Somare's reputation sinks as PNG booms
BY DONALD HOOK
PNG’S CAPITAL Port Moresby is growing bigger and wealthier in the wake of the country’s LPG and mining projects.
Construction work costing many millions of kina is going ahead at a frenetic pace to provide accommodation and office space in - or close to - the city’s central business district.
The new five-star Grand Papua Hotel dominates the skyline and is due to open next year. It will have 166 luxury units and is being built on the site of the old Papua Hotel, destroyed by fire in 1991.
Not far away, the Ela Beach Hotel, formerly the Davara Motel, is being expanded with 42 new units overlooking the waterfront.
The Grand Papua and the Ela Beach belong to a nationwide hotel chain owned by Steamships Trading Company.
At present, the leading hotels in Port Moresby charge K800 - 1,100 a night. A budget hotel such as the Weigh Inn, off the Poreporena Freeway, costs K320.
A huge new complex known as Harbour City is being built on reclaimed land across from the Hubert Murray Oval. It will comprise shops, offices, a supermarket and residential units.
According to a real estate agent, flats are being built “everywhere” in Port Moresby. “As soon as they go up, they attract rentals of up to K3,000 a week,” he said.
One long-term expatriate businessman said he was building two flats, and defended the high rentals being asked by owners. “Rentals have always been high in Port Moresby because the cost of building is great and there are other expenses.”
Another businessman spoke of a small unit overlooking Koki Market, that has had its rent increased twice this year from K600 to K1,200 and is now K1,500.
The influx of cashed-up foreigners also is good for car sales. Ela Motors reports that sales have gone up 28 percent so far this year.
A spokesman said sales were expected to increase by at least the same amount next year. “Eight years ago there was a big drop in sales and I thought we’d go out of business. But it’s different today,” he added.
The boom period, however, is not good for everyone. Many Papua New Guineans can no longer afford to live in what has become a very expensive city and have moved into settlement camps outside Port Moresby.
And that raises the big question, constantly asked: Whether the people of PNG as a whole will benefit from the unprecedented economic growth from the LNG and mining projects?
Only time will tell. But there is one area where the ordinary person is already benefiting and that’s due to the communication revolution.
Most of the population now has access to satellite telephones through either Telikom or the Irish-owned Digicel, which continues to mount an aggressive marketing program.
In fact, the company has virtually painted PNG the colour red with its nationwide advertising.
Telikom concentrates on the large urban areas while Digicel aims to soon service the whole country, including the large but sparsely populated Western Province.
During peak hours, a person can call anywhere in PNG for less that 50 toea a minute. Off-peak is cheaper. Digicel sells mobile phones for K29, and there are top up facilities in the smallest villages.
PNG’s Foreign Minister, Sam Abal, recently visited the US for talks with NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. On his return he said the use of mobile telephones in PNG had shown how communications could transform a society.
He added:” This can be further accelerated with our own satellite project”
Sam Abal, a former public servant and diplomat, comes from Enga Province and enjoys considerable support, especially in the highlands.
In a country where one is constantly told that it’s time for a change, Sam Abal is seen by many as a future leader – even as a replacement for Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare after the 2012 elections.
Nobody I met during three weeks in PNG had a good word for Somare or his government.
I found this hard to accept. I knew Michael Somare in the 1960s and 1970s, and I admired his leadership and his determined campaign for independence in 1975.
As a journalist we had regular contact, and I regarded him as a good friend.
Today, one hears many stories of corruption and nepotism involving the discredited Somare Government.
Somare himself is referred to as Michael Mugabe, and - instead of Grand Chief – he’s called the Grand Thief.
It’s all very sad.
It is time for a change. |
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