The National PNG – POLICE have stepped up patrols at the Koki and Badili bus stops in Port Moresby as they clamp down on petty crimes committed there.
National Capital District and Central Commander Chief Inspector Fred Tundu said anyone found to be in possession of knives, screwdrivers, iron bars and other dangerous objects would be arrested. Police units are rostered on shift duties in the area and will be on the lookout for troublemakers.
“It is like a hide-and-seek game played (by young men). When officers are at one location, they quickly move to another location making it very difficult for the officers who have only one vehicle,” he said.
He said the lack of manpower was a problem they were coping with and called on the people to support the police.
He encouraged them to post on the NCD Alert Facebook crime page any information they have on criminal activities.
Females are not only the main victims because males too are robbed of mobile phones, money and even food in plastics.
“We are starting to arrest those occupying the bus stop and blocking pedestrians,”Tundu said.
The Pacific Island countries (Kiribati, FSM, RMI, Palau, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu), the Samoa Recycling and Waste Management Association, SPREP and J-PRISM made a strong presence in the recently held 9th 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific held from the 4th to the 6th March 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Pacific delegation were among the 500 participants who gathered and discussed the transition to a circular economy and sufficiency economy. This year’s theme, “3R as a Way for Moving towards Sufficiency Economy – Implications for SDGs”, is very relevant considering the global issue on plastic wastes which, if not managed well, is polluting over our valuable oceans and marine resources. The challenge now is to put the circular economy and sufficiency economy philosophies in the Pacific context.
The PICs reported the developments on the implementation of the Hanoi 3R Declaration and made a strong impact on initiatives such as the Container Deposit legislations and banning single-use Plastic Products which have yet to be considered in bigger counterparts in the Asian region.
SPREP’s Waste Management and Pollution Control Programme Director, Dr. Vicki Hall, and JICA’s Global Environment Department’s Director overseeing the J-PRISM Project, Mr. Mimpei Ito, acted as resource persons in some of the plenary sessions. The PICs and our recyclers also had the opportunity to network with waste-related businesses across Asia and explored and assessed relevant technologies working well in our Asian counterparts during a roundtable dialogue to advance 3R through Public Private Partnerships in both regions.
By MARJORIE FINKEO, The National PNG At least 40 women and children a month flee their homes in Port Moresby because of sorcery-related violence and incest by stepfathers and uncles. Haus Ruth Crisis Centre for Abused Women and Children revealed that cases of sorcery and incest have increased markedly in the past decade. The number of women seeking refuge in the centre has increased. China Railway Construction Engineering (CRCE) PNG Ltd showed its support to these women on International Women’s Day on Friday with a surprise visit.
House Ruth Crisis Centre manager Monica Richards said women between the ages of 20 and 45 years were the largest group seeking help because of forced sex, jealousy, rape and other forms of domestic violence. “What we do is accommodate them, give them skills training like sewing and small business training, so that after two weeks when their term is over, they have better knowledge to go out and sustain themselves,” she said.
Victims get medical treatment and police and court clearance during their stay.
Richards said many teenagers from high schools escaped from their homes because of violence. CRCE human resources manager Athena Chow said women’s problems were everyone’s problems.
“It is very important to recognise women on their special day, as it is the only time we come out to talk about issues that are affecting women in society,” she said.
“They are very important people in the society. “They need to be protected, loved and cared for by their partners without fear.”
The centre has been receiving donations of clothes, funding and food.
By TREVOR WAHUNE, The National PNG A 46-YEAR-OLD man who raped his daughter for 12 years was jailed for 80 years on Friday.
And Justice Panuel Mogish said: “I wish you turn 126 years old in prison, if you are lucky enough to live that long. You have been raping your daughter since she was six.
“It’s a horrendous, heinous and an evil crime. Such sexual acts inflicted by a father on his daughter is a gross betrayal of the sacred paternal bond. “Sexual predators like you who preyed on the flesh of their own daughter is most despicable and inhumane. Sick human beings like you should be ostracised from decent communities and, peace and law-abiding citizens. “They should be banished from human society and made to live in a community of uncivilised animals.”
Justice Mogish lamented that he was worried that such cases were becoming prevalent in local societies. The man from Galeole in Talasea, West New Britain, pleaded guilty to raping his daughter when she was six in 2004 until she was 18 in April 2016.
The rapes were committed in Morobe and West New Britain where the family lived before moving to Port Moresby. The father was on remand at Bomana for two and a half years.
Justice Mogish said: “I agree with the State to not place much weight on the guilty plea as it was belated.” The aggravating factors were:
The victim was only six when she was sexually violated and was as young as 10 when she was sexually penetrated and that continued until she was 16;
For over 12 years, the father felt no guilt and continued raping his daughter;
There was a huge difference of 26 years between the father and daughter. She was six and he was 32;
The father had prior conviction of assaulting his wife and was jailed for six months in Lae in 2007; and
The father was violent towards his daughter and other relatives.
“Respect for the dignity of our womenfolk has diminished because of people who treat women as sex objects rather than as human beings who have the same rights and opportunities as men,” Justice Mogish said. The victim said in a statement: “Every daughter is her father’s pride. Unfortunately for me, it was the opposite. It saddens me to see girls getting along well with their fathers.
“It was not easy to absolve everything that happened because I lost my virginity to someone I did not love, but to my father. That’s very painful and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“My family has never been the same as before. We face hard times and always had arguments. The rapes caused disharmony.
“I feel torn apart and had thought of doing things I am not supposed to, but it was my mother’s courage and encouragement that gave me strength to pursue life and education. I initially dreamt of becoming a geologist but all was shattered because I couldn’t concentrate on my studies as I was constantly disturbed. I missed many classes to attend interviews.”
Justice Mogish told the man that “your daughter sees you as a monster. The sentence must serve as a deterrent to all.”
Melanisian Man were the first to loose their identity. How?
It was in the early 1500 when the first missionaries and explorers arrived on our shores, our man were rounded up, and force to do intensive labour on plantation, working 5am-5 pm, which at that time was very new to what they are used to doing, in Melanesia, Men and women dont work that hard, but they live a very healthy life. They usually work in the early part of the moning, then comes home and hangout in the village doing other task, like building or fixing canoes, mending fishing nets, building fish traps, or building houses, etc, (mens work), later in the afternoon they go back to work in the garden.
While women on the other hand, continue to do what they have been doing for generation? Looking after the kids, the family, the clan, cooking, gardening, fishing in some cultures, and making sure the family are well feed etc.
Then things start changing, Men after working in the plantation are too tired to do any thing in and around the house. Shared responsibilities like gardening, fishing, looking after the kids, becomes a womens full time job. Then we have the new introduce jobs in the house, that the white men brought, eg, washing cloths, brushing the pots, washing the plates, all these are also given to the poor women to do, including the traditional responsibilities the women already have.
Then Men with the new mindset taught to them by the white men, starting thinking that they are superior to women, they started acting like kings, and expecting the women to do everything, they men also become very aggresive if women fail her task in and around the house. The feeling of partnership and equality between men and women in our culture started disapering, men started loosing interest in their traditional responsibilities, they become confused not knowing what to do, where to go, they men then resort to alcohol to ease their confusion, resulting in wife beating, material affairs, broken families, hopeing those things will solve their problems, but still no solution.
Today alot of Melanisian men are very confused and are still searching for their real identity.
It was recently that the Melanisian women are standing up and saying, Men you are not doing it right, we can teach you how to do it. Womens Rights group are supporting women to fight against men. So women are also leaving their traditional responsibilities, thinking it would change the outcome for the better, but the conciquenses are the same has men, but much more demaging then their men folks, women are also becoming very aggresive around the house, having affairs at work, remarrying, and the list goes on. Women are the core of Life, the family, the culture, the clans, and everything that makes up who we are as a people. Once you change that, everything colaspe.
My point here is, Melanisian Men and women let us stop our inhouse fighting, over womens rights and mens rights, because we are both victim of an introduce system and mindset that we not aware of. And let us sit down together and discuss what we should do as a people to take back our loss Identity.
PEOPLE of the Pacific need to get ready to dramatically change their eating habits because the food revolution is coming soon to a screen near them.
The region’s first genuine reality TV show will not only entertain you but it packs an ultra-serious three course punch that will not only change many lives for the better but will even save some as well.
Intrigued?
Well this worthy series, which is the brainchild of NZ celebrity chef Robert Oliver, is a cross between the highly successful reality shows My Kitchen Rules (MKR) and Masterchef – wrapped up in a smorgasbord of Pacific tastes.
He told The Vanuatu Independent Online news this week that the overriding concept of the show goes back to his first cookbook which was released in 2014.
“I really looked hard at what local cuisine meant in the Pacific, what it consisted of and how it was more than just sitting down and eating, but was a part of the lives of the Pacific islanders,” he said.
“Along the way I saw how bad NCDs had become throughout the Pacific, and in particular diabetes which is a real scourge of the region, and I thought we could do something about it.
“I was not a big fan of reality TV until I was a judge on MKR and then I realized just how potent it is.
“So the Pacific Island Food Revolution is aimed at being a real movement, a social movement using the power of reality TV, radio and social media to change people’s eating behaviour.
“The Revolution will activate local cuisine knowledge and turn a mirror on the Pacific itself that reveals that eating fresh, local, indigenous foods is the answer to good health.’’
Mr Oliver said the show covers four countries – Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa – in 12 one-hour episodes.
“The reality TV program is like My Kitchen Rules but kinder and filled with Pacific heritage and humour,” he said.
“The challenges in the TV competition will look to provide solutions that people have identified as barriers to healthy eating such as convenience, taste and affordability.
“People can become Food Warriors on social media or at www.pacificislandfoodrevolution.com. There they can share their journeys and download toolkits, lesson plans for teachers and Pacific classrooms.’’
Chef Oliver said 24 talented but untrained cooks, working in pairs, from Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa will compete in the TV competition, which he hosts.
“The show will see the cooks embrace their Pacific food heritage and use local produce to create traditional or new flavoured dishes, while competing to win,” he said.
TV hosts of the Pacific Island Food Revolution, Dr Jone Hawea (Fiji), Fololeni Curr (Tonga), Robert Oliver, Pita Taufatofua (UNICEF), Dora Rossi (Samoa), Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur (Vanuatu).
Two Tongans, Fololeni Curr, and UNICEF Pacific Ambassador Pita Taufatofua, will be Robert’s co-hosts for some episodes of the show, along with Dr Jone Hawea from Fiji, Dora Rossi from Samoa, and Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur from Vanuatu.
Two winners will be taken from each episode through to the finals in Fiji.
“The entire show will be broadcast in Australia, New Zealand and throughout the Pacific for free, starting April,’’ he said.
He said it is funded jointly by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, with the pilot program costing AUD$7 million.
It was filmed last year and Robert said they are already working on a second series.
Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur and Robert Oliver.
Vanuatu’s two episodes were filmed at Breakas Resort near Port Vila with Voutausi as co-host.
“She is really remarkable – she delivered such knowledge and is really dynamic on screen.
“She is going to be a superstar, she is so authoritative,’’ he said.
Voutausi Mackenzie-Reur is the perfect co-host for the Revolution in Vanuatu because, through her own food company, Lapida Foods, she had been preaching the same message for many years.
“It was a lot of fun for me to do the show, but it also has an important message to sell,” she said.
“We need to reactivate the younger generation so they learn the right types of food that they should be preparing and eating.
“We want them talking to their grandparents and that generation about how they use local products to create a balanced diet that is healthy but good to eat.”
Voutausi said it is important that the contestants on the show are not professional chefs, but home cooks.
“It showed what could be done with the right ingredients and some knowledge.
“I really believe that a show like this can change the lives of whole communities for the better.”
She said she was going to be a part of the second series and hoped the show would run for at least three or four series.
“It is lots of fun to be involved, you learn about your own food styles and it has a really important message.”
Locals face polluted seas and dying fish after Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier runs aground close to Unesco-protected atoll
On a normal weekend, the waters of Kangava Bay would be busy with children playing or collecting clam shells and villagers heading out to catch reef fish to eat. But last Sunday the bay was quiet.
Locals can no longer cool off in the neon blue waters of Rennell Island, a tiny dot in the vast South Pacific that lies at the southern tip of the Solomon Islands. They can no longer spot parrotfish swimming in the shallows, picnic on the sand or fetch fresh water from streams and springs near the sea.
The reason lies just yards offshore. It is hard to miss. Four weeks ago the huge Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier MV Solomon Trader, carrying 700 tonnes of oil, ran aground on Kongobainiu reef after becoming loosed from its mooring. Now dead fish float in the bay. The tide is black. A thick oily blanket of tar covers the surface of the water and coats beaches, rockpools, logs and leaves.
The coastal villages of Matanga, Vangu, Lavangu and Kangava have been the hardest hit by the oil spill. Paul Neil, who lives in Lavangu village, told the Guardian that children had been told not to swim in the sea and that fishing had been banned for the foreseeable future. With no way to find their own food, the villagers were now depending on deliveries from the capital Honiara, 150 miles away. Neil said the slick had changed the local way of life.
“Now we cannot use our sea and reef to do fishing and find shells to eat. We really suffered from it,” he said.
Steward Seuika, whose family live close to Kangava Bay, said residents had been forced to drink rainwater after fresh water collected from springs near the shore became contaminated with oil.
“The oil slick affects our corals and marine life. It also contaminates our water which comes out from the stones on the land near the beach. So now we run out of clean water to drink.”
As well as the food shortages, some locals have reported being burned after coming into contact with the oil while trying to clean it up. There were also reports that others were struggling to sleep because of the smell.
“Some people reported experiencing skin burns after the oil stuck on their body,” McQueen Bahenua, the provincial disaster officer, said.
A man-made disaster
The people of Rennell Island are accustomed to natural disasters. The remote atoll is regularly buffeted by cyclones and inundated by floods. But four weeks ago disaster came in a different guise.
In the early hours of 5 February, the seas were swelled by a cyclone, and the huge ship ran aground on Kongobainiu reef. The 225-metre long tanker had been loading bauxite from a nearby mine when it somehow was cast adrift.
One week after the ship ran around, the coral cut a gash on its side, spilling 80 tonnes of oil into the pristine waters of the bay. Now the slick extends for six kilometres. On Sunday, it could be seen spreading out from the stricken carrier, as if it was bleeding.
The authorities are scrambling to get to grips with what has become the biggest man-made disaster in the nation’s history. They are desperate to stem the flow of oil before it reaches the southernmost part of the island, known as East Rennell. The Unesco protected is home to the largest raised coral atoll in the world.
The UN body describes East Rennell – with its unique limestone formations, large lake and dense forest – as “a true natural laboratory for scientific study”.
Anger and frustration
Among the villages and beyond, anger at the pace of the response from the shipping company and Solomon Islands government is mounting.
There have been reported frustrations that King Trader and its South Korean insurer, Korea P&I Club, are not moving fast enough to take responsibility. While the insurance company has engaged a salvage company in the Solomon Islands to secure and remove the ship, so far the bulk of the oil remains on board.
An investigation has also been launched into how the bulk carrier, chartered by Indonesian mining company Bintan Mining IC, was allowed to run aground.
King Trader and Korea P&I Club have apologised, describing the situation as “ totally unacceptable”. In a statement the companies said “although matters of liability are yet to be determined… [we] have expressed deep remorse”. The statement said they were “acutely aware of environmental damage” and were working as quickly as possible to bring the spill under control.
Aerial surveillance taken by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has shown little progress on stopping oil leaking from the vessel. Experts say the clean-up operation could take months. But for residents of Rennell and its precious reefs, time is short.
The senior fisheries officer of Renbel province, Job Hukaoana, warns the bulk carrier must be removed quickly because low tides could cause further problems.
“If there is a low tide in the coming months, the carrier may capsize. If the bulk carrier capsizes in the sea, it will cause another huge man-made disaster.”
The MV Solomon Trader along the coastline of Rennell Island Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images
His frustration is echoed by neighbouring governments and conservation groups concerned at the pace of the clean-up. Australia’s high commissioner to the Solomon Islands, Roderick Brazier, says the spill is an “ecological disaster”.
In Kavanga Bay, residents are anxious for life to get back to normal and get back in the water.
But OceansWatch Solomon Islands spokesman Lawrence Nodua believes the situation is only going to get worse.
“The communities around Lughu Bay, with an estimated 300 people residing along the coast will not be able to have fresh fish for food for unknown length of time,” he says.
“It is only a matter of time before the oil reaches the world heritage area.”
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