What happened to the Kikori district services improvement programme funds?

I WAS saddened when I read an article on The National’s weekender titled ‘Ailing Health Centre’ on Nov 30 by Larry Andrew in reference to the rundown Orokolo Health Centre in Ihu, Kikori, Gulf.
The Orokolo Hospital was once the pride of both Orokolo and Popo people in the 1970s and 80s.
Sadly, it has now been downgraded to sub-health centre status.
It’s a pity.
It’s a far cry for those affected in rural Orokolo and Popo villages.
What happened to the Kikori district services improvement programme (DSIP) funds that were allocated?
K10 million annually.
Should a K250,000 to a K1 million fund allocated for health services improvement under Kikori DSIP funding have upgraded Orokolo hospital in the past 10 years?
Why has Orokolo hospital been overlooked for such a long time by consecutive Kikori political and administration leadership?
I had an opportunity to visit this once well-established Orokolo hospital in 1982 as a sixth grader with my then community school head teacher, who was from Kavava and Orokolo areas.
When I attended Ihu High School between 1983 and 1986, the visits were frequent because we could walk past clean and well-organised hospital premises that served the people of Orokolo and Popo people with pride and dignity.
As students from Baimuru sub-district, we would walk past Orokolo hospital to Harevavo village, where we would get on outboard motor canoes and travelled to Baimuru villages.
Sometimes, we would walk in and ask for water from the hospital tanks, and often good hospital workers in those days would offer us cold water.
We would continue our walks past Mareke, Iuku and Kaivakovu villages on the way to Harevavo village.
As young high school kids, we grew up admiring the discipline and the work ethics and the free layout of the hospital premises.
It was care free. Thirty years on, Orokolo hospital has been downgraded, Ihu airstrip is also closed and covered with 1-2m elephant grass, the road between Ihu station and Ihu High School has been downgraded into a bush track.
A 4m-wide limestone and gravel road has now been reduced to a track with about 70cm-thick ankle-deep mud on gravel and limestone surface.
I visited the old school after almost 31 years in June 2017.
I thought I was walking into the past.
We lived in the late 70s and 80s as our future. What has happened to our sub-district health, education and transportation facilities are unacceptable by today’s developmental standards.
There is absolutely no excuse by Kikori district administration and Gulf provincial administration as to why the health, education and transportation facilities have not been improved, upgraded or maintained to minimum operational standards in Ihu, Baimuru and Kikori sub-districts.
Lack of funding to improve or upgrade existing health and educational facilities in all three sub-districts is an unacceptable excuse.
Why have we continued to deprive our own people of improved health, transportation and educational facilities?
Why do we travel to Kerema and Port Moresby all the time to access health services?
Why is it so difficult to improve services and facilities at village, community and rural levels?
If Kikori district administration and Gulf provincial administration is to produce healthy and educated people in the district and the province, those in authority – both political and administration – need to review their approach to developmental.
We need to do things differently – both politically and administratively.
Orokolo health centre as well as many schools and transportation facilities are dying.

BK Dara
Baimuru
Gulf