O’Neill: Marape must Stop Making and Breaking Promises to our Children and Young People*

 

13th July 2024

Approved for Immediate Release

*O’Neill: Marape must Stop Making and Breaking Promises to our Children and Young People*

“In five years Marape has made it a habit to break the hearts of our children and youth,” said member for Ialibu-Pangia and former Prime Minister, Honourable Peter O’Neill.

“It sounded admirable when in 2019 Marape said he would leave “no child behind” in his Take Back PNG manifesto.”

“Sadly, just as quickly as the words came out of his mouth, he repealed the Tuition Fee Free policy leaving

thousands of children without access to classrooms, many of them mid-way through their last year of school.”

“Abandoned and shocked our kids were the losers of this most heartless decisions of the new Marape regime.”

Let us remember that on the morning of Wednesday January 10th, the same day as the Port Moresby riots,

Marape said:

“I want your names. In late January and early February, we will be mobilising you. If you are age 15 to 30, if you don’t have a job this year, or if you don’t have an education placement this year, we will find you, we will look for you. And the place that we will look for you is in your churches. I want to appeal to every youth, Papua New Guinean child out there, I’m your father.” 

(James Marape, January 10, 2024)

“This is not just extremely poor policy, it is cruel. What sort of leader makes such promises to young people who are desperate to progress in life but are held back because Marape himself is destroying the economic and social

fabric of our country?”

“Last Sunday, Marape promised the people of Bushwara, including hundreds of children and young people in Bushwara settlement, that he would find a solution and was looking at two options, including fencing the land off and developing it in line with the NCDC settlement-to-suburb upgrade program. Instead, he ran away to

Kokopo and avoided the sadness of children begging for their homes.”

“How can we expect democracy to continue and flourish if our next generation believes that the head of our democracy makes promises that he has no intention of keeping?”

“Do we expect these children will tolerate this abuse of power? Do we expect them to remain peaceful and quiet as their futures are ripped out from underneath them?”

“Stop making promises you have no intention of keeping. Instead, provide our children and young people with medicines in health clinics; quality education and a safe and peaceful society where they have homes and opportunities to find good jobs.”

“Politicking is not a sport where you use the dreams and aspirations of our children like a football.”

Hon. Peter O’Neill, CMG, MP

Member for Ialibu-Pangia

Party Leader, People’s National Congress Party