Kagua-Erave too big for one MP

A LOT has been said recently about the electoral boundaries in provinces throughout PNG, including parts of the Highlands.
The remote Kagua-Erave electorate should be on that list, resulting in the creation of two separate electorates. The electorate has a long history of serious issues like lawlessness, poor development and poor delivery of government services.
While other districts throughout the country have thrived through the delivery of improved services, Kagua-Erave has been left behind and it doesn’t matter who is at the helm.
One of the contributing factors to this situation can be attributed to the huge size of this electorate and its big population, making it extremely difficult to plan and deliver goods everywhere they are needed.
Therefore, the Electoral Boundary Commission (EBC) should divide Kagua-Erave into two for ease of management.
Successive MPs and bureaucrats, donors, and others have not succeeded in delivering much-needed goods and services.
The electorate is far too big to manage and the appalling state of its infrastructures makes things worse. Kagua-Erave`s population in 2011 was 74,139. Today it is likely to be over 90,000, considering the country’s sky-rocketing birthrate.
The ILGs of Aiya, Kagua Central, Kuare and Erave should be examined with consideration given to the creation of more wards, if necessary, to promote the equal distribution of wealth.This electorate is massive, compared to other electorates with a single MP. Kagua-Erave extends from Wara Angula, which boarders parts of Mendi and Imbogu district in the east, to the Kuare outpost in the west along the Yalo River bordering Ialibu-Pangia and Chimbu, and to the south from Erave to Semberiki down to the border of Kikori, in Gulf. That is the Kagua-Erave electorate, a population of more than 90,000 people and only one MP, a situation that is unfair and cannot be justified.
The people have missed out on much because, geographically, services are difficult to deliver.
The only recent development is the sealing of the road from the PM`s electorate to Kagua.
Even with that development, some parts of the road have already deteriorated and cracks have developed.
This road is part of the Gulf-Southern Highlands Highway.

Thomas Mura
7 Mugaro Vill