THE Law & Justice sector is among one of the targeted areas being captured in the 2023 National Budget but Papua New Guineans must seriously start thinking of returning home to work their land as the Government continues opening up the rural areas of PNG and connects these to overseas markets.
Prime Minister Hon James Marape said this today (161122) from Bangkok, Thailand, where he is attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders meeting this week.
Prime Minister Marape said intervention to arrest the law & order situation is “specifically targeted” in the 2023 Budget where the Government will work at “strengthening and assisting the Police Force, the Judiciary and the Law & Justice Sector”.
“While we work at securing a safer environment in Law & Order, the Government will continue to maintain our focus on Connect PNG roads and the Health Sector, as well as our focus on the Economic Sector interventions – unbundling our land for agriculture and proper development.
“We want to maintain our focus on the downstream processing of our minerals, our oil and gas, agriculture produce, and our timber while utilizing the State marketing option in our Forestry Act so that our downstream timbers are processed in the country in the first instance.
“All these things are specially focused and as I meet with world leaders at the APEC summit, my big conversation will be establishing markets for our finished products and selling these at good prices.”
The Prime Minister encouraged Papua New Guineans to seriously consider returning to work their land and waters as he and his government worked at opening up the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors at the top level.
“I want to encourage Papua New Guineans: all of us have land back where we come from. If you are an educated Papua New Guinean, mobilise your family, clan, and tribe, so that you can work your coffee, cacao, coconut, or vanilla. This is the easiest place to engage the mass of our people who are doing nothing.
“Our government will still embark on Price Support so our growers get good prices. We will still continue subsidising the freight so the cost of transportation from rural areas to markets is much easier.
“We will continue to ensure that we run Connect PNG roads into where the agriculture, forestry and fisheries resources are.
“Our Government is continuing to invest in ports in major centres including strategic jetties to open up the free-flow of cargo in and out of rural areas.
“We are gearing to unbundle the rural economy so that your coffee, your fish, and your timber start making money for you.
“Papua New Guineans really need to think about this one as a response to the restlessness and unemployment issue.
“I want to encourage our young educated Papua New Guineans, those who have left Grade 10 and 12 who feel that there is no employment in the Formal Sector, you can always venture into business – in the agriculture space, forestry space and fisheries space.
“We are willing to help the mass of our Papua New Guineans migrate into SMEs that are pegged against our agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism potentials.
“Fixing issues before us will not take overnight, it will take some time, and the Government is showing the way. We now ask our people to respond.
“Imagine if 1 million family produced K10,000.00 worth of agriculture, forestry or fisheries produces. This amounts to a K10 billion income generation.
“The money is there and the Government is establishing the markets; we ask our people to now work your land,” PM Marape said.
