Housing woes a long-overdue issue

HOUSING is a big concern, particularly in the city, for thousands of Pa­pua New Guineans.
Public servants cannot afford housing with the K7 fortnightly allowance.
Senior public servants who are on contract earn about K250 fortnightly al­lowance and struggle with rentals.
So much has been said about this but they have fallen on deaf ears.
All MPs have big houses and are not concerned with the problem faced by many in the city.
Previous housing ministers, public services ministers or prime ministers did anything about this.
When Michael Mala­bag was president of the Public Employees Association, he did nothing to improve housing allowances for public servants.
Yet Sir Puka Temu complains about public servants not performing.
Sir Puka, one of the reasons the public service ma­chinery has deteriorated is because of housing woes, which you and your fellow MPs have failed to address.
We need laws to control increasing housing ren­tals.
The Public Service Management Act and the General Orders should also be amended so that housing remains a condition of employment for public servants.
The government needs to address this issue urgently to avoid another public protest in the city.

Joel Minsipi Nava
Port Moresby