***********************************************
PAPUA
NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
PNG
Government States Will Comply with World Bank
Includes Implementation of New Forest
Revenue Structure
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
4/29/96
OVER
& SOURCE by EE
To the
credit of the World Bank, their willingness to make sound
forest
policy a condition for Structural Adjustment payments has
lead to
government acceptance of the new progressive forest
revenue
structures on royalties, levies and premiums.
The Deputy
Prime
Minister announced that "the new revenue measures for the
forest
industry" have "been accepted."
He states that it has
never
been a difference in policy, but rather a problem of
implementation. The new forest revenue measures have a
progressive
structure; with landowner royalty rates increasing in
general,
and especially when timber prices are high.
The PNG
government has received vast amounts of forestry aid in
the
past 5 years. They must be held
accountable for not only
promising
revenue measure changes, but getting them in place in a
timely,
orderly manner. Their ease in
implementing their own
governmental
tariff revenue increases contrasts with their
difficulty,
up until now, in implementing landowner royalty and
premium
changes. Governments, donors and local
and international
NGOs
must be vigilante in insuring the most recent round of forest
sector
promises during aid negotiations do in fact get
implemented;
unlike _many_ previous promises.
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: "World Bank notice not needed
...All conditionalities
accepted: Haiveta"
Source: _The Independent_
Date: April 19, 1996
By: Dominic Kakas
Page 1
THE
DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Chris Haiveta,
expressed
disappointment that the World Bank has proceeded to
issue a
90-day notice to the government to complete implementation
of the
outstanding issues relating to the Structural Adjustment
Programme.
However,
the deputy prime minister expressed confidence that the
government
will complete all implementation requirements well
before
the 90-day deadline.
"Apparently
the World Bank has based their 90-day notice on the
basis
of implementation progress back in mid-February when the
Bank
Mission departed prematurely on 28 February.
Since then the
National
Executive Council has made decisions on all the
outstanding
issues which are under implementation by government
departments
and agencies since these decisions were made on 11
March
1996," Mr Haiveta said.
The
Deputy Prime Minister added that he was satisfied that
implementation
to date covers more than 80 per cent of the the
issues
and the government will be able to complete implementation
next
month.
"The
NEC made a decision and implemented over 80 per cent of the
left-overs. The reason for my teams visit to Washington
is to
inform
them of the implementation up to now," Mr Haiveta said,
adding,
"The notice is based on the teams assessment up to the
time of
their departure and a lot has happened since."
Mr
Haiveta said there is no problem with policy and decision
making. He said all conditionalities of the World
Bank, including
the new
revenue measures for the forest industry, have been
accepted.
"The
problem is implementation, it's not a policy matter. My job
is to
make policy and decisions," Mr Haiveta said.
One of
the biggest problem areas for implementation, Mr Haiveta
said,
was the forest sector. He said the
government was having
difficulties
with the implementation of the three different
revenue
measures; royalties, levies and premium.
The royalties
are
agreed to between developers and landowner companies and
approved
by the minister for forests. The levies
and premiums are
agreed
to between the developers and the landowners.
"Our
problem is in the agreement - landowners and the developers
have to
agree on certain rates of premiums and levies.
Try
imagine
the government sitting down with 20 developers and 300 or
even a
thousand landowner groups - it's impossible to do it within
such a
short time.
"That's
the only major stumbling block - it's practically
difficult,"
Mr Haiveta said.
Mr
Haiveta said that the ultimatum they sent is in line with then
clause
of the World Bank/PNG agreement. He
said then notice is
standing
order and not an ultimatum.
"If
the World Bank had waited for an update of the implementation
progress
report from the government which will be discussed with
the
Government delegation in Washington next week, I am confident
that
they would not have issued the 90-day notice" the Deputy
Prime
Minister said.
"Now
that we have received the Notice on Thursday 18 April, I want
to
assure the private sector and the people of Papua New Guinea
that
the Structural Adjustment Programme is back on track and that
the
remaining couple of issues still under implementation will be
discussed
and resolved by the Government delegation travelling to
Washington
at the weekend led by the Secretary for Finance, Rupa
Mulina
together with Morea Vele.
Mr
Haiveta also commended the bureaucracy for the speedy
implementation
of the outstanding issues since the new NEC
Decisions
were made on 11 March and called on them to proceed to
complete
the implementation process for the remaining outstanding
issues
over the next few weeks.
It was
reported today that the World Bank has given PNG 90 days to
comply
with its conditions for the release of the second tranche
of more
than K215 million to prop up the country's economy.
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