A prolix Sam Basil ‘explains’ Falcongate – or does he?

BY KEITH JACKSON

WHILE PRIME MINISTER PETER O’NEILL has been doing his level best to ease tensions between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia over the Falcongate incident, in a rambling public statement minister Sam Basil has said he “personally finds the Indonesian embassy response shallow and wanting”.

Mr Basil, the National Planning Minister, was aboard the government Falcon jet that was intercepted by Indonesian defence force fighter planes over Indonesian airspace on 29 November.

The incident was brought to light only in recent weeks and has sparked a number of serious questions relating both to the circumstances of the intercept and to what deputy prime minister Belden Namah, other politicians and Malaysian businessmen were up to in making the controversial flight.

In his statement, Mr Basil makes a barely disguised reference intimating that Indonesia staged the intercept as a deliberate act of intimidation:

No nation, however large or small, however rich or poor, however large or small its army, should be allowed to intimidate, coerce, manipulate and dominate another.

I am urging Papua New Guineans not to be swayed by malicious and untrue suggestions that the Falcon jet was carrying US$250 million. That is a red herring – a mere diversion from the real issue.

But the statement makes no mention of serious allegations that the Indonesians were prompted to act because an international fugitive, Djoko Tjandra, was on board the Falcon.

Tjandra is alleged to have various business dealings with some PNG ministers, and is said to be behind a controversial attempt to establish what would be a lucrative rice monopoly in the Central Province.

Mr Basil's statement, issued through his website, went on to say:

The Falcon jet was chartered by the Bewani oil palm project and was ferrying business partners in the project which included Deputy Prime Minister Belden Namah, [Police] Minister [John] Boito and myself.

I was there because the trip offered insights into oil palm project management which is useful in the light of the Tekadu oil palm project in my Bulolo electorate as well as the Markham Valley oil palm project in Morobe generally – not to mention that as National Planning and Monitoring Minister I would sooner or later have to deal with oil palm-related issues.

As a commercial chartered aircraft, all of us were subject to the rigorous checks required under customs, immigration and civil aviation laws of the various countries where we landed….

Spearheaded by Mr Namah, we formed the new O’Neill-Namah government that wants to see issues like lying over shares one holds, resisting and delaying legitimate Ombudsman Commission processes through the court system, unexplained missing Taiwan dollar-for-diplomacy funds, breaking multitude of PNG, Solomon Islands and international aviation laws highlighted in the Defence Force Inquiry into the Julian Moti Affair and extensive waste of funds in the Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance with no one charged or prosecuted to date.

He went on to say said that he finds the Indonesian government response to the air incident “shallow and wanting”.

The Indonesians explained the intercept as being an error caused by confusion over whether the Falcon had an overflight permit or not.

"Someone is not telling the truth,” Mr Basil said, “and the truth has a way of slipping out despite best efforts to cover up – even by nations.”

Let’s hope the truth about exactly who was on the Falcon and what they were really up to also “slips out”.  At the very least, the ministers on board could be perceived to have a conflict of interest.

Mr Basil's attack on the integrity of Indonesia will not only anger a neighbouring nation, it will be seen, to use Mr Basil's term, as an elaborate "red herring" to cover up some salient facts about the flight that the PNG public has a right to know.

Time to come clean, Messrs Namah, Basil and Boito.

Comments

[Naiko Nalapu]

i wonder what the police minister was doing in that plane on that trip? No explanation from him as yet...

Of course there won't be any because he wouldn't be able to grow oil palm in the cool mountains of Obura Wonenara anyway,because its too cold!

[Fiona Hukula]

Thanks for this post Keith. I was just wondering aloud a couple of days ago as to why the champion of good governance Sam Basil has kept so quiet about this issue.

[Naiko Nalapu]

Yep something very fishy is gong on here... Basil is just scratching the surface but make no mistake, the truth will surely see the light of day!

[A Matiop]

Well, so Sam has finally spoken out highlighting everything but....

I wonder how many other PNGeans out there will wake up and see this "wolf in sheep's clothing" for what he really is. Just another greedy politician.

Basil had a big mouth and even bigger loudhailer which he used to cry out on everything the even smelled rotten. Where has all that rhetoric gonel?

Sam Basil has come out strongly in support of this government has has made him a Minister. Yet in this one instance, he has gone strangely silent for so long I was wondering if he had gone overseas again?

I respectfully suggest Sam takes one step back and look at yourself, your past record and see if what you always stood for matches what you now stand for.

[D Yurus]

There's something really wrong. Three government ministers... Mmmm...talk about weeding out corruption.

[Erick Kowa]

Wow, Mr Basil, thank you for sharing with us your 'fact finding mission' (as some of your PNG colleague politicians would rather put it)experience on oil palm project management in Papua New Guinea.

I understand Nick Thompson and his crew at NBPOL are really dumb about how they run the place so you had to jet over to KL. So sorry about that. Perhaps we should consider deporting Nick Thompson too :)

Amazing really, that an oil palm project in West Sepik that is still in execution phase with negative NPV could hire a PNG government jet (what is the hire day rate again that you say Air Niugini is charging?) and fly three government ministers.

Perhaps you might also want to tell us how long the trip took. I would recommend president Taureka and his boys at Chevron to consider coming over to see you guys to get some schooling on how to emulate this best practice, given a bunch of oil palm boys in the Malay Peninsular have a lesson or two to teach about hiring a government jet while optimising office cost in capital project spending.

Are you and your 'investors' for your two oil palm projects also planning to hire the government jet? We could catch up for some pina colada and some some massage in the Maldives on your stopover home.

[Colin Huggins]

Totally agree KJ. Seems it gets "fishier" by the day. I wonder just what Australia knows about this?

But still no comments from Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, Opposition Shadow Minister Julie Bishop and Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs Richard Marles! Someone must know something.

I don't think the Indonesians are concerned with the "bleatings"!
Very fishy indeed.