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Tuesday, December 06, 2011

2012 budget set for today

THE twice-delayed K10 billion 2012 budget, focusing on education and wealth-creation, will be tabled today, Finance and Treasury Minister Don Polye promised yesterday, The National reports.
It is being brought down just three days shy of the Dec 9 Supreme Court decision which would determine if the O’Neill-Namah government was legitimately elected to office on Aug 2 this year.
In anticipation, all available police manpower and resources in the capital would be deployed in a special security operation starting today until next Monday, NCD-Central police commander Fred Sheekiot said yesterday.
A strong mobile squad contingent from Lae in Morobe was flown into the city and police recruits and staff from the Bomana Police College would be called up to join operational units throughout the city.
“The heightened security alert is necessary to maintain law and order in the city during this week’s parliament session and the upcoming Dec 9 court decision,” Sheekiot said.
Polye brushed aside any suggestion that the delay in the budget had some political motive to do with the court decision.
He said there was nothing sinister about the deferral as it was still within the 2011 financial year and that a delay was necessary to bring the budget
down with legislation on the sovereign wealth fund.
Polye said it was the second budget the O’Neill government would hand down since taking office in August. The first was the 2011 supplementary budget of K781,800,000 handed down on Sept 20.
Last year, the Somare government handed down a K9.8 billion budget.
Polye would not reveal the exact budget figure but said it would be higher than the 2011 budget.
He said the 2012 budget would focus on human resource development, people empowerment and wealth-creation in line with the medium-term development strategy and Vision 2050.
“It will be a budget that will encourage investments and promote human resource development. It will be a balanced budget,” Polye said in a phone interview.
He said the budget was delayed by two weeks so that it could be tabled together with the legislation on the sovereign wealth fund

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