Polye: Report on Sepik ‘gift’ is incorrect

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Don Polye said there were some incorrect facts reported in the Post-Courier article titled “K600 million gift to Sepiks” yesterday.
“The K600 million gifts to the Sepiks is really an unfair report. It is not K600 million, it is not true.
“You are creating a perception that the Government is giving so much money to one province as a gift from the Prime Minister ... making Sir Michael’s rivals feel good about the report and trying to destroy him,” Mr Polye said while describing Sir Michael as “very unselfish”.
“I can recall some prime ministers, under the disguise of agriculture programmes, pumped so much money into it but yet there is no such programme in the provinces; they pour in so much money to make only one or two people rich.”
He said the East to West Sepik Highway would cost the government K235 million with an initial K47 million injection and then funding allocation in stages.
“You also have to report what I am doing on the other side, Malalaua to Gobe connecting to Samberigi, that road is on-going, I would like to see this country connected.”
He said the Government had spent almost K500 million on the Highlands Highway that covered the five Highlands provinces.
“The Sepiks don’t complain to me and say Don, you are spending too much on that highway.
“Look at what we have done on the Maritime provinces; past governments have never spent even a single toea to rehabilitate navigational aids; this Government spent K2 million to K3 million to rehabilitate NAVAIDS,” Mr Polye said.