Give autonomy to provinces, Says Muthuvel

The National Government must give autonomy to provinces if it seriously honors the legacy of the Late Sir Julius Chan.

Governor Sasindran Muthuvel made this call while paying tribute to Sir Julius at Manmantinut in New Ireland Province, last night.

Mr. Muthuvel highlighted that Sir Julius strongly advocated for the decentralization of powers from Waigani to the provinces under the autonomy system.

“In recognition of this, the 20 provinces or those that are capable of handling their affairs should be granted autonomous powers,” Muthuvel said.

Governor Muthuvel clarified that autonomy is about granting greater powers to the provinces to manage their affairs and should not be viewed as an attempt to break up the country.

The Governor added that most of the New Guinea Islands provinces, with the exception of Bougainville, which already has autonomous powers, are in support of autonomy.