Easter is a time for all Christians to remember our Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified and died on the cross for the gift of Salvation to all mankind.
It is a time to reflect on ourselves in our life’s journey and appreciate our existence here on earth, said Prime Minister, James Marape in his Easter message to the country.
“Fellow Papua New Guineans, while most are used to the meaning of Easter as the death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation for all people, there is another message we as the people of a Christian Nation can take from the events of Easter.
He said like every Bible story, tumbuna story or Brother’s Grim Tales that we have heard growing up, those stories have a moral message behind them.
Prime Minister Marape said, “The Easter Story of Our Lord Jesus Christ not only brings a message of hope but also brings an underlying message of staying steadfast to your faith and principles despite everything that is going wrong around you. To look at the bigger picture or the long-term gain.”
“In the case of our country, we want to “Take Back PNG” from complacency and corruption and to improve our country’s economic outlook.
He said the Government’s vision since taking office in 2019 was to ‘Take Back PNG’, getting more from our resources for our people, reforming laws and policies to prevent wastage of our limited financial resources in encouraging people to aim to become financially independent.
Financial independence the Government believes could be achieved through going into SMEs and creating cheap financial facilities to help them achieve that goal and working towards reducing debt and eventually becoming debt free so we could have surplus in our national budget.
Prime Minister Marape said, However, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works when it arrived after the 2019 National Budget was passed.
This was a situation that we did not expect to hit the Government and limited resources were put into growing the economy.
“On that note, I thank our people for respecting and tolerating the Government’s decision to do a hard lockdown while systems were put in place to help us mitigate and reduce the spread and impacts of COVID-19.
“By the Grace of the Good Lord, the impacts of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of our citizens were less than predicted by the health experts around the world and in the region,” the Prime Minister stated.
As of 12th March, PNG reported a cumulative total of 43,615 cases, including 89 news cases out of 249, 149 people tested. Active cases are 60 while 42, 906 people have recovered. Total number of people vaccinated is 348, 938.
The PM said, “To those who have lost a loved one to the pandemic, our prayers and thoughts are with you during this time. The current challenging economic conditions facing the country today are a direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He said when my Government came into Office, economic conditions were relatively good and economic conditions have changed since, particularly in light of recent challenges such as COVID-19 and COVID-19 restrictions that affected international trade movements for almost a year in 2019-2020.
“On this note, the main Easter message to you is that you, the people are the Government. We, your elected leaders, are the people you trusted to better manage the systems in place to support you.
“Therefore, we cannot bring change and prosperity to our country on our own without your contributions as well.”
Prime Minister Marape highlighted the Government’s plan to take back PNG will not yield results quickly and will see results in the next 10 to 20 years.
He added, “I now ask you all to be steadfast in your belief that your Government has your best interest at heart and will do everything it can to improve your wellbeing and livelihood.
“Here I leave you with bible verses with a message of hope after all obstacles are faced to reach our goal.
1 Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
1 Corinthians 15:21: "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man."