PRIME Minister, James Marape’s habitual empty promises is embarrassing to the nation and has got to stop, the Opposition said today.
“He is making a laughing stock of us all,” Leader of the Opposition, Belden Namah said in response to the fact that the Porgera gold mine remains closed after the 46th anniversary of Independence.
The Prime Minister announced in June this year following the signing of the Framework Agreement (FA) in April that the reopening of the Porgera Gold Mine would be an Independence Anniversary gift to PNG.
“In the recent Parliament sitting, just one week before National Day, Mr Marape reassured Members of Parliament and the nation, while answering questions on this issue from the Member for North Fly, James Donald, that the reopening was still on schedule for Independence Day,” Mr Namah said.
“When National Day dawned last Thursday, September 16th, the Prime Minister had the audacity to express his disappointment to the nation that he had come up empty handed, and set yet another deadline at “two weeks’ time”.
“Obviously this is the first week so we can expect the deadline to expire next Thursday when the announcement for a reopening should be made.
“Take it from me, it will not happen. If it does, PNG will have given up so much that it will end up paying to reopen the mine and not Barrick.
“Clause 4 of the Framework Agreement is explicit in that regard.
“Clause 4 states very clearly that tax liability issues from the old Porgera must not enter discussions on the new Porgera. If they are then the FA would be automatically voided.
“Since outstanding tax stands at about K1.2 billion and reopening costs stand at about the same amount, it is clear the company intends to use the State’s own money (outstanding tax from old Porgera) to reopen the mine.
“If the State refuses and presses ahead with legacy issues, the FA is voided and negotiations collapse. If it agrees then, reopening the mine would be at State expense (through Barricks tax liability) and not by Barrick as stipulated in the FA.
“And all this would never have happened, had the Prime Minister not forced the closure of the mine in the first place.
“Does our Prime Minister never learn? He set deadlines for the Wafi-Golpu Mine which passed with absolutely nothing happening.
“His deadline for Pasca gas project never eventuated and the government had a falling-out with developer Twinza.
“His deadline for Porgera has now passed. And next week’s new deadline will pass too.
“How much longer are we going to sit by and listen to this rubbish? He cannot hold the highest office in contempt with continuous false promises.
“All these projects and time lines are well within his control as head of government. The fact that he cannot deliver them on time or at all, calls into questions his abilities and capability as Prime Minister.
“What about the promises that is beyond his direct control?
“What about his 2030 deadline, now just nine years away, which is the date when he told the United Nations General Assembly that he would deliver the “Richest Black Christian Nation on the planet”?
“Is that a realistic promise, based on a set of policies that are working and an economy flush with success and growing in double digit figures? I see only a debt ridden economy struggling to stay afloat. I cannot see this country trading itself out of just one expense item, debt, come 2030.
“Mr Marape is embarrassing us with his false promises. It is best he does not make any promises at all and surprise us with achievements if and when they occur.”
-Press Release-