East Sepik Governor

This was revealed by the Minister for State Enterprise William Duma after East Sepik Governor Alan Bird queried where the money was and why it was not used to address the ongoing power woes in the country including Wewak town.

Bird said Wewak town has been in the dark for 18 days now and wanted a short-term solution to the power problems there.

Providing a background of the situation on the ground, Bird said a total of six gen sets have failed with a new gen set not working. This has led to power blackouts affecting schools, hospitals, banks, etc.

He said what the country witnessed earlier this week shows weak character and a lack of appreciation for what constitutes acceptable human behaviour in our country.

“You are a good man when you stand up for those who are weaker than you. You are not a good man because you demand it,” he stated.

“You have clearly demonstrated by your own behaviour that you need a serious adjustment to your mental attitude. Your ability to articulate arguments also needs improvement because there is nothing intelligent about it.”

East Sepik Governor, Allan Bird, made this comment after walking out of Friday’s Parliament sitting.

Madang Governor Peter Yama’s deplorable comments against Madang MP and Police Minister, Bryan Kramer, upset a good number of MPs.

His refusal to withdraw his racist statement saw the Prime Minister leave the chambers, followed by East Sepik Governor.

East Sepik Governor, Allan Bird, made this statement during ‘questions without notice’ in Parliament on December 3^rd.

After that, he directed a series of questions to the Health Minister.

In his first question, the Governor asked Health Minister Jelta Wong if he was prepared to deal with all the companies involved in the supply contracts.

“Mostly foreign companies,” stated Bird.

“Let us start by thinking about the Sepik River people for a moment, more particularly where we see them in 20 or 30 years’ time. Where do they see themselves in that timeframe?” queried the Governor.

“Will they still be fisher folk? Living a semi-subsistence life, selling carvings and other artefacts and performing traditional dances for tourists? Or will more of them desire a decent education, a career or start a business and move to live in a town or city?

“The Maserati deal is just one scandal after another. And we’re asking, when will it stop?

“The process of policing is into question.”

Kramer pointed out the Paraka case, where the case against the Prime Minister was closed, including the Manumanu land deal, where police cleared the implicated Cabinet Ministers of all allegations against them.

“While the focus had been on the earthquake disaster in the Southern highlands, we sometimes overlook the other disasters that have occurred in Papua New Guinea recently,” Witham stated.

The Kadovar eruption on January 2018 has left many people displaced and had a major impact on the lives of people in the Eastern Sepik area.

He said LLGs will be given the option of allowing their people to vote for the president, or for council members only to vote for presidents.

O’Neill, replying to the East Sepik Governor Allan Bird’s query on how the Council presidents will be voted in, said it will be entirely up to the provinces.

“There are provinces in the country where they wish to have the council presidents elected by the people – that is fine, and there are other provinces where they want the ward councillors to elect the presidents.

Governor Allan Bird made the clarification in response to an article published on Loop PNG regarding national interest in the Sepik Plains.

During the budget presentation of the East Sepik Provincial Budget to Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister, Charles Abel, the Governor responded to comments made by Abel regarding significant funding to his province for agricultural projects by the National Government.

East Sepik Governor, Allan Bird, said a recent change in wind direction has resulted in ash drifting towards the Biem Island.

He said if this continues, the coast of Madang Province could be affected, including Bogia District and Manam resettlement centre.

Meanwhile, the Governor said they have begun planning for any likely event that Biem Islanders may need to be evacuated due to the effects of the volcano.

“With the change in the wind direction, a lot of the ashes from the Kadovar volcano are falling on Biem Island and towards Manam and Bogia.