Minister for National Planning and Monitoring Sam Basil today
urged the nation to remain united over the Indonesian military jet incident
involving the Falcon jet.
“No nation,
however large or small, however rich or poor, however large or small its army,
should be allowed to intimidate, coerce, manipulate and dominate another,” Basil said.
“That is one of
the pillars that hold up the United Nations and the basis upon which Deputy
Prime Minister Belden Namah raised the issue on the November 29, 2011
incident.”
Basil was referring to the much-publicised issue on an intercept by two
Indonesian military jets on the Air Niugini-managed Falcon jet.
Namah and his
business partners together with Minister for Police ohn Boito and Basil
were on-board as well flying over Sulawesi in the Indonesian air space when the
incident happened.
“I am urging
Papua New Guineans not to be swayed by malicious and untrue suggestions that the
Falcon jet was carrying US$250 million," Basil said.
"That is a red
herring – a mere diversion from the real issue.
“The Falcon jet
was chartered by the Bewani oil palm project and was ferrying business partners
in the project which included Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah, Minister
Boito and myself.
“I
was there because the trip offered insights into oil palm project management
which is useful in the light of the Tekadu oil palm project in my Bulolo electorate as well as the Markham Valley oil palm project in Morobe generally –
not to mention that as National Planning and Monitoring Minister I would sooner
or later have to deal with oil palm-related issues.
“As
a commercial chartered aircraft, all of us were subject to the rigorous checks
required under customs, immigration and civil aviation laws of the various
countries where we landed.
"That includes declaration if any one of us was
carrying more than the equivalent of K10,000 in cash which we all complied
with.
"“With the kind
of portfolio held by Boito and my own strong stance in fighting
corruption shown in the Investigative Task Force Sweep, why would we be a party
to money laundering or any kind of illegal activity for that
matter?
“If
there was the slightest sniff or suggestion of money laundering or illegality of
any kind, I personally would have distanced myself from the
trip.”
The
Bulolo MP added: “Spearheaded by Mr Namah, we formed the new O’Neill-Namah
Government that wants to see issues like lying over shares one holds, resisting
and delaying legitimate Ombudsman Commission processes through the court system,
unexplained missing Taiwan dollar-for-Ddplomacy funds, breaking multitude of
PNG, Solomon Islands and international aviation laws highlighted in the Defence
Force Inquiry into the Julian Moti Affair and extensive waste of funds in the
Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance with no one charged or
prosecuted to date.”
Basil said that the Deputy Prime Minister, a national leader of Papua New Guinea
hasdexpressed concern based on what was observed and the reports of the pilot
and co-pilot on the incident involving the two Indonesian military
jets.
A diplomatic
note has given to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia who have in turn
responded suggesting discrepancies in dates approved when the Falcon jet would
be using Indonesian air space and as justification for the actions of their
military jets.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, as executive head of
Government has accepted the response subject to clarification on the dates and
assured the Republic of Indonesia on the importance of amicable bilateral
relations between our two countries.
Basil said that he personally finds the Indonesian Embassy response shallow and
wanting.
Referring to the Occurrence Report - O471-11 Apparent Intercept by
Military Jet Aircraft over Indonesian Airspace by Captain Christopher Smith, Basil said that the Falcon jet despite being on course and on altitude was
given a traffic alert on their traffic collision avoidance system and a
resolution advisory which caused Captain Vincent Kipma to disengage the
autopilot. He had to make a steep climb “to avoid a collision”.
Following the
“bizarre confrontation”, Captain Smith radioed Ujung control asking if they had
the Falcon jet’s overflight permit which was issued on November 27, 2011 and
valid for seven days.
The
report states: “After several minutes, they responded with an affirmative. A
phone call was then placed to Universal Weather from the flight phone explaining
the engagement and to check the validity of the Overflight Permit.
"They
acknowledged that it was valid and said they would follow up with Indonesia on
their end.”
Basil concluded: “I agree there is a
discrepancy.
"Someone is not telling the truth – and the truth as a way of
sipping out despite best efforts to cover up – even by
nations.”
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