by Stanley Ove Jr – EM TV, Port Moresby
Since 2012, outstanding funds of over K10million have not been released to sustain operational costs of the Paiam General Hospital in Porgera, Enga Province.
Apart from the Hospital, other services like town cleaning, maintaining of the public market, water supply and the sewage system are all at risk of shutting down.
The Porgera Development Authority (PDA), established 25 years ago by the National Government, has been allocating funds from the National Government into Paiam Hospital. However, inconsistency of funding has accumulated to the now outstanding K10million.
The Paiam Hospital requires K4million every year to sustain its operational costs.
The costs include salaries of the hospital workers. Since 2013, a sum of K1.4million was released to the hospital to cover workers’ salaries, and the last K500,000 of the K1.4million was paid two weeks ago.
On Tuesday, local MP Nixon Magape rallied locals to support and petition the National Government and other agencies responsible to release funds to the PDA.
MP Magape also raised concerns of the district’s 2015 DSIP funds, in which only K1million was paid this year.
The Paiam General Hospital is facing closure in the next two weeks.
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