O’Neill urged to provide policy

National, Normal
Source:

The National,Friday March 11th, 2016

 OPPOSITION leader Don Polye yesterday called on the Government to explain why it has no clear policy for privatisation of State-owned enterprises.

He said the lack of clear policy was evident in the much-publicised problems being faced by PNG Power Ltd, as well as other SOEs.

“The Government is running privatisation policies in the SOEs without any policies,” Polye told The National.

“I’m calling on SOE Minister (William) Duma to forego any privatisation and restructuring planned for SOEs and give priority to formulating a tangible policy.

“This should be done in consultation with all stakeholders, including SOEs.

“I’m calling on the prime minister and the minister for State Enterprises to immediately formulate a policy in relation to retrenchment of staff, employment of expatriates, and privatisation of all the SOEs.

“At the moment, I have evidence to prove that they have no policy, and they are working on an ad-hoc and haphazard basis.

“My question is, does the prime minister have an ulterior motive?

“The prime minister has a conflict of interest to drive these changes without a policy in place. Has prime minister got something to hide?”

“These (SOEs) are the wealth and the assets of the nation.”

Meanwhile, Polye as also called on the prime minister to tell truth about the country’s debt level.

He said the PM may have personal interest and was not providing correct information on the economy.