Don’t be fooled, govt must change

The 2022 National General Election is just 6 months away.
Various cunning strategies will be created, plotted or adopted and applied, especially by those in the Government, to convince or manipulate the public for political support to get back into power.
Surely, the media would be the channel of communication to drive these strategies.
For instance, the recent report dated Nov 8, 2021, in this paper titled Connect PNG Economic
Road Transport Development Program 2020-2040, released by the Ministry of Works and Implementation somewhat intended to portray the Marape Government and certain ministers as the initiators and would-be the implementers of this development agenda.
Our citizens need to be reminded not to take this multi-billion kina so-called “agenda” on face value.
This agenda is politically motivated as early campaign manifestor to impress on citizens that the Government is capable to deliver but the fact remains to be seen.
The move to get the entire nation connected by good road system is not originally Marape’s agenda.
Rather, it was Peter O’Neill’s.
Obviously, nothing tangible would be delivered by the Marape regime regarding this development agenda within the remaining six months prior to the elections.
Such timing (2020-2040) holds no water and somewhat unrealistic as 2040 is far beyond the reach of the current Government in terms of its survival, performances and stability.
The nation is fully aware that this development goal originated from the O’Neill government.
The former prime minister had not sat and dreamt about it like what this current Government seems to be doing.
Rather, O’Neill relentlessly worked around the region to secure respective foreign funding to get these road projects funded, the same way he had successfully delivered other key infrastructural projects.
O’Neill’s vision was very clear and that was to have a full road network built throughout the country to boost economic growth at an unprecedented rate.
When the Marape Government came into power through a vote of no-confidence in June 2019, there hasn’t as much attention given to national roads and highways.
This is evident in a report in a paper dated Aug 24,2021 titled Maintaining national road network.

According to the report, the National Road Network (NRN) comprised of approximately 8,738km has continuously deteriorated, resulting in huge financial and economic costs to the PNG economy in higher vehicle operating costs, longer travel time and poor accessibility to international and domestic markets and social services.
The report went on to say that the Marape Government had not fully funded the maintenance requirements of the NRN, focusing instead on road projects of low priority and unproven economic feasibility and selected based on political expediency and localised concerns.
The report pointed out that the Government’s misallocation of scarce financial resources had aggravated the poor condition of the NRN.
The report further stated that the target condition of the NRN, under the Development Strategic Plan 2010-2030 (DSP), the Medium-Term Development Plans (MTDP), the National Transport Strategy (NTS) and the Medium-Term Transport Plan, was far from being achieved.
This report is supported by the fact that many questions raised to the minister for Works and Implementation during Parliament question time regarding the repair and maintenance of bridges and roads throughout the nation, have always been answered that these roads and bridges were in the plan or priority lists but funding is controlled or held by Finance in a trust account and could not be easily accessible
Such answers, no doubt, portray this Government’s agencies and ministries playing cat and mouse amongst themselves with the handling of public finance while the nation’s key infrastructures in the form of roads and bridges meant to serve our people continue to deteriorate.
Furthermore, all those billions of Kina that would fund the 2020-2040 road project under the Government’s so-called agenda are just paper figures and are far from becoming a reality.
For instance, there was a publicised report early this year that the PNG Defence Force Engineering Battalion based in Igam Barracks in Lae would be engaged to assist construct the proposed Lae to Finschhafen Highway, including the maintenance of roads and bridges.
To date, nothing significant has been done while the road and bridges from Malasiga to Masaweng in Finschhafen have dilapidated.
The reason is either there is no money or the money allocated was diverted elsewhere.
As such, why come up with wild mega dreams when your Government is not able to deliver or finance much-needed infrastructural services that do not even cost multi-billion Kina as envisioned in your 2020-2040 Road and Transport Infrastructure Development agenda?
Is this how our people will continue to be politically manipulated with paper budgets/figures and fruitless commitments, whilst addressing few local roads in the country on a piece-meal basis as highlighted by the report?
The interval between the earlier report that was released to the latest report regarding road infrastructure programme in PNG is just two months apart.
Fresh national election is six months away and for Marape Government and its concerned Ministers to come out and strive to divert public attention from their failures is a shameless attempt that only ignorant citizens believe.
The concerns raised above show their incompetency when it comes to service and infrastructural deliveries.
As it is, despite Pangu Party slogan trumpeting, “Pangu save long rot”, this Pangu-led Government does not know the road, is full of political rhetoric, fantasised visions and having certain incompetent ministers appearing in the media, only to the dismay of the silent public.
For effective governance, a change of government is a must.

Emmanuel Allen Mungu
Port Moresby