Prime Minister Peter O’Neill

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill flew into Hela and Southern Highlands this morning to see for himself the aftermath of the situation.

He described the situation as ‘sad day for PNG’ as the biggest source of revenue, PNG LNG project, has been affected.

“We have tried our best to attend to immediate challenges by deploying members of the PNGDF and Disaster officers to the affected areas.”

The two provincial governors and administrators are now on the ground to assess the situation.

O’Neill made the announcement recently after Ms Sansan was recommended by the Ministerial Executive Appointment Committee.

The reappointment has been effective as of Feb 8, 2018, up to May 8, 2018 or until a substantive appointment is made, whichever occurs first.

“I congratulate Ms Sansan on her reappointment given the confidence this government has in her ethical conduct in office,” stated the PM.

Today, activists of the Free West Papua campaign in Papua New Guinea called on O’Neill to set a record as the first PNG Prime Minister to officially address the West Papua issue and grant them that full membership.

“We thank Prime Minister Peter O’Neill for inviting the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Benny Wenda, to the MSG meeting, and granting him access into the country,” said Philip Kepan, General Secretary of the PNG Coalition of NGOs.

“However, we are disappointed that this significant meeting was not given enough publicity.

This was the response by Madang MP Bryan Kramer following Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s comments regarding his posts on social media.

In a statement released yesterday, O’Neill called on the new Member to learn to behave in the manner expected by his constituents, and not engage in slanderous and illegal behavior.

“The ongoing commentary by the Member for Madang, publishing unsubstantiated conversations with other Members of Parliament is disrespectful, misleading and actionable in court,” the Prime Minister said in a statement today.

“Personal attacks and insults against leaders, with claimed one-sided private conversations, are bandied about on social media.

“These are just shallow social media outbursts that only serve personal politics, and lack any policy platform.”

The Prime Minister is further calling on relevant authorities to look into his behaviour.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has confirmed that the first lot of teachers have already arrived.

O’Neill made the announcement after being questioned by East Sepik Governor Allan Bird about the drop in the quality of education in the country.

The PM said maths and science are lacking in the number of teachers that are graduating out of colleges.

He stated the fault partly lies with Goroka Teachers College being converted into a university and not focusing on its role as teacher training institution.

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.

This will allow local companies to bid for infrastructure projects funded through loan financing.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said this in Parliament yesterday afternoon.

The Prime Minister made the statement when questioned by Moresby North-West MP, Sir Mekere Morauta, about the loan arrangements with the Chinese Government.

Sir Mekere asked the Prime Minister how much debt has the Government accrued through loans with the Chinese Government.

The PM’s statement follows the conclusion of a series of engagements at the World Economic Forum last week in Davos, Switzerland.

O’Neill said he is satisfied with discussions at the World Economic Forum where political leaders from a diverse range of countries met with development finance and non-government organisation executives to work to ensure economic development increases and is inclusive.

“We have met with leading global figures involved with the financing of development projects, including banks and capital markets.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has confirmed that of the three, one will be at Motukea while the other two will be at the Fairfax Harbour.

With more than 4,000 rooms to be provided on each cruise ship, O’Neill believes PNG is ready to host the APEC Summit.

“Such an event will bring all world leaders together,” said the PM.

“The cruise ship will greatly help with accommodation and other catering needs.”

He said Hilton Hotel’s construction is progressing well and will be completed just in time for the meeting.