MPs should know their responsibilities

The National Letters

PAPUA New Guinea has adopted the Westminster system of government in which we have three arms of Government – the legislative, executive and judicial.
The legislative arm of the Government is made up of 22 governors and 89 district MPs.
The core function of the legislative arm is to make laws and plans.
This arm comprises all government departments and statutory bodies.
The core function of the public service is to execute the laws and plans made by the legislative arm.
The judicial arm has the constitutional duty to solve conflicts and punish law breakers.
Moving away from this, let us ask these questions:

  • IS an MP allowed to buy machineries to engage contractors to build roads, hospital and schools or to dish out millions of kina directly to schools?;
  • IS an MP allowed to sponsor school leavers without the required grade point average into teachers colleges?; and,
  • IS an MP allowed to use taxpayers’ money to do electoral visits by helicopter while teachers and health workers are risking their lives walking the bush tracks, travelling by boats and PMV to the nearest towns and cities?

Our MPs have lost focus.
They have created a lot of confusion over the last 45 years through the lack of awareness about their rightful duties and what the people should expect from them.
As a way of awareness going forward, the citizens should be aware that MPs are duty bound to make laws and plans and not building classrooms, buying vehicles for cooperative societies and constructing roads as it is very common now a days.
I am calling on the Government to revive and restructure the Works Department to be responsible for all government infrastructure services in all parts in Papua New Guinea.
The Government should revive all the Works camps along the existing national highways to see our roads maintained on a regular basis and to construct new roads under the Connect PNG initiative.
Revive the Department of Agriculture and Livestock to have officers stationed in all our districts and government stations to promote food security through the innovations that have once flourished the nation’s growth and development.
This is what we should be taking back and not by dictating the public service machinery.

Brukim Banis,
46 Years