The director of Papua New Guinea's Institute of National Affairs says the government needs to reprioritise its spending if the country is to get any benefit from the lucrative Liquefied Natural Gas project.
Hanuabada, the original village of Papua New Guinea's capital city Port Moresby inhabited by the Motuan people; with the CBD in the background. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
Paul Barker says the government is spending a lot of money on low-benefit infrastructure projects in Port Moresby, with little investment on core functions such as education and healthcare.
He says that while PNG's GDP is booming, that's not making any difference to the lives of most Papua New Guineans.
"Really critical for the government to prune down its level of expectations and expenditure into grand or even white elephant projects and one would say that includes massive investment for an APEC 2018 facility."
Paul Barker says he's hoping the budget, scheduled for November the 18th, will see the government refocus to prioritise things such as education, healthcare and law and order.
