Our people are dying of hunger

AN interesting article in The National “Hunger rising in Americas’’ (Thursday, Dec 2 – Pg28) read, and I quote: “…the number of hungry people in Latin America and the Caribbean has risen by 30 per cent in 2019 to reach its highest level in fifteen years, a coalition of United nations agency said calling the situation critical”.
This has prompted me to comment.
Here, in Papua New Guinea, government after government – provincial and national – for the last 46 years, have turned a blind eye and failed to address food security issues, which are more deadly than the Coronavirus (Covid-19).
Due to the global effects of climate change, in many parts of PNG, people can no longer grow crops and feed their families and many are dying daily, unnoticed, with their deaths being classified as a Covid-19 or Delta death.
Our people’s daily hunger for healthy food and healthcare must be addressed before we continue to lose more of our country’s men, women and children through hunger.
In many countries around the world, governments look after their population through what they call unemployment security benefits where by unemployed citizens receive fortnightly or monthly unemployment benefits to look after themselves.
My question is, if other countries can successfully do it, why can’t we? This nation just witnessed the passage of over K22 billion National Budget and Expenditure Allocation.
The biggest slice went to the Health Department, but what action has the Government taken about the Public Account Committee’s findings on corruption and misuse of public funds by that department?
In any developing country, our national budgets should be targeting economic growth provinces, districts centres and in building and improving infrastructure roads and bridges, wharves and jetties, rural airstrips etc, so that more and more of our people can be able to move in and out to buy and sell and contribute to government GST tax revenues.

Samson C Napo
Former Bulolo MP