News | Wednesday 15th June, 2011 |
By YEHIURA HRIEHWAZI
ACTING Prime Minister Sam Abal told Parliament yesterday that there would be “no play-up” in the petroleum sector by leaders and actions he took had been welcomed by the industry.
Last week, he sacked Petroleum Energy Minister William Duma, citing non-performance and Don Polye from Foreign Ministry for insubordination.
Mr Abal said there would be “no play up” in Parliament in response to a series of questions from former chairman of the government’s gas committee and Abau MP, Sir Puka Temu, who directed the questions initially to Petroleum Minister – a ploy to highlight the vacancy in the post – and then re-directed them to Mr Abal. This tactful approach brought about a few grins and smiles among MPs in the chamber. One MP was heard saying, he had been sacked, in reference to Petroleum Minister.
“The leadership provided by the government in the industry leaves a lot to be desired. There are lots of business opportunities and lots of young people being trained like never before and the future is looking very bright,” Sir Puka said.
Unfortunately, he said, the recent actions of the Acting Prime Minister was contrary to the commitment of the government to the PNG LNG project.
“Can the Acting PM assure the investors in the LNG project and the people of PNG that your government would provide the necessary leadership that is required by this transformational project?” Sir Puka said.
He also raised questions relating to issues surrounding the UBSA,LBSA, MOA funds and with elections around the corner, expressed fears that the government might not provide leadership in dealing with issues relating to the petroleum and energy sector. He proposed a bi-partisan approach to resolve issues in the sector.
The Acting PM agreed that the LNG project is “transformational” to the PNG economy as outlined by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare in 2007 and “there’s a lot of things moving, a lot of things are coming up, for once in this country, stabilisation has occurred and investors have confidence in this country.
“All over the world, people are talking about PNG now, even among those who did not talk about it and even criticised it and said it’s a place where you cannot go, now everybody is filling up the planes to come to PNG,” Mr Abal told Parliament.
“That is a legacy in itself, a legacy of this government when LNG was negotiated,” he said.
He said there was no question about the government’s willingness to work with investors in PNG.
“As acting Prime Minister, there is no question about assurance to the industry, we can assure the industry about our willingness to work with them
In relation to his actions last week and whether there would be continued leadership in the petroleum sector, the Acting PM said: “I can assure you Mr Speaker, Members and the country, the promotion, the control, the ability to ensure the projects, especially the LNG project (is looked after) is always going on in government.”
ACTING Prime Minister Sam Abal told Parliament yesterday that there would be “no play-up” in the petroleum sector by leaders and actions he took had been welcomed by the industry.
Last week, he sacked Petroleum Energy Minister William Duma, citing non-performance and Don Polye from Foreign Ministry for insubordination.
Mr Abal said there would be “no play up” in Parliament in response to a series of questions from former chairman of the government’s gas committee and Abau MP, Sir Puka Temu, who directed the questions initially to Petroleum Minister – a ploy to highlight the vacancy in the post – and then re-directed them to Mr Abal. This tactful approach brought about a few grins and smiles among MPs in the chamber. One MP was heard saying, he had been sacked, in reference to Petroleum Minister.
“The leadership provided by the government in the industry leaves a lot to be desired. There are lots of business opportunities and lots of young people being trained like never before and the future is looking very bright,” Sir Puka said.
Unfortunately, he said, the recent actions of the Acting Prime Minister was contrary to the commitment of the government to the PNG LNG project.
“Can the Acting PM assure the investors in the LNG project and the people of PNG that your government would provide the necessary leadership that is required by this transformational project?” Sir Puka said.
He also raised questions relating to issues surrounding the UBSA,LBSA, MOA funds and with elections around the corner, expressed fears that the government might not provide leadership in dealing with issues relating to the petroleum and energy sector. He proposed a bi-partisan approach to resolve issues in the sector.
The Acting PM agreed that the LNG project is “transformational” to the PNG economy as outlined by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare in 2007 and “there’s a lot of things moving, a lot of things are coming up, for once in this country, stabilisation has occurred and investors have confidence in this country.
“All over the world, people are talking about PNG now, even among those who did not talk about it and even criticised it and said it’s a place where you cannot go, now everybody is filling up the planes to come to PNG,” Mr Abal told Parliament.
“That is a legacy in itself, a legacy of this government when LNG was negotiated,” he said.
He said there was no question about the government’s willingness to work with investors in PNG.
“As acting Prime Minister, there is no question about assurance to the industry, we can assure the industry about our willingness to work with them
In relation to his actions last week and whether there would be continued leadership in the petroleum sector, the Acting PM said: “I can assure you Mr Speaker, Members and the country, the promotion, the control, the ability to ensure the projects, especially the LNG project (is looked after) is always going on in government.”
He said that was one of the primary reasons, why “I’ve taken the measure that I’ve done, in order to assure the investors in the sector, that there is no play-up in this sector and that the government will scrutinise exactly what happens in terms of promoting and ensuring that the project does not come off late.”
“Some of those considerations were there but I would like to assure the parliament and the people and the investors that the actions I have taken now, some of the responses I get from the industry itself is that, they welcome what has happened,” Mr Abal told Parliament.
With regards to outstanding payments under various commitments, he said the people must break from the culture of demanding for cash payments and allow the money to be spent on schools, roads, bridges, medicals clinics and other infrastructure projects.
He said the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) and Oil Search Limited will take the lead in implementation of the projects in the oil and gas rich areas.
“Some of those considerations were there but I would like to assure the parliament and the people and the investors that the actions I have taken now, some of the responses I get from the industry itself is that, they welcome what has happened,” Mr Abal told Parliament.
With regards to outstanding payments under various commitments, he said the people must break from the culture of demanding for cash payments and allow the money to be spent on schools, roads, bridges, medicals clinics and other infrastructure projects.
He said the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) and Oil Search Limited will take the lead in implementation of the projects in the oil and gas rich areas.
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