Development plans should match budget, says official

National

Five-YEAR rolling development plans must be consistent with its budget so projects and programmes implemented can be standardised, says Rural Development Department acting secretary Aihi Vaki.
Vaki said over the years, the department noted that most plans were not consistent with budgets, reports presented were not precise, which did not give a clear picture of what would be implemented over the next five years.
“What we want to see is that the plan is implemented according to the budget and not spend outside of what has been planned already,”   Vaki said.
He said development plans were required to present a picture of what was being implemented.
The plan should be aligned to existing national plans such as Vision 2050, Development Strategic Plan 2030 and the Medium Term Development Plan 2011 – 2015.
In many parts of districts the lack of development is a major concern and because they lacked accurate planning, there was deliberate diverting or stealing of public funds, gross misapplication of administrative guidelines, financial instructions, public finance management (Act) and other associated laws governing the usage of the public funds, Vaki said.
Having a development plan will provide strategic direction to the provincial and district administration and its stakeholders to collectively address some of the prevalent social conditions affecting the lives of ordinary people, he said.