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‘Heat wave’ hits 2 govt departments
By ISAAC NICHOLAS
PERSONNEL at the departments of Foreign
Affairs and Trade have been working under a very unbearable condition
since the air-conditioning system of the building where the two offices
operate broke down 10 years ago.
The two departments are located at the Somare Foundation building in
Waigani.
Some personnel had been down and hospitalised with flu and headaches,
according to Secretary Gabriel Pepson.
The building air-conditioning system was decommissioned 10 years ago.
Foreign visitors and members of the diplomatic corps have to go through
the same ordeal whenever they do business at the Foreign Affairs and
Trade departments.
Last Friday, Minister Paul Tiensten, who was accompanied by senior
officers including Mr Pepson, Ambassador Lucy Bogari and senior
officers, visited the various sections of the department, and discovered
for themselves the problem besetting the department personnel.
With senior executives and the media, Mr Tiensten went through the
second and first floor of Somare Foundation building where the two
departments are located.
Although it was late afternoon, the delegation was sweating profusely
after the visit and Mr Tiensten made an undertaking to address the
problem by relocating the Foreign Affairs department to another
building.
“Foreign Affairs is a pride of any country and this department has in
the past been one of the premier department.
“Unfortunately, over the years, the department has disintegrated and
most of its critical functions have been moved to other departments …
the main idea is to bring back those critical functions and have Foreign
Affairs back to what it was – a premier department.
“It’s a shame that such a very important department has been affected to
the great extent under the conditions that we are currently working on
and I think the move to realign the whole Foreign Affairs … moving to a
new office in the long-term is critical for us to perform our duties,”
Mr Tiensten said.
He said the Government was now working on an appropriate structure which
should be ready by next month.
Mr Tiensten said after taking into consideration the number of
personnel, a new office would be sought.
 
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