City could lose St John

By Rebecca KUKU
St John Ambulance may cease operation if the Department of Health does not fund it, acting chief executive officer Mollen Molki says.
Molki said that though St John was a non-governmental organisation that has been operating in the country since 1976, it had signed a binding agreement with the Department of Health in 2015 under which the department would fund the ambulance service in Port Moresby.
“The binding three-year agreement is for the government, through the Department of Health, fund the St John Ambulance to continue its services in the nation’s capital as well as in Central,” Molki said.
“But since late last year, we have not received any funding support from the Department of Health.
“Health Minister Michael Malabag committed K300,000 to the service last year during the ambulance officer graduation ceremony but up till now we are yet to receive the money.”
Molki said the St John Ambulance has been depending on corporate donations to keep the service going.
“We have made submissions to the minister and the Secretary for Health but have received no assistance,” he said.
“I also made appeals to the electorate members in the nation’s capital and the Central administration, but no one has helped us.”
He said the government was supposed to be supporting them as they were stepping in on behalf of the Government to assist transport patients and attend to emergencies.
“Right now, we have come to the point where I have no money to pay my 60 staff members.”