China and Australia encouraged to pork barrel in Prime Minister’s backyard

...for clearing, lay down area, access roads and drainage works’. According to Fr Jan Czuba, K5 million was spent on those earthworks. As PNGi has already revealed as part of its series of investigations into Peter O’Neill, Wild Cat Developments Limited was purchased by a company owned by the Prime Minister in 2014. It was then sold to the Australian...

The Australian dream team, that wasn’t

It is a common tale. The national government announces a big ticket joint venture, then bedazzles the public with a slew of Australian executives, who we are told are business leaders, coming in with their sleeves rolled up to develop Papua New Guinea using world class standards. It is a technique steeped in over a century of history. On the...

John Pundari

Last year, 2017, John Pundari celebrated three significant milestones: his fiftieth birthday; twenty-five years since his first election to Parliament; and five years as Minister for the Environment, Conservation and Climate Change. In this Profile, PNGi examines his career as both a politician and a businessman. John Thomas Pundari was born on the 7th of January 1967. He first entered...

Immigration system corrupt, alleges victim

Foreign nationals can be seen living and working throughout Papua New Guinea, whether in urban centres or even the most remote logging and mining sites. Of course there is nothing necessarily wrong with this. Expatriate workers and their families can bring important new skills and employment opportunities, train local workers and contribute to a vibrant and forward looking society. But...

Ministerial PMIZ Concerns Spot On

The Commerce and Industry Minister has raised serious concerns over expenditure on the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone. Criminologist and author of the book Uncovering the Crimes of Urbanisation, Professor Kristian Lasslett, reveals new evidence which should make the Minister shudder. In 2016 the public was taught a valuable lesson on why we ought to carefully scrutnise loans provided to PNG...

Yama loses over K22m in one day

September 1, 2017, was an expensive day for Madang Governor, Peter Yama, with more than K22 million slipping through his fingers in a single Supreme Court decision. In March 2016, the National court had awarded the Governor’s company, Yama Security Services Ltd (YSSL) K17,871,510 in damages and interest for breach of a contract between the security company and the National...

Inside the Somare bribery scandal

If you don’t pay to the PM, PNG you will not be able to get business from Papua New Guinea – Lim Ai Wah In 2016 eyes turned to Singapore. Close personal friends of Sir Michael Somare were imprisoned, for among other things, defrauding the PNG public. It was claimed American national, Philip Doehrman, and his Singaporean wife, Lim Ai...

Konebada Petroleum Park

The Konebada Petroleum Park is a government initiative designed to provide an industrial precinct for the downstream processing of petroleum products and other energy projects. It has already attracted serious criticism: Its financial mismanagement has been condemned by the Public Accounts Committee; Its arbitrary acquisition of over 23,000 hectares of land has been labelled ‘a State-sanctioned scam’ by the National...

KPPA controversies pile up (short version)

...same name, exists in Hong Kong. PPHL Hong Kong is owned by a Hong Kong resident, Christine Sau Ying Yuen. The directors are Christine S. Y. Yuen, Donald Valu, Sam Pepena, former Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Ano Pala, and private lawyer and businessman, Peter Pena. Two things about this Board are particularly notable: Sam Pepena is listed by...

Profiting from Sickness

...individuals, relating to rigged tender processes and misappropriation. In Part III PNGi puts the focus onto the wider business network of Sang Chung Poh and reveals his interests across many sectors of the economy, which includes some of Port Moresby’s most exclusive residential development projects, and his business associations that reach all the way to the Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill....

PM’s Right Hand Man in Gabutu Palace Bonanza

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill cut his teeth in real-estate. It ended in a slew of damning findings that consumed the better part of two Commission of Inquiries. His right hand man during this period was Oscar Wandi Yamuna, allegedly O’Neill’s first cousin. In addition to acting as Director at Pangia Enterprises – one of the thoroughbreds in the O’Neill real-estate...

Profiting from sickness

In Australia average life expectancy is 83, in Vanuatu it is 72, the Solomon Islands dips down slightly to 69, while in Papua New Guinea it is just 62.9. To put this in perspective, Papua New Guinea lies at the worst end of Sub-Saharan Africa. No other Pacific nation is in this league. The streets of the nation are strewn...

Contagious Good Fortune

In The Midas Touch, PNGi documented in detail how, in tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with assets worth hundreds of millions of kina. O’Neill’s good fortune has been contagious for a select group of business partners and associates; prime among them are the Cragnolinis, Sir Luciano and his wife Lady Ni Yumei,...

PM stake in Govt contractor hidden for 5 years

The Midas Touch: Part 3

In tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with interests in almost every sector of the economy and assets worth many hundreds of millions of Kina. The Midas Touch is an in-depth investigation by PNGi into the Prime Minister’s business empire and how it has been interwoven with his political career. The Midas Touch...

Susan Karike scandal

...some of those deaths? Surely, the Cragnolinis and Peter O’Neill, given their immense collective fortune, can spare some pocket change to relieve Susan’s family of the stress and anxiety they are now feeling, by burying this icon without charge, and give her a fitting tribute. [Photo of Peter O’Neill at the Dove Funeral Home grand opening by EKAR KEAPU /Nationalpics]...

Duma’s hidden hand in K3 billion development

Minister for State Enterprises, William Duma, was suspended from government in February this year, after it was alleged he had a beneficial interest in a lucrative land deal made with Kumul Consolidated Holdings.[1] Peter O’Neill ordered an administrative inquiry into the affair, led by John Griffin QC.[2] In a PNGi exclusive, we reveal the testimony of a senior Paga Hill...

The Midas Touch: Part 2

In tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with interests in almost every sector of the economy and assets worth many hundreds of millions of Kina. The Midas Touch is an in-depth investigation by PNGi into the Prime Minister’s business empire and how it has been interwoven with his political career. The Midas Touch...

Joseph Lelang

Joseph Lelang is the current Member of Parliament for Kandrian and Gloucester in West New Britain. He is also leader of the Coalition for Reform Party. Before entering Parliament in 2013, Lelang served two years as Secretary in the Department of National Planning and Monitoring; a period marked by several high-profile scandals that continue to re-emerge through the courts. Joseph...

The Midas Touch: Part 1

In tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with interests in almost every sector of the economy and assets worth many hundreds of millions of Kina. The Midas Touch is an in-depth investigation by PNGi into the Prime Minister’s business empire and how it has been interwoven with his political career. The Midas Touch...

Nathaniel Poya

Nathaniel Poya is now in his second term as Chairman of the PNG Ports Corporation, yet his career has not all been plain sailing. A Commission of Inquiry has alleged Poya personally benefited from fraud while serving as a trustee; a K70 million company he owned was liquidated drawing the ire of a National Court judge for its failure to...

Konebada PPA – A ‘golden bowl’ for who?

PNG-NRI researchers recently raised concerns over the Lands Minister’s decision to place 23,000+ hectares of land – which includes substantial customary holdings – under the stewardship of the Konebada Petroleum Park Authority (KPPA). They were right to. Evidence extracted from internal company records, the Investment Promotion Authority corporate registry, and a Public Accounts Committee inquiry, point to a range of...

Elite network behind Paga Hill Estate

Peter O’Neill, Michael Nali, Gudmundur Fridriksson, Rex Paki, Jimmy Maladina, Dame Carol Kidu, Labi Amaiu, Tom Amaiu, these are just some of the names uncovered through an extensive probe that looks into the power players behind Port Moresby’s controversial Paga Hill Estate development, and their business partners. The investigation was conducted by a senior criminologist Dr Kristian Lasslett, who began...