7 June 2012
Moning tru olgeta
I have just returned from some further brief travel within Papua New Guinea. This time I was in the Momase region – Wewak and Vanimo were our principal stops - with my wife Roxanne and colleague Tim Bryson. It is a part of PNG that we had wanted to see, and we weren’t disappointed.
The main reason for our travel was to liaise with local officials responsible for managing the 2012 election process: PNG Electoral Commission (PNGEC) representatives, the Provincial Administrations, RPNGC and PNGDF. I am personally managing and coordinating the support being provided by Australia for these elections, and it’s important to ensure that this assistance is well-targeted, and as helpful as it can be. (As is well understood by now, Australian support for these elections includes more than 20 Civilian Corps personnel assisting the PNGEC with logistics, air transport and other support provided by the Australian Defence Force, and communications support from the Australian Federal Police for their PNG counterparts.)
But today the main point I want to make is about Papua New Guinean leadership, not Australian support. Wherever we went, we were deeply impressed by the dedication and commitment of local officials. The logistical challenge in East and West Sepik, in ensuring that polling teams and election material reach all communities in far-flung regions is immense. But our conversations left little room for doubt that Papua New Guineans will deliver. It also seemed that any security challenges that might arise will be entirely manageable – the RPNGC is collaborating very closely with their PNGDF counterparts.
Across the country, PNG has made enormous progress towards the elections. I understand that over 105 PNG civil society organizations are delivering face-to-face voter education messages, expected to reach over 1.5 million citizens (double 2007 levels), and many more through media campaigns. Awareness activities have taken place focussing on the rights of women and persons with a disability to participate in the elections. Over 200 people with a disability have been supported to enrol to vote. Meanwhile, the PNGEC has finalised the electoral roll, and 33,000 kgs of election materials have already been moved. And more than 500 PNGDF soldiers have deployed to the Highlands to help police conduct security and law and order operations to ensure votes are cast free from fear and intimidation.
I was only able to fit about five hours in Vanimo into our schedule this time. I want to thank the Provincial Administration, as well as representatives of the PNGEC, disciplined forces and the children of Vanimo Primary School for their very well-organised and warm welcome. It was quickly clear how well-prepared the election managers were, so we moved quickly to another site of strong interest to us – the Vanimo General Hospital, which is supported by AusAID through the Incentive Fund. As it turned out, we spent more than half of our time in Vanimo at the hospital – because there is so much to see and talk about there.The Incentive Fund grant for the hospital is valued at K7.8 million. The Hospital, as the counterpart organisation, has also contributed K525,000 towards the project, which involves the construction of a new administration building (to accommodate dental and radiology departments, with conference facilities and officers on the ground floor), staff accommodation and the upgrading of clinical services. The new facilities will facilitate improved services for the hospital and Sandaun Province more broadly, through provincial health authorities.
The superb staff of the Hospital generously thanked me for Australia’s support. But I made the point to them that they should really thank themselves. To qualify for Incentive Fund support requires a proven level of commitment and organisation, and a willingness and capacity to contribute independently to the success of the project. All these elements were abundantly clear at the hospital in Vanimo.
So once again, as with the elections, Australia might be supporting, but Papua New Guineans are leading the way. Go PNG!
Banoho Namo Namo
Ian Kemish