Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says one of the best vote-of-confidence the country has had this year is the commitment from international company, TOTAL S.A., to move forward with the next LNG project.
He believes that over the next five years this will see 10,000 Papua New Guineans employed in the construction phase, new education and training programs and downstream benefits for thousands of small businesses.
“The people of our nation need only look around their communities and towns to see the change that is happening in only a few short years as we have implemented the core policies we took to the 2012 election.
We now have more children in school than at any other time in our history. This also means there are more girls in school than ever before - and this will empower an entire generation of women.
We are expanding access to healthcare and more people are surviving from injuries and disease than ever before. We thank our churches for their support in delivering healthcare support,” he says in his Christmas message.
O’Neill believes that streets and communities around our country are becoming safer as we have more police, better judiciary and true rehabilitation in the prisons.
“Certainly we have more work to do on enhancing safety, particularly when it comes to modernizing our police, but this is a challenge we are meeting head-on,” O’Neill says.
He continues to say that communities are changing with the construction of infrastructure.
“These new roads, new ports, new bridges, new schools, teachers colleges and government buildings are creating an even stronger economy. The billions of Kina we have spent on infrastructure is now generating trade and this is delivering jobs for our people,” he outlines.
Next year the country will prepare to host a number of international events in the years ahead. This includes the FIFA Women’s Under 20 World Cup and in 2016 and the APEC Leaders’ Summit in 2018.
“Each and every person in our nation is part of a very special community that has an evolving place in the world. We are unique in our diversity and we are united in our desire to build a stronger nation,
May our Lord bring your family blessing, prosperity and happiness,” says O’Neill.