The “Nogat Marasin Campaign” has expressed frustration after Morobe Governor, Luther Wenge, did not fulfill his commitment.
Wenge received the group’s petition on Monday, and promised to raise it during the 2nd Provincial Governors Conference this week. However, he did not do so.
The “Nogat Marasin Campaign” was recently started by a group of concerned Lae residents from the media industry, health and education sectors and also members of the civil society.
The initiative was started to highlight the chronic shortage in medicine and medical consumables, and push mandated leaders and agencies to find and implement solutions.
On Monday, the 6th of November, the “Nogat Marasin Campaign” met with Governor Luther Wenge at Tutumang Haus, and presented their petition, calling for a review of the procurement process and for the provincial government to increase the health allocation from K500 million to K800 million.
While the group understands that the lack of medicines and medical consumables is a complex issue – caused by the shortage in foreign currencies and the delayed release of funding from Treasury to the complicated distribution process and the respective management of provincial health authorities – they hope to drive change and seek relief for Papua New Guineans who cannot afford private hospitals and pharmacies.
When receiving the petition, Governor Wenge made the commitment to advise his peers at the 2nd Provincial Governors’ Conference, which was hosted on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lae. However, when asked by the media during a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Wenge, who is also the chairman of the bipartisan committee, instead, let NCD Governor, Powes Parkop, answer the question.
Parkop told media that they did not specifically discuss the shortage in medicine, but they did talk about persuading the national government to give provincial governments “block funds” so they can address emergencies and shortfalls in their respective provinces instead of waiting for Waigani.
Representative of the campaign, Sion Bingmalu, expressed disappointment and said they hope Governor Wenge keeps his other promise, and that is to call an urgent meeting with the provincial executive council in the following days to allocate funding for medicine in the province.
“Our people continue to suffer from the ignorance of their mandated leaders, and the Nogat Marasin Campaign will continue to push for access to basic medical drugs and consumables.
“We would like to advise our governor that he must keep to his words, especially when addressing critical issues concerning our people’s lives.”