Prime Minister: Papua New Guinea is rich enough

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, despite a public outcry against the Papua New Guinea government wanting to buy a sleek new executive jet, is insistent that the country is “rich enough”. This is despite the fact that Papua New Guinea is lagging behind in education and health services, infrastructure, law and order, basically everything.

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare said yesterday the people of PNG will not be poorer by the decision to buy an executive jet worth millions of kina, The National reports.

The Prime Minister said in a statement the Government had allocated K40 million to Air Niugini to buy an executive jet “to cater for the growing needs in the mineral sector”.

Air Niugini would be responsible for the management and maintenance of the aircraft on a commercial basis and the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers would also have access to it, Sir Michael said.

“Our economy has grown considerably and our budget has significantly increased since the deficit years prior to 2003.

“We are, therefore, not taking money out of any of our service sectors to give to Air Niugini to buy this aircraft.”

He said the Government was rich enough to afford such a luxury, and accused his critics of spreading misinformation.

“As a Government, we have actually increased allocations to all our sectors since 2003.

“It is misleading and irresponsible to tout opinions not based on facts that we are depriving any Papua New Guinean of any essential service through the purchase of this aircraft.

“With the increase in allocation to all sectors, we should be seeing better Government services. Obviously, implementation of these allocations continued to be an issue that we are addressing.

“We are today where we have never been before and we must be strategic.

“We are no longer the impoverished country that outsiders and some of our own elites are so keen in calling us.

“Our future is bright and we, as elected representatives, are here to make the hard decisions that might not be appreciated immediately but would later be deemed timely and appropriate.”

Over the weekend, Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri told The National that the airline was buying a Falcon 900 triple engine executive jet.

He said the plane was not ultra-long range and could fly to most F100 airports in the country.

Mr Kumarasiri said it was part of Air Niugini’s plan to move into commercial executive charter.

The plane is described in a number of websites as an advance comfort jet fit for the rich and powerful.

One site said: “The Falcon 900 is one of the most technologically advanced large business jets available.

“Its design incorporates the latest improvements in aerodynamics and flight systems, which results in beautiful flight characteristics, gentle landings and cruise speeds of over 550mph.”