James Marape

This is in regards to the National Court Decision dismissing an application restraining police to arrest Marape and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

Issues of the case stem from the payment to Paraka Lawyers.

Lawyers representing Marape and the Prime Minister argued that their application was not to dismiss the whole investigation.

Court was told that the restraining order sought was to temporarily halt the arrest, but not to stop the investigations from proceeding. 

O’Neill revealed this today at Parliament during Question Time with a question from Sinasina Yongumgl MP Kerenga Kua.

Kua was asking about how secure the country’s economy from the PNG LNG project revenue was as mentioned by Finance Minister James Marape in the previous parliament session in 2015.

“Minister for Finance James Marape has assured the parliament that the gas price was locked in a foreword sales gas marketing agreement and that any decline in prices will not impact the revenue,” he said.

The matter has been set to be heard on March 22 and 23 by a three-man Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Derek Hartshorn, Collin Makail and Don Sawong.

The date was set today after the sixth respondent, Matthew Damaru the Director of  the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption directorate told the court they want the substantive appeal heard as soon as possible as the matter has been going on for close to two years now.  

“We are now balancing our government books for 2015. We expect to present our government accounts from 2009 to 2015 in the March session. 

“We have opened our government accounts January 4, the earliest ever opening of public accounts in our nation’s history.

"That is so Papua New Guineans will know what their government accounts look like for those years,” Marape said.

 “All Government expenditures of 2015 has ceased and lapsed, all government cheques printed in 2015 fiscal year come to cease, and we will only honour 2016 commitments and cheques,” Marape said.  

“2016 fiscal year open on the 4^th January 2016, taking decision here in (Department of) Finance in consultation with (the Department of)Treasury and National Planning as well as the Prime Minister.  

“Our department will be going to commercial banks to ensure that cheques not presented in 2015 are invalid.”

Leader of government business James Marape  moved a motion for a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister.

Those in the chamber  have just voted .. 78 members voted for the PM and 2 against.

The two who voted against the motion are Oro Governor Gary Juffa and Goilala MP William Samb

Parliament has just been adjourned to 3rd November for the tabling of the annual budget.

This was the announcement made by Finance Minister James Marape after the National Executive Council gave its approval.

Marape says the districts will now be the point for coordinating relief supplies for those affected.

He says the districts are closer to the people and response would be much quicker.

“This will also avoid the layers of public service process that delay response to disasters like this,” he says.

The government has also given a Certificate of Inexpediency which will allow districts to get relief supplies from the following business houses

Marape was in Fiji over the weekend and says they are hoping more investors will find opportunities in Fiji.

PNG businesses have already invested in two of Fiji’s top hotels, the Grand Pacific and the Pearl South Pacific Resort.

“Relationships between nations are built on many aspects and lately one of the fundamental aspects of those relationship is business, commerce, trade and PNG and Fiji has seen a growing rapport in as far as various exchanges are concerned.”