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PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, November 30) – Trucking firms suffer heavy losses as the giant Porgera gold mine and Kutubu oil project face fuel shortages following the disruption of normal traffic on the Highlands Highway, the National Road Authority (NRA) warned yesterday.

According to the authority, fuel and supplies bound for the Highlands provinces were held up in Goroka, while coffee and tea bound for international destinations missed their ships docked in Lae, as the trucks were held up in Mt Hagen for a week.

"We have lost over K1 million already and this will go up. Fuel and supplies for the Porgera gold mine and Kutubu oil project, store goods and supplies are held up in Goroka," general manager of Transwest trucking company and NRA board member John Lacey said.

"Fuel and supplies will run out over the next few days if nothing is done to repair the highway and the trucks are allowed to move."

Speaking from Goroka, Mr Lacey said...

Editorial

Pacific Daily News

HAGATNA, Guam (Dec. 1) – The government of Guam wants to pay out US$123.5 million in cost-of-living allowances (COLA) ordered by a court before Christmas – in lump-sum payments -- by borrowing money and putting taxpayers further in debt, but will it collect money it overpaid some Government of Guam retirees?

The court ordered the payments because of a law in effect between 1988 and 1995 that required adjusted cost-of-living allowances to Government of Guam retirees, who instead were paid a flat US$1,800. And according to Retirement Fund Director Paula Blas, about 150 retirees were actually overpaid because of the flat rate, and collectively owe the government of Guam US$423,243.

Will the government pursue collection of these the overpayments as zealously as it is trying to pay out the settlement?

Another question raised regarding COLA payments is why isn't the government taking its share by taxing these lump-sum...

SYDNEY, Australia (Australian Broadcasting Corp. Dec. 1) – The nations of the south Pacific will meet today to a send strong message of support to the Fijian government, as the country braces for a military coup.

Military commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama has warned the country's Prime Minister [must] bow to all his demands by midday local time (11am AEDT) or face a coup, as the crisis rocking the Pacific nation reaches a new low.

It came hours after Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase agreed to address key points in the military's nine non-negotiable demands.

Mr Qarase had promised to review three controversial pieces of legislation and said he would withdraw them if they were judged unconstitutional.

But Commodore Bainimarama says he wants the Bills dropped altogether.

"If you look at his press statement today and the issues that he came up with, they're very sketchy, and in effect it keeps the impasse going into the next year," he said. "We don'...

SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, Nov. 30) – Fiji Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase has criticized travel warnings issued by Australia urging its citizens to stay away from Fiji in light of the standoff between the Government and the military.

Speaking in Suva after returning from talks in Wellington with army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, Mr Qarase told ABC Online that the Australians tended to overreact most of the time.

"It's absolutely fantastic at the moment," he said. "The tensions are in Suva, the capital. If the travel advice warns people about travels to the capital, I can well understand that, but to cover the whole of Fiji is a little bit of an overreaction."

He said western Fiji, where most tourist resorts were, was always peaceful.

Mr. Qarase's comments were an apparent attempt to shore up the country's tourism industry, which has suffered a 40 per cent drop in bed bookings after the crisis intensified last week.

Earlier, Mr. Qarase told...