•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Australian diplomats described Papua New Guinea as a “totally dysfunctional blob” while US officials were troubled by the corrupt enrichment of its political elite, leaked memos showed.

The confidential cables from the US Embassy in Port Moresby, published by WikiLeaks last week, offer an unusually frank assessment of the resources-rich but impoverished Pacific state that relies heavily on foreign aid.

Chief donor Australia normally offers little public criticism of PNG, one of its nearest and most stable neighbors and an important political ally in the often tumultuous world of Pacific politics. But Australian consular staff told a visiting US delegate that generational change in PNG politics after the eventual departure of veteran leader Michael Somare was a “false hope” and offered scathing views on his government.

“Australian officers described the PNG public service as a ‘totally dysfunctional blob’ that is great at planning but appalling at implementation,” a US Embassy summary of the June 2007 meeting said.

A diplomatic backgrounder to the PNG elections prepared by the embassy earlier that year likened the country’s politics to “Ponzi” fraud schemes and described its citizens as “rubes,” or country bumpkins, whose votes were easily bought.

“Steeped in traditional magic and innocent of modern economies, PNG’s citizens prove easy marks for Ponzi schemes which proliferate throughout the country,” the May 2007 memo said. “Now it’s election time and the politicians are dusting off their bottles of snake oil. Viewed from afar, or from a national perspective, it’s an appalling spectacle of disregard for governance,” it continued.

Lawmakers had voted to increase their discretionary allowances, just as campaigning was due to kick off, to $175,000 each — “serious money in this underdeveloped nation,” said charge d’affaires Thomas Weinz.

Another scene-setter, prepared in November 2008 for a visit by Adm. Timothy Keating — then commander of the US Pacific Fleet — said PNG was potentially the richest of the region’s islands, with huge natural resources.

“The government depends largely on mining and forestry revenues, bolstered by income tax revenues from largely Australian expatriate businesses,” Ambassador Leslie Rowe wrote. “Together, these have served more to enrich the political elite than to provide social services or infrastructure. There are no large-scale local businessmen, but numerous politicians are relatively well off.”

Rowe said the $15 billion ExxonMobil gas project, due for completion in 2014, had the potential to “propel PNG’s economy, currently dependent on foreign aid, to complete independence.” But she added: “A major concern is transparency and whether corruption in the government would prevent these revenues from reaching local health and education sectors where it could make the greatest impact.” 

AFP