PM Marape denies O’Neill’s accusations
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
PM Marape denies O’Neill’s
accusations
PORT MORESBY: Prime Minister James Marape has denied
former prime minister Peter O’Neill’s accusations that he blamed landowners for
the closure of Porgera gold mine.
“Nothing could be
further from the truth. I addressed a large crowd in Porgera on Monday (June
20, 2022) while campaigning for my Pangu Pati candidate for Porgera-Paiela
Nixon Mangape. And they all applauded my efforts to give them more for Porgera,”
he added.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below a few General Election 2022 news updates as reported by The National:
PM denies accusation
June 22, 2022The NationalMain Stories
“Nothing could be further from the truth. I addressed a large crowd in Porgera
on Monday, while campaigning for my Pangu Pati candidate for Porgera-Paiela
Nixon Mangape. And they all applauded my efforts to give them more for
Porgera,” Marape said.
“No one has blamed landowners for the continued closure of the mine. O’Neill
should be ashamed of disrupting our efforts to reopen the mine.
“He continues to play politics over every issue in our efforts to develop our
country.”
Marape said O’Neill was not qualified to talk about Porgera as he tried to do
things for less national benefit from the mine in 2019.
“O’Neill is the last person who should be talking about Porgera,” he said. “He
knows why he visited the Chinese company Zijin Mining in April 2019, instead of
allowing the SML application filed in July 2017 to be dealt with.
“His heart was not in the right place for Porgera, which was why some of us,
including Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas, resigned from his self-serving
government in 2019.
“Today, we have gained 51 per cent from what was five per cent in the old
Porgera under O’Neill.”
Marape said Barrick and Kumul Mining were finalising the opening of the mine
that would need landowners and the Enga government’s endorsement.
“I appeal to all parties to expedite the process. If O’Neill was in power, he
would have sold Porgera out, but under our ‘Take Back PNG’ philosophy, we have
reached a win-win deal in favour of PNG,” he said.
“Let me correct his wrong notion of me shutting down the mine. The fact is that
the lease expired and the application to renew the lease was on the same terms
as the last 30 years. So I had to make hard decisions to get back Porgera to
negotiate for better terms for our country.
“Finally, O’Neill should not tell me how to run the country because he ran it
into recession, when Porgera was operating. Look at the records. The country’s
gross domestic product was negative zero point three per cent in 2018.
“Over the last three years, without Porgera, we grew the economy by K30 billion
compared to O’Neill’s K35 billion growth over eight years.”
Marape vows to quit politics if he loses seat
By PETER WARI
PRIME Minister James
Marape has reiterated that he will resign from politics if he fails to retain
his Tari-Pori seat in Hela in the 2022 General Election (GE22) or does not
become the prime minister.
He told the people in his rival Peter O’Neill’s electorate of Ialibu-Pangia in
Southern Highlands that he would resign and let young leaders take over the
reins.
He was addressing a crowd at Maya village near the Pangia station yesterday,
urging the people to pray to God to give them a positive mind to elect good
leaders in the GE22.
“We have communities and in those communities are churches and families who
must stay together, pray that God will give us leaders that are God-fearing and
have a heart for the people,” he said.
“Leaders are anointed by God. People must look at candidates with leadership
qualities that will make good decisions for the nation, province or
electorate.”
In the three years as prime minister, he said his Government’s focus was on
empowering the people though business activities and economic empowerment.
Marape assured the people that the Government would deliver a free, fair and
peaceful election, with soldiers and the police to provide security to prevent
violence.
“I am getting old, this nation is also getting old and good leaders must be
elected for economic empowerment and good governance,” he said.
Vote for change: Pangu candidate tells people
Students of Apanda
Junior High School in Pangia, Southern Highlands, at the Pangu Pati rally
yesterday. – Nationalpic by REBECCA KUKU
PANGU Pati candidate
Stanley Liria, who is contesting the Ialibu-Pangia seat held by Peter O’Neill,
has urged the people to “vote for change”.
“I come here to tell you that I am ready, willing and able to serve you,” he
said. “But the power is in your hands. You voters will decide. All I ask is
that you vote for change.”
Liria said the power to form the government was with the people.
Liria, a lawyer by profession, was one of the nine candidates who contested the
seat in 2017.
Finschhafen MP Rainbo Paita, who was also in Pangia to support Liria, said it
was time for change.
“Everything changes. The only thing that doesn’t change is God. So do not be
afraid to vote for change,” he said.
“Vote for the future of your children, vote for economic independence, vote for
change.”
Tari-Pori MP campaigns for Pangu candidate in
Ialibu-Pangia
By Rebecca Kuku in Pangia
PANGU Pati leader
James Marape campaigned for his party candidate to contest the Ialibu-Pangia
seat against Peter O’Neill, and explained why he resigned from Cabinet in 2019
and formed a new government. Marape said he had supported O’Neill for eight
years.
“I left to form the new government in 2019 because of policies,” he said. “We
advised him (O’Neill), we stood by him, but we got fed up and left. When others
left him, I stood by him.
“But he did not want to listen to our advice. We wanted change.”
Marape campaigned in Ialibu-Pangia for Stanley Liria, who also stood against
O’Neill in 2017.
“It’s not about Hela or Southern Highlands. It’s nothing personal – just
politics and the fight for a better PNG,” he said. He said when the Pangu was
first set up, it stood for one people, one country.
“That is what we still stand for. We want to empower people to become
economically independent and help PNG businesses grow,” he said.
“Instead of giving government contracts out to foreigners, the Pangu-led
government has given out contracts to local businesses.”
Marape said Pangu wanted to do away with the “cargo boy mentality”.
It is why he is working with young leaders, he said.
State of economy not
good: O’Neill
June 22, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
The Ialibu-Pangia MP was responding to a full page newspaper advertisement by
the Pangu-led Government, explaining how well the national economy was doing.
“It (GDP) does not even measure crucial aspects of the economy such as its
sustainability: whether it is headed for a crash,” O’Neill said.
He said the facts showed that the country’s economy was ruined in the past
three years.
“It is time we get back to work and rebuild the economy and our way of life,
and stop this political experiment that has ruined our economy and our country
over the past three-plus years,” O’Neill said.
He said what crippled the economy included:
- WASTAGE on the K5.6 billion
spent on the Coronavirus (Covid-19) – still no audited report on how the funds
were spent despite assurances by Bryan Kramer and Ian Ling-Stuckey;
- OVER K10 billion lost from the
Government’s cancelling of the Porgera state mining lease;
- INFLATION at 5.7 per cent and
predicted to rise to 7 per cent this year;
- FAMILIES paying K60 for a 10kg
bag of rice in Enga;
- ZOOM costing K7 per litre in
Manus where boat transport is vital;
- DEBT growing by K27 billion
from 2018 to 2022 (Department of Treasury official budget);
- DEBT to GDP was at 35 per cent
in 2018. Now it is at 53 per cent; and,
- AN increase in the ceiling of
allowable debt to GDP from 35 per cent to 60 per cent.
O’Neill said the
economy was down by minus 3.5 per cent in 2020 and only grew by 1 per cent in
2021.
“The Pangu-led Government has amassed K23.746 billion in budget deficits
(official Treasury Budgets) and K27 billion in loans leading the World Bank to
state in its report of February 2022 an ‘unrealistic budgeting (and a) need to
improve the credibility of the annual budget process’.
“The facts are very different from the reports the Prime Minister wants us to
believe from his newspaper advertisement.”
Extractive sector to drive growth by 4pc:
Report
THE World Bank says
the country’s economy is projected to grow by 4 per cent this year, driven
largely by growth in the extractive sector.
But World Bank country economist Ruslan Piontkiysky warned: “The biggest
challenge for the PNG economy this year will be navigating a fragile recovery.
“This is particularly challenging while uncertainty remains high.
“A sound fiscal consolidation strategy – one focused on mobilising domestic
revenue to decrease the medium-term fiscal deficit – is vital for PNG.
“This will be important to navigate while prioritising improvements to the
delivery of services.”
The state of the economy has been a hot topic for debate during the General
Election 2022 campaign among leaders.
According to the World Bank report released in March, “Papua New Guinea
Economic Update: Navigating a Fragile Recovery”, the extractive sector was
projected to be the main driver of gross domestic product (GDP) growth – an
estimated 4 per cent – driven by the planned reopening of the Porgera gold mine
in Enga.
However, the report estimated that the overall medium-term growth was likely to
be impacted by higher global uncertainty.
It said that while local agricultural production continued unabated through the
pandemic, PNG’s overall GDP growth had lagged behind global and regional
averages, with performance further constrained by falling gold and liquefied
natural gas production.
The report recommends that PNG improves the credibility of its annual budget
processes and ensure companies in resource sector contribute revenue to PNG’s
budget to safeguard fiscal sustainability.
It emphasises “further improvements to the tax policy and tax administration to
help reduce the country’s debt burden”.
New Ireland police secure ballot papers,
materials
New Ireland police
commander Chief Inspector Felix Nebanat receiving ballot boxes from election
manager Benjamin Kliawi on an Australian Defence Force aircraft in Kavieng .
– Picture supplied
NEW Ireland police are
responsible for the safe-keeping of ballot papers which arrived in Kavieng on
board an Australian Defence Force aircraft yesterday, says a senior officer.
New Ireland police commander, Chief Inspector Felix Nebanat said police would
guard the ballot papers, boxes and election materials until polling day and
afterwards.
They included 52 ballot boxes, three electoral roll boxes and other
accessories.
He said additional police manpower from Tomaringa would assist in securing the
materials until polling time.
New Ireland Election Manager Benjamin Kliawi confirmed that the materials would
be under police guard.
The materials will be distributed to the polling teams before they leave for
their assigned polling areas.
He urged the provincial and district administrators to recruit 10 public
servants to conduct scrutiny for the 10 polling stations for the regional seat.
Authority continuing vaccinations efforts: Doc
By LULU MARK
THE National Capital
District Health Authority will continue supporting the Coronavirus (Covid-19)
vaccinations in the capital city despite the closure of its Rita Flynn centre
and pandemic operations.
Chief executive officer Dr Steven Yennie said the health authority had
implemented smart Covid-19 response and vaccination strategies. The closure of
Rita Flynn meant the suspension of the authority’s vaccination programme there.
“(But) the Motu Koita Assembly and all our partners with ISOS are continuing
their vaccination programmes,” he said.
“We support their vaccination supply on daily basis.”
Dr Yennie said when Rita Flynn was shut down by the PNG Sport Foundation for
the non-payment of K6.2 million in fees, all medical equipment inside such as
the GeneExpert machine were not released.
He said: “The National Control Centre and Health Department have not given any
clear indication of settling the dues.
“So we are unable to continue testing and associated services at the Rita Flynn
facility.
“We have accrued liabilities since 2019 when we started our Covid-19
containment and response programmes (which) included personnel, hire cars and
other related expenses.
“We have not been receiving the health service improvement programme funds from
the Health Department so we cannot continue to incur more costs.”
There is fear that a surge in the Covid-19 cases will occur during the election
period.
Comments
Post a Comment