Special Parliamentary Committee

It is mandated in the Public Sector to provide Parliamentary oversight into good governance, discipline, ill governance and enforce oversight of basic good management.

As a Parliamentary Committee, part of its mandate is to hold the Executive Arm of Government accountable to Parliament for its management of the Public Sector.

The committee will also establish whether or not they are providing the required level of services prescribed in the national health services standards. 

Chairman of the Committee and Pomio MP, Elias Kapavore said,” I have given an instruction to the Secretary for Health to get an update from all 22 CEOs in the country, of their performances in their respective status of Provincial Health Authority. We are struggling with many CEOs who are not doing the right things. We will be compiling a report to present in Parliament of state of Health Care in the country.”

Yesterday, the Morobe and East Sepik election steering committees were given the opportunity to present their issues and challenges.

The committee highlighted that out of Morobe’s 11 seats, two of them – Kabwum and Markham – were declared under special circumstances following the burning of ballot papers and destruction of properties.

Committee members were not satisfied that a foreign company other than the PNG state-owned enterprise, Post PNG to deliver with low results.

Deputy Secretary, Eva Lionel explained that the effectiveness relies on the delivery system largely so transportation, although sometimes they cannot deliver quickly enough because modes of transport in the country is getting difficult now.

“The roads getting into facilities like aid posts because especially the kits, we have to deliver to the facilities directly and these are the companies that we got to do that.

The lack of medical supplies was due to procurement discrepancies, which points out to the responsibilities of the National Procurement Commission.

The Committee led by Oro Governor, Gary Juffa as Chairman asked hard questions to the National Department of Health Technical team, led by Secretary Dr. Liko Osborne on previous recommendations made by the previous Public Accounts Committee, on non-delivery of medical supplies.

The Special Parliamentary Committee prepared the tabled the report on GBV, chaired by Member for Alotau Charles Abel.

Abel disseminated a strong speech regarding the call to action and various critical issues identified by the committee.

The terrible rates of violence in PNG have risen, and people in the country are using this appalling exercise as a means to resolve their conflicts.

It has become apparent that a growing concern in society is based around the rising cases in Sorcery Accusation Relation Violence (SARV). The statistics show that these numbers are not only in outlying villages but also now in bigger towns and cities.

Ruth Kissam of the Tribal Foundation told tragic stories of SARV cases in the Parliamentary hearing in May that had the committee flinch in disbelief of how such acts could occur.

The committee has come together once more in preparation for the August parliament sitting. A report will be produced to include concrete, practical recommendations for action, aimed at reducing levels of GBV across the country and improving responses for GBV Survivors.

The two-day session aimed at understanding the challenges faced by survivors and service providers, identify gaps in the system and presenting recommendations to the Parliament.

One of the priority areas was to investigate the roadblocks behind the funding and implementation of the 2016-2025 National GBV Strategy.

The seven-member Committee summoned various stakeholders including the Minister of Community Development, Youth and Religion, Minister for Police, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, Office of Public Prosecutor, Public Solicitor’s Office, NGOs and Churches.

The turn-out for this public hearing brought key figures from different departments that placed importance in voicing the critical issues related to addressing GBV.

For two days, the hearings will discuss critical issues related to addressing GBV, including: