JUNE 16 2022
The children of remote Esa’ala Station on Normanby Island, Milne Bay, stood in pouring rain to sing the National Anthem and recite the National Pledge for Prime Minister Hon. James Marape today (Thursday June 16).
It was a scene which deeply touched PM Marape, who was at Esa’ala to campaign for his Pangu Pati candidate for Esa’ala Open Iimmy Maladina, and Milne Bay Regional candidate Jennifer Rudd.
The Prime Minister could not travel to Esa’ala yesterday (Wednesday June 15) because of heavy rain and cloud cover, and despite the bad weather conditions continuing today, travelled by helicopter to join the people there.
“To see our young children standing in the rain and singing our National Anthem, and reciting the National Anthem, breaks my heart into pieces,” he said.
“It is really for them that I am here to campaign.
“You (people of Esa’ala) have the opportunity (through voting) to construct something better for the little children who sang the National Anthem this morning.
PM Marape, who visited the rundown Esa’ala Health Centre, jetty and non-existent road while waiting for the weather to clear, commended the people of Esa’ala for putting up with the lack of development in their district.
Staff and patients at the health centre showed him the dilapidated facilities and told him about their experiences.
He said they should now be asking two-time MP Davis Steven, a member of Peter O’Neill’s People’s National Congress, about the lack of development at Esa’ala.
PM Marape said the people of Esa’ala now had a very good alternative in Maladina, whose evidence in the UBS Commission of Inquiry, was crucial in implicating O’Neill. He added that O’Neill and others implicated in the UBS COI would be prosecuted after the elections.
“You’ve had him (Steven) for the last 10 years – you measure him up,” PM Marape said.
“Every MP receives on average K10 million per year, and over the last 10 years since 2012, he would have received about K100 million.
“Is there K100 million worth of projects here at Esa’ala?
“If there is K100 million worth of development at Esa’ala, you send him back, if there is nothing on the ground, there is no reason to keep him and he can go on to be the lawyer he wants to be.
“He (Steven) was part of my team to ‘Take Back PNG’, however, he moved on and joined O’Neill’s team.
“Even dogs don’t go back to their vomit: A dog has ability enough to know that this is rubbish, I left it, I cannot go back to the rubbish.”
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