Govt urged to back policy

THE Government has been urged to support the labour market information services (LMIS) policy being developed.
International Labour Organisation PNG coordinator Thomas Kugam said the policy was overdue.
“I would strongly recommend that the policy be passed in Parliament, endorsed and implemented,” Kugam said.
“Our people are suffering in the absence of such policy frameworks.
“Decisions are ill advised or ill-informed because there is no data.
“I feel that information is the life blood of any organisation and nation.”
Kugam said the policy would go together with the national employment policy.
“It’s the right thing to do. The timing is right. The effort put to develop LMIS policy and the infrastructure will go a long way.
“We have no record of how many people are employed and unemployed.
“We have been operating on guess work or by instinct. Critical data we don’t have and it shows how unprepared we are when it comes to policy planning.
“Data is what economists need to make informed decisions.
“Currently, we are misguided and we act on instinct and popularity of the agenda of the day.”
Meanwhile, on the loss of jobs for many because of the Covid-19, Kugam said the Melanesian way of life and the wantok system had cushioned the impact.
“As nuclear families become the norm, there is need for social protection and that’s in preparation for future calamities or pandemics.”
He said they were also planning a social protection policy.