The Flinders University of South AustraliaFaculty of Social

83 Pages·2015·0.55 MB·English

Improving Emergency and Disaster Management in Papua New Guinea:
Revisiting the Rationalisation of PNG Emergency Services Policy

Patrick Russell

Flinders University
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
School of Social and Policy Studies
Honours Program in Public Policy

Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Public Policy

23 November 2015
Abstract
Papua New Guinea, in recent years, has experienced a number of disasters and
emergencies that have contributed to loss of lives and property. In 2007, the
government commissioned a team comprising heads of the various emergency
services in PNG to find ways of addressing these issues. To improve the emergency
and disaster management issues, the team developed a policy known as the
Rationalisation of PNG Emergency Services (RPNGES). This policy proposed an
amalgamation of the PNG Fire Service with the Disaster Service, and the St. John’s
Ambulance Service. The policy was well-intended and had promise to solve many of
PNG’s emergency and disaster management challenges, yet consecutive
governments have ignored it. This thesis aims to discuss the reasons behind the
policy’s stalling and suggest alternative ways in which the intentions of the RPNGES
policy can be progressed. The author applies a post-positivist approach, countering
the positivist method only, which was the main approach applied in the design of the
RPNGES policy. Part of the discussion focuses on policy and political values, and
the concepts, emergency and disaster.

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Acknowledgement
I would like to first of all give thanks to God for giving me the extra strength to finish
this degree.
For this honours thesis, I would like to thank most of all my supervisor, Professor
George Crowder. Without his help this would have been impossible task for me to
complete. I am proud to have had an excellent supervisor whose wisdom and
guidance made this task look easy. Thanks to Dr. Rob Manwaring for being my initial
supervisor.
I also would like to thank my colleagues and friends in particular Ryan Karl, Billy
Neely, Jo Schofield, and Mr. Bevin Wilson. Thank you for your feedback and
encouragement through this course. Your comments gave me other ideas and ways
of seeing the same thing in different lights.
A big thanks to Elaine Kane, Jane Hogan, Klaus Koefer and the International
Student Service Unit. You were all fantastic and your support meant so much to me.
Not forgetting Claire Mueller from the Special PNG support team.
Thank you to Australian Awards for giving me the opportunity to study in Australia.
To my mate, Graham Crocker, although not a student helped me take those most
needed breaks, a beer or two and some good music kept me sane. To the PNG
community, both students and those living in South Australia, I say thank you all.
Thank you to PNG Fire Service. Special thanks goes to Chief Fire Officer Isaac Silas
and his deputies Bill Ro’o & Lua Roa, and the late officers Timothy Eu and Sam Keri
Tiale for being my mentors through all my years of service. Thank you also to Gilbert
Hickie. You kept me linked to the organisation, and PNG for the last 4 years.

Finally, to my wife Janet, children Myrenda & Patrick Russell Jr., I say thank you for
standing with me all the way and putting up with my moods. Love you all.

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Table of contents
Page No:

Introduction How can emergency management be improved in 1
Papua New Guinea? Revisiting the Rationalisation of
PNG emergency services policy

Chapter One Service context 10

Chapter Two History and critique of the Rationalisation of the PNG 23
Emergency Service policy

Chapter Three Distinguishing emergency from disaster – the way forward 53

Conclusion 67

Bibliography 69

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Introduction
How can emergency management be improved in Papua New Guinea?
Revisiting the Rationalisation of PNG emergency services policy

Emergency and disaster management has become an important field of work for
governments globally. Climate change related issues such as rising sea levels, and
global warming are often part of the conversations that are giving prominence to
emergency and disaster management.1 Large bushfires, volcanic eruptions,
landslides, building collapse, floods, tsunamis, and biological and chemical threats
also feature as some of the subjects of discussion in emergency and disaster
management.2 Many countries have experienced devastating effects of some of
these calamities. In 2013 more than 500 disasters occurred in various parts of the
world.3 Between 2004 and 2013 over 1 million people were killed by a disaster event
in one part of the globe or another.4 In 2014 over 300 disasters eventuated,
affecting more than 90 countries.5 Costs of damage to economies in 2014 were in
the tens of US billion dollars.6 Effective and efficient emergency and disaster
management systems or policies are in demand as countries look for ways to
minimise the impact of disasters and emergencies on societies and economies.

1 G. O’Brien, P. O’Keefe, J. Rose & B. Wisner, , ‘Climate change and disaster management’, Disasters, Vol. 06, No. 30,
2006, pp.64−80, Overseas Development Institute, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, USA
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/ClimateChangeWhiteboard/Resources/Uncertainty/climatech/obrien06PR.pdf viewed 19
October 2015.

2 I. M. Shaluf, , ‘An overview on disasters’, Disaster Prevention and Management: An
International Journal, Vol. 16, No.5, 2007, pp. 687 – 703<
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/09653560710837000> viewed 19 October 2015.

3 International Federation for Red Cross and Red Cross Society, n.d., ‘World Disasters Report 2014 – Data’, <
https://www.ifrc.org/world-disasters-report-2014/data> viewed 19 October 2015.

4 International Federation for Red Cross and Red Cross Society, n.d., World Disasters Report 2014 – Data.

5 International Federation for Red Cross and Red Cross Society, ‘New IFRC Report calls for greater recognition and support
for local humanitarian actors’, 15 September 2015, < https://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/press-releases/general/wdr-
press-release/> viewed 19 October 2014.

6 International Federation for Red Cross and Red Cross Society, New IFRC Report calls for greater recognition and support
for local humanitarian actors.

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World conferences are held to discuss and share ideas about how disaster and
emergency management can be improved.7

The need for effective and efficient emergency and disaster management has also
captured the attention of global organisations such as the United Nations, Asian
Development Bank, and the World Bank. The United Nations has set up two special
establishments, the Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), for the purposes of assisting
countries that maybe or are affected by disaster and emergency events. OCHA was
established to respond to disasters or large scale emergencies that occur in any part
of the world within a maximum of 48 hours.8 UNISDR’s role is primarily ‘to promote a
culture of prevention’.’9 Both OCHA and UNISDR’s roles are complementary. OCHA
responds to disasters and emergencies after they occur. UNISDR, on the other
hand, advocates that countries should be proactive in preventing disasters and
preparing for potential disasters and emergencies before they occur. The United
Nations is indicating through these two establishments that effective and efficient
emergency and disaster management is a global concern.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is another institution that is concerned with the
effects of disasters on communities. Its concerns about disasters saw ADB publish a
book on how to manage disasters in 2008.10 ADB hopes that this book would assist
disaster managers to help their communities to be better prepared for potential
disaster events. The World Bank, on the other hand, offers courses in emergency
and disaster management.11 It too has recognised the need for countries to develop

7Copernicus, ‘Conference on disaster management -2015’, 2015, http://www.copernicus.eu/events/wcdm-2015-world-
conference-disaster-management viewed 20 October 2015

8 United Nations Office for coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ‘What is UNDAC?’, n.d.
<http://www.unocha.org/what-we-do/coordination-tools/undac/overview> viewed 18 October 2015.

9 9 United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, ‘What is the International Strategy?’, n.d.
http://www.unisdr.org/who-we-are/international-strategy-for-disaster-reduction viewed 18 October 2015.

10 W.N. Carter, A disaster manager’s handbook, Asian Development Bank, 2008,
https://openaccess.adb.org/bitstream/handle/11540/5035/disaster-management-handbook.pdf?sequence=1
Viewed 20 October 2015.

11The World Bank, ‘Introduction to disaster risk management’, The World Bank website, 2015,
http://einstitute.worldbank.org/ei/course/introduction-disaster-risk-management-0 viewed 20 October 2015.

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knowledge and skills so that they can be better prepared for disasters and
emergencies. The World Bank, UN, and ADB, which traditionally focused mainly on
development, have come to accept that disasters and emergencies pose serious
threat to the social and economic health of countries.12 These institutions are
encouraging developing countries to develop effective and efficient policies and
capacity to mitigate the effects of disasters and emergency events on their
communities.13

Papua New Guinea is amongst many of the developing countries that needs to
prepare itself and heed the advice of such global development partners as the
United Nations14, the World Bank,15 and the ADB16 as these institutions have at
various times assisted PNG with its development projects including disaster
management and adaptation to climate change programs. PNG needs to promote a
culture of disaster and emergency prevention and preparedness. The Provincial and
Local Level Government Affairs Department acting Secretary, Dickson Guina,
recently warned PNG that the country is predicted to experience El Nino drought
every five years.17 PNG urgently needs an effective and efficient emergency and
disaster management policy to prepare itself for these events. Effectiveness and
efficacy of disaster and emergency management, this paper posits, depends on
PNG optimising its limited resources and efforts to improve prevention and

12 The World Bank, ‘Managing disaster risks for resilient development’, The World Bank website,10 April 2014,
http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2013/04/12/managing-disaster-risks-resilient-development viewed 20 October 2015.

13 The World Bank, ‘Building resilient communities: Risk management and response to natural disasters through social
funds and community – driven development operations’, The World Bank website,
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSF/Resources/Building_Resilient_Communities_Complete.pdf viewed 20 October
2015.

14 United Nations, ‘Papua New Guinea: Annual progress report’, United Nations website, 2011, https://undg.org/wp-
content/uploads/2014/07/Papua-New-Guinea-UNCP-Annual-Progress-Report-2011_Final-high-res-2.pdf viewed 1
November 2015.

15 The World Bank, ‘Papua New Guinea: Second Gazelle restoration project’, The World Bank website, 11 April 2011 <
http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2011/04/11/papua-new-guinea-second-gazelle-restoration-project> viewed 31 October
2015.

16 Asian Development Bank, ‘ADB $24.2 million grant to help build PNG’s resilience to climate change’, Asian
Development Bank website, 23 October 2015, http://www.adb.org/news/adb-242-million-grant-help-build-png-s-resilience-
climate-change> viewed 1 November 2015.

17 EM TV online, ‘Guina: El Nino situation in PNG critical’, EMTV website, 12 November 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LAcd48zzLQ Viewed 15 November 2015.

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preparedness. Much of this work of emergency and disaster preparedness and
prevention, however, rests on the shoulders of PNG’s emergency services.

This paper focuses on emergency and disaster management and Emergency
Services–Fire Service, Ambulance Service, and the Disaster Service-in Papua New
Guinea (PNG) and what should be done to help the country to be better prepared for
disasters and emergencies from a policy point of view. The question, ‘how can
emergency management be improved in PNG? Revisiting the Rationalisation of PNG
Emergency Services,’ is an important one for a number of reasons. Firstly, the
question implies that managing emergencies is problematic in PNG and that the
country does not have adequate emergency management resources to manage
emergencies when they arise. Secondly, the question provokes the thought that
there is the possibility that obstacles or challenges exist outside of the control of
Emergency Services that make managing emergencies and disasters very difficult.

Thirdly, the second part to the question, ‘revisiting the Rationalisation of PNG
Emergency Services (RPNGES) policy’ implies that PNG has an emergency
management policy. The status of that policy is however, unclear. The government
of Papua New Guinea (GoPNG) did not implement this policy despite receiving wide
support for it from many sectors of PNG. The GoPNG did not state that it rejected
the policy either. It would be unwarranted for this paper to assume that the
government completely rejected the policy as there is no explicit evidence to suggest
that this is the case. The paper however suggests that the RPNGES policy has been
superseded for now by other issues. Currently, one such issue that has grabbed the
government’s attention is the El Nino drought period that PNG is experiencing which
is also predicted to continue into 2016. The GoPNG has already spent millions of
Kina to help Provinces affected by this disaster, and is likely to continue with this
level of spending for some time yet.18 Ironically, it was a similar El Nino event in the
late 1990s in PNG that was the impetus to the RPNGES policy.

18 G. Kenneth, ‘K30m needed for Highlands provinces’, Post Courier website, 21 September 2015,
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/Stories/k30m-needed-for-highlands-provinces/#.Vf-pxk3ou70 viewed 21 September 2015.
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This is the first paper to provide a response to the Rationalisation of PNG
Emergency Services policy. It is hoped that a response or responses would ensue
from this paper to provide useful discussions and debates, with the aim of
contributing to the improvement of emergency management in PNG. The paper
recognises that the Rationalisation of Papua New Guinea Emergency Services
(RPNGES) policy was the first-ever attempt to bring about reform for the emergency
services and emergency management in PNG. The efforts of the team that put this
policy together are to be applauded. However, this paper argues that the RPNGES
policy is proving to be elusive and may take a very long time to implement. The lack
of interest or attention given to the policy by recent consecutive governments is
testament to this claim.

The RPNGES policy’s aim is to merge the three emergency services: Disaster
Service, Fire Service, and St. John’s Ambulance Service under one department. The
ultimate goal of the RPNGES policy is to improve the provision of emergency
management services in PNG. If this goal of the RPNGES policy is to have any
chance of being implemented then there will need to be ‘a recombination of familiar
elements into a new structure or a new proposal.’19 There will need to be a
recombining of, and even separation of some of the member elements of the
emergency services. This paper argues that the RPNGES policy’s strength is based
in the fact that it was almost entirely grounded in evidence-based policy making and
cost-benefit rationale. The focus of the working party or research team was to design
a best practice, apolitical emergency and disaster management policy that would
meet the safety needs of PNG. On the other hand, the same strength on which the
policy is founded is argued in this paper to be the obstacle to the policy becoming a
reality.

* The ‘Kina’ is Papua New Guinea’s currency.

19 J. W. Kingdon, Agendas, alternatives, and public policies, 2nd ed, Addison – Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 2003,
p.124

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Taking a post-positivist approach, this paper argues that policies are not always
value-free. The presence of values is just as important to recognise when designing
policy as they can be influential impediments to well-intentioned policies. The
RPNGES policy may have been advocating an important value, safety from
emergencies and disasters. This paper, however, posits that the RPNGES policy
was not adopted and implemented by the PNG Government because of a conflict
between values. Unless, this conflict of values is recognised and changes to the
policy are made the RPNGES may continue to lack the attention it needs, and the
people of PNG will continue to remain at greater risk to disasters and emergency
events then should be the case. The paper further argues that there is an alternative
approach to achieving the main purpose of the RPNGES policy.

The purpose of the RPNGES is to improve emergency management service delivery
in PNG and to make PNG safer from the effects of emergencies and disasters.
Applying Quarantelli’s distinction between emergencies and disasters reveals this
alternative. Quarantelli states that emergencies and disasters are related; but they
do not necessarily mean the same thing. He points out that ‘this is more than just
mere semantics.’20 This is because the distinction between the two concepts has
wider implications for emergency services. Each concept has its own particular
nuances, in turn influencing particular approaches to management and operations at
disaster and emergency events. Recognising the distinction between emergency and
disaster may lead to a potential solution to the problem of how to negotiate various
conflicts of values that have impeded the progress of the RPNGES policy. This
distinction plays a crucial part in progressing many of the aims and outcome of the
RPNGES policy.

Other emergency and disaster management models
Apart from the RPNGES policy three other models of emergency and disaster
management were investigated during the process of research for this paper. These
models are: the Incident Command System (ICS), Australasian Inter-Service Incident
Management System (AIIMS), and the Integrated Approach. Some of the ideas

20 Quarantelli,E. L., ‘Catastrophes are Different from disasters: Some implications for crisis planning and managing drawn
from Katrina’, Social Science Research Council, 2006, http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Quarantelli/ viewed 10th
September 2015.

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