from the National 14 Nov

"PNG’s existence vague: GG
By FREDDY GIGMAI. THE existence and reality of Papua New Guinea is still very much a vague concept to many people in the country, Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane said last weekend. “Many people in PNG continue to conduct their lives as simple villagers, having little or no care at all at what happens in the corridors of power in Port Moresby.” He said some people in parts of PNG were sometimes visited only once every five years by their MP or a public servant, adding that it was a rare experience. “To them, it may even be a bigger mystery on how police, magistrates, lawyers, and the correctional service worked together and furthermore, how they relate to provincial and local level governments”. Sir Paulias said what the people expected were services such as roads, schools, clinics and security and these expectations were often interpreted given PNG’s economic situation. He said there were already some good policies such as the Medium Term Development Strategy and other sector policies in place but they were delivered by “people who use initiative combined with energy and personal talents to bring about the desired policy results”."

I wonder myself whether a federal model rather than the uni-cameral model might be better because from my limited understanding people identify more as a Provincial rather than a National. I am often told that a certain behaviour is not Papua New Guinean - that's xyz and they are not like the rest of us."