Agiru praises Australia’s speedy response on aid

AUSTRALIA has been praised for its speedy res­ponse to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s request for its aid to be realigned to cater for PNG government priority areas.
The agreement to help build capacity in the districts has been singled out by Hela Governor Anderson Agiru as a “timely and worthwhile intervention which will bring about huge benefits”.
He said Hela had only just been created and that the budget would be its first and that it would be insufficient to meet all the pressing needs of a new province.
“There is almost nil capacity in the districts and council ward areas and Australian support in this area is most timely,” Agiru said.
In thanking the two governments for the initiative, he called for two Australian advisers trained in planning and in accounting, compliance and audit systems.
“As one of the longest serving governors, I can state that so much money had gone into districts but so little has been done with it over the years,” Agiru said.
“This government is about moving more resources to the provinces, districts and LLGs.
“This is a move in the right direction.
“The critical turning point in our history will be when we develop our planning, accounting, auditing, compliance and reporting capacity.
“That is when we put down real tangible development on the ground.
“This is what Australia has agreed to assist us with and we are most grateful for that.”
Agiru also expressed gratitude for the prime minister’s bold move to ask Australia to realign its aid to PNG government’s priority policies and further thanked Public Service Minister Sir Puka Temu for driving the capacity building agenda during the joint ministerial conference last week.
n See editorial Page 54