Throw out ridiculous claims

LAST Thursday and Friday’s criminal actions by disgruntled landowners at the offices of Finance, Trea­sury and Planning and Implementation departments must be condemned in the strongest terms possible.
They have done this once too often and it is time the police took this matter se­riously.
Politicians do not help matters any when they water down complaints by listening to people, accepting their petitions and then doing their bidding.
There are some things that the people need to be told and told in unambiguous language in the firmest manner possible.
“You do not hold the go­vernment to ransom. You do
not threaten civil servants. You do not break the law to lay your hands on money that does not rightly belong to you. When you do that you will be arrested and thrown in jail.”
There can be no middle ground in this.
Unless our people are treated firmly, they will continue to make ridiculous claims.
For instance, the infrastructure development grants, about which landowners descended on Vulupindi Haus is not a cash handout for landowners.
This is money that is meant for the development of infrastructure in respective areas.
Money is meant to be paid to suppliers of goods and services pertaining to development of schools, roads, bridges and any other infrastructure work.
But now the people want this money as cash. This is just plain wrong.
The business development grant or seed capital caused so much hassle in Port Moresby in a similar fashion and Moale Haus and Vulupindi Haus were virtually under siege in the Christmas of 2011 for weeks.
That money, while it was meant to be distributed as a cash component, had certain conditions attached.
It was meant to assist local landowners in getting small businesses started so that they too can participate in the LNG project.
One had to register a business properly and then come and apply to the government for the money.
Secretary for National Planning Dr Peter Kora agreed that the IDG were specific grants for projects and not cash handout.
He said they were not like Business Development Grants which were given to landowners to start businesses.
He said the IDG was not free money and “the landowners should know as they are grants given by the people of PNG through the taxes they pay to assist them with infrastructure in their areas­”.
He said projects were approved by a committee consisting of senior government department secretaries.
Many just wanted a cash handout and in the end the wiser people – many who were never a part of any landowning group from the LNG areas got organised and siphoned off the bulk of the money.
And nobody – especially government – seems to be learning from these repeated acts of stupidity.
Cash handouts over the years have never resulted in any tangible benefits.
Tens and perhaps hundreds of millions of kina has been paid to landow­ners, particularly in parts of the Southern Highlands province in the oil and gas resource belts.
Yet to this day, there is little evidence of this money improving the living conditions of the people.
The millions paid in ro­yalties and every forms of payment just appear to have disappeared into thin air.
Humans are greedy by nature and, given the op­portunity, they will always seek to go for that which they can lay their hands on for their own benefit.
And being human they will also squander cash ea­sily.
It is for government to instil discipline in the people by not allowing them to be tempted.
It would be a travesty for the government to give in and pay out K120 million or K240 million or however much.
There will be no end in sight to the demands made on the government until shortly the people will be asking for cash from the budgetary allocations made each year.
The leadership must be firm and ensure that all payments are made to legitimate companies which can build lasting infrastructure throughout the LNG project areas.
Given as cash it will tra­vel out of Port Moresby and will most probably end up in Brisbane or Singapore.