Outrage over slow processes

 By Clement Kaupa

Morobe MPs are frustrated with the provincial public service procurement and financing processes in their respective district treasuries which they say are as exceedingly slow and cumbersome.

“It is the year of implementation but if the procurement and funding processes are crawling at their present speed, nothing much will be implemented,” Governor Kelly Naru said this week.

Naru was disappointed with the red tape that had blocked a provincial service improvement programme grant of K2.5 million that his government had released in April to the Huon Gulf district for infrastructure upgrade projects. 

“To date, nothing has been released of that grant,” Huon Gulf MP Ross Seymour said.

Naru said this matter of funds being delayed had to be resolved urgently, ading that he too was hard pressed to get funds released on time to meet provincial commitments.

“The Tutumang Haus is not entirely staffed by provincial public servants, the finance and treasury departments are staffed by national officers who answer directly to Waigani.

“This entails a lot of bureaucratic red tape that can be very frustrating at times.”

He said a submission were put to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to retrieve all financial powers back to the provinces.

Markham MP Paul Isikiel also complained about getting his electorate funds not being released on time to get infrastructure projects off the ground.