Fight for positions ‘shameful’

 By MALUM NALU 

CHIEF Secretary Isaac Lupari has described as “disgraceful” Papua New Guineans fighting among themselves physically as well as in court over senior public service positions. 

He said this when asked to comment on recent well-publicised cases of departmental heads and provincial administrators fighting themselves physically as well as in court.

A recent example hitting the headlines has been the standoff between Solomon Tato and Samson Akunai for the position of Eastern Highlands provincial administrator, which has seen the involvement of their supporters, resulting in the Goroka bureaucracy grinding to a halt.

“This is disgraceful,” Lupari said.

“People shouldn’t be fighting over positions that are not their birthright.

“This is shameful.

“It questions our intellectual capacity. “We are supposed to be smart people. This is not your birthright given to you by your father.

“They (senior positions) are there for a purpose.

“They are not there for individuals, families or tribes.

“They are there for the people of this country, so such behavior is disgraceful.”

Lupari said such behavior by so-called “senior public servants” pointed to serious faults within the system. 

“This is where the system lapses,” Something’s wrong.

“We need to find out and solve these things.

“Why are these things happening?

“We need to carry out a post-mortem to find out why this is happening.

“Why are two people fighting over a job?

“Where is the lapse in policy?

“Where is the lapse in law to breed this kind of culture?

“We need to take ownership of these issues so that, collectively, we create a better Papua New Guinea.

“I want to see young people who will enter the public service who come proud, trained, with the knowledge that they have a career path within the public service.

“They’re motivated, have the right work ethic, they’re professionals who can work anywhere in the world.

“That’s the public service that we need to start now.”