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Failing Government System in PNG In the recent mass media news reports, there were concerns raised by leaders in various government agencies that governing systems were failing. This is bad for Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a developing nation to achieve its developmental goals, enshrined in its Vision 2050. There are several reasons that have contributed to failing governance systems. In the following discussion, the main contributing factors are being discussed in length, and providing with strategies which the government can adopt to address these issues for to make the governance system work effectively. Firstly, and most pressing issue is the higher prices of goods and services that is felt by the citizens of this developing country, Papua New Guinea. For example, previously diesel was K2.90 per litre in 2012 and now increased to K4.45 per litre in June 2022. Now further increases to K4.50 per litre. This is due to high inflation rate in the economy. Inflation simply refers to an increase in prices of goods and services over time, resulting in the loss of buying and selling power for customers. The impact of inflation can be very severe as every Papua New Guineans are going through, where many people are living below the poverty line and struggling to meet their daily needs as prices of goods and services are increasing rapidly. One of the primary causes of inflation in Papua New Guinea is excessive government expenditures on paper contracts. Government often resort to printing more money for their spending, though the blame goes to Russia-Ukraine conflicts and covid-19, which leads to an increase in money supply and eventually inflation. Papua New Guinea has a history of high government spending, with large investments being made in infrastructure projects. While these investments may be necessary for the country’s development, they also contributing to inflation by putting more money into circulation. Furthermore, heavy reliance on imported goods and services is another cause of inflation in Papua New Guinea today. As a smaller island nation, Papua New Guinea can import many of the goods and services it needs. When the value of country’s currency declines against foreign currencies, as often happens in periods of inflation, the costs of imported goods increases. This in turn drives up the prices of local goods and services, leading to inflation. High inflation rates reduce the value of people’s savings and reduce the purchasing power. This is leading to lower standards of living, increased poverty rates, increases social unrest in both rural and township, which PNG is experiencing today. Moreover, businesses shutting their operations like Lae Biscuit company, and investors are less likely to invest in the country due to the risk associated with inflation. This is now limiting the economic growth and developments, further exacerbating the country’s economic problems. So, to address these issues, the government needs to take steps to control its spending by cutting down expenditures on imported goods and promote domestic production of goods and services. And also, foreign investment should be encouraged to help diversify the country’s economy and reduce reliance on imports. By taking this approaches, Papua New Guinea can work to restore its economic stability and improve people’s lives. Another factor that is crippling the economy of Papua New Guinea is government’s mismanagement on public funds. The government is mishandling the economy by unnecessarily creating all kinds of entities which were previously run under one department. As this is the cause, huge amount of money is being consumed into those areas which is a waste of public funds. For instance, like for the department of civil aviation, there are four (4) entities; (1) National Airports Corporation (NAC) looking after all the 21 airports (major airports) in the country, (2) Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), which is the regulator of all the airports in the country, (3) NiuSky Pacific Limited, which is another organisation that is responsible for looking after and collecting fees for other planes from other countries for using PNG’S airspace, and (4) is the Air Investigation Commission (AIC), which is the body that investigates any plane crushes. So, all these four (4) organisations are coming under one- Civil Aviation Sector. Previously it used to be the department of Civil Aviation, or Civil Aviation Department, and only 4 directors look after all of those, which is cheaper to look after in terms of public service salary. But now, what Marape government has done is, when they created those entities, they are like companies comprised of managing directors, deputy managing directors, and general managers which are very highly paid, and summing up with the salary expense for the staffs and other bottom line workers of each of those four entities, the government is spending very significant amount of money. And that is why it is consuming a lot of money there which is a waste of public funds. That is one area that the government should have saved money. If it was one department (in this case Civil Aviation Department) running them then, those four entities should be looked after by four directors, or First Assistant Secretaries (FAS), and then some staffs working under, and that is more-cheaper to look after. As the economy is in dire need today, government needs to look into such areas and cut down those unnecessary costs and use those money for other government’s priority areas like health, education, and infrastructure. Another example is like PNG Power. PNG Power is seen as a liability to the government. Every time government is subsidising PNG power to run because it cannot make its own money. PNG Power should be a self-income generating entity but it does not. Why? This is simply because all the revenues generating are being consumed into the staffs. Managing directors, CEOs, and all the other officers down the line are all being highly paid. Much of the money is being wasted here. This entity, PNG Power, supposed to be the department of Petroleum & Energy, but not. And, now they have created another entity called National Energy Authority (NEA) which they are trying to put in those other power related areas like harnessing renewable energy and downstream gas industry to be administered under this new authority which is not right as it is going to consume a lot of money. It should just come under Department of Energy, with one secretary, and then some of those deputies and directors so that they look after PNG Power and other energy related areas. In this way, government will safe cost in that department. Finally, one of the very main factors that is contributing to the failing governance system in Papa New Guinea is none-other than corruption. Rampant corruption at all levels from public (government) sector to the private sector is the main impediment towards the progress of this nation. As PNG is well associated with multi-cultural groups with abundance of availability of valuable resources, the country should have been fully developed some decades back. Yet, PNG is still in poor state. This is simply because of corrupt practices of the so-called leaders, especially parliamentarians. Thus, these bad practices at highest level leads to stagnancy in terms of economic growth of the country. Particularly, political corruption is hereby described as use of position of trust (power) for dishonest gain or personal interest. Most of the people think that being parliamentarians means to build one’s empire because every elected member in parliament now a days are likely doing so. Meanwhile, the most common and well-known bad practices being practiced which fuelled to existing corruption by our leaders are nepotism (wantok system) and bribery. These unpleasant systems dwelling in all levels of government systems and processes have been seen as root cause of various issues dramatically evolving throughout the nation like increased unemployment, acceleration of goods and services price, over borrowings and deficit budget. These are all happening because elected leaders as well as bureaucrats in the higher offices have been promoting corruption by performing their duty with dishonest and greed. Stealing, bribery, nepotism and favouritism for their self-interests and, or political interests, all have caused setback and downfall rather than being progressive and prosperity in achieving some of the major goals and objectives in the country. Therefore, government should need to take steps ahead and put forth some specific measurements in place purposely to eradicate the corruption. This could be targeted when constitutions that were outlined and amended under democratic governing system in PNG must be reviewed. Just because of freedom, people take advantages and do things according to their own will because they without doubt, know that they will be safe because the law (mama law) itself and law enforcement bodies are so weak in this country. To conclude, it is understood that there are many more factors which are becoming detrimental to the progress of this nation. But the very main factors that are heavily contributing are excessive government spending, mismanagement on public funds, and corruption practices by our so-called leaders. This nation (PNG) is facing economic doldrum as a result of growing expenditure with slow and lower revenue collections. Higher rate of inflation leading to skyrocketing of the prices of goods and services, and other issues like increase in crime rates, increased unemployment, rural urban drift, and the list goes on… To address these pressing issues, the government really needs to get to the bottom and fix the root causes. Systemic corruption, mismanagement and overspending are the root causes of all the other effects that are being felt on our economy. In doing so, the effects or indicators will go away. References

Congratulations my brother. I am always proud having you around. A very wise man who fills with God's Wisdom. Keep pursing more in with no limitations to human inflicted circumstances. You're a strong man, a visionary leader and a change to your family, community and nation for the public consumption of your input in nation building. A great story that can influence your emerging leaders in your locality and the far your message like other's may have reached. Salute Salute Salute!!

Young Man thank you for sharing your experience. Your experience is full of courage and determination that can influence other young kids of today, you've overcome all difficult times and success is just around the corner. You are a man of endurance and I Pray Our Good Lord will fulfill your Dreams 👃

Wow! brother, your background information shared is unique and very challenging to me. I hope others are also inspired too. Facing challenges. Encounter bright future.

May 22, 2023 Very pertinent at this moment when the Prime Minister Marape of PNG is caught in a net of his own making--about to sign off on a 'security treaty' crafted in large part by the US behind closed doors. Based on what is known so far the treaty will undo most, if not, all of the many years of effort put into the SPNFZ treaty and related instruments of peace and security. PNG's gambit is dangerous and irresponsible born of greed and a mindset that appears to be shallow and simplistic.

Indeed. The ~$1b value of those unsatisfactory investments alone makes for eye-watering reading, when considering the budget cycle and likely ammunition needed to make the long-term case for building the ODA/GNI ratio. DFAT is not doing itself any favours by burying this failure rate. Articulating and communicating a clear strategy for quality improvement, in both project prioritisation, co-design and implementation (along with staff capability development) might be a way to avert the naysayers.

Brother, thank you for publicizing your school journey; Very inspiring and I know it will give strength for those who will follow the same journey.

Congratulations on your success son, God has been with you thru out your journey. Stay fast with God and remeber to enlighten your wonderful parents lives. Keep shinning more.

The term Pasefika/Pacifica is also foreign, and I would say, Namarong is wrong. You only saw the one off event up in the highlands and come up with all these differences, however, you have not fully see the real character that blends into what the ocean people are. New Guinea Islands have history and stories connected all the way to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The resemblance of most or if not all NGI societies are all found in those smaller Pacific states. All NGI languages are similar to all those Pacific Island languages, their way of cooking, mumu, the names of items are similar and their counting system the same. The Nakanai people of WNBP have 211 items similar to Fijians, and have their counting system exactly same as Fijians. All NGI people eat the same starchy foods, taro, and tapioka and eat taro leaves just like, SI, Vanuatu, Fiji and other smaller atolls. Description of items and the taro species that are planted in WNB, ENB, NIP have their stories traced back to those smaller islands. So, NGI region can prove this perception wrong as we do, act, eat and share the same culture like all other Pasifika.

Hi Stephen, Thank you so much for your valid comments. The rural health services that serve the bulk of the inhabitants lack the capacity to deliver optimum healthcare to the rural population. The primary healthcare settings including, health centres, sub-health centres, community health posts, and aid posts, are struggling to deliver basic health services. There are constant reports of a long-term shortage of essential healthcare workers in all tiers of healthcare settings. Health centres run out of basic medications frequently. Fundings earmarked for the delivery of rural health services simply do not seem to reach the facilities which are responsible for translating health policy through public health programs. There are reports indicating that funding for the health sector has dramatically increased over the past decades. Despite these increases, rural health facilities are struggling to cover the cost of many of their operational activities. Also, the overall health indicators have not improved with the given funding. The shortage of funding has affected other recurrent programs. That suggests that there is a need to seriously reconsider how the funds are disbursed to the province and to facilities. The national health department should revisit the 5th National Health Plan strategy to transfer funds directly to health facilities rather than provinces. From my experience working in health services management with the Lutheran Health Services for 16 years, this approach works fairly well-provided health managers, the officer in charge and facility administrators are adequately trained with health management skills. The basic healthcare infrastructure, including inpatient wards and diagnostic facilities, is poorly maintained. We can't emphasise enough that there is a need for good leadership, management, and accountability at all tiers of the healthcare system including, the local level administration, district health services and provincial health authority. There is a need to strengthen the capacity of the rural health services. The government should concentrate on improving the district hospitals, health centres, community health posts and aid-post. There is also a need to refocus the model of healthcare from an institutional-based to a community/population-based approach by engaging more population health programs, maternal and child health, health promotion and education through the healthy island concept and addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH), such as water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH), housing, access to primary healthcare, and income earning opportunities. More investments are needed in these areas. The majority of the rural populace in PNG access primary healthcare via public health programs. Therefore, if the government can decentralise health services via primary healthcare services, we can witness improved health indicators over the years.

Well done team. If this is the situation at district hospital level what would you conclude for health centres, aid posts and communities, many of whom are remote from a district hospital? A former deputy secretary for health and architect of the national TB protocol, commented to me that PNG is short of about 60,000 HCW of all types to provide an adequate service across all levels. But the National Department of Health and its provincial health authorities have insufficient funds to adequately support the skeleton staff levels or infrastructure they have now. Even if a Fairy Godmother were to kick in the hundreds of millions needed annually to rebuild the capacity of the health system, how could the government financially support this structure going forward? In my view there is a need to rethink what level of facilities government and provincial authorities should concentrate on coupled with an evolution in the way primary healthcare services are funded and delivered. In a country of nine, or anyone’s best guess how many millions of people, a geographically challenging environment with wholly inadequate infrastructure, there is an urgent need to explore local solutions to local problems. At present the communities that desperately need basic services are passive onlookers to whatever the government can provide. For many that means nothing at all. In my experience there is no reason why the people who want the services cannot become part of the solution. To do this they must be empowered economically and some of the output directed towards providing the outreach and "community-based" services they require. Women, who are the primary caregivers have a major part to play in this vision. While this may sound like pie in the sky, the economic component to underpin this has been successfully and sustainably demonstrated in remote settings throughout PNG. If primary healthcare indicators around TB, malaria, maternal and child health, immunisation and referral are to be improved the time has come to give end users agency over the outcomes they desire. This requires a broader vision with a multi-sectoral approach of which health service delivery is an outcome component. In partnership with district and local level government health authorities, make them part of the solution or risk being locked into a system that is unlikely to ever have the resources to solve the nations health challenges alone.

Thanks Jo, Just on the technical point, at some point I will re-run the regressions as ordered logistic regressions (separating effectiveness and efficiency), as part of robustness tests. But in our case I think we are already pretty safe taking averages. The scale is numeric (1 to 6) in AQCs/IMRs, which means the gap between ratings is likely to be perceived by those filling them out as more or less equal. Ordinal scales become more problematic when they are based on questions where the response scale is in words, and the gap less clearly equal, such as: how much do you like..."a little bit" "quite a lot" "a lot". Also worth noting is that we are averaging across two variables (not taking the mean of one variable) and using the resulting variable, which is much closer to being continuous. Thanks again Terence