Development issue

DEVELOPMENT indicators for Papua New Guinea (PNG) are dismal compared to our neighbours in the Pacific and Asian regions.
High unemployment, increasing law and order problems, low life expectancy, poor quality of education and health services, and the run down state of the country’s critical infrastructure for development are a case in point.
Poor leadership, management, and governance are the main factors contributing to the very poor development outcomes of PNG.
In recent years, buying political favours and votes using public money has become a norm and a dominant factor, which has further corrupted leadership, management, and governance in all works of life, including our key administrative institutions and public servants, and the sovereignty of PNG.
The introduction of annual funds allocation for District Services Improvement Projects (DSIP) and Provincial Services Improvement Projects (PSIP), and Free Education Policy (FEP), has become a dominant force in corrupting rational thinking and decision-making at the political level, including the national elections.
As a result, a significant share of the country’s annual budget is spent on DSIP, PSIP, and FEP with an ultimate objective of maintaining political stability at the expense of development objectives.
The FEP is seriously undermining creativity and innovation in education, business, and professional development in life skills and employment.
It is contributing to the rapid population growth and rural-urban migration, and outright laziness and informal sector explosion, resulting in increasing unemployment, law and order problems, and bad social habits (smoking, and alcohol and betel nut consumption).
They are causing taxpayers allot of money in wasteful spending on law and order enforcement, curtailment of bad habits and related medical costs, damages to public and private property, and loss of life.
The are no institutional capacity and governance mechanisms in place to audit and ensure that funds allocated for DSIP, PSIP, and FEP are effectively spent on their intended purposes to address the development needs at the local, district, provincial, and national levels.
As a result, much of the funds allocated for DSIP, PSIP, and FEP over the years to-date has been wastefully spent or siphoned off, with very poor development outcomes and a rapidly growing national debt.
The impending vote of no-confidence is again at the mercy of money politics of PNG.
The distribution of DSIP, PSIP and FEP funds to the elected open and regional members of Parliament (MPs) will ultimately determine the success or failure of the vote.
Our greatest hope is that the MPs will exercise their rational thinking appropriately in their voting in the coming vote of no-confidence in favour of effective leadership, management, and governance, rather than allowing their votes to be swallowed up by the distribution of DSIP, PSIP, and FEP funds.

Concerned Tax Payer
POM