Soldiers’ allowance is K45
THE PNG Defence Force allowance for the Covid-19 operations is K45 per day, says commander Maj-Gen Gilbert Toropo.
He said they had “made it clear since the start of the Covid-19 that our troops are to be paid K45 and there is no such arrangement as K200 or K100 for risk allowance.”
Police will pay a one-off payment of K1,000 to their members engaged in the emergency.
Maj-Gen Toropo said soldiers protesting for unpaid allowances at the West Sepik provincial administration office was odd and illegal.
“Appropriate reports have been received by PNGDF headquarters last night, with assessments and process of investigation being instigated to determine appropriate disciplinary action against those few people who fronted there.
“We also received reports that the troops never ‘abandoned’ their border post and the incident only involved a few personnel who are said to be off duty during the time.”
Maj-Gen Toropo said this should not be seen to portray all dedicated soldiers who were risking their lives and that of their loved ones in serving across some of the most remote areas of the border on the Covid-19 operations.
He said these soldiers were deployed as part of their constitutional duty which they had sworn to serve God, Queen and the country and must uphold that oath and not portray it through such ill activities by a few minority of soldiers.
Maj-Gen Toropo highlighted that in recent weeks more than 2,000 soldiers had been deployed continuously on normal border and Highlands operations and who served with dignity and respect.
“These few people who confronted the office should know that they are not there for the first time and it is our Constitutional duty to be there,” he said. He said an offence had been committed and those involved would be dealt with.
“There are many good soldiers out their dedicating their lives in service to this nation,” he said.
Maj-Gen Toropo said there may be instructions in place for police and others to be paid K95 – K100 Covid-19 risk allowances but that is not the case for PNGDF.
“The allowance for Defense Force officers is K45, which they should address through PNGDF chain of command,” he said.
10 comments
Pay them the money as agreed!!
You are the Commander and cant press the button?? Then why the heck are you there??? Get your relevant officers to get those calculations and pay them…
Pay them an allowance for doing their jobs that they are already paid for…WOW!!!
Protesting for payment? clear sign that Soldiers have no honor. A few damaging the reputation of the force. Get rid of them
Mr.Toropo why are you try to complain and figure out the difference between allowance for defence and police officer publicly???these soldiers were deployed as part of their constitutional duty which they had sworn to serve God, Queen and the country and must uphold that oath,you have said that all these dedicated soldiers who were risking their lives and that of their loved ones in serving across some of the most remote areas of the border on the Covid-19 operations.Yes of course they are suppose to serve and honour their oath because they are our watchdog and look after our country’s welfare???on top of that they are paid forthnightly every two weeks.Come on stop complaining and lead by example as a head of PNGDF,you complain now may be tomorrow Police Commissioner or CIS Commissioner might complain again for risk allowance who knows?????
If it’s K45 allowance per day as stated by the PNGDF Commander, and it has been communicated to the soldiers through their administration prior to their deployment, then they should honor the agreement.
But if they are not paid, then the PNGDF Administration should be answerable to them and their grievances.
They should be paid their dues on time, there shouldn’t be any delay.
Whatever that is rightfully theirs, pay them, it’s simple as that..!!
I often wonder where the bean-counters come up with the amount of daily allowances.
The minimum wage in PNG for an 8 hour day is K25.60.
Hundreds of thousands of hard working PNG citizens get that.
So why pay Soldiers or Police almost twice as much?
It is not for extra work but as a bonus payment on top of far better daily wages that they and most public servants get
They made an oath, you gave them a job, NOW PAY THEM WHAT IS DUE. Time blo givim wok HARIAP TRU taim blo paim man, you people come up with questions talk about due process & procedures to follow…. GOODNESS if you dont know your job. PLEASE VACATE THE OFFICE & LET SOME TRUE LEADER TO TAKE CONTROL
Lousy K40. Pay them what the Government has promised them and pay them on a timely manner.
While I agree with some of your comments to pay their outstanding allowances if not yet settled, being an ex service man, I would also like to make a comment here. Police, Army and the CIS, when engaged went through a swearing in processes where each and every member of the discipline force swore that they would uphold their constitutional duties “long gutpela time na time nogut” and it went on to say, so help me God.
During my tenure with the RPNGC, complaining was the last option. We do the work and if there are any discrepancy, it is discussed during the debrief. That is one of the areas where our hierarchy took advantage of back then and the delay game was the order of the era and sometime we had to wait for months before we were paid our allowance of K105. 00 for every three weeks.
Again I do not blame the members on the ground for this. It is the failure of the admin staffs and probably the GoPNG in carrying out admin duties effectively. Looking at it today I see that a proper plan operation will see every individual happy and no complain/s receive.
Please pay what is due to them and just a reminder to the operational members on the ground that you are under oath to serve your people, your government, the Queen and God.
Then pay them. Why delaying.
The several complaints by disciplined forces police, CIS officers and military officers for their due allowances after completing their delegated tasks few years ago seem to continue to current. An analyst will correctly pinpoint that the command structures and the field officers are innocent but the The Administrative responsibile officers should be disciplined for inefficiency in discharge of their duties.
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