West New Britain Governor, Sasindran Muthuvel has urged people not to use situations in the province for political point scoring.
He made this call after receiving a copy of a petition submitted to his office by the people of Makasili in the Hoskins area on the deteriorating road condition.
Governor Muthuvel explained that the Koimumu-Hoskins section of the road is a national road and the Government has allocated about K4.5 million for its maintenance.
He stated that the provincial government under the Provincial Services Improvement Program also allocated K1 million as counterpart funding with the Department of Works to fix the road. The Governor explained that the provincial government does not totally ignore the maintenance of the road but could not fight with nature especially sea erosion that is eating away parts of the road.
“We need expertise and proper resources to address this issue of climate change in our area.”
He admitted that the Minister for Environment and Climate change, Wera Mori has been notified of the issue and made commitment to visit the section of the road and will soon make inspection.
Governor Sasindran also stressed that if the people are serious about the issue, a detailed petition must be drafted so the report can be tabled on the floor of Parliament.
He said this is not something to do within two months as stated in the petition as an ultimatum. The Governor’s Office have been frequently going to the area and have known about the situation.
“We have been doing our work since getting into office and not lazing around. We will continue to do what we have been mandated to do and that to serve our people fully.”
He said a collective effort is needed from everyone to address climate change in the province and not only the leaders.
