NIP receives K19.88mil

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday paid K19.88 million of Lihir memorandum of agreement (MoA) funds to New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan in Kavieng, signifying reconciliation of their political differences. Sir Michael, who was given a rousing welcome in Kavieng, also used the occasion to urge the newly established council of elders to be widely representative of the traditional leadership of the province. Sir Michael, in his address to the New Ireland provincial assembly on the revised Lihir MoA, presented K19.88 million and pledged a further K30.12 million.The funding, along with K20 million already allocated for the Buluminski Highway, brings to total about K70 million for the New Ireland government.

The National Government owes New Ireland about K90.2 million under the revised agreements for the Lihir gold mining project. Sir Michael said concerns over the outstanding payment had not been pleasant and he did not wish for any parties to go through it again, referring to a court action taken by Sir Julius to get the MoA funds from the National Government.“I have, therefore, tasked my department to revisit the Lihir MoA with all relevant government agencies tasked with its implementation,” Sir Michael said.“They must establish areas causing the delays and take corrective actions. “The monies owed to the NIPG must not be allowed to accumulate as we have seen. “It must not be repeated,” he said.“If necessary, the monitoring and implementation aspects of the MoA must be streamlined and managed by a single entity.

“This exercise should also take into account the other existing MoAs that the State had entered into with other resource provinces.” Sir Michael said, in the end, whatever was due to the landowners and provincial governments must be time-honoured and duly paid.“Only then can all parties move forward together to further grow our resource provinces and the nation.”He said the K19.88 million was the first instalment payment and, as soon as an acceptable schedule of further payment was worked out, the National Government would move on to honour its obligations under the revised MoA.

(Pic above: PNG's Parliament House - where you got to know your way around to get out...Em nau PNG style)

Sir Michael also spoke highly of Sir Julius, whom he said had been holding regular meetings since he took office.“I have had a long association with Sir Julius on the political front, and I am not totally surprised by this. “I know he works very hard for his people.“It demonstrated his able leadership and the new direction he wanted New Ireland province to take.”Sir Michael said the Lihir MoA was revised in May 2007 but had somewhat proven challenging to implement.

“For instance, the MoA sits ‘outside’ traditional project arrangements on issues like the tax credit scheme.“As a way forward, can all parties, including the State, the New Ireland provincial government and the developer, revisit this area." "Nevertheless, I am already encouraged this year by the commitment of our officials on their discussions on the Kavieng settlement meeting.”The first of two meetings between National Government and NIPG officials was on Jan 30 in Kavieng, and the second last Thursday in Port Moresby.

Source: The National

*** The above article baffles me. It seems to me that in order to receive your grants from the government, you got to be with the government before any funds are released. What the writer describes about bureaucratic red tape and customary obligations regarding the NIP grants, is utter nonsense. Chan is in the opposition and Somare is in the government so there you go. PNG politics as usual. Papua New Guinea has a political culture where "you got to scratch my back before I scratch yours," otherwise; your party is over. Can we change this kind of political culture only in Papua New Guinea?