The year 2020 has brought with it strong winds and floods to New Ireland with a number of disaster related cases already reported to authorities.
This includes people missing at sea, roads and bridges being washed away, landslips and food gardens destroyed.
At least three Council areas in the Namatanai district have been cut off completely, making it difficult to access services in Namatanai town.
One of the worst hit areas is the Matalai LLG in the Namatanai District, which is Governor Sir Julius Chan’s locality. He said the damages caused by mother nature are costly and will require great assistance from the Government.
The New Ireland Government has spent millions on road infrastructure and bridges along the Boluminski Highway through its own pocket that is, royalties from dividends from Lihir, which is separate from the Lihir Memorandum of Agreement.
“Unfortunately this will cause a delay to all priority projects as focus is now on restoring damages caused by Mother Nature. But people must never give up. There is a reason and season for everything. We must break through the tides and rise above flooded rivers and destroyed roads.”
The National Government has been obligated since the signing of the first Lihir MoA in 1995 to provide funding for at least twenty-seven projects specifically listed in the MoA. These range from New Water and Power Systems for Kavieng to a fully sealed Boluminski Highway through to Metlik, a fully upgraded West Coast Highway, a Kavieng International Airport, new hospitals, ring roads for the outer islands and many others critical for the well-being of the people of New Ireland.
“In total, the New Ireland Government has spent well over K100 million of its own funds on these projects, all of which should have been paid for by the National Government,” stated Sir Julius.
Despite the efforts of the New Ireland Government, to this day most of those projects promised in 1995 remain unimplemented. New Ireland has done the calculations and the total cost of these projects was estimated at K65.9 million in the 1995 Lihir MoA.
However, because twenty-five years have passed since that estimate, the true cost today, when inflation is considered, will be over K700 million.
“If Government fails to honour agreements then people will lose trust in the past Government. And the current Government must not make the same mistake. Resources belong to the people. Give the people what is due to them.”
Sir Julius said New Ireland has tried to reason with the National Government repeatedly concerning these arrears. The New Ireland Government suggested in a letter to the Prime Minister in November of last year a strategy by which those arrears could be paid off gradually over the next five years.
“To date we have had no response to those suggestions,” he said.
“All New Ireland is asking is what was promised twenty-five years ago. With the huge wealth that has flowed out of New Ireland and into the National Government’s bank accounts, it seems sad to have to beg for the small share that New Ireland was promised. Is this any way to run a country?”
Sir Julius said with the amount of money owed to New Ireland, it clearly would be financially independent and capable of fulfilling its goal of being an Autonomous Province.
Meanwhile, Sir J has called on everyone to respect nature, not to carelessly destroy forests or kill its biodiversity. He also struck out at the big logging companies and even oil palm company Poliamba Limited, stating they need to take responsibility for the damages to the Boluminski Highway because the loads they carry is quite excessive, resulting in the deteriorating road and bridge conditions.
“Respect the environment and it will provide and protect you. It is now time for the New Ireland Government to effect the moratorium on logging in the province. You just have to look around you and see the ugly state logging has left on our once lush virgin forests and pristine clean water catchments. We have to Act Now or we will live to regret our mistake of turning a blind eye.”
The Governor urged all landowners to seriously think about the consequences before inviting logging companies onto their land.
“What will you leave for your future generation? Are you going to leave them with an embarrassing legacy? That their forefathers were greedy and only thought of their short term gains? Change begins today, you must take that step to protect your resources today because tomorrow is never guaranteed.”