Polye denies claims
The National, Wednesday November 6th, 2013
By MALUM NALU
TREASURER Don Polye says he has not signed any loan documents for the K800 million Lae-Nadzab super highway despite what Works Minister Francis Awesa and his department are saying.
He said he had only budgeted K160 million in the 2014 budget for this particular project.
The Works Department, in September, signed a contract with China Railway International for work to begin on the four-lane Lae-Nadzab super highway, with the bulk of funding said to come from a Chinese Exim Bank loan.
The project has already sparked controversy, especially on funding, which Polye said was mere “speculations” by the Opposition and members of the public.
“This year, I’ve budgeted about K160 million for the Lae-Nadzab road,” he told reporters.
“That is the fact. The rest you hear are not true. For instance, the Lae-Nadazab road that has caused a wave of concern throughout the population.
“I haven’t signed any loan contracts so I don’t know where all this information is coming from. The Treasury signs loans. I haven’t signed any.” When told that Awesa was the one talking about the K800 million, Polye said: “Works Minister will always say it, other ministers will always say it.
“Of course, ministers have a duty to come up with their programmes and say how much it’s going to cost us.
“Just because that’s how much you need, doesn’t mean that you’re going to get all this.
“Ministers can say these are the areas of concern and we need so much money to fix it, but like I told you, it has to go through this fiscal discipline process.”
Polye said the public should not be misled by speculations.
A Transport Department spokesman said yesterday the bulk of funds for the Lae-Nadzab project would be provided by the Exim Bank.
He said the Government expected to borrow K6 billion from the Chinese bank and some of that money would be used to supplement funds provided in the budget for the project.
He added the Lae-Nadzab road was an important initiative of the O’Neill Government and Awesa was committed to ensuring that it was fully funded and implemented.