JUNE 13 2022
PM Marape says Pangu Pati is not about leaving any woman, man, child, village, district or province behind.
He said this at the seaside Iokea Village in Gulf on Sunday (June 12 2022) when addressing a massive crowd of people from all over the province for a campaign rally for Pangu Pati Kerema candidate Thomas Opa.
“All of us must walk together into a bright future,” PM Marape told a cheering crowd.
“That is why we have taken back PNG from the wrong hands – that were filled with corruption and greed – and put it back on the road Pangu saw in 1975.
“That road Pangu saw in 1975 was simply a road that leads to prosperity for all – irrespective of whether you come from mountains or lowlands, islands or mainland.
“You’re a son or daughter, born into your country, and you deserve to have money in your pocket and a better future for yourself.
“For the last 46 years, we’ve lagged behind despite us owning coconuts, fish, timber, land, oil, gas, gold and anything God can put in any country.
“God blessed this Garden of Eden called PNG, yet, we are so far behind. Why? That’s the big question we asked in 2019.
“That’s why we changed Government in 2019 so that every child, from all corners of our country, can be prosperous.”
PM Marape said Pangu, under the present generation of leaders, talked about economic independence for PNG.
“What is economic independence?” he said.
“Education is our citizens’ entitlement, health is our citizens’ entitlement, good roads is our citizens’ entitlement, power (electricity) is our citizens’ entitlement, law-and-order is out citizens’ entitlement.
“While Government gives these things, if people don’t have money in their pockets, they they’re slaves in their own land.
“Today Pangu associates this country with our focus on economic independence, just like we gave political independence in 1975.
“Taking Back PNG is all about having money in your pockets.”
PM Marape said his Government had started to make this happen, despite the onset of COVID-19, through:
• Interventions in the agriculture sector;
• Uninterrupted flow of development funds to all districts and province;
• Maintenance of schools;
• Bringing back over 50,000 school dropouts into education through Flexible Open Distance Education (FODE);
• Continuous support of health including specialised heart, kidney and cancer facilities in Port Moresby and Lae;
• Funding over 150 roads through the flagship ‘Connect PNG’ programme;
• Retiring the Peter O’Neill regime’s unpaid road contracts, and other debts like public service retirement funds, 2015 Pacific Games and APEC 2018.
“We have started the clean-up process, with a lot more work to be done to reconstruct our country for the better,” PM Marape said.
“We ask our people to give us another five years.
“We have shown that we can fight to take back more benefits from our natural resources like getting 51 per cent from Porgera from a mere 5 per cent.
“We have shown that we can give good prices to our people for their efforts in agriculture through price support and freight assistance.
“We have shown that we can link PNG businesses to low interest rate bank finance.
“We have shown that we can pay our children’s school fees from elementary to secondary, and right on to universities and colleges, through HECAS, TESAS and our very own Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP).
“We have shown that we can help our simple people through programmes like lifting the non-tax bracket to K17,500; and a 10 per cent cut in fuel and essential household items like rice, flour and others.
“ We have shown that we can bring roads and development to rural areas like Maramuni, Telefomin, Karamui, Usino-Bundi and many others.
“Much works remains to be done, which is why this coalition of leadership must continue.”
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