Changing face of Moresby

Since Hon Powes Parkop came into office as Governor for NCD and through his leadership, the nations capital has seen a transformation. There have been many initiatives brought about by the Governor but more over we have seen a major improvement in the city compared to his predecessors. The only problem that put a set back on all the effort done so far is the attitude problem of individuals. Unless we change our mindset, we will have an uphill battle in changing the image of this city and country as a whole. Acknowledgement also goes to the other three members of NCD for their support to the Governor.

Another addition to the Kambar tribe

My friend Noel was finally a father on the 23rd of May 2010. His wife gave birth to a baby boy and he was named Jeremiah as well after my son. Noel and the wife is at Godwin’s place for a while until Lydia, Noel’s wife fully recover from the operation she had. She had a caesarian. Congratulation Noel on becoming a father finally.

Twins Sariman’s Birthday

We were invited to Tino and Tina’s twins’ s 1st birthday over the weekend at Aviat Club. All the kids obviously had a ball since it was just beside the pool. Jeremiah had his share of fun especially swimming in the big pool with his noodle. It was also a chance for Jeremiah to mingle with his cousins.

NCD Botanical Garden's sorry state

6 years ago, it was the jewel of Port Moresby where city residents could enjoy nature at its door step. Under the former management it lured thousands of city residents including tourists. During one weekend of late April, I managed to take the family for a stroll and to my surprise it has gone down. I was obviously sadden at the state of which the animals were kept and wandered weather or not they would be better off in the wild or locked up in a confined area where less attention was given to them. The surrounding vegetations of flowers and grasses have overgrown and most of the wonderful flora and fauna had either died or where ignored. You obviously need professionals to manage this wonderful garden. The fish pond where fishes and waterlily once had the most attraction is nothing but a bare dry concrete slab in the middle of the garden. The green house that arched a portion of the garden is now a bush of overgrown plants growing in all direction.

This once magnificent garden where weddings, picnics, corporate functions where conducted has lost its shine and obviously it comes down to management of NCDC to do something about it or we’ll loose it again. There’s talk in town about something similar happening on the fringe of the city along the Hubert Murray Highway to Sogeri and it would sure be an attraction to many city folks.

Beautiful Alotau, Milne Bay Province

On a recent trip to Alotau in March 2010 for a scope work on an upcoming OLLIPAC Conference, I was amazed at how fast the town had developed. There are many noticeable development taking place within this once quiet town. Just at the end of 2009, the new jetty for small boats was completed at Sanderson Bay. In town a new bus stop has just been erected for commuters travelling up towards west towards Gurney and east towards East Cape as well as to the north coast . Major lodges and hotels have also expanded such as Alotau International Hotel completing a new state of the art air conditioned conference equipped with modern technology such as PA system for and a flat screen tv mounted onto the wall. Also eye catching is the improved waterfront build with a stone wall and filled with white sands. Masurina is also expanding by building a new modern conference which should be completed by July 2010. Having been around town for a couple of minutes and you would notice a lot of informal sector stalls setup. Though there are so many of them, one would realize that there is hardly any buai spit or stains painting this beautiful town. Goes to show how people respect authority and town laws. For Alotau.. A big thumbs up to the town authority and people of Alotau. Kaioni..

Down Town Development-March 2010

Haven’t being down there since Kim’s move to Harbourside at Konedobu opposite the Papua Yacht Club. Looking at the development within this sort space of time is mind boggling. The United Church building owned by the United Church of Papua New Guinea is completely refurbished and beside it is the old Ela United Church site being cleared and ready for the construction of a new modern three storey church. Opposite the church and United Church Building is the construction of a new hotel owned by Steamships Company in near completion. Also there are now more cars in Port Moresby than ever before and driving into town CBD is a daily struggle especially during peak periods of the day (8am, 12pm and 5pm)

Achievements in 2009 at IPPCC

Whilst we are not that well known as an existing constitutional body, over the past 12 months IPPCC had hosted the 2009 OLLIPAC conference at Gateway with a lot of interest from a wide sector. This year’s conference is yet to be confirmed but this time it would be hosted outside Port Moresby.Also in 2009 most staff went through a one week induction course at PNGIPA. This saw half of the staff graduating with certificates as well as Swear In on their Loyalty to the State. The office also had its website developed and uploaded for the first time which is now excess able by the public.
This year 2010 will be another challenging year where major events such as the staging of the 2nd OLLIPAC Symposium and upgrade of the office equipments and linking up to Dept of Finance for the ALESCO Payroll system to be processed onsite. Also featured early this year is the launching of the OLLIPAC Book.Other major activities planned for this year will be featured in our next blog but to keep up to date with latest activities visit http://www.ippcc.gov.pg/