Polye not pleased with HDI

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
THE country’s low human development index (HDI) is embarrassing, Finance Minister Don Polye said.
He said he often felt like a “sub-standard human being” when he attended international meetings with world leaders outside the country.
He told journalists in Mt Hagen: “I am feeling ashamed not because of my long beard that looks like one coming from Arab countries.”
Papua New Guinea is ranked between 150 and 160 in a global human development index.
To address that, the nation needed to “go back to the basics”, he said.
Polye said he believed the country’s moral values and character development had declined over the years.
He said to fix it, the people needed to go back to their inherited values and emphasise character development from early childhood.
He said a new political party that he and other National Alliance members in the O’Neill-Namah regime formed would address these issues.
He said the change would not happen overnight or after five-years but real change would come after 20 years.
Polye said he wanted to address the root of the problems.
He said character development was a very big problem in the country and was an issue he wanted to address.