Message of hope from the office of the Prime Minister

Hope was the new year word out from the office of the prime minister.

Prime Minister James Marape assured Papua New Guineans “your government is taking to ease the burden on daily living, and to provide you some hope in the meantime, while we continue to seek ways to fix our country.”

Another expensive festive season out of the way, the prime minister understands the reality his government now faces.

“For immediate challenges facing our people at the daily level, Inflation is high among them. Prices of goods and services continue to rise while the purchasing power of our Kina seems to weaken year after year.

“I have now ordered a task force be assembled and headed by our deputy Prime Minister John Rosso to look into the continuing rise in the prices of goods and services, as well as minimum wages for our low-income earners. The task force will be working with the Independent Consumer & Competition Commission [ICCC] and is expected to recommend to Government workable solutions which we hope to implement immediately.”

Mr Marape appealed to all citizens to play their role in addressing the law and order problem “observing our laws comes at no costs at all to you. It is free. All you have to do is to respect the rights of others around you, and to hand any conflicts you might have over to the law to deal with.”

He said the security agreement with Australia and increased funding to the law and justice sector shows his government's commitment to addressing law and order issues in the country.

And to the health sector, starting in the first month of 2024, “the Department of Health is working with Provincial Health Authorities to reform the medical supplies mechanism so you can be able to access medicines as quickly as possible within hospitals. One step we have already taken to address the current issue of critical drug stock-outs, is the department facilitating direct procurement of medical supplies for regional referral hospitals and Port Moresby General Hospital,” prime minister’s statement reads.

Mr. Marape said higher education funding support and free education policy for public schools will continue this year to help ease the high cost of living on the households.

And in his new year message, the prime minister touched on the Bougainville Referendum result as “the biggest Constitutional challenge to ever face our country, we are treading this issue carefully.”

He said the 2019 referendum result of “Independence” does not bind the PNG Government to automatically grant Bougainville Independence. However, the 2001 Peace Agreement did bind the result to be returned to the PNG Parliament to agree on the best way forward.

It is very important that we are clear about this difference. Parliament’s ratification of the referendum result will take place, but in the meantime, Bougainville has to be seen to be ready for more autonomy, whatever it may be. As such, we continue to invest in the various sectors of the Bougainville government and economy.