Polling for the 2022 National General Elections started today Monday the 04th of July, but already Manus province has announced a delay in its polling schedule.
The Acting Provincial Election Manager for Manus Mr. Tony Balema said he received approval from the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission (PNGEC) head office in Port Moresby after requesting for a delay due to issues with logistics and the late arrival of election materials to the provincial capital, Lorengau.
He said the delay is for two days meaning that the people of Manus will go to the polls on Wednesday 06th of July.
According to Mr. Belama, the election materials arrived just last week Friday delivered by aircraft and that had to force the election team on ground to quickly go through the final checks before the deployment of the ballot boxes and papers, the plastic seals, and other important pieces of items to the various polling sites around the island province.
He said the delivery of the election materials, the security personnel and election teams will also be supported by the Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF) maritime element stationed at the Lombrum Naval base.
“The first lot of materials will be transported by this evening to the Nigoherm and Aua-Wuvulu LLG (Local Level Government) areas as these two are the furthest away,” said the acting provincial election manager.
He added that the rest of the election materials is expected to depart Lorengau tomorrow to the areas that are closer and easier to access.
Meanwhile, the two PNGDF vessels, the HMPNGS Tarangau and the HMPNGS Ted Diro, will be engaged to transport election teams, materials, and members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) and the Correctional Services (CS) to provide security for polling on the outer islands.