PNG's staggering Debt level worries Polye

With the country’s debt level over K22 billion Opposition Leader Don Polye has urged MPs to be mindful of trading their leadership qualities with materialisms.

 Mr Polye said leaders were driven by principles and that these could not be conceded.

“The country’s future has been committed to under the huge loans which the Prime Minister has sanctioned.

“This is the fact yet I don’t understand why our learned leaders crawling to the Prime Minister with alleluias,” he said when commenting on a former Prime Minister Paias Wingti who said PNG’s future was bright with huge investment in infrastructure development.

Polye said the writings were on the wall, adding he said when he was the transport, works and civil aviation minister then, he initiated all these projects in the transport sector.

He said the credit should be given to where it was due.

He reiterated that the country’s debt level was over K22 billion.

“Most of the projects especially in the nation’s capital are not economically justifiable.

“Unequal distribution of resources and wealth has taken precedence over at the expense of those provinces which contribute enormously to the government’s revenue basket,” he said. 

He said he doubted the so-called infrastructure developments, adding they would not add economic value to the country’s economic growth.

“The challenges to improve the livelihood of our people are still outstanding.

“Our global development indexes have been worsened and yet no efforts have been exerted by the government to arrest them,” he said.

He cited among others PNG’s global corruption index was among the worst.

He has queried whether how the future of the country was on track when the development challenges still remain unaddressed.

“All the founding fathers and even the former Prime Ministers have openly warned the government against economic mismanagement, undermining rule of law, eroding of democracy, breaching of constitution and other laws, and rife in systematic corruption,” said Polye.

He said Papua New Guineans were illiterate yet they were wise.

He added the Prime Minister’s propaganda arm would not change the perception that the Prime Minister was losing face among the people and their representative in Parliament.