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Under the spotlight: Public figures are constantly under the microscope. And because of that, they need to ensure they behave at all times, particularly in public. One such public figure who was returning home after a crucial meeting for his country in the Big Apple must have found the meeting too much to handle that he decided to drown his sorrows. Sitting beside him in the business class was a former Japanese government minister. The regional VIP was so drunk that he spilled his drink on the Japanese former minister without even apologising. The Japanese minister was so disgusted that he asked to be transferred to the economy class. Talk about no class!
Pay rise for MPs…PNG MPs are set to give themselves a 42% rise in accommodation allowances and a further 50% increase in vehicle allowances, according to a local newspaper report. The newspaper quoted the Public Service Minister, Peter O’Neill as saying that accommodation allowances which MPs have been receiving are far below what is needed to meet the amounts charged by real estate companies. And that the increase in vehicle allowance is because the type of vehicle upon which this allowance was originally determined, a Mazda 929, is no longer sold in PNG. If approved, the Prime Minister, Speaker, Opposition Leader and ministers’ vehicle allowance will increase from US$18,000 to about US$27,000. And accommodation, which at the moment is US$500 a week, is likely to increase to around US$750. Ordinary MPs who receive an annual vehicle allowance of US$9000 will now get US$14,500. They will also receive around US$355 a week for accommodation—US$105 more than what they currently get.
What’s happening @USP? USP seems to be an unhappy place to be working in these days and there is also an air of uncertainty existing. WHISPERS has been told that workers—academic and administrative—are not sure about their future. People are beginning to look elsewhere for work. WHISPERS has learnt that some 60 people will be made redundant and those on the firing line include some very senior and experienced people and those over 60 years. These staff identified will be paid six months salary as part of their redundancy package.
Talking about redundancy…Bainimarama’s government is now drawing up a list of all civil servants who will be turning 55. As part of this, it is also identifying those civil servants who will be required to remain because of their expertise. Fiji’s High Court ruled that 55 be the retiring age for civil servants. This will probably make it easier for that charter unit which is trying to reduce the cost of civil servants by 30 percent beginning 2010.
More trouble in the air: And remember that regional NGO WHISPERS highlighted last month? Well, the latest is that the regional office has laid off workers and although the office is still open, it is being manned by a skeletal staff. Its financial position is so bad that those in the top brass had to forfeit their salaries. Some staff turned up at the bank with their salary cheques only to be told there is no money in its account.
Free TV anyone? Old hands are still muttering in disbelief at a claim made last year in Wellington by TVNZ. Chief Executive Rick Ellis told a parliamentary select committee that TVNZ wanted to extend its broadcast footprint into the Pacific, in much the same way as Australia has been doing for years. Admirable enough, except that Ellis also claimed TVNZ had also been supplying free programming to the islands for “years” albeit via tape, DVD and short satellite upload. No mention of the millions the “public” broadcaster charged a few islands stations they were “helping” get set up.
Where are the VIPs? Local Chinese Association members in Honiara did their bit for the victims of the bushfires in Victoria on March 7. They put on a $300-a-head dinner at the Sea King Restaurant in Honiara. To the envy of other Chinese who did their own thing, the restaurant was packed to capacity. In all, there were 30 tables (10 people to each table). Organisers were hoping their “official” representative in Taiwan’s ambassador was going to be there, he never showed up. He was not alone. The ambassador was amongst those notable absentees. Not even one Member of Parliament, let alone a government minister, was there either. There were speculations why MPs and the diplomat were not there. The diplomat had run out of dough after paying the 50 MPs $10 million in grant funds earlier in the week. And the MPs? Well, it was rumoured that they were busy counting their money.
Diplomatic drama: Solomon Islands will soon name a High Commissioner to head its new diplomatic office in Fiji. But things appear to have gone to a bad start. WHISPERS understand the Secretary for Foreign Affairs Barnabas Anga submitted a list of four contenders directly to the Office of the Prime Minister—all without a CV—instead of sending them to the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee. Well, he got the message loud and clear. The list of candidates, all on a single sheet of paper, was promptly returned to Anga with a “please provide CVs” and submit names to the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee for vetting in the first instance. But that’s not the end of the tale. While appointments to the new office are yet to be formalised, someone who’s looking after the office in Suva wrote to the boss [Secretary, Foreign Affairs]. She signed off the letter with the designation: Counsellor. She happens to be a spouse of one of the contenders. Staff members at headquarters were wondering if their boss had appointed the woman without clearance from the various authorities in Honiara.
Speaker’s antics: A lot can happen in a few days in PNG politics. On March 19, just moments after the Opposition affirmed its consolidation of its 21 members in readiness for power jockeying, Papua New Guinea’s colourful Speaker of the National Parliament Jeffery Nape took the wind out of the Opposition sails.
Nape called for the Auditor-General and the auditors of Department of Finance to investigate Parliament and report to Parliament. He told Parliament he would go on recreation leave allowing the Deputy Speaker Francis Marus to be acting Speaker.
He also called on Clerk to Parliament Don Pandan to step aside and allow Deputy Clerk Simon Ila to be acting Clerk to Parliament to allow for non-interference in the investigation process. The announcement, surprising MPs and staff alike, is due to the with-holding of K10 million (US$3 million) allocation to Parliament and recent queries on the deteriorating state of the Parliament House—a gift of Australia which was opened in 1984—which Nape blames on inadequate funding over the last 24 years.
The move caused a flurry of activity as Government MPs, wanting to see Nape removed permanently as Speaker, attempted to find and convince a suitable replacement MP from their ranks. Nape apparently catching wind of that told Parliament at the start of Friday, March 20, sitting that the Leader of Government Business should move for Parliament to be adjourned to November 2009. Following the actual motion—successfully moved—to adjourn parliament to May 12, Nape rescinded his decision to go on recreation leave attributing his change of heart to advice from his lawyers. The investigations by auditors, he said, can still continue.
This supreme democratic institution of the land has been placed under media spotlight over questionable purchases of furnishings, television sets for MPs which are yet to be installed although the announcement was made more than 15 months ago, and electronic mail and internet cabling which is incomplete still. The latter is understood to have caused the aborting of a UNDP financing arrangement with suggestions that UNDP project officials were actually ordered out of the National Parliament House precincts when they refused to process payment for the incomplete job. Nape’s costly sealing of the members and staff car park area, the exorbitant cost of a contract of K160,000 (US$55,000) to chop down a few trees, the issuance of cheques to suppliers that have bounced, and the often late pay processing for staff have fuelled the interest of the law enforcing agencies.
So what’s new? Much talked about efforts to turn the failed Sheraton project in Rarotonga into a Hilton-operated resort appear to be going the way of all previous such efforts. Nowhere. Both the key figures in the latest effort to finish the development, Kiwi Dan McEwen and Cook Islander Tim Tepaki, have run into financial worries of their own.
Chinese boost games: The race is on in Rarotonga to finish the indoor stadium for the world youth netball championships in August and Mini Pacific Games in September. After all the politics that dogged the project’s start, Chinese workers are racing to the rescue. Reports from the Cook Islands say the Chinese builders are working through the evening and into the early hours of the morning.
Gas jets PNG up: Papua New Guinea is jetting to new heights in its efforts to join the exclusive international club of Liquified Natural Gas suppliers with a world record natural gas discovery inland of the Gulf of Papua. Coming in the wake of the entry into FEED (front end engineering design) of the multibillion dollar ExxonMobil led-LNG Gas Project, the discovery by InterOil Ltd in Wabo, Baimuru area of Gulf Province will place PNG as a co-leader with Australia in supplying LNG to the Asian Markets. A proud Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said: “The Antelope-1 well, when the tap was opened flowed at a new world and PNG record rate of 383 million cubic feet per day with 5,000 bbl of condensate and a third party confirmed-capacity of 17.7 BCF (billion cubic feet per day) of gas. This places PNG as one of the best quality gas producers in the world with a 760-metre column of gas.”
Happy execs: Solomon Airlines CEO Ron Sumsum and general manager commercial Gus Kraus probably couldn’t help smiling following the spectacular financial collapse and grounding of rival SkyAirWorld. The battle between the Solomon Islands national airline and the Brisbane-based newcomer was more than commercial tussle. It was also personal. SkyAirWorld launched head to head competition with Solomon Airlines after the acrimonious end to a leasing deal in which Solomon Airlines used a SkyAirWorld Embraer 170 jet.
Taxed up: Get out your wallets, travellers, when you’re departing Rarotonga International Airport. The Cook Islanders are bumping up the departure tax to NZ$55 from the first of this month. Official reason: To help pay for upgrading Rarotonga International Airport. By comparison, New Zealand airports charge NZ$25.
Fiji still shines? Who said Fiji tourism was down? Some hotels in the country’s West reported occupancy of around 70% late last month. Two reasons, apparently. Fiji is meeting the many challenges by offering attractive deals. Australians are still travelling, but taking shorter holidays. Low-cost carrier Pacific Blue gave Fiji a big vote of confidence by announcing direct flights from two more cities, Adelaide and Melbourne. Another strong boost is the arrival of Rydges, a major Aussie hotel and resort operator, to manage Hideaway resort on the Coral Coast.
Direct voting: Politicians in the Solomons, beware. Unhappy voters appear to be resorting to direct action when they feel promises are not kept. Just ask the Government Minister who was confronted by one such irate constituent outside Parliament in Honiara and punched.
Media watch: Newspaper executive Peter Lomas reversed the recent trend of the sudden departure of publishers from Fiji. As predicted first here in Whispers, he headed home to Fiji to join the Fiji Sun and Sunday Sun as publisher/chief executive officer. Lomas spent the past six years on news media development work around the region.
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