bucks because he is white. That’s OK - we got that covered, cost nothing to ask, cost nothing to say no. Say yes and the cost never ends.

Oh well, on to more important things. Lorna Jean is growing in leaps and bounds, she is capable of sitting up on her own now, teeth about to come through and Mum looks like a real treat in some of the clothes you and Aggie sent up. She goes to the hospital once a month for her check ups and the nurses all want to know where she gets her dresses from. Some were too small for her and we found a good home for them, a newborn up the street.

As for workwise, the offer from the company in Port Moresby is a good one and I would be very happy if it comes off, in the meantime I have covered myself just in case it don’t. There is a small local firm that I have made an arrangement with and they are willing to make sure I get my new visa and work permits even if it’s only for a short time.

I have told them about the offer from Port Moresby and they are happy to help in the meantime. It’s a two way street, with me on their books they get my experience and reputation in earthworks and my contacts with the major project managers, that alone will get them work they would never have had the chance to get before or in the future.

What it means is I will have to come down to Brisbane on a very short trip to have all my paperwork fixed into my passport, that should take about four days if all goes well. They have already arranged for some people in the right offices in Port Moresby to arrange it so that I can get things done in Brisbane in a hurry.

I wont be able to bring Julie and Lorna with me on this trip , the cost involved is too much right now and they wouldn’t get to see much in such a short time, we can work towards a good holiday later in the year depending on the outcome of the job in Port Moresby .

If that comes my way I will need to do a second trip to Brisbane to change all my permits again, we may be able to all come down then and spend a little time going around to visit everyone. It’s a case of wait and see right now, I may even get word about Port Moresby before I am ready to do the first trip. That would save a lot of money and time.

Right now we are still trying to sell one boat, it’s 23-foot long and we have a 30hp outboard to go with it, it’s surprising that a small motor of that size can push it along , but they work out OK. In Australian dollars we are asking $3,200 for it, very cheap given the age and condition. We have had plenty of interest but so far no one has come up with the bucks. We will have to decide in the next week if we should drop our price a bit, I won’t be able to go anywhere if we can’t sell it.

The cost of living here has gone through the roof in the past five months with the change in government. The kina has fallen in value. When I came here in 1996 it was just about equal in Aussie dollars now it worth 38 cents. One thousand of our money here will get you $380 Aussie. Because so many things are imported to this country the cost of goods has gone up with the devaluation of the kina.

Small jars of baby food went from K1.85 to K3.25 in three months, the cost of an airline ticket in 1996 was K120 return to Port Moresby, now it’s K400, a packet of Windfield 25s has gone from K2.90 to K8.75, rump steak went from K9 per kilo to K30. The poor local labour has had no wage increase in that time and is paying through the nose for all the little extras including clothes. Award wages for a labourer is K75 a fortnight, not a lot to feed a family of four on.

It’s one reason there are so many robberies in the country, why work your guts out for peanuts when you can get a years pay with one good haul. Workers will rob a company blind if they get half a chance, it’s nothing to have someone offer you a starter motor off a bulldozer worth K10,000 for K1,000 and the worst part about it is that most companies will buy it, no market no theft. Half the time they are buying their own parts back, just being cleaned up that’s all.

Biggest dealer in parts here is the storeman for the Works Department, anything you want he can and will get it for you. Before anyone here buys a car or machine they check to see what Works have and then buy the same type, it’s so bloody blatant. There would be 50 motor vehicles in Works yard that have at one time or another had minor problems, within a week they have major problems because of missing parts.

They had an auction here about two months ago I went too, a Komatsu 623 grader about six years old was passed in at K36,000. I was told that if I wanted to buy it I could have all the parts it needed within a week, no problems. Shame I didn’t have the money, a new one now is worth K999,998. This one was in good condition, they never had money to buy fuel to use it. It’s still got the original tyres on it and they would have 50% life left on them.

This province (as they are called here, it’s the same as a state) is one of the richest in the country because of the oil palm grown here. Local landowners can get a loan from the World Bank through the growers association to plant 2ha that will cost K1,500, the returns now are K196.65 per ton of fruit and its harvested each fortnight. Each block (2ha ) returns around three ton per harvest.

Some have larger blocks of up to 12ha, so their income by country standards is very high. At present the company that runs the mill to processes the oil gets K1,800 per ton for oil, not a bad return for a mill that’s 20 years old. They process around 22,000 tons a week for a return of 12,000 tons of oil. The waste material is used as fertiliser on young plants.

The mill employs around 2,000 people, they have their own plantation that is spread out all over the place, in total around 10,000 ha. The local growers have a total about the same. At present the old mill is working to full capacity and the plan is to grow an additional 5,000 ha in the next two years, this will mean a new mill or a major expansion

The mill handles all payments to local growers and payments are made direct into their bank accounts, there is only one bank here and it only has three ATMs, it’s nothing to see up to 1,000 people standing in line from daylight to dark waiting to use the ATMs. The machines get so overloaded and cash runs out and the whole system closes down for a day or two. That puts an even bigger load on the system when it’s back on line. To go to the bank here is a full day’s work, it’s a bloody pain.

Some stores here will accept cheques, others won’t; some have the goods you need, others don’t; can never win unless you find the key to the system; once you have that life goes along at a reasonable pace, still slow but you get there in the end.

What is the key you ask, the PNG factor.

There are five major stores here, all about the size of the original Tom the Cheat in Gladstone. Every day they are full to the brim with customers. I was talking to one of the owners on xmas day, they took K120,000 in cash sales in one day two days before xmas, their normal weekly turnover is K250,000 (Chinaman).

All the stores here lost a lot of money this year, the ships were late getting in with their stock, the bank system went on the blink and the local government put a booze ban on at the last moment, national government didn’t pay annual leave pays to all their people here and the local government never has money to pay their people . All in all a very normal Xmas for Popondetta.

The pot holes on our street are getting so big the kids are talking about closing the street off so they can start swimming training for the Olympics. Someone put a very large pineapple plant in the middle of one the other day, looked quiet at home there, wouldn’t surprise me to hear that a pukpuk moved in and took a kid or a dog one day in the near future, street is starting to look like a swamp.

People throw all their garden rubbish into the pot holes as well as some household stuff, old tyres, car rims, battery casings, just about anything, it’s meant to give the government a hint to fix things, don’t work that way, the government boys just make sure they don’t drive down this street, that way they can say they know nothing about it. “I haven’t seen it so it’s not true“ (me no save) - great words and meaning that, gets you out of all sorts of trouble.

They should change the country name to Me no Sav‘e. “Who took my tools?” “Me no Sav‘e”. Some of the many meanings, “ I don’t know what you are talking about“, “I haven’t seen them“, “Why ask me”, “Must have been that other guy”. The best is “I seen them yesterday but they ain’t here today”.

Our security man Eliza, who is meant to come every night, on a rating of 1 to 10, yeah, 6, he has been with us off and on for the past nine months. I kick his butt out for a week or so about every two months so he realises he is on a good thing. He has watched how I treat the dog here and they get on OK. He got his own dog and has been looking after it reasonably well, it’s fit and healthy compared to many others here.

Anyway, someone who has been on his case for a while over tribal matters put a man arrow through his dog’s back leg, you know what a mean bit of gear that is. He left the arrow in the dog overnight because every time he tried to get it out the dog tried to bite him. He asked me what was the best way to get it out, put a towel or bag over his mouth so he can’t bite you, make sure you wash the wound with disinfectant and warm water, then pull it right through and keep it covered so the flies can’t get to it. OK, to this point we are doing well.

The next night he doesn’t turn up for work, comes in later the next day and Julie asks what is going on, he got the arrow out of the dog, found the guy who put it there and returned the favour, payback. Our man ended up in the police cells for the night or was meant to be, one of the cops is his mate so he took him on night patrol with him until dawn and then sent him home.

The guy with the arrow in his leg is still in hospital, they had to cut the shit out of his leg to get the arrow out. Eliza made sure it went in to the full part of the top of his leg. He told me, “My dog is now a cripple, so is that bastard, if my dog dies so will he, I put the arrow in dog shit before I stuck it in him.”

The rest of Stan’s letter will be published tomorrow

Eddie Tanago

EDDIE TANAGO | Act Now!

PORT MORESBY - It is one of the world’s biggest illegal land grabs, yet more than five years after the government promised to cancel the SABL (special agriculture and business) leases and return the land to its customary owners, the people of Papua New Guinea are still waiting to hear which, if any, leases have been cancelled.

Last month the United Nations wrote to the government for a third-time, accusing ministers of racial discrimination against their own people for not implementing the recommendations of the 2013 Commission of Inquiry and cancelling the leases.

Previous letters from the UN have been ignored by the government and PNG needs to be much more transparent.

We have heard so many excuses and seen so much misinformation from the government for so many years that people have rightly lost all trust in our politicians.

Act Now! is demanding the government immediately publish a full list of SABLs showing the current status of each lease, including which have been surrendered, which have been cancelled and which still remain.

Minister Tkatchenko says he is serious about tackling corruption and wants his department to be honest and transparent. The best way to start is by publishing up-to-date information on all the SABLs.

The government also says it wants to attract foreign investment and has spent billions on APEC, but legitimate investors are not going to come to PNG while issues of corruption like the SABL land grab remain unresolved.

Although over 50,000 square kilometres of land was stolen using illegal SABL leases between 2003 and 2011, since the Commission of Inquiry reported in 2013 the only leases confirmed as cancelled have been on the orders of the court.

In January 2018, Tkatchenko promised all SABL leases would be reviewed by a joint committee but there have been no updates on progress.

In many areas foreign logging and oil palm companies are still illegally occupying land with tacit approval from Tkatchenko and the government.

Phil Fitzpatrick

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - As a colonial power Australia was in the unique position of being able to set the agenda for Papua New Guinea’s future.

Systems and institutions that Australia established prior to independence were, whether consciously or not, designed for the long haul and were expected to persist well into the future.

One of these systems was the parliamentary process that prevails today.

If you look back at these developments two things become plain. The first is the heavy hand of Canberra and the second is the outside manipulation or absence of Papua New Guinean input.

In the first case, the decision makers in Canberra, and to a lesser extent in Port Moresby, consistently ignored the advice of those administrators on the ground in PNG.

This is no more apparent than in the wilful ignoring of input from the kiaps and other country-based personnel. Elsewhere I have described one instance where issues of law and order were arbitrarily taken from the kiaps and handed over to a poorly prepared police force.

In the second case, it is apparent that the nascent political leaders of Papua New Guinea were heavily influenced and generally compliant with advice from a range of sources, including Australian politicians, interfering Australian academics at the University of Papua New Guinea and the Australian National University, and various sources mostly emanating from the United Nations.

Given this decidedly heavy influence, it is strange that the road to independence was so peaceful. The potential was there for dissidence but, despite a few small pockets in the Gazelle Peninsula on New Britain and Bougainville, no national movement ever developed.

The Pangu Pati was portrayed in the press as a hotbed of radicals but an examination of its activities puts the lie to that claim, convenient as it was at the time to certain anti-independence groups.

Pangu earned its reputation essentially through media beat-ups and the activities of the aforementioned academics from the UPNG and ANU who were advising it. At the end of the day Pangu can be characterised as a pretty tame outfit.

While at the time often violent dissidence was a feature of many political movements advocating the end of colonialism in many countries, this was not the case in PNG.

One of the main reasons for this was that the systems and institutions set up by Australia were convenient to the new Papua New Guinean elite, especially its politicians. These systems and institutions were, among other things, imminently exploitable by the shrewd.

This is probably the main reason why there were no radical changes made to PNG’s governance after independence.

And, as inevitably happens, anything exploitable becomes corruptible and this is exactly what happened in Papua New Guinea.

The current crop of politicians have absolutely no interest in changing a system of governance that rewards them so extravagantly.

That the current government is rapidly moving towards a corrupt autocracy more suited to the poverty stricken regions of Africa is therefore a logical outcome.

So who should we blame for Papua New Guinea’s parlous state?

Is it the Australians who set up a system bound to fail because of their arrogance and ignorance or is it the fault of a long line of predatory local politicians?

The obvious answer is that it is a combination of the two. It is a classic case of something being set up to fail. Unfortunately that something was a whole nation.

Can it be fixed?

Of course it can be fixed. All it will take is a radical overhaul of the system of governance – something that should have taken place after 1975.

Will it be fixed?

Now that’s a completely different question.

DAVID CRAIG

KUNDIAWA - In 1961, when I was head teacher at Gon Primary T School on the edge of Kundiawa, I was privileged to be allowed to attend a ‘bugla inngu’ pig killing festival.

The ceremonial pig killing was held at the village of Pari on the slopes adjacent to Kundiawa.  The talk had gone out into the surrounding villages that it was Pari’s turn to celebrate. 

We heard the message at school and wondered what implications it had for us.  We soon learned that the school children were expected to be there.  I made enquiries to district education head office in Goroka whether we could declare a school holiday but was told no.

Further discussions took place and I explained that, if I said no, the students would go anyway and it would be impossible to discipline them, even if I wanted to.  Eventually permission was granted.

Ruth (now my wife of 57 years) gained permission from the mission to close her school and Merv, who ran the technical school on the edge of the airstrip, also closed it.  We told the parents and the elders that we would give the children a holiday - as long as we were allowed to attend.

It was and the three of us climbed up to Pari early on the morning of the main event, the only westerners there.

The pig killing festivals that in the Chimbu were some of the biggest occasions in the life of the local Kamanuku people.  They were held every four to eight years depending on climatic conditions and the availability of pigs. 

The local festivals were held by three clans close to Kundiawa and were held in rotation over the years.  Villages from one clan would celebrate one year and invite the people from the other two clans. 

When a committee of villagers decided that the time was right for another celebration, one of the other clans would invite the others to their village. In time it was the third clan's turn. 

The festivals needed enormous planning and preparations as many visitors had to be accommodated in guest houses [right] and catered for in the host village.

It was firmly ingrained that reciprocity – the giving and receiving - was important. And it was considered a matter of great pride that the host clan killed as many pigs as had been killed by the previous hosts.

Some 170 pigs were killed on the occasion we were present, representing huge monetary value. A man could purchase a bride for 10 or 20 pigs depending on her status.  Indeed, pigs were so valued it was rare for the people to eat pork between festivals.

They were so important that a woman who had given birth would also suckle a young pig on her breasts - sharing with her new born baby.  Pigs were given a name and considered part of the family. You could not eat your own pig as it was like your brother or sister.

When we arrived, there was bedlam in the village.  The clouds were low and it was cold and wet. Smoke hung heavily in the air. Shouts of excitement mixed with the cries of roped pigs, seemingly aware of what was to come. 

People were dressed in their finery.  Bird of paradise feathers adorning heads and paint and shells decorating bodies.  After some time, men began dragging the first of the pigs into a clear space in the middle of the village.

Some men produced large lumps of wood and began bludgeoning the pigs across the snout. 

Some pigs collapsed immediately whilst others squealed loudly and tried to get away.  It took two or three men to hold them before they eventually succumbed and fell to the ground. 

Once all the pigs had been killed, they were dragged into a long line across the village. 

People crowded around the pigs and an important man (akin to a town crier) marched up and down the line of pigs telling the assembled crowd that those killed this year were bigger, fatter and more in number than last time. This boasting was necessary so as not to lose face before the visitors.

By now the air was dense with smoke and the noise had risen to an extraordinary level.  The fires had been lit early so that the many stones required could be fully heated.  These would be placed in hollow logs standing on their ends and used to cook vegetables.

The next stage of festivities began.  Pigs were thrown onto the fires to burn off the body hair.  This caused the pigs to swell. 

Banana leaves were strewn on the ground and the swollen pigs were placed on them.  The villagers then proceeded to cut the pigs using bamboo knives. (They had steel knives but did not use them in this ceremony.) The pieces of pig were then thrown into the fires and cooked.

Actually they were half-cooked and, as the meat was being eaten, the blood ran down people’s chins. We had been warned not to eat the pig meat, which partially cooked could cause disease, so waited for the vegetables to be readied on the hot stones in the hollow logs.

Sweet potatoes and corn were placed inside and water poured on the rocks. A thick cover of banana leaves was then placed on top of the logs. The vegetables thus cooked by steaming were very tasty indeed.

We left in the late afternoon but the people were to continue dancing and singing all night.  Some later got very ill with dysentery from eating the meat.

Over the following days groups of very tired men and women could be seen returning to their own villages where no doubt they collapsed with exhaustion and slept for a very long time.

Stan Gallaher

STAN GALLAHER

POPONDETTA - This guy Eliza, my night security, is from the Southern Highlands and he is married to a very pretty young lady from there, all have legs like fence strainer posts.

His lady is very church-minded and her and a group of church people, three ladies and seven guys, most from the highlands, walked to Port Moresby a month ago, nothing new, people been doing it for years. They did the crossing in two and a half days, f---- amazing.

They left Kokoda station in the morning and walked all day and all night with a one hour stop, the next day they did the same thing and then took a short cut and connected to a logging road that comes close to the top of the Kokoda Gap, got on a logging truck into Port Moresby.

The same day they got to Port Moresby they put one of they guys on a plane back here so people knew they had arrived and to prove they had done it in two and a half days.

That’s a four day walk during daylight hours, 12 hours a day by an extremely fit man to the point where they took the short cut. To do it in the time they took and in the dark is worth recording. She came back a week later well worn out but very pleased with what she had done, can’t say I blame her.

You should see the timber on top of the ridges around the Kokoda Gap, any wonder the logging companies want to get to the top there. I have flown over that area many times and once they get to the top they will hit the mother lode, that will give access to the ridge lines that go for miles up and down the Owen Stanleys.

The value of the rosewood and kwila timbers alone are worth thousands of millions of US dollars, the rest is cream. They could cut roads from there to Alotau or any point along the way and get access to the coast at so many places. That’s going south-east, north-west is even better, it’s loaded with timber for miles and miles.

Both ways if they stop on top of the ridges they don’t have to worry about crossing major rivers, the returns would allow them to engage large helicopters to lift timber out to loading points like they do in Canada. The system that operates here now is meant to protect the landowners. Bullshit. Those guys are so big they could buy this country and not even feel the bump in their bank account.

They are meant to have Forestry approval for logging and export licences. What they do is tell the government and local landowners that they will build a road for so many kilometres for free if they can have the timber inside the road reserve. They do a deal with someone in government and the road reserve is extended from 40 metres wide to up to 200 metres wide.

There is one in the Western Province that starts from the Fly River and goes nowhere, it will end up being a road network of over 900m and up to 200 metres wide. There are no towns there and no services, no one has the money to buy a car or even if they did there is no way they could support it, no fuel available.

You could spend half a life time walking around over there and never bump into another human being, there are no passengers who can afford to pay for transport and because of the arrangement with the government there are very little royalties paid to local landowners because its not a logging deal but a road building aid project given free to the country by one of Malaysia’s biggest companies.

On the day they (RH) got access to this country’s timber they signed a deal with UMW Komatsu tractors and purchased 700 major items of second hand plant from UMW, owned by a Malaysian company. The then prime minister of this country picked up a consideration of K60 million.

How do I know all this, I have friends in high places who remember me for past efforts but never pay their bills. He was paid in US dollars to an offshore account. He is known as the Godfather in this country and would ensure that it’s not a horse’s head in your bed when you wake up. Bastard still owes me K4,500 for the time he kicked the now prime minister out of office when he and all his mates took over the motel for three days back in 1994-95.

It’s now 0230 hours, Monday 30 December 2002, shit the day has gotten away. Julie and baby have been back for hours, both are sleeping well tonight, I am thankfully for Julie’s sake, she has had a hard day what with the old man losing his battle and the shit that has come from the mother.

The big brothers have kicked the mother out of the house and sent her back to her village or wherever she wants to go, they want no part of her any longer, that’s custom and for once I must agree with it, she knows that she could be dead.

The two smaller kids, one girl and one boy, will be looked after by the big boys and theit wives, they will end up as part of their family. On the outside it appears to be a very simple arrangement but once you get to understand the way things are worked (keep in mind each clan has a different system and there are over 700 different clans in this country) it’s quiet complex.

The money the old man paid for his bride price years ago must now be repaid with interest to the sons because the wife didn’t look after him, it’s like if she dies before him her clan has to pay him back because she never lasted the distance, in this case it’s reversed, she failed her duties and didn’t look after him and because of that he died, so her mob have to repay the sons.

Her lot can’t win unless he runs away with another woman, then they get nothing because they have already been paid, so what they all do is sell her again if she is of reasonable sellable age. In this case no one pays for dog food in the village, so her mob should consider themselves lucky they had use of the money the old man had to pay years ago. But in this country you must always look to the future, you never know what might happen tomorrow, try to keep the bride price in a fixed bank account, just in case it has to be paid back

Eliza (security ) is sleeping out side with the dog (mine, not his.) Eliza is due in court come daylight charged with intent to commit a serious offence, namely the use of a projectile to cause damage, injury and or harm to a person or property, that’s like throwing a rock at someone’s fence. It will be adjourned until the guy in the hospital is able to give evidence. If he can’t, next time it’s due for hearing, it will be dismissed. He may be dead but chances are a settlement will be made out of court and you have to read between the lines on that, anything could happen.

The use of a projectile, that’s a good one. If you threw a rock at someone in a car and it breaks the windscreen it’s considered as destruction of property, if it hits its intended target,namely the person you are aiming for, it’s considered the use of a projectile with intent causing grievous bodily harm. These guys here don’t throw rocks or stones for fun, they use them like most people use handguns at close range and the rock travels at close to the speed of a slug from a hand gun but with much larger impact.

They use them to try to kill but when it comes to court any pisspoor lawyer can get them off by saying it was only a projectile thrown with the intent to scare the other party, sorry his aim was off and he hit this man or woman in the head and he or she died or is in a coma but he didn’t mean for it to happen and anyway it was only a stone, not a gun or bush knife he used.

And besides, when he was arrested he wasn’t read his rights and was beaten up in the cells by the dead person’s mates who are policemen and has suffered enough, and besides this he goes to church every Sunday with his family and confesses his sins to the Big Man up there.

It’s bloody New Year’s Day already, the fax system was down so I never got to send this letter the other day, will try soon.

The police drove around yesterday afternoon using loud hailers to advise the locals to behave during the night, my neighbours are still going now at 0745 hours and don’t look like closing down for some time yet, home brew, foul and deadly but they manage to put heaps away. I would hate to be inside their heads in about eight hours’ time. We had a fair drop of rain overnight and that tends to keep them off the streets, although there are always the ones who will go out in any condition to do their thing.

Julie and her family planted the old man yesterday at the big son’s block. Glad they didn’t keep him hanging around at the house for too long, it’s not a pretty sight after a few days. Anyway by the time the clock turned over last night Julie was well and truly dead to the world.

Well, with that I can say no more. All the best for the new year, hope to see some of you soon.

Major Charlie Lynn

CHARLIE LYNN | Spectator Australia

SYDNEY - Community museums and trade centres under construction along the Kokoda Trail are the latest taxpayer funded folly of our so-called ‘Australian – PNG Partnership’.

The use of ‘partnership’ by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade operatives in Port Moresby is an oxymoron based on the principle of ‘we pay – you agree’ and it’s indicative of the empathetic divide between them and the people they are supposed to serve.

In this case there has been no consultation with trekkers or local villagers to see if such an initiative would meet their needs and no cost benefit analysis to justify the expenditure of other people’s money.

Apart from a few rusted rifles, rotted boots and mortar shells community museums will have little to display – and apart from the odd bilum bag or carved stick, villages along the trail have little to trade.

Their culture has been subjugated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church – grass skirts, swaying hips, beads, decorative head-dress and kundu drums have been replaced with Western clothing, bibles, twice-daily church services and a strict observance of the Sabbath.

This latest folly has all the hallmarks of the failed ‘Village Livelihoods’ project implemented soon after the Australian government hijacked the Kokoda trekking industry in 2009.

‘Village Livelihoods’ was invented in Canberra to ‘help’ villagers earn additional income from trekkers. Trouble was the envirocrats who designed it didn’t consult with PNG government officials, local villagers or trekkers – it’s as if they regarded them all as lesser beings.

As a result they blew more than $1.5 million of other people’s money on a thought-bubble that didn’t produce a single vegetable from a garden or generate a single dollar in additional income.

The military significance of the Kokoda Trail has emerged as an inconvenient truth for DFAT.

What other excuse can they offer for their refusal to develop a master plan to protect honour and interpret our shared wartime heritage along the Kokoda Trail after a decade in-situ and the expenditure of more than $50 million of other peoples’ money?

And who can explain the logic behind the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs has responsibility for Gallipoli and World War I while DFAT and Environment are responsible for Kokoda and World War II?

It certainly doesn’t make sense to us lesser beings.

DFAT officials and their cronies embedded in strategic PNG Government departments are now faced with the dilemma of being seen to honour our wartime heritage of the Kokoda campaign while pursuing an environmental agenda opposed to commemoration.

If our veterans had displayed the same lack of fortitude as today’s crop of DFAT Ministers in defending our wartime heritage we would have surrendered at Tobruk; did a runner at El Alamein; and prepared a sushi banquet to welcome the Japanese to Kokoda in 1942.

They would do well to reflect on Slim Dusty’s tribute to our diggers during their struggle against the Japanese in 1942: ‘They beckoned you and taunted you to face eternity …. you saluted with a burning Thompson gun!’

Today’s leaders would drop their daks, bend over and wink at their rising suns.

DFAT’s cunning in creating perceptions of interest in our wartime heritage while pursuing a patronising environmental agenda is remarkable.

Their deception is based on avoiding the development of a Master Wartime Heritage Plan at all costs.

Rather than engage an accredited military heritage architect to develop a plan they recruited an American anthropologist as their National Military Heritage Advisor.

The position was advertised during the peak Christmas holiday period last year and limited to a small group of institutions which excluded the Australian War Memorial. Nothing to see there, your worship!

The anthropologist has since been engaged in exploring ‘lost battlefields’ that have never been lost; checking out Blamey’s respite centre near Port Moresby; and developing ‘community museums and trade centres’ in areas that have no historic relevance.

These projects are on a par with the massage parlours his predecessors funded at Efogi and Isurava. They were dismantled after the first year because nobody booked a massage. Yet another DFAT thought-bubble developed without consultation and inevitably punctured by reality.

Politically correct panels at Owers Corner were designed without consultation with the Australian War Memorial and cunningly sought to reinterpret ‘mateship’ into ‘friendship’.

Then there was the DFAT ‘gender equity study’ conducted from the secure comfort of five-star hotel room in Port Moresby.

If their consultant had bothered to set foot on the trail he/she would have learned that the roles of men, women and children in subsistence villages hasn’t changed much over the past thousand years.

The study was conducted under the guise of their ‘Kokoda Initiative’ even though it had no relevance to the military history of the Kokoda campaign.

The PNG prime minister’s recent call for a review of the dysfunctional management system put in place by Australian government officials saw DFAT scramble into ‘Yes Minister’ mode.

Terms of reference were drafted to achieve a neutral outcome. The consultant engaged to conduct the review did not set foot on the trail to meet trekkers or village communities and the inevitable outcome was basically a re-adaption of the status quo. A close call for Sir Humphrey but he quickly rose to the challenge.

DFAT has now spent more than $50 million of other peoples’ money on their ‘Kokoda Initiative’ over the past decade.

During this time trekker numbers have declined by 43%; significant historical sites have been desecrated; the environmental condition of the trail has been degraded; and PNG guides and porters are shamelessly exploited.

Local villagers are now mere spectators to a passing parade of trekkers – and there is still no master plan to honour the wartime heritage of the Kokoda campaign.

It’s enough to make old soldiers and lesser beings weep.

Vanuatu Minister Andrew Napuat shows Scott Morrison the Australian-funded Police Training College in Port Vila (Dan McGarry)

DAN McGARRY | Vanuatu Daily Post | Edited extracts

PORT VILA - Last year, the Pacific Islands Forum defined security as everything that’s necessary for us to live in a peaceful, prosperous and safe environment.

They agreed that the single greatest threat to this aspiration is climate change. This declaration was signed by every Forum member, including Australia and New Zealand.

Back in Canberra, security is ships and guns and 1941.

A significant part of the strategic security crowd in Australia fears that China plans to create their own version of what Imperial Japan once called the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

They want to pre-empt Chinese militarisation of the Pacific islands by militarising it first.

Calmer voices remind us that the Western Pacific is seen as a ‘strategic backwater’ by the Chinese. Senior US analysts have told the Daily Post that the East and South China Seas are their primary focus.

Everyone recognises that all bets would be off in a hot confrontation between powers, but estimates about the likelihood of that vary wildly.

For politicians in Vanuatu and throughout the region, security is seen as mostly an internal matter. Law and order, border and natural resource protection, fighting financial crime… this is what security means to them.

These definitions overlap, but only partially.

Australia shares Vanuatu’s concerns about law and order, justice, cybercrime, transnational finance and several other key domestic issues. These are things that can affect a country’s ability to govern itself, and to withstand external pressures.

Scott Morrison and many a prime minister before him have recognised this. They’ve already invested millions in this, and millions more are in the pipeline.

Vanuatu will soon get a new territorial patrol boat, with state of the art communications systems capable of interacting in real time with an Australian-funded (and US-staffed) aerial surveillance plane. Australian naval staff are supporting the effort on the ground.

The Australian attorney general’s office has backstopped an international effort to bring our cybercrime laws and policies in line with the Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention. (Daily Post staff have participated in this effort.)

The Australian Federal Police have been a constant presence for years in the transnational crime unit and more recently have been putting in some very hard yards in building up the capacity of the family protection unit. Security means nothing if half the population doesn’t experience it.

Recently, Australia signed up to help Vanuatu put together a national security task force, to put a little more shape on what can sometimes seem a many-tentacled beast.

Scott Morrison just toured a recently completed upgrade to our police college, part of a strategic effort to increase our police force by nearly a third in just three years.

If he wanted a security win while he was in Vnuatu, it was there for the taking. His country has spent tens of millions making lives better here and making our cross-border interactions more transparent.

Instead, he chose to talk past those accomplishments and dwell on a kind of security that may fit Australia’s needs, but doesn’t fit ours.

Australia wants us in a bilateral security deal like the August 2017 treaty they signed with Solomon Islands.

According to DFAT, the agreement allows “Australian police, defence and associated civilian personnel to deploy rapidly to Solomon Islands if the need arises and where both countries consent.”

So: no bases, no boots on the ground, but the ability to get them there within days if necessary.

It may seem a moderate request in Canberra, but in Port Vila, people don’t see it that way.

No one should doubt for a second that if Vanuatu had to choose between Australian and Chinese uniforms on the streets of Luganville and Port Vila, it would choose Australia 100 times out of 100.

But any move to distance ourselves from China right now could raise the ire of an increasingly petulant and arbitrary power. A defence pact with Australia would do very little to mitigate the potential diplomatic and financial consequences.

And Vanuatu’s non-aligned, demilitarised status is a deeply held conviction that extends to the grassroots level.

Ni Vanuatu don’t want to see any foreigners in combat kit here under any circumstances. This republic is barely 40 years old. A large chunk of the population remembers being disenfranchised and stateless in their own land.

The distrust of outsiders endures. In 2002, deputy prime minister Serge Vohor told SBS Dateline that Australia had been “spying on local politicians and tapping telephones”, according to a contemporary political review.

More recent reports from New Zealand media indicate that Pacific islands nations are still considered fair game to the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The question for Pacific islanders is not who might be spying on us, but who isn’t. ‘My way or the Huawei’ isn’t a compelling slogan here.

Trust takes time, persistent effort, and patience. The more Australians know about us, and the more we know about Australia, the better. The seasonal worker program and the pacific labour scheme have already introduced thousands of Ni Vanuatu to daily life in the land down under. Opening the doors even wider could make Australia as familiar and friendly a neighbour as the USA is to Canada.

Closing them might make us feel more like Mexico.

Trust takes commitment. Scott Morrison’s statements on climate change in Fiji were much more conciliatory than those he made here. If that softer language turns out to be a case of telling Voreqe Bainimarama what he wants to hear, trust may be that much harder to build.

As Mr Bainimarama said, “Climate change is no laughing matter.” You can’t burn down our house and then expect us to be grateful when you chip in to buy a tent.

Scott Morrison is entitled to pursue a bilateral security treaty if that’s all he really wants. But agreements require understanding and common ground. He may define security differently from his Pacific neighbours, but he has to try at least to understand how others use the word.

SCOTT WAIDE | My Land, My Country Blog

LAE - Many Papua New Guineans don’t know about the cost of cancer treatment until a family member gets sick.

The diagnosis alone is problematic.  In rural districts and outstations, many community health workers are not equipped with the awareness which would trigger a referral to a major hospital.

Look at a place like Baindoang in the Nawaeb District of Morobe province.  It is only accessible by plane.  A young mum with early stage cervical or breast cancer will not be able to get proper diagnosis until the disease is in its late stages.

If the community decides to send her to Lae, they will have to raise at least K2,000 for airfares and treatment in Lae. That is big money for a village community. And there is no certainty of the time it will take for them to remain in the city. I’ve come across wives separated from their husbands and children for weeks and months.

Many people give up and die lonely deaths in the city, surrounded by strangers who become family.

There are unclaimed bodies at the Angau hospital morgue. Some come from remote outstations.

For urban families, access to health care is relatively better but still not good enough.  One person sent me a message on Facebook telling me how his sister died while awaiting test results of tissue samples sent to Port Moresby.

When the tests are positive for cancer and a radiotherapy option is suggested, families have to start rising upwards of K150,000 if the treatment venue is the Philippines or Australia.  It takes a lot of families and whole communities to raise that money.

If your family has a large number of siblings, aunts and uncles who are in formal employment, the burden is easier. If not, a public appeal is put out.  Old school friends, colleagues or sports club team mates come to help raise funds.

The money is used for airfares, passports, accommodation, food and treatment.

A CT scan used in cancer detection costs an average of K4,000 for just one session at private hospitals.  How many families can pay that without agonising over the cost burden?

In PNG, palliative care –making cancer sufferers comfortable in their last days – is almost non-existent in the public health system.

Traditionally, that part of care is done by the family.  But with the breakdown of family structures, care is again heavily reliant on financial resources.

A pack of four vials of morphine costs K100. For a cancer patient the family needs to spend K100 a day to ensure some level of comfort for their loved one.  That’s K700 a week, K3,000 a month.

I’ve been told more than once by health authorities not to ‘sensationalise’ the cancer treatment problem because it affects a relatively small number of people compared to HIV/AIDS, TB, typhoid and malaria.

My point has always been that cancer is not only a health burden, it is an economic and financial burden that affects much more than just the patient.

We need to look honestly at the realities that exist.

Last week, I asked planning minister Richard Maru what he thought about the lack of cancer treatment facilities.

Maru didn’t have the answers but said he would bring Health Minister, Dr Puka Temu, with him on his next visit to Lae.

Cancer has affected Maru’s family. In the next sitting of parliament, he says he will support legislation to enable the revitalisation of the national cancer treatment centre in Lae.

An industry has developed on the back of suffering Papua New Guinean families willing to pay big money. Medical tourism. Small Philippine companies are offering transport, contacts, accommodation and more depending on your budget.

It is absolutely disgusting when this is allowed to happen.

Why has it taken seven years for parliament to pass  that  legislation governing the use and transportation of cobalt, the radioactive material used in cancer treatment? Is it because of a lack of understanding? A lack of will?

Families who don’t have K150,000 have to work very hard  to raise it. There is a feeling of weariness but people still find the strength to go on, to ask other families to support the fundraising activities for their mother, sister or daughter.

A large number of men also need the same kind of help. But they get less attention. Maybe many more continue will turn a blind eye to this lingering problem until it comes knocking on the door.

Peter Yama (PNGi)

STAFF REPORTER | PNGi

PORT MORESBY - Unprecedented violence, fraud and intimidation ‘hijacked’ Papua New Guinea’s 2017 national election.

There was “widespread fraud and malpractice, and extensive vote rigging” says Nicole Haley, an associate professor at the Australian National University and lead author of an in-depth study into the election.

It is against this backdrop that, on 3 October 2018, two election officials were convicted by the PNG national court, after they failed to report a corrupt gratification they had received from a candidate during the vote count for the Madang provincial seat.

John Tumaing confessed to receiving K50 from the candidate and Nixon Kavo admitted to receiving K500.

Under the criminal code both men were duty bound to report this corrupt gratification to a law enforcement officer. They failed in this duty. As a result they were convicted under s97C(1) of the criminal code, and each was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.

However, the candidate named by the national court as having provided this corrupt gratification, has not been charged by police. The candidate is Madang governor Peter Yama.

It is highly irregular that two men who received the corrupt payments have been arrested, charged and convicted while the man alleged to have made those corrupt payments has not been arrested and charged.

This it particularly galling when, according to the judge, it was the candidate who was responsible for initiating the payments and who put the two election officials “in a difficult position”.

“There is an appearance that they are scapegoats,” said the judge.

Mr Yama is a serial litigator whose murky past has previously featured in a five-part investigation published by PNGi.

In that exposé we revealed that Yama has seemingly evaded police investigation and criminal charges on a number of occasions.

Indeed, in 2010, the senior Australian journalist Rowan Callick described Yama as the “policeman turned security godfather turned politician” who appears “untouchable, capable of pulling strings in every quarter”.

In 2004, when the supreme court found company records produced in a court case filed by Peter Yama were forged, it recommended the matter be referred to the police for further investigation.

Similarly, in 2009, the commission of inquiry into the Department of Finance recommended Peter Yama be referred to the police for making “an unlawful claim”.

There is no evidence on the public record the police ever followed up on either matter.

This stands in stark contrast to events in 2013, when Peter Yama was convicted for threatening to kill police officers in a fracas outside the Madang court house (which, incidentally, was also related to an election vote count).

At his trial in this matter, several police officers gave evidence that Yama had threatened to kill them. One of them testified that Peter Yama had said “if anything goes wrong, you Ramu Police will be the first guys to be held responsible”.

“I got some high-powered firearms, which I will use to shoot you. “ Yama did not deny the accusations and was sentenced to six months jail.

So, the RPNGC has shown before it can, when it wishes, stand up to powerful men like Yama, so why have they not done so in the current case of electoral corruption?

It is time for the police to demonstrate they themselves have not been corrupted and are committed to upholding the rule of law and treating everyone equally.  Yama must be arrested and charged.

At stake is not only the reputation of the police force but also any faint hope that in 2022 we might see a free and fair election.

New vice-chancellor Kenneth Sumbuk - unions question integrity and credibility

STAFF REPORTER | Pacific Media Centre

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea’s Trade Union Congress has slammed the appointments of Jeffrey Kennedy as chancellor and Kenneth Sumbuk as vice-chancellor of the University of Papua New Guinea.

The Post-Courier newspaper reported TUC president John Paska as saying the congress initially welcomed an announcement to investigate administrative malpractice and other aspects of the university but these two appointments now question the credibility of the exercise.

He said this was a governance issue which attracted public attention and commentary.

“With the stroke of a pen [higher education] minister Pila Niningi has turned what appeared to be a step in the right direction into a farcical exercise denigrating it into a comical show piece,” Paska said.

“Last year we questioned the selection process of candidates for the vice-chancellors position. Our questions emanated from information received about serious allegations that had been raised about Professor Sumbuk’s administration of K23 million for various UPNG activities.

“We are not in any way pronouncing guilt on Sumbuk but the fact remains serious allegations hang over his persona that only a properly constituted investigation can ascertain to the contrary.

“To the best of our knowledge no investigation has been conducted to determine the veracity of the allegations,” he said.

Sources report that the university council had already recommended the appointment of Professor Frank Griffin, a former head of science at UPNG as vice-chancellor. However, the council was sacked on Monday and new members appointed.

Paska told the Post-Courier Sumbuk’s integrity and credibility remain in question.

“Meanwhile, we query the eligibility of Mr Kennedy for the position of chancellor of the university. How does he qualify to be chancellor?

“Something is horribly wrong. The wheels of credibility and integrity of this investigation have collapsed before moving an inch.

“Unless otherwise, my personal confidence in this exercise is shattered and I believe so is the public’s.”

“We call on the prime minister to intervene and rectify the situation,” Paska said.

Acting vice-chancellor Professor Sumbuk told The National newspaper that he would “revive UPNG’s academic standard and review the 2013 external audit”.

“As we settle into the new academic year, we will audit all 13 areas of the university management that has not been done (since 2013),” he said.

“Parents and students must not worry about anything as there will be nothing shaken or swept under (the carpet). I am looking forward to facilitating the investigation and reviews proposed by the government.”

The 10 council members were appointed on Monday by minister Niningi after he ousted acting chancellor Dr Nicholas Mann and acting vice-chancellor Vincent Malaibe.

Niningi said he had to make the changes because of the failure by the university council to respond to queries he had made on matters regarding the institution since last July.

However, Dr Mann told The National on Wednesday they would reserve their comment on their “sidelining” because they were seeking legal advice from the university’s lawyers.

“Whether the decision to sideline us is proper or not, that would be advised by our lawyers and then we will announce it to the public,” Dr Mann said.

The council also rescinded the hike in compulsory fees, which will remain at K2,939.