Australian kiaps for 89 districts

IMPLEMENTATION of basic social services like health and education, and basic infrastructure – access roads, bridges, jetties and wharves – has been one of PNG’s biggest problems since independence in 1975.

In fact this is one of the main reasons why PNG is currently facing a whole range of development issues or challenges – lack of business opportunities for the people; poverty; poor standards of living and quality of life; high maternal and infant deaths; deaths from TB, malaria, breast and cervical cancer and the list goes on.
Imagine the hundreds of millions of kina that have gone to waste over the years, simply because the country’s principal implementation agency – the Public Service – has failed to provide the manpower – public servants – to do the job.
We have the Provincial Administrators who are responsible for provincial administrations at each provincial centre.

The PAs are assisted by Principal Advisors of divisions like Health, Education, Agriculture & Livestock, Commerce & Industry, Fisheries, Forestry, Community Development, etc at the provincial centres.

The Provincial Administrators and Principal Advisors make up the Provincial Management Team.

At the district level, we have District Administrators who are responsible for district administration and Area Managers who are responsible for the administration of all Local Level Governments.

The administrative structure we have today is a replica of the one that existed during the colonial era. Then, we had District Commissioners responsible for the districts (now, provinces) and kiaps or patrol officers running sub-districts (electorates).

The system worked then but something went wrong along the way. One reason is that the Australian colonial administration – and Australian governments at the time – failed to train PNG manpower in public administration up to the time of independence.

Similarly, successive PNG governments since independence have failed to produce and provide the manpower needed in LLGs, districts and provinces to effectively implement development policies, plans and strategies to move the country forward.

What PNG is facing today with respect to implementation is an indictment on the Australian colonial administration and PNG governments and administration since independence.

No wonder both Canberra and Waigani have decided to bring the kiaps – 89 of them to be placed in PNG’s 89 districts to make sure that the system works this time.

This is good news. Our Provincial Administrators, District Administrators and Area Managers have failed to deliver.

Let’s hope the Aussie kiaps can make a difference, especially with the millions of kina that the O’Neill-Dion Government is pumping into the provinces, districts and LLGs.

OP/ED

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