Ilau trips seen as ‘return of investments’

PNG Defence Force commander Peter Ilau yesterday told the Defence Board of Inquiry chaired by Justice Gibbs Salika that his overseas trips were in the best interest of the PNGDF and PNG.
He said the trips could be seen as “return of investments” for the defence force and for PNG as a country.
Commodore Ilau said his trips were to establish bilateral and multilateral relations with other countries, particularly in the region in relation to defence matters.
He told the inquiry yesterday that his trips “had seen tangible investments” since he took over as commander of the PNGDF on Oct 22, 2001.
He explained that he was tasked by the Government to reform the defence force and at the time he took over, there was no “blue print” or “benchmark” by which to follow to carry out these reforms.
He said it was a complicated and sensitive time because there were a number of “stand-offs” and up to four unrests amongst the force.
He said he had to rebuild the PNGDF and that meant relying on the military cooperation network and forums which included Australia, New Zealand, US and others.
He said it was through these forums that he worked to improve network interactions.
Commander Ilau said much of this networking required frequent attendance through which confidence was built.
He said one of the tangible outcomes of this was the substantial allocation of Australian tax payers’ money used for the defence force retrenchment exercise in 2003 and 2004.
“This totalled about K90 million,” he said.
“That is what I meant when I said return of investment is substantial,” he said.

Type In Your Name:

Type In Your E-mail:

Your Friend's E-mail:

Your Comments:

Receive copy: