Social policy for PNG

A NATIONAL task force is formulating a social protection policy for health, education and immunisation and will benefit all Papua New Guineans.
The National Taskforce on Social Protection Policy (NTSPP), headed by Department of Community Development’s Joseph Klapat, will research how to protect the basic social needs of all people.
“All too often, people think that the LNG project is going to solve our country’s social problems. This may not be the case, and we urgently need a social protection policy so that our people can fully benefit from such major developments,” Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu said.
“The social protection will include vulnerable groups in the community, such as those with disabilities, the elderly and children.
“We have to acknowledge that social protection network is like the wantok system we have in
Dame Carol Kidu …The new social protection policy will protect all Papua New Guineans.PNG, which is slowly breaking apart in today’s modern society,” she said.
“However, with the social protection policy, our intention is not to follow the direction of the ‘dole’ system that countries like Australia are using. We want to empower our people to be independent,” Dame Carol said.
Dame Carol said the implementation of the policy should be free from corruption and abuse.
The first phase of the policy formulation will begin later this month.