SHP on the right track

 THE public service machinery in the Southern Highlands has totally changed its course in the right direction with the current administrator because the provincial administration has contributed too much in overhauling the public service mechanism of the province.

The appointments to fill the 55 senior management positions in the province were based on merit because the recruitment contract was awarded to a HR firm to screen the applications and  suitable candidates for those positions were selected, they were not hand-picked from the streets. 

Under the current provincial administration, many improvements are seen, unlike the past administrators who sat there like idols without performing their mandated duties.

Due to lack of service delivery and corrupt practices, a state of emergency was declared in the province and the current administrator has sweated his guts to rescue a sinking ship by steering it to where it is today. Thus there is no rot to the fabric of the administration system as claimed by critics.

Some interesting outcomes of the current administration are:

. Five-year strategic plan of the province launched by former governor-general Sir Paulus Matane;

. The district treasury roll-out programme; and 

. The multi-billion-kina LNG project.

I believe the current administrator has done a tremendous job to restore the lost pride of Southern Highlands with accountability, transparency and an effective public service mechanism to implement and deliver much needed services to the people with the control of Governor Anderson Agiru.

Justine Wawi

Port Moresby