Polye’s comments slammed

National

WORKS and Implementation Minister Francis Awesa says the continued attacks on the Government by Opposition Leader Don Polye over roads throughout the country are “hypocrisy”.
Awesa said Polye had done little to address road issues when he was the Works Minister in the former Somare Government and was now crying foul and pointing fingers at the Government.
“What utter rubbish from the Opposition Leader to criticise the road conditions today that are the result of his neglect in past years,” he said.
“The problems on our highways are results of many years of negligence.
“This Government has been doing its best to clear some of these backlogs.
“Polye is a man who talks like he has the quick-fix solution for all the problems in PNG without understanding the realities.
“The people of Papua New Guinea cannot be misled by such rhetoric anymore.
“When he was works minister, there was no serious plan for maintenance. Our roads were left to crumble and break down.
“In the past four years, the  Government has been playing catch-up because of Polye’s neglect.
“Through investment and management, road conditions are improving.  And we are building more new roads and bridges now..”
Awesa suggested  that Polye should think more like an engineer and less like a political opportunist in dealing with such important national issues.
Awesa said climate change, the rugged terrains and access to the right equipment and personnel were some of the factors that slowed the maintenance progress.
“The landslip at Guo village in Chimbu is one example where there were several mitigating factors that complicated the clearance,” Awesa said.
Polye said the Government was broke and could not attend to an emergency in a timely manner.
“It has nothing to do with funding.
“The Government is not broke to clear a landslip worth K500,000.
“It took some time to clear the landslip area because of landowner issues. When it was resolved, the road was reopened within 24 hours.”