SJA gets K50,000 from district

St John Ambulance (SJA) in Lae has received an initial K50,000 support from the Huon Gulf district, appropriated in the 2023 budget.
MP Jason Peter said this was in appreciation for their service to his people in the last three years.
Peter acknowledged that SJA service was established in Lae through an agreement with the Lae City Authority in 2020, but its service since then had not been limited to Lae alone.
“Even without our funding, SJA does a lot of runs along the highway to Gabensis and to Nadzab so this is our small contribution to say thank you,” he said.
He said the district had two ambulances, but were not equipped and fitted for pre-hospital care compared with SJA.
He said the DDA will continue to fund SJA in coming budget.
“We only request a monthly report to see the number of runs and types of emergencies across our district so it can helps us in administration and data collection,” he said.
District health manager Penduck Sitong said this was a timely investment, especially at a time when the district was facing a shortage of manpower, deteriorating facilities and drug shortage.
Sitong said they had recorded an increase in maternal health challenges, deaths in malaria, lifestyle diseases and tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus across the district. “We have four health centres at the moment but not all services are functional, for example, there are no labour wards,” she said.
“From our 45 aid posts in the district, 40 per cent are non-operational.
“So this ambulance service is important, especially for our people accessible by road.”
She said the district, with budget appropriation, was doing maintenance to reopen its facilities by next year. SJA regional manager Anderson Poumb thanked Peter and his DDA for the insight, confirming Huon Gulf as the first other district to support SJA apart from Lae.
He said provincial government had only presented SJA a vehicle for administration in 2020 when they started their services in Lae.
“Regardless, our service knows no boundary, so we will continue serving people wherever accessible,” he said.