Polye refutes compensation claims

Caption: Opposition Leader Don Polye.

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, July 10, 2016 (PNG)

LEADER of the Opposition Don Polye has refuted the compensation claims made by aggrieved relatives of the late Graham Romanong, who was murdered last month at the University of Technology Campus.

Mr Polye was named in the relatives compensation claims along with the State, Enga Provincial Government, along with the demand for removal of the Vice Chancellor of Unitech along with the Lae Metropolitan Superintendent were demanded along with multi-million kina compensation claims.

“My position of this is that these demands claimed from the Government, Opposition, and provincial government from Enga is unjustified and a backward step, unprecedented and we will not encourage this,” Polye said.

“Many people world over and in Papua New Guinea have died and will die because of something they believe in sometimes things will get out of control, but that does not mean that the state will be responsible for every one of them who die in that kind of way.”

“That does not mean that the leader of the opposition will be brought into these kinds of demands to pay compensation. It is not right by our Melanesian standard, not right by the Kandep and Mendi culture.”

He said the relative cannot place compensation on the government and others, saying it did not work that way as culturally those accused were the ones responsible for such claims to be made to.

“Therefore the relatives and even those tribesmen should not take advantage of this and try to put the State under a lot of stress, the Executive Government or the Opposition of any other Member of Parliament just because he was killed by a person they allege to be from that province or particular area,” he said.

“The opposition did not incite any student- these are issues that the students took up themselves. This claim is absolutely backward, not fitting to a 21st century country that is developing, it is not justified and therefore I dismiss them.”

“I argue that the responsibility for paying compensation does not go over the top to the state, to the government, opposition, provincial government but to those that caused the death.”

“What about the other student who were shot in UPNG? What is going to happen to them? Because if we pay compensation for this, then you will have those other student if they died who will pay for those compensation. Will the same parties pay for those? It is ridiculous,” Polye said.