PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday proposed to Parliament to consider a restoration authority for Oro province, similar to the Gazelle restoration project in East New Britain.
Sir Michael described the Oro disaster as a pressing domestic tragedy and confirmed the Government’s commitment of K50 million.
He further introduced a motion in Parliament for the State of Emergency in Oro to be extended for a further two months as of Dec 10, which Parliament unanimously passed.
He said this in his statement to Parliament yesterday on Government performance and the 2008 budget.
Sir Michael said it was time the people of Papua New Guinea were seeing money being used for their prosperity, and deliberate interventions had been made to improve services to rural areas and to further growth in the economy.
He said the budget consisted of about K7.1 billion in recurrent expenditure and K1.8 billion in the development budget, which is the largest appropriation for development by any government.
Sir Michael said budget priorities were set within the policy framework of the Medium Term Development Strategy (MTDS) and the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy.
“It is not set on a faulty structure or shifting sand as the Opposition claims. Our aim as a Government is to consolidate the gains of the last five years and empower our people, and this 2008 budget delivers on that promise.”
He described the shadow minister for Treasury Bart Philemon’s budget reply as a timid attempt to discredit the Government and mislead the people of PNG.