LEADERS LOCK HORNS OVER APEC

Port Moresby:

Two Prime Ministers, past and present, locked horns on the floor of the Papua New Guinea Parliament on the issue of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) perceptions and the benefits the event could bring.

In one corner, former PM and Member for Moresby Northwest Sir Mekere Morauta questioned why APEC was being sold by the government as a “king tide of prosperity”. In the other, current Prime Minster Peter O’Neill defended his government attempting to clear up some misconceptions of APEC.

Before directing his questions however, Sir Mekere brought up the building of the APEC Haus at Ela Beach and the uprooting and reconstruction of the Poreporena Freeway, calling them unnecessary wastages of funds that could have been used on rural roads and other important infrastructure.

“The APEC Haus building was said to cost K70m (FJ$44.7m) prior to its construction but will now cost K100m (FJ$64m).

“Even more ridiculous is that Oil Search is paying this through future tax credits on profits that are not realised, this is like eating our future seeds now,” said Sir Mekere.

In a similar fashion, Sir Mekere ridiculed the current work being done on the Poreporena Freeway, with the avid opinion that a perfectly healthy road was being replaced by a road that was “not much different”.

The senior statesman asked the PM to specify what were some of the benefits that would be realised by the “APEC king tide of prosperity”.

In reply, the PM stated that Sir Mekere was not new to APEC meetings and that he knew what was in store.

Post Courier