BY BARNEY ORERE
borere@spp.com.pg

Sir Silas Atopare passed away quietly last week in his birthplace, the Eastern Highlands.

We at the Post-Courier remember that it was Sir Silas who dedicated the naming of our premises in Lawes Road as Sela Haus, to honour our longest serving national editor, Luke Sela.

There is no fitting tribute than to bring you what Sir Silas said when he opened the Seventh Parliament in August 2002.

It will tell the Post-Courier reader – wherever you may be – be the kind of man he was; a true man of the people.

A lot of what he said is very much relevant today, the reason we are bringing it out is, it will show our continued failure in not doing the right thing by our people and the inaction by our leaders stacking up the difficulties facing our country.

Sir Silas’ poignant message is a reminder to leaders of today to do a stock take of where we’re at; look back with critical self examination and set the pace for serious turnaround.

It is only four years to our Golden Anniversary and the honest thing we can do to ourselves is to acknowledge the points Sir Silas raised and set them as our road map from here on.

If we don’t say anything now; if we don’t take action now, it can only mean one thing: We’re afraid of the Golden Jubilee because of our failures. Don’t kid your yourselves fellows; this is real.

HARD TIMES AHEAD
Post-Courier, August 21, 2002: Economic hardship of unprecedented dimensions, corruption, unemployment, huge tax burdens and increasing law and order problems were the challenges facing the Somare-led government, Governor-General Sir Silas Atopre said when setting the scene for the government while opening the seventh Parliament on August 20, 2002.

His speech was a departure from tradition where the government puts forward its policy initiatives for the next five years through the Governor-General’s opening address.

Sir Silas said Papua New Guinea was facing many social, political and economic challenges and hoped the House would address these with “dignity and passion”, lead by example and shed the corruption tag on leaders.

“Our country faces an economic hardship of unprecedented dimensions.

We suffer from prolonged and unmanageable level of inflation.

It distorts our economic decisions.

It penalises growth. It disadvantages the already struggling families, young and old alike,” said Sir Silas.
He said unemployment and for the employed, the denial of a “fair return” to them by the tax system “penalises successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.

But as great as our tax burden is, it had not kept pace with public spending.

For years, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children’s future for the temporary convenience of a few,” Sir Silas said.

He said that the poor state of public infrastructure evidenced in poor road conditions continued to affect the economy, businesses and people. It is the same for health and education facilities in our country,” he said.

PRIMARY SECTOR
“The primary sector, which is the mainstay of our country’s economy, remains stagnant today.

The production level of the key cash crops such as coffee, copra and cocoa have declined, and further, no new investments have been made in the sector.

“A strong, vibrant primary sector will not only create jobs and earn valuable export income but will also help revitalise many rural and regional communities across Papua New Guinea”.

He said PNG’s rapid development so far had been triggered by the exploitation of natural resources like timber, gold, copper, oil and gas, but warned “we should be wary of the manner in which our resources have been extracted”.

Citing PNG’s No.132 ranking in human development out of 174 countries by the UN, he said: “It is sad indeed, that our standard of living is not reflective of the vast natural wealth our country has”.

He said it was the peoples’ dream to have an improved higher standard of living and they should be allowed to achieve that.

Sir Silas said there was no room for complacency or uncertainties of the many challenges ahead.

And he attributed the troubles the country was facing to leaders and their decisions.

“I can talk here, and continue talking about all the problems of our country, but I know that all of us here today are aware that the sufferings of our people have been inflicted by the actions and inactions of leaders,” Sir Silas said.

MANDATE
Sir Silas told the Members to act now to begin the process of addressing these uncertainties and challenges.

“The mandate of the people to the new government is undeniably clear and uncontested; the mandate is to lead them in the pursuits of their aspirations and dreams,” he said.

He offered the challenge that the main goal of any government must be to improve the lives of all citizens, wherever they may live and whatever their own aspirations may be.

Sir Silas said: “Let us not abandon our people. We can fulfill their dreams by taking the right actions and dong the right things to restore our country to prosperity.”

He said Parliament must seek to defend all that is best within our society while initiating the bold reforms necessary for a prosperous and secure future.

To achieve this, Sir Silas said we would have to believe in ourselves; to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds and to believe that together with God’s help, we can resolve the problems, which confront us.

SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS
– Deficit after deficit, mortgaging the future;
– Prolonged and unmanageable level of inflation;
– Tax burden denies fair return;
– Poor state of infrastructure, health, education;
– No new investments in primary sector; and
– Mandate to improve living standards, support dreams.

Sir Silas died during the 46th Independence Anniversary celebration.

He was 70. A former politician, Sir Silas was secretary-general of the PNG smallholder coffee growers’ association. He was voted in during the time of John Pundari as Speaker.

Four candidates were eligible for the post of Governor-General – Manus MP Arnold Masipal, Head Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG, Sir Getake Gam, Mr Atopare and chairman of the National Gaming Control Board, Sir Timothy Pohai. The final ballot taken between Bishop Getake and Mr Atopare resulted in a 10-vote difference with Bishop Getake getting 44 votes to Mr Atopare’s 54.