The government urged to prioritize disaster funds

Opposition leader Douglas Tomuriesa when conveying his condolence to the people of Enga said the government must set aside separate funding to respond to emergencies in the country.

He said there is a need for funds to be freely accessible to react to disaster calls urgently and have in place a contingency plan to swiftly respond to such matters as the Mulitaka landslip.

Tomuriesa told parliament this morning that an essential allocation of the budget should be reserved for disaster-impact situations. 

“We must set aside some money to meet the needs of the people in times of disaster,” he said during the parliament sitting this morning.

“So when disaster struck, we have funds readily available to immediately provide relief for our people.

“We must appoint public servants to manage these funds so that they can instantly attend to emergencies instead of waiting for the government.” 

Tomuriesa urged both sides of the house to work together and attend to the disaster-impacted communities as search and rescue continued for those who were buried by the landslip.

He said the lack of immediate retort to catastrophe calls showed the government’s delayed process of responding when a disaster occurs.

“Disasters that have hit the country in the recent past show a great lesson of our unpreparedness,” the Kiriwina Goodenough MP said.

“It takes us more than 24 hours before we respond to disasters. The landslip in Enga is another example of unpreparedness when our people are affected with such need and requirement to attend to them, it takes a long time to respond.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister James Marape said an initial K250,000 was released by the government to provide relief for those affected.

He also acknowledged PNG’s bilateral partners that have provided necessary assistance to aid the disaster-impacted village.

Political representatives from around the country have also pledged their support to the people of Enga.