A Growing Poor Population in Papua New Guinea: The Poor getting Poorer and the Rich getting Richer.

Papua New Guineans struggling to survive.

By Lucas Kiap

More than eighty-five percent of the population in Papua New Guinea are poor rural subsistence farmers and their contribution to the economic growth of the country is very little or nothing at all in most cases. All of them are isolated from taking part in economic growth activities as the government fails to create opportunities for them or simply the opportunities are not there.

For the last 38 years, the government has been concentrating on the extractive sectors (minerals, oil and gas, timber, and forestry) to create economic growth in the country further isolating the people as interests of foreign international multi-corporations take the centre stage. Spin off benefits are very little or nothing at all as in most cases the government does not have a plan to convert those opportunities into thriving economic growth activities for the resources owners to enhance their quality of life. Mostly benefited from the spinoff benefits and other benefits are those already rich, well-off and educated. They form perimeters around unsuspecting rural people with corrupt politicians and government officials to siphon most of the benefits further isolating and marginalizing the rural people. 

The agriculture sector, which traditionally supposed to be the back bone driving the economic growth of the country, has over the years received very little attention as the government has been concentrating all its efforts to drive investment into the extractive industry by giving tax breaks and exemptions to foreign owned multi-corporations. The continuous negligence of the agriculture sector has completely isolating and marginalizing the poor rural people from fully participating in the economic growth of the country. 

While the people are poor and having fewer opportunities to take part in any economic growth activity, the blunt negligence of the government to involve its own people is evident in small business activities which have been dominated by foreigners especially of Asian origin. Whether its lack of training, skills, experiences, knowledge or capital to empower the ordinary people to take part in those small business activities, the must protect the interests its own in employment and business opportunities. 

In reality the poor rural people of Papua New Guinea have been neglected and marginalized by the government and a few already rich and well-off. Those who have been benefiting from the government coffers are corrupt politicians, corrupt government officials and only those who have connections to political leaders in the country and those that are rich enough to find their own way through by bribing corrupt politicians and corrupt government officials. The rest of the population, we are only spectators and somewhat confusing of the realities. The richer are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. If this development trend is to continue for the next or two decades, this country is doom for worse with the increasing unemployment and law and order problems. 

All these nonsense must come to an end now. All people must be given the equal opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the economic growth of the country. The best way to do this to diversify the economy by developing every economic potential of this country to give every Papua New Guinean an equal opportunity to take part in economic growth of the country in order to improve the standard and quality of life of the people.

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