PM, you were involved, don’t act all innocent

IT becomes distasteful and bitter when one hears Prime Minister James Marape make remarks such as, “it’s a carry-over problem”, or “has been inherited”.
It portrays him as innocent and no doubt strives to divert public attention to past leadership failures for not addressing certain development issues, including the handling of public finance wisely.
Such remarks, if were made by Opposition leader Belden Namah or Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat, would have merit, as neither have sat on the Speaker’s right hand in the past or the current Parliament, unlike Marape.
The blame-game approach used by Marape with the above-stated remarks, is unbecoming of a Prime Minister who is serving a third term as an elected leader and has held number of senior cabinet portfolios under past prime ministers.
Marape has had his hands in a number of past controversial cabinet decisions and he must not pretend.
To pass blame in his current capacity as PM may imply that he never had the guts to point out, criticise or stand up for what was right for the nation and the people.
One such matter is the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) loan issue that fell within his capacity as finance minister.
Why now hold Peter O’Neill solely responsible to that decision and shy away, especially in view of the remarks he indulges with.
While the nation awaits the Royal Commission of Inquiry to complete its investigation, it is better Marape ceases from making such sarcastic remarks, blaming others.
When deliberating national money plans such as the national budget or national economic situations involving money, Marape and his Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey always resort to this rhetoric as if the good prime minister was never part of what had happened leading to a major budget deficit.
Ling-Stuckey calls it a “big hole” in the Budget in his presentations, and, in doing so, camouflages Marape, politically, making him a saint.
The good member for Kandep, Don Polye, had demonstrated statesmanship without fear of favour when he took the bull by the horns.
Polye, now has the respect of many silent, honest and hardworking Papua New Guineans after putting the interest of the country first than his in the UBS deal, although it risked his sacking.
That was unique and quality leadership.
Other political opportunists would have buckled. Marape, who took over from Polye, failed to stand up for the nation against that move.
Had he done the right thing, just as Polye, PNG would not have this “big hole”.

During a Parliament sitting this year, he blamed the past Governments, including a former health secretary and parliamentary colleague, as failures regarding the current deteriorating status of health facilities and infrastructures throughout the nation.
He did, however, commend them for what have they had done when serving in those key positions both administratively and politically.
It must be understood that the past governments of Somare, Chan, Wingti and Namaliu ruled in a period were the population was under control, not through policy, but through godliness, moral uprightness, respect and unity.
There were no mobile phones and internet and exposures to immorality were nonexistent.
As such, the population density was minimal and never applied pressure to these governments to spend the country’s limited annual budgets on unnecessary expansions of hospital infrastructure as there was no urgent need.
There was no abuse and they operated transparently in respect to the Leadership Code.
The trend changed in around the late 1990s.
The country began to get itself drowned in the world’s wickedness through technology.
The country began experiencing teenage marriages and pregnancies; up-rise in the population of single mothers and fathers; a baby boom; and, the population was growing at an uncontrollable rate.
This was apart from other moral-related crimes such as rape, prostitution etc.
The current health situation, including the deteriorating health infrastructure, are not the making of the Somare, Chan, Wingti and Namaliu governments.
Their governments were not responsible for the current population boom and unplanned baby producing madness, and all those evil and lustful songs that hit the air waves of PNG 24/7, entertaining lust as fun.
Such evil has penetrated the fabric of our society indiscreetly.
Even Marape is powerless to control his Hela folk who continue to be a problem in terms of their behaviour and conduct.
What has the Marape Government done to address this storm of evil that has brought ill-feelings to our peace-loving citizens?
In addition, it’s about time Marape take control of his ministers.
A certain number of them have become lose canons by making remarks on national matters that do not fall under their ministerial responsibilities.
Does the minister for national planning and monitoring have the ministerial mandate to comment on income tax (Government Talk-Back Show, Nov 15) prematurely thus overlooking the ministers of finance and treasury prior to the handing down of the national budget and money plan?
Taxes are important and a sensitive matter and need to be delivered in its entirety.
This includes personal income tax, value added tax (VAT), goods and services tax (GST), export and import taxes, logging tax, mineral taxes etc.
As citizens, we need to know how much the Government would earn from these taxes collectively and see how much will be milked out of our salaries.
It is sad to see this minister, without respect of his senior ministerial colleagues, had shamelessly ventured into Ling-Stuckey and Sir John Pundari’s ministerial responsibilities to talk about an issue that is not within his line of duty.
His department is not the tax collector and neither is it in control the country’s finance.
Hearing him over this tax issue was not convincing.
However, the PM will not pull the reigns on the minister because he (Renbo Paita) has a very close link to the PM through the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Paita’s father, from Laiagam in Enga, was an SDA missionary to Hela where Marape is from.
How he (Paita) is linked to Finschhafen remains questionable and only a future court case will expose the truth.
To say Marape is a Christian and God-fearing leader is far from the truth. He hides under the pretext of a Christian and he knows how he contributed to politically exploiting the people of Finschhafen through that connection.
The problem with the former Finschhafen MP and 2017 runner-up was more to do with them putting their personal interests ahead of the interest of the people, and, as such, they never challenged Paita’s residential qualification in a court of disputed returns.
Paita had never been to school in Finschhafen, never grew up there, lived there, does not have a home there, does not have a coffee plot, a burial ground of fathers and forefathers and cannot speak the language.
In fact, Marape, when he was finance minister, paid an amount of around K2 million to Paita’s so-called consultancy company for some dubious consultancy work.
This concern was raised by the Opposition leader during question time in Parliament some time ago questioning why such amount of money had been paid to Paita.
The money may have been the source of vote buying and blackmail to lure voters.
Is this what Seventh-day Adventist political leaders can do?
My goodness!
For political convenience, Marape failed to established a Commission of Inquiry into the millions of kina recklessly spent to purchase the fleet of Maserati and Bentley vehicles from Italy, all done under deliberate lies, now rotting away in the locked-away site.
He failed to direct an investigation to the sale of the NHC property (flats and duplex) which is State property located opposite the Coca-Cola factory at Gordon.
One of his ministers’ construction company was the alleged buyer without a proper tender being put up by the previous management.
Is he not contributing to budget deficit, the “big hole”, by such deliberate ignorance?
Prime Minister Marape, it’s time has exposed your true colours.

Whistle Blower