‘PNG needs leadership’

PAPUA New Guinea today stands poised for future of prosperity and hope for its seven million people with the many developments taking place, Public Service Minister Bart Philemon said during a symposium in Australia.
He said poor leadership and corruption were a serious impediment in the overall development, despite the positive outlook of the economy.
Addressing the “PNG, Securing a prosperous future” symposium at the Alfred Deakin University, in Geelong, Victoria, last week, Philemon said good leadership was vital to secure a prosperous future for the country.
With construction under way on the K33 billion ExxonMobil liquefied natural gas project, two other LNG projects on its heels, and good prospects on mining exploration licenses, he said PNG would remain awash with cash for a while yet.
He said these prospects had resulted in the establishment of a legal framework for the sovereign wealth fund
comprising the stabilisation fund to manage the impact of fluctuating in the mineral and petroleum public revenues on the economy, and the development fund to provide definitive and ongoing funding for economic and social development in line with national development plans.
In the renewable resources sector, with the exception of forestry, the country’s tourism, agriculture, fisheries and geothermal energy had not been exploited to maximise returns and in a sustainable way.
“The potential for future of prosperity and hope for the people is under real threat by
inefficient, incompetent and corrupt leadership,” he said.
Philemon said nations such as PNG, with a growing number of
educated and professionally experienced citizens, now demanded more home-grown solutions.
“Having said that, PNG recognises that even local solutions can have their own taints and bias and the evidence abounds that leadership in PNG has demonstrated this to the detriment of the people so far.”
Philemon said getting a snap shot of the past 36 years, the country had fared well below par as infrastructure had deteriorated, and which was likely to cost billions of kina to repair in the short term.