The Rai Coast District has announced funding support towards Gaubin Community Health Worker (CHW) Training School on Karkar Island.
Rai Coast member, Kessy Sawang in an unannounced visit to the school allocated a K100,000 for a mess and an additional K500,000 for a 4-in-1 classroom.
As minister for Labour & Employment, Ms Sawang’s DDA is investing in the school because of the significant demand for Community Health Workers in the region.
The CHW Training school situated on state land is run by the Lutheran Church. There are currently 60 pioneer students, 15 of whom are female students.
The school currently has minimal infrastructure, including staff houses and mess facility made from bush materials.
During her visit, minister Sawang emphasized the need to replace the bush material structures with modern ones to meet the requirements of the National Department of Health (NDOH) for formal recognition.
It is anticipated that in the next five years, the Rai Coast District will have built a modern and fully certified Community Health Worker Training School overlooking Astrolabe Bay.
Population growth has increased considerably since the last census was conducted, and has placed even greater pressure on the government to deliver essential services.
Labour and Employment Minister Kessy Sawang made this statement last week, when announcing the release of the population estimates for 2021.
She commended the National Statistical Office, UNFPA and the Australian Government for supporting this initiative, saying with the population estimates for 2021 now available, it is time to conduct the population and household census.
“I am pleased that the Minister for Finance and Implementation, Rainbo Paita has confirmed that this will be done next year,” Sawang said.
Labour and Employment Minister Kessy Sawang
Population data is of vital importance, as it helps the government make budget plans on how and where to spend government funding, to achieve minimum standards of services such as health and education, and infrastructure services.
“This data allows informed consideration of the redrawing of electoral boundaries, assessment of the conduct of the last general elections and even fiscal equalisation grants from national to subnational government,” Sawang added. However, the Minister was alarmed at the implied average annual rate of population change of 4.9% between 2011, when the last Census was conducted and 2021.
“An average annual population growth of 4.9% places Papua New Guinea amongst the fastest growing population in the world.” The minister further added that her Ministry has commenced using the population estimates to better understand the labour market and employment.
“Our country has a significant challenge to deal with a rapidly growing young population and that this is now an even greater priority. The implications of the new population growth rate for economic growth are stark it reveals that average income per person, after adjusting for inflation, has been falling since 2016,” Minister Sawang said.
Average income per person outside of the mineral and petroleum sectors has been falling for even longer, since 2012.
Using the 2023 National Budget forward estimates, which are conservative, the outlook is for this to continue over the period up to 2027.
The Labour Minister said if this trend is not reversed we will not meet the targets and aspirations in our development plans and strategic goals leaving people with a poorer quality of life.
“This underscores the need to implement the MTDP IV carefully and in a coherent and robust manner to achieve its goals of moving our economy onto a higher, inclusive and sustainable growth path,” Sawang added.
The minister said this must be a call to action.
“We must urgently reinvigorate and concentrate our efforts to create income and jobs, especially for our young adults and for women. We need to grow our economy outside of the mineral and petroleum sectors as only they can provide the opportunities to absorb the large number of our youths.”
The minster also highlighted the need to support private sector growth, to provide more job opportunities.
“We can do this by lowering the cost of doing business and providing coherent, sensible and stable policies,” Sawang said.
“I will seek stronger coordination with my fellow Ministers to advance appropriate education, training and skills development programs that will prepare our people to enter the formal workforce and that will build national productivity to lift economic growth.”
