Prime Minister hits back

Sir Michael defends ‘poverty’ comments

 

From The National, Tuesday, May 5, 2009

 

PRIME Minister Sir Michael Somare yesterday launched a stinging attack on the Opposition, while also strongly defending his Government’s track record since taking the reins seven years ago.

At a press conference yesterday Sir Michael, who returned from a week-long State visit to Australia on Sunday, took aim at Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta for his comments in the media criticising him for saying there was no poverty in PNG.

Last week, Sir Mekere had taken the Prime Minister to task for telling the Australian media that no one went hungry in PNG, saying many people in PNG were starving and the majority of people still lacked basic services.

Sir Michael questioned what Sir Mekere was doing to improve services in his own Moresby Northwest electorate.

“There has been a lot of finger pointing going on by some urban Members of Parliament and I want to know what these urban Members, especially the leader of the Opposition, have done with the increases in their allocations over the last four or so years.

“Are dispensers now stocked with medicines in electorates like Lae (Deputy Opposition leader Bart Philemon’s electorate) and Moresby Northwest?

“With the accumulated law and order funds, has Gerehu police station been improved to better serve the community?

“I hear Baruni dump being brought up in the media recently.

“Can the local Member (Sir Mekere) tell us how he has used his district allocation to assist in alleviating urban poverty?

“With the district road improvement programme, are there new roads in these urban electorates?” Sir Michael asked.

“We have given each of the 89 districts adequate funds since the first term of this Government.

“In the first year, it was K1 million, then K4 million and recently K10 million.

“Yes, we lack material wealth in rural areas where the vast majority of our people live but they are not short of food and water,” the Prime Minister reiterated.

He said social services should be improving with the resources that his Government had been continuously pouring into all Government departments and districts.

“It is not for me to make inspections of aid posts and schools; it’s the responsibility of managers in those sectors.

“We constantly hear politicians giving classrooms, books, libraries to schools but hear so many complaints of lack of services.

“Let me remind everyone that MPs are basically policy makers and not implementers.

“We have a machinery that is responsible for that and I will ask the minister for public service to inform the public of what the Government has been doing to improve service delivery.

“We recognise that there are deficiencies and have ploughed money into the districts to complement the work of departments such as police, Works, Transport, Health and Education,” the Prime Minister said.

Sir Michael said the public sector was a stumbling block, making delivery of services to districts difficult.

Referring to Sir Mekere, he said people living in glass houses should not throw stones.

“My advice to the Opposition leader is he must stop playing politics with people’s lives and start making the resources provided by this Government work in his urban electorate,” Sir Michael said.