West New Britain (WNB) Governor Sasindran Muthuvel has raised concerns over significant delays in the release of essential funds, which are hindering the province's development. Speaking after presenting a K200, 000 PSIP grant to the WNB School of Nursing, Muthuvel noted that the school had not received any operational funding from the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST) in 2024. Principal Mrs. Molly Marava had highlighted the troubling situation, confirming that the Nursing college has not received any operational funds from DHERST since the start of 2024. For all of this year, the WNB School of Nursing has survived using the provincial government’s development budget, receiving an initial K200, 000 from the trust development fund in July 2024 and now the second cheque of K200, 000 from PSIP allocation – this equates to a total of K400, 000 in provincial funding in the last 9 months. "It is deeply concerning that a very crucial school has not received a single toea for nearly 10 months now," Governor Muthuvel stated, adding that without provincial support, the school would have closed. He also expressed alarm about the province's overall financial situation, revealing that only 30% of functional grants have been released, with the last disbursement made five months ago in April. "The government has not completed cash transfers for warrants issued in May and June," he said, further noting that no funds had been released for July, August, and September. Adding to the funding shortfall, only 40% or K4 million of the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP) funds have been released, with no further disbursement since the 10th of May 2024. However, District Services Improvement Programs (DSIPs) for the province's three districts whose MPs are in government have received 80-90% (K8m to K9m) of their funds. “I question if this is a form of punishment because I moved to the Opposition. Ever since I have moved to the Opposition, West New Britain’s provincial funds have not been forthcoming. “It is disheartening to see funds meant for constitutional grants being funnelled into a few selected projects. “Those projects are funded by starving functional grants to all provinces and recurrent budgets meant for all national and subnational Departments,” Mr. Muthuvel said. Governor Muthuvel appealed to the Marape-Rosso Government to release all appropriated funds meant for West New Britain Province, including PSIP, functional grants, and Provincial Investment Program (PIP) funding. “It is imperative for the advancement and well-being of our communities that these funds be disbursed immediately.”