Secretary says no army intervention

DEFENCE cooperation agreement (DCA) with the United States (US) does not promote military intervention, says Foreign Affairs secretary Elias Wohengu.
Wohengu said the DCA did not mean the US was obligated to step in and defend PNG in any circumstances.
He said it only expanded upon PNG’s existing military agreements with the US, which is the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) of 1989 and the Memorandum of Understanding in 1990 that concerned Joint and Combined Military activities in PNG.
He added that negotiations for both the DCA and the Shiprider agreement had started in 2016.
Senior level officials from relevant agencies like the Office of the State Solicitor, PNG Customs, Department of Defence and the PNGDF, commissioner of police and the police as well as the attorney general were all consulted on the agreement, he said.
Wohengu said the Office of the State Solicitor had given legal consent for PNG to be a party to the agreements after being satisfied that both agreements were within the construct of the National Constitution and existing legislations.
“(The DCA) expands the SOFA of 1989 to include a development cooperation aspect which would enable the US forces to refurbish and develop infrastructure for dual use within certain seaports and airports within PNG,” Wohengu said.
He said that PNG already had the legal framework in the Constitution that allowed foreign militaries to visit the country; this was in the Defence (Visiting Forces) Act 1975 (DVFA), Section 206 of the National Constitution.
He added that the DCA legalised the presence of US forces, as well as other US officials supporting US forces in PNG to conduct defence related activities that would normally be conducted under SOFA.
These include training, humanitarian aid, security assistance and cooperation.
Wohengu said the agreement would also enable cooperation between the two forces in areas of surveillance and reconnaissance activities.