Duma must get his facts right

I AM disappointed with the way Petroleum and Energy Minister William Duma reacted to The National’s front page “What plan? Duma” recently.
Mr Duma had informed Parliament that the National Content Plan (NCP) for the LNG project is not ready and was not presented to the Government or landowners for perusal.
He was quoted as saying: “I must inform this Parliament that the National Content Plan is not ready and it has not been provided to the Government or to the landowners for comments.”
The next day, Mr Duma denied saying this and what he was trying to say was that “as minister responsible he was not formally given the National Content Plan”.
I watched Kundu2 and EMTV the night before.
What The National reported was correct and quoted him exactly.
It was clear Mr Duma had no idea about the progress of such an important document.
If he knew it was a working document, why didn’t he say so in Parliament?
He has sent a signal that there is friction and something is wrong somewhere.
He is not communicating with his secretary and department.
As minister, he should be briefed daily.
He must get his act and facts right before making such statements.
He cannot blame the media for misreporting.
If he cannot handle the workload and the pressure, he should step aside and let someone else take over.
Remember, when you point a finger, three fingers point back at yourself.
The National must be commended for running a report that was correct, objective and factual.
The same goes to TV and radio.
But not the Post-Courier, who blamed The National for misreporting, when it too, had the same story but was poorly written.
By the way, can Mr Duma and State Enterprises Minister Arthur Somare tell us why they have not been seen together for a while?
They are the two leading figures who play vital roles in the LNG project and for them not to be seen or doing things together is extremely worrying if I were an investor.

John Lomew
Lae