O’Neill criticises Marape’s spending

Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neill says Prime Minister James Marape has starved the Opposition’s 30 MPs of various services improvement funds, denying three million people in the country of essential services.
In a statement he said: “Withholding these payments denies around three million of our people from having access to vital funds to deliver services at the grass roots level.”
O’Neill also said records from the Finance Department have revealed evidence of reckless spending by this Government in the past five years.
The former prime minister said: “We have never seen such spending in our nation’s history as record budgets are squandered without genuine development impact for our people.
“To make it worse, the spending has been at the long-term expense of massive loans that will take decades to repay.
Instead of taking advantage of the record high gold prices and strong prices in oil and gas over the last five years, “Marape has chosen to bury our nation in debt and run around the world begging for handouts”.
“Whatever money comes in from hard working taxpayers plus billions in loans and hundreds of millions in handouts from our generous neighbours, Marape finds ways to use the money to cling on to power. Where is the good governance and requirement under section 214 of the Constitution to have annual checks done and reported transparently by the Auditor-General?”
Marape took offence at O‘Neill’s comments and said yesterday the Government has enabled more money to be paid to provinces and districts.
Marape said: “All districts and provinces, whether their leaders are in Opposition or Government, have benefited equally from service improvement funds (SIPs).
“O’Neill should know very well that SIPs are based on government policy and are not constitutional grants.
“Government policy interventions are focused on five key areas: Health, education, infrastructure, law-and-order and growing the economy.