Basil speaks on jet saga

By MALUM NALU
MINISTER for National Planning and Monitoring Sam Basil has urged the nation to remain united over the Falcon jet incident.
 “No nation however large or small, rich or poor, however large or small its army, should be allowed to intimidate, coerce, manipulate and dominate another,” he said on Saturday.
 “That is one of the pillars that holds up the United Nations and the basis upon which deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah raised the issue on the Nov 29, 2011, incident.”
Basil was referring to the much-publicised issue of two Indonesian military jets trying to intercept the Air Niugini-managed Falcon jet.
Namah and his business partners, together with Minister for Police John Boito and Basil were on board and flying over Sulawesi, in Indonesian airspace, when the incident happened.
 “I am urging Papua New Guineans not to be swayed by malicious and untrue suggestions that the Falcon jet was carrying US$250 million,” Basil said.
“That is a red herring – a mere diversion from the real issue.
 “The Falcon jet was chartered by the Bewani oil palm project and was ferrying business partners in the project, which included Namah, Boito and myself.
“I was there because the trip offered insights into oil palm project management, which is useful in light of the Tekadu oil palm project in my Bulolo electorate as well as the Markham valley oil palm project in Morobe.
“Not to mention that as National Planning and Monitoring Minister, I will sooner or later have to deal with oil palm-related issues.
“As a commercial chartered aircraft, all of us were subject to the rigorous checks required under customs, immigration and civil aviation laws of the countries where we landed.
“That includes declaration if any one of us was carrying more than the equivalent of K10,000, which we all complied with. 
“If there was the slightest sniff or suggestion of money laundering or illegality of any kind, I personally would have distanced myself from the trip.”
“We formed the new government that wants to weed out issues like lying over shares one holds, resisting and delaying legitimate Ombudsman Commission processes through the court system, unexplained missing Taiwan dollar-for-diplomacy funds and the Julian Moti Affair and extensive waste of funds with no one charged or prosecuted to date.”
Basil said that he personally found the Indonesian Embassy response “shallow and wanting”.
“I agree there is a discrepancy,” he said.
“Someone is not telling the truth – but truth will come out.”