Country should stop borrowing

EAST Sepik Governor Alan Bird is a vocal politician and contributes meaningfully in parliamentary debates.
His speech in the last Parliament sitting, as viewed from a video posted on YouTube, again shows how skilful he is in making a point to MPs.
He urged MPs to put their petty differences aside and support the concept of borrowing money from sources, possibly out of the country.
He said MPs from the last regime under former prime minister Peter O’Neill have to be truthful regarding issues that had caused problems for the nation.
Most of what Bird said about the need for all MPs to work together to address issues related to the Coronavirus pandemic that is causing chaos all around the world is good.
However, I found it a bit illogical that he gave Australia and New Zealand as examples of nations which were borrowing huge amounts of money, even to hundreds of billions of dollars to fight the pandemic.
Just because our more developed neighbours are borrowing huge amounts of money, there is no reason for Papua New Guinea to do the same.
Where is the PNG context here?
I think that is poor logic.
That is the same logic that the National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop was harping on about when O’Neill was in power and when they were gearing up for Apec 2018.
Just because the bigger nations around us are borrowing gives no reason for PNG to borrow more money.
We should face the truth that when James Marape became prime minister in mid-2019, the whole nation thought this borrowing of billions was a thing of the past.
But that was not to be.
Marape and his advisers went straight to following what O’Neill did in the last regime, something that left PNG in a hole so big that we may take 10 or more years to emerge from.
I challenge Bird and all the other MPs to think of ways to manage the nation without loans or without borrowing billions.
Small loans may be reasonable, but huge loans are bad for the nation.
Some of you claim to believe in God.
So, why don’t you consult God’s ministers to give you some Bible wisdom on how to run the nation during these challenging times?
PNG deserves better.
We cannot continue to sink in a hole that O’Neill dug up.
Marape is continuing what his predecessor was doing.
Put a stop to borrowing.
How can you do that?
Consult your economists patriots.
There has got to be a way out.
MPs should not be forced to keep silent in Parliament if their district services improvement programme or public investment programme funds are not reaching them.
They have the right to raise these issues.
Bird said MPs were fighting about their small roads, bridges, classrooms and toilets and have forgotten that they are part of the global economy.
That point is not good.
Roads, bridges and classrooms for each electorate are important and MPs should talk about these vital infrastructure.
MPs should be allowed to talk about funds if they are not getting them.
MPs are their people’s spokesmen.
Some MPs have not been transparent and accountable in their districts and provinces.
They have not shared their budget and development plans with their people.
Year after year, K10 million or more is given to each MP to use to develop his district or province.
Some MPs do not have much to show for what they have done during their term (s).
Such issues about the use or abuse of funds should still be raised in Parliament.
Corruption and mismanagement should stop.
If they cannot be transparent and accountable with the K10 million that they are given in a year, what guarantee is there that a loan of K4 billion or more will be properly and honestly expended in the name of development?
Bird was right in one sense: all MPs should work together to help stop the spread of the pandemic.
We hope they can contribute more meaningful concepts or models for protecting the economy during this time.
On another note, I want MPs to stick to one language when communicating during Parliament sessions.
Set a pace for good communication in PNG.

PNG Tauna