Leaders responsible for province’s neglect

 GULF province’s three MPs must be held responsible for the lack of development, progress and absolute little or no basic services delivered at district and provincial level.

As elected leaders from the province, they have failed to work together as a united team with one common objective of bringing a much needed development and basic services to Kikori District, Kerema District and Gulf Province overall.

We cannot continue to have elected leaders giving lame excuses that the government departments like National Planning and Monitoring and Finance Department have paid money wrongly into Gulf Provincial Administration accounts and for that matter Kikori and Kerema Districts do not have money for health, education, law and order and other district services and developments. 

Leaders also cannot continue to accuse development partners like MRDC, Oil Search Ltd or PNG LNG project because their support to develop human resources, development and provide basic services basically depends very much on the developmental needs and partnership that our district and provincial leaders have established to work with them as partners in the areas of their human developments and services delivery.

What were the areas that we engaged partners like MRDC, Oil Search Ltd and PNG LNG project to do for us in Gulf Province while they were benefiting from resources derived from Gulf Province? Have our leaders been proactively addressing issues at district and provincial levels and engaging partners when and where needed or are they just sitting and expecting partners to do things on their behalf. Leaders need to be responsible for their own people.

What major projects did each district and province achieved in the past two to three years? Have the districts that received K10-K15 million as DSIP funds in 2013-2015 done enough in terms of addressing basic services and improvement?

Baimuru, Ihu and Kikori sub district have stood still in the last 10 years. Kerema district has not changed fair bit. What is the problem in Gulf Province? Is it so hard that we can not even do an impact project to change lives and put on smiles on faces of our people at district level? Where have all the money committed by PM Peter O’Neill in 2013 of K200 million, and several millions from MRDC payment to Gulf Provincial Government over the years and donations by other development partners gone in the last 3-4 years?

Health services need improvements at district levels but are unfortunately on the decline. Education of students needs improvement to produce quality output. Gulf Province has not produced enough Grade 12s for entry into universities at Unitech, PAU, UPNG, Divine Word, Vudal and UOG. The leaders are not even supporting human resources development like other MPs are doing in the likes of Henganofi MP, Robert Atiyafa, Noth Waghi MP, Dr Fabian Pok and other good MPs throughout the nation in paying their accommodation  and tuition fees for students attending universities and colleges throughout the nation from Kikori and Kerema Districts.

Unless the leaders change their attitude and approach to their leadership roles and responsibilities and deal with important impact and live changing issues in two districts and Gulf Province as a whole, the province will continue to decline in terms of services delivery and development.

BK Dara

Baimuru, Gulf