The week that was – ending 2 December 2013 – The lifting of the order, women’s issues, a pay rise and the re-writing of history.

By PNG Echo

It has indeed been a landmark week in Papua New Guinea, if only for the lifting of a long-standing restraining order on the tabling of the Commission of Inquiry into the Finance Department.

The injunction taken out years ago (seven?) by the legal firm Paraka Lawyers, prevented the damning findings of the inquiry (where Mr Paraka makes frequent star appearances) from being tabled in parliament.

Hon Sam Basil, Deputy Leader of the Opposition wrote that Paraka flew to Alotau and obtained the injunction “…on a Saturday.”  Urgent indeed!

Consequently, alleged thieves have had many years respite from prosecution and carte blanche to carry on their thieving ways.

Why have respective Attorneys General, since 2006, left it in place and without challenge until now?

The findings now need to be acted upon.  This Inquiry cost K30 million – the money should not be wasted.

Women – a humanitarian crisis.

Bravo to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC), (headed by the tireless Ume Wainetti) and government and aid agencies for a successful meeting/conference in Port Moresby last week to kick start the 16 days of global activism against gender violence.

The conference – with the support of MSF and FVAC – committed to opening safe houses and support centres throughout the country, the first of these opened in Port Moresby in May 2013.

Paul Brockman, Head of Mission for MSF told the Guardian:

[when]…we started working in Port Moresby patient numbers doubled from September to October… It sounds like a bad indicator, like more people are being attacked, but it’s not. It means that more people are coming for care.

And there’s no doubt, abused women are in dire need of professional care.

However, Brockman lamented that an inefficient public service consistently fails to provide an avenue for the disbursement of available funds.  He said:

One thing we hear from the national government frequently is that it’s not a problem of availability of money. It’s a problem of making sure the money gets to the right place.

Public servants please note:  This is urgent!  (Far more so than paying Paraka his dubious millions) Prioritize!

I am reluctant to point out, yet again, the unbelievable statistics or tell another horrific story for fear of adding to the ennui and the desensitization to an issue that has almost become normalized.  Apathy is the enemy here.

The PM says it’s the ‘Year of Implementation’ – there is NO ISSUE in PNG that is more urgent.

Perhaps things would be different were there more female representation in the PNG Parliament – there needs to be.

Dame Carol Kidu, may no longer be in parliament but this human dynamo is not done.

Last week ,Dame Carol addressed a conference of women at the Parliament House of NSW. There she re-established her support for parliamentary seats for women in PNG – an idea that was dropped like a hot potato when the, largely male, MPs stymied the initiative while pretending to support it.

She pointed out that during her tenure in office she was the sole female – 1% of the parliament from a demographic of around 50% – what’s neither representative nor democratic.

 A pay rise

It was reported in the Sunday Chronicle that MPs will be getting a pay rise.  While this is never a popular move, anywhere, I’m torn on the subject.  Remuneration for this most important of jobs should be adequate – but with the number of MPs that (allegedly and actually) help themselves anyway, why bother?

…and history rewritten

The failed parliamentary candidate and self-professed corruption fighter, Noel Anjo Kolao, has revealed who was really behind the political coup of August 2011 – it was him – he was!

In an extract from Facebook discussion site Sharp Talk he boasts:

If I can remove Grand Chief, Sir Micheal [sic] Somare father and founder of PNG. Who is PO? You talking about the grand chief of thieves and liars. I saved his ass from going to prison and made him PM. Therefore I have the right to remove his testicals [sic] because under his leadership, corruption is bad to worse.(Nov 28, 10.30 a.m. via mobile)

 

He can do all this, single-handedly, yet can’t spell ‘Michael’ nor ‘testicles’  – he can only remove them, apparently.  (Was that before or after grandmother, Lady Veronica, Sir Michael’s wife allegedly beat up Kolao?)

And here’s us, all the time, believing that it was Namah’s coup (because that’s what Namah told us) in cahoots with former Speaker Jeffrey Nape. (Where is the former Speaker, I miss him – such a rich vein of material? )

Phew! Glad we got that straight then Noel.