anyone here done it???

am considering an offer to go make some $BIG$ buckeroos doing parts in tax free papua new guinea....

have read a fair amount of pro's and con's, and so far it doesnt seem as bad as everyone makes it out to be... especially the commercial press....

i want to travel there to make the good money to sponsor dub and travel obsessions, but to also experience a totally different culture.........

thoughts or experiences guys and gals??

went to "Irian Jaya" some years back on a surf expedition and was told not to walk the streets at night so guessing the same on the other side of the Island.
sounds kool though, don't wear ya "bring back the biff" tee shirt:duh

Hmmm. Just finished a couple of weeks study of PNG political structure and socio-economic conditions. It remains a lawless place today, and western foreigners are big targets for the gangs. However, i imagine that indeed the pay would be good, and so it shold, the risks are high, but if you are willing to take the risk, you could make megabucks. Comes down to a question of what you value most - money or safety.

[Edited on 18-8-2004 by bertie_beetle]

thats a good question." paper or blood"

Do you get personal guards in the offer?, most foreigners have personal guards these days.

Air fooled,
I did it for 9 years. Depends on where you go. If you are working in the cities you need to think carefully about safety. Some provinces are safer than others. It generally depends on the resources within the province and the tax dollars distributed to those provinces from the resource projects. Coruption is rife and this has a bearing on the stability within town/villages.

By the way it's not exactly tax free. It's 2% or 12% depending on how your contract is structured. Or at least it was up to 2000.

Having said all that I enjoyed everyone of the 35 visits I made to the country. A very interesting culture and generally very friendly people. Awesome islands and highland regions. I worked in Port Moresby, Southern Highlands, The Gulf Region and East New Britain.

"m tasol, lukim yu behin time" ... Thats all, see you later.

Brendan

You seem pretty confident, so go for it. Opportunities like this often come only once.
:bounce

I wouldn't take family. No life for them...too restrictive. Going grocery shopping is like delivering the payroll to a bank. International schools are like jails.


I don't know what your work skills are but generally on resource projects a fly in / fly out 28/28 day rotation or 6 and 2 week rotation allows you to have "quality" time when you are home.

Brendan

thanks GLI172, sounds like you know a heap! what type of work were you in?? i'm tossing up a job in port moresby and may also have another offer in the pipeline, parts repping in the pacific region..... the second one is more appealing travel and safety wise but lower paying...... from what ive read its not as dangerous as made out so i've really not taken the safety factor into too much consideration, but just follow the basic rules of not going out at nightime, starting fights bla bla bla.

i would have guards at the compound where i would live too by the way bertie beetle, however not bodyguards or anything per se....

ps- the diving and mountain climbing is a real attraction too!!

nah full time residency buddy, jumpin straight in the deep end.......the way i like it, sink or swim.....

did you have much contact with other westeners??? and your likes and dislikes of the country apart from the scenery??

what was the purpose of your school report bertie??? and the conclusions?

Sounds good then. I guess you run a risk workin anywhere, i'd be scared working in Melbourne.

Port Moresby has better suburbs than others. Boroko is one of the worst (this was where the riots were in '96). Port Moresby commercial district is ok except that a lot of the stores and restaurants have closed down over the last 10 years. I will say they have some exceptional restaurants though. Great food.

Bertie,
I have a view on the socio economical structure of the country. I believe it is in the state it is due to British Colonialism. You see it everywhere you go... the class system, even down to policemen opening gates for you when you are driving into the carpark of the Gateway hotel for a pissup. A dinner in a restaurant costs generally twice as much as a lobourer makes in a week. Security guards get paid 20 toya per hour and are expected to protect banks with sticks (3 of them once saved me an a mate from being robbed one lunch hour outside the Wespac bank up there). TV adds attempt to show you 6 ways of cooking tinned tuna and bully beef. There is such a disparity between the haves and havenots. Generally only 45% of grade 6 students go on to finish primary school (the future rascals).

A sad story. The company I was contracted to took a collection up one xmas to help out 6 underprivelaged families with hampers. We found out later that all the families were robbed and some of the family members beaten.

Brendan

yeah, pine rivers is like bagdhad. i live in strathpine, i go to Pine Rivers High School. Not too bad around here, but kallangur is a hole.

I grew up in Redcliffe so PNG was a cakewalk.

thanks for the insight mate........

I hope I haven't scared you off. If the right job came up I'd be back there in a second.

Brendan

I also lived in Kalangur for a while.

After I left both places the locals probably realised that the shackles were now broken and the places went on to prosper.

Get your safety sorted out and go for it. You are only young once.

hopefully the same has happened in png then hey??? hahaha

so just which poor town is suffering down on the central coast now then?? hahaha

actually cant talk kallangur up too much.... had my first car stolen from there 3 days after i bought the bastard!!!!! shheessh!!! theyre quick!!!

doing wat sort of work if u dont mind me asking

spare parts interpreting

i worked there for near enough 10 yrs let me say i enjoyed some of what i did but i would not go back nor would i ever contemplate a job within a good boui spit of moresby it is a shithole full of the worst there is to offer lae and even madang arnt much better now and the highlands are just amazing with their own brand of law but by the sound of it you will fit right in if your packin smith--------------------and wesson. u2u me and i will give you specifics if you want but the money aint worth your life and im not bullshitting you about the life bit

Kalangur did not have sealed roads all the way to the guttering on Anzac Ave when I was there.

Just another tip. I have seen a lot of expats come back from PNG after living there. A lot of them are in advanced stages of alcoholism. Because of the restrictive nature of the lifestyle. Join the yacht club, learn to fly, go fishing....stay active.

Regards
Brendan