Prime Minister Marape today assured all provinces and districts that the government is fair in allocating resources to everyone. He made this statement while addressing allegations that the government had diverted funds meant for the Gulf Provincial Government to the Enga Provincial Government.

“I assure all provinces and districts that our government is a fair government when it comes to allocation of resources,” Prime Minister Marape said.

“This is reflected in the ‘Connect PNG’ programme, the allocation of our development budget to all corners of our country, and honoring all outstanding commitments to resource project landowners. This year, we have allocated infrastructure funds to the landowners of Ramu Nickel, Lihir which pays no corporate tax to the country, Papua LNG despite the project being delayed, Porgera, and PNG LNG.

“I want to assure everyone that we will not pull out funds from one project and give them to another project unless we are compelled to do so.

“We have been fair in the distribution of funds for the District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP), Provincial Services Improvement Programme (PSIP), education subsidies, health programmes including provincial health authorities, and many more.

“Pangu subscribes to the equal and equitable distribution of resources to all districts and provinces. The National Government is also on standby to help provinces and districts that do not want to participate in our key outcome areas. These include infrastructure, law-and-order, health, education, and growing the economy.

“The perception that we are pulling money from Gulf to fund another province is totally wrong. The money for Gulf is preserved for Gulf and the money preserved for Papua LNG is for Papua LNG.”