University students in Papua New Guinea are protesting against the signing of a defence cooperation agreement with the United States which is expected to take place today in Port Moresby.

Since 6am this morning, students from universities from around the country have been calling for more transparency from the government.

The student president at the University of Technology in Lae, Kenzie Walipi, said the government must explain exactly what was going to be in the deal ahead of the signing.

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“If such an agreement is going to affect us in any way? We have to be made aware,” Walipi said.

“An agreement of this magnitude must go before Parliament. There must be clarity. The people must be made aware of the implications.”

Walipi said they were coordinating protests with student colleagues in other universities around the country.

Students at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) gathered at the Waigani campus.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Frank Griffin said the university administration would facilitate the presentation of a petition to government.

“Our job is not to say whether it [the petition] is in order or not in order. Our job is to actually help them with bringing it through the right processes to the attention of our Prime Minister,” Professor Griffin said.

Deal will ‘enhance security cooperation’ — US
A fact sheet outlining US engagements with Papua New Guinea was released by the US Department of State yesterday. It said:

“On May 22, Secretary [Antony] Blinken will sign a Defense Cooperation Agreement, which, when it enters into force, will serve as a foundational framework upon which our two countries can enhance security cooperation and further strengthen our bilateral relationship, improve the capacity of the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF), and increase stability and security in the region.

“The United States expects to publish the text of the Defense Cooperation Agreement after entry into force, consistent with US law.”

The fact sheet noted the defence cooperation was just one of multiple new initiatives the US was entering into with Papua New Guinea.

“The United States will continue to partner with PNG on strengthening economic relations, security cooperation, and people-to-people ties, as well as promoting inclusive and sustainable development, including through plans to work with Congress to provide over $45 million in new programming,” it said.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are expected to sign the agreement today prior to Blinken also meeting with leaders from the 14 other Pacific Islands countries who are in Port Moresby.

Pacific leaders will also be meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who landed in the PNG capital overnight on his way back to India from the G7 summit in Japan.

Monday’s meeting will be the third in-person Pacific-India summit Modi has attended, the other two being in Jaipur, India in 2015 and Suva, Fiji in 2014.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

A massive earthquake has sent shockwave across PNG with at least four dead, properties and key infrastructure destroyed and fears of a mounting death toll.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck at 9:45am yesterday and rocked the newly-built five-star dormitories at the University of Goroka, leaving about 7600 students homeless and forcing PNG Power to shut down the country’s biggest dam at Yonki.

The plant generates and supplies power to Morobe, Madang and the Highlands region. Parts of Highlands Highway in the Markham Valley were cracked open.

• READ MORE: Fears of rising death toll after powerful earthquake rocks eastern Papua New Guinea
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At the UoG, the students rushed down the stairways and scurried out of the dormitories as a debris of brick blocks, metals and glasses crashed around them. The ceilings and walls cracked open and a section of one of the buildings’ roofs collapsed.

“The earthquake of whatever size it was has hit all our new dormitories to the very core of their foundations,” said a university academic, Dr Maninga.

“We invite the structural engineering professionals to assess the damage before we make any serious decision.

“We will also enquire with the national geohazard centre if we are to expect another earthquake and of what magnitude.

“Also, we look forward to meeting with a team from the DHERST (Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology) with Minister Don Polye.

Tackling the emergency
“This unfortunate natural disaster has placed us in an emergency situation and we look forward to meeting with them to address this emergency. In the meantime, the students are advised to find shelters where they can.

“Those students from outside the province can use the classrooms for studies and lodging as well.

“The mess will be opened and continue to serve the students.”

The UoG students council representative, Melvin Kink, said the students understood the situation they were in now and would cooperate with the administration to live through it until further advice.

He also told the PNG Post-Courier that their library building was also affected.

PNG Power advised of a total power system outage in Morobe, Madang and the Highlands region following the earthquake.

The power supplier confirmed reports of damages at the Ramu Hydro power station and switch yard and advised that their team would carry out a proper check before they could safely restore power supply to their customers.

First medivac from landslide
The Post-Courier received a report of Manolos Aviation making its first medivac of a couple injured in a landslide as a direct result of the earthquake out of Kabwun district in Morobe Province.

In the Rai Coast, Madang Province, reports were going viral on social media of people and properties buried in landslides.

In Yelia Local Level Government constituency of Obura-Wanenara district in Eastern Highlands Province, Kevin Kojompa, a teacher at the Yelia Primary School, said staff houses were destroyed.

The National Disaster Centre acting director Martin Mose said he had not yet received a full report on the nationwide effects of the earthquake.

Yesterday was a weekend day and the Post-Courier was unable to reach the National Disaster Centre or its provincial branches bout the effects of the earthquake.

Meanwhile, aircraft were using Goroka Airport after the earthquake, which signals that it was not affected.

Republished with permission.

Amid uncertainty and a court battle over the University of Goroka’s vice-chancellor seat, Higher Education Minister Wesley Raminai surprised staff and students by leading the university’s interim council members onto the campus to be “sworn in”.

The usually quiet study-friendly Humilaveka campus atmosphere was disrupted by a chanting group of Huli wigmen until the delegation arrived about noon, reports The National.

The majority of staff and students, gripped by confusion, were not present to provide a traditional university reception.

• READ MORE: Row over University of Goroka post

Only a handful of senior staff members received the delegation.

Raminai led them to the Mark Solon Auditorium board room.

The members were sworn in by Goroka District Court Senior Magistrate Josephine Nindue.

They were Joe Wemin (chairman), Dr Goru Hane Nou, Takale Tuna, Johnson Kent, Nelson Auwo, Rose Koyama, John Sari, Steven Nujuitu, Robin Guebianbazzynu, Wayne Joseph and Lavert Ganimo.

Raminai congratulated the interim council members, describing the council as balanced with members from all regions of Papua New Guinea.

Police serve court order
The new council members were then ushered out of the campus to a luncheon when police served a National Court order on Raminai, Wemin and acting vice-chancellor Dr Teng Waninga.

The order dismissed a motion Dr Waninga had filed in court to restrain chancellor Dr Joseph Sukwianomb and vice-chancellor Professor Musawe Sinebare and their agents from interfering with Waninga’s management of the unversity.

Dr Sukwianomb is a former vice-chancellor of the University of Papua New Guinea and a onetime manager of the Prime Minister’s Department.

Lawyers Hebert Wally and Tony Waisi for Sukwianomb and Sinebare advised that the order had weakened Dr Waninga and Wemin’s position at the university with any activity following the service being deemed legally “in contempt”.

Late last month, the Chief Justice, Sir Gibbs Salika, had ordered the minister not to interfere with the university leadership.

The service of the document was received and acknowledged by Raminai, Wemin and Dr Waninga through their lawyers.

However, Raminai then allowed Wemin to chair his first council meeting as “chancellor”.

Wemin appointed as the disputed officers Dr Waninga as vice-chancellor, Dr Steven Potek (pro-vice chancellor policy and planning), Dr Mathew Landu (pro-vice chancellor academic, research and innovation), Naomi Kouse (registrar) and Jim Mek (bursar).

The appointments were for a short term of six months.

Republished with permission from The National.

Andrew Winstanley talked to Pacific Media Centre director professor David Robie about the unrest and the latest developments.

The University of Papua New Guinea has abandoned the 2016 academic year and suspended the Student Representative Council, stripping it of its campus power.

• Listen to the 95bFM interview here
• 95bFM live streaming
• UPNG abandons 2016 academic year

Justice Andrew will be supported by a team of technical and legal experts that will soon be appointed.

This follows the killing of an engineering student at the University of Technology at Lae by off-campus attackers last weekend, the burning of buildings and cars at the University of Papua New Guinea and clashes at the University of Goroka last week,  and the police opening fire on peacefully protesting students at UPNG on June 8 with some 23 people wounded.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said in a statement the commission was essential in helping to better understand what transpired in recent weeks, as well as preventing a repeat in the future.

“We all need answers, right around the country, to understand the factors leading to the escalation of student protests and the acts of violence that we have seen in recent weeks,” O’Neill said.

“This Commission of Inquiry will be independent and thorough and seek to get to the bottom of this issues identified in its terms of reference.

“I call on all relevant parties to work with the Commission of Inquiry as members go about their tasks.”

The Commission of Inquiry will look into the following matters leading to protests and violence of recent weeks:

•       The role of the Student Representative Councils
•       The role of the management of the affected universities
•       The role of police
•       Whether there was outside influence and whether students were incited to encourage unrest at the universities.

The full terms of reference for the investigation will be published in the coming weeks after being finalised, the statement said.

Meanwhile, in other developments yesterday reported by Loop PNG after six weeks of anti-government student protests and class boycotts:

• National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop earlier called on Prime Minister O’Neill to make a bold decision to find a solution to the ongoing destruction of properties and students’ fight at state-run universities. “I call upon the Prime Minister to take immediate and decisive action to arrest the situation,” Parkop said, while he also challenged students to take responsibility of their future and not destroy university property.

• Minister for Works and Implementation Francis Awesa condemned the killing of a first-year male engineering student at the University of Technology in Lae last weekend. Awesa described the brutal murder of the student in his room as “a very primitive, barbaric and a cowardly act” by criminals lacking intelligence and had no regard at all for human lives.

• A group of men broke into two rooms at the Luavi hall of residence for female students at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby around 1am yesterday morning. Only six female students were at Luavi 3 and were located a few floors above the site of robbery.”I heard a loud hammering below me then I heard men walking up and down the stairs,” a final year student said. “I woke up and used my bed to block the door. There were no guards … It’s very unsafe on campus.”

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By Camela Gware, Charles Yapumi and a Citizen Journalist in Port Moresby 

Students at the University of Papua New Guinea today refused to return to classes and about 40 daubed themselves in red earth in “haus krai” mourning for their wounded fellow-students still in hospital.

The vice-chancellor, Professor Albert Mellam, said last Friday students would return normally to classes from today, but the mourning protest of the painted haus krai students was the significant development of the day.

It is understood at least two students who were critically wounded by police gunfire at UPNG last Wednesday are still being treated in Port Moresby General Hospital.

In other protests today, there were clashes at both the campuses of University of Technology in Lae and the University of Goroka in the Eastern Highlands.

Protesters, now in the sixth week of action, are calling on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to resign and face an investigation into corruption allegations.

“This is to show that we are still in a haus krai. We are not in the mood to attend classes,” a student leader, Christopher Kipalan, announced to those on campus.

‘Sign of respect’

“Pasin Melanesia na mipla peintim pes na kam,” he said. “This is a sign of respect to our fellow students who are still on the sick bed,” another student said.

“We are not here to destroy anything. We want the administration to understand our plight and not force us to go to class.”

The line of students increased during the day as they walked around campus back to the Forum Square.

Only a handful of students could be seen on the ground for classes.

But the mood was quiet and orderly.

Fighting at Goroka
At the University of Goroka campus in the Eastern Highlands town of Goroka, police were called in to control students fighting each other over a disagreement to resume class.

“The situation got out of hand, yesterday and today,” chancellor Joseph Sukwianomb told Loop PNG today.

He could not confirm the number of students injured but said the casualties were from both sides due to stones being thrown and fired from slight shots. Bows and arrows were also being used.

“A number of students have been injured and taken to the hospital,” Dr Sukwianomb said.

“We have called police in just now to, first stop the fight and evacuate the injured students.

“The student group is a small number, made up of Enga and Western Highland students who want to continue with the boycott, while some students from Eastern Highlands and Chimbu want to return to class.

“The situation escalated when there were serious disagreements between those who wanted to return to class and those that wanted to continue the boycott.”

In Lae, an Engan student suffered knife wounds to his body after a fight broke out at the University of Technology’s Lae campus yesterday afternoon.

The student was rushed to Angau General Hospital by the Unitech clinic ambulance and he was reported to be in a stable condition.Today the situation on the ground was quiet but tense.

Loop PNG was reliably informed by a student that the fight broke out at the conclusion of a student forum hosted by the Unitech administration and Student Representative Council.

The student, who wanted to remain anonymous for safety reasons, claimed the attack on the general student body by Southern Highlands students was preplanned.

Fighting at Goroka campus

Highlands unrest follows PNG police crackdown