By ENNIO KUBLE
TWO statutory organisations, the National Narcotics Bureau (NNB) and the Censorship Office- have not been adequately funded, Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu said.
She said that both organisations deal with extremely important social development issues and problems.
She said a temporary arrangement was made to effect some cost neutral structural changes, which she believed would be beneficial to both the NNB and CO.
Dame Carol said the National Executive Council (NEC) in a decision supported the recommendation for a cost neutral restructure of both organisations.
“The move was initially greeted with enthusiasm but there now seems to be some bureaucratic resistance,” she added without disclosing the details.
“The aim of the restructure would be to move the awareness and rehabilitation aspects of drugs to come under my ministry and to strengthen the censorship office and for the NNB to return to the Police Department to focus on the criminal and policing aspect of drugs,” she said. 
With the bureaucratic resistance as outlined by Dame Carol, Community Development secretary’s office refused any comments while the police commissioner’s office is yet to respond.
The NNB was a legal body to control and contain illicit drug use with its core functions in education and awareness, rehabilitation, counselling and treatment, research, data monitoring and evaluation, and operation and inspection delegated to four divisons.
“Since August 2004 the NNB’s operations had effectively ceased as there had been no operational grants provided, with the exception of salaries,” Dame Carol said.
“Moreover, the last board was appointed in 2003 and expired in 2006 after its three-year term lapsed.
“Since then, no new board had been appointed,” She said.
Dame Carol said NNB, just like the Censorship Officer were being obstructed by the Government from performing its duties and responding effectively to major challenges within the wider social, economic and technological environment.
“The effective cessation of NNB meant that the limited education and preventative campaigns prior to 2004 had largely collapsed and the NNB itself requires major revitalisation,” she added.
However, after a National Executive Council decision, the NNB reopened its doors after being closed from August 2004 to July 2007 (despite fortnightly staff payments being made).
Since 2004, Dame Carol said almost 80% of NNB’s capital assets disappeared leaving only a handful of chairs, tables, four filing cabinets, one irreparable car and one car that was in the workshop pending service payments.
She said out of the 20 schools in Port Moresby that were part of the drug abuse and awareness programmes in 2004, only two had sustained 50% of the programmes introduced in the initial stages.
Dame Carol said illicit drugs like marijuana was effectively used by young people and also remained a medium of exchange for gun trading.
She said in the middle of last year tentative steps were taken by the Government to give a boost to NNB.