This transfer was made under the new Ministerial Determination and Responsibilities (Reallocation of portfolios) by the Marape Government when it took office last June. This has come about because the functions of the NDC, which were previously administered under the Department of Provincial and Local-Level Government Affairs (DPLLGA), have now, along with those of the PNG Fire Service and the National Volunteer Services, been transferred to come under the umbrella of the Ministry and Department of Defence. We understand that there is a tug-of-war over position and jurisdiction of the agency with certain people at loggerheads over who should rightfully take charge of its operations. We have, through our own enquiries, established that all is not well with the operations of the NDC. The immediate disaster that we are aware of, and one which the NDC should be playing an active role in addressing locally, is the coronavirus pandemic taking global stage and creating panic with deaths rising to nearly 300 and more than 11,000 infections.
The NDC has somewhat been quiet when it is the agency’s duty to play the lead role in co-ordinating and responding to disasters and emergencies, be they natural or man-made. Do we or do we not have an active central disaster co-ordination and response centre? We pose the question because of late the nation does not know if such an agency of Government is functioning, though we are aware there is the National Disaster Centre operating out of Kitpeng Building at Waigani in Port Moresby.
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