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PM must lead nation forward
THIS is an open letter to the Prime
Minister. Dear Sir Michael Somare,
Please let me begin by thanking you for taking the time to read
this letter, as well as the kindness and hospitality I received
during my recent visit to your beautiful country.
My purpose for writing this letter is the hope that success and
prosperity will some day come to Papua New Guinea and its
people.
In addition to seeing kindness, generosity and hospitality in
your people, it saddens me to say that I saw poverty and a sense
of hopelessness as well.
I am aware that in countless nations poverty is inevitable; yet
in the case of PNG, a nation rich with resources and a healthy
populace, I believe it is unnecessary.
I myself come from a nation that struggled under poverty and
debt.
The foresight of the leadership at the time has allowed Croatia
to become an economically healthy, vibrant and modern nation.
The government achieved this by focusing on what the country
would need in order to grow and develop, instead of allowing
itself to become immersed in the seemingly insurmountable
problems of the day.
The main goals of the new government were to educate the masses
free, improve infrastructure and communication technology across
the nation, and keep law and order.
From what I have researched, it appears that though PNG’s GDP is
significant – none of the country’s economic success seems to
reach its citizens.
It is my belief that a government’s main function is to ensure
that a nation is healthy and progressive, that its people share
in the wealth of the land while ensuring sustainability for the
future.
PNG has rich crops, large off-shore oil and gas reserves, and an
abundance of highly-sought after minerals.
All of these resources could be tapped to increase the nation’s
wealth, but more importantly, to ensure that the wealth is being
used wisely and responsibly.
First and most important, the Government would be wise to inject
more funds into schooling. Education should be free for anyone
who is willing and able to attend.
A nation’s greatest resource is its people, an educated populace
is absolutely fundamental to progress.
With free post-secondary education, PNG would be rich with
physicians, law-makers, engineers and entrepreneurs within a
generation’s time.
Educating only a privileged few results in a trickle of
graduating professionals, free education would transform that
trickle into a fountainhead.
Second, PNG will continue to have difficulty attracting
businesses to its shores with the existing infrastructure.
There are countless remote villages without access and the roads
that do exist, are in deplorable shape and plagued with bandits.
Safe roads need to be built, maintained and patrolled.
A country cannot function when its citizens are unable, or too
frightened, to travel within it.
New roads would make the countless resources of the nation more
accessible, towns would be able to conduct trade more freely,
and police, schooling and medical services would be more readily
available to all residents.
This improvement of internal transportation routes would make
PNG a more viable location for business investment to the rest
of the world, Australia in particular. PNG is wealthier than
countless nations at the same level of development.
What the nation needs is a leader with the courage to stamp out
corruption and champion a government that is unequivocally for
the people.
Invest in the nation’s future, provide free education, build
roads, increase policing, and restore the public’s sense of
faith and security.
Imagine the potential. Imagine being the man that history
remembers as the benevolent, revolutionary leader of PNG – the
man who had the intelligence and the courage to start the nation
on its path to prosperity.
I humbly implore you to consider these things that I have
written, and take the opportunity to propel PNG into an era of
economic growth and widespread contentment.
Thank you very much for your time.
Milislav Koric
Delta, BC, Canada
 
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