Nawaeb Open polling and counting officials, who say they are yet to be paid their allowances, are running out of food rations.
Furthermore, the officials are having problems with logistical support, outlining that lack of funding is creating a lot of issues.
The Assistant Returning Officer for Nawaeb Urban, Tawas Nasinom, said this election is giving them “a lot of headaches”.
“Election officials will soon be forced to take goods and services on credit from small businesses in the districts they are in,” he stated.
Nasinom further said officials on the ground were not consulted in relation to election costings.
“For this year’s elections, we didn’t submit any requests. Costing came straight from the PNG Electoral Commission which didn’t determine the right cost of running the election, inside of each open electorate,” he stated.
“It is not enough and is causing a lot of problems for the election officers currently on the ground in the different council areas.”
Nasinom estimated that K200,000 would have been sufficient to better run Nawaeb district’s election.
In response, Morobe’s Provincial Returning Officer, Simon Soheke, said they initially gave the district officials “a good amount of money”.
“Due to the delays, they exhausted the funds we had given them,” he explained.
“But I just approved for another K3,000 for the next two days, especially for catering for counting officials.
“Not the allowances; that will be later. This is just for lunch and refreshments.”