Australian climate change adviser and chairman of the OK Tedi mining
company, Ross Garnaut, is no longer welcome in Papua New Guinea, after
the prime minister accused him of insulting the nation's leaders.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told PNG's parliament Professor Garnaut,
who until recently was also chairman of the PNG Sustainable Development
Fund (PNGDF) trust, would not be allowed back until control of the mine
was given back to the PNG people.
The trust was given ownership of the OK Tedi mine, located in PNG's Western province, by mining giant BHP.
"I
will put (Prof Garnaut) on notice that he is no longer welcome to this
country," Mr O'Neill told the house during a grievance debate on Friday.
"He
can stay out of PNG and conduct himself. I want it out on record in
this parliament that we will not tolerate people of such standing coming
in and disrespecting leaders of this country."
Earlier, Mr
O'Neill referred to a report in The Australian newspaper which quoted
Prof Garnaut as saying that with such an accumulation of wealth in PNG,
it was "tempting for political figures to think of better ways of using
it right now rather than putting it into long-term development".
Mr O'Neill, who was elected in August on a platform of improving the
nation's ailing infrastructure, said BHP was running the PNGSDF by
remote control from Melbourne and questioned whether PNG had benefited
from the project.
"Has it delivered to the expectations of our people, particularly the people of western province?" he said.
"What
have they delivered? We have given them a blanket cover, blanket
insurance, protection from this parliament that we will never sue them
for the damage they have caused to our people.
"We have seen many
big announcements about major projects that will change the course of
this country over the past 10 years, and yet we have yet to see one of
those projects being delivered."
PNG's former prime minister and
finance minister Sir Mekere Morauta has been named as chairman of the
PNGSDF, replacing Prof Garnaut.
http://news.msn.co.nz/worldnews/8559593/garnaut-not-welcome-in-png-pm
