O'Neill: Namah has no solutions

Prime Minister O'neill says Namah has no solutions

Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill today challenged Opposition Leader Belden Namah to spell out his alternative policies and solutions for some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation.

“He has been alternate prime minister for 20 months now, yet he has not outlined his policies, or offered any solutions to address some of the most critical issues affecting our people.

“The power issue is a case in point. We have a very critical power situation confronting businesses and residents in the country, especially our growing cities of Lae and Port Moresby. “Our economy has been growing in the last 10 years, and this has placed great stress on the services and utilities we provide, like power.

“Power shortage in Lae and Port Moresby has become very critical, seriously affecting businesses and livelihood of residents. “As a responsible government, we cannot just sit back and expect the problem to go away. We have to find solutions to help our people.

“I welcome the police complaint that he has filed, but I must ask Namah: What are your alternatives? What solutions do you have to offer our long suffering businesses and residents who have had to put up with constant blackouts for so long?

The Prime Minister said following his trip to Israel last year, the government decided to proceed with buying two turbines from an Israeli company. The PNG Power Board accompanied the PM to Israel and were involved in negotiating with the company.

In March this year, Cabinet approved the procurement of two 26.2 Megawatts gas turbines (dual fuel) (GE Model TM2 500+) at a cost of K94 million. The Israeli company will source the turbines from General Electrics, a reputable US company specialising in this business. The L R Group acted as the agent in PNG. The turbines sourced are an upgrade from the two 15 megawatt turbines that were initially negotiated. They are priced at around US$700,000 per megawatt, a price far less than the normal market price of US$1 million per megawatt for that type of power turbine.

Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said his letter to the Treasury Secretary was simply to source savings, if any, from the 2013 Budget for this purchase. It is not a direction to take money out of an allocation, he said. “As Prime Minister, I am concerned about the power situation that affects us daily, and proving very costly households to businesses.

“What is wrong with me actively seeking a solution to this power nightmare? If Namah has a solution, what is the solution? The purchase agreement with the Israeli company includes installation and training of PNG personnel to operate the turbines.

“The sourcing of this technology and expertise from Israel is part of the Joint Declaration of Cooperation I signed with the Prime Minister of Israel when I visited in October last year.

“The K50 million is part payment of the K94 million for this transaction. The suggestion by Namah that the L R Group and myself are trying to swindle K50 million from this transaction is a malicious lie. I hope he has evidence to prove this,” the Prime Minister said.­­­­­