The prime minister has responded to the Opposition Leader’s latest round of criticism on his government’s performance by saying the Opposition must come up with better alternatives policies instead of relying on constant criticism and political attacks.
Prime Minister James Marape came out firing in an official statement released today, challenging the Opposition Leader James Nomane, and saying the Pangu-led Marape-Rosso Government remains focused on practical policies that are directly helping Papua New Guineans during one of the most difficult global economic periods in recent history.
The Opposition Leader in a statement released earlier today, criticized the government saying it is not focused on the actual needs of the people, citing the extremely poor situation faced by the country’s health system, evident in places like the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) maternity ward as one of many examples, where often pregnant mothers have had to be attended to on the hospital floor.
“Port Moresby General Hospital is the flagship of our national health system, and today we learn of more than 30 pregnant mothers are forced to receive maternity care on cold floors since February this year. Not in beds. Not in wards. On the floor,” said Nonane.
Meanwhile, the prime minister attributed the current poor progress of things to global issues that are affecting the economic progress of the country, leading to certain areas in the receiving end of the service delivery mechanism, being badly affected.
He said Papua New Guinea, like many countries, is facing the effects of global instability, including ongoing conflict and uncertainty in the Middle East, which has caused major increases in international fuel prices.
“The world is going through a very difficult economic period. Global fuel prices increased sharply because of international conflict that no country, including Papua New Guinea (PNG), anticipated,” Prime Minister Marape said.
“As a responsible Government, we made the decision to absorb the shock through direct fuel subsidies to protect our households, SMEs, transport operators, businesses, and ordinary citizens.”
On the health front, Prime Minister Marape said significant progress has also been made in healthcare, particularly in specialist medical services with PNG now witnessing major advancements in heart treatment, kidney care, and cancer treatment facilities.
“For the first time in our country’s history, we are carrying out kidney transplant procedures and increasingly advanced heart surgery treatments locally,” he said. “These are major improvements in our healthcare system that directly benefit our people.”
But the Opposition Leader does not see it the same way, saying in his statement that the Marape Government has failed the health budget. Although some progress has been made, more areas need attention.
“The crisis at PMGH is not a funding mystery — it is government’s failure to deliver,” stated Nomane, alleging that budget warrants are being selectively released.
“Capital infrastructure allocations are not reaching hospitals. Procurement bottlenecks mean essential beds, equipment, and consumables sit undelivered while women give birth on concrete floors. Millions are spent on crony consultants and administrative overheads while understaffed midwives run wards without adequate tools. The quality of spending, not merely the quantity, is the real scandal.”
In the meantime, Marape challenging the Opposition to present serious alternative policies instead of relying on political rhetoric.
“Our policies are delivering practical support through school fee assistance, household relief, fuel subsidies, healthcare improvements, roads, and economic support,” he said.
“The Opposition continues to criticize, but has failed to present practical alternative solutions for the country. They should be offering credible alternatives instead of simply trying to mislead the public.”
As a response to this, Nomane said the Opposition suggests direct facility funding to bypass the bottlenecks of central procurement, and place health budgets under accountable hospital management boards. In addition, a Maternal Health Infrastructure Audit, followed by emergency capital deployment to the ten most under-resourced facilities, must be conducted.
“Tying the health budget warrants to verified delivery outcomes is the way forward to end the practice of funds sitting in Treasury while patients sit on floors,” the Opposition Leader stressed.
