Western Province human development is 'appalling'

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

"IF PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S WESTERN PROVINCE was a country there would be an international outcry about their plight, given its appalling low levels of human development," says Deakin University's Professor Mark McGillivray.

PNG’s ‘poorest’ region - the resource rich Western Province - would rank just above Zimbabwe but below the Democratic Republic of Congo in terms of human development according to new data.

Professor McGillivray's analysis used the Human Development Index to create a new measure which looked at the districts and provinces in Papua New Guinea. This has not been done before.

"The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index (HDI) is well-known and widely used in research and policy circles," Professor McGillivray explained.

"It combines achievements in health, education and income and is primarily used to compare levels of human development between countries.

"When we apply the principles of the Index to provinces and districts within PNG, we find not only huge disparities but levels of human development that are extremely low by international standards."

Professor McGillivray said based on one version of the Human Development Index Papua New Guinea as a country is ranked 121 out of 137, so down towards the bottom.

"Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe has the lowest level of human development and is ranked 137, at the very bottom," Professor McGillivray said.

"The conflict-affected Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked 136.

"Yet if the resource rich Western Province was a country it would be ranked in between Zimbabwe and Congo and as such among the three very poorest in the world in terms of human development."

Professor McGillivray said that the National Central District – the province with the highest human development in PNG - would rank 99th in the world if it was a country, between Morocco and Tajikistan and slightly ahead of India.

Comments

[Livingstone Dopa]

God will survive us

[Critor Keleba]

So I guess this is the status quo. I totally agree with Professor Mark McGillivray of the HDI ranking of Western Province.

Being the rich and yet the poorest...is hilarious, right? Not at all...it is serious and needs immediate attention.

This is the result of ingnorance of the PNG National Government which for too long has recieved from Ok Tedi but given very little back to the Province.

Since the start of Ok Tedi, about 40 billion kina was generated but only 500 million which is 0.125% has gone back to the Provincial government.

The only way to improve the status quo is to give back and give more. So PNG, do justice to the people of Western Province. Or should we secede. When Western Province secede I'm definitely sure, we'll improve and be amongst the top 50 HDI.

[Harry Topham]

Tavurvur - Have to agree. Would be interested to know what facts the wise professor based his opinions on perhaps, it was only that micro organism of the Western Province around Daru which was examined in his research posing the following question.

Was the sitdaun of folks living at Ok Tedi which is also in the Western Province taken into account in his research

After all their conditions of living is well above that of the subsistence level endured by those destined to eke out a precarious living in the lower Fly delta?

I have never been to the western province but did in my younger days spend some time living and working in the Kikori River delta areas and should imagine than the areas around the lower Fly delta would have the same disadvantages of those living in the Gulf province.

The issue is how to correct the imbalances of services and opportunities existing in the Western Province so everyone has the opportunity for a better life.

Perhaps it is time that the Government of PNG address this issue and perhaps think about resettlement schemes for those people so destined to live in such unhealthy climes as Daru to more amenable locations?

[Tavurvur]

I'm not trying to dodge the issues raised here, but whenever I read an article like this one, my immediate response is what about Australia?

What would Australia's 'poorest' region rank in terms of the same Human Development Index used by Professor McGillivray?

How would Australia's States, Territory's and their respective districts look like when the principles of the Index are applied?

I think the findings of this would be surprising - particularly when one isolates particular Australian districts for scrutiny.