11-20-2012, 11:50 PM
DMO was not on the radar when Ping Ling was being formulated; back then kina i pockets and condos in Cairns were the main focus. What would PNG-ites ever do with electricity? The masses were screaming for it, but it fell on deaf ears. Wisely in the election O'Neill was elected over Namahdorf. He gets it, especially when Australia, Japan, US China, and others say no more aid if it ends up in pockets. And China's billions are only for projects earmarked and under construction. No more here's the money, hope the roads get built. These first projects will tell the tale because some of that money will have to be advanced to get things going. So first we get the budget which was introduced Tuesday afternoon in PNG to lay out the plan. Once approved I would guess they can start the project planning, present that to China and others, draw some funds and get rolling. But squander it and the spigot goes dry. So the government went to IOC just before the election and started laying out needs, and quickly we are where we are. IOC is seen as a partner; not just a developer.
So assuming the budget gets approved O'Neill has set Nov 30 as a report-back date on negotiations. I'm still not convinced that is deep line in sand but a deadline to be sure not only IOC is negotiating in good faith, but also the department heads. People are seeing this Nov 30 as a dangerous date for IOC. I don't think it's as much a dangerous date for IOC as it is for Mr Duma and other department heads. These guys as a whole have been told to perform or lose your job, and O'Neill was very smart to for these groups to hammer this out. He has some of his most trusted coalition partners on these committees to be sure games are not played. My guess is that if they do not have final things hammered out by Nov 30, they will be very far along. The good thing is that this will set the new standard for getting things done in PNG. O'Neill velly smart man.
So assuming the budget gets approved O'Neill has set Nov 30 as a report-back date on negotiations. I'm still not convinced that is deep line in sand but a deadline to be sure not only IOC is negotiating in good faith, but also the department heads. People are seeing this Nov 30 as a dangerous date for IOC. I don't think it's as much a dangerous date for IOC as it is for Mr Duma and other department heads. These guys as a whole have been told to perform or lose your job, and O'Neill was very smart to for these groups to hammer this out. He has some of his most trusted coalition partners on these committees to be sure games are not played. My guess is that if they do not have final things hammered out by Nov 30, they will be very far along. The good thing is that this will set the new standard for getting things done in PNG. O'Neill velly smart man.