Priest wants more care given to needy children
A CATHOLIC priest in Lae has called for more attention and care to be given to orphans and street kids.
Fr Arnold Smith said many of these children do not know where to seek help and was most vulnerable to all forms of ills in society today.
He was speaking at a meeting organised by the Street Children Initiative in Lae yesterday.
“We read a lot about our natural resources in the papers, but less is being said about street kids.
“The number of children out there on the streets is increasing, and it is now time to do something,” Fr Arnold said.
Many of these children can be seen collecting empty bottles or doing other odd jobs to earn a living. They end up sleeping in front of shops or on the pavements.
Past and recent surveys have shown that many of these children were either from poor families or have been abandoned by parents who had either moved away or have died from AIDS.
Speaking on behalf of We Care, the foundation for Women and Children at Risk, Fr John Glynn pointed out that children were “always hungry for affection” because they had been denied family support.
He said street children should not be criticised and condemned.
“Situations have to be examined and causes established, so that solutions can be worked out,” Fr John said.

IRC to hold logging levy in trust
Logging levy introduced early last year is being held in trust by the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), Treasurer and Finance Minister Patrick Pruaitch said yesterday.
Mr Pruaitch said when he was forest minister in the last government, amendments to the Forest Act allowed for K8 per cubic metre which the IRC started collecting in January last year.
“Yes, money is there and as to how much, I will report back” Mr Pruaitch said.
He said the levy was introduced because in the mining and petroleum provinces, special support grants were available, but not in timber resource areas.
“The law was introduced because we want some recognition to logging areas and in the 2007 Budget we introduced logging levy for log exporting provinces,” he said.
Mr Pruaitch was responding to questions from Member for Tewai Siassi Vincent Michael on log levy.
He said a logging operation in Tewai Siassi was ongoing and from his observations there have been three shipments after January 2007, since the law came into effect.
Western province Governor Bob Danaya asked whether there will be a review to that part of the Forestry Act for provincial governments to also receive benefits.
Mr Pruaitch said provincial governments have been getting money and landowners have been complaining resulting in the amendments to the Act.

Wollom served the needy
By MOHAMMAD BASHIR
 Former Moresby Northeast MP Casper Wollom was described as a generous man who shared his wealth with the needy.
His campaign manager John Kume in his eulogy presented at the funeral mass held yesterday at the St Joseph Cathedral said Wollom did not believe in accumulating wealth.
“He once told me, he came to this world with nothing and would return with nothing,” Kume said.
Daughter Cellina also said in her eulogy that her father left Mioko Palpal village with only a laplap when he joined the Australian army.
She said her father was blessed in everything he touched. He rose from a private to a commissioned officer, rank of Captain and was one of the few elite members of the force including the likes of former commander Ted Diro and Samson Lowa.
When he resigned and started security business, his companies Alert and Rainbow security services dominated the industry in the late 80s and early 90s.
Mr Wollom was renowned for giving cash to anyone he met. He later became member for Moresby Northeast, the first Duke of York Islander to enter the Haus Tambaran and was renown for attracting the most crowd outside parliament in his tenure.

Education scheme impacts on lives of ordinary people
THE Education Department’s Basic Education Development programme has influenced the lives of many ordinary Papua New Guineans, says an officer working in the programme.
Mali Endolo, who is attached to the programme, said that since its inception in 2004 the programme had reached out to schools that saw their first ever visit of education officials.
Some of them also saw for the first time ever, the first financial assistance from the Education Department, Endololo said.
“The programme has touched the lives of so many ordinary Papua New Guineas, many seeing changes they had never seen before,” the officer said.
“Also through the programme, a lot more women have been recognised for the commitment, and decision making skills they bring to the provincial and district education levels.”
The programme was a concept developed to allow the communities to take ownership of educational facilities. It was also aimed at training and empowering women leaders to take on a more proactive approach to the education of young people and the child’s learning environment, making sure that the environment was conducive for both the teacher and child.
The Education Department is currently running a three-day workshop with these basic aims at the Melanesian Hotel in Lae.

Seven men charged with murder of alleged sorcerer
SEVEN Central province men have been charged with murdering a man accused of sorcery and are waiting to appear in court tomorrow.
It was reported that the deceased was accused of killing a young man who was a relative of the suspects.
Reports said that on March 4 the suspects entered the deceased’s house where he was looking after a sick person and accused him of killing a young man through sorcery.
The deceased escaped through the back door but he was chased by the suspects and taken to the middle of the village where they started beating him.
An axe was used to cut the right side of his neck and an iron pipe was used to crack his skull, resulting in his instant death.
The suspects fled immediately in fear of retaliation by relatives of the deceased.
According to reports, the matter was reported to provincial police commander of Central province but police were unable to go to the area to bring the situation under control due to the remoteness and geographical location of the area.
Comments from the provincial police commander were not possible as he was out of province.

Pornography, a growing epidemic
By ZACHERY PER
 PORNOGRAPHY is a growing epidemic no different from the escalating HIV/AIDS in the country, a woman leader from Simbu province has said.
Martha Kaiun said pornography is thriving everyday due to uncontrollable internet access and latest Information Technology developments.
She referred to the increasing reports of local productions, possessions and circulations of pornographic material in the country.
There are media reports almost every day about sexual offences most of which are triggered by people watching pornographic pictures and movies and this also contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS, Mrs Kaiun said.
She said those responsible for sex-related crimes and for producing, possessing and circulating pornographic materials should face tougher penalties.
According to law, a person found guilty of indecent exposure, is liable for imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Also under the law for obscene publications and exhibitions, the offender can be imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years.
A legal officer at a law firm in Goroka said producers, promoters and circulators of pornographic materials could face a fine not exceeding K2,000 or a jail term of one year.

Trawen faces contempt
BY JOSHUA ARLO
 ORDERS for a recount of ballots for the Western Highlands Regional seat are still in full force but have not been executed by the PNG Electoral Commission.
This has led to a contempt proceeding being filed against the commission for delaying the recount, which was to start on April 14.
Yesterday, Rimbink Pato, lawyer for Paias Wingti, brought the motion for contempt before Deputy Chief Justice Salamo Injia.
The motion seeks orders to charge Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen, his director policy Boki Raga and lawyer Andrew Kongri for contempt with alleged failure to act on orders by Justice David Cannings last month.
Kongri is the counsel on record for the Electoral Commission in the election petition by Wingti against Western Highlands Governor Tom Olga.
Justice Sir Salamo adjourned the contempt hearing to Monday because the Electoral Commission was not ready.
Sir Salamo remarked that in the absence of a stay order, grounds six and seven of Justice Cannings orders of March 14 for a recount is “still in place, in full force and effect” as it has not been stopped by any court.

Girl, 11, punched, dragged and raped
By PETER MIVA
 AN 11-year-old girl was abducted from a dance at Nawae Block and taken to the Bumbu River banks where she was raped by five men last Monday night.
Lae metropolitan commander Chief Supt Nema Mondiai yesterday confirmed the incident.
Mr Mondiai said one of the suspects and the victim resides in the same area.
Police said when the victim struggled and tried to escape, the suspect punched her and dragged her to the river banks.
Mr Mondiai alleged that four other men joined the suspect and raped her.
The girl was released later and taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
Also at Nawae, a house was burnt to the ground after a young boy accidentally lit and threw a piece of paper into a box inside the semi-permanent house on Monday.
The house owner later filed a complaint with police.
At the nearby Bundi Camp, police said a Popondetta man was allegedly stoned and received head injuries at the market last Sunday night. He was beaten up before he managed to escape.
A suspect has been arrested and would be charged soon with attempted murder.

Final decision due
THE Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) will make a final decision on domestic interconnection pricing in May before launching interconnection.
Both domestic interconnection and international gateway access pricing have been separated for arbitration.
The ICCC provided Digicel and Telikom a timetable on April 11, 2008,determined by the Commission for the arbitration of domestic interconnect arrangements and short term determination of interconnect rates.
The timetable for the international gateway access arbitration was forwarded to the mobile companies on Monday this week.
ICCC said the most important event in the timetable and schedule is the provision of a detailed submission on each of the issues, for the Commission’s consideration, between April 29 and May 1, 2008.

Landowners want a jail for Enga
LANDOWNERS near Mukurumanda jail in Wapenamanda, Enga province, have called on the Enga provincial government and Correctional Services to build a proper compound for prisoners at the Mukurumanda jail.
Currently, the jail does not have a proper prisoners’ compound and Enga prisoners are taken to the Baisu jail in Western Highlands province. The Mukurumanda jail has a number of newly built staff houses constructed under a re-development programme jointly funded by the provincial government and the Correctional Services.
Last weekend, leaders of Yakuman community that live in the vicinity of Mukurumanda jail assured visiting CS and EPG officials to Mukurumanda that they would do whatever they can to support the redevelopment of the jail.
Local councillor Yaka Maso said they want to see a proper prison compound built.
Maso said they are willing to free up their land for the development of prison camp.

Power supply cut
ELECTRICITY supply to the eastern half of Simbu and Watabung district in Eastern Highland province have been cut following the Gera landslide seven kilometres southeast of Kundiawa last Saturday.
Areas now with out power are Sinasina, Chuave and Watabung in Eastern Highlands province.
Important institutions affected are Muaina provincial high school, Kamtai District office, Yaweh Moses Secondary School, Kongo Coffee and Watabung Health Centre.
Apart from these private electricity consumers in the area are facing difficulties.
PNG Power office in Kundiawa said the electricity currently supplying Kundiawa comes from Mount Hagen in neighbouring Western Highlands province.
The electricity comes through the main power supplied by the power pylon and cables and is then scaled down in Mt Hagen before transmitting to the eastern part of Western Highlands including Simbu.

Landslip strucks Anglimp district
By ELIAS LARI
 A HUGE landslide buried food gardens and a cemetery at Okru village in the Anglimp district of Western Highlands province early Tuesday morning, affecting 300 people.
The affected people from Kuli Polgipe tribe claimed that their cemetery, coffee trees, food gardens, two houses and two pigs were buried in the slide.
The people told The National at the site that this was a big slide, covering an area 400 metres wide by 200 metres across, and landslide lasted about an hour after starting at about 4am.
Villagers said that they felt an earth tremor during the night and thought that it was normal thing but when they wake up in the morning, they saw their food gardens, coffee trees and cemetery buried by the slide.
The affected villagers said that most of them would miss out on this yearís coffee season and may also face hunger.
Ward councillor John Wii said that 300 people are affected, and some people living down the valley have moved to nearby villages in fear of further slides.
Mr Wii said that small landslips normally occur in the area during the rainy season.

Inspection of police barracks to continue
INSPECTIONS of the police barracks in the nation’s capital are part of an ongoing process to assess officers’ discipline and behaviour.
Metropolitan police chief Superintendent Fred Yakasa said this week that he will be visiting the barracks fortnightly to check whether individual residential areas are clean and tidy.
Yakasa said that officers needed to maintain order and discipline and also needed to have a sense of responsibility as law enforces.
He saidthat in order to fight crime, officers needed to be disciplined at home.
Mr Yakasa said he had noticed vast improvement in cleanliness of barracks in the inspections he had done so far, with complaints about officers and living conditions.
He said his team is due to visit Tasion Barracks at Gerehu today.

Two men charged with incest
A WEST Papua man was arrested and charged last week with incest committed with his own daughter in Western province.
Otto Kurim from Mindiptana, who now awaits court appearance, had forced his 14-year-old daughter to have sexual relations with him.
The girl, who became pregnant after Kurim allegedly had sex with her 12 times since last year, is a Grade 6 student.
Police reports said Kurim threatened his daughter and her mother, saying if they told police he would kill them.
But the mother reported the matter to a Catholic priest and Kurim was arrested.
Police are after another West Papuan, 48, who also allegedly had sex with his 16-year-old daughter, a Grade 8 student, making her pregnant.
Both incidents were reported from the Iowara refugee camp, East Awin, just outside Kiunga.

Cop suspended over porn charges
By ELIZABETH VUVU
 OUT of three police officers in East New Britain charged with producing and possessing pornographic items, one has been found guilty and suspended from duties and another had his case dismissed.
Sgt Luke Maiboku, 40, ENB’s top forensic officer, appeared before the Kokopo District Court last week for having pornographic material on his office computer. He got six months in prison with hard labour.
Const Haro Ori Henry, who was charged with producing explicit materials with a local woman, had his case dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
The third officer, Const John Robert, 32, from East Sepik and attached with the public safety section in Rabaul, was charged with allegedly producing pornographic materials in West New Britain while on duty travel.
His court case is still pending.

User pay at work
A TEAM of technicians taking a detour around the landslide affected area of the Okuk Highway paid almost K2,000 to get through “roadblocks” by locals. Bonny Taini, team leader with Eriksson PNG, told The National that they spent K1,870 to pay youths and locals between Dumun and Konoma to get to Kundiawa on Tuesday. Mr Taini was leading a team of eight technicians who are contracted by Digicel PNG. They were on their way to connect Digicel towers in Southern Highlands province. He said they were on their way to Mendi from Lae but when encountering the Gera landslide near Kundiawa, they decided to take the old Dumun Konoma road. “There were six road blocks where we paid K50 per vehicle, we had four vehicles so we paid K200 at every block, paying a total of K800 in total,” he said. Mr Taini said when they came to a bridge - there was only steel frames standing - the locals who assisted to put timber decking charged them K300 per vehicle. “We were tasked to pay K1,200 but after negotiation, we paid K900 in cash and as we came through, there were few road blocks where we pay to come out,” he said.

Medical supplies okay
MEDICAL supplies to Highlands hospitals may run low by next week if the Okuk Highway does not reopen, says Graham Mappa, technical advisor at Mt Hagen Area Medical Store. The store keeps and supplies all basic drugs and medical equipments to major hospitals in Western Highlands, Southern Highlands, Enga and Simbu provinces. Mr Mappa said there was sufficient supply of drugs in storage at the moment but an increase in demand coupled with continued closure of the highway could lead to acute shortages in coming days. He said their orders for the next shipment of medical supplies in bulk are being loaded onto containers in Port Moresby this week. The containers are due to arrive in Mt Hagen next week. Mr Mappa said that only Kundiawa hospital reported running low on life-saving oxygen cylinders and that he was making arrangements with their supplier BOC Gas Ltd in Mt Hagen and Lae for urgent delivery.

Arable land loss
GERA villagers are expected to lose around 80 hectare of arable land from the landslide which has also blocked off the Okuk Highway.Geo-Tech expert and geologist Wera Mori, who completed a geo-tech survey of the affected area, said according to their mapping a total of 57.82 hectares of arable and settlement lands have been devastated.He said due to continuous movements and affections, more land will be lost and they estimate a total of 80 hectares of land would be lost.Mr Mori said this huge land mass would become useless because it would become muddy during rainy periods and would develop cracks during dry seasons and would be unsuitable for settlement and farming. “The two clans affected would have lost over 30 percent of their land. We should find avenues to assist them with relief aid and resettlement options,” Mr Mori said. He said there are six streams in the affected area which may have blocked up and could course continuous mud-flow down hill. Mr Mori’s Emriam Mori Resource Geological Consultants offered free service for the people to map out the affected area. The firm used Global Positioning System (GPS) to extract the coordinates to produce the map and data.
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