Thursday, October 1, 2009

Papua New Guinea (PNG) poverty: Somare shifts the blame

By Laurence Chandy

Al Jazeera's illuminating interview with PNG Prime Minister Michael Somare (left) highlights many of the misconceptions which undermine the government's approach to development.Repeating his earlier mantra, Somare denied that poverty was a problem in PNG, with the possible exception of urban migrants.

The truth is that poverty by any standard measure remains rife. My back of the envelope estimate, as appears in my new Lowy Analysis, has extreme poverty (defined by the international poverty line of $1 a day) at more than 30% in 2008 – that's a higher percentage than in 1996 when the last completed household survey was undertaken.Furthermore, poverty is certainly not limited to cities.

Not only is the incidence of poverty higher in rural areas, the rural poor are found further below the poverty line than their urban counterparts and experience lower growth rates. The Prime Minister might consider taking a leaf out of Emperor Haile Selassie's eccentric, if ultimately doomed policy of arranging surprise visits out of the capital to understand better what is happening in his country.

Somare's views on urban migrants are generally unsympathetic. He blames them for the recent unrest against Chinese businesses and criticises them for migrating in the first place. I would argue that migratory trends, while difficult to manage, perform an important role. Eradicating poverty in PNG relies on the connection between the poor and the rest of the economy being improved. At present, this connection is weak, which explains why the 'poverty dividend' from economic growth is so low.

On current trends, the most likely solution to Papua New Guinea's rural poverty will come not from the government's extension of public services and economic opportunity into remote areas, but from the poor moving to more prosperous areas. To coin a phrase: if you can't bring the economy to the poor, bring the poor to the economy.The Prime Minister's answers are weakest on the issue of government effectiveness.

He is unable to explain why public funding doesn't reach its intended target, other than to blame corruption among public servants, while absolving the political class of any wrong-doing. The real explanation here is the scandalous absence of monitoring and accountability mechanisms, a reliance on defunct service delivery systems, and the need for much greater budgetary focus.

Given that the bulk of district-level expenditure is overseen by politicians and that no effort is made to account for these funds, politicians are undoubtedly part of problem. With a decision on the LNG project just around the corner, and the prospect of rapid growth and booming revenues a distinct possibility, now is the time for the government to face up to the country's poverty problem and to think seriously about the role it must play in ensuring the expanding economy delivers for the poor.

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Papua New Guinea (PNG) poverty: Somare shifts the blame

By Laurence Chandy

Al Jazeera's illuminating interview with PNG Prime Minister Michael Somare (left) highlights many of the misconceptions which undermine the government's approach to development.Repeating his earlier mantra, Somare denied that poverty was a problem in PNG, with the possible exception of urban migrants.

The truth is that poverty by any standard measure remains rife. My back of the envelope estimate, as appears in my new Lowy Analysis, has extreme poverty (defined by the international poverty line of $1 a day) at more than 30% in 2008 – that's a higher percentage than in 1996 when the last completed household survey was undertaken.Furthermore, poverty is certainly not limited to cities.

Not only is the incidence of poverty higher in rural areas, the rural poor are found further below the poverty line than their urban counterparts and experience lower growth rates. The Prime Minister might consider taking a leaf out of Emperor Haile Selassie's eccentric, if ultimately doomed policy of arranging surprise visits out of the capital to understand better what is happening in his country.

Somare's views on urban migrants are generally unsympathetic. He blames them for the recent unrest against Chinese businesses and criticises them for migrating in the first place. I would argue that migratory trends, while difficult to manage, perform an important role. Eradicating poverty in PNG relies on the connection between the poor and the rest of the economy being improved. At present, this connection is weak, which explains why the 'poverty dividend' from economic growth is so low.

On current trends, the most likely solution to Papua New Guinea's rural poverty will come not from the government's extension of public services and economic opportunity into remote areas, but from the poor moving to more prosperous areas. To coin a phrase: if you can't bring the economy to the poor, bring the poor to the economy.The Prime Minister's answers are weakest on the issue of government effectiveness.

He is unable to explain why public funding doesn't reach its intended target, other than to blame corruption among public servants, while absolving the political class of any wrong-doing. The real explanation here is the scandalous absence of monitoring and accountability mechanisms, a reliance on defunct service delivery systems, and the need for much greater budgetary focus.

Given that the bulk of district-level expenditure is overseen by politicians and that no effort is made to account for these funds, politicians are undoubtedly part of problem. With a decision on the LNG project just around the corner, and the prospect of rapid growth and booming revenues a distinct possibility, now is the time for the government to face up to the country's poverty problem and to think seriously about the role it must play in ensuring the expanding economy delivers for the poor.

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Papua New Guinea (PNG) poverty: Somare shifts the blame

By Laurence Chandy

Al Jazeera's illuminating interview with PNG Prime Minister Michael Somare (left) highlights many of the misconceptions which undermine the government's approach to development.Repeating his earlier mantra, Somare denied that poverty was a problem in PNG, with the possible exception of urban migrants.

The truth is that poverty by any standard measure remains rife. My back of the envelope estimate, as appears in my new Lowy Analysis, has extreme poverty (defined by the international poverty line of $1 a day) at more than 30% in 2008 – that's a higher percentage than in 1996 when the last completed household survey was undertaken.Furthermore, poverty is certainly not limited to cities.

Not only is the incidence of poverty higher in rural areas, the rural poor are found further below the poverty line than their urban counterparts and experience lower growth rates. The Prime Minister might consider taking a leaf out of Emperor Haile Selassie's eccentric, if ultimately doomed policy of arranging surprise visits out of the capital to understand better what is happening in his country.

Somare's views on urban migrants are generally unsympathetic. He blames them for the recent unrest against Chinese businesses and criticises them for migrating in the first place. I would argue that migratory trends, while difficult to manage, perform an important role. Eradicating poverty in PNG relies on the connection between the poor and the rest of the economy being improved. At present, this connection is weak, which explains why the 'poverty dividend' from economic growth is so low.

On current trends, the most likely solution to Papua New Guinea's rural poverty will come not from the government's extension of public services and economic opportunity into remote areas, but from the poor moving to more prosperous areas. To coin a phrase: if you can't bring the economy to the poor, bring the poor to the economy.The Prime Minister's answers are weakest on the issue of government effectiveness.

He is unable to explain why public funding doesn't reach its intended target, other than to blame corruption among public servants, while absolving the political class of any wrong-doing. The real explanation here is the scandalous absence of monitoring and accountability mechanisms, a reliance on defunct service delivery systems, and the need for much greater budgetary focus.

Given that the bulk of district-level expenditure is overseen by politicians and that no effort is made to account for these funds, politicians are undoubtedly part of problem. With a decision on the LNG project just around the corner, and the prospect of rapid growth and booming revenues a distinct possibility, now is the time for the government to face up to the country's poverty problem and to think seriously about the role it must play in ensuring the expanding economy delivers for the poor.

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Hulis from Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea want apology from United States

By TRAVERTZ MABONE

Various leaders from Hela province have demanded an apology from American political satirists who used their traditional dress in a witchdoctor slur against US president Barack Obama. The leaders gathered in Port Moresby yesterday to confirm a trip to the United States to demand a formal apology from the Tea Party, among others, which circulated, the offending image.

The delegation will include Paya Kakahalu, of Magara village in south Koroba, Southern Highlands province, the person whose photograph was “doctored” to portray the black president as an African witchdoctor. Damien Arabagali, Hela Gimbu Association (HGA) chairman, said PNG’s Foreign Affairs Minister and Culture and Tourism Minister would have to take up their demand.

“We have never felt such discrimination of our cultural identity, we are not witch doctors,” Mr Arabagali said.“Our children face the shame of being labelled this way.“We will not rest until we get an official apology,” Mr Arabagali said.“We are prepared to travel to New York to show the Americans we are not witchdoctors.

One of the similar pictures like the one shown above was doctored to portray President Obama

“It is widely known in PNG that Huli people do not practice sorcery and to portray them as witchdoctors on the international scene is uncalled for.“The 350,000 people in Hela are offended,” Mr Arabagali said. HGA lawyer Alfred Kaibe, who wore his traditional Hela costume when he was an MP in 2001, said his people did not see the funny side.“It borders on racism, to us and the US president,” he said.

“The connotation is this type of dress is for witchcraft.This is our traditional costume; we are proud of it and to see it displayed like that is an insult and cannot be accepted.” The Tea Party had mocked up the image as part of a three-week series of protests across the US against Mr Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms. Last week, CNN asked Tea Party member Joe Wierzbicki whether the image was racist or satirical.

“(It) says to me that a lot of people in this country are angry about the direction that the administration and congress are taking us,” he said.In 2006, PNG demanded a similar apology from Boris Johnson, then a British Conservative MP who is now mayor of London, after he linked the country with “cannibalism and chief-killing”.

Popular Detroit-based PNG blogger,
David Ulg Ketepa said the image was disgusting.“Many Papua New Guineans living in the US and around the world are angered by the picture,” Mr Ketepa said. He blogged that media organisations had flooded his email inbox seeking interviews.“The sad thing that I noted from this bunch of emails is that, nobody knew where PNG was,” he said.

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Hulis from Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea want apology from United States

By TRAVERTZ MABONE

Various leaders from Hela province have demanded an apology from American political satirists who used their traditional dress in a witchdoctor slur against US president Barack Obama. The leaders gathered in Port Moresby yesterday to confirm a trip to the United States to demand a formal apology from the Tea Party, among others, which circulated, the offending image.

The delegation will include Paya Kakahalu, of Magara village in south Koroba, Southern Highlands province, the person whose photograph was “doctored” to portray the black president as an African witchdoctor. Damien Arabagali, Hela Gimbu Association (HGA) chairman, said PNG’s Foreign Affairs Minister and Culture and Tourism Minister would have to take up their demand.

“We have never felt such discrimination of our cultural identity, we are not witch doctors,” Mr Arabagali said.“Our children face the shame of being labelled this way.“We will not rest until we get an official apology,” Mr Arabagali said.“We are prepared to travel to New York to show the Americans we are not witchdoctors.

One of the similar pictures like the one shown above was doctored to portray President Obama

“It is widely known in PNG that Huli people do not practice sorcery and to portray them as witchdoctors on the international scene is uncalled for.“The 350,000 people in Hela are offended,” Mr Arabagali said. HGA lawyer Alfred Kaibe, who wore his traditional Hela costume when he was an MP in 2001, said his people did not see the funny side.“It borders on racism, to us and the US president,” he said.

“The connotation is this type of dress is for witchcraft.This is our traditional costume; we are proud of it and to see it displayed like that is an insult and cannot be accepted.” The Tea Party had mocked up the image as part of a three-week series of protests across the US against Mr Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms. Last week, CNN asked Tea Party member Joe Wierzbicki whether the image was racist or satirical.

“(It) says to me that a lot of people in this country are angry about the direction that the administration and congress are taking us,” he said.In 2006, PNG demanded a similar apology from Boris Johnson, then a British Conservative MP who is now mayor of London, after he linked the country with “cannibalism and chief-killing”.

Popular Detroit-based PNG blogger,
David Ulg Ketepa said the image was disgusting.“Many Papua New Guineans living in the US and around the world are angered by the picture,” Mr Ketepa said. He blogged that media organisations had flooded his email inbox seeking interviews.“The sad thing that I noted from this bunch of emails is that, nobody knew where PNG was,” he said.

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Hulis from Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea want apology from United States

By TRAVERTZ MABONE

Various leaders from Hela province have demanded an apology from American political satirists who used their traditional dress in a witchdoctor slur against US president Barack Obama. The leaders gathered in Port Moresby yesterday to confirm a trip to the United States to demand a formal apology from the Tea Party, among others, which circulated, the offending image.

The delegation will include Paya Kakahalu, of Magara village in south Koroba, Southern Highlands province, the person whose photograph was “doctored” to portray the black president as an African witchdoctor. Damien Arabagali, Hela Gimbu Association (HGA) chairman, said PNG’s Foreign Affairs Minister and Culture and Tourism Minister would have to take up their demand.

“We have never felt such discrimination of our cultural identity, we are not witch doctors,” Mr Arabagali said.“Our children face the shame of being labelled this way.“We will not rest until we get an official apology,” Mr Arabagali said.“We are prepared to travel to New York to show the Americans we are not witchdoctors.

One of the similar pictures like the one shown above was doctored to portray President Obama

“It is widely known in PNG that Huli people do not practice sorcery and to portray them as witchdoctors on the international scene is uncalled for.“The 350,000 people in Hela are offended,” Mr Arabagali said. HGA lawyer Alfred Kaibe, who wore his traditional Hela costume when he was an MP in 2001, said his people did not see the funny side.“It borders on racism, to us and the US president,” he said.

“The connotation is this type of dress is for witchcraft.This is our traditional costume; we are proud of it and to see it displayed like that is an insult and cannot be accepted.” The Tea Party had mocked up the image as part of a three-week series of protests across the US against Mr Obama’s controversial healthcare reforms. Last week, CNN asked Tea Party member Joe Wierzbicki whether the image was racist or satirical.

“(It) says to me that a lot of people in this country are angry about the direction that the administration and congress are taking us,” he said.In 2006, PNG demanded a similar apology from Boris Johnson, then a British Conservative MP who is now mayor of London, after he linked the country with “cannibalism and chief-killing”.

Popular Detroit-based PNG blogger,
David Ulg Ketepa said the image was disgusting.“Many Papua New Guineans living in the US and around the world are angered by the picture,” Mr Ketepa said. He blogged that media organisations had flooded his email inbox seeking interviews.“The sad thing that I noted from this bunch of emails is that, nobody knew where PNG was,” he said.

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Dead-end future for too many Papua New Guineans


From the Post Courier editorial

We have brought some gripping accounts of human tragedy into the pages of the Post-Courier in recent times. These are true stories of the growth of deadly illness in people and their efforts to find help in their time of desperation.

These are the dilemmas of life for average Papua New Guineans, those who are afflicted with life-shortening diseases and are finding out how difficult it can be to find a way through. The victims in these situations usually encounter medical experts who tell them their only hope is to go to another country where machines and expertise exist to help them.Almost inevitably, they find out that such a course of action to save their life or to prolong it for a lengthy time will cost K100,000 or more.

Among many other sick patients, Saka Tauloi (above) is 54 and suffers from Hodgkins lymphoma or commonly known as Hodgkins disease and she needs urgent treatment overseas

In most cases, they have no hope of finding that amount. The paralysing truth that is obvious to many is that they need to go overseas quickly, within months or weeks, for the salvation to work.Very, very few Papua New Guineans can scrape up the money to do that.Many resign themselves to dying in a short time.

Their nearest and dearest family members go through mental torture, once they know the grim scenario. To see your loved one going through physical pain and knowing there is no hope can be a dreadful thing for people to cope with. That is when people start to feel bitter about the public health system in our country.

We feel for many professionals, including Health Secretary Dr Clement Malau, who complained publicly in recent weeks about the tendency for people to recite the bad side of health instead of giving the positive developments a go.

We in the media realise that we cannot be too critical of health professionals who are attempting to do good things, but we are critical of the government system that leaves those professionals with woefully inadequate resources to help our people. After a decade or two of struggle to get the sole cancer unit going again, we hear that the effort is still plagued by shortcomings of funding and staffing.

In the meantime, those who can find K100,000 or more, are jumping on the plane to Singapore or Brisbane. We don’t blame those individuals for being able to do so. But we do resent those in positions of power who do so, while those who pay their salaries, the taxpayers, are unable to make that flight.

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Dead-end future for too many Papua New Guineans


From the Post Courier editorial

We have brought some gripping accounts of human tragedy into the pages of the Post-Courier in recent times. These are true stories of the growth of deadly illness in people and their efforts to find help in their time of desperation.

These are the dilemmas of life for average Papua New Guineans, those who are afflicted with life-shortening diseases and are finding out how difficult it can be to find a way through. The victims in these situations usually encounter medical experts who tell them their only hope is to go to another country where machines and expertise exist to help them.Almost inevitably, they find out that such a course of action to save their life or to prolong it for a lengthy time will cost K100,000 or more.

Among many other sick patients, Saka Tauloi (above) is 54 and suffers from Hodgkins lymphoma or commonly known as Hodgkins disease and she needs urgent treatment overseas

In most cases, they have no hope of finding that amount. The paralysing truth that is obvious to many is that they need to go overseas quickly, within months or weeks, for the salvation to work.Very, very few Papua New Guineans can scrape up the money to do that.Many resign themselves to dying in a short time.

Their nearest and dearest family members go through mental torture, once they know the grim scenario. To see your loved one going through physical pain and knowing there is no hope can be a dreadful thing for people to cope with. That is when people start to feel bitter about the public health system in our country.

We feel for many professionals, including Health Secretary Dr Clement Malau, who complained publicly in recent weeks about the tendency for people to recite the bad side of health instead of giving the positive developments a go.

We in the media realise that we cannot be too critical of health professionals who are attempting to do good things, but we are critical of the government system that leaves those professionals with woefully inadequate resources to help our people. After a decade or two of struggle to get the sole cancer unit going again, we hear that the effort is still plagued by shortcomings of funding and staffing.

In the meantime, those who can find K100,000 or more, are jumping on the plane to Singapore or Brisbane. We don’t blame those individuals for being able to do so. But we do resent those in positions of power who do so, while those who pay their salaries, the taxpayers, are unable to make that flight.

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Dead-end future for too many Papua New Guineans


From the Post Courier editorial

We have brought some gripping accounts of human tragedy into the pages of the Post-Courier in recent times. These are true stories of the growth of deadly illness in people and their efforts to find help in their time of desperation.

These are the dilemmas of life for average Papua New Guineans, those who are afflicted with life-shortening diseases and are finding out how difficult it can be to find a way through. The victims in these situations usually encounter medical experts who tell them their only hope is to go to another country where machines and expertise exist to help them.Almost inevitably, they find out that such a course of action to save their life or to prolong it for a lengthy time will cost K100,000 or more.

Among many other sick patients, Saka Tauloi (above) is 54 and suffers from Hodgkins lymphoma or commonly known as Hodgkins disease and she needs urgent treatment overseas

In most cases, they have no hope of finding that amount. The paralysing truth that is obvious to many is that they need to go overseas quickly, within months or weeks, for the salvation to work.Very, very few Papua New Guineans can scrape up the money to do that.Many resign themselves to dying in a short time.

Their nearest and dearest family members go through mental torture, once they know the grim scenario. To see your loved one going through physical pain and knowing there is no hope can be a dreadful thing for people to cope with. That is when people start to feel bitter about the public health system in our country.

We feel for many professionals, including Health Secretary Dr Clement Malau, who complained publicly in recent weeks about the tendency for people to recite the bad side of health instead of giving the positive developments a go.

We in the media realise that we cannot be too critical of health professionals who are attempting to do good things, but we are critical of the government system that leaves those professionals with woefully inadequate resources to help our people. After a decade or two of struggle to get the sole cancer unit going again, we hear that the effort is still plagued by shortcomings of funding and staffing.

In the meantime, those who can find K100,000 or more, are jumping on the plane to Singapore or Brisbane. We don’t blame those individuals for being able to do so. But we do resent those in positions of power who do so, while those who pay their salaries, the taxpayers, are unable to make that flight.

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