PM slams greedy MPs and ring-fencing wealth

By YEHIURA HRIEHWAZI
WEALTH derived from the mining and petroleum sectors should not be “ring-fenced” by a few greedy politicians and siphoned off fraudulently by individuals, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said yesterday.
This is the key reason for the establishment of the proposed sovereign wealth fund. Former prime minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu will be its chairman. 
Speaking at the official opening of the mining and petroleum conference in Port Moresby, O’Neill unveiled the basic make-up of the fund.
Consultations are under way to gauge public views on the fund’s establishment.
“Persons with impeccable financial experience and good community standing will also be appointed to the board of the fund,’’ he said.
“Stringent transparency and accountability requirements will be established including quarterly reporting to parliament.
“Legislation for the establishment of the sovereign wealth fund will be put through parliament next week.
“That assertive action demon­strates government’s deliberate resolve to make sure that the nation’s wealth shall not be ring-fenced by greedy politicians, spend wastefully or siphoned off fraudulently by individuals.”
He said there was a promising outlook for growth with the expectation of huge inflows of re­venue to the state coffers during the next 10-15 years, from new mining ventures and from the LNG projects.
“That is why the government was moving “decisively” to establish the SWF.
“The thinking behind the SWF was to absorb these “unprecedented revenue windfalls and thereby palming off inflationary pressures.
“Of course, we want to ensure the nation has savings to call upon for urgent development needs including key infrastructure and meeting budget that arise in the future,” O’Neill said.
He said PNG’s development was under-pinned by fair value “we receive from the state’s equi­ty participation and from taxation revenue-inflows from all existing mining and petroleum projects.”
Since taking office in August, he said everyone genuinely involved in the extractive natural resource sector was treated as “partners in our national deve­lopment”.