Post- Courier | Editorial | 18th August 2026

The newly elected MP for Usino Bundi, Vincent Kumura, informed this newspaper that his electorate is much bigger than the whole of the Simbu Province. 

Kumura’s electorate shares a border with Simbu, and his people can either go into Kundiawa town, the capital of Simbu or to their home town of Madang, to access basic services because there are limited opportunities in Usino-Bundi.

Fifty years after independence, transport, electricity and telecommunication infrastructure are absent in the electorate, making it difficult for Mr Kumura and all past MPs to bring services to their people.

For a place like Usino-Bundi, the K10 million provided under the District Services Improvement Program is insufficient, On the other hand, electorates in the National Capital District which have the most modern health, education and other government services available, are also given the same amount of money under this program.

What can the urban electorates possibly do with that money?

While the criteria used to allocate funding under the DSIP remain an issue, there are other issues that also need to be resolved.

It would seem that the District Development Authorities, established by an Act of Parliament, have taken over the responsibility of the provincial administrations, rendering them obsolete and leaving a huge number of public servants doing literally nothing but enjoying hefty salaries.

Not only that, the DSIP and the other controversial program, the Provincial Services Improvement Program (PSIP), have turned politics into a lucrative business.

This is evident in the number of people contesting elections. That number is growing at every election because people are contesting just to get their hands on DSIP or PSIP funds.

We urge Prime Minister James Marape to seriously consider doing away with these two programs, if he seriously wants to restore the respect, trust and confidence in his government before going to the polls.

The spirit and intention of both DSIP or PSIP were good; however, the programs are consuming up to K2 billion each year with no tangible impact in the districts.