MELTDOWN

Three Councillors and the district treasurer make a trip to Port Moresby, spending the best part of a week getting our 2013 budget approved although it still is not accessible here in Madang a week later. The cost of their trip must be at least 8,000 kina which at least makes my overnight stay in the HongKong airport hotel look like peanuts.

Happily a new agreement with PNG Power bosses in the Capital seems to have been made so we have electricity back in the office for the time being.  The Town Manager has yet again be re-confirmed in his post although the post is forecast as being advertised again and the would-be Manager wanting to make a comeback is toiling away with his solicitors.

The Councillors are running around like rabbits as they try to get money from the new MPs to spend on whatever they think will get them re-elected in the June elections. The most imaginative project comes from the Rastafarian mayor who plans to take a large collection of ladies and girls on a holiday (sorry, marketing educational research trip) to the Indonesian part of Papua. Other beautification projects tend to involve staff tome to design, price and oversee at a time when the Town Manager is not wanting to say boo to a goose.  Never mind, we will end up with, almost certainly an entirely new set of Councillors before these projects have completed.

I have many visitors to my office, architects, developers officials and the general  public all to say hello and a little chat but last week one character made off with my lovely touch screen phone that I was given at xmas – seems a shame too when you have to treat everyone as a potential criminal but there we are!

Never mind, had a good weekend, lots of work done and a salmon salad at the Resort looking out at the islands and reading a book about an adventurer crossing Africa on foot.

 Kalibobo Drive

 Tree survey

 New restaurant at Madang Lodge

Wild times

So, return from England after a lovely, if frenetic Christmas break and bearing with me new teeth (plastic) , new glasses and sandals and full of happiness and bulging bags.

Back in Madang I find that a colony of flying foxes have taken up residence in the large mango tree at the entrance to our small compound. I had never realised just how noisy and boisterous they could be.  It’s party night every night and seems to be all night through – drowning out the noise of drunken youths on the main road outside.

In the office it seems that half the staff are still on their xmas break till sometime in February, the single phone we have has been cut off (unpaid bills) and there is no electricity although after two weeks it seems some new agreement on paying off our debts has been arranged. The Provincial Administrator having re-confirmed the town manager in his position before Christmas, and busy finding how to pay a substantial fine for ignoring a court order, has changed his mind and again re-appointed his predecessor  leading to more legal fighting and uncertainty. The Council’s proposed budget as usual has not yet been submitted to Port Moresby (it will be taken by plane with 3or 4 Councillors and the manager when they can organise tickets) so that we will shortly run out of fuel for the rubbish truck, stationary for the office and wages for the manual workers. Good to be back!

My own new year resolution to keep blogging regularly is already looking to be a forlorn hope but we shall see…. 

' waste' land wanted by residents to add to gardens

 'waste' land wanted for hotel development

 refuse recyclers house at town dump