Economic independence

PAPUA New Guinea after 43 years of political independence still lacks systemic and economic independence.
Current and previous governments and leaders were deceived into running our country using borrowed money from the world outside while our country is full of valuable resources and wealth.
Some of our natural resources had been tapped and sold without our people and government seeing real benefits.
Our country is made up of communities that had fundamental principles of loving, caring, sharing, respect and responsibility for others, including visitors who come to our shores.
These fundamental principles and laws are still practised in our villages or communities and have naturally chained and united more than 1000 tribes into 22 provinces.
Without seeing, realising and understanding the root causes of corruption in our government systems we keep on blaming each other.
I believe that the Apec member countries, the investors and the trading partners and donors all liked to have confidence in our economy, government and leadership as well.
The solutions to our socio-economic problems are not in the billions of kina being borrowed from other countries but are within our indigenous population of around eight million people.
You put the entire population on the government payroll and you will surely find solutions in the next five to 10 years and we will bail ourselves out of the hands of capitalists.

Niure Badia Jnr
Councillor elect for Suria – Ward 14, Koiari rural local level government, Hiri District