Chief Secretary to Government Mr. Ivan Pomaleu, OBE has directed policy officers from the Department of Prime Minister & NEC to step-up with their work and provide timely information to on the progress of work for key sectors under Policy Wing 1 and Policy Wing 2 of the department.
This comes as a result of complacency in work performances and tardy delays in providing feedback, which constitutes to Government expectations and priorities not being met on a timely basis.
The Chief Secretary made these remarks during his official address to DPMNEC Policy officers on the 29″ of September 2025 in Port Moresby, National Capital District.
“Let me first preface my remarks by reflecting on the last four years so that you are aware of the background that I come from. So, the last four years now, I have been quite observant with the amount of work that we are doing as a department,” he said.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister has summoned various government agencies, including DPMNEC, for its failure to provide timely information and progressive update for each sector.
The Prime Minister has expressed dissatisfaction with the level of support the department was delivering to his office, the government, and its established agenda and priorities for key sectors.
“It was clear to me that he was dissatisfied with the level of support that the department is providing to his office, to the government, to the agenda that is established by the government in terms of priorities, the sectors that we should be pushing and engaged in,” Chief Secretary said.
Mr. Pomaleu added that now our system of government is such that if you do a bit of plot going back in time, you find that policies are generally the same. He added that the emphasis in terms of priority may differ depending on which government is in the office and which government is in charge.
These government intentions are significant and primarily conveyed through public pronouncements by the Prime Minister, Ministers, and parliamentary statements through press releases which define the priorities of the government.
“So, what we find is that a lot of what the government is intends to do in the time of office is dictated by the different public pronouncements that the Prime Minister and Minister of State do from time to time, the different press and the different parliamentary statements that come,” he said.
However, the Prime Minister was disappointed to note that the department lacked agility in responding to these government expectations and provide feedback on time.
Chief Secretary Pomaleu highlighted that some pronouncements made by the Prime Minister in 2019, have yet to be acted upon thus, raising questions about the department’s role as the agency responsible for implementing the Prime Minister’s intentions.
Mr. Pomaleu said upon joining the department in 2021, he initially expected the department to be fully aware of the government priorities.
1. The expectations for the department and what the priorities of the government are; and
2. Secondly, the expectations for staff to understand the legislative process, their role in finalizing legislation, influencing budget reallocation for critical priorities, and translating the Prime Minister‘s public statements into actionable advice so that he can be able to know and announce in parliament.
As such, the Chief Secretary has called for a total reset and reform in the department to ensure that there is consistency with work and his expectations and the Prime Minister’s expectations are achieved and work must be delivered within a turn-around time.