Stop talking,start working

THE appointment of James Marape as Prime Minister and the Members of the new Parliament is a time that will bring much optimism to people around the country.
New governments should bring in new ideas, new motivation and a new approach to make the lives of our people better and our country more prosperous.
While many around PNG are celebrating the wins of their various Members and what this means for their electorates, many more are feeling uncertain and unsure.
The new government is very similar to the last one.
During the last few years, our economy declined, the opportunities for many in businesses reduced and we saw a waste and disarray plague anything the Government touched.
The PM changed his ministers more frequently than ever before; we saw politicians brought before tribunals for misconduct and the general feeling of the population was that our country was going backwards and our leaders were not delivering.
And we have just seen the worst election in the country’s history raising many questions regarding the integrity of the process and the validity of some members.
It is amazing that some of these MPs were voted back in, especially when they have done nothing in five years.
So what will be different about this government under the same PM?
We have all been waiting for leaders whose primary objective is to make their communities and PNG better.
Is now the time we will start to see this?
We are all waiting for basic service delivery to be improved – PNG Power is an embarrassment; Water PNG is ineffective. Many of our SOEs are ruined and failing their basic duties.
And over the last three years, many of our MPs have even failed to turn up to work reflecting a lazy and ineffective government. We are all seeing the cost of living get higher while opportunities get less.
We are seeing the same people getting richer while the majority gets poorer.
Doing business in PNG is more difficult than ever before and at the same time, we are making it less attractive for people to come and do business or help us make PNG better.
So is this the government that will deliver for us?
We have listened to all the talk and the promises, all the big ideas and visions.
Now is the time for action.
PNG will be ruined if we don’t make a difference for our people in the next five years.
If this government and these leaders don’t do what they were elected to do, our people will suffer to the point where recovery will be impossible.
What will be different in PNG because of this new government?
We will see.
But stop the toktok, stop the empty promises and wasting time.
It’s time to deliver for the people that voted you in.
It’s time to make PNG better.
Get started now.

Impatient Citizen
Port Moresby