As Months turn into weeks before the Issuing of Writs for the 2022 National General Elections, sitting Kairuku-Hiri MP, Peter Isoaimo, continues to question if there will be a split in his electorate.
In addressing locals at Boera village, Isoaimo said though reports were completed by the Electoral Boundaries Commission, it was not debated on the floor of Parliament in the last sitting.
The report which includes the electorate’s census and boundaries of Kairuku-Hiri reached the National Executive Council (NEC) and the Government, however, due to unclear markings of the district’s boundaries, it was sent back to the EBC for a review.
“In the next session of Parliament which resumes on the 22nd of March, I will raise the issue. For Kairuku-Hiri it is ready to split, just like using a scissors to cut a ribbon”, stated MP Isoaimo.
He said the electorate has already established two separate Administrations including plans for infrastructural developments.
“I am not sure of the other electorates that have campaigned in the report as well, like Alotau in Milne Bay, Talasea in West New Britain, Tambul-Nabilyer in Western Highlands and Laiagap-porgera in Enga as there are financial and administrative implications”.
The Kairuku-Hiri MP further stated that the reports have to be debated and adopted on the floor of parliament in the next session so that the Department of Personnel Management can begin work on establishing new administrations for the new district(s) with support from Finance and Treasury Departments to work on the budgetary process and create DSIP funding when additional seats are created in parliament.
As for Kairuku-Hiri, the split needs to happen as it is a burden for an MP to deliver services to two separate districts that have the highest population in Central Province. The last census conducted in 2011 showed that the electorate had a population of about 121,584 which is twice the population of all the other districts in Central Province and has not been updated since.
MP Isoaimo reiterated that it was a difficult journey, but he is grateful for the support given by Government departments, stakeholders and international agencies to deliver infrastructural projects.
The MP hopes that the decision be made final on the floor of Parliament before the writs are issued on the 28th of April.
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