Participants show off their certificates, birthing kits, shirts and caps with representatives from MMJV, trainers and government officers. The shirts and caps are part of the Healthy Baby campaign known as ‘Malolo Liklik’, supported by the National Health Department and Population Services International.

The Bulolo district health division in partnership with Morobe Mining Joint Ventures (MMJV) are committed to empowering village women through village birth attendant (VBA) training as a means of reducing infant and maternal mortality in the Bulolo district of Morobe province.

Recently, 25 women from the Biangai villages in Wau were the recipients of the second such training funded by MMJV when qualifying for certificates after a successful two-week course.
The women were also certified as village volunteers responsible for tuberculosis patients in their villages and as an added bonus, were presented complete birthing kits containing items such as buckets, lamps, gloves and razor blades to assist with a clean and safe delivery thanks to Zonta Birthing Kits Foundation of Australia (ZIFA).
ZIFA is part of the Zonta International Foundation worldwide organisation that supports programmes to improve the wellbeing of women and girls everywhere.
According to Zonta PNG representative, Pedro Jericho, Bulolo district was the first to receive the birthing kits outside of NCD which were the only recipients so far through donations to St Johns and the Port Moresby General Hospital.
“Thanks to MMJV this relationship marks the first time for Zonta’s programme to be extended beyond NCD and shows what we can achieve by pooling resources and networking together and we look forward to continuing this relationship,” he said.
MMJV general manager sustainability and external Relations, David Wissink stressed the importance of partnerships in making sure programmes such as the VBA training and aid posts were completed and sustained.
He said for any programme, facility or training to be effective, the participation of stakeholders was needed in the form of sweat equity or contribution to ensure ownership and commitment for the long term benefit of everyone.
“At MMJV, this PPP approach applies with all our other partners and we remain committed to continuing the relationship with the provincial health division and non-government organisations to implement health programmes aimed at further improving the lives of our stakeholders,” Wissink said.
Provincial programme advisor – health, Dr Likei Theo commended the partnership saying together MMJV and the provincial health division were working at addressing these issues according to the national government’s plan of reducing maternal mortality rate.
The VBA training was conducted by experienced Bulolo district health VBA trainer, Sr Rose Bosimbe while the TB component was conducted by Huon Gulf district advocacy communication & social mobilisation (ACSM) coordinator, Millie Meren.
The women from Wau are the second lot to receive the training.
The first were from the landowner villages of the Wafi project.
Similarly, they were taught theory and practical lessons on clean and safe delivery and to identify signs of complications in mothers during pregnancy and when to refer them to seek medical help.
Part of their practical lesson involved a visit to the Bulolo hospital where they assisted in the delivery of a baby.

Basil engages with rural communities in the highlands

Deputy Leader of Opposition Sam Basil has began engaging with rural population to educate them on current state of the nation, parliament and politics in general.

Sam Basil flanked by Kiamuga  congregation members,  Eastern Highlands province

“The people must know what their leaders are doing and the state of the nation as a result of that leadership. It’s their right – and it should be our privilege to serve them in this way,” Basil said.

In what was his first official trip since becoming Deputy Leader of Opposition, Basil travelled to Mul-Baiyer electorate to one of Lae’s long time businessman Koi Trappe to pay respects to Trappe’s late mother, Ms Mano Enta on Saturday June 4.

Sam Basil and Francis Kap in Peace Valley Village , Baiyer  River,  Western Highlands province

Trappe is the managing director of Traisa Transport one of the premier transport companies operating between Lae and Highlands for over 30 years contributing to Lae’s economic development.

Koi’s contribution to Morobe, Highlands and Papua New Guinea prompted Basil, on behalf of Morobe leaders, people and the Opposition,  to show respect and contribute K2,000 to the haus krai at Kenakyausa village Mul-Baiyer District.

The Tralea tribe asked Basil to give a brief about the current affairs of the nation, parliament and politics in PNG.

Basil told the Tralea tribe that while the overall economic indicators show that PNG was growing, basic processes of governance were not being handled right resulting in a mismatch between economic indicators and social development indicators.

He described the Mul-Baiyer District as another hidden paradise which like many others in PNG were so unique with wonderful people struggling to make life bearable for themselves and their children.

“They don’t need much to be satisfied – access to roads, transport and markets; functioning, stocked, and adequately staffed basic health services; utilities like piped water, communication and power are all that they need,” Basil said.

“These will be our focus as an alternative Government: when in power we will empower the rural communities with this basic services.”

Basil worshipped with the Kiamuga Lutheran congregation of Yamiyufa Lutheran Church in the Lower Asaro area in the Eastern Highland province on the way back where he donated K1,000 to the local church.

In a brief statement, on the current state of the nation and Parliament, he assured them that the alternative government would ensure that the government and churches partnership was adequately resourced to develop citizens of integrity, honesty and respect – keys to law, order and harmonious living in communities, districts, provinces and PNG as a whole.

The experience has fuelled the Deputy Opposition Leader’s resolve to tour as many rural electorates – upon invitation – educating them on the parliament, national issues and politics and hearing what the grassroots people of Papua New Guinea have to say. 

Basil queries delay on finance inquiry report and actions

Deputy Leader of Opposition and Bulolo MP Sam Basil has called on the Government to explain the delay on what is the most-expensive and prolonged commission of inquiry – the one into the Department of Finance since 2007.

"Many months and many millions of kina went into the Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance. And what have we got to show for it?" Basil said.

The Inquiry was looking into over 3000 entries recorded in the Finance Department's Cash Book Report of transactions of K300,000 and above from 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2006.

This was later expended.

"We cannot implement its recommendations. People who have committed crimes cannot even be charged. Money that should not have been paid cannot be recovered," a concerned Mr Basil said.

The Bulolo MP described as "puzzling" the fact that a successful court order was made to effectively "put a lock on that report" when millions (up to K10 million) was already spent to ensure that hearings and findings were recorded.

"Many people in this nation are no doubt suspicious about that order: how it came to be made, when it came to be made and where it came to be made," Basil added.

"But we, of the Opposition, respect the fact that a judge of the National Court chose to make such an order. The questions which must now be asked, given the many months which have elaspsed since that order was made, are (1) why has nothing been done about that order? and (2) when will something be done?"

The Deputy Opposition Leader added: "If the gag order was made as a temporary order by a National Court judge then the matter should have been taken before another judge with an application to set that order aside. Alternatively, the order of the National Court should have been the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court, coupled with a request to have the matter heard as a matter of urgency."

The opposition pointed out that the directions to follow-up falls within the duty statement or jurisdiction of the Minister for Justice and Attorney General Hon Sir Arnold Amet.

"This is an area for which the Attorney General is responsible. As a former Chief Justice, the learned lawyer, cannot use ignorance of the law and judicial process as an excuse," Basil said.

"If the Attorney General cannot entrust this instructions to the State Solicitor to try to get rid of this gag order because of potential conflict of interest arising from contents of the Commission of Inquiry Report, what's to stop Sir Arnold outsourcing the matter for a private law firm to do something about it as soon as possible?" He said.

"But the bottom line is: millions of taxpayers' money – supposed to be used for the benefit of the people – has been abused in questionable ways by those entrusted to ensure proper usage. These public servants – and their political masters – are all paid to do these jobs," Mr Basil said.

"If they failed and mishandled funds, they must face the consequences of their actions. The Commission of Inquiry cost the taxpayers another K10 million or so to hear, ascertain and determine its findings. The people cannot be double-denied justice because no one is attempting to free the report from the court gagging," Basil said.

History being rewritten with resumption of Air Niugini flights to Bulolo

Caption: Inaugural Air Niugini Dash 8 flight at Bulolo

 

By MALUM NALU

 

Many people who have been long fascinated by the story of the gold rush days of the 1930’s feel that history is being rewritten with the resumption of Air Niugini flights to Bulolo on Monday, May 16, 2011.

The historical mining town of Bulolo, Morobe province, took another giant step forward on Monday, May 16, with the commencement of twice-weekly Air Niugini flights between Port Moresby and Bulolo.

The first batch of passengers on board the Dash 8 flight to Bulolo – led by Air Niugini CEO Wasantha Kumarasiri and Bulolo MP Sam Basil - was greeted by management and staff of PNG Forest Products, which owns the land on which the Bulolo Airport is built; Morobe Mining Joint Ventures; Bulolo administration; as well as hundreds of local people who braved pouring rain to be present for the occasion.

The 45-minute Bulolo service, which will be every Monday and Friday, promises to greatly boost business and tourism in Bulolo, as well as the surrounding electorates of Menyamya, Huon, Markham and Lae.

With excellent opening fares at K265 per person, I can easily take my kids there, spend some time with friends in Bulolo such as Basil or roving Wau-based reporter Sampson Bonai, and later get on a PMV or take a drive down to Lae.

Air Niugini’s introduction of flights follows on from Airlines PNG in 2009.

“Bulolo is a very ideal destination with a high demand for air transportation from the local communities,” Kumarasiri said as the inaugural flight landed.

“Due to the current activities in Bulolo, we consider it is our duty as the national airline to provide the air services to the local and business communities in Bulolo.

“Apart from the mining activities, there are also other operations and activities that certainly call for further air transportation.

“To name a few, we have the PNG Forest Products Ltd, BSP, Post PNG, Bulolo Forestry College, the Micro Bank, the district administration, which certainly demands for an increase in air transportation.

“As the national flag carrier, Air Niugini has a community service obligation to serve the people of Papua New Guinea.

“Therefore, Air Niugini’s operation into Bulolo also means that the local people of Wau/Bulolo can now travel direct from Bulolo to Port Moresby instead of travelling via Lae.”

Basil said history was rewriting itself as Bulolo was once one of the busiest airfields in the world during the gold rush days of the 1920s and 30s.

He said his joint district planning and budget priorities committee would commit K50, 000 subsidies for vegetable freight and return airfares.

“We would also look at building the staff quarters and ticket purchasing office for Air Niugini to be owned by the district administration, which will benefit from the rental proceedings,” he said.

“I also call on Menyamya people, Wampar people and people from my district to utilise this service because extra seats are now available.

“We do not have to drive all the way to Nadzab to catch a plane, as it is now at our doorstep.”

THE new look Bulolo Airport apron and 1,500m runway was officially opened by Basil in February 2009.

The upgrading work was jointly funded by Harmony Gold, PNG Forest Products and NKW Holdings at a cost of K500, 000 and took about six weeks from replacing the road-base with engineered fill and then resurfaced.

The airport was closed in 1990’s due to lack of economic activities, forcing the airline companies to withdraw vital air services into the area, and left people to rely heavily on the road network for the delivery of goods and services to Wau and Bulolo.

The greatest airlift the world had ever known started from Lae to the Bulolo goldfields in the 1930s.

Built in June 1930, originally the Bulolo strip was 1,150 yards by 120 yards.

 Later it was expanded to 1,300 yards in length, covered with grass.

This airstrip was used in conjunction with flying supplies and equipment for gold dredging at Wau and Bulolo.

On January 21, 1942, Japanese Zeros and bombers attacked Bulolo.

At Bulolo, they set fire to three of the Junkers G31 tri-motors on the ground, destroying them.

Gold dredging work ceased as most of the men employed entered military service.

Five days, later, on February 5, 1942, Bulolo was bombed at 11am by five twin-engine bombers.
The discovery of gold at Edie Creek above Wau in 1926 sparked off a gold rush which led to the exploitation of the rich deposits of the Bulolo-Watut river system by large-scale mechanised mining.
The rigours and cost of the eight-day walk into the goldfields and the difficulty of building a road from the coast led to the early introduc­tion of an aviation service.
The driving force behind the develop­ment of the goldfields was Cecil J. Levien, a former Morobe District Officer, who has been described as a “rare and formidable combina­tion of opportunist, practical man and visionary”.
Levien persuaded the directors of Guinea Gold N.L. that startling profits would be made by any aviation company that could provide a service to eliminate the arduous walk between Salamaua and Wau.
He secured an option on a small DH-37 plane in Melbourne and engaged a pilot, E. A. ‘Pard’ Mustar, to bring it to New Guinea.
The aviation service was a success from the start.
After two unsuccessful flights around the mountains south of the Markham ­no one knew exactly how to find Wau from the air.
Mustar landed at Wau for the first time on April 16, 1937.
He began the service the next day with a shipment of six 100 lb bags of rice, charging a shilling a 1b, and, making two trips a day, five days a week, carried 84 passen­gers and 27, 000 lbs of cargo in the first three months.
Rival aviation companies were not long in arriving to share the profits.
Ray Parer, the proprietor of Bulolo Goldfields Air Service who had been com­peting keenly with Mustar to be the first to land at Lae, came from Rabaul after many delays, and A. ‘Jerry’ Pentland and P. ‘Skip’ Moody soon joined them.
There was ample business for all, and by April 1928, a year after the service began,
Guinea Airways (the aviation company that grew from Guinea Gold N.L.) had acquired two extra planes and was employing three further pilots and two more mechanics.
Then in March 1929 a new company, Morlae Air­lines, began a weekly Lae-Port Moresby run, meeting ships from Australia and bringing passengers and frozen foods across to Wau, Bulolo, Salamaua and Lae.
At first Bulolo Gold Dredging Ltd and its parent company, Placer Development Ltd, had thought of building a road to the goldfields, but the length of time it would take and the high cost of construction and maintenance persuaded the companies to accept Guinea Air­ways' proposition that “skyways are the cheapest highways”.
On the advice of Mustar, Bulolo Gold Dredging purchased three all-metal, tri-motored Junkers G-31 aircraft from Germany, which Guinea Airways was to operate under licence for the gold mining company.
Guinea Airways also purchased a Junkers G-31 of its own.
They were huge planes, each capable of carrying a payload of 7100 lbs or 14 short tons together.
The airlift began in April 1931 and continued for eight years: the first dredge began work in March 1932, the eighth in November, 1939.
Another crane at the airstrip lifted the heavy machinery into the planes and a rail crane unloaded them at Bulolo.
Eventually operations became so efficient that nine round trips a day were possible.
The airlift was a remarkable undertaking.

It pioneered the use of aviation in the transport of heavy cargo and, in the words of one writer, “in every respect it constituted a world record”.