Papua New Guinea's deputy opposition leader Bart Philemon says transitional authorities established by parliament last week for the new Hela and Jiwaka provinces will only increase the burden on the country's ailing public service.
The new authorities are to prepare for the establishment of the two provincial administrations after the 2012 national elections.
This includes securing land and plans for new provincial capitals, securing assets and infrastructure, and developing staffing structures for each administration.
One of the few MPs to have opposed the creation of the two new provinces, Mr Philemon claims there are already enough problems in the public service which need addressing without two new administrations being created.
"Well I think they're geared towards more burden on the system. The system has not been clearly demonstrated that it's working and we add more recurrent costs to our public sector system of which I thought we need a complete restructure."
Bart Philemon
