By Dalcy LULUA
MINISTER for Health Dr Lino Tom clarifies that the K15m that was given to all the Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs) was the money that was put aside to address the capacity issues we have in the country.
He said, “When covid 19 came, we realize that it expose us to a lot of issues with our health system.
We realized that our health system was quite fragile in terms of capacity, both infrastructure and human resources.”
“Our Good Prime Minister James Marape and the cabinet in their wisdom decided to put money aside to address those capacity issues,” he added.
He stressed that some PHAs got their money in advance, others who didn’t have a clear workplan, the money should retain until they came up their expenditure plan.
Dr Lino said K15m being presented to all the PHAs is the amount of money that is being budgeted during the covid19 period for all provinces and the dispatchment of those funding are actually based on the workplan being submitted to the National Department of Health (NDoH).
“In most cases we know that there’s a lot of allegations in references to funds being mismanaged at the PHAs so what the NDoH did was that to hold onto funds until proper workplan have been submitted.
PHA from Eastern Highlands got theirs when they submitted their workplan, Mendi General Hospital and and Kundiawa General Hospital with other PHAs have received their K15m already after presenting their expenditure and workplans as well.
“While bursting those monies and in the process I had to meet up with all the PHAs, CEOs and the board because it was important we met with them to make sure that they understood the functions and responsibilities of PHA and how they can work in collaboration with the leadership on ground,” he added.
