ETHNIC UNREST Professionals Building, 5Th Street Last Week There Was a Disruption to Lae Business Caused by the Killing of an Innocent Trainee Pastor In
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LAE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INC. WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE 3 May 2013 VOLUME: 18 - 13 LAE CHAMBER OF FROM THE PRESIDENTS DESK COMMERCE INC. Room 5, the ETHNIC UNREST Professionals Building, 5th Street Last week there was a disruption to Lae business caused by the killing of an innocent trainee Pastor in the “back road area” near Tensiti and the reciprocal burning of a PMV bus and the further destruction P O Box 265, Lae 411 Morobe Province of a Highlands settlement in that area. The subsequent withdrawal of all PMV buses on Monday last Papua New Guinea week affected the workers living in the broad area from Malahang to Taraka. Most businesses suf- fered by the reduced number of employees, as well as the decrease in clients and customers that Tel: (675) 472 2340 Fax: (675) 472 6038 were unable to get to Lae. The Morobean people who have been involved in this conflict handed a petition to Governor Kelly E-mail: th [email protected] Naru at a non-violent gathering in Bumayong on 24 April, which contained the following demands: [email protected] 1. Eviction of Western Highlanders from operating buses and all other activities in Lae. 2. Attention to previous petitions, including deaths & injuries caused by fighting in 2011, fund- Website: ing city buses for Morobe people and increased authority to Morobeans. www.lcci.org.pg 3. Other Administrative Affairs including – review of Morobe Administration, consideration to an Autonomous Government of Morobe, the review of Land deals in Lae, increased funding for an Office for Law & Order and support for opportunities and upgrading of “grass roots” Index people’s skills. In this Issue The fact that the petitioners have given 14 days to the Governor to address these demands is well From the Presidents known to the Lae Community, and many LCCI members have already contacted the Chamber express- Desk ing their apprehension about this deadline, in view of the problems that arose from a previous peti- tion handed to the then Morobe Governor in 2011. Further comments on I have had a meeting with the current petitioners who call themselves the “VOICES OF MOROBE” and the Ethnic Clash in Lae they have organised a program for a NON-VIOLENT PROTEST to receive the answer to their demands th Telikom down on Sunday at a ceremony on the 9 May 2013. They have requested the Lae businesses to let Morobe em- ployee’s time off to support this event. PNG Industry News The group originally wished to hold this protest at Eriku’s Niall Reserve, but my strong objections Transparency Interna- caused them to change the venue to the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, to which I have been invited to tional invitation to the attend. Lae Walk Against Cor- I wish everyone to note that this event is still only a proposal, as the Voices of Morobe group must ruption & Registration seek permission from authorities, and there is a good chance that the Lae Police may not permit such Form a gathering to be held in the city. It is good however to be able to have dialogue with this group, and Business Advantage to voice the concern of the private sector in general. We do not want to again be the innocent victims News of a demonstration that goes wrong. There has been a significant downturn in trading over the past few months, and we the business community cannot afford any further setbacks. ICC News Alert I have advised that I cannot endorse the request to allow Morobe workers time off to attend this AusAID – tackling event, as this is up to individual companies to decide. Similarly assistance with goods and equipment avoidable blindness in will have to be a decision by companies who may wish to assist. We will however wish to be kept in the loop of information about this event and we will continue to demand the petitioners to respect the Asia Pacific the private sector and to conduct the event in a peaceful manner. Stakeholders Meeting The Chamber will continually provide updates of this situation as are necessary to members. on Good Corporate Governance Thank you Lae Chamber of Commerce Inc. 2012 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL President Alan McLay Snr Vice President Nigel Merrick Jnr Vice President Robert Howden ETHNIC PROBLEMS (Cont) Treasurer Governor Naru has requested the Morobe Land Transport Board to review the whole PMV licensing Stephen Beach process, with consideration for licenses are distributed with preference to Morobe owned Buses, and Councillors then more evenly distributed to buses owned by people from all Provinces. As this is one of the chief Philip Franklin demands of the petitioners, then this may satisfy a large part of their demands. Peter Diezmann Kaity Bluett We advise that our projected meeting with the Governor two weeks ago did not take place due to his Dennis Brewster call to an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister. We do hope to address the implications of the pe- Terry Fuery titioner’s demands with the Governor as well as other matters, before the Governor answers these Danny Kepi Andrew Gunn demands. Mike Quinn Vanessa Chan Pelgen Robert Hansen Belinda Edwards Objectives of the LCCI To promote the busi- ness interests of the private sector; To further the eco- nomic development in Lae; To ensure the provision of services and utilities essential to such de- velopment; To provide a represen- tative body for business people, which gov- ernment can consult; To promote support or oppose legislation; or take any other meas- ures to improve the business community; To provide a forum for discussion of private sector goals; To pool the strengths of business people so that together, they can accomplish tasks that each one alone can- not achieve; To promote the eco- nomic viability of the area, so those current businesses will grow and new ones will be IMPORTANT NOTICE International Schooling LAE At the last LCCI Meeting that preceded the AGM the very topical Interna- tional Education Agency schooling in Lae was discussed with vigour. The following article has been extracted from PNGIndustry News This is in light of the fact that TISOL have intro- duced a new single fee structure and budgetary Vast finds at Golpu cuts that has resulted in Blair Price - Wednesday, 1 May 2013 a perception that these A 198m intersection grading 2.14% copper was the standout of recent triple- moves may lower the digit hits at Newcrest Mining and Harmony Gold’s exciting Golpu block cave standard of International project in Papua New Guinea. Education in Lae. The interval started from 798m down the hole in the targeted Lift 1 area and also The get a better under- graded 0.97 grams per tonne gold. standing the meeting It was part of a wider 588m intersection grading 0.97% copper and 0.43gpt gold decided to conduct a starting from a depth of 588m. survey of LCCI members. Another hole in the area hit a 156m intersection grading 1.19% copper from a Please click the following 322m depth including 84m at 2.01% copper and 0.52gpt gold. URL and complete the A separate hole in the Lift 1 zone intersected 156m at 1.35% copper from a 490m survey:- depth which included a 26m interval at 3.22% copper and 0.92gpt gold. Drilling at the Wafi http://www.lcci.org.pg/surve prospect in PNG's Mo- y-iea/ Investigations into a possible Lift 3 expansion are continuing and were aided by robe Province. Image some other drilling results in the recent quarter. courtesy of Harmony Gold. Results of this survey will be A hole going through the proposed Lift 2 and Lift 3 areas landed a 984.4m inter- used to decide on any course of action that the Lae Cham- section grading 0.93% copper and 0.78gpt gold which included a 278m interval at 2.32gpt gold and 2.41% ber will take. copper starting from a 1238m depth. “This hole has confirmed the continuity of higher grade mineralisation within Lift 2 and demonstrated that this mineralisation extends into Lift 3 and remains open at depth,” Newcrest said. “Good potential exists to increase the extent of this higher grade mineralisation below the base of the present drilling.” The block cave project is part of the wider Wafi-Golpu project in Morobe province which includes the nearby Wafi porphyry resources which are being studied for possible open cut mining. A hole 100m north of the established Wafi resource intersected 66m at 2.56gpt gold from a 114m depth, providing the joint venture a new zone of high-grade oxide gold to explore in this direction between Wafi and Golpu. Unveiled in late August, the Golpu prefeasibility study was for a $US4.8 billion two-lift block cave opera- tion that produces an average of 400,000 ounces per annum gold and 250,000 tonnes per annum copper in the first 15 years of the 26-year mine life with first production in 2019. But the PFS estimated a 30 year-plus life and production of 580,000ozpa gold and 300,000tpa copper un- der the expanded three-lift scenario. Newcrest and Harmony own 50:50 of Wafi-Golpu through the Morobe Mining JV. STILL OFFER SPECIAL RATES TO LAE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE MEMBERS Please quote COR2013 when you make your booking at the Shangri- la to get this selection of complimentary of- fers. May 1st, 2013 If in doubt ring the LCCI Dear Sir/Madam, Office and we will as- sist you contact the Re: Sir Anthony Siaguru Walk Against Corruption (SASWAC) 2013 - LAE hotel.