Court frees Chinese illegals

Court frees ‘illegal’ Chinese workers at Ramu Nickel

A magisterial court in PNG has freed 178 non citizen workers at Ramu Nickel project who had been arrested last year for working illegally in the country.
The Chinese workers were arrested in a special joint operation carried out by the Department of Labour and Employment, PNG Immigration and the PNG Trans-National Crime unit in November. The workers were based at the Refinery site at Basamuk, the mine site at Kurumbukari and at the headquarters in Madang province.
The operation was carried out following complaints alleging that the Chinese workers were being brought into the country without following proper immigration processes and were also working without proper visas and work permits.
Chief Magistrate John Numapo handed down the decision to free the workers at the Madang District court on December 17 after finding that the workers were brought into the country to work under a government to government agreement between PNG and China.
A court official said there was an understanding that the Chinese workers were allowed into the country to work on tourist and business visas while their proper work permits and visas were processed over a period of six or seven months.
The government departments have however, been too slow in processing and issuing the proper documents.
The joint operation by the government officers to arrest the Chinese workers caught the PNG politicians and Ramu Nickel officials by surprise.
The PNG Post-Courier newspaper reported last year that Labour and Industrial Relations Minister Mark Maipakai had written to his Department Secretary David Tibu advising him that his actions were not in line with the Somare-Temu Government’s intention especially on the Ramu Nickel Mine.
The paper reported that other prominent politicians had also contacted the department asking them to be lenient on the Chinese because the multi-million Ramu Nickel mine was one of the biggest projects in the country.
President of MCC Madam Luo Shu also warned that the operation had ‘disrupted construction work and sullied the reputation of the developer and the PNG Mining Industry’.
She said the development of the mine has been hampered by the slowness of government agencies to process work permit applications and work visas of which 266 were still outstanding at various agencies.
She pointed out that under the contractual agreement between the PNG State and the project; the government agencies were obliged to “expeditiously …. grant permits and multiple entry visas, as required, for the entry and reentry of expatriate workers (and their dependents) whose job descriptions have been approved”.
She also said a number of those personnel holding business visas were conducting brief site investigations for equipment debugging/commission which she said were permitted under business visas.
A Senior Labor Department official told the Post-Courier newspaper that the Chinese apprehended there were working illegally as they did not have work permits and visas while some were employed on business visas or with expired business visas.
He alleged that most of those apprehended came into the country as engineers and technicians but were working on site as drivers, cooks, cleaners and carpenters. The officer said under the Foreign Employment Act one can not be employed while on a business visa.

Violencde against Asians

22 May 2009

Widespread violence against Asians has flared up across Papua New Guinea resulting in destruction and looting of Asian shops and the death of three local people.
The rapid spread of the violence beginning with a rampage at the Ramu Nickel Refinery site at Basamuk, and followed by rioting and looting in six provincial capitals of the country has surprised the authorities, including the police.
The country’s National Parliament has agreed to set up a special bi-partitioned committee to investigate the unrest while leaders have tried to make sense of the events.
Acting Prime Minister Dr Puka Temu has condemned the violence and apologised to Asian business that have been victimized. Dr Temu said: “While our Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare is overseas trying to lure investors to our country, here we have a handful of hooligans and opportunists doing the exact opposite”.
However, resentment against the influx of Asians and the way the PNG government has handled the issue has been growing amongst ordinary Papua New Guineans for some years now.
Four days before the riots in the capital cities and towns, workers at the giant Chinese owned Ramu Nickel project in Madang went on a rampage following an accident that has left a Papua New Guinean worker with permanent injuries.
The incident happened on Friday May 8 when workers were trying to deliver some heavy reinforcement rods uphill on a tractor driven by a Chinese worker. According to a relative of the victim, the heavy load caused the engine to stall and jerked the trailer throwing the victim off. He fell down and the tractor ran over him, seriously injuring his lower abdomen and his genitals. The incident sparked a fight between the PNG and Chinese workers which was eventually stopped. PNG workers then demanded that the injured worker be airlifted to Madang for treatment however, this did not happen further angering the local workers. Four hours after the accident, he was ferried to Madang by boat which took another two and half hours. Angry PNG workers and local villagers then went on rampage for more than two hours smashing buildings, vehicles and construction machinery and looting office equipment such as computers and radios. Five Chinese nationals were seriously injured, 33 received minor injuries, and the cost of the damage has been estimated at K11m. The seriously injured Chinese workers were airlifted by helicopter to Port Moresby for treatment at a private hospital.
PNG Mineral Resource Authority (MRA), which inspected the site after the incident, has criticized MCC for its continuous poor safety work practices. Managing Director of MRA Kepas Wali said during the stakeholders meeting in Madang that the company’s safety record was not good enough. MRA’s report to the Madang Governor’s office stated: “This incident would not have happened if there were proper safety measures on site. There is lack of safety culture and unsafe work practice.”
MCC and its contractors have a history of poor health, safety and work standards at the Refinery site and two years ago the PNG Department of Labour and Industrial Relations has threatened to shut down the operation because of breach of PNG labor and industrial regulations.
Meanwhile, four days after the Basamuk incident, a protest march was held against Asian owned businesses in Port Moresby which erupted into violence and widespread looting of shops. A day later mobs of local people in Lae, PNG’s second capital, attacked and looted Asian shops throughout the city in which a teenager was reported to have been trampled to death when police confronted the rioters. The town of Madang was next to be hit by looters however, only one shops was looted and police intervened and controlled the situation. The violence then spread into the Highlands region where Asians investments in the towns of Goroka, Mt Hagen and Wabag came under attack. Thousands of people broke into and looted shops owned by Asians and police had a hard time controlling the crowd. NBC radio in Enga reported that two men were shot dead by police in Wabag and a number of men had been injured.
While the clashes at the Ramu Nickel mine and the riots in the provincial capitals are not related, they have been caused by the same reasons. Sentiments have been building up for a long time as Papua New Guineans watched a large influx of Asians into the country to set up and run retail businesses in the major provincial capitals – especially businesses that by law should have been reserved for local people. Locals have also been concerned about how the foreigners have treated local employees over pay, working conditions and harassment of female workers. There is also suspicion of bribery of government workers, agencies and local leaders to favor and protect the Asian businesses.
The government’s special treatment of Chinese brought in to work at Ramu Nickel has also upset many Papua New Guineans. Most of the Chinese workers in the country cannot speak English yet have been issued work permits despite breaching labour and immigration laws that state that non-citizens must be proficient in the English language. The breach of these and other laws have been questioned by the Labour Department however, the PNG government has ordered the department to overlook the laws. A crack down by Labour Department last year to arrest hundreds of Chinese workers of Ramu Nickel who had been in the country without proper work permits came to nothing when a PNG magistrate’s court released all the workers. Chief Magistrate John Numapo handed down the decision to free the workers at the Madang District court after finding that the workers were brought into the country to work under a government-to-government agreement between PNG and China.
Local landowners affected by the Ramu Nickel project also have their own issues with the PNG government over the project. Landownership issues have remained outstanding for years and the national government has failed to convene a Land Titles Commission hearing to resolve the matter. Lack of funding to convene the hearings has been a major issue.
The lengthy delay in the review of the Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) for the project caused by various reasons, has also been also been a key issue. Without an effective MOA, landowners and stakeholders have been missing out on spin-offs and compensation benefits from the project development.
Other recent developments such as the decision by the company to deviate the pipeline from the original agreement has also angered landowners who had signed the original agreements and expected compensation for their land on which the pipeline would follow.

The festival of feathers

You would have walked past Soge Dilambe on the streets of Madang and not taken a second glance at him. Barefooted and slender built, he blends in with the crowd as he moves around with his small backpack doing business for his Dugu Ruts Resources Cooperative Society.
It is only when you ask him about his business that you realize how passionate and determined this Umboldi villager is about what he is doing. His eyes light up as he tells you about his projects which include the Rai Coast Kangal festival, the cultural museum and the new orchid farm he is building in his area.
Like many Papua New Guineans today, Soge and his people are reviving and practicing aspects of their traditional cultures in the hope of preserving them.
Having a visible ‘traditional’ culture is important in PNG, especially when ethnic groups want to maintain their history and identity in a nation of diversity. There are obvious economic benefits to be gained by this. However, many people also have noble intentions. They realize the importance of the values and wisdom that had been part of their cultures for thousands of years which had ensured the survival of their people. These cultural practices of old were important and helped to maintain social order, ensured sufficient food production, protected the environment and resources that supported their livelihood, and protected the people from external threats.
Umboldi is one of the areas along the coast of Rai Coast in Madang that has lost much of its traditional cultural practices. However, efforts are being made today by Soge and his people to revive some of the practices associated with the initiation ceremonies.
As the director of the three-year-old Rai Coast Kangal Festival, he is rallying his people and motivating them to revive the rich cultural practices that have almost died out. Kangal is the word for feather in many of Madang’s 164 languages and can also refer to a headdress made of feathers.
“My culture is dying away and I had to do something,” he said in an interview recently. He blames the Pentecostal churches who he says are responsible for banning the cultural practices and destroying the artifacts. He says the Lutherans and the Catholics who came earlier were more tolerant and did not indiscriminately ban all their cultural practices. The early churches had recognized the value in keeping the cultural practices in order to maintain social order in the society that was being destabilized by western influences.
He says that the Kangal ceremonies were related to the initiation of the youth in his area.
“While the coastal villages practiced circumcision in their initiation, we who lived in the inland areas initiated the youths and gave them the emblem of their clans”.
He says the kangal which have several emblems are part of the initiation and before the initiates exited from their ceremonial huts, their hair is groomed so that they can wear the kangals and dance.
He says unfortunately the practice has died out and the festival is trying to revive it.
The Kangal Festival is also part of a bigger project which involves the conservation of the forest areas under the Environment and Conservation Act. With the continuing destruction of forests in parts of Madang, the Umboldi people want to protect their natural environment and control the clearing of forests for subsistence and commercial farming.
He explains that there are generally three types of Kangal dances, one for the day and two for the night time. The singsing during the day is also associated with the practice of piercing of the nose and its kangals are shorter. The feathers are fixed to a comb which is thrust into the dancer’s hair. The style of song and dance is also different.
At midnight, the people dance the kongkap and the dancers paint their legs black. This is the moment when the magnificent kangal which is intricately woven into a circular shape with radiating colours of red, black and white is displayed. The large kangal is usually fixed to a pole that is carried on the back of the dancer. Only special people wear the kangal and have to prepare themselves by observing certain taboos.
The dances are also performed to celebrate new harvest from gardens and modern festive occasions such as Christmas. Those organizing the ceremonies must kill a pig for the dancers and visitors as is the custom.
He said the initiation ceremony in his area is for both boys and girls who are taught by their elders the cultural norms and values and practices of marriage and community life. He said one of the main values that have been taught traditionally is humility which he said was sadly missing today in young people.
The Kangal festival was officially launched in 2008 by the director of the National Cultural Council Dr Jacob Simet.
Last year, Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet and his party visited the festival. Sir Arnold commended the people for their initiative and supported the festival with a contribution of K10, 000.
The festival was also attended by a tourist family all the way from Iceland who arrived in their yacht in Port Moresby and flew over to Madang. Soge said the family members were overwhelmed with the experience observing both the day and night dances.
Other local tourists from Madang town also attended after a two hour boat ride to the village.
The latest development in the Dugu Ruts project is an orchid farm. The native orchids of the area are being cultivated on a farm and will be part of the attraction for visitors in a few years time.
Again Soge’s eyes light up as he says that they are growing a specimen of orchid which the local people believe ‘sings’ in the forest. He hopes visitors can come from all over the world to view these jewels of the forest.
A cultural museum has also been built which today houses cultural artifacts such as the bird of paradise head dresses, the unique giant kundu drums made in the area that use wallaby skins and other rare artifacts.
The next Kangal Festival is scheduled to be held in May this year and those wishing to attend can contact the Madang Visitors and Cultural Bureau for more information.

Bank of PNG, donors attend village banking graduation

“We don’t need handouts, but we badly need good roads to get our produce to the markets in town so that we generate money to care for our families”.
This was one of a number of appeals made to representatives of Bank of PNG and international donors who attended a combined village graduation in Madang recently. The villagers from north and south of Madang had completed a financial literacy training course that was facilitated by Bogia Cooperative Society (BCS) in Madang and funded under the PNG/ADB Microfinance pilot project.
Joe Hare, member of the Ving Community Development Centre along the north coast of Madang thanked Deputy Governor of Bank of PNG Loi Bakani, representatives of the Asian Development Bank, AusAID and Nationwide Microbank for their presence at Bunu village north of Madang. Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet was unable to attend due to the budget sitting in Port Moresby.
He said they were grateful for the financial training they have received which has brought hope to the people living in the inland areas of the province who have no access to roads and other government infrastructures and services.
He said since 2006 Bogia Cooperative has established Community Development Centres (CDCs) in the disadvantage areas and introduced village banking services and training to help the people achieve some financial independence.
He said the cooperative’s efforts were recognized by the Asian Development Bank and Nationwide Micro Bank who have come in with resources to assist the project.
Mr Hare also asked ADB to continue to assist Bogia Cooperative to strengthen its institutional capacity so it can keep managing the CDCs that it has set up.
“The network has already been established between the donors, BCS and CDCs which is the way forward for rural development and poverty alleviation. Therefore we look forward to ADB’s next project to strengthen this network so we can trade our goods, save money, improve health and education for our children and the general wellbeing of our families and communities”.
Mr Hare also called on the Madang MPs to upgrade the feeder roads into the rural areas so people can take their cash crops to the markets. He also wanted the leaders to assist Bogia Cooperative with the necessary infrastructure so it can create export market links that would ensure maximum benefits go directly to the farmers.

Angry protesters halt PMIZ project

Angry protesters halt PMIZ project

Communities near the US$300 million (K990m) Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project in Madang, PNG, are determined to stop it from going ahead.
More than 500 angry protesters disrupted a project’s stakeholders meeting organized by the provincial government last month and forced the Minister for Commerce & Industry Gabriel Kapris and Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet to meet them to accept a petition.
Work at project site has ceased as people await the government response to their petition.
The protesters of men, women and children mainly from the Bel language area surrounding Madang town and the project site are frustrated that the project is proceeding despite their opposition. Carrying banners and placards in English and Tok Pisin saying ‘No PMIZ’ and “We don’t want PMIZ to pollute our seas’, the protesters expressed their frustration demanding that the project be halted immediately.
The protesters said they wanted to show the government that there were many ordinary people, especially women, children and youths who opposed the project.
In their petition to Sir Arnold and Minister Kapris, the people said they had strong reservations about the proposed Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ). They said while the government is pushing ahead, there are many legitimate concerns and questions about the project and its potential impact on the environment and communities that the government must address immediately.
They reminded the government that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) provided that the free and informed consent of indigenous peoples shall be obtained “prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of their mineral, water or other resources”.
They said they are offended and frustrated by the blatant disrespect displayed by both the provincial and national governments towards the people of Madang in bulldozing the establishment of the PMIZ.
“We are deeply disappointed with the lack of any meaningful awareness and consultation by the Government of PNG, with the people of Madang regarding the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone,” they said in their petition.
They said that they believe the activities of PMIZ would cause serious long term and possible irreversible damage to rich marine environment that is their customary fishing grounds. The well-documented environment and social problems caused by the operations of RD Tuna Cannery have also created a genuine fear within them that the problems will worsen with the establishment of PMIZ. The current issues with RD Tuna are environment pollution, Asians trading fish for sex, long hours work for low wages of K80 (US$26) per fortnight for women, and limited spin-offs for the local people.
They asked the government to ensure proper and meaningful awareness and consultation with all communities to be impacted by the activities of the PMIZ, and to seriously consider the findings of independent scientific research on the value of the coastal and marine environment of Madang.
They want the government to clarify customary rights over the sea, particularly the three nautical miles stated under the PNG law; clarify whether and how the government intends to accommodate four existing marine Wildlife Management Areas (WMA’s) and seven proposed areas under its PMIZ plan. They want the government to address the existing environment and social problems created by RD Tuna operations, and involve NGOs and civil society in any discussions on policies, laws and plans related to the PMIZ.
Governor Sir Arnold Amet while accepting the petition said that the stake-holders forum that he had organized was the right place where such issues should be raised. He invited all stakeholder leaders in government, communities and NGOs to attend the meeting to discuss the issue and to inform the people. However, the local people fear that the stakeholders’ forum is not representative of all the views and seems to be providing approval for the project to proceed.
Minister Kapris also warned people not to be misled by foreign NGOs whom the government is accusing of using the people to oppose the project. However, the people have brushed aside the government’s accusation. They said the majority of Bel people from the 8 major villages are opposed to the project because they believe it will affect them negatively. They perceive the project as only involving rich foreign companies, the Chinese, PNG politicians and few locals who have been bought off.
They also pointed out that the Bel people have a history of rebelling against authority, dating far back as the 1904 rebellion against the German colonialists over land in Madang. In the rebellion, the forefathers of the present protesters secretly armed themselves and descended upon the Germans in Madang town with the intention to kill them all. The planned attack failed only because one of the local people had informed the Germans in time and police managed to ward off the attackers. The German retaliation was harsh. Six local leaders were executed by firing squad and the local population was exiled from the area. Today a deep resentment still remains over land issues especially involving foreigners.
The lack of adequate consultation and knowledge about the PMIZ project is a major factor in fueling opposition to the project. PMIZ is turning out to be another major Chinese funded project being pushed by PNG government ministers and their Chinese partners. The project was hatched in Port Moresby and neither the Madang provincial government nor the people were involved until the planned groundbreaking ceremony early this year. The locals were only consulted when the national government realized there would be opposition from the people. The project is to harvest the rich tuna resources in the Western Pacific which will be dumped at Vidar in Madang. Up to 10 tuna factories will be established on a 216 hectare special economic zone that is promising up to 30, 000 jobs. Thousands of Asians are also expected to be employed at the site. Offshore finance of K810m is being obtained from China’s Exim Bank on the condition that no non Chinese companies are to bid for the main contract. The government has yet to reveal who the main Chinese contractor is or any of the other partners involved in the project.
The local people have vowed to peacefully oppose and legally challenged the project.

PMIZ is another major Chinese project

The controversial Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project being developed at Vidar in Madang will be funded and developed by a Chinese company.
Major funding for the project will come from a concessional loan from ExIm Bank in China. Main condition for the loan is that 70% of the project must go exclusively to a Chinese company using Chinese technology, labor and equipment.
The name of the company has not been revealed but it is believed that the project will go to a major Chinese company already operating in PNG. Other companies including local PNG firms can only bid for the remaining 30% of the contract that is if it becomes available. Another condition tied to the loan is that the main contractor’s profit margin will be 20% of the contract value.
Two other Chinese companies have also been named inline with the PMIZ project although very little is known about both organizations. The first one is Shandong Fisheries Management Bureau (Shandong Haiyang Yuye Guanli Ju), and the Binhai City Xingfa Fisheries Group (Shandong Sheng Binhai Shi Xingfa Yuye Jituan).
Both companies have neither national nor international experience with Shandong being a provincial government level agency and Binhai City Zingfa Fisheries Group is a city or prefecture level company.
While the national government ministers have been promising spin-off businesses and contracts to local and landowner companies, the reality is that Papua New Guinean companies are likely to get very little. Contracts for ground clearing and fencing have been awarded to companies whose background has not been disclosed, beyond the fact that they are PNG owned. No information has been given as to who the ultimate owners are.
This is one of the main issues that are fueling opposition to the project. Locals who oppose the project believe that PNG government leaders behind the project are either completely ignorant about the arrangement or are benefiting from it.

Riwo village battles effects of climate change

Until last year, rising sea level at Riwo village in Madang had threatened to wash away a significant part of the village. Directly in the path of the increasing water level was the Catholic Immaculate Conception Church which would have been damaged. However, the villagers, with the help of RD Tuna Cannery who supplied more than 200 empty 44 gallon drums, have erected a 100-meter sea wall reclaiming more than 20 meters of area that was under water. Work is still continuing to extend the sea wall along the waterfront to protect the rest of the village. Chairman of the Church Council Michael Kalal said the villagers are still seeking assistance to complete the sea wall project. Picture: Riwo Catholic Church chairman Michael Kalal explaining plans to develop the sea wall project.