Polye: Think of children

Source: Post Courier, Friday September 7, 2012

By Simon Eroro

“OUR children are our future and as parents we can never ignore our obligation to leave this world a better place, a place where our children can look to their future with hope and excitement, not with fear or trepidation.’’
This was what the Minister for Treasury Don Polye said when responding to Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dion’s proposed Action Plan in the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government in Parliament yesterday.
Mr Polye said the Government’s commitment to education must be genuine and the education that it provides must provide for real jobs.
He said this was why law and order must be a priority so PNG’s children and families could grow and mature in safety,
“That is why we as leaders must do this work to build a stronger economy that gives hope for all. I have always advocated the importance of customs, our Melanesian ways and our Christian heritage. In particular, in seeking a solution to the constitutional disputes of the last term and the role of the courts and its Parliament and the position of the grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, I made it clear that we should look to customary reconciliation,” Mr Polye said.
Mr Polye said customary reconciliation was an important part of PNG culture. However, we must take the utmost care to ensure that in our use of reconciliation we do not undermine the fundamentals of good governance.
He told parliament that at this time of unity within the system of government the opportunity should be taken to review the laws made in the passion of the moment during the constitutional debate that were a problem.
“The separation of our arms of government is fundamental to our constitutional framework but there are times when we all must work together to allow us to move on – this is one of the times and together we can construct a new exciting successful Papua New Guinea in which we all benefit.
“Those benefits must improve the lives of all people. We must take every Papua New Guinean on this journey – leaving nobody behind because that is the obligation of leadership,” Mr Polye said

Kandep chaotic

There is no time to point fingers....Act now!!

 

Fighting has started since the declaration of the election results which was on July 13, 2012 and or even before that when counting was going on at Wabag. What is very interesting is that, the so called Leaders have turned a blind eye on what was happening at home. Several attempts was made in writing to our daily papers to bring this to the public but this did not get published for some reason known to themselves, probably because of the fact that there was no publicity of no concrete evidence to substantiate.

 

Since then, total lives lost to date is more than 50 excluding those that have lost a leg or a arm and spear wounds.  The most interesting scenario is how the poor people at home have managed to get these high powered weapons given their background where Kandep has no cash crops to generate their income and pigs, the only source of income takes couple of years to grow up and mature.

 

The Eastern part of Mariant constituency is now all war zones with innocent families displaced from their homes and living in the bushes for cover but always in fear of attack every minute of their lives. the total number of villages completely destroyed accounts at 12 so far and might continue if nothing is done.

 

It is believed that everyone has played a part to be in this situation, the people themselves had they not started the fight, the leaders had they intervened early, the election official including the electoral commission had they heard the people's cry to remove the RO at the first place because of his record in the conduct of previous elections.

 

Now the damage has already been done so the best thing to do now is to find a solution to the problem rather than pointing fingers at each other in an aim to find the root cause. A better solution is required now or more lives will be lost. The rate at which lives are lost is alarming with more than 2 per day.

 

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Source: The National, Friday 31st August 2012

By ELIAS LARI
MORE than 30 police personnel from Wabag have been deployed to Kandep, Enga, to prevent further killings and destruction caused to properties by supporters of election candidates.
The fights in Kandep were among the supporters who attacked each other straight after the declaration of Don Polye, according to provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari.
Lakari said yesterday the policemen were deployed into the affected
area last week to protect lives and property.
“This fight between supporters has been going on since the declaration (of the winner of the electorate), but I cannot give the exact figure of those who have died and property damaged, including domestic animals which were killed.
“I need to receive a full report on the matter and decide on what is the next step to take to completely stop the fight.”
Lakari said police officers deployed a week ago were carrying out awareness and educating the people to lay
Lakari said peace negotiations were progressing well and hoped to see a change happen soon.
“Apart from property, food crops are also affected and I do not know what people are eating to survive.
“I condemn this fight as there are no good reasons for people to take on each other,” he said.
“Tribal fights do not bring anything good.
“I don’t know why they are taking this as a game to attack each other.”
He said the only way to live a peaceful life was to do away with tribal fights.
“No one can claim that his tribe or clan has
won.
“Both sides will suffer destruction and loss of lives,” Lakari said

War zones in Kandep, Porgera districts

Source: Home News, Post Courier, September 3, 2012

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

 

TWO districts of Kandep and Porgera in Enga province will be declared fighting zones, Enga Governor Peter Ipatas said last week.
Governor Ipatas also reignited the call for the ban of firearms in the country as he was very critical of police lack of action in the province in restoring peace.
The Enga Governor said he had asked the provincial peace and good order committee to convene an urgent meeting early next week to declare the two districts of Kandep and Porgera as fighting zones.
He said the use of guns is prevalent in most of the fights and asked from where the villagers are getting their guns and ammunition.
He alleged that the leaders are the ones behind the purchase of guns and ammunitions for their people.
“Most of the villagers are fully armed and because of that they are so powerful but the ultimate price is death.”
“A lot of killings are not by bows and arrows but with guns.”
Mr Ipatas said police can do the job in restoring law and order but there is no efficiency on the ground.
“Every time there is trouble police are needing money to move in - but why? Didn’t they take an oath to protect property and lives. Why should they always asked for money?”
Mr Ipatas said there was also no need for a state of emergency because it will be the same police who are going to be paid allowances to do the job that they can do now to restore normalcy.
“If the police are not doing their job then some heads must roll including that of the Police Commissioner, Provincial Police Commander and whoever is in charge over the police.”
Mr Ipatas said there is a big police presence in Porgera but they cannot contain the situation on the ground.
“This is not guerilla warfare. It is a tribal war that must be contained by police.”Mr Ipatas said he will be organising a trip with the police, Barrick and government officials to fly into Porgera next week to assess the situation.
“We leaders can be talking all day but at the end of the day it is the responsibility of police to restore law and order,” Mr Ipatas said.

The ONeil Dion Cabinet

Innocen Lives Lost In Kandep

Innocent Lives Lost In Kandep

With Frustration, I would like to post this comment on this blog regarding the fight in the Marient Constituency in Kandep, Enga Province.

So much damage has been done to properties with up to 30 plus lives lost and villages destroyed. food gardens all gone, families displaced from their dwelling place. The loss of lives is now becoming a daily thing since the election ballot papers for Kandep have reached Wabag for counting while the counting was going on. I can perfectly recall that up to 8 villages have been deserted for both rival clans. Fighter appears to be more related to the election and the ways counting was conducted and declaration done. While educated elites may like to take the more formal way of putting things to the court of disputed returns, local illiterate back at home though otherwise. 

I have been watching and to date, not even one report came out in the media regarding this killings and intense battling going on at Kandep. High powered guns are being used in this fight and i am wondering if there will ever be an end to that battle. The so called leaders from all levels have gone hiding, and are pretending as if nothing is happening. With is extend of damage done, the question is, who si going to corp all the blame. is it the electoral commission for re-appointing a RO that as demanded and petitioned by all candidates to remove him from getting involving? Is it the people themselves for not having to seek legal action and putting everything to court if they felt that the election process was unfair? Can the MP declare state of emergency and sent task force to Kandep? How and when will this intense gun fight stop if nothing is done.

Please help!!

Politician’s action, statement immature says Mendi candidate

Source: The National, Tuesday 17th July, 2012

NIPA-KUTUBU candidate Pesab Jefferey Komal has condemned the actions of sitting member Philemon Embel in Mendi town last Thursday.
Komal expressed great concern at Embel’s claims at a mini-rally at the provincial offices while presenting a petition against irregularities in the progressive count of the seat.
“The sitting member claimed that he would have been leading by 25,000 votes. That is why he is saying something is wrong with the count. He is a senior statesman and these are very immature statements,” Komal said.
“If he believes he has delivered, he should be satisfied that he has done enough to be returned by the people. The people have spoken through the ballots, so just let the process go through until declarations.
“If he is unsatisfied, he can challenge after.”
Komal said it was still too early, with quality checks yet to be done and counting still incomplete.
Leading the count with 15 boxes left as of last Friday morning, Komal’s concerns were further strengthened by a clarification made by Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen last  Thursday.
“Recounts are provided for only after the primary count has been completed,” Trawen said.
“Recounts cannot be considered when counting of primary votes is in progress.”
Trawen said recounts were done after quali­ty checks had been carried out.
Claims of count irregularities have culminated in candidates trying to stop counting.
Most issues have been with polling officials, who were officially endorsed by returning officer, David Warkias

Polye wants planning to go under new regime

Source: The Nationa, Monday July 16th, 2012

THE Department of National Planning will be abolished and its functions transferred to the prime minister if Don Polye heads the next government.
The transfer of responsibilities to the office of the country’s chief executive officer would include that of rural development, implementation and monitoring.
“That will mean managing the country as a corporate entity, not through the eye of a political institution,” Polye said yesterday.
The transfer was necessary because “the prime minister has to work and be actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of policies to guide the country’s development framework,” he said.
“The prime minister cannot sit down and relax and expect these important development functions to be done by somebody else as is the case now.
“Papua New Guinea is not like Australia or any other developed nation for that matter. The prime minister has to work, and he has to work hard and do so with his heart.”
Polye was declared Kandep MP on primary counts last Friday at the Wabag Primary School, securing 23,678 votes after count 67. Nearest rival Alfred Manase scored about 12,000 votes behind on 11,318 while Sakias Yamalo Tomao was third, collecting 3,066.
The Kandep MP is the parliamentary leader of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment (T.H.E) Party. This will be his third term in parliament.
When thanking his Kandep people for having the confidence and allowing him to lead them for another term, Polye said he had the experience, skills and the knowledge to head the next government as prime minister.
“I have been on the job learning to become prime minister in the last 10 years with a
strong and quality leadership
that PNG so desires.”
With yesterday’s declaration of Douglas Tomuriesa as member for Kirriwina-Goodenough, and the lead held by eight other T.H.E Party candidates throughout the country, Polye said the progressive results were encouraging. And, he was confident of forming government after the numbers game begins at the end of this month.
He also appealed to all candidates not to disrupt the work of the Electoral Commission but to accept defeat.
“All political parties, their leaders, candidates and supporters must not interfere with the polling process.
“The integrity and credibility of the counting process must be upheld and the rule of law maintained,” Polye said.
He also called on all candidates to respect the constitutional functions of the Electoral Commission and the security forces.
Polye was declared by the district returning officer, Naipet Keae, after securing an absolute majority of 50%-plus-one vote with five ballot boxes yet to be counted.
Soon after signing his declaration papers at the Wabag Primary School, Polye reaffirmed his intention to be Enga’s first prime minister.
It is understood that legal opinions were being sought on Polye’s declaration.

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17th July 2012

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Polye condemns report

Source: Poste Courier, Monday 09 July 2012
By RAMCY WAMA

Don Pomb Polye, the leader of the Triumph Heritage Party and Minister for Finance and Treasury had nothing to do with the killing of a presiding officer in Enga.
Mr Polye said yesterday that as a leader of the people of Kandep and leader of one of the biggest political parties, he could not be involved in the murder of another person and he found the report in the Sunday Chronicles newspaper yesterday as misleading and defamatory.
“The newspaper is involved in smear campaign against me for whatever reason, only known to the editor and the reporter. The newspaper did not check the facts properly and went ahead a published a story that contained a lot of inaccuracies that has damaged my reputation as a leader,” Mr Polye told Post Courier last night
Mr Polye was responding to a report in Sunday Chronicles newspaper yesterday in which he was blamed for the killing of the presiding officer and other election related violence in Kandep and in Enga.
“I’m the leader of the people of Kandep who is currently leading one of the biggest party in government. I cannot come down and act like a mindless person to instigate all these troubles, fights, violence, or killings in my electorate and my province.
I have earn my place as a leader the hard way and not by chance, opportunity or on a golden plate. I am a leader and I cannot do such horrible things to my people,” he said.
Mr Polye said the reports in the Sunday Chronicles front page was totally false and misleading the people of Kandep, Enga and Papua New Guinea.
“The story printed on the front page of the Sunday Chronicles painted a bad picture on me, my leadership, my political career and my public life. It (story) makes me look like a careless leader, a instigator of violence and a warlord.
“The report is false and I condemned it outright. The people who have instigated the violence are now cunningly shifting blame on me through conveniently collaborating with the media. I ask the other candidates who contested against me to come out clear and tell the truth,” he said.
Mr Polye said if the newspaper had checked its facts, he would find that the people who are held in police custody over the killing are not my supporters or my people

Polye denies inciting trouble resulting in death

The National, Monday July 9th, 2012

KANDEP MP Don Polye has strongly denied that he had incited trouble resulting in the death of a presiding officer in the electorate in Enga province.
He told the media in Mt Hagen yesterday that he was not responsible for the death as reported in a newspaper yesterday.
He condemned the killing in the strongest terms and called on the police and security personnel to have those responsible arrested and charged.
Polye said three rival candidates were trying to discredit him in the media in his run for the prime ministership.
He said the candidates knew that the people had rejected them and therefore instigating problems resulting in the attacks.
Polye claimed the candidates had made certain demands to the Electoral Commission and security personnel but these were rejected. They then directed their frustration on the people.
He said the killing took the number of people killed in election-related trouble in Enga to five. Four of them were his relatives.
He said as a leader, he always talked about peace, unity and good order in the district, province and country.
Polye said it had been a public fight involving scrutineers of 60 candidates from Kandep and other people outside the gate trying to get into the counting room

Officer killed, another hurt

Source: The National, Monday July 9th, 2012

By JAMES APA GUMUNO

A GENERAL election presiding officer is dead and another seriously hurt after they were attacked in Kandep district, Enga province, on Saturday.
Dead is John Kepa, 57, from Longap village. Daniel Arup, 50, from Malai village,
is in serious condition at Wabag hospital from
the bush-knife attack.
The two men are from the Wage local level government area in Kandep district.
Provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari said yesterday supporters of a party parliamentary leader attacked the two presiding officers, who were supporters of another candidate outside the gate of the counting centre at Wabag Primary School around 7am.
They had been waiting with other presiding officers to go into the counting centre.
Lakari said the two men were rushed to Wabag hospital but one died on arrival.
Lakari said this was believed to be a payback killing for another election-related killing two weeks ago when a candidate’s supporters allegedly shot a man and his wife at Wasa Bridge, in Kandep, and threw their bodies into the Lai River.
They then stabbed a young man to death in Wabag town last Monday. He said police intervened quickly and arrested the two prime suspects.
He said the suspects had been detained for questioning and their vehicle was impounded at the police station.
Lakari appealed to candidates from Kandep to control their supporters.
He said they had destroyed the image of Wabag town and Enga province with their senseless killings