MPs should pay K11m

I AM not happy with the decision that K11 million would be scooped out from the public purse to send more police officers and PNG Defence Force soldiers to Tari in an attempt to quell the fights there.
The money should have been supplied from the Tari MPs’ funds (like their DSIPs) to sort out the problem.
Moreover, Tari hosts a number of high-paying extractive industries and by now there should be a lot of money in the provincial purse to sort out its problems instead of running to the national government.
As I see it, the indecisiveness and lack of response from Tari-Pori MP James Marape and the other MPs from the province are to be blamed for the escalating violence and hoarding of weapons in the province.
We saw that coming when the late Governor Anderson Agiru passed away and two different factions wanted to hold onto the governor’s seat – both claiming to be doing so legally.
Months before the passing away of Agiru, we noticed too that the Tari Airport was closed because the fence around it was breached by locals. As a result, flights to the airport were cancelled.
How can that happen in a most important province in the country where oil and gas are being extracted?
Was it an indication of the lack of presence of the MPs in the province and their negligence of their people as well as working with the underfunded law enforcement agencies in Tari to identify lawbreakers and put them behind bars?
The problem is something that the MPs should work to resolve and not burden us the other 21 other provinces who are already stretching our funds thin to offer basic services to our people.
If the Tari people can get K11 million to quell the problems there, I want the government to allocate similar funds to Lae or Morobe provincial government to do a clean-up of the city off guns, weapons and bad stuff in the suburbs and settlements that breed criminal gangs.
Lae is a problem city where people are harassed and attacked daily by just trying to get to work, school or home. The police officers there are trying their best but lack manpower, resources and funds to keep their vehicles up and running.
The same should be done for Port Moresby and Mt Hagen too, some of the biggest cities in the country and which are first stops for visiting foreign tourists and people from other provinces.
The Government should make aruling that law and order problems within provinces must be taken on by the MPs of the province.
If they fail to solve the problems after six months, then they must apply to a committee and give reasons why the country should come to their rescue.
(They are leaders and they must know how to solve their own problems. Is that not logical?)
The committee will then decide if there is sound reasoning to dip into the nation’s funds to help stop the violence, or address other law and order problems in the province.
The Government and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill must take Marape and Tari MPs to task.
They must not just go along with Marape just because he is the Finance Minister of the nation and a top member of the current government.
If K11 million can be given to Tari, then Morobe Governor Kelly Naru and National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop should knock on the Government’s door to also get similar funds to help sort out the law and order problems in the two main cities in PNG too.
In media reports, we read of provincial police commanders who are also looking for funds too to carry out investigations over deaths in rural areas where hiring a helicopter, or boat will help in the investigation. Shouldn’t they be given similar funds too?
Personally, I am of the view that K11 million from the public purse to assist Hela is a waste because of the negligence of Marape and his Tari MPs.
They should have cleaned up their province a long time ago to prevent the problems that are experienced there today.

Pro Peace and Order
Port Moresby