Morobe electorate in dire straits, needs assistance

Letters

LET me express concerns on behalf of the silent majority of Tewae-Siassi electorate in Morobe.
Lack of discipline and proper political leadership in the district has led to mismanagement and misuse of public funds and the whole district is in chaos since 2013.
The following are only a few of the issues affecting the district which may serve as indicators of underground corruption within political and administrative hierarchy.
Firstly, district administration funds were blown out through corrupt practices and the district headquarters is like an abandoned mission station in colonial times.
There are no funds to maintain utilities at the HQ. All generators supposed to supply reliable power supply to the building as well as treasury office have broken down.
Some vehicles were being crashed by drunken officers while others have been claimed by service providers for non-payment of services.
Secondly, the district treasury office was relocated to Finschhafen district HQ due to rundown facilities at Sialum, (district HQ) and also due to other unknown reasons. Relocation of this important office has caused double darkness to the people of Tewae-Siassi.
Three LLGs of the district (Sialum, Wasu and Siassi) were forced to double-dip their administrative funds for rentals and boat hire to and from Finschhafen to access services.
This situation has caused LLGs to blow much of their admin funds. Consequently, no ward development plans have been implemented since then. Currently all LLGs are facing financial crisis as never before.
Due to corruption and lack of basic services at the ward levels, locals have continuously mistreated LLG officers and some have left LLG HQ. Sialum LLG manager is one example.
He left Sialum and never returned to date. Perhaps he is hiding away in Lae or somewhere and so the whole LLG is in total darkness.
Another recent problem is burning down of Wasu LLG administration building related to the problem of funding shortage. The frustrated service providers burnt down Wasu LLG office in October, 2016 due to non-payment of funds owed.
Thirdly, road infrastructure in the district have gone bad to worse due to current rainy season. Images of roads in the district clearly show that the district has no share of infrastructure grants and other development funds under the O’Neill Government.
I urge the Finance Department or other relevant authorities to visit the district to investigate the maladministration that is rife in the Tewae-Siassi.

Concerned Citizen, Via email