MPs challenge public servants

Islands

PUBLIC servants in Manus have been urged to work extra hard under the province’s two MPs.
Manus Governor Charlie Benjamin and Manus MP Job Pomat met public servants last Thursday and told them to put aside their political differences and to deliver services as expected of them.
Pomat, who is the Speaker, said some government projects had failed because public servants who were the implementers failed to deliver what the MPs wanted.
He told public servants that this should no longer be the case as Manus has the smallest slice of the national government budget and it should be used properly.
“We were given only K58 million by the Government last year to use this year,” he said.
“It is the smallest allocation of all the provinces so we will have to tighten our spending to only key achievable projects.”
Pomat said the impact project would be the establishment of a fish cannery in Manus.
Benjamin said they would combine their funding in the provincial and district service improvement programmes to get the fish cannery project off the ground.
He also highlighted the impact projects under his leadership with support from Pomat. The other projects include the completion of a new high school on Western Island, Manus Highway rehabilitation, revising rubber farming and freeing up State land for development.
Benjamin said the onus was on the public service machinery to make the projects work.