PETER O'NEILL IS NOT RIGHT FOR PNG

 

by BEN YALO

Our people in Papua New Guinea have to understand the character of Peter O'Neill to fully comprehend what damage and day-light robbery he had inflicted on ordinary Papua New Guineans, while he was running this Country.

This article brings to light the dark side and unknown secrets of Peter O'Neill, the Member for Ialibu Pangia Electorate and the then Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. These uncompromising and compelling truths revealed here might surprise you, but you will not regret that you have discovered the deep secrets of his background and character unknown to the majority of Papua New Guineans and the whole world.

During the political impasse since August 2 2011, I have supported the O'Neill/Namah regime against the Somare/Abel regime. The reason of my support was to change Somare’s unpopular regime that was deeply systematic and systemically corrupt. In the process, I admit that our constitution was tempered and violated.

Even though our Supreme Court ruled in favour of Somare’s legitimacy, I went at great lengths to argue and support that O'Neill/Namah regime was legitimate. Consequently, the Somare/Abal regime was dethroned and destabilised. They usurped the power as an illegitimate government. But now I regret Peter O'Neill was not the right choice. That is now water under the bridge!

My views to expose Peter O'Neill are based on his gross mismanagement of our economy in Papua New Guinea and his unpopular political decisions which is aggravating the tense volatile situation. Typical examples are the signing of the UBS K3Billion loan to buy the share of 10.1% with Oil Search.

This was a crazy and a mad economic decision. The theft of K71.8 million of public funds through colluding with white collar criminals like Paul Paraka. He authorized the signing of these cheques. This was stealing of the highest order.

Don Polye on radio FM100 talk back show said he facilitated the K71.8 million to Paul Paraka while being the then Treasurer of the O’Neill Government upon instructions from Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

Polye admitted that Mr. O’Neill was well vest and knowledgeable about the payment of the K71.8 million and he wrote the letter which know Mr. O’Neill denied. Mr. Polye said he did not act alone to facilitate the payment, he admitted he got instructions from the Prime Minister to do so.

On the other hand, the then Finance Minister Hon. James Marabe said when he took the office in August 2012, he was presented with a bill of more than K36 million from Paraka Lawyers in October of the same year. Marabe said he consulted Peter O’Neill about the bills and Peter asked him not to pay.

Effective of 31st October 2012, all payments to Paul Paraka Lawyer were put on hold, Marabe said. However, some money were paid when Polye was the Minister of Treasurer which Polye confirmed on the FM100 Talk Back Show that he facilitated the K71.8 million payment as directed by the PM.

There were four (4) payments made after he put a stop in October which happened without his approval as the Finance Minister in the month of November and December 2012 and March and May of 2013.

Investigations were conducted who then made the payments to Paraka when James Marabe did not approve these payments? “Sadly two months underlying in May ‘I have found out’ that this gentlemen was the one who approved the payments.” Marabe said on EM-TV news.

The question is which gentlemen was Marabe referring to here? Is it Don Polye? Or who else would be? O’Neill was continuing to deny that he did not signed the letter to give directive to the Finance Secretary for the release of payments.

When both Ministers Marabe and Polye denied that they did not approve any payment, someone must have wrongly done it. Was it the prime minister or the secretary? Was the Prime Minister’s letter sufficient for executing the payments? Did he not signed the letter?

Further, The K104 Million LR Genset scam, The basis of the purchase was corrupt and outside due process including NEC procedures, the requirement for a public tender for such an arrangement, the Public Finance (Management) Act, the Central Banking Act, the IPBC Act, the PNG Power Act, the Companies Act and the IRC Act.

The total transaction amounted to well over K104 million. The K50 million was just a down-payment, and further payment were made of at least K44 million.

Furthermore, the arrangements for owning, operating and maintaining the generators have been kept secret by the Prime Minister. But it is known that LR Group offered to operate the two generators at a three-monthly cost of about K1 million.

The then Prime Minister and the then Minister for Public Enterprises, Ben Micah, presented a submission to NEC on February 25 2014, well after the transaction was completed, to try to cover up the corruption, fraud and misappropriation in the original deal.

In the process they mislead NEC as to it true nature of the transaction and its status. Indeed, the details of the entire original transaction were concealed from NEC members by the Prime Minister and Minister Micah.

In subsequent public statements the Prime Minister deliberately lied to the people of Papua New Guinea. He stated in April and May that the K50 million “was still in a trust account at the Central Bank of PNG”.

He also stated publicly and to NEC through his submission with Minister Micah that the purchase was from Israel General Electric Corporation. If he made these statements in Parliament then he is guilty of misleading the House.

This Prime Ministerial lie is easy to prove: a record of the SWIFT payment of $US20.4 million to the credit of LR Group dated 20 December 2013 is attached.

More importantly, the essence of his chronic mismanagement our economy had swindled our kina value drastically. The government has no credible path out of the budget mess. Deficit levels are getting larger, not smaller.

Economist Paul Flanagan recently wrote in his Blog about the PNG Economy: PNG Treasury states the debt to GDP ratio is 32.6% and so exceeds the 30% limit set out in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (and using the GDP series when this benchmark was created, it is now 42.7% of GDP).

As a result of the failure to manage this fiscal crisis, PNG’s debt in 2016 is 258% of its 2012 levels. This will be a painful legacy for PNG’s future as little of the debt blow-out has been properly invested. The 2016 Supplementary Budget assumed that revenues would increase by K928 million but the FBO indicates revenue actually fell by K1,236.7 million – a difference of K2,164.7 million.

The Supplementary Budget also assumed that expenditures would be cut by K928 million but they were only cut by K262.2m. Staffing costs actually exceeded the Supplementary Budget by an extraordinary K471.0 million (mainly due to poor planning around teachers).

There is a risk that some of the K1,102.7 million reduction in goods and services expenditure late in 2016 is simply a deferral of bills. The blow-out in deficits and debt results from excessive expenditure expansion in 2013 combined with a dramatic collapse in revenues to the lowest levels since Independence.

The revenue collapse mainly results from the poor performance of the PNG economy and the diversion of revenues to Kumul Petroleum – less than 30% of the revenue fall is due to the fall in commodity prices. The poor budget outcome in 2016 also means revenues will be lower and expenditures higher than shown in the 2017 budget. The 2017 budget needs to be redone.

Today, the value of kina has fallen further by 150% since it was floated many years ago. This bad economic situation is adversely affecting most of our ordinary citizens.

I think that this gloom economic situation is deeply rooted in his background and upbringing. I believe that his background and upbringing has a lot of bearing on his leadership. This is the truth and Peter and his associates must admit and relinquish the PM’s post to someone capable of managing this beautiful country with a lot of money and resources.

In his two terms in office as a member, he virtually did nothing for Ialibu Pangia. No one knows where all the Electorate’s millions of kina disappeared. When the people saw that there was no substance in his leadership, a plan was hatched to get rid of him in the 2012 General Elections.

It was beyond doubt that he was going to be unceremoniously dumped by the people of Ialibu Pangia. However, the circumstances of the political impasse twelve months prior to the 2012 General Elections, changed the whole outlook and dynamics in PNG politics, and subsequently the opinions of the voters in his Electorate.

Six months before the 2012 General Elections, the Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Belden Namah and some senior MPs in the National Alliance Party camp were advised by credible political scouts based on local intelligence that the only way to prevent Prime Minister Peter O'Neill from returning to form Government was to get rid of him at the polls at his Ialibu Pangia Electorate.

Sadly, the common knowledge is that these rival political party leaders didn’t listen to credible and sound advice to fund and support someone from Ialibu Pangia area who had the popular support and a huge potential to unseat O'Neill.

In fact, O'Neill would have been relegated to 3rd or 4th place had some political leaders heeded wise advice from the credible sources. Instead, some of these political leaders were advised by so-called election coordinators in the Highlands Region, who are a well-known for gambling and womanising to support some unknown clowns who pretended to be leaders from the Ialibu Pangia area.

These political leaders were misled. Several attempts were made by the people to the party leaders to challenge Peter, but that choice was ignored. They refused to acknowledge that they were dealing with a new trend in PNG politics, masterminded by a ruthless and innocent looking PETER O'Neill.

The irony in this lack of foresight is that this is the same Peter O'Neill from the infamous NPF FRAUD SAGA and the PUBLIC SERVANT’S HOUSING SCHEME THEFT SCANDAL. O'Neill was pretending, watching the old style politics, scheming by lying low, but when the opportunity presented, he took his chance and struck like a Papuan Black.

The result proved fatal for Somare and the NA-led Government, Namah’s PNG Party, and now Duma’s URP and Polye’s THE Parties. O'Neilll is a ruthless, cunning, shrewd, tactful politician who used the state apparatus to form the present government.

For example, three months before the nominations opened for the 2012 General Elections, Somare and NA Party Officials were presented with the opportunity to fund and support someone to get rid of O'Neill. However, NA leadership refused and ignored.

Surprisingly, NA Officials (people with inflated egos and self-interests) went ahead and endorsed a TUCKER SHOP OWNER from the Morata Settlement to challenge the sitting PM, Peter O'Neill. They were just plain mad. NA became a laughing stock to endorse such a man unknown in Ialibu and Pangia communities.

Furthermore, PNG Party made a mockery of themselves by endorsing an illiterate and ego-centric Port Moresby-based businessman. Now these failed politicians were sleeping in bed with Peter O'Neilll. Their intentions were to get the attention of Peter O'Neilll and make fortune out of it.

Other aspiring candidates in the Ialibu Pangia Electorate were bribed by O'Neilll. They went to bed with him. He just had no powerful rival to compete with. He just walked over. This is history!

If these rival political parties had done their groundwork properly before endorsing someone credible, O'Neilll would have been history. Mr. O'Neill fraudulently got himself re-elected, because there was not one credible and influential candidate to seriously challenge him.

Apparently, aspiring candidates for the PM’s post found out for themselves after the polls and felt the pain and anguish that was dished out by O'Neill after becoming PM. With a lot of respect, now Namah, Duma and Polye regreted their decision to support O'Neilll, while Somare crawled back to O'Neill to cover his ass for the mountain of sins committed over 10 years while being the PM.

WHO IS THIS PETER O'NEILL, THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA?

These are the real facts PNG ought to know. O'Neill was neither a tribal leader nor will he ever be one. He has no identity in terms of tribal heritage, or being from an established stock clan in an indigenous community to become a leader. He has no traditional or customary identity.

Therefore, he is not entitled to any inheritance, such as land for hunting or gardening. Moreover, he was born out of wedlock, meaning his mother bore him as a result of fornication with a colonial Australian Kiap/Magistrate called Brian O'Neilll, who was a well-known womanizer in those early days in the Ialibu Pangia area.

O'Neill was born as result of such promiscuous relationship from a village girl called Awambo, who was a well-known whore in the early sixties in the Pangia area. Her Kauwo village was near the Pangia Government Station, so she could easily slip into the expatriate’s house under the cover of darkness to ply her trade in exchange for a tinned fish, packet of rice, and occasionally two Australian Dollars.

In the highlands culture and tradition, O'Neill is an illegitimate child with no heritage or inheritance. He was never supposed to be an MP in the first place. This is O'Neill’s weakness, even to this very day. HE HAS NO STANDING IN IALIBU PANGIA. This is an open secret which Papua New Guinea does not know about.

This is the very thing Namah, Polye, Duma, and Somare would have exploited to rid O'Neill. Yet they chose not to support some credible people who had the support of the people, thereby allowing O'Neill to simply walk through, because the four candidates who challenged him are a bunch of unknown clowns, which insulted the intelligence and integrity of the Ialibu Pangia people, so much so that people simply refused do anything, because some credible candidates who the people supported to nominate did not do so, and the obvious was evident.

In fact, there was no polling in twenty-eight polling booths in the Pangia area, and the counting in Mendi was just bulldozed by making him the first-declared MP in PNG. Being declared four weeks early gave him an unprecedented advantage over his rivals to form the government, because that early declaration game him the advantage to manipulate the system to collect the numbers around the country to form Government.

Messers Namah, Polye, Duma and other aspiring political leaders have to rethink the way they play politics with the crafty O'Neill and his lieutenants like Marape and Pruaitch. No matter what they say or do, O'Neill is not “too concerned" of their threats.

I advised Mr. Belden Namah that the ONLY option for him to dethrone O'Neill is to relinquish the position of Opposition Leader to the other major coalition partners. PNG Party’s numbers have diminished drastically. So there is no hope for the Opposition as far as the number’s game is concerned.

What does this scenario tell the PNG public? Mr. Namah has to relinquish the opposition leader to some credible coalition leaders in the government ranks. I would prefer Polye if I was given the choice. If Polye does not want to join the Opposition, there are other potential ones out there. I believed in Hon. Belden Namah and encourage him to refocus and strategize his plans either before the next vote-of-no-confidence, or he must ensure that O'Neill is arrested for authorizing payment of K71.8 million to Paraka Lawyers (the latter is being swept under the carpet by the Police Commissioner).

However, if O'Neill to remain PM for the next three years then it’s very unfortunate that Papua New Guinea will be thrown into financial doldrums, which we will be struggling to recover in the future.

O'Neill is an economic terrorist and white collar criminal. Just look at the way he's running the country in the last two years. He is signing loans that have speculative market dividends.

He has stolen from tax payers indirectly through dubious associates. Hundreds of millions of Kina worth of projects are given to just the three same companies with no tenders called for.

So far he has given over K3 billion worth of projects to these three companies. Most of the costs are inflated by over forty percent (40%) of the actual cost. Guess who gets the commission? Of course O'Neill himself. Insiders say that he demands thirty percent (30%) from the project costs.

He controlled everything whereby some of his ministers are powerless when it comes to signing off approval for large contracts. It’s too damn obvious, yet not a single Government Minister or MP has the guts to stand up and raise these issues.

O'Neill was making fast money while at the helm. He needed to be stopped, because he was moving like a bullet train with no brakes, for he didn't care what happened for PNG’s future.

Our people in Papua New Guinea have to understand the character of O'Neill to fully comprehend what damage and day-light robbery he has inflicted everyday as long as he remains PM.

All the so-called good things and his image portrayed to the public as a good and honest leader is just a plain smoke screen. He can easily take a lead role in a Hollywood Movie as an imitator, because he is a master of disguise.

The Bible describes such a character as a “WOLF IN SHEEP’s CLOTHING.” His three lieutenants, James Marape, Patrick Pruaitch, and Francis Awesa were aiding and abetting pillage of the nation’s finances, because these three idiots are having their cut in all the deals.

One way or another Governor Powes Parkop was aware of these corrupt practices, but his hands were bound and he was silent, because his main concern was that some of these major infrastructure projects were currently implemented in his electorate, NCD.

Can a leopard change its spot? The adage is so true of O'Neill: Once a criminal always a criminal. He is carrying this “unforgiving title” and he is no doubt the biggest crook in Papua New Guinea.

What the Somare family and Associates amassed over forty years in politics was nothing compared to what O'Neill had stolen and accumulated in just three years of being PM, beginning with the political impasse in August, 2011.

Can you imagine O'Neill being PM full five years? It is mind-boggling and scary.

PNG was on the verge of a stupendous economic disaster. Why?

The funds from the LNG Gas Exports were set to flow into the Government revenue in the second half of 2014. And the misappropriations of these funds were susceptible.

We are talking about BILLIONS of Kina, not Millions. Doesn’t this send a cold chill down your spine? Here we are talking about a man who has cleverly set himself up to rip off this country’s wealth when he is the PM. He does not care one bit about what happens after he leaves office, because he has big setup already in Australia and elsewhere.

This is an URGENT CALL going out to concerned citizens, law enforcement agencies, disciplined forces, student bodies, and tertiary institutions and union leaders, churches and church leaders, community leaders and NGOs, public servants, businesses and CEOs.

If you love this beautiful country and are concerned about the future of your children and the future generation, DO NOT VOTE FOR CANDIDATES ENDORSED OR SUPPORTED BY PETER O'NEILL'S PEOPLE NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY, please pass the message around.

We must rise up and show people’s power now, because the Police Force and Police Commissioner cannot arrest Peter O'Neill. The then Police Commissioner has past his retirement age. It was very obvious now that he has been given a golden hand-shake under the table by O'Neill to protect him from being arrested. Even Somare, Chan, Wingti and those who pretended to defend Papua New Guinea were cold silent. Why? This is the question we have to answer. It is now or never!

In conclusion, it is observable that O'Neill is not the RIGHT person to lead this country. He is a white collar thief. Coalition partners and concerned independent MPs must make an informed decision to forsake your personal ambitions and gain, or being blinded by greed or power. There must be some kind of radical approach to change O'Neill as the PM of Papua New Guinea. This will save the face of economic and social disaster that is imminent.