JIMMY AWAGL
An entry in the Crocodile Prize
Kina Securities Award for Poetry
2015 budget
Recovery of economy as 15%
Records K2.3 billion
As 2015 “deficit budget”
As 2017 “balanced budget”
As 2018 “surplus budget”
But 2014 surplus budget lacks development
Escalating law and order
Budget figures look brighter
But school infrastructure looks dull
Allocated monies look bigger
Decline health services look smaller
How 2015 deficit budget be achieved?
Its targets are highlighted
Either long or short duration
The negative impression last from first impression
Poor infrastructure
Service delivery ineffective
Undermine workers remuneration
Rural PNG crying for basic services
Poor education system
Rundown heath system
Poor road network
Decaying Okuk Highway
Pot holes in city streets
Poor salary scales
Who runs the state for people’s money?
The Prime Minister
The Ministers
The Council President
The Councillors
What is the purpose of this money?
For the nation’s development
For whose benefit
The people
Where are the people?
In urban centers
In rural areas
Is the service evident within your leadership?
“Yes I provide power and water supply”
But I enjoy blackout and drink from kolta drum
“I even fund road and schools”
I however ride on horse and use a kunai classroom
“I give you health service and agriculture”
Nevertheless I carry patient on stretcher and eat kaukau
Is the money mainly for rural or urban?
“Both” but I see
Port Moresby rises at sky level
Lae, Mt. Hagen, Madang, Rabaul likewise
But Buang, Baiya, Karkar Island, the opposite
Operational expenditure goes to legal fees
For the corrupt leaders
Investment capital
Diverge in personal accounts
Is it not for PNG citizens or diplomats?
Since the poor get poorer
The richer gets richer
The marginalised get more marginalised
The deprived is getting more deprived
The thief becomes more thieve
The segregation rules
A blooming nation of money
Moves into a political state of bitterness and negativity