Extorting money from Government by shutting down public services over delay payment is illegal

K4.2m PAYMENT TO KOIARI LO's ILLEGAL

By Bryan Kramer

The recent payment of K4.2m to Sirinumu Development Company for the purported benefit of Koiari Landowners is unlawful and now subject of Police investigations.

Last Friday night at around 12 am a group of people from the upper Koiari area where the PNG Power Rauna Station is located forcefully took over the Station shutting it down and taking possession of the keys.

Power and water supply to the Nations Capital was disrupted holding ransom 1 million residents who live in the city.

They demanded they be paid K4.2m which they claimed was owed to them.

In April 2019, the Treasury & Finance Department paid K5 million to the landowners based on an purported agreement the funds would be used by them to carryout clan vetting exercise to establish their ILGs with the aim to sign an MOA with the State for service delivery.

In return the landowners agreed there will be no disruptions to the facilities.

The signatories drew down on K800,000 however soon after the balance of K4.2 million was recalled back to Finance at the direction of Chief Secretary Issac Lupari.

In August 2019 the same landowners occupied the Station grounds to carryout a protest over K4.2m being withdrawn.

I met with them and agreed to look into their concerns on the condition they provide an acquittal of how they spent the K800,000.

After making my own inquiries, meeting with both State Solicitor and Solicitor General I was advised the claim and payment was illegal.

Further still the acquittal report they provided suggested the funds were not being used for its intended purpose.

State Solicitor explained the station is on state land and there was no basis for claims against the State. It is also highly improper for the State to be paying K5m to landowners and ask them to carryout their own clan vetting.

The group of landowners are claiming compensation for water usage, however no one can claim water that falls from the sky and travels along a river.

More importantly any payments to landowners must be approved by the State Solicitor, endorsed by NEC and lastly lawfully appropriated for in the Budget. It appears none of these mandatory lawful processes were complied with, rending the payment illegal. The more serious issue being the criminal actions to shut down the station to force the State to pay them.

Police have now set up a team to investigate the matter and have all those involved charged as well as recover all funds paid.

Mobile Squad has been deployed to secure the Rouna Station while a separate team will deal with those responsible for shutting it down.

I ask the community leaders and those responsible to cooperate with Police by making themselves available for questioning.

Under the Marape Steven Government the days of extorting millions in tax payers money out of Waigani are over, this includes holding the Government ransom and getting away with it.

The sleeping giant called our Police Force who is tasked to enforce the law is slowly waking up from its slumber.

Picture taken in August 2019 at Rauna Station during my first meeting with the group of landowners who occupied the station.

Who is Right?? KANTHA, TAISON, KENNEDY & LOMBRUM SECURITY CONTRACT.

By Justin Ondopa

INTERESTING POINTS.
1. Tasion Group hold a controversial contract, for which Kantha seemed to cover.
2. Kennedy was to investigate Kantha for corruption and eventually expose Tasion Group deals.
3.Tasion Group lays complain for 'official corruption' (unspecified) against Kennedy.
4. It is an allegation. Not specifically backed with evidence which courts require.
5. Tasion Group claim Kennedy asked for K5,000 bribe. Again alleged to have asked?!
6. Tasion claims, Kennedy asked for K5,000 inorder to procure funds for payments for services to Immigration.

The media is clearly NOT investigating to inform the people. The controversial Tasion contracts at Lombrum would be terminated, should investigations continue. While Kennedy was about to start investigations on criminal conducts by Kantha and Tasion Group, Tasion quickly whisks heavy Fraud Police to nab Kennedy, within no minute, and have him locked up. Locked up for an allegation and denied bail.

 Those who know Kantha and Kennedy, would have your own judgement, but the rapid mobilisation of police and actions of Tasion Group, hold lot more suspicious factors that need to be uncovered.

Government is frying both Kantha and Kennedy, two professionals. Tasion Group like laughing all the way to the banks without any form of roadblocks, and sees Kennedy as an obstruction, a tornado about to rip open its milking niches. It's dangerous, so the clear elements deployed is that, Kennedy as an obstacle must be disgraced and removed. That is the nature of devised corruption in our systems!

So Media need to do your part, be impartial in getting stories from both parties and publish. You continue to be rubbish bins with your reports so you must INVESTIGATE and report!

FROM PICKING RUBBISH ON THE STREETS IN MADANG TO PICKING FRUITS IN AUSTRALIA.

By Bryan Kramer - Madang MP, Minister for Police  

Today in the midst of a busy schedule, I took time out to drive to Port Moresby Jacksons International Airport to see off 5 youths, who flew in from my electorate on their way to Brisbane, Australia, to pick vegetables on a farm for 12 months.

Their names are:

1) Samuel K. SAMUEL
2) Itam B. JULIUS
3) Zebedee LUWI
4) Sylvester LEPI
5) Noel U. NINIBIL

Some 6 months ago they were unemployed and members of the Madang Town Patrol Program, a youth law and order program I set up to address the escalating petty crimes and pick pocketing around Madang Town.

The program involved 30 youth who were tasked to provide security around bus stops as well as pick up rubbish around town.

Fast forward 6 months and they are now on their first international flight to Australia to pick fruits and vegetables in Australia.

Under the town patrol program they were paid just K100-K150 as a fortnight allowance while in Australia they can expect be paid K2,500.00 a fortnight before deductions for their airfares, boarding and meals.

All 5 are travelling to Australia under the Seasonal Workers Program, a program established by the Australian Government to assist Australian employers in the agriculture sector fill employment gaps unable to be met by the Australian workforce and to counter illegal workers.

Seasonal workers from the pacific benefit from the opportunity to earn Australian wages and gain valuable on-the-job learning opportunities. Many seasonal workers use the money earned in Australia to pay for their kids’ education, start a small business or build a house. For the workers and their families, this is a life changing opportunity.

Around 11,600 workers from around the Pacific travel to Australia every year to participate in the program. As of June 2019, PNG only made up 107 of these workers.

Why? This is due to bad experiences in the past, PNG workers are considered highly problematic by Australian employers. When we first joined the program there were numerous incidences of PNG workers fighting, drinking and demonstrating poor work ethics.

When word got out, most Australian employers avoided recruiting from PNG, even though we represent 80% of the population in the Pacific.

In 2018, the Australian Government changed the program in PNG with the focus on recruiting through District Development Authorities and Provincial Governments. Four pilot districts and one Province were identified and included:

1) Obura Woneara Electorate
2) Goilala Electorate
3) Madang Electorate
4) Kavieng Electorate
5) Enga Province.

In Madang we took this program seriously and built a robust structure and systems for selecting our workers which included the clan vetting in rural areas and role model youth in urban communities.

As the Member for Madang, I see massive potential benefits to empowering our youth with employment opportunities and having a positive influence among their peers and impact on their community.

This is why we have set up a special team to manage the program. The plan is to secure a placement for 1,000 young men and women in the next two years. It is estimated the average seasonal worker - working 6 months can earn upto K22,000. Now x 1,000 and it equates to K22m.

K22m that is not spent on a highway, airport or major infrastructure by circulating in the pockets of mums and dads, paid for their childrens tertiary fees, building a home or starting a small business.

5 youths who left today represent the second batch to depart for Brisbane in last the 14 days bringing the total to 10. Another 50 are expected to leave in January 2020.

Another twist in PNG corruption in public officers

Robert Kennedy, the newly appointed acting Chief Migration Officer was arrested by the Police Fraud Squad for a complaint on extortion by Tasion Group.
.
Tasion Group, it is reported were given the contract to replace Paladin in relation to and over the Manus Asylum Centre. It is alleged that one of the reasons for Kantha's removal was because he gave the contract to Tasion Group when the government's instructions were to give the contract to the real landowners of the area where the asylum centre is on. The assumption therefore is that Kantha had a hand in the awarding of the contract to a company that is owned by a person who is not an immediate and material land owner.
.
Robert Kennedy has been in the chair for only one week, after Cabinet removed the then incumbent Kantha and appointed him on an acting capacity pending the appointment of a Chief Migration Officer by Cabinet.
.
No details of the extortion were revealed by Police, but it is believed that the accused is alleged to have tried to extort money from Tasion Group even before the seat he moved into is warm.
.
This arrest raises a lot of suspicions and questions on the part played by Police and Tasion Group.
.
Firstly, this will be the fastest action by the fraud squad to date in getting a complaint and acting on it immediately by effecting arrest even before the ink is dry on the complaint sheet. That is a police record, when it comes to high profile arrests. The Fraud Squad needs to be commended or should it? Maybe there were no other complaints and this was the only one. Questions and more questions.
.
Secondly, Tasion Group's complaint and move, if not backed by concrete evidence, will be seen as taking up Kantha's fight and an attempt to protect their contract, given the fact that they got the contract under Kantha. Robert Kennedy then reserves the right sue this company for damages.
.
Thirdly, if Kantha is involved in soliciting support from Tasion Group, then he has revealed the fact that he has solid contacts with Tasion Group and the issuing of the contract to that group is questionable. Cabinet can then use that to revoke that contract and give it to the real landowners.
.
Finally, Robert Kennedy, it is reported has an impeccable record and strong character background as a strong christian. Such a person would not be stupid to extort money from a company that has a relationship with Kantha...and we all know that Kantha is disgruntled and has threatened legal action against the Minister Westly Nukundi Nukundj and the government for his removal.
.
Police Minister Bryan Kramer, must now look into the actions of the Fraud Squad members who executed the arrest extraordinarily speedily. While Kramer is doing the best he can as Minister to improve policing in the country, rogue elements still persist within the people's police force.
.
Kramer's involvement in this matter is warranted as it is a Cabinet that h is a part of that appointed the acting Chief Migration Officer and that decision must be protected in order not to bring Cabinet's judgement and ability to make decisions in the best interest of the country into disrepute.
.
If Kantha himself is behind this plot to damage the name and reputation of a fellow Papua New Guinean, he has blown his own chances of making a come back since Cabinet is yet to appoint a permanent Chief Migration Officer. With this twist now, Kantha has effectively removed his name from that list of potential candidates.
.
We are all left to wonder what the next twist in this case will be.

Papua New Guinea sex worker’s tale of love

By REBECCA KUKU

I was walking into a shop to buy my son’s school stationeries when I bumped into a woman I had met a couple of years back when I was writing about prostitution in the city for the local newspaper I was working for.

We greeted each other and she said that she was trying to get stationeries for her siblings too.
We met again as we both were leaving the shop and I couldn’t help but notice how people were whispering and laughing as she walked past, some snickering while others made nasty comments.
She was a prostitute, everyone in her community knew, but despite the rude remarks and the whispers she walked with her head held high. Her little brother flanked her, ready to do battle, but she said let it go, they’ll never understand why I do what I do.

Upon hearing that I was curious. I know curiosity killed the cat but I asked her anyway why she chose prostitution as a career. The worse that could have happened was she’d tell me to mind my own business or scream at me to bugger off but she smiled and commented on how reporters were so full of curiosity.
She invited me to have lunch with her so she could tell me why she became a prostitute. I knew it was sort of a challenge, to see if I would take the offer or drop it out of shame to be seen with her.
But I did take up the offer, and I cried through the whole lunch date I had with her.

This is her story, the prostitute’s story but we’ll change her name as she does not want to hurt her siblings. Will call her Elaina.

She was young, beautiful, had manners and was kind and generous. In fact if you met her for the first time you wouldn’t even know she sold her body for money.
She was only 15 when her parents were in a car accident. Her father died and her mother survived but both her legs were paralysed, her younger brother is studying law at university and her little sister is doing Grade 11 at a secondary school in Port Moresby.

“When my father died I was doing Grade 8. I was accepted into a secondary school but we couldn’t afford the K600 project fee that was charged, so I stayed home and helped Mama sell food on the road sides so that we could provide for my younger siblings,” Eleaina said.

“My little brother was doing Grade 7 then and my little sister was doing Grade 4, the primary school didn’t charge any project fees for my sister but my brother was charged K150.

“My mother would cook food and I would sell the food on the roadsides and together we raised money and paid my little brother’s project fee, bought their uniforms and other things they needed,” she said.
“Things were going very well for us, however, towards the end of 2013 mother started feeling sick. We were living with my father’s sister at that time, though they never gave us food or anything. We slept under their roof.

“My aunt started fearing that my mother’s sickness could be contagious and told us to leave her house.
“We had nowhere to go; my mother’s siblings were long dead and the only brother she had was lost in Lae, Morobe. We had no way of contacting him.

“So we built a shelter made up of cardboards and a canvas bag in my aunt’s back yard. I continued cooking and selling food on the side of the road, to make ends meet.

“My little brother was the dux of the Grade 7 classes that year and my little sister came second in her class. My mother insisted that she wanted to see her kids get their prizes, so we went to their school to witness them getting awarded.

“Walking back home that afternoon after the speech day, mama just passed out, there is a pastor living in our neighborhood, who was kind to us.”
So we ran to him and he helped us take mum to the Port Moresby General Hospital emergency department.

“Luckily the holidays had begun, so I took care of mum at the hospital while my younger siblings took over selling food on the road sides.

“It was after two months, in February, when they finally discharged us from the hospital.
“We continued cooking and selling food as my younger siblings returned to school.
That year, her little brother received the Grade 8 dux award but by then their mother’s health was rapidly deteriorating. Things started going from bad to worse.

The aunt told them to leave her yard because their makeshift home was becoming an eyesore to her neighbours.
“We had nowhere to go, mum was really sick, but she (aunt) brought in the police and we had no choice but to leave.
“My little brother and I took turns to carry our mother on our backs as we just walked from one place to another not knowing where we were going. We finally ended up at a settlement and asked for a place to rent, the only one that was affordable was a tiny room that cost K50 per fortnight.
“The room was so tiny, you couldn’t stand up in it, but it was okay as long as our mother could sleep in it, we would make do with it.

“The four of us could not fit into the room, so my little brother and I slept outside.
“I started cooking and my little brother and sister would go out and sell the food on the roadsides.
“School holidays soon ended and my brother was accepted to do Grade nine, however, the project fee was K800.

“He said he would leave school but I couldn’t let him, he was so bright. I sent my sister back to school with her old uniforms and spoke with my brother’s school principal to give us a little time to look for the money.

“He allowed my little brother to register and attend classes and I started working hard to get the K800 that my brother needed to continue his education.
“I cooked food in the morning and sold them all afternoon, I cooked food in the evening and sold them all night, I took in laundry from other people and washed clothes in the late nights for a fee of K20.
“And every time I made profit, I would buy our food and give the rest to my little brother to hide away for his project fees.

“By then my mother was so sick but she begged us, and argued with us and told us not to take her to the hospital because we needed the money to pay for the project fees. So we kept her at home.
“After about two months, we finally reached the K800, but that night mum’s condition was worse. We knew we had to take her to the hospital or she would die in that small box we had made home.
“So we took her to the hospital. She was admitted, she had maggots in both her legs and needed to be in a clean place.

“That night, I broke down and cried. The next morning, I told my little sister to not go to school but stay with mum at home.
“I went looking for a job, a job that could pay enough money I needed to keep my mother alive.
“I went to Chinese shops, Indian shops, service station and cafes but the salary I knew would not be enough.”
“My mother would need someone to care for her constantly, to have her beddings changed hourly, and to live in a clean house or the maggots would devour her.”
That Friday night, we all went to the hospital and mum said it was okay, we must let her die, we must accept it because we didn’t have the money to help her get better.
“But how do you let someone you love just die like that? How do you just let the maggots infest her whole body? She was in pain, that night while she slept I walked out of the hospital and sold my virginity on the street to the highest bidder.

“The next morning, we moved into a two bedroom self-contained house in the suburbs.
“It was 2014, I was only 17 years old. I needed the money to keep my only parent alive, I needed the money to keep my siblings in school, to provide a roof for my family and put food on the table.
“I had no family, no clansman, no tribesman to get help from. No, I am not ashamed of what I do, because to me, it is just a job, something I do to ensure that my family is well.
“My clients are all expatriates, I get STD tests done every two months. It is one of the requirements of providing service for these expatriates but the money is good.
“My little brother knows, he just pretends to act like he doesn’t know, but my little sister thinks I’m an executive at a company or something,” she laughs.

“And my mum, she blames herself. But love is a complicated thing, people do all sorts of crazy things for love. I just sold myself to keep the love of my life, the woman who gave life to me alive.
“And that same love for my siblings gives me the strength to carry on.”

ACP HR KALAUT PURSUES ARREST OF MINISTER FOR POLICE

By BRYAN KRAMER - MP/Police Minister

Yesterday, Assistant Commissioner for Police responsible for Human Resource at Police Head Quarters, Sylvester Kalaut made an application to the Waigani District Court for a search warrant in a case pursing criminal charges against me.

The search warrant (a court order) was granted by the Waigani District Court directing the CEO of Digicel PNG to retrieve or confirm that on 27th June 2019 I posted on Facebook an article titled "So National Reporter Threatens so Sue Me???

The information sought is to determine if I am the administrator of numerous Facebook pages and did post the article and to also retrieve comments made by Facebook users in response to the article.

It appears Mr. Kalaut is pursing criminal charges against me on the grounds that the comments and remarks made by third parties were defamatory, derogatory and libelous and actually destroyed the character, integrity and reputation causing emotional distress to the complainant (Ms Dorothy Mark National Reporter).

My Response:

Well Mr. Kalaut clearly didn't think this through.

Firstly, because the last time I checked Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of Human Resource matters don't normally take it upon themselves to take the lead in investigations making applications for search warrants against Ministers of State.

Especially Assistant Commissioners who may feel aggrieved after being overlooked for recent Acting Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner appointments.

Secondly the article was published a year ago, so I'm interested to establish where and when the complaint was filed and how it ended up on the ACP HR's desk in Police Headquarters and only acted on now.

Thirdly, you can't charge someone for a defamatory publication for comments and remarks made by third parties. The last person who tried to have me prosecuted on the same misconceived grounds was the former Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and his infamous lawyer Ms Tiffany Twivey. Unfortunately for Ms Twivey and her client the matter never went anywhere.

Fourthly, the warrant directs the Digicel PNG CEO to confirm or retrieve whether I was the author of the post and details of the comments by Facebook users.

Digicel is a mobile and ICT service provider, therefore only information they can provide is sim registration, voice mail, and SMS text messages, internet IP addresses and web sites visited and not publications in them. If the good officer is after information concerning Facebook then he needs to serve search warrant on Facebook CEO to obtain the information from their servers. Unfortunately they operate outside PNG jurisdiction.

I believe Digicel will only be able to confirm yes the Minister for Police visits Facebook website. A more efficient and common sense approach would have been to just ask me.

What happens now?

Well on account the warrant is clearly defective, abuse of process and malicious prosecution I've instructed my lawyer to file for a stay. Mr Kalaut can now find himself in court answering questions about why in his capacity as Assistant Commissioner for HR is pursuing this case and what interest he has in it.

Given the circumstances of this case I will file a complaint against Mr. Kalaut's conduct requesting Police carryout investigation to establish which individuals, if any, are behind it and in communication with him. It is a criminal offence to bring false caccusations or charges against anyone, penalty a term of upto 7 years (Section 127 of Criminal Code)

I can only assume that some people are pursuing my arrest in an effort to have me dislodged from my Ministry. While I can't blame them for trying perhaps I can blame them for stupid way in going about it.

Sadly for Mr. Kalaut he has just become famous for all the wrong reasons, an act that not only reflects on him personally, his career, but his family, his colleagues and the entire Police Force.

Food for thought - while there are some people you may mess with and get away with it, there are some you really need to think things through..

"I followed my wantok but there is no regrets" Sir Gibbs Salika

"I registered to take up law course at UPNG in 1975 after completing my matriculation at the Sogeri High School. Initially, I had no idea what to study after completing my form 6 (grade 12). Then I met Mathew Tamutai who is also my wantok. 

I asked him, bro, have you registered? He said, yes I have registered. What did you register for I asked him. He said I registered to study law. Then I thought to myself, I should register to take up the law course too. So just like that, I went and registered myself to take up the law course just because my wantok was going to study law so I also decided to study law together with him. So thats how it happened. It was an accident. But there are no regrets".

Sir Gibbs Salika

PNG Chief Justice & Longest Serving Judge of National and Supreme Court