Anton Billie to lead investigations into firing of high powered rifle by MP

Commissioner of Police David Manning has directed an investigation into the social media posting of National Planning Minister Rainbo Paita who was featured in a video firing a high powered semi-automatic rifle.

As the matter involves a national member of parliament and state minister the Commissioner has directed Deputy Police Commissioner Operations Anton Billie to lead this investigation.

He said Billie will be ably assisted by a senior detective from the NCD command and a senior officer from the Police Internal Affairs Directorate.

The Commissioner’s decision to investigate was a matter of course to ascertain the facts surrounding the incident before recommending further action.

Mr Billie and his team are expected to report their findings to the Commissioner with recommendations by Friday December 17.

Meanwhile Manning has commended Mr Paita for stepping aside from his ministerial duties to allow the investigation to proceed smoothly.

Paita has issued a statement to the Prime Minister that he was stepping aside as Minister pending investigations into the video that went viral on social media.

An act that has received overwhelming commendation from the PNG public, most describing it as rare.

Fr Jan Czuba goes to trial on allegations of official corruption as witnesses are cross examined

BY TREVOUR WAHUNE

A national court judge has questioned the department of higher education research science and technology (DHERST) manager for the national online selection system Daniel Kereka, what his  understanding was about the online selection system.

Acting judge Laura Kuvi's questions last Friday were in relation to a criminal case, filed against sidelined DHERST secretary Fr. Jan Czuba.

Czuba is facing allegations of abuse of office and official corruption in court.

Fr Jan Czuba AHC Facebook

Kereka, who was the sixth witness called, only gave his opinions about the advantages and the disadvantages of the national online selection system,  providing little substance on records and evidences of corruption or abuse of office, in the case against Fr. Jan. 

Lawyer Edward Sasingian, when cross examining Kereka said the online selection system was moved forward by former DHERST deputy secretary operations Steven Matainaho, who had an IT background and all paper work for the project had been audited for. 

This was after lawyer Trish Aihi, from the office of the public prosecutor asked Kereka, to outline the advantages and the disadvantages of the online selection system, and what its operational costs were to the government. 

Justice Kuvi, upon hearing Kereka's statement said what he was saying was not backed with any proper records, and had not established anything relevant. 

Meanwhile the investigating officer in the case Timothy Gitua, who is an officer attached with the national fraud office was also called to give evidence last week.

 His arrest and charging of Fr. Jan were also questioned by the court, because Gitua used documents that had been cleared by finance and treasury, and that no specific document was identified as being relevant to the arrest of Fr. Jan, concerning his engagement of a Polish Company, PSG accademia, to develop the National online selection system. 

Meanwhile, the last two witnesses to appear tomorrow this week to give evidence will be  the state solicitor and an officer from the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) who will verify IPA documents, concerning payments made to PSG Accademia.

What transpired from the judiciary meeting regarding a rugby league match fight

BY DR JAMES NAIPAO

Chairman POMRFL

The mayhem was unexpected.

All clubs knew the no crowd attendance stance taken during the regular season up to the Preliminary Finals guided by Standard Operating Procedure Policy created by Port Moresby Rugby Football League POMRFL and an endorsed document approved by the National Pandemic Controller's and National Control Centre. A similar one which use by all sporting bodies.

What happened was very sad indeed and also a bitter taste in the mayhem which unfortunately happened.

The Judiciary sat today (13/12/21) and made the following decisions in the context of the standard competition rules and guidelines, and guided by the constitution.

Decisions made are as follows;

1. Two brothers players - banned for 15 years.

2. Three Souths players - banned for 15 years.

3. One Souths player banned for 10 years.

4. One Souths official - banned for life.

5. Two clubs banned for 5 years and fined K5, 000.00 each.

6. 75% of the players and officials on the team sheets are banned for 5 years.

This means the players, officials and teams penalised in the two days (11 - 12/12/21) will not participate in any rugby league competition run by PNGRFL and any participation overseas.

7. After 5 years, the two clubs must pay a surety fee of K50, 000.00 each to re-enter the Port Moresby Rugby Football League Competition.

POMRFL Board endorsed this independent Judiciary Committee decision with deterance.

Appeal is going to be within the 24 hours of the decision, and the appeal will be dealt with by Papua Rugby Football League Inc.

This decision will be forwarded to PNGRFL.

Many Asian and PNG businesses are non tax compliant- IRC Commissioner General

BY SAM KOIM

I'm seeing many people jumping on the bandwagon, asking why we are not going after foreign businesses, especially Asian-owned companies, for tax-related crimes.

Papua New Guineans seem to be picking the victim card here on the flawed assumption that PNG owned businesses are honest and tax compliant. However, the opposite is true.

This statistical bias is based on perception and not reality. Our statistics show that many PNG-owned businesses are dishonest and non-compliant, as many Asian owned businesses do. PNG and Asian owned Businesses also feature prominently in bribing our officers. I'm not going to mince words here.

Figuratively speaking, we see nationals and foreigners alike putting on a lot of weight out there, yet coming to the tax office and putting on sorry faces and claiming that they have been on a serious diet.

IRC has been a passive tax collector for far too long, waiting for taxpayers to do the right thing by voluntarily paying their fair share of taxes on time. However, that putative expectation has been exploited by dishonest business people. That will be the thing of the past soon.

Under the strong political will committed by the Marape/Basil Government, we are addressing these long outstanding and ignored matters.

We are auditing a good number of these entities, including more than 20 logging companies. These audits take a great deal of time and resources due to the intricacies of the financial transactions involved. Some of these transactions transcend through multiple jurisdictions. These entities did not start their operations in the last two years, let alone their impugned evasion. They have been around.

The last two years of my term in office were dedicated to addressing in-house issues, including realigning people, systems and processes. Covid has disrupted most of our efforts during the same period. Still, we managed to get some things done, aside from delivering on our core mandate of collecting revenue for the Government.

We will start prosecuting tax fraudsters next year. We have already profiled several cases for prosecution. We investigate crime, and crime leads us to the criminal. We don't find a criminal (e.g. Asian) and look for a crime.

The last time I checked, we were still a democratic country that encouraged free trade and commerce, allowing foreigners to come here and invest.

Both foreigners and local businesses use taxpayer-funded services such as roads, electricity, security, etc., to make their money. Therefore, there is a reciprocal obligation on them to pay their fair share of taxes towards the public good. But those who fail to do that will find themselves paying more.

So for those of you who are crying foul, report to us a crime, and we will take the lead. We have investigated the number of cases referred to us by a few individuals.

We don't have the time and resources to go on a wild goose chase, so don't fill us with all your conjectures.

I hope this offers some clarity and comfort.

A rubber farmer could earn as much as K167,400 per year

BY CYRIL GARE

The Rubber Board of PNG led by second-term Chairperson, Ms. Josephine Kenni is in Angoram today to officially launch a new rubber nursery, announce price support, and oversee opportunity to revive the defunct Gavien rubber factory – among others.

The visit is in line with the Marape-Basil Government in reviving the rubber industry in the country and unlocking the potential of rubber elasticity as an economy driver in PNG.

Previously, for nearly two decades, the PNG Rubber Board was thrown into disarray and remained defunct due to lengthy court battles over positions until recently.

A new board was sworn in on July 2, 2020 comprising Ms. Kenni herself as Chairperson who was reappointed for the second term, Stephen Mombi, Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) Deputy Secretary for Technical Services as ex officio member (Mr. Mombi is now acting DAL Secretary), SME and exporter entrepreneur’s representative, Kone Burana as smallholder and public sector representative, Lawrence Miai as the Rubber Association representative and Lee Wari as coordinator for the DAL.

Ms. Kenni is accompanied by a government technical team comprising officers from the Rubber Board itself, Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL), Department of National Planning and Implementation (DNPI), a journalist and others.

A rubber trees produce around 279 kilograms of latex per year so if a farmer owns 500 rubber trees and selling his cup lumps at K1.20 per kg, s/he could earn as much as K167,400 per year and that’s a lot of money for a simple villager.

At mid-stream processing level (TSR factory), a farmer could earn as much as K418,500 per year – making rubber a potential billion kina revenue earner for the national coffers untapped.

Pioneer Grade 12 from Oksapmin finishes among top 10 as Glenda Giles retires

Remote Oksapmin Secondary School in the highlands of West Sepik finished sixth in the final rankings of grade 12 performance in the country.

This feat has received overwhelming commendations from people around the country.

Only for the first time, it led the provinces top and consistent performing school, a Catholic run St. Ignatius Secondary School who finished seventh on its overall rankings.

St Ignatius had its first grade 12 pass out in 1998 and in the last decade it has been among the top ten performing secondary schools in the country.

While Oksapmin celebrates the great achievement in its cold valley, there is also an emotional feeling of losing someone special who is acknowledged as the mentor and chief architect behind Oksapmin's consistent impressive performance in academic achievements.

Missionary volunteer Glenda Giles will be going finish, retiring to her home country in New Zealand.

She first arrived in the country in 1967 as a member of the Christian Mission in Many Lands missionaries.

Glenda has spent many years working with schools in Southern Highlands and West Sepik teaching, translating languages, being a headmistress, a school inspector and mentoring staff in the areas of school curriculum materials development, administration and mission work.

Few of her work are published in the Bilum Books publication- some work she collaborated with Ray O'Farrell to develop the content.

Oksapmin has been achieving high MRI for its Grade 10 results within the last decade and it was not surprising it did well too with its pioneer Grade 12.

As we celebrate the high academic achievements for Oksapmin, we also acknowledge the mentorship and input from Glenda Giles and wish her well in her retirement.

A selfless woman who loved PNG with all her heart.

Pioneer missionary to Nuku's Sibilanga in West Sepik passes on

 “It is with great sadness that we record the passing into the presence of his Father our loved and honoured brother and fellow mission partner, Max Tuck on the morning of 14^th November 2021. Max served in Papua New Guinea from 1958-1976 and Max and Heather revisited regularly subsequently with their last visit to Sibilanga in 2016 when Max was 84 years old.

Max and Heather were married at Lumi by Kay Liddle on 25 March 1959. Ivor Pethybridge was his best man and Hope Dobbie was Heather’s matron of honour. Max and Heather’s three sons, Deane, Richard and Marcus were all born in PNG.  Together Max and Heather pioneered the opening up of Sibilanga in the following years, and were instrumental in developing Yimbrasi as a Christian Community Adult  Education Centre, now being used by Nuku Training College. Max also served on the CMML “committee” for a number of years.  Their influence and ministry was greatly appreciated by fellow-missionaries and by many Christians and village folk in the Palei-Maimai area of West Sepik Province.

 

After retiring from PNG in 1976, Max and Heather served the Lord Jesus in Christian ministry in both local pastoral ministry and in Bible College lecturing in New Zealand, Tasmania, Singapore and the USA.

 

We are so grateful to God for the service, fellowship and partnership of Max and Heather over many years. [Drafted by Ossie Fountain]

Max and Heather were married at Lumi by Kay Liddle on 25 March 1959. Ivor Pethybridge was his best man and Hope Dobbie was Heather’s matron of honour. Max and Heather’s three sons, Deane, Richard and Marcus were all born in PNG.  Together Max and Heather pioneered the opening up of Sibilanga in the following years, and were instrumental in developing Yimbrasi as a Christian Community Adult  Education Centre, now being used by Nuku Training College. Max also served on the CMML “committee” for a number of years.  Their influence and ministry was greatly appreciated by fellow-missionaries and by many Christians and village folk in the Palei-Maimai area of West Sepik Province.

 

After retiring from PNG in 1976, Max and Heather served the Lord Jesus in Christian ministry in both local pastoral ministry and in Bible College lecturing in New Zealand, Tasmania, Singapore and the USA.

 

We are so grateful to God for the service, fellowship and partnership of Max and Heather over many years. [Drafted by Ossie Fountain]

 

”

 

 

 

TUCK, Maxwell Henry (Max). Born October 10, 1932. Passed away on November 14, 2021. Cherished husband of Heather for 62 years, very much loved father and father-in-law of Deane and Janet, Ricky and Mary, Marcus and Kathryn. Adored Grandpa Max of Lawrence, Ashleigh, Jeffrey and Anna, Dannelle and James, Stephen and Michelle, Karrie-Ann, Chontelle and Matt, Caleb and Nerissa. Great granddad to Harvey, Kyah, Ardie, Huxley, Ava, Millah, Ryker (deceased), and Lexon. And BuBu to many in PNG. And loved by many in New Zealand and beyond. Due to the current situation a private service for immediate family was held on 18 November 2021 in Auckland. A memorial service to commemorate Max's life will be held in Tauranga in the new year, date to be advised. Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord”