Embel: More MPs for SHP

NIPA-Kutubu MP Philemon Embel says his electorate in Southern Highlands needs two MPs because it is too large geographically and heavily populated for just one.
“No one MP can possibly serve the people effectively in terms of service delivery,” he said.
District administrator Robin Pip said according to the 2000 National Census, there were more than 120,000 people in Nipa- Kutubu.
He said the electorate also shared borders with Mendi-Munhiu, Komo-Margarima, Kagua-Erave and Imbonggu electorates in the Southern Highlands while its remote and isolated areas provided physical land boundaries between Southern Highlands and Kikori in Gulf, Western and Enga provinces
Apart from the Highlands Highway, that runs through the electorate via Nipa district headquarters from Mendi to Tari and southwest from Poroma turn-off to Lake Kutubu and Moran oil fields, many areas in the region are unaccessible by road.
Therefore, they hardly  receive Government services.
Mr Embel said it was a big task for one MP alone to deliver services to the entire Nipa-Kutubu population.
“Due to the land and population size, it will be an injustice to many when Government services are concentrated on one part of the electorate while the others are marginalised.
“As such, there is a need for the electorate to be split up into two, or even three, to make it easier for more MPs to adequately deliver services to the people,” he said.
Mr Embel announced that he had paid K50,000 to third level airliner Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to subsidise airfares for public servants, teachers and nurses serving in the remote Mt Bosavi area.