Koensong: Plans will fail if PEC, admin fight

By YVONNE HAIP
THE Southern Highlands development plan will fail unless the provincial executive council and administration work together, deputy administrator Dr Bravy Koensong said.
He said the development plan, which was yet to be launched, was one of the best ever tabled and all parties had to cooperate to implement it.
He said there were two factions working separately in the province.
Koensong said Governor Anderson Agiru, the provincial executive council chairman, and the provincial executive council members, were working separately from acting administrator William Powi, the administration and other public servants.
“The normal process of doing things just does not happen in Southern Highlands,” he said.
He said the problem needed to be sorted out.
“They (Agiru and PEC members) operate separately from us, although we are supposed to be one team involved in service delivery. It just does not work that way here.
“Is it because of politics, distrust for each other, or is it the normal way in PNG? I’m not sure but this is how it is done here.”
Koensong said they were trying to change and correct the situation in the province and this would show when the plan was implemented.
They are looking at identifying services needed in the province.
He blamed the failure to deliver services to the people in the province, especially the 95 per cent who live in rural areas, on the lack of cooperation.
He pointed out also that the province had some of the country’s worst statistics such as the 30 per cent literacy rate.
The administration has service-oriented plans while the budget preparation committee is in Port Moresby to finalise the budget.
Koensong said if all went well the rural people would be the ones to benefit.