Student contests to resolve issues

By NICHOLAS SIREO
A UNIVERSITY student is among 16 candidates contesting the Yangoru-Saussia open seat in East Sepik and wants to enter parliament to address some unresolved issues.
Israel Kumbari Saliambari, a PNG Constitutional Democratic Party candidate, was a final-year forestry student at the University of Technology before he withdrew to contest in the general election.
He said he decided to give it a shot following the government’s attempt to suppress the students’ rights during their protest last year.
“Our protest was unsuccessful as nothing happened after the strike. After that, many students decided to continue their studies but I wanted to take it to the floor of Parliament to address issues that are unresolved,” he said.
Saliambari said there was lack of transparency in the Government and so service delivery was “very poor”.
“I have gone around educating the people in my district about making wise choices during voting as their choice would determine a good leader. People are not receiving services evenly as there is nepotism in the system,” he said.
He highlighted that nepotism in the Government contributed to uneven service delivery and he intended to put an end to that in his district if he won.