Sir Mekere Morauta today responded to twisted statements made by the sitting Member for Moresby North-West and Minister for Health at a rally in Port Moresby last weekend. “Michael Malabag, are you deaf and blind? For the fourth time of correcting you, your Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s Office, here are the simple facts of PNGSDP: “PNGSDP is a private company, not a government department, government institution or state-owned enterprise. “It follows therefore that I am not a public servant or a public employee. “So the rules that you refer to regarding resignation of directors or employees after nominating to contest the election do NOT apply to PNGSDP, nor to me. Understand now? “

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s latest spin on the economy, in relation to this month’s Moody’s Investors Services credit rating for Papua New Guinea, is complete nonsense. It bears no resemblance to the reality of what the credit rating agency actually said, and has rightly been rubbished by social media. Moody’s in fact is highly critical of the economy and government finances, reflecting Mr O’Neill’s five years of corruption, waste and mismanagement, and enumerates a number of potential risks that could cause further damage and more suffering for Papua New Guineans. To counter his selective use of the few plusses in the Moody’s report, and his misleading analysis of it, here is the downsid

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is planning to cut the health budget by a further 30 percent over the next few years, further crippling the nation’s health services. By 2021, health spending will have been slashed by two-thirds from K220 per person in the 2015 Budget to K77. “Mr O’Neill’s cuts are the reason why Papua New Guineans are dying from preventable diseases in their thousands, mothers and babies are dying in their thousands at childbirth, and our bubus are dying in their thousands from lack of basic treatment in villages around the country,” Sir Mekere said. “Mr O’Neill is wrecking the health system while he is building monuments to himself in Port Moresby such as APEC House, grand hot

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta fears a worsening of the nation’s health care crisis this year following more savage cuts to the sector in the 2017 budget. “Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has slashed health spending for the past three years, despite promises that he would protect it and other essential services from his cuts,” Sir Mekere said. “We have now reached the point where his corruption, waste and mismanagement threaten to bring the entire health system crashing down around us.” Sir Mekere said the past two years have been bad enough, with medicines running out across the country, health facilities lacking essential equipment and in a state of disrepair, health workers not bei

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today people and politicians should ignore calls by the Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, Mr Loi Bakani, not to discuss the economy during the election campaign. “This is an outrageous statement,” Sir Mekere said. “We live in a democracy – members of the public and political candidates have every right to question the state of our economy and public finances. “The stagnation of the economy, job losses, the foreign currency shortage, the current cash flow crisis and the monetary situation are legitimate and critical topics for public debate and discussion. “How are we going to get out of the mess created by the O’Neill Government, with Mr

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today the Police Commissioner, Mr Gary Baki, must resign forthwith or be dismissed by the Prime Minister. It is impossible for a Police Commissioner to remain in office after organizing and conducting an illegal operation involving foreign mercenaries. “His is a Constitutional Office,” Sir Mekere said. “The holder of such offices must be beyond reproach, and Mr Baki does not fit into that category. He must go.” Sir Mekere said the deportation of the illegal foreign mercenaries and the winding up of Mr Baki’s illegal operation meant there is added urgency for an independent inquiry into the scandal. The Ombudsman Commission now has ample public ev

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today the Police Commissioner, Mr Gary Baki, should immediately suspend the use of foreign mercenaries, in the interest of public order and safety and until an independent investigation has been conducted into all aspects of his secret deal. The Ombudsman Commission should investigate the arrangements, including the financial and legal aspects, he said. “Mr Baki’s media statement on this scandal yesterday raises more questions than it answers,” Sir Mekere said. “It casts serious doubt about the probity and legality of the deal, with Laurence Aviation and Security of the US, and whether the activities of Mr Baki, other senior policemen and the mer

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta expressed his concern today at social media pictures of heavily armed foreign mercenaries patrolling the streets of Port Moresby. He said it was clear that the public was very concerned about these men. “No-one knows who they are and what they are doing here,” he said. “The absence of any explanation from the Government is only serving to heighten concerns about these foreigners and why they are openly carrying high-powered weapons in public. “There are suggestions that these men are US Armed Forces personnel, and that they are here on APEC security business. Sir Mekere said he been advised that these men are not US SEALs – there are two SEALs on offi

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today he was shocked to hear that more than K1.5 billion was reported as stolen from or by Peter O’Neill’s Government last year. The estimate, by the head of the Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate, Chief Superintendent Matthew Damaru, was a wake-up call for the Prime Minister. “Mr O’Neill has been making a lot of sweet talk about fighting corruption, but corruption has been totally out of control while he has been Prime Minister,” Sir Mekere said. “It appears to have worsened since Mr O’Neill abolished Task Force Sweep after a warrant for his arrest was issued over the Paraka fraud. And his subsequent decision to remove the independence of the

Former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said today the Prime Minister must come clean on Government debt and its cash flows so Papua New Guineans can judge for themselves whether or not the nation is insolvent. “An examination of the 2017 Budget, and publicly available evidence of a cash flow crisis over the past few months, call into question the ability of the O’Neill Government to repay its mountain of debt and pay for its daily operations at the same time,” he said. “Mr O’Neill’s waste, corruption and mismanagement led to a disastrous 2016, and on the information available to me, 2017 is going to be a lot worse. Peter O’Neill is taking the country into bankruptcy. “There is a stark choi