Table of Contents
The Southern Highlands Province (SHP) comprises eight districts and more than 14 linguistic groups. According to the 2000 Census, the province has a population of 546,256 and a landmass of 23,000 square kilometres. The population growth rate, at 3.4 per cent, is regarded as the highest in the country.
The 2000 Demographic Survey indicates that there has been no significant improvement in the economic, social and political status of the province. This is clearly evident as the serious law and order problems experienced in the province contribute to the massive decline and deterioration of services — health, education, infrastructure — and deprivation of goods and service delivery.
These poor conditions contribute to a low literacy rate of 20 per cent, low life expectancy of 52 years, increased infant, childhood and maternal mortality rates, and low or nil economic growth.
The political and bureaucratic structure has malfunctioned and ceased to operate. This is leading to a situation in which the general fabric of a constituted system is disintegrating. It will be an expensive exercise to rehabilitate and restore it.
The province has been in crisis and is at the crossroads of its destiny. It is been designated a ‘dysfunctional province’ by Minister for Inter-Government Relations, Sir Peter Barter. SHP is arguably the most resource-rich province in the country, yet there is nothing to show for that wealth in the way infrastructure and development for the ‘grassroots’ people of the province.
Years of political faction-fighting and corrupt, greedy and self-serving leadership at every level, from national MPs and local-level government (LLG) presidents, through certain public servants, provincial politicians and even some church leaders, has left the province and its administrative functions ineffective. This has served to create further political divisions amongst a population already bedevilled by traditional tribal divisions. Bribery, corruption and nepotism have been blatant, rampant and entrenched throughout the society. This province, the very last to be contacted by the outside world and brought under civil administration prior to independence, needs to develop a healthier respect for the rule of law and civil order.
Exacerbating the problems associated with the breakdown in law and order in the province, the court system is also corrupted and dysfunctional and in dire need of restoration to cope with crimes among village communities. The current provincial government will need to prove that the civil administration can undertake its duties, unfettered by political intervention, to restore good governance in the province and to re-establish the mechanisms of the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local- Level Governments (OLPGLLG) and ensure they are effectively implemented. Once peace, stability and fiscal accountability and transparency have been introduced, the duly elected and constituted authorities should be able to work together to rebuild the province.
Provincial governments have hijacked the due processes of planning, budgeting, accounting and reporting, as provided under the OLPGLLG. They have imposed their political will on these vital processes and derailed the proper constituted procedures and mechanisms to ensure that all stakeholders participate in the development planning process from bottom up; budgets have not been devised to ensure transparency and accountability in expenditure of public funds.
The losers have been the vast majority of the population. Good road networks, communications, education, health facilities, and goods and services have been denied to 85 per cent of the provincial population, who depend entirely on the subsistence economy. This is because direction, advice, assistance, education and training have not been instigated by our leaders or the Southern Highlands provincial administration. Provincial infrastructure (roads, buildings and public facilities) has been neglected and is in urgent need of repair. The province is too large to manage. The net outcome of these conditions is reflected in:
poor political and bureaucratic leadership and management;
tribal warfare, which is increasingly politically motivated;
lack of employment opportunities for youth;
insufficient access to quality education and post-secondary education for youth;
declining education and health services, particularly in the rural areas;
lack of social activities (e.g. sports and entertainment) for youth;
a sharp decline in traditional social and moral values;
endemic bribery and corruption at all levels of society;
break-down in the court system;
lack of capacity of within existing law enforcement agencies to cope with the ongoing law and order issues;
diversion of development project funds from LLGs to the provincial government;
diversion of recurrent budget funds for day-to-day operations of the provincial administration (divisions, districts, and LLGs) to the provincial government;
total mistrust and suspicion of the elected leaders by the people;
little or no respect for the rule of law and order;
the obvious absence of transparency, accountability and good governance on the part of many senior and middle line public servants;
lack of cooperation between national and provincial leaders;
unfair distribution of scarce resources;
poor human resource planning and management;
misuse of selection criteria in the recruitment of public servants;
political interference in the appointment of public servants;
poor human resource strategic planning;
poor planning and budgeting each financial year;
poor financial management and accountability;
poor organisational planning and management;
serious law and order problems;
take-over of state land and properties by landowners;
need for infrastructure upgrading and development;
stagnant economic growth;
poor implementation of the local-level government reforms;
poor legal advice on matters of importance;
poor tendering procedures for the awarding of contracts.
These problems continue despite recent efforts to restore services, and are all the more disconcerting because the province hosts some of the country’s largest natural resource development projects that are of importance to the nation and province. The wealth and income derived from these developments has not improved the general status of the province. This is a sad state of affairs, and leaders and people of the province should be made accountable.
The failure of the 2002 elections in the province, and related violence, has contributed immensely to the deteriorating law and order problems and to the province’s inability to function administratively. This is seen as a result of political instability and poor administration and management of the province. Despite this, new elections were successfully conducted in the midst of these ongoing problems, with heavy security provided by the state.
On several occasions in 1994 and 2003 the national government has sent teams to conduct investigations into the affairs of the province, but no positive action has been taken by the respective line agencies to date.
In this context, The Way Forward to Recovery is designed to develop a program to restore and rebuild confidence in the governance and administration of the province, and ensure that trust is regained from the national government, the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Industry, the international community, and the people of SHP and Papua New Guinea.