People want answers on closure of health services
21 September 2016
PETER KINJAP
OPPOSITION leader Don Polye says people want answers from prime minister Peter O’Neill as to why Catholic Church-run health facilities around Papua New Guinea have been forced to close their doors.
Polye said this after the church attributed the closure of facilities due to a shortage of funds.
“The prime minister has been boasting about the free-health care policy and its adequate funding,” Polye said.
“A few weeks ago the health minister staged a publicity stunt and said funds for church-run hospitals have been restored.
“It is a different story now and people want answers to this life threatening scenario.
“This government does not have a heart for its people as reflected in its decisions and budgetary allocations,” he said.
“It has lost its navigation on priority areas like health and education.
“The supplementary budget should have captured this but this important area was overlooked.”
Polye said a reliable source within an Australian aid-funded clinic run by the Church in Port Moresby had told him he had given staff notice they had until November to look for jobs elsewhere.
The opposition leader said the clinic’s management did not have enough funds to sustain wage payments.
Maybe mis-reading, but was that "free of healthcaring"?
And was the lack of funding a hiccup with no provision in the interval and no restitution for the absence of funds?
And how is it that this topic is also bereft of commentary posts?
Who can pilot a way through PNG's health funding morass?
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 22 September 2016 at 09:02 PM