China Not a Development Partner But Loan Shark in PNG

WHICH DONORS CONTRIBUTE THE MOST TO PNG? While discussing 2020 Budget papers many members of NEC were surprised to find out just how much PNG receives from our donor partners. (Facebook/Kramer Report)

Note: This post was later retracted by the writer)

In 2020 PNG will receive close to K1 Billion in free development funds to assist us in our development goals.

Topping the list was Australia contributing K745m while China only contributes K7m

• Australia K745.0 m (81%)  
• European Union K80.0 m (8.7%) 
• United Nations K41.7 m  
• New Zealand K22.9 m
• China K7.0m
• USA K5.0 m 

In contrast when you look at it from how much we borrow, China tops the list on K450m. 

• China K446.2 m 
• ADB K437.6 m 
• World Bank K185.50 m 
• Japan K181.3 m 
• India K7.7 m 
• Australia K0.0 m 

Some countries are happy to lend us money where they benefit from the interest earned and conditional to their companies being awarded the contracts. Source National Planning Department 2020 Capital Investment Budget.

This piece of article is damning. Read here

Youth Participation: A Bridge to Opportunities - Nigel Akuani

Port Moresby: Real opportunities that benefit young people bring about effective youth participation.

This reflective statement was made by the Year-Eleven students of Jubilee Catholic Secondary during their talk on the topic ‘Youth Participation in Decision Making’ on TribeFM’s Chatroom program of Wednesday 13th November.

In their discussion the students dealt with a definition of the topic, its importance, factors affecting participation, importance of role models, recommendations and a call for the government to assist with the empowering of young people.

Jamieson Lalaga defined youth as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to the independence of adulthood. He said that adults need to understand this. 

“This transition allows a young person’s consciousness, active participation, creativity, independence and ability to take responsibility for their actions. Effective youth participation is about creating opportunities for young people to be involved in influencing, shaping, designing and contributing to policy and the development of services and programs,” he said.

Ian Waho stressed the importance of youth participation in decision making and said it was essential for young people to contribute effectively and positively to society.

Solange Dawana spoke of the proper role models in society. 

“Youth involvement in decision making is lacking in Papua New Guinea because many young people today do not have someone positive to look up to,” she said. “In Papua New Guinea we tend to give the upper hand to the elders in our society because of our respect for them. To achieve cooperation, participation and workflow in society, young people have to be acknowledged and given the opportunity to act,” she added.

Felicianna Konga concluded the discussions recommending that the elders in society to provide pathways necessary for young people to contribute on matters. 

“They need to be given a chance to speak their minds, if not, they will tend to look for it elsewhere.  They will be going against adult supervision without a second thought as to whether their decisions are good or bad,” she said.

Chatroom’s next session on Wednesday 20th November will have Students of St Charles L’wanga Secondary and Specialists from UNICEF discuss the importance of the upcoming ‘International Children’s Day’.

Port Moresby Nature Park has reopened its gates after closure

Port Moresby Nature Park has reopened its gates following a nine-day closure, much to the relief of the NCD community, school groups and tour companies, following orders of the National Court this morning.

Public Statement re Re-opening/Facebook

Port Moresby Nature Park is the only internationally wildlife-welfare accredited facility in the South Pacific Islands, obtained by the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia firmly cementing the as one of the world’s top wildlife facilities, with proven commitment to animal welfare, conservation, education and research.

HERE IS THE REASON WHY PORT MORESBY NATURE PARK WAS CLOSED

The Nature Park is happy to be back serving the community, teaching school children, training university students, conducting research, saving wildlife and providing venue hire and fun activities for friends and family to come together.

The Nature Park's immediate priority is to recommence our school excursion program, “Beasts with Bites”, which had been suspended due to the closure resulting in over 1,444 school students missing out on the program last week.  

Our focus is to ensure that any school classes that were prevented from coming to the Park last week will have the opportunity to participate in the ‘Beasts with Bite’ schools' program as we will extend the program to ensure no schools or students miss out this great learning opportunity. 

In light of the festive season, the Nature Park will also run a special promotion for Christmas parties. We wish to thank all the businesses and families that have booked to host their functions at the Park as we do encourage more to do so in support of the Park.

The management and staff would like to convey our deepest gratitude to the community,  our sponsors and NCDC in particular for the support throughout. We are eager to continue delivering our mission for the benefit of all.

Nature Park Forced Closure Land Issue

The Nature Park in Port Moresby is closed for business indefinitely. The park was affected in a dispute over the land.

Pic: Twitter/@ConfigGuyPOM

Why Nature Park Closure

It is known that the University of Papua New Guinea owns the land on which the park is situated. However, the National Capital District Commission, Lands Department and University of Papua New Guinea are in a debacle over the land forcing the Nature Park to close indefinitely.

The long time residents of Port Moresby would recall how rundown the facilities and grounds were before a new park management came in 2014/2015. It was a wasteland of broken boardwalks, rubbish and dead plants.

Understandably, the park and its owner must pay any money  it owed to UPNG. But does it have to end up with a court battle? Sadly, not!

There are probably other intervention or mediation measures the landlord can take to not disturb the operations of the park.

The Nature Park, in a statement, said

'The recent announcement of the indefinite closure of the Port Moresby Nature Park is a result of a land acquisition matter before the courts between the Department of Lands, the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) and University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG).'  Official Statement 12/11/2019

Have all avenues being exhausted before  the landlord went to court?

I am sure UPNG, in its wisdom, can seek re-address through the city hall or talk directly to the park management to amicably resolve this issue.

Perhaps the first thing in this debacle is allowing public access to the park. In an ideal world, the disgruntled parties would not see it fit to hold the public to ransom for some uncollected debt.

Also, the Nature Park and its owner must pay any money it owes to UPNG as per the Contract Agreements, if any.

It is, in fact, sad to see a recreational area so used and so enjoyed by the general public (and at this busy time) has closed.

So, in the best interest of the users of this beautiful and well-managed park in the city, please resolve this matter immediately.

Let us, the public, use the park and its recreational grounds as we approach the Christmas holidays and festive periods.

Follow the conversation on Twitter. Let us know what you think.

Here is the Public Statement released by the Nature Park management on their Facebook page on the 12th November 2019.

                  

   ---------------STATEMENT----------------

Port Moresby Nature Park recently celebrated its obtainment of International Wildlife Welfare-Accreditation from the Zoo and Aquarium Association of Australasia, the first Pacific Island facility to have passed what is considered globally as the most scientific and rigorous assessment of animal management for zoos and wildlife facilities.  This comes after 7 years of tremendous transformational change with over K7million in public-private partnership funding being spent in the redevelopment of the Park.  As a charitable organisation, the Park has and continues to rely heavily on the commitment of NCDC, the generosity of sponsors and donors, and visitation by the community.   

It was NCDC’s vision to establish the Charitable Trust, overseen by an independent board that would become PNG’s leading recreational space inspiring through education the guardianship of PNG’s unique natural environment.

When one visits the Nature Park it is evident of the staffs commitment to delivering exceptional experiences.  The Nature Park is now the highest visited attraction in Papua New Guinea with over 140,000 visitors, including over 24,000 school students that attend the Park’s educational schools-excursion programs.  In fact, next year the Park will reach it’s 1 millionth visitor through the Park.  Further to this, the Park is a shiny example of the tourism potential of Papua New Guinea and regularly plays a tourism role for key International Events such as APEC and is visited by almost 1 in 5 international visitors to this country.

Over the last 4 years, the Park has taken seriously its role in wildlife conservation and research through its dedication to wildlife conservation and research supporting CEPA, our universities, PHD students and conservations organisations.  This has included the rescue and rehabilitation of hundreds of injured, orphaned and abandoned wildlife, research into pig-nosed turtles growth rates and the release of turtles back into the wild, and breeding programs for endangered and little-known PNG animal species.   The Nature Park has provided many, many opportunities for undergraduate and further education students to gain valuable on-the-job training and skills.

Not only has the Papua New Guinean community taken notice of the Park successes, but so too the Park has shone on the Global stage receiving a number of prestigious awards including a 2016 Award for Innovation and in 2018 an Education Award, both by the Zoo & Aquarium Association of Australasia. The Nature Park was also inducted into the Zoos Victoria Hall of Fame Awards for its commitment to partnership development in 2017 and in 2019 the Park became the first attraction in PNG to receive a Hall of Fame award by TripAdvisor for 5 years of continuous Certificates of Excellence from TripAdvisor. 

Port Moresby Nature Park has quickly become a shining example of what can be achieved through public and private partnership and what a small, charitable organisation can achieve with the right strategic planning, leadership, NCDC, Government and business support, and when combined with a motivated and passionate workforce dedicated to the service of the community.  The Park has always dared to dream big for the benefit of the community and biodiversity.

The recent announcement of the indefinite closure of the Port Moresby Nature Park is a result of a land acquisition matter before the courts between the Department of Lands, the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) and University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG).

NCDC has managed and funded the site since 1993 (formerly as the Botanical Gardens and now Port Moresby Nature Park) investing tens of millions of Kina in this time to ensure that throughout the space has remained opened for the public.

The Port Moresby Nature Park remains committed to NCDC and its goal of securing recreational spaces and activities that improves the lives of its citizens.  Recreational spaces are an important extension of community and when they work well, they serve as sacred spaces to stage our public lives.  Additionally, the Nature Park serves as a facility for education, tourism, research and conservation, all vital activities worth securing for future generations to come.

The management of the Port Moresby Nature Park would like to take the opportunity to thank the general public for its outpouring of support towards our organisation.  Please stand firm in the knowledge that the Nature Park is committed to the community and to conservation and with the support of NCDC will continue to ensuring that the Park remains PNG’s leading recreational space dedicated through education to the guardianship of PNG’s unique natural environment.

We look forward to opening our doors once more and will advise the community in due course.

Ends.