K5 billion paid to improve rural population mainly

THE Government has paid K4.89 billion to the 111 MPs since it came into power in 2012 to benefit rural people mostly, Finance Minister James Marape says.
He told the Leaders’ Summit in Port Moresby yesterday that the amount was paid to benefit 85 per cent of the population living in rural districts.
“For the last four or five years, we were heavily criticised for only spending in Port Moresby,” he said.
“We received heavy criticism for focusing on district services improvement programmes and provincial services improvement programmes.
“The reform in 1995 of the provincial and local level government shifted responsibilities in some of the key function areas to province and districts.
“No government has seriously matched those responsibilities with budgetary allocations.
“Our government has put funding to match those policy commitments and legislative requirements.”
Marape said K1.68 billion was allocated to infrastructure while K712 million each went to Education and Health.
The economic and law and justice sectors each received K356 million.
Marape said when they started off in 2012, they tried to work out a five-year money plan.
But the total amount of money available was less than what was needed to fulfil the medium development plan and the Alotau Accord, he said. “The national roads allocation sits at the K1.6 billion,” Marape said.
“So we are almost matching kina for kina as well as district infrastructure allocation.”