SNIPPETS: The Sunday Chronicle

NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Fred Yakasa:

NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Fred Yakasa speaking at the first quarterly parade for his command at the Boroko police station. "Policing must not be just a job to make ends meet but a profession that requires personal motivation, a high level of enthusiasm, dedication and commitment..." ... Again Superintendent Yakasa, inviting his charges to a reception at Bluff Inn outside the city, after yesterday's parade "Papua New Guinea will not collapse. We will just have two to three hours to get together and enjoy ourselves." .... Housing Minister Andrew Kumbakor hitting back at criticism from NHC board chairman and former chief executives "Mr Maru, Mr Dambali and Mr Asukusa have done nothing for PNG." ... Ron Seddon of Rotary Against Malaria when making accepting a donation from tobacco company BAT this week "Our long term aim is for malaria without mortality."

No smoking at poker sites.

The National Gaming Control Board has imposed a ban on smoking in gaming sites. The ban will come into effect in a matter of weeks The chairman of the regulatory body said the ban was to promote a healthy lifestyle as not all poker machine players were smokers and the ban will give those non-smokers a fresh breather who need not put up with the fumes. Non-smoking poker machine players would dodge complications associated with passive smoking. Yet the risk of catching "chronic pokeritis" still persists.

And another kind of smoking!

Nature will not let the beautiful Gazelle Peninsula rest. Though the volcanic cones in the Blanche Bay are a sight to behold from a distance, they occasionally belch out their deadly insides causing widespread destruction and suffering to the locals. This week, all flights to Tokua were suspended. Hundreds have been left stranded and Air Niugini has proposed an alternative airport. The old Rabaul airport, only a few hundred meters from Mt Tavuvur was destroyed in the twin eruptions of Sept. 1994. From there provincial airport was relocated to Tokua which is not safely out or reach of Tavuvur. Where to from there? ...

And more questions!

Is there an end in sight to the debacle at NHC? When will they stop attacking personalities and instead attack the real enemy in a critical shortage of affordable housing? NHC may have unknowingly allowed the private entrepreneur to make a real killing with prices that are of luxury rather than a basic human need.