Businessman Eremas Wartoto Accused of Masterminding Crime While in ‘Prison’

Early in the morning on 10 December 2017, Isaac Bill along with three accomplices left the property of convicted criminal, Eremas Wartoto, in Kokopo, East New Britain. According to the National Court, he then skippered a 100-horse power boat belonging to his uncle, Eremas Wartoto, under the cloak of darkness. Bill arrived at the Rabaul Yacht Club where he boarded...

MRDC directors feeding at the trough, despite investment failings

The Auditor General’s most recent report on the finances of Public Authorities, dated September 2020, includes his findings on the 2016 accounts of the Mineral Resource Development Company (the Auditor is yet to receive the company accounts for 2018 and 2019 and is currently auditing the books for 2017). The MRDC is wholly owned by the government and its principal...

Marape resurrects defunct Konebada statutory body mired in fraud allegations

What would you do as the Prime Minister – upon assuming the captain’s seat you discover a statutory authority mired in mismanagement, lavish spending, tax evasion, fraud and potentially misappropriation, all of which has cost the public over K13 million. Added to that, it is a statutory authority whose actions were so unsightly even the O’Neill government found it beyond...

Duma Bid to Block Discovery in Australian Defamation Case Fails

Last year it was reported that State Enterprises Minister, William Duma, had initiated legal proceedings against Fairfax Media, including two of its journalists Angus Grigg and Jemima Whyte. This followed a series of articles published in Fairfax newspaper, the Australian Financial Review (AFR). The articles document a US$10.3 million payment made by Horizon Oil in 2011 to a shell company...

Yet Another Duplicate State Lease

Officers within the Lands Department have an unfortunate knack for issuing fraudulent land titles. It is a problem that PNGi has repeatedly reported on and which continues to rot the nation. A succession of Lands Minister’s have ably described the endemic corruption in the Department of Lands, and vowed to clean up their house; but Lands Officers seem to be...

An Inquiry Into The Gerehu Recreational Land Grab

Residents of the Port Moresby suburb Gerehu are incensed over the loss of the public space at the heart of their community and are demanding answers from the man they elected to represent them, National Capital District Governor, Powes Parkop. Konda’lane Properties Limited, the company at the centre of the dispute, says the land has been re-zoned for development and...

Court dismisses Paraka’s bid to avoid justice

Over the years on PNGi a consistent theme has been observed when members of the elite face criminal charges or leadership tribunals. Despite maintaining their innocence they can spend years, sometimes a decade, trying to prevent the case from going to trial. While PNGi cannot infer the intent of these individuals, the effect of these tactics are very clear, and...

Kimbe’s ex-Mayor convicted of theft

Corruption is a disease that has infected the whole government apparatus in Papua New Guinea. There is no public body that seems immune right across the spectrum of government activity and from the very top right down to the bottom. But while those at the highest levels, the government Ministers, Departmental Heads, Members of Parliament and others entrusted with great...

National Housing Estate on verge of liquidation

A recent Supreme Court decision has put the much maligned and corrupt State owned National Housing Estates Limited (NHEL) on the verge of liquidation, even as politicians continue to dabble in its affairs. Although the State, through its nominated shareholders, the Ministers for Housing and Finance, resolved to shut down the company through a voluntarily liquidation in 2017, that commitment...

Taxpayers to fund questionable K8.5 million ‘bonus’ for private lawyer

A private law firm owned by Ralph Saulep is being paid K14.5 million for representing the Morobe provincial government in a successful legal challenge. The case involved an MOU signed between the State and the owners of the Wafi-Golpu mine. The K14.5 million fee includes K4.5 million for Saulep’s professional legal services, K155,000 for out of pocket expenses and a...

Sand mining plans littered with red flags

Update: On 1st March 2021, it was revealed that Niugini Sands had withdrawn its sand mining exploration licence application. In a letter to campaigners, the Mineral Resource Authority cited the bad publicity the application had received as the reason for the application being withdrawn. Update: This article was updated on 16 Dec. 2020 after further information was received from Derrick...

COVID-19 Leaks: NEC Submission seeks K10m for Miracle COVID ‘Cure’

A confidential Cabinet paper signed by Prime Minister Marape has been leaked and exposed by The Australian newspaper. The NEC submission reports on a ‘novel’ drug treatment discovered by a team of Port Moresby researchers. The paper claims the team have cracked the global holy grail and discovered a cure for COVID-19. For the more sceptical and sober reader, this...

MRA accused of steamrolling sand mining approval

Coastal communities from the Sumkor district of Madang province are crying foul over plans by overseas company Niugini Sands, to mine sand on their customary land. They say the Mineral Resource Authority is fast-tracking government approval and steamrolling over their rights at the same time. It is a familiar tale, a large-scale natural resource extraction project being imposed on local...

Was Peter Graham right to slam PM Marape over Kumul Minerals Board Shake-Up?

Last Friday a resignation letter attributed to the head of Kumul Minerals Holdings, Peter Graham, began circulating on social media. In the letter Graham informs Prime Minister Marape he is standing down as Chairman and Managing Director at Kumul Minerals, a state entity that manages the government’s mining interests. In the leaked resignation letter Graham observes that this decision was...

Another Duplicate State lease raises more questions for the NHC and DoL

The National Housing Corporation and the Department of Lands are synonymous, not only with fraud, corruption and mismanagement, but also the impunity with which corrupt public officials are able to repeat the same scams over and over again. PNGi has previously highlighted many instances of the fraud taking place within the these government departments and we have repeatedly urged action...

Controversial Oro logger awarded Ijivitari road contracts

While a controversial Oro based logging company is under investigation for immigration fraud, illegal logging and using unregistered machinery, another company owned by the same businessman has been awarded a lucrative roads contract. Pavillion Construction and Logistic Ltd has been engaged by the Ijivitari District Development Authority Board to carry out a K5 million upgrade to the roads in Afore...

Filipino Firm with Insider Ties Sweeps Up Education Contracts

2019 was a good year for BGTEE Investment and its owner, Filipino national Auburn Antonio Adraincem. The company swept up a number of major infrastructure contracts awarded by the Department of Education. Highlights included: NPCTP0018, 22/08/2019, Construction of a Standard Science Laboratory for Passam National High School Wewak East Sepik Province NPCTP0032, 22/08/2019, Construction of a Standard Science Laboratory for...

New Scandal Engulfs Embattled Foreign Minister Patrick Pruaitch

Last Friday Justice Anis delivered a judgement in the National Court that threatens to engulf Foreign Minister Patrick Pruaitch in another major scandal. The court case centres on an overdraft facility granted by Kina Bank Limited (then known as Maybank Limited), to Patrick Pruaitch in or around 11 July 2014. Initially it was in the amount of K1,500,000, subsequently reduced...

Rooting Out the Rot in PNG’s Forest Industry

Papua New Guinea’s oldest daily newspaper is leading the calls for the government to ban foreign logging companies who have no respect for the law. ‘Time to Root out the Rot in PNG Logging’ was the headline for a recent Editorial applauding the efforts of a joint-agency task force, ‘Operesen Rausim Alien’. ‘Operesen Rausim Alien’ has uncovered illegal workers and...

COVID-19 Spending Alert

In order to secure US$350 million in COVID-19 related loans from the International Monetary Fund, the Marape Government has been obliged to publish all COVID-19 related contracts on the National Procurement Commission website. An initial round of COVID-19 contracts were awarded, and their details were duly published on the commission website. When these awards were scrutinised by PNGi a significant...

The Untouchables: Yama Family Deja Vu

In nearly every nation examples can be found where the rich and powerful seem to be able to evade justice. Papua New Guinea is certainly not immune to this disease, as the Yama family demonstrate. In 2018, Madang Governor and political heavyweight Peter Yama dodged electoral bribery charges, despite the two officials who received a ‘corrupt gratification’ from him being...

Gang of Red Flag Firms Sweep up K53 Million in Health Dept Contracts: Part II

The Gang of Red Flag Firms is a two-part series by PNGi that scrutinises a single Department of Health (DoH) document, produced in late 2015. It is a rare public document which details companies awarded major health infrastructure contracts, and the project’s delivery status. This is information often denied to the public. However, only a single issue of this quarterly...

K53 Million in Health Dept Contracts Go To Gang of Red Flag Firms: Part I

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world that there is no dignity unless people, all people, have access to quality healthcare. In PNG this dignity is frequently denied to the public, save for those who can afford private hospitals, or medical tourism abroad. With COVID-19 depleting a depleted health infrastructure, people are angry. Image: One of many angry social media...

The Gun Contract that Almost Sunk PNG's Central Bank