On the 48th celebration of PNG's independence, Chan said: "My short message on this occasion comes to provoke your intelligence about the state of our beloved country as we approach our golden jubilee at 50 years he added.

 

"We have had eight prime ministers and the Westminster system of Government we adopted is still very much intact.

 

"We still speak over 850 languages, retain nearly as many diverse cultures and traditions, and still cling together as one country.

 

"But our government under Prime Minister James Marape professes to make Papua New Guinea ‘the richest black nation' in the world. What does he mean?

 

"What we witness is the government has gone out and borrowed heavily to fund its national budgets. Four in a row."

 

"This is not healthy. We are not living within our means. We are living on borrowed money.

 

"The government is spending money it does not have. It is borrowing money that will be very very difficult to repay. They will not be around to repay the loans."

 

"We have other critical issues that beset this Government. And solutions seem to evade its capacity to solve them. For instance, the Bougainville Referendum, decentralisation and autonomy, the Porgera Mine saga, the Defence pact with the US, the forex issue causing shortages of foreign currencies and price hikes for basic food items in the stores."

 

"Our people, whose land is enriched with God-given wealth, are struggling to survive while the government and multinational corporations enjoy super gains. What does that say about us? We are wasting the blessings we have been given."

 

"So, my friends, what is Independence? It is about rights, freedom and self-determination.

 

"We have come a long way. So today, I want to wish all New Irelanders a happy and blessed Independence.

 

"And I want to wish the same to all the people of Papua New Guinea. I want us all to

come together, to work together to heal our country, to make it the great country. It has the potential to be but only if we work together."