Transcript
CHRIS HAIVETA: A lot of the big ticket items are for prestige projects in urban areas, and that's alright as far as urban people are concerned. But the impact on the rural areas are minimal, or zero if I might say. All the rural roads, especially the main highways, are not being really looked after. So if you talk about the Highlands Highway for example, it's in a whole lot of trouble and mess. And the government of which the party's a part of, we will try and ensure that highways which connect the majority rural population to the urban areas which we regard as service centres for rural farmers will be improved as much as possible.
JOHNNY BLADES: Now you have been out of parliament for a couple of terms now. But before that you were a former minister of the national government and a deputy prime minister at some quite turbulent times. What makes you want to go back in to national politics?
CH: Well I am pushed more by the need of my province to attempt to re-enter parliament because my province has gone backwards in the last ten years. For example, we used to have about 17 airstrips in the province opened. At the moment most of those airstrips are closed. High schools are closed. So plans and designs for roads to connect the rural areas have been left by the wayside whilst the income that the provincial government gets has gone up. So I'm more focussed on my own province's lack of development, and of course keeping an eye on what's happened on the national level.
JB: After the votes are counted, if the Kantri Party is in a position to be in the mix with the lobbying, are there any particular parties you're willing to work with?
CH: No, the slate's very clear. We have not put up candidates to form a government or take government of our own. We would be part of a coalition. So we will look to form government with like-minded parties that believe in policies and have a common ground with us especially on rural development and on free enterprise, and on equal sharing of benefits right throughout the country. So those are the kind of policies we will be pursuing in terms of lobbying and trying to form a government. So we have no particular preference. The politics of the last government and the state that the economy is in is a reflection of the performance of the members of both sides of the house, on the floor, whether it's government or opposition. PNG has to hold both of them responsible for the way in which they treated governance and management of a country.
JB: But it's not easy being in opposition in PNG, is it, because it's harder to get hold of your DSIP (district service improvement) funds, and there's not much opportunity on the floor of parliament to hold government to account.
CH: Well, there is and there is not. But there are avenues open for the opposition. I'm critical of the performance of both the government and opposition in running the country. It is very difficult, as you will realise, in running any country but both are equally responsible for the state of affairs that the nation is in now, during elections and on the eve of a new government coming in.
JB: Is it a lot more expensive to contest an election in PNG, in terms of campaigning, these days?
CH: Yes it is. But at the same time, in the conduct of elections, there are certain costly practices that could have been avoided. We have technology right now to make the process more cost effective but it seems not to have been adopted, neither in this election or previous elections. So I think it's one of those things that my party will certainly look to impress upon the new government, that electoral reforms, especially the conduct of the elections, is a priority that we've got to sort out before 2022 comes around.
