PERSONAL RELEVANCE – DO I CARE?

We read in the newspapers of large funds being paid out by the government to individuals for contracts etc. We hear of public funds being diverted into personal accounts and misused. We see overnight millionaires. We see the games being played by both sides of parliament; we see the lack of development in the provinces.

Yet the people of PNG just sit and watch. We elect MP’s during election time and then spend 4 years complaining that we are not getting services. Then we elect the same type of MP again and spend the next 4 years complaining. We, the people, deserve better.

“NO CARE” mentality
Why doesn’t anyone care? The root cause for the "I don't care" mentality is the issue of PERSONAL RELEVANCE.
Someone steals K10million from Government funds, how does it apply to me individually? I don't really know. That is why I am not out there protesting. If it was my savings in the bank that was misused by a bank manager - you bet, I would be out there protesting.

My MP bypasses the provincial public service machinery to bring “development” to my local area and donates cash to a school. The money is used up and nothing tangible remains. How does that affect me personally? I don’t know. If it was my child who was attending that school and her opportunity to get better marks because of better facilities and teachers has been taken away. You bet I would be protesting.

This does not mean that the people don’t care?
It’s just that we don’t know that we should care. That this is impacting on our individual welfare and our children’s future welfare. It’s like the mobile phone, it is useful and some can’t live life without one, but if no one told you that there may be a danger from mobile phones causing cancer, would you care. Now that you know, would you change your behavior?

How can the Government’s actions & corruption be made relevant?
We need good reporters and writers to draw the link between how corruption actually impacts each person in the street through lack of medicine, shortage of medical staff and facilities, lower education standards for our children. We need to inform that people how government works and how the relationship between the government and the people.

Even for other issues like tax, we need to understand the linkages of how the tax rate affects different people. If I was earning K500 per fortnight, what does the change in tax mean for me. If this was shown clearly we would have informed debate about whether the tax change will have the effect that it was intended.

We need watchdogs – Not for profit organizations made up of concerned private citizens who should track and list out what the MP’s are doing with the people’s money. What businesses they are involved with. Once a person signs up to be an MP, he is essentially a public figure, meaning that his life and finances should come under scrutiny. MP’s should be spending time working for the people. Try explaining to your boss why you were running a separate business whilst employed by your boss. I don’t think you will have a job once found out. So it should be with the MP. He is employed by the people of his electorate.

109 MPs vs. 7 million people. Who is more powerful?

This country will become what 7 million individuals want it to become.

DO I CARE? Yes I do. What about you?