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Taking over from commercial banks
As commercial banks in PNG decrease their services to the rural areas of PNG, village banks are flourishing in parts of the country.
The concept of the village banks was not initially accepted by some villagers because it was being introduced at a time when money scams had been ripping off ordinary villagers in PNG.
Money scams like Papalain and WWII compensation scheme, as well as pyramid schemes such as U-Vistract, had created distrust amongst people for genuine micro-finance projects such as village banks.
However, a growing number of people are accepting the village bank concept after being convinced it is a genuine government project and supported by foreign donors.
Recently, three new village banks were officially launched in Madang. The banks which were initiated by the Bogia Co-operative Society with the support of the New Zealand government were launched at the villages of Mideba, Haven and Maiwara settlement, 20 kilometres north of Madang.
The event was witnessed by the project manager of the PNG-ADB Microfinance Project Joel Nobetau, Bogia Cooperative executive Peter Muriki, Madang Deputy Governor Buka Malai, and hundreds of villagers.
The new banks bring to more than 20 the number of village banks operating or being set up in Sumkar and Bogia districts along the north coast of Madang.
Initiator of the banks and executive of Bogia Cooperative Society, Muriki told the villagers that the village banking scheme established under the PNG-ADB Micro-finance Project was meant to help villagers to own passbooks and save money in the village.
He said villagers today have money but cannot save because of stringent rules and regulations by commercial banks that discriminate against them.
Commercial banking services to the rural areas in PNG have declined by more than 50 percent in the last 30 years. For instance, in 1976 there were 352 bank branches, sub-branches and agencies in the country and this number has fallen in 2003 to only 169. Most of the large financial institutions are concentrating mainly in the cities and town areas.
A village mother Magdalene Dau praised the concept of village banks saying it has already helped them to save the money they get from selling vegetables and fish at their local markets. She said it has helped them to think about their future and the future of their children.
The person who convinced the people to start the banks, Haven villager John Wadui said when he first suggested the idea, many people opposed him because they thought he was starting a money scam. However, he said, when they realised it was a government sanctioned project with the support of the New Zealand government, the villagers joined. Two of the banks have more than 100 members.
The concept of village banks has spread throughout the developing countries since it was developed and introduced in the mid-80s by John Hatch’s FINCA International in South America and Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Banks in Bangladesh.
—By Patrick Matbob
Japanese visitor slump results in low arrivals
Visitor arrivals to French Polynesia have dipped following a slump in Japanese arrivals by 23 percent.
Deputy director of Tahiti Tourisme, Manuel Terai told ISLANDS BUSINESS that one of the contributing factors to the low visitor numbers was the frequency of flights to the country.
From January to May, French Polynesia witnessed a 7.4 percent decrease in visitor arrivals compared to the same period last year.
“We’re feeling the pinch in the Japanese market...it has come down by 23 percent. We really cannot explain the cause but overall around the region, the Japanese market has not been doing well.”
For the first five months of this year, French Polynesia received 7376 visitors compared to 9608 for the same period last year.
The European market is also suffering with a seven percent drop and so as North America with a 2.7 percent decline.
“However, this period has generally been our low season as our peak season is from mid-June to October and even up to the first week of November.
“The peak season is when it is winter around Central Europe-Italy, Spain, Germany and France,” Terai explains.
Nevertheless, Tahiti Tourisme is hoping for a surge in visitor numbers from August and September.
Compounding French Polynesia’s problem is the loss of the cruise ship Tahitian Princess, which returned last month to operate in Alaska.
It is understood there were disagreements over tax issues between the operators of the ship and government.
The French Polynesian government is believed to be charging tax on cabin rooms.
There are only two cruise ships now operating in the country. French Polynesia is one of the countries in the region that has the best port infrastructure, thus its ability to attract cruise ships. There are also some cruise ships signed up for the new year such as the Silver Seas currently cruising in Monaco.
Terai reveals they would like to expand the cruise packages to include the outer islands such as the Marquesas and additional activities such as whale watching.
Good news, however, is the opening of another four star Four Seasons hotel on the island of Borabora at the end of the year. However, there are concerns there is an oversupply of top-end hotels on the island.
There is also another three star hotel set to open near the city of Papeete, a project by a group of local investors.
The Warwick Group is also looking at developing a hotel with a golf course on Moorea and also at Huahine.
Tahiti Tourisme is also tapping the Chinese market. After hosting a group of Chinese journalists in May, the bureau sent a marketing team to China hoping to attract honeymooners and the top-end of the Chinese market.
Meanwhile, the Transpac Tahiti race which began in 1925 but hasn’t been held for the last 14 years was held last month.
When this edition went to print, five sailboats were ready to depart from Point Fermin, San Pedro, Los Angeles, for the two-week race to French Polynesia.
“Over the years, one of the deciding factors in each Transpac Tahiti Race, has been the doldrums that boats must pass through on each side of the equator.
“This is a stretch of calm seas, frequently experienced when there is little or no wind,” a news agency said.
However, the boats are expected to use the latest technologies to counter these “doldrums”.
For the sailors, the race is different from other global races as they would be going across the equator and experiencing different weather patterns.
One of the competitors and veteran sailor John Jourdane was quoted as saying that during those times sailors relied on their senses.
“It was all sightings. I was praying I would see an atoll when we got there, I was within about five miles.”
Another sailor Ernie Richau said: “Now, we have the routing programmes. We download satellite images where we can actually look at where the clouds are. I don’t ever worry about where we are. I worry about where we’re going to be strategically and tactically with the forecasted weather.”
In the 83-year history of the race, big names in sailing to have won the competition included Fred Kirschner, Robert Johnson, Eric Tabarly, Ken DeMeuse and Irving Loube.
Coffee growers enjoy higher prices
One of Papua New Guinea’s leading export earners, coffee, is again enjoying peak prices and coffee producers are taking full advantage of it.
Coffee flush season is being experienced in the Highlands and other coffee producing areas in the country. The season normally starts in early April and peaks in May, June, July and August.
The country’s coffee industry is important as more than 2.5 million people rely on it for their livelihood. Notably, in the Highlands region, coffee has blended into the culture of the people.
During the coffee season, major activities like compensation payment, bride-price exchanges and solving of tribal disputes are conducted.
In centres like Mt Hagen and Goroka, farmers are queuing up at banks to cash cheques and lines are also long in shopping centres.
Prices this season favour smallholders, block holders and plantation owners.
The market price sees green-bean of exportable coffee grades, particularly A-grade buying at an average K8.20 per kilogramme, X-grade buying at an average of K7.68 per kilogramme, PSC-X buying at an average K7.04 per kilogramme, Y-grade buying at an average K6.93 per kilogramme and Robusta coffee buying at an average K4.
The average buying price for parchment at factory door is for class one in Goroka buying at K4-30 per kilogramme while in the other centres the average is K3.91 and the average for class two is K3.69. Chairman of the Coffee Exporters Council John Edwards said the high prices are mainly due to movement of stocks to agriculture by large corporations in America and speculations of a recession there.
To ensure producers enjoy the full benefit of the price flush without being disadvantaged by criminal activities, the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) had taken measures before the price flush by instituting cherry trade restrictions in Eastern Highlands and Chimbu provinces.
The restrictions were the result of numerous concerns and complaints by industry stakeholders over coffee thefts as experienced in the past during the coffee flush season.
CIC now plans to extend the trade restriction to Western Highlands, Enga and Southern Highlands provinces beginning next month.
Cherry coffee refers to unprocessed coffee or those that are picked directly from trees and sold to buyers at road-sides.
According to a situation report by CIC, many growers, especially smallholders, block and plantation owners had lost thousands of kina through cherry coffee thefts.
One plantation owner Megani Kahento, who owns one of the country’s pioneer coffee establishments, the Korona plantation, said he is seeing positive outcomes this coffee season.
—By Sam Vulum
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