Kali: Doctors may get new pay deal

 MEDICAL doctors may soon get a new salary packaging that will give them a higher net income. 

A policy submission is before cabinet seeking approval on the new arrangement, Personnel Management Secretary John Kali says.

He revealed this last week when addressing public servants during the Public Employees Association meeting at the Nonga Base General Hospital in East New Britain.

Kali said with the salary packaging, doctors would have a choice over which allowances to be packaged which would also become non-taxable and therefore the remuneration net income that goes into doctor’s pockets was higher.

“Doctors are some of the most highly paid professionals in PNG, if not in the Pacific region, and we are very privileged to have some of the best doctors.

“But we have to continue to look after them,” he said.

He added that Public Service Minister Sir Puka Temu would be making some announcements in the coming weeks about the deflated levels of public service in terms of the numbers in the health sector.

Kali said that manpower in the health sector had declined drastically that it was 68% below the proper ratio that it should be in delivering better service.

“The public service has remained stagnant while population is growing. 

“In particular, manpower shortage in the health and police force is a concern,” he said.

“We are continuing to suffocate the number of workers in both these sectors to the point where we do not have enough numbers of workers to fully deliver services to the people.

“The minister will make a statement and the government will make a serious turn around about improving the number of manpower levels in the health sector, transport infrastructure, law and justice sector so that we lift manpower level and improve service delivery.”

He said the government needed to prioritise public expenditure as a lot of funds were being spent in the districts.