NA supports plan to cut district, provincial funds

NATIONAL Alliance Party leader Patrick Pruaitch, pictured, is supporting Government plans to cut provincial and district services programme funding in the Supplementary Budget expected next month.
Prime Minister James Marape and Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey announced the cuts to control an “extremely difficult” 2019 budget.
Pruaitch who recently crossed the floor with his party MPs from the Opposition, said the Government’s priority for this year should be to ensure adequate and timely payments for the smooth and efficient running of schools, hospitals and aid posts.
He accused the former government led by Peter O’Neill of being “notorious” for the way it chopped and changed funding for tuition fee free education leaving many schools contemplating closing down.
“As government finances improve, the nation’s leaders at all levels should strive to restore the quality of education that has been eroded in recent years. Free education is a great leveller in our society and this is especially true for children in rural communities,” he said.
Pruaitch said problems faced by the health sector seemed to be subtly different from those faced in education.
“Even though adequate funds have been allocated in the budget, as attested to in various National Economic and Fiscal Commission reports, these have not been flowing through properly.
“There are many reports that hospitals at all levels, and aid posts, frequently face a lack of specific drugs and medicines and it seems that poor management and misappropriation are to blame,” he said.
Pruaitch said under the O’Neill government, DSIP and PSIP payments were sporadic.
“Many Opposition MPs did not receive proper allocations. The O’Neill Government’s free public health policy was a myth, supported by funding that only totalled K20 million annually,” he said.