Namah vows to be tough on awards

National, Normal
Source:

The National,Friday July 13th, 2012

IF he becomes prime minister, Vanimo-Green MP Belden Namah will ensure that the criteria for the awarding of titles and citizenship will be very stringent.
This was his promise yesterday when he launched a scathing attack on the awards committee over the recent Queens Birthday awards list.
Pointing out a couple of prominent awards and title recipients as being “highly questionable”, Namah said: “I understand that the awards committee under the National Identity Act 1971, falls short of providing the criteria to be used to select suitable persons for national honours and awards.”
He said there was no procedure in place for award holders to relinquish their awards or titles when they become a “national disgrace”.
“How can we make our award systems so cheap, including the awarding of citizenship to Indonesian fugitive Joko Soegiarto Tjandra, a most wanted person in Indonesia and who had never lived in PNG?”
“My country is not cheap and my people are not cheap.
“No foreigner should find easy access to this country without the slightest check.
“The conferment of knighthoods and citizenship should therefore be strict.
“This I can assure my fellow Papua New Guineans when I become prime minister.”