Lack of funds halts polling in Hela

 By JAMES GUMUNO

HELA does not have the money to conduct local level government council elections, Awi-Pori LLG president  Ailo Arapa claimed yesterday.

Arapa said while polling was under way in the other six Highlands provinces, Hela was still waiting for additional funds.

He said from Tari town that all the candidates were in the dark and did not know when voting would start.

“Election manager John Tipa told us last week there is not enough money to conduct the elections,” Arapa said.

He said Tipa had told them he needed additional money to hire helicopters to fly polling officials to conduct polling in remote areas not accessible by road.

Arapa, who is a member of the Hela provincial executive council, said the provincial government allocated K1 million to help the election in the province but that not enough.

“The election manager needs to hire many helicopters to conduct polling and this is a very expensive exercise,” he said.