The decision of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to reject the advice and recommendations of the Eminent Persons’ Group he set up to negotiate on the Ok Tedi issue will prolong and increase the suffering of Western Province people.
The Prime Minister’s comments about the failure of the EPG are not correct; he should now disclose the advice and recommendations given to him by the EPG. Since the Prime Minister expropriated Ok Tedi from PNGSDP, without compensation, social and economic development has all but ceased throughout the province. I am advised that the decision to go against fair, common-sense recommendations developed in a spirit of compromise and in the interest of everyone concerned was the Prime Minister’s alone. It is a slap in the face for the people of Western Province. It leaves 200,000 people without the development assistance they need, simply to satisfy the Prime Minister’s political agenda and self-interest. It is a very bad, selfish and counter-productive decision. Sir Mekere said the Prime Minister’s personal agenda had been clear from the beginning. He had two objectives: 1.Expropriate PNGSDP’s 63.4 percent shareholding in Ok Tedi without compensation 2.Take control of PNGSDP and the $US1.4 billion in the Long Term Fund Mr O’Neill achieved his first objective through the passage of the Tenth Supplemental Agreement Act in September last year. He is still trying to achieve his second objective, but is being prevented by PNGSDP court action in Singapore and the United States. These illegal activities by the Prime Minister are creating more and more problems for Western Province and the nation. The Prime Minister must take the blame for all the problems he is causing. PNGSDP has a legal and moral duty to protect itself and the funds it holds for the benefit of the people of Western Province. We will continue to fulfil our duty. Prime Minister, I say once again that the money is for the benefit of the people of Western Province, not the State. Get that clear. It is now clear that the Prime Minister hoped that the creation of the EPG was a cunning way for him to achieve objective two. He set the group up to help him out, but instead of taking their advice and recommendations, he rejected them all. He did that because the recommendations apparently did not give him what he wanted - control of PNGSDP and the Long Term Fund. There is a pattern to the Prime Minister’s behavior of rejection, and his failure to negotiate in good faith. The head of the EPG, Sir Rabbie Namaliu, and I initialed Draft Heads of Agreement - twice. Mr O’Neill rejected both. In December, the PNGSDP Board considered the issues raised with the EPG and the PM’s stance, and made a decision which was passed on to EPG – PNGSDP would lift its court cases if the parties signed a legally enforceable Deed of Agreement which covered the issues of compensation and unpaid dividends, and preserving the independence of PNGSDP. The EPG then requested PNGSDP to prepare a draft of such a Deed. The Company did, and submitted it to the EPG, which recommended to the Prime Minister that the State should negotiate the details of the draft Deed with PNGSDP. This was rejected by the Prime Minister. Drafting the Deed at the request of EPG is again evidence of PNGSDP’s preparedness to compromise and reach a fair and amicable solution. PNGSDP has from the very beginning been agreeable to working out a solution including direct approaches to the Prime Minister and then through an intermediary. The Prime Minister and I shook hands on a deal at a meeting in Majuro, Marshall Islands, in early September. Two weeks later the Prime Minister reneged and brought the expropriation legislation to Parliament. The Prime Minister has no-one but himself to blame for all the trouble he is causing Western Province and the Nation by his lack of good faith and his refusal to compromise. Mekere Morauta Chairman Comments are closed.
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