"It is a concern when those in the lead are blinded by arrogance, pride and boastfulness," says Don Polye

MPs in the government, including the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, have been urged to give credit where it is due for the developments taking place around the country.

Speaking to a huge crowd in Jimi, Jiwaka province last Friday, Opposition Leader Don Pomb Polye said the former government was denied acknowledgement on the foundation work he laid for the construction of major infrastructure developments taking place across the country.

“However, I am being blessed today by the people of Jiwaka in their acknowledgement of me through their Toli-Tumi association for my humble and sincere contribution of K10-million which I provided for Kimil-Jimi road.

“This little ‘thank you’ meant a lot to me in a mountain of ‘no thank yous’ by a foolish government that rides along on the work of others to gain their own glory,” Mr Polye a told the crowd.

He outlined that the following work realized were the results of his strategies;

1) Multi-tranche financed roads under PNG Government and Asian Development Bank ;

2) Maritime wharves/ports like Lae Port, jetties navigational systems, ISPS code; implementation to secure our ports/wharves etc…under ADB/PNG government loan facility;

3) Airport upgrades like at Gurney, Nadzab, Hoskins, Jacksons and Mt Hagen to ICAO Standards etc…;

4) Transport sector reforms and establishment of National Airports Corporations to do Nadzab airport master plan development etc…;

5) Establishment of Free Trade Agreements with the European Union for PNG’s tune/fish products and;

6) Establishing investment promotion protection agreements with Japan, China and Korea etc…

7) Many other works in the high education sector and Treasury reforms.

Polye said he did not want to be thanked for what he did, adding that is what he has been mandated and ‘divinely skilled to do.’

“But it becomes a concern when those in the lead are blinded by arrogance, pride and boastfulness.

“The foolish need to learn how to give praise where it is due like the good people of Jiwaka have done,” he said.

Part of the crowd in Jiwaka Province. Image: PNG Opposition Media Unit

Part of the crowd in Jiwaka Province. Image: PNG Opposition Media Unit

Source: Press Release

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE OPPOSITION LEADER DON POLYE - You one of the few who show concern of the performance of PNG economy!

by GREG MANDA

AN OPEN LETTER TO DON POLYE MP, OPPOSITION LEADER

Congratulations, Mr Polye, on winning the re-count for Kandep district! We realize sinister political forces were at work to bring about the re-count. Thankfully you won.

PNG needs your leadership now like never before. As you know we are currently saddled with a limping-along economy that is likely due to corrupt government. The eyes of all Papua New Guineans are on you to take the lead in challenging the O’Neill administration.

One year ago in the October 8, 2015 edition of the Post Courier you were spot on in your claim that the PNG LNG funds were being parked in an account in Singapore, and not in the Bank of PNG as claimed by the O’Neill administration. Thank you for bringing that to the light of day.

You can’t rest now. You need to continue to hammer away and demand transparency of government finances. In particular you need to focus on the UBS loan, now rolled into a Credit Suisse loan. Secondly you need to demand full disclosure of the PNG LNG income.

You are aware of the financial situation in PNG in the past two years.. In 2015 PNG was the envy of other Pacific region countries and many countries around the world with 11% GDP growth. It was the first full year for income from the PNG LNG project, the biggest project ever undertaken in the history of the nation. Dame Carol Kidu was right when she stated: “The PNG LNG project will make or break the country.”

In 2016 we experienced a serious downturn in PNG because of a so-called “cash flow problem”. The salaries of High Commissioners and their staffs were delayed. State owned enterprises failed to receive their promised allotments. Many government departments and provincial administrations were short-changed.

It was not a “cash flow problem”. It was a corruption problem, as you know. Funds from the PNG LNG project were being diverted to pay the failed UBS loan. The Prime Minister needs to realise that the PNG LNG funds are not his personal piggy bank to do with in whatever manner he wishes. They are funds belonging to the sovereign nation of PNG!

A brief side comment for Michael Somare: Grand Chief, we are now aware that your hands are not clean in financial dealings you have made while you were Prime Minister. We’ve learned in September 2016 that you and your son arranged to have bribes paid to you in excess of K1 million and you used those funds to buy houses in Sydney. Those funds were designated to facilitate the development of community colleges in PNG, but today PNG has nothing to show for it. Thankfully the Singaporean authorities were willing to investigate the matter.

Mr Polye, maybe you can convince the Singapore government to conduct an investigation into the UBS loan. It’s much more likely that Singapore will conduct a fair trial in view of the fact that their ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index is 8 where PNG’s ranking is way down at 139, among the most corrupt nations on the planet.

Mr Polye, we very much need you, because you are one of the very few MPs who understand the corruption of our current government. Far too many MPs have their heads in the sand, unwilling to dig into the allegations.

You are one of the few who understand that in excess of K100M – maybe as high as K500M – is missing and unaccounted for in the UBS loan alone. You are also aware of the lack of transparency of these mega-financial arrangements. The reality is that we have zero transparency on the major financial transactions of our nation! The UBS loan and the PNG LNG transactions should not be hidden in Singapore banks, but rather with the Bank of South Pacific or some other PNG bank, so that the transactions can be investigated when improprieties take place.

We are asking you to do a lot. But corruption is so pervasive in our country that these matters have to be addressed. The economy is struggling when it should be robust. You need to work behind the scenes to convince at least 56 MPs to require that Prime Minister O’Neill give full accounting on the UBS loan. Separately, you also need to convince them that the PNG LNG financial arrangements need to be transferred to a PNG bank.

All MPs are required to give an accounting of the K10M they receive for DSIP funds in their districts. What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander. The Prime Minister needs to come clean and give a full report on the UBS loan, which is 300 times larger than the K10M the MPs are responsible for.

By his actions on these matters the Prime Minister O’Neill is telling us he does not care about the 80% of the population who are barely eking out an existence. They are the ones who suffer because of corruption. Please use the next 8 months to jump up and down on the tables in Parliament and demand full and transparent accounting on the UBS loan and the PNG LNG income.

Thanks and Regards!

Greg Manda

Don Polye 

Source: PNG Blogs (http://www.pngblogs.com/)

Opposition Leader Don Polye welcomes Pacific Island Judges for the Pacific Judiciary Conference in Port Moresby

THE country’s judiciary has its own problems and challenges which it should learn from neighboring countries to over-come them.

Challenges such as having to deal with backlog of court cases and maintaining the independency of judiciary amidst threat of political interference is most common in the PNG Judiciary system.

PNG’s judiciary must now learn from both Australia and New Zealand and even smaller island states to deal with these challenges confronting our judiciary system.

Opposition Leader, Don Pomb Polye said this whilst welcoming chief justices and judges from the Pacific to PNG for Pacific Judiciary Conference.

“As much as smaller island countries wants to learn from PNG, we must also pay close attention to learn from them as there may be lessons and inputs which may help improve our country’s judiciary system,” said Mr Polye.

“The country’s judiciary system is most probably the only avenue left for our citizens to seek justice and it must be defended and protected at all times. The same cannot be said to many of our constitutional offices as they have been compromised,” said Mr Polye.

“The recent being the error by the Public Prosecutor requesting the Ombudsman Commission for additional evidence against the Prime Minister where the Public Prosecutor whose roles and function is either to prosecute or decline it. The PM got off the hook as a result of the deliberate error by the Public Prosecutor,” said Mr Polye.

Mr Polye when welcome the pacific island judges urged them to also enjoy PNG’s hospitality and the uniqueness of PNG’s cultural diversity.

Opposition Leader Don Polye 

Source: Press Release