Transcript
Martyn Namorong: It is an enormous fund that could potentially, if unlocked now, be used for a lot of development purposes. But let's also be mindful that it is an inter-generational fund. This is a fund that has to benefit generations to come that will be affected by damage to the Fly River. That damage will probably last thousands of years.
Johnny Blades: The government seemed to be arguing that it should have had some oversight and control over the funds that the SDP was handling. Doesn't it have a point there?
MN: They have a point. But the context within which they took the case to the Singapore court raises suspicion - governance or oversight could have been used as a way of getting a leg in to then have political interference in the utilisation of the funds. So I am very pleased with how the initial fund creators thought through all of these political risks, and managed to set down really strong rules that enables the independence of the fund beyond political risk or other social risks including pressures from within Western Province.
JB: How would you say the Fund and the SDP has been managed so far? Has it been effective in terms of helping people in Western Province, the Fly?
MN: I think PNG SDP has not done itself good justice in publicising what it does. Western Province would not have a telecommunications network had not PNG SDP invested in the development of the infrastructure. No mobile company wanted to go and build towers in Western Province. now the entire province is covered with towers that are owned and maintained by PNG SDP currently. This is something that people don't really see. It's easy for people in Western Province to post on Facebook about PNG SDP (claiming they are) not doing anything. But the irony is that they wouldn't be able to get on Facebook if PNG SDP had not invested in those mobile towers. So they have made some very strategic investments in the province, and I think they really need to improve on their media and public relations in communicating their message on what they're doing in Western Province. They've done their fair share. Let's be mindful also that the primary role of development in Western Province belongs to the independent state of Papua New Guinea - because Western Province is a part of Papua New Guinea - it is not PNG SDP's primary role. So for some of us, we are grateful for their contribution to development in Western Province.
JB: This long-term fund, that is for later one, because as you say the devastation of the Fly River system and surrounding area (from the mine operations) is a long term legacy.
MN: Yeah I think there's a tendency for everyone in this current generation - everyone, old, young - to think that they should all grab that thing and benefit from it. They tend to forget that there's a whole lot of people that are going to come for the next two, three, four, five hundred years from now, and they deserve a share of it as well. It's something that I hope a lot of people really drill into their heads about the utilisation of those funds.
JB: Do you see anything in the Singapore court decision that makes you concerned or think there's room for improvement with SDP, because I guess it does highlight that the board is very powerful, and is maybe unaccountable to government, isnt it?
MN: Yes that scares me because maybe now we might have a sympathetic board, or a decent board. But later on, we don't know who is going to be on that board and what type of people they are. They are unanswerable to everyone. They're not answerable to the PNG government, they're not even answerable to Western Province people. So that scares me a lot, because we might have good board members now but we never know who might be there in future.
