WHAT IS IN THE "NATIONAL INTEREST"'?
BELDEN NAMAH MP I am now convinced that the Somare Government does not consider the interests of local people or the country to be of any importance. Increasingly, decisions that negatively affect every citizen are being made by this Government that are justified because they say they are in the ‘National Interest’. In fact, these decisions are only in the interest of the political elite and the robber companies that the Somare Government is now attracting to steal from Papua New Guinea’s resources. Environment Act amendments The Somare Government recently passed amendments to the Environment Act that allow one man, the Secretary of DEC, to exempt any company or developer from abiding by PNG’s environmental protection laws. This is the same man who the Ombudsman Commission recommended should face expulsion from the public service for his involvement in illegal forestry allocations. Now, when ever the Secretary or his political masters feel that a project is in ‘the national interest’