ID :
207577
Fri, 09/16/2011 - 16:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/207577
The shortlink copeid
PNG should not be proud of its record: PM
SYDNEY (AAP) -16.09.2011-After 36 years of independence from Australia, Papua New Guinea does not have a record it can be proud of, prime minister Peter O'Neill says.
As Papua New Guineans turned out in their thousands to celebrate Independence Day in Port Moresby on Friday, Mr O'Neill took the opportunity to declare the nation had fallen short of its goals and principles.
"As a nation we have come a long way in 36 years, but our record is one we cannot be very proud of" he said during a speech at the University Of Papua New Guinea.
"Regardless of where you are, look around you. Our infrastructure, like roads and bridges, airports and wharves are in a shamble.
"We have fallen short of our national goals and principles enshrined in our constitution."
The 46-year-old prime minister, who has been in the job just under two months, reiterated his promise to provide free education up to grade 10 as part of the 2012 budget.
He has also promised to fix the nation's roads and highways, currently in dire need of repair after decades of neglect.
Papua New Guineans flocked in their thousands to parks and stadiums on Friday to commemorate in sing sings, or tribal gatherings, the September 16, 1975 handover from Australian to self rule.
Dancers decked out in traditional tribal dress representing PNG's diverse cultures gathered in Port Moresby's Ugani Oval with about 8000 people to declare pride in their homeland.
And vent a few spleens about the nation's leaders.
"PNG is not developing. I am suffering financially," Port Moresby resident Mik Pani, 42, told AAP.
A highlander, he said he was currently unemployed and living in the broken-down settlement of 8 Mile on the margins of Port Moresby.
"Our leaders give us nothing. We are slaves," he said.
Port Moresby police officer John Minato, also 42, sees it differently.
He says the nation has developed over the past 36 years, and he is optimistic about the next 36.
"We will be OK" he said.
"We have resources, we have mining, we have coffee and coconut plantations and the fish in the sea.
"This country has developed very fast."
But he says PNG still needs Australia's roughly $355 million a year in aid to build schools, bolster its fragile health sector and build the roads that have yet to connect across the rugged, mountainous countryside.
"That is why we still like Australia," he said.
PNG's 36th year as a nation has been a tough political one.
The country almost ground to a halt in the five months the nation's longest serving prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, was in Singapore recovering from heart surgery.
Mr O'Neill came to office in August, after striking a deal with 70 MPs to oust the Somare government, then led by acting prime minister Sam Abal, on the floor of parliament.
However, with that vote currently being challenged in the Supreme Court, Mr O'Neill's prime ministership remains rocky constitutional ground.
As Papua New Guineans turned out in their thousands to celebrate Independence Day in Port Moresby on Friday, Mr O'Neill took the opportunity to declare the nation had fallen short of its goals and principles.
"As a nation we have come a long way in 36 years, but our record is one we cannot be very proud of" he said during a speech at the University Of Papua New Guinea.
"Regardless of where you are, look around you. Our infrastructure, like roads and bridges, airports and wharves are in a shamble.
"We have fallen short of our national goals and principles enshrined in our constitution."
The 46-year-old prime minister, who has been in the job just under two months, reiterated his promise to provide free education up to grade 10 as part of the 2012 budget.
He has also promised to fix the nation's roads and highways, currently in dire need of repair after decades of neglect.
Papua New Guineans flocked in their thousands to parks and stadiums on Friday to commemorate in sing sings, or tribal gatherings, the September 16, 1975 handover from Australian to self rule.
Dancers decked out in traditional tribal dress representing PNG's diverse cultures gathered in Port Moresby's Ugani Oval with about 8000 people to declare pride in their homeland.
And vent a few spleens about the nation's leaders.
"PNG is not developing. I am suffering financially," Port Moresby resident Mik Pani, 42, told AAP.
A highlander, he said he was currently unemployed and living in the broken-down settlement of 8 Mile on the margins of Port Moresby.
"Our leaders give us nothing. We are slaves," he said.
Port Moresby police officer John Minato, also 42, sees it differently.
He says the nation has developed over the past 36 years, and he is optimistic about the next 36.
"We will be OK" he said.
"We have resources, we have mining, we have coffee and coconut plantations and the fish in the sea.
"This country has developed very fast."
But he says PNG still needs Australia's roughly $355 million a year in aid to build schools, bolster its fragile health sector and build the roads that have yet to connect across the rugged, mountainous countryside.
"That is why we still like Australia," he said.
PNG's 36th year as a nation has been a tough political one.
The country almost ground to a halt in the five months the nation's longest serving prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, was in Singapore recovering from heart surgery.
Mr O'Neill came to office in August, after striking a deal with 70 MPs to oust the Somare government, then led by acting prime minister Sam Abal, on the floor of parliament.
However, with that vote currently being challenged in the Supreme Court, Mr O'Neill's prime ministership remains rocky constitutional ground.
