President says funding allocated for nurses’ awards next year not enough

PRESIDENT of the Papua New Guinea Nurses Association (PNGNA) Frederick Kebai says funding allocated for the nurses’ awards in next year’s budget was less than expected.
Kebai told The National that around K30 million would be needed to fully implement the award for more than 4,000 members.
“Though we thought the allocation would be higher, we are thankful that funding (K15 million) has been allocated for the awards for next year,” he said.
“We are happy. Some hospitals and health authorities have already implemented some parts of the awards so that must be the reason for that amount of allocation.
“The Government has really listened to the voices of the nurses who are serving in the frontlines of health care service delivery in the country.”
The nurses started a sit-in protest on Nov 8 that ended the following week demanding that the Government implement the industrial awards 2021-2023 before the year ended.
Kebai said the protest ended when the Government released K7 million for life and medical insurance cover for this year which was around K300,000 to be paid to the nurses by pay 25 or 26 and then backdated.