Sir Mekere slams O'Neill's China junket

Member for Moresby Northwest Sir Mekere Morauta has criticised Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and delegation who traveled to China yesterday.

“Look at the members of the delegation. Is the Prime Minister going to China to sell off our petroleum, gas, fisheries and forestry resources, Ok Tedi, and Bank South Pacific?

“It has been reported that the trip will cost almost K7 million – at a time when hospitals and health centres are short of medicine; schools, even in Port Moresby, are closing; small businesses are waiting to be paid their bills by the government and retired public servants are waiting for their superannuation entitlements, some dying before their entitlements have been paid.

“The trip also comes at a time when the Prime Minister’s own province and Hela are in turmoil.

“For the first time in the nation’s history an aeroplane has been hijacked and burned, and civil unrest continues,” he said.

Sir Mekere said Mr O’Neill should take personal responsibility for the chaos in the Southern Highlands, which stems from the chaos of last year’s national election.

“Put the ongoing landowner issues stemming from his government not paying monies due from the LNG project, the government’s refusal to deal with the proliferation of weapons throughout the country, and the recent earthquake on top of the election issues and you have a situation packed with dynamite.

“Instead of facing the problems in his own backyard and dealing with the causes of the problems, the Prime Minister runs to China on the biggest begging trip ever – 93 people in the delegation, including 50 Chinese, according to the official list.

What on earth are they all going for? To negotiate our becoming a colony of China? Is PM leading a delegation of Papua New Guineans or a delegation of Chinese?,” he said.