Councillor queries State over the delay in funding their pay

 By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
A councillor from West Sepik has expressed disappointment regarding Finance Minister James Marape’s comment about councillors not on the payroll because their names were not submitted by some provinces.
Wutung village councillor Raphael Tungla said the West Sepik government submitted all their councillors’ names and they should be on the payroll by now.
“Why didn’t they put the names of the councillors on the payroll which their respective governments had submitted?” he said.
“Those who have not submitted their names, can wait.”
Tungla said councillors in West Sepik were grateful when the Government passed the bill in 2014 to put councillors throughout the country on the payroll.
“We had submitted our names to the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government hoping to get paid in 2015.”
Tungla wanted to know if the Government had problems funding their pay and whether Marape’s comment about non-submission of names was a cover-up.
Marape said Inter-government Relations Minister Leo Dion would bring the issue on the councillor’s pay to the Parliament.
“We will try to expedite these lots of payments in the earliest possible time. We acknowledge them as part of the Government. The policy for councillors to be on the payroll is a creation of this Government and we intend to honour it fully.”