Government has nothing to show

Letters, Normal
Source:

The National – Friday, December 17, 2010

OUR government has been boasting about economic growth.
But there is little evidence to show there is an overall improvement in the quality of the people’s life.
There is hardly anything tangible to show there is progress throughout the country.
Our social indicators are getting worse.
PNG is ranked 148 out of 186 countries and records show that 7,300 babies less than a year old and 3,700 mothers die annually.
In addition, studies showed that half of 220,000 children under five are not immunised while 60% of mothers are not properly supervised when giving birth.
Also more than half of our people do not have access to safe drinking water, HIV/AIDS is ravaging like bushfire and about 50% of the population is illiterate.
This is because 50% of the children have never been to school.
PNG has a high dropout rate of students, poor teachers training programme and the government has failed to maintain almost all education facilities and institutions.
A classic example is UPNG’s aging infrastructure.
Last but not the least is the ever increasing crime rate.
Where is PNG heading to?
Where have all the billions of kina gone to?
Despite the economic growth and increase in government revenue, sadly, nothing has been done to improve our social indicators.
There are hardly any basic services in the rural areas which is a shame.
The government has proved to be incompetent and is full of hot air.
As such, I call on the good citizens of this country to think long and hard before they cast their votes in the 2012 general election.
Otherwise, we could end up like some African countries.

 
Ted Malongim
Kiunga