Friday, October 2, 2015

K15Million District Windfall Once In 40 Years

By Joe WASIA

I wish to thank the PNC-led Government under leadership of Prime Minister Peter Oniel for llocating K15 million to all 89 districts of Papua New Guinea regardless of the population size and their landmass, etc.
A DSIP funded project at
Wapenamanda, Enga Province

The initiative was first taken by the 

National Alliance-led Governemnt in 2008 with amendments to certain laws governing this, one being Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government.

I believe every Papua New Guinean will agree with me that since Independence, such money has never been allocated to all our 89 districts. The founders of this nation and successive elected MPs had little to budget for in a year.

Therefore, with windfal in budget, we are anticipating some form of growth in all the districts after a five year period. The funding is good news to all of us ordinary citizens but is a challenge for the elected MPs and their managers in the districts.

Previous district leaders had served their electorates bwtween K500, 000 and K1.5 million in their annual budgets. This is 10 times less than how much an electorate recieved those days.

This raises very high expectations from the general population, especially in the rural areas. The K15 million means a lot to a villager who is expecting proper road maintenance, basic medical supplies, renovation of schools and basic equipment, etc.



Not to disrepute a few of our leaders but talks have already been in the air about funds being directed to new construction companies to draw the funds under the pretext of road constructions.

Being the head of such multimillion- kina districts will be tempting for even a pastor or a first-timer dealing with big money.

The people of PNG wants this money to be properly spent on tangible developments. Some of us believe that if this fund is properly planned and spent accordingly, it will lay a foundation for our country to compete globally.

The funds must be used for road infrastructure, education, agriculture, health services and to change the mindset of people on many social-related issues.

A proper spending of K2b plus (DSIP 89x15 & PSIP 22x20) funds in all our rural districts will boost our economy with obvious results after say 5 to 10 years.

Those managing the funds must ensure they are used and accounted for accordingly so the all people in district can benefit from their monies-what is legally theirs.

No comments: