Urban drift

ABOUT 85 per cent (majority) population of Papua New Guinea (PNG) lives in rural areas.
Government services barely reach them because they live in a disperse hamlets and depend predominantly on subsistence agriculture.
That means, majority of PNG’s population are missing out on essential services and thus crippled with intergenerational poverty.
Also, majority of the population contributes to the economy of this country seldom and can be considered as a liability to the government.
Evidently, human and economic development of PNG is progressing at a snail’s pace.
One may ask the following questions then: what is the right approach to ensure majority of people have excess to essential services; and how do we make all citizens contribute effectively to the development of PNG?
The obvious answer to these questions would be agriculture development.
However, our harsh tropical environment, dispersion of rural population, multicultural background and poor access to road condition are the hindrances.
In order to avoid or minimised these dilemmas, rural people themselves have already come up with an alternate solution.
That is, instead of living in rural areas, increasing number of people are drifting into towns and cities seeking improved standard of living.
When you look at the brighter side, this prevailing tendency would hypothetically solve the two questions mentioned.
When the majority of population live together in a civilised community, government can easily provide essential services to them.
Also, majority of PNG’s population will be employed and contribute effectively to the development of the nation.
Massage to the Government, policy makers and rural/urban development activists is to take a paradigm shift.
Instead of encouraging people to go back to their villages, try to come up with alternate plans and strategies to encourage urban drifting.
In that way, more population will settle together in one location hence have access to essential services and contribute effectively to the development of PNG.
Government can develop agriculture mainly in areas that not only have land suitable for agriculture but also have access to roads.
If these happen, PNG will become smart, wise, fair, healthy, and happy society by 2050.
Just my point of view.

Kuayo Henry ,UOG