By DALCY LULUA
THE Opposition has called on the government to table a supplementary budget during Parliament’s July sitting, warning that urgent funding is needed to prepare the country for the impacts of the looming El Niño.
Opposition Leader James Nomane said the government must make “some tough decisions” and ensure sufficient resources are allocated to address the anticipated drought and its effects.
“The government has to make some tough decisions, and that means bringing a supplementary budget into Parliament in this July session to effectively capture what it’s going to cost to mitigate the effects of El Niño across the country,” Nomane said.
His comments echoed those of senior parliamentarian and Abau MP Sir Puka Temu, who urged the government to immediately take the lead in coordinating a national response.
Sir Puka said the National Minister responsible for emergencies and the Prime Minister should announce a clear response plan, including the level of funding that would be committed to dealing with the expected impacts.
“The National Minister for Emergencies must now take the lead. By the end of this month, or by next month, the Prime
Minister and his minister should come out with the response… this is the amount of resources that we will allocate for El Niño,” Sir Puka said.
He said the government should establish “urgent resource access strategies” to ensure the country is well prepared.
“Let’s put politics aside. Let’s all work together as one country, one people, and let government take the lead to make sure that all the requirements to respond effectively to this El Niño are properly done.”
Nomane also endorsed Sir Puka’s call for the immediate release of funds appropriated under the 2026 National Budget to all 96 districts, saying local MPs were in the best position to respond to the needs of their people.
“The call by the Honourable Sir Puka Temu to have the government immediately disburse funds to all members of Parliament… has to be taken very, very seriously by the government,” Nomane said.
He said the funds would allow district leaders to address the immediate risks associated with the drought.
“Members of Parliament who are in the best position to know what’s happening in their districts will be able to mitigate the effects of El Niño. There’ll be food security issues, there’ll be water shortages, and this will create a lot of other issues that will cascade on from the effects of El Niño.”
Nomane also urged the government to improve budget execution and speed up the release of public funds.
“This is what the government has to do, and effectively start to look at budget execution and improve the overall rate at which it’s disbursing funds.”
He questioned why the government had not adequately planned for predictable climate events despite Papua New Guinea’s long history of natural disasters.
“Papua New Guinea’s geography hasn’t changed in the last 50,000 years. We’re in what they call the Pacific Rim, which means we are susceptible to all these natural disasters, and El Niño is just one.”
Nomane said successive governments had failed to learn from past experiences.
“We’ve had history there as our number one teacher, and we’ve learned nothing from it. This goes to show that we are continually applying knee-jerk reaction policy to these things that should have been predicted and planned for long before they arrived.”
He maintained that a supplementary budget and timely funding for districts would enable the country to respond proactively rather than react after the impacts of El Niño are felt.