Reopening of Porgera mine vital for budget, says Bird

The National National
East Sepik Governor Allan Bird says the reopening of Porgera gold mine is vital for the 2021 Budget. Pictured are government members in Parliament on Tuesday. – Nationalfilepic

THE reopening of the Porgera gold mine is crucial to sustaining and funding the 2021 national budget, says East Sepik Governor Allan Bird.
Bird, the parliamentary chairman of the plans and estimates committee, said government economists had indicated that it was vital to reopen the Porgera mine.
“I’m thankful that Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas and Mining Minister Johnson Tuke are working very hard in negotiating the reopening the mine,” he said.
Bird acknowledged the current economic times not only in PNG but globally.
“This is not a sort of time that any one will be excited to do up a budget,” he said.
“We live in an economy where the world is depressed and leaders need to make decisions.
“We also want to do the right thing.
“My committee did the job by producing this budget.
“We asked the bureaucrats who produced the budget some hard questions.
“We have to be fair and we have to be concerned about the size of the debt.
“I’m happy that we have a plan to reduce the debt through a medium term development plan.
“It is our aim that the plan is carried out to lay the foundation to reduce debt.
“So it is challenging to cut down expenditure during such time and at the same time grow the economy.”
Prime Minister James Marape said no one saw the Covid-19 coming.
“This 2021 budget is tough and at the same time needed to stimulate our economy.
“But I thank Parliament for passing five amendments last week in line with getting the Papua LNG project off the ground.”

5 comments

  • The 2021 National Budget was sadly not debated by the full house when it was passed by the 50 parliamentarians of the Government. Is it transparent? Moreover, it was not presented for analysis and comments by the business community and people at large of PNG which this budget/money plan will affect.

    We have a democracy for the purpose of check and balance, so this must be practiced in Parliament.

    Very sad to see our parliament not practicing transparency in passing the Budget which is now a law (Appropriation Act 2021). I urge the Judiciary Arm as a independent arm of government to immediately resolve this issue for the shake of Democracy.

    One People One Nation – PNG for Life.

  • Looking at comments from a few lawyers from some other media sources my conclusion of the actions of the speaker and subsequently sitting of parliament was similar to a coup.
    I think we are in for a shock when the Supreme Court will order parliament to sit again on 1 December.
    The action clearly shows a power hungry JM.

Comments are closed.