Split Nipa-Kutubu into two electorates

A LOT has been said recently about the electoral boundaries in provinces throughout Papua New Guinea, including parts of the Highlands.
Nipa-Kutubu electorate should be on that list.
It should be split into two electorates.
The electorate has a long history of serious issues such as lawlessness, poor development and poor delivery of government services.
While other districts in the country have thrived through the delivery of services, Nipa-Kutubu has been left behind even though it contributes to the country’s economy through its gas and oil.
The huge size of the electorate and its population makes it very difficult to plan for and deliver services.
In an August 5, 2015 article in The National, Dr Thomas Webster and a team from the National Statistical Office identified Nipa-Kutubu as one of the electorates in Southern Highlands that needed immediate separation.
The electorate is big to manage and the appalling state of infrastructures makes things worse.
Nipa-Kutubu’s population in 2011 was close to 100,000, similar to Mendi population.
Today, the population is likely to be over 110,000, considering the country’s skyrocketing birth rate.
Nipa-Kutubu shares borders with Mendi, Komo-Margarima, Kagua-Erave and Imbonggu electorates in the Southern Highlands while its remote and isolated areas share borders with Kikori in Gulf, Western, Hela and Enga. Apart from the Highlands Highway that runs through the electorate through Nipa headquarters from Mendi to Tari and southwest from Poroma turnoff to Lake Kutubu and Moran oil fields, many areas in the area are inaccessible by road.
Therefore, people there hardly receive government services.
It is a big task for one MP to deliver services to the entire Nipa-Kutubu population.
As such, there is a need for the electorate to be split into two, or even three, to make it easier for more MPs to adequately deliver services to the people.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission should divide Nipa-Kutubu into two electorates that includes Nipa in one electorate and Kutubu- Bosavi in the other.
The division should be made through cultural backgrounds, population and geographical locations.

Isaac Irabo,
IBS University