I’m sure the Ministry of Health has a very good answer to that question and they should make it known publicly. In the meanwhile, however, we would like to make the following observation.
Article V1 of our Constitution (Responsibilities of the National Government) requires the Government to promote the “health and social welfare of the citizens through the provision of free or subsidized health care; and the provision of public education for citizens, which shall be free and compulsory as prescribed by law” (Underlines provided). In other words, Health Care may or may not be entirely free; but Public Education must not only be free, it must also be compulsory.
Those stipulations are reasonable. Public education can be provided uniformly to all children. But all children do not get sick by age groups and according to schedules, the conditions that could provide the rationale for extending uniform medical services to all of them. There are, however, services that can be given uniformly such as immunization and others, and these are provided free of charge when they are available.
Does the government have sufficient incomes to finance and operate urgently needed programs?
It appears that some proposed public programs or public services have difficult times being processed in the Olbiil Era Kelulau for a number of different reasons. We have been hearing from different sources that the Government might not have sufficient cash flows which could force the Government to delay paying its financial obligations on time. During the Trust Territory period there was a practice called “Aging of Accounts”, which meant that when the TT Government ran out of money it simply stopped paying its bills until it received additional funds from Washington. The technique worked because the US Government never failed to provide the needed funds even though they came late. Can the Republic’s financial arrangements be handled in that manner, and does our Government have money coming from somewhere to pay its financial obligations even at a late date?
Knowledgeable people say telltale signs of a cash flow problem are already there. PPUC has complained that the Government has not been paying some of its power bills and the Ministry of Health has been reporting shortage of funds in its medical and supply accounts, including its Referral Program. The Public Auditor once had to chastise the Ministry of Education for diverting funds from other program areas to its Food Service Program. One source said the Government still owes some private companies money for goods delivered or services rendered in the past. One source even claimed (Without presenting solid evidence) that some government checks have bounced because there was insufficient cash in the bank to back them up.
Another source said the cash flow problem might even force the Government to withhold for a certain period of time employees’ allotments to the various banks. “If that were to happen and the employees find out about it, there might be lawsuits flying all over the place, and the lawyers would have a field day with these lawsuits”, the sources said. Is the Government experiencing a cash flow problem? The public has the right to know!
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