NINGXIU HUI, CHINA: Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, who is currently in China to negotiate assistance for infrastructure development in the country has expressed total displeasure at the lack of understanding by certain members of the Opposition.
Responding to comments in the media recently from Opposition Leader, Belden Namah and Tobias Kulang, Mr O’Neill said such statements were unbecoming of leaders who should know better what the role of government is.
Mr O’Neill, who successfully negotiated the Chinese Government’s undertaking to fund some of our major projects yesterday said we are here for the sake of our people, and are not having a good time as they alluded to.
“Their statements clearly indicate to us and everyone in Papua New Guinea that they are irresponsible and are working against the national interest of our country.
“Their statements show that they have no economic credibility to speak on the issues they are speaking about. Their arguments are very shallow and childish.
“As a country, we are an important member of an exclusive club of 21 economies in the Asia Pacific Region. And as the leader of this country, I have to put Papua New Guinea’s interest before these strong economies so that we take advantage of the membership that we have in that organization.
“I did not take a large entourage but I took the two most important Ministers to that meeting, the Foreign Minister and the Trade Minister, who are both responsible for dealing with all APEC related matters. That is rightfully why they should be there.
“We are aware of our responsibilities; we’re not on a junket trip.
And on my trip to China, I decided to take advantage of the short route from Vladisvostok to Beijing, which is a two-hour flight to meet with the political and business leaders of China before returning home. Yesterday, I met with the Vice Premier Li, to discuss opportunities for Papua New Guinea. I also met with other business leaders such as Sinopec, the buyer of our LNG Gas, Covec, and the most important one was the Exim Bank, who continues to provide financial assistance to PNG.
“The trip to China includes the Treasurer and the Works Minister. They have every right to be there when we are negotiating, because we are negotiating on our country’s behalf and for financing, that is their responsibility and they should rightly be there.
“So as you can see, this is not a junket trip; we did not go to visit hotels and casinos and bars like some leaders do. In fact, we have been working flat out with very little time to rest.
“I am here to try to secure a financing arrangement for the development of our infrastructure in the country. Do these leaders want me to leave the Highlands Highway without any further development and reconstruction of that highway? Is that the sort of country that they want to lead, where they neglect their responsibilities? The Highlands Highway and other major highways in the country need to be redeveloped.
“China has now indicated that they are willing to finance these projects.
But these finances will not be drawn down in one year but will do done over 10 years. However, we need to secure that money now for the projects that we are mentioning.
“So the stupidity that is being expressed by Tobias Kulang and Belden Namah shows clearly that they do not understand business and they do not understand the economy. So they should speak on issues that they understand.
“The financing arrangements have been agreed to at the leadership level, now the details and terms of the financing is being negotiated by our officials from Treasury, Works and other agencies that are already in Beijing working for our country in conjunction with officials from the Exim Bank and other agencies of the Chinese government,” Mr O’Neill said.
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