PM: Loan process done collectively

PRIME Minister James Marape admitted yesterday that his predecessor Peter O’Neill was technically correct in saying that Cabinet had collectively decided in 2014 to proceed with the K3 billion loan transaction.
Marape appeared before the Commission of Inquiry into the loan obtained from the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) on March 6, 2014.
Marape said when all cabinet members endorsed the documents, “it’s sort of the whole government decision at that time”.
He said O’Neill as the sponsor of the loan documents was also chairman of cabinet.
“When the chairman submits the paper, even when other (cabinet) members hold contrary views, the final resolution becomes the cabinet’s resolution,” Marape said.
“It seems like a unified position.”
But Marape said the loan submission had urgency to it.
“It was time-bound and we needed to get it done on March 6, 2014, and it was processed,” he said.
“Yes, there was a cabinet approval in 2013.
“That approval was given but in that approval, there was no say about us moving into purchasing 10.01 per cent shares in Oil Search.
“It was purely to redeem the Oil Search shares in IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company).
“Even in the 2013 budget closing documents leading up to March 6, 2014, there was policy vacuum.
“If we had not gone down that path to invest in 10.01 per cent shares in Oil search, the country shouldn’t lose K3 billion.
“But the country has lost a substantial amount of money as a consequence of the UBS transaction.
“It still remains in my view that O’Neill bulldozed the submission.”
Marape said the whole matter seemed to have been rushed through as there was no prior policy announcement on it.
“It arrived on March 6, and it was processed,” he said.
“On record, it was one of the shortest sessions we had on a very important and huge submission.”