PNG PM O'Neil misled NEC on USB Loan deals : Leaked OC Report
The Papua New Guinea Ombudsman Commission findings into the illegal K3 billion UBS loan affair raises questions about whether Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is a fit and proper person to hold this high public office, Opposition Leader Patrick Pruaitch said yesterday.
In a damning 322-page final report titled “Alleged borrowing of A$1.239 billion from Union Bank of Switzerland” the Ombudsman Commission had deemed that the actions of Mr O’Neill “was wrong and improper” and that he had misled the National Executive Council.
Mr Pruaitch said it was clear Mr O’Neill had orchestrated the loan affair in order to buy 149 million Oil Search shares and, in the process, had unscrupulously convinced other Cabinet Ministers and senior bureaucrats to make this criminal conduct possible.
“We now have a situation where the O’Neill government borrowed K3 billion to purchase Oil Search shares which have been liquidated at a great loss to all Papua New Guinea citizens,” he said.
Mr Pruaitch said the Ombudsman report made it clear that one of the key reasons for the poor state of the economy had been due to the diversion of the government’s LNG export revenues.
“This has directly contributed to inadequate levels of foreign exchange for normal day to day business operations that have resulted in big falls in private sector employment and declining average incomes throughout the country,” he said.
He said the Ombudsman Commission had noted that because the UBS loan had been subscribed to by the National Petroleum Company, its managing director, Wapu Sonk, had instructed the PNG LNG Project to divert revenues from LNG exports to the UBS branch in Singapore.
“Hundreds of millions of US dollars were diverted annually from the PNG economy, directly contributing to the shortage of foreign exchange and the inability of companies and individuals to import essential goods and services and causing a shrinkage of formal sector employment,” Mr Pruaitch said.
He said: “When my colleague, the Shadow Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey asked Prime Minister O’Neill last week in Parliament why he was hanging on to office when many coalition leaders had lost faith in his leadership, the Prime Minister tried to claim legitimacy because of his role as leader of the People’s National Congress.
“The way I see it is that the PNC is a political party in total disarray.
The illegal UBS loan highlighted by the Ombudsman Commission is just one of many improper actions and judgments that has resulted in severe hardships to most people throughout this country.”
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| PNG Opposition leader, Patrick Pruiatch |
Mr Pruaitch said it was clear Mr O’Neill had orchestrated the loan affair in order to buy 149 million Oil Search shares and, in the process, had unscrupulously convinced other Cabinet Ministers and senior bureaucrats to make this criminal conduct possible.
“We now have a situation where the O’Neill government borrowed K3 billion to purchase Oil Search shares which have been liquidated at a great loss to all Papua New Guinea citizens,” he said.
Mr Pruaitch said the Ombudsman report made it clear that one of the key reasons for the poor state of the economy had been due to the diversion of the government’s LNG export revenues.
“This has directly contributed to inadequate levels of foreign exchange for normal day to day business operations that have resulted in big falls in private sector employment and declining average incomes throughout the country,” he said.
He said the Ombudsman Commission had noted that because the UBS loan had been subscribed to by the National Petroleum Company, its managing director, Wapu Sonk, had instructed the PNG LNG Project to divert revenues from LNG exports to the UBS branch in Singapore.
“Hundreds of millions of US dollars were diverted annually from the PNG economy, directly contributing to the shortage of foreign exchange and the inability of companies and individuals to import essential goods and services and causing a shrinkage of formal sector employment,” Mr Pruaitch said.
He said: “When my colleague, the Shadow Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey asked Prime Minister O’Neill last week in Parliament why he was hanging on to office when many coalition leaders had lost faith in his leadership, the Prime Minister tried to claim legitimacy because of his role as leader of the People’s National Congress.
“The way I see it is that the PNC is a political party in total disarray.
The illegal UBS loan highlighted by the Ombudsman Commission is just one of many improper actions and judgments that has resulted in severe hardships to most people throughout this country.”
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