The 166 donated vehicles used during last year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Papua New Guinea have been distributed to government institutions, non-governmental organisations and churches.

They were handed over by the Department of Finance in Port Moresby last Friday.

Present to officially handover vehicle keys to recipients was Minister for Finance and Rural Development Charles Abel and Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan.

READ MORE: 40 luxury Maseratis for PNG, but little effort put into climate change

The vehicles were donated to the Papua New Guinea government by the governments of China and Japan.

“As part of the process of disposing of assets acquired for APEC, we are starting with the vehicles given, they are of high value. The disposal will not only include vehicles but all assets that were purchased by the APEC authority,” said Dr Ngangan.

“It has taken us a long time but the process that we going through are done transparently so to account for all assets purchased.”

Dr Ngangan said all these was submitted to the Finance Minister and then to the attention of the National Procurement Commission for endorsement of disposal of donated assets.

Public assets
He said the process of disposal follows under the Procurement Act and the Public Finance Management Act complies with disposal requirements.

“The Department of Finance is the department responsible for the disposal of public assets and we have now taken ownership of all assets purchased by the APEC Authority.

The next process will include the state-purchased assets which is about 321 in total,” he said.

“After that we will provide a full report and submit to our Finance Minister, and to the National Executive Council, National Procurement Commission board and other oversight agencies like Ombudsman Commission and to everyone including the general public.”

Simon Keslep is a PNG Post-Courier journalist.

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

A former prime minister has accused Papua New Guinea’s current leader Peter O’Neill of exposing the country to “international ridicule and criticism” over the lavish staging of APEC and failure of the meeting to make the customary Leaders’ Declaration for the first time in its history.

Sir Mekere Morauta, MP for Moresby North West in the nation’s capital, today declared in a statement: “APEC has revealed to the world the corruption, waste and mismanagement within the O’Neill government, and their devastating effects on the nation and citizens.”

He said the leaders summit had shone an international spotlight on O’Neill’s “crude and cynical attempts to play one nation against another”.

READ MORE: PNG security forces strike at Parliament for unpaid APEC allowances

Sir Mekere also accused the prime minister and lacking an ability to understand the nuances of international relations and the dramatic geopolitical changes happening in the region.

“What should have been a moment for PNG to shine on the international stage instead descended into chaos, including embarrassing diplomatic incidents, international media allegations of financial and procedural impropriety and organisational disarray,” Sir Mekere said.

“Papua New Guinea’s international standing has been diminished.”

The former PM said the issue for Papua New Guinea was not a failure of the international APEC organisation, the countries involved, or of PNG’s professional diplomats – it was an issue of failed leadership.

Quality of life
Sir Mekere said PNG should not have hosted APEC in the first place.

The K3 billion “lavished” on the event should have been spent on improving the quality of life of ordinary Papua New Guineans.

“Instead we have preventable diseases such as polio, leprosy, TB and malaria surging and people dying – 21 children are now known to have contracted polio,” Sir Mekere said.

“Many schools are closing across the nation. Public servants are not being paid properly and other entitlements such as superannuation payments are being withheld.

“Essential infrastructure outside Port Moresby is crumbling into the dust, and government systems and processes are failing by the day.”

However, Prime Minister O’Neill said he had made history in inviting Pacific Island leaders to take part in the APEC leaders summit, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

“I know Australia, New Zealand and PNG are active members of APEC, but there are also countries within the Pacific region that have their own story to tell,” O’Neill said.

Reception dinner
He said this when he led the Pacific leaders to a reception dinner hosted by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Australian High Commission residence last night.

Pacific leaders who attended included Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai and the Prime Ministers of the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Tonga.

“I would like to thank the Pacific leaders for joining us here at the margins of the APEC meeting.

“Again [the reason] to bring the Pacific Island leaders’ to APEC is that we don’t want to be forgotten out of the APEC community,” O’Neill said.

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Already surrounded by mounting controversies, the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit has been another disappointment for its members as it comes to an end.

This is the first time in its history that the summit has ended without any formal leaders’ joint statement – due to disagreements over the US-China trade war, reports EMTV News.

Referring to the US and China – “the two giants in the room” – they were unable to agree due to their division over trade, said host Prime Minister Peter O’Neill of Papua New Guinea.

But O’Neill reassured the press that the chairperson of the APEC summit would release the statement “this afternoon” – yesterday.

READ MORE Chinese president bound for PNG as controversy mounts over APEC 2018

Allegation of theft
The Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the countries that embraced “protectionism were doomed to failure,” implying the US “America First” policy. 

US Vice-President Mike Pence later said that the US had great respect for President Xi and China.

“But in the [US] President’s words, China has taken advantage of the US for many many years, and those days are over,” Pence said.

Vice-President Pence also accused China for theft of intellectual property on an “unprecedented scale”.

“China has tremendous barriers, they have tremendous tariffs and as we all know their country engages in quotas, forced technology transfers, intellectual property theft, industrial subsidies on an unprecedented scale,” said Vice-President Pence.

But in his speech, President Xi said that his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was an open platform for cooperation.

“It is guided by the principle of consultation and collaboration for shared benefits, it is not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda, it is not targeted against anyone and it does not exclude anyone,” said President Xi.

“It is not an exclusive club that is closed to non-members, nor is it a trap as some people has labelled it, rather the BRI is a major and transparent initiative with which China shares opportunities and pursues common development with the rest of the world,” he said.

US-China fight for influence
Although China has already been funnelling millions of dollars into the Pacific to gain its influence in the region, US also bought its 500 marines and Navy servicemen to Papua New Guinea to bolster its massive security operation just before the summit.

Yet Vice-President Pence clearly warned in his speech not to accept the foreign debt as this could compromise the sovereignty of the country.

“Let me say with great respect to all the nations across this wider region, and the world, do not accept foreign debt that could compromise your sovereignty. Protect your interests preserve your independence and just like America always put your country first,” said Vice-President Pence.

He also reaffirmed US President Donald Trump’s words, “we want to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and improve the lives of our citizens,” he said.

The next time when the two world leaders will come together will be in Argentina for the G20 summit due on November 30.

The Pacific Media Centre republishes EMTV News items with permission.

• More on APEC stories

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Port Moresby last night to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit and is poised to steal a march on rival world leaders.

With the US and Russian Presidents skipping the event, President Xi is in a strategic position to strengthen ties with both the host nation and other attendees.

The National reports that President Xi said PNG was “truly a land of promise,” endowed with abundant natural resources.

READ MORE: ‘Like nothing on earth’ – APEC’s cruise ship summit

“In recent years, thanks to the leadership of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, the great work of the government, and the industrious and enterprising people of the country, PNG has thrived in national development, and its society has taken on a new look,” said President Xi.

Mutual trust
This is the first state visit of President Xi where he reiterated his goal to fortify “mutual trust” and to take bilateral ties to next level.

“I look forward to working with your leaders to cement mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, and increase people-to-people exchanges in order to take our bilateral ties to a new level,” said President Xi.

EMTV Online reports that President Xi officiate at the opening  of a new school today for PNG students, Butuka Academy.

“Only one of China’s many gifts to PNG,” he said.

President Xi said the rapid growth of the China-PNG relations was “an epitome of China’s overall relations with Pacific Islands countries”.

“The Chinese often say: ‘Distance cannot separate true friends who remain close even when thousands of miles apart.’ The vast Pacific Ocean is indeed a bond between China and Pacific Islands countries,” said President Xi.

President Xi said China would stand firm with Pacific Islands countries and all other developing countries.

Brighter future
“The relations between China and Pacific Islands countries are now better than ever and face important opportunities of development,” he said.

“China will work with Pacific Islands countries to brave the wind and waves and set sail for a brighter future of our relations.”

The Post-Courier reports that early this year, President Xi met with Prime Minister O’Neill in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as part of a trip that saw the Pacific nation signing on to the “One Belt One Road” initiative.

This was an initiative seen by the US as a threat, and it had injected US$113 million in Asian investment.

Prime Minister O’Neill, in this meeting with President Xi, said he wanted more cooperation on economy, trade, investment, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure.

After the APEC summit in PNG, President Xi is set to visit Brunei and the Philippines where he will engage in an in-depth conversation with the two head of the state strengthening bilateral ties.

• Jo Chandler’s APEC comes to PNG – an investigation
• China Focus: Xi’s Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Philippines visits to cement bilateral ties, Asia-Pacific cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing today for state visits to Papua New Guinea, Brunei and the Philippines – and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit in Port Moresby.

During Xi’s stay in Papua New Guinea, he will also meet with leaders from the Pacific  countries that have established diplomatic ties with China amid growing political rivalries over the region, reports Xinhua news agency.

Xi was invited to pay the visits by Governor-General of Papua New Guinea Bob Dadae and APEC host Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

READ MORE: Jo Chandler’s APEC comes to PNG

He is arriving amid growing controvesy over the extravagant spending for APEC and allegations of corruption in a nation troubled by deep crises over education and health.

More than 200 Chinese media personals are already making tracks to be in PNG for the state Visit and the APEC summit.

Meanwhile, opposition Kavieng MP Ian Ling-Stuckey has severely criticised PNG’s 2019 Budget.

He said too much money had been spent on a Port Moresby-centred APEC, but now was the time to deliver the policies that could tap into all of the potential benefits of APEC and distribute them throughout the country.

The cost of the two-day APEC for PNG is reportedly more than 200 million kina (about NZ$90 million).

‘Opportunity squandered’
“This opportunity has been squandered. Instead, the 2019 Budget has dished up anti-APEC policies such as new taxes on trade and protectionist language,” Ling-Stuckey said.

“We have demonstrated that we are not being honest in our budget policy with misleading facts and hidden figures.

“This is a big-spending and fiscally irresponsible budget that abandons our new fiscal anchors. This is a disappointing day for the children of PNG, and the O’Neill/Abel government should be ashamed.

“The alternative government is a supporter of APEC. However, we have not been supportive of the expensive way that it has been implemented with numerous questions about contracts that should be referred to auditors.

“Unfortunately, items such as the Maseratis and Bentleys have unnecessarily damaged our international reputation.

As PNG prepared for its first APEC summit, it also expected to have 10,000 delegates to arrive for this meeting, reports EMTV News.

More then 1000 APEC officers are deployed in various parts of the city to ensure the safety of the visitors.

The National reports PNG police have placed a temporary embargo on the movement of people across the PNG’s border with Indonesia until the end of APEC summit amid tight security.

The purpose of this travel ban was reportedly to stop the foreigners from entering Port Moresby and to disrupt the APEC summit.

It will be attended by 21 head of the states from across the world, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

• • More APEC stories

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

More than 500 US marines and US Navy servicemen have arrived in Papua New Guinea to bolster a massive security operation as the country counts down to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit this weekend.

The security forces arrived on Tuesday on board the USS Green Bay, reports EMTV News.

This is the second time a US warship has visited PNG in two months.

In October, guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy visited Port Moresby, following visits by the US Under Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly in September and the chief of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, in August.

The USS Green Bay is expected to deploy Huey helicopters in the area over the next few days as part of their preparation to support APEC.

USS Green Bay is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship that was commissioned by the US Navy in 2009. It is deployed to Sasebo, Japan, as part of the Amphibious Force 7th Fleet.

‘Last paradise on earth’
Meanwhile, the Post-Courier reports today that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill told international media APEC host nation Papua New Guinea was the “last paradise on earth”.

Many international journalists had written and published “cheeky articles” about a poor country like Papua New Guinea hosting one of the biggest global meetings ever – the 2018 APEC summit.

When asked to respond to reports that detailed that PNG as poor, the prime minister replied: “Do we look poor?”

He continued: “Everybody is entitled to their views, they can say whatever they want but we are rich in culture, we are rich in history – thousands of years of history, in fact – diverse in our population, diverse in our ethnic grouping, best country in the world, last paradise on earth.

“So if they don’t want to come, well bad luck, if they want to come and visit us more, we welcome them with open arms,” he said proudly.

The Pacific Media Centre republishes EMTV News items with permission.

• More APEC stories

Fijians are counting down for their general election on Wednesday after early voting that started on November 5.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s ruling FijiFirst party is expected to win but with a reduced majority after a vigorous social media campaign to accumulate more votes before the media blackout which starts at midnight tonight.

Bainimarama has made “effective use of social media” to gain more supporters, says Pacific Media Centre journalist Sri Krishnamurthi, who returned to Fiji today to cover the election after doing a series of “preview” articles in September.

READ MORE: Krishnamurthi’s background briefing on the Fiji election

“Social media in Fiji has 85.1 percent use of Facebook and no other platform comes anywhere near close to that,” he said.

“FijiFirst is using Facebook very effectively as a tool. There is no control of the social media, whereas the Media Industry Development Decree curbs the media itself and that’s really strange.”

FijiFirst also uses Qorvis, a New York-based global corporate relations company that lobbies internationally for the Bainimarama government.

“I think FijiFirst will win having won more than 60 percent of the vote in 2014, but they also need a robust opposition, and that isn’t going to happen with [original coup leader in 1987] Sitiveni Rabuka back in court,” said Krishnamurthi.

Hampered by courts
“FijiFirst will have a majority but how much is debatable, as people once again get used to voting and exercising their democratic rights,” he said.

Another advantage for FijiFirst was that opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka had been hampered in his election campaign by court action against him in an attempt to strip him of his eligibility to stand for Parliament.

People in Fiji were tired or frequent coups and an uncertain future.

“The people want stability, after 30 years of coups and uncertainty,” said Krishnamurthi.

Fiji-born Krishnamurthi will be in the country for the next five days to cover the 2018 Fiji election.

A former NZ Press Association news agency journalist, he is currently a digital media postgraduate student at Auckland University of Technology and will be reporting for the University of the South Pacific journalism programme newspaper Wansolwara and the PMC’s Asia Pacific Report.

Postgraduate student coverage
As well as the Fiji general election, postgraduate student journalists are also covering the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit in Papua New Guinea next weekend with a team including Pauline Mago-King and Rahul Bhattarai.

Centre director Professor David Robie has just returned from New Caledonia where he covered last weekend’s historic independence referendum.

“This is quite unique in New Zealand journalism schools for coverage of this kind of major events happening in the Pacific,” said Dr Robie.

He praised the USP regional journalism programme and media organisations such as RNZ Pacific and SBS that enabled PMC partnerships in the region.

• More Fiji election stories

Papua New Guinea has been placed as one of Indonesia’s top non-traditional market priorities as the country leader President Joko Widodo prepares for his visit Port Moresby next month for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

President Widodo addressed the 33rd Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), the largest annual tradeshow in Indonesia, last week where he talked about reaching out to Indonesia’s non traditional markets, of which PNG now tops their agenda.

Madang Governor Peter Yama and his entourage had a session with Indonesia’s Chamber of Commerce and Trade team led by president and chairman Bernardino M Vega Jr.

Madang provincial administrator John Bivi gave a presentation on Madang’s investment proposal to Indonesia identifying where they needed attention most.

Bernardino said one of the major agendas when they attend APEC in Port Moresby on November 17-18 will be to look at investment opportunities in PNG, singling out Madang.

Papua New Guinea is about to host some of the world’s most powerful leaders at the APEC summit. But as PNG’s moment in the spotlight approaches, RNZ Pacific journalist Johnny Blades asks in a special Insight report today how the poorest of APEC’s members is looking after its citizens at a time of social turmoil in the country.

Driving through the countryside on our way to Port Moresby, the surrounding hills were so parched it seemed that only the hardiest of trees could ever grow here.

But as my Papua New Guinean friend Junior said from behind the wheel of the Land Cruiser, the city was growing so fast it would probably soon spread well beyond the trees anyway.

Half an hour out of PNG’s capital we stopped to get a drink at a roadside stall, where the desolation of not only the landscape but the local people came into sharp focus.

LISTEN: Johnny Blades previews APEC on RNZ Insight

A middle aged man approached our Land Cruiser and asked whether we could give him, his wife, and their two small children a lift into PNG’s capital.

His brow was pursed in troubled lines, the gauntness of his wife was striking. They climbed in, out of the searing dry heat of the Central Province seaboard, and the man introduced himself as Ken Auda.

He explained that he and family were heading from their village to Port Moresby General Hospital.

Despite chronic drug shortages at the hospital, they were desperate to get hold of painkillers for his wife who had cervical cancer, a leading killer of PNG women.

Struggling for a cure
“According to doctors’ examination, they found that ‘your wife will not live (for much longer)’,” Auda explained.

“It gives me financial problems, but I know that I’m struggling my best for my wife to be cured.”

His wife next to him stared out the Land Cruiser’s front window, neither engaging in the conversation nor meeting eye. Their two kids were pre-schoolers. It was hard to tell the age of Auda and his wife. They looked around 60 but they could have been 40 – Papua New Guineans do not generally enjoy longevity.

Cervical cancer is just one of numerous health crises in PNG. Amid chronic shortages of medicines and complacencies around vaccination programmes, meant diseases like polio, malaria and TB have re-emerged, HIV AIDS is resurgent.

Shortages of basic drugs and supplies, echo shortages of health workers, rather like the situation in schools, where there are often not enough teachers for overcrowded classrooms, where up to 70 students can be taught at once, or funding shortfalls force closure.

Grassroots communities around this country of eight million people are resilient, but there’s no escaping the lapsing state of basic services around the country.

Yet according to the current government, led by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, a unique opportunity for prosperity looms on PNG’s near horizon.

Biggest event
For the past four years, it has increasingly been preoccupied with preparing to host a meeting of leaders from major world powers, the biggest event to take place in this country.

Now, just a couple weeks out from the APEC Leaders Summit, big road and venue constructions are nearing completion and APEC Haus, a grand new national identity building shaped as a traditional sea vessel, has been unveiled on Port Moresby’s waterfront.

“In school I found out that APEC stands for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation,” Auda said, “but actually… what is APEC?”

APEC, according to PNG’s Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel, was “part of selling the country”.

“We need investment, we need partnerships, we need capital to develop our country. So APEC is going to present a wonderful marketing opportunity,” he explained.

“Because there’s so many opportunities with the natural wealth that we have and the beautiful people that we have and the wonderful culture that we have. This Asia Pacific region is going to be the major growth driver in the coming years. PNG is well placed here.”

Here at the junction of Asia and the Pacific, 2018 is turning out to be a landmark year, but perhaps for reasons other than what the government projected

Tribal violence
Tribal violence surged again in the Highlands, adding to the death toll from lingering fighting between supporters of rival candidates in last year’s elections. It’s worsened the suffering of a region reeling from February’s magnitude 7.5 earthquake disaster which caused almost 200 deaths and widespread devastation of homes and buildings.

As if that wasn’t enough, a state of emergency was declared in Southern Highlands after major political unrest erupted again in June. The sight of one of the national carrier’s planes destroyed at Mendi airport during the unrest was shocking for Papua New Guineans. Then last month they saw images of a second Air Niugini plane written off, sinking in the sea off an airstrip in Micronesia

Symbolism means a lot in APEC year, and the government’s many critics see signs the country is on the verge of social breakdown.

But the government has trucked on relentlessly with its infrastructure drive for APEC, depending heavily on assistance from the likes of China, with Australia, New Zealand and others chipping in significantly to help PNG pull off the summit.

While Port Moresby may have newly sealed roads in time for the summit, the highway leading into the capital was frequently pot-holed, and even a skilled driver like Junior was having troubled navigating them.

Gripping at the seat, Auda said, in Port Moresby this year, it has been impossible to escape the APEC hoo-ha. But prepared to give it a chance, he suggested APEC could be a potential band-aid for his country.

“APEC should be supplying us some kind of services like education, road infrastructure and health,” he explained.

Election plan
Auda revealed that he intended to stand for a seat in the next local level government election.

“If I win a seat, then I will start putting my submission to (the government), a strategy plan for pushing through government services.”

As Auda outlined his practical plans for the future, his wife, who would probably not live to see him don his campaign rosette, continued to stare out the window.

Only when her little kids started arguing over a fidget spinner did she snap out of it, tending to them affectionately, before taking up a thousand-yard stare again

Promises of “development” have long been a feature of the country’s politics, but rarely come to fruition. Some big resource projects have got off the ground, but the benefit flows have been uneven.

It’s hard for people to swallow the government’s claims that hosting APEC, all its hundreds of meetings this year and the big upcoming summit, will benefit PNG’s general population.

“People say that because of this APEC, all the funds are being misused on APEC,” said Ken, shaking his head

Maserati outcry
This month there was a public outcry over the government’s purchase of 40 Maserati cars and other luxury vehicles to use for transporting leaders at the summit.

The cars were “being committed to be paid for by the private sector…at no overall cost to the State”, PNG’s APEC Minister Justin Tkatchenko said.

We came into the city by the seaside village of Hanuabada, with its houses on stilts above the inshore waters of the harbour.

Here we dropped off the family where they’d be able to catch a bus onwards.

“I have a hope which is Jesus Christ, that my wife will stay until whatever God wants,” said Auda before getting out of the vehicle.

His wife was still staring far away as we drove on. I followed her gaze, which led across the bay to the growing skyline of Port Moresby’s CBD.

The afternoon light bounced off the big buildings.

Just around the corner, on the reclaimed foreshore, APEC Haus stood glistening. Ready or not, PNG’s moment in the sun is coming.

The APEC summit begins on the November 17.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

• While PNG promotes APEC big money, PNG youth are building grassroots resilience

Early in March, Papua New Guinea began its chairmanship of next month’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit by receiving many senior officials for the opening set of planning meetings.

The lead-up to the APEC summit, expected to become a key opportunity for PNG to unlock its economic potential, has been inundated with talks on trade and investment.

As the smallest and poorest member of APEC, Papua New Guinea has framed its chairmanship as an opportunity to cash in on the digital revolution and its benefits in connectivity and employment.

READ MORE: PNG government faces mounting pressure over Maserati splurge

The chair of APEC Senior Officials, Ambassador Ivan Pomaleu, underlined PNG’s participation in APEC as “leverage” to maintain its domestic policies according to the group.

“The work that has come out of APEC has allowed investors to come on shore and be part of our business community. You really need to think in terms of what sort of structural reform and ease of business activities we’ve been doing and that have made it possible for new investments in PNG. Those are pegged on important APEC principles.” Pomaleu told APEC Bulletin.

He added that conversations surrounding connectivity, particularly in sustainable development and climate change, were important to PNG.

A month before the summit, however, this agenda has seemingly been neglected with the import of 40 Maserati Quattroporte luxury sedans to be used by APEC leaders.

While PNG’s APEC Minister Justin Tkatchenko has told media that the costs of the Maseratis will be recovered via prospective buyers, this remains to be seen.

While the minister has not disclosed the initial costs of both the fleet and cars, PNG has unveiled plans underway to build a 400 million kina (NZ$180 million) coal-powered plant – a far cry from its attentiveness to sustainable development.

According to the Post-Courier, a memorandum of agreement has been reached “to build a coal-fired power plant in Lae”, Morobe province.

Although this agreement is a step towards meeting the energy needs of Lae consumers, it takes PNG two steps back in its commitment to mitigating climate change.

PNG’s gravitation towards cheap, non-renewable energy such as coal signals a complete disregard of its pledge to the Paris Climate Agreement.

PNG is already experiencing the effects of climate change which can be seen in the need to relocate Carteret Islanders and the dwindling access to clean drinking water, to name a few issues.

Defiant action
Despite these effects and coal being a key driver of climate change, Energy Minister Sam Basil is defiantly going ahead with building the electricity plant.

According to The National, Basil said that PNG had “been denied that right (to burn coal) for a very long time”.

He added that “big nations are not reducing [coal emission]”, thus PNG needs a quota for burning coal to provide cheaper electricity which would subsequently lead to more jobs.

Chris Lahberger from the anti-coal group, Nogat Coal PNG, told Radio NZ that this move was uneconomical despite the developer Mayur Resources’ claims of increased employment and investment in a sustainable research institute.

Although PNG is not the only developing country to have resorted to coal as a source of low-cost electricity, it does have a responsibility to its people considering the Climate Investment Fund’s investment of $25 million.

As reported by Devex, this funding is the largest with a focus on delivering “transformational change in addressing the current and future threats from climate change and related hazards in” PNG.

A snapshot of the Climate Investment Fund’s assistance to PNG indicates a key focus on building resilience in the agriculture sector along with the mitigation of climate extremes.

Climate accountability
Consequently, this begs the question of accountability in climate change aid as plans like the Mayur Resources’ coal-fired power plant are counteractive.

There is a pattern of financial aid being confined to large institutions and governments while communities suffer, as noted by Caritas New Zealand director Julianne Hickey.

“We’ve heard time and time again from the Solomon Islands through to Tonga, to Papua New Guinea, that it is not reaching those who need it most and those who’ve done the least to cause the issues of climate change,” Hickey told Radio NZ.

Apart from PNG’s plan to burn coal for electricity, it has an alarming rate of illegal logging which has adverse effects for its indigenous communities.

According to Global Witness, “tens of thousands of Papua New Guinean people are having their land stolen by their own government”.

PNG’s Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, however, refuted this claim in an interview with Radio NZ.

He emphasised that the PNG government has taken appropriate measures with regard to the illegal logging and that a policy is underway via the Minister for Forests.

Summit talking point
Looking at climate change efforts as a whole, the minister added that it is a talking point for the APEC summit.

“It’s one of the key issues there, and what we’re doing and how the world can connect. That’s why we’ve asked the rest of the Pacific Island countries, their leaders to come so that each of them can tell their story in their own way to the leaders of the world… because the impacts of climate change are unique to each country. It’s not the one and the same.”

Talking point or not, PNG’s implementation efforts are lacking and greater accountability is required of the government.

If PNG’s absence from the High Ambition Coalition is anything to go by, it indicates poor governance to the Papua New Guineans feeling the impact of climate change.

With Fiji and the Marshall Islands leading the way in climate change efforts, PNG’s status as “big brother” not only wanes but projects corruption at its very core.

Pauline Mago-King is a masters student based at Auckland University of Technology and is researching gender-based violence in Papua New Guinea. She compiled this report for the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies course.

Twitter: @iamatalau04

Papua New Guinea’s government is under mounting pressure to account for a purchase of 40 luxury vehicles for next month’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the capital of Port Moresby.

Shipments of the Maserati sedans from Italy arrived in Port Moresby last week, to be used for ferrying around APEC leaders and other dignitaries at the summit on November 17-18.

APEC Minister Justin Tkatchenko said the Maseratis were “being committed to be paid for by the private sector” where demand was so keen they would sell “like hot cakes”.

READ MORE: Facts triumph PNG government spin in Maserati furore

Putting the value of each car at a little over US$100,000 (NZ$150,000), Tkatchenko initially said the Maseratis were being paid for with “no overall cost to the state”.

Amid a public outcry about the Maseratis, the opposition Madang MP Bryan Kramer said the deal could be illegal if the vehicles have been bought by the private sector without any cost to the government.

With PNG’s Public Finance Management Act requiring any state assets to be acquired or disposed of by calling for public tender, Kramer said the government must reveal when the public tender was called.

He has linked the purchase to an invoice for US$6,357,684 to PNG’s government from a Sri Lanka-based auto spare parts and sales company, Ideal Choices.

Since his earlier statement, the minister admitted to Australian media that the government paid a deposit for the purchase. But he has not explained how it would recover its costs after on-selling cars at what is expected to be a depreciated price tag.

Meanwhile, as the jigsaw around the costs of this opaque deal falls into place, the company which transported the cars, Air Bridge Cargo, confirmed its freight planes were chartered by PNG’s government.

Strike looms
Opposition MPs have called for a nationwide strike later this week in protest against the government’s Maserati deal, which has been criticised as being excessively extravagant for a government struggling to fund basic health services.

“While the country faces a polio outbreak, failing health and education systems, systemic corruption, and escalating law and order issues, prime minister (Peter) O’Neill appears to be more concerned about impressing world leaders,” Kramer said in a statement.

“The bottom line is, we cannot afford to be this extravagant. Our country is broke and the O’Neill government continues to be irresponsible and reckless.”

Facing calls to sack Tkatchenko and step down himself, O’Neill said yesterday that the vehicles would be sold to the private sector in a public tender.

This would happen in a transparent process, he explained, as soon as the APEC summit concluded in mid-November.

“Like many other international events that we have hosted in the past in the past 40 years, there has always been an arrangement where the private sector will buy those vehicles, so that it saves government money,” the prime minister explained.

Disastrous ‘optics’
But the Maserati deal has made for disastrous “optics”, triggering global media attention and outrage among Papua New Guineans.

“The Italian automobile manufacturer must now come out publicly to explain why they agreed to sell 40 Maseratis destined for PNG APEC to a small dealership based in Colombo, Sir Lanka,” said Kramer.

The outspoken MP said he could not envisage world leaders agreeing to be ferried in luxury vehicles that appear to be procured through a small backyard dealership.

However, Tkatchenko continues to defend the import, saying the kind of service provided through Maserati was standard for APEC summits.

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

• Allan Bird: Foreigners should not threaten Papua New Guineans in their own country

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says all 40 Maserati executive vehicles being delivered to Papua New Guinea for the use of world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month will be sold to the private sector by public tender after use.

He confirmed this would be conducted in a transparent process right after the APEC leaders’ summit on November 17-18 as frustrated opposition MPs have called for a two-day national strike this Thursday and Friday.

Opposition MP Bryan Kramer announced on social media he had spoken to Oro Governor Garry Juffa and East Sepik Governor Allan Bird at the weekend. They agreed to call the strike as a “nonviolent act of defiance” over the controversial K38 million (NZ$17.5 million) purchase.

READ MORE: Uproar as PNG buys 40 Maseratis for APEC summit

“We agreed that we are sick to death of seeing our people suffer while our own members of Parliament who were mandated to fight for our people’s welfare are instead colluding with overseas opportunists only to steal from our people,” Kramer said.

“We are disgusted. We have heard your views and expressions on social media and we share the same concerns about the corruption and scandals led by the O’Neill government.

“I asked for the support from governors Juffa and Bird and we have agreed that enough is enough. If we continue to sit back and watch you struggle to put your children through school in the hope of a job that will never exist, if the economy continues as it is, how can we call ourselves leaders?

“The degree of mismanagement and corruption is overwhelmingly out of control. If we are to wait any longer there will be nothing left to fight for.”

Former PM’s backing
A former prime minister, Sir Mekere Morauta, MP for Moresby North-West, also supported the strike call in protest at what he branded the “continuing corruption” by the O’Neill government.

“Astonishing revelations in the last couple of days about the crooked contract to buy luxury Maserati cars for APEC, and then secretly sell them to private sector cronies, is the last straw,” he said.

Prime Minister O’Neill said the government was doing nothing secret but was prepared to host a successful APEC summit next month.

When asked by Loop PNG to give a response to a statement by Australian politician Pauline Hanson about the 40 Maseratis, he said he did not respond to “racist” Australian politicians who had no idea about Papua New Guinea.

The prime minister added there had been no cuts to the PNG health budget as speculated on but the government had increased spending to combat the polio outbreak.

Increasing awareness
O’Neill said the government was also increasing awareness that parents must allow their children to be immunised early to avoid such diseases.

He added that like all previous events hosted by governments in the past, all vehicles would be sold to the private sector in a public tender.

The prime minister said all APEC hosting nations, including Australia, had provided appropriate standard vehicles for all leaders in the past.

O’Neill said it would be inappropriate for the country to transport national leaders in landcruisers.

One Nation Party Leader and Queensland Senator Pauline Hanson said she was furious with the government of PNG over the purchase of the Maserati vehicles, and called for the withdrawal of Australian aid.

The minister responsible for APEC, Justin Tkatchenko, described Hanson’s statement as not only defaming the country but a “total disgrace”.

Previous practice
Theckla Gunga of EMTV News reports: the practice of importing expensive vehicles for hosting APEC leaders’ summits has been adopted by host countries in the past.

In 2017, the Vietnamese government, through a public-private-partnership, imported Audi vehicles to use during the APEC leaders’ week.

Two years earlier, the Philippines imported 200 BMW sedans to ferry world leaders and delegates during the APEC summit.

After the meetings, those vehicles were sold to the public, or bought by the private sector.

The Pacific Media Centre has a content sharing arrangement with EM TV News.

• Maserati purchase made through Sri Lanka ‘backyard firm’

By Johnny Blades in Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea is preparing to host the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)  leaders summit in November.

Leaders of the world’s biggest powers will converge on the capital Port Moresby to discuss trade and investment.

It is billed by PNG’s government as the ultimate chance to unlock the resource-rich country’s economic potential.

Despite a struggling economy, and record debt levels, the government has gone on a borrowing spree to develop the city’s infrastructure in time for APEC on November 15-17.

Johnny Blades and Koroi Hawkins are in Papua New Guinea currently on assignment for RNZ Pacific. The Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Report has a content sharing agreement with RNZ.

• PNG facelifts for APEC but neglects gender-based violence 

With just three months to go until the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit in November, the Papua New Guinean government has been buckling down to preparations.

The capital of Port Moresby is going through a series of facelifts ranging from continual road upgrades to clean up campaigns.

While these infrastructure developments are needed, they cannot conceal the social issues currently plaguing Papua New Guineans.

One serious issue is the alarming rate at which violence, more specifically gender-based violence, continues to intensify in Papua New Guinea.

According to the World Health Organisation, two out of three PNG women have experienced violence from an intimate partner.

Where intimate partners are not the perpetrators of violence, Papua New Guinean women are vulnerable to violence particularly in their mobility within communities.

In October 2017, a woman was almost burned to death by a mob who had accused her of practising sorcery.

Rescued from mob
The woman who was later identified as “Elizabeth” from Eastern Highlands was rescued by police officers and taken to a hospital before the mob could do anything else to her.

Stories like that of Elizabeth reiterate that PNG women are more vulnerable than ever and violence is near impossible to escape.

The shows that violence permeates all levels of Papua New Guinean society and a wakeup call is needed for the government to act quickly.

Critics say the level of attention that is being devoted to the APEC leaders summit should also be applied to combatting gender-based violence.

PNG cannot reach development and prosperity until violence against women is dealt with, argued Australian journalist Jo Chandler in a 2014 analysis.

At present, the response to gender-based violence has centred on implementing a 2016 – 2025 National Gender-Based Violence strategy which was officially launched in 2017.

The strategy is intended to be a guide for the PNG government to facilitate the implementation of the legislation, policies and programmes needed to eliminate gender-based violence.

Family protection law
The government has also passed family protection legislation in 2014 to criminalise domestic violence and give more power to protection orders for survivors.

These achievements are a win for gender-based violence survivors as sectorial committees such as the Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC) will be more equipped to support them and their needs.

FSVAC national coordinator Marcia Kalinoe said the National Gender-Based Violence Strategy “consolidates the current work that is ongoing”.

“Fourteen years ago, there was not much sensitisation and gender mainstreaming and specialised services addressing the issue,” she said.

Kailonoe added that the various legislative changes and multisectoral response would be of great assistance to survivors for accessing support services.

Despite the PNG government’s current milestones and the support of partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and donors, PNG is ranked as 140 out of 146 countries in the Gender Inequality Index.

The journey to raise more awareness on gender-based violence has not been an easy feat due to “socially and culturally constructed norms”, as outlined by the UNDP.

Constant challenges
In Durrie Bouscaren’s interview with a UNDP-trained “human rights defender” Linda Tule in June, these social and cultural constructs of unequal power relations were highlighted.

Tule talked about how she had counselled three women a week in spite of operating out of her home and on a limited budget.

She even hosts these women if a safehouse has reached its full capacity.

This is the current scenario for survivors of gender-based violence in PNG.

People like Enid Barlong Kantha, who has worked in the gender-based violence field for more than 10 years, knows the ebbs and flows first-hand.

She says that “challenges remain a constant part of the battle” despite the country’s achievements.

“Even with political will, there is still a lack of resources; human resource, financial support and infrastructure. Where there are services, a lack of capacity hinders progress and continues to frustrate many.”

She adds that the lack of coordination among stakeholders and lack of statistics deter better cooperation and collaboration in the national response to gender-based violence.

Stepping into the future
Advocates recognise that ending gender-based violence in PNG, or anywhere else in the world, cannot be done overnight.

The journey will be long and change will be incremental.

Yet, there are corrective measures that can be taken particularly by the PNG government.

For one thing, more emphasis can be placed on decentralising services to not only the outer provinces but also areas that are rural, say advocates.

This compulsive need to upgrade Port Moresby for the world’s eyes has to stop as it is failing the majority of Papua New Guineans and exacerbating unequal gender and power relations.

There is only so much advocacy and awareness that can be funnelled into eliminating gender-based violence.

Services coupled with awareness, however, can eliminate some of the social and cultural constructs at play in PNG.

As Papua New Guinean journalist Scott Waide has said, “superstition thrives where service delivery is poor”.

Pauline Mago-King is a masters student based at Auckland University of Technology and is researching gender-based violence in Papua New Guinea. She compiled this report for the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies course.

• APEC home page for PNG