Corruption our biggest issue

Letters

CORRUPTION is the single biggest issue facing this country as we arrive on the eve of the 2017 general election.
Political corruption perpetrated by a few desperately wicked and conniving politicians and ably assisted by their cronies in the public service and private sector have truly  fractured and damaged the viability and integrity of this country beyond redemption.
Certain individuals in the top echelon of government are using their position and influence to systematically rob and plunder state funds and resources with impunity as if there is no tomorrow for this impoverished country.
Is it any wonder that PNG is ranked by global corruption indexing agencies as one of the most corrupt nations on earth?
There are many unresolved and lingering political scandals that Papua New Guineans will take to the ballot box in 2017.
Among them are the infamous UBS loan, the Paraka fraud matter, blatant  flaunting of constitutional offices for self-preservation,
expropriation of Ok Tedi mine and the exorbitantly overpriced
and bloated costs of sporting infrastructure projects in Port Moresby.
On the issue of overpriced infrastructure projects one needs to take a short drive around Port Moresby to see the sad legacies of corruption and financial mismanagement glaring in the face.
The Government borrowed billions of kina from foreign  financial institutions, especially Chinese sources, to erect sporting facilities in the city.
Almost a billion kina was expended to reconstruct Lloyd Robson Oval, Sir John Guise Stadium and Sir Hubert Murray Stadium and yet these stadiums remain incomplete to this day!
I travelled to many places in the world but have never come across a stadium built with temporary scaffolding structures like the ones in Port Moresby.
This is outright fraud and corruption of unprecedented scale never witnessed in the brief history of this nation.
How can a responsible government build a stadium of rusty and wobbly scaffolds for its people and even had the arrogance to call it the National Sports Stadium?
In essence, these sports venue projects appears to be deliberately coordinated money laundering schemes to benefit certain construction companies and people in high places.
The sad reality is that the billions of kina borrowed from foreign sources will have to be repaid with interest over many years.
Papua New Guineans are now beginning to feel the direct impact of the government’s reckless borrowing spree.
A whooping K1.3 billion is now appropriated in the current budget to repay these loans.
How long are we going to subject ourselves to such economic atrocities inflicted on us by our own government?
The 2017 general elections afford every Papua New Guinean over the age of 18 a very pivotal opportunity to take decisive action at the ballot to rescue PNG from the brink of disaster and redirect our country on the path of recovery.
We have two choices, either to re-elect the current corrupt lot and see the final destruction of PNG, or vote in God fearing leaders with clear moral conscience to do what is right by God and by the people of this country.
We must not squander this momentous opportunity to save our country from the forces of corruption!
The Biblical narrative of King Saul and David of ancient Israel is relevant to our situation today.
Corruption was rampant under the leadership of King Saul and the people suffered immensely.
God was concerned for His people and immediately activated His contingency plan to rescue Israel.
God trained and raised David in obscurity for the important task ahead.
At the divinely appointed time David emerged on the national scene and took Israel by storm.
The rest is history.
David rebuilt Israel into the most powerful geo-political force in the Middle East at the time.
Our country is now destroyed by the forces of corruption.
We need a modern David, a man after God’s own heart, to emerge as prime minister in July 2017 to rescue our nation.
Please God help us or we perish.

Bonny Igime
NCD