Implementation worries

GENERAL remarks regarding the 2008 budget were positive.
However, few observers at the budget lock up raised concerns about the implementation of the K8.7 billion budget.
Dr Thomas Webster, the director of the National Research Institution, told The National that the biggest challenge would be on public servants and to make the budget work for the benefit of the people.
Dr Webster said it was obvious from the overall budget presentation that the Government had political will to drive the budget.
However, it is the bureaucrats that have to implement it, he said.
Richard Maru, the managing director of the National Development Bank, said an incompetent public service machinery had slowed down the implementation of the Government’s national agriculture development policy that was launched last year in Lae.
He said over the past eight months, rural farmers were denied access to the K100 million made available by the Government to develop agriculture projects in their sector.
Mr Maru said as result, only K28 million was allocated in the 2008 Budget.
Another observer who did not wished to be named commented that there was a missing link in the implementation of the medium-term development strategy (MTDS) policy and national policy.
She questioned if there was a policy for public servants to follow when implementing the MTDS.
“There is a danger of it becoming politicised,” she said.