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COLUMN I
WE’VE never seen any edition of a newspaper sell out as
rapidly as The National yesterday – and we’ve rarely seen faces in offices
and shops so wreathed in smiles.
***
GOOD morning. What a difference a few words can make, particularly when they
inform the public that NASFUND has credited the accounts of their
contributors with interest totalling 37%! The annual return was 40% and net
asset growth was 45% — and that’s a top drawer achievement.
***
ONE of our friends bought his copy of The National, and then retired to his
office. Up went the “do not disturb” sign, click went the lock, out came the
family abacus – a trusted heirloom – and half an hour later Our Hero
emerged. Dragging us into a dark corner and still grinning, he hissed that
he’d just calculated that he would be a millionaire in a few years.
***
WITH remarkably poor timing we reminded him that he owed us K50 – a fact
that we instantly regretted as we tried to maintain our feet while he thrust
us unceremoniously into the gutter outside his office. But jokes aside –
CEOs Rod Mitchell and Ian Tarutia can rest assured that yesterday they were
jointly and severally the flavour of the month throughout PNG.
***
THE Unitech situation is straight out of a Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera
… but the effect upon students and their sponsors is far from comic. Can
someone tell us once and for all whether the existing Unitech Council or
another version of the same product is in power over there in Lae?
***
WE’VE had occasion to be highly critical of Unitech students in the past;
there’s been a lot of unnecessary confrontation on that campus. But we can
only sympathise with them now, as the academic year ticks inevitably onwards
and no acceptable resolution appears.
***
GOVERNMENT ministers are adamant that the existing council has been
“replaced,” but no-one seems able to define the legislation under which such
an outcome was legally achieved. Meanwhile, the serving council chairman
maintains that only council members themselves could undertake such an
action; supposedly the autonomy of the university is thus protected. Enjoy
your day!
***
- Dee Nesenolis
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