All ready for big payout

 By DOROTHY MARK

MADANG senior civil servants were reminded of the guidelines and regulations involved in rolling out huge sums of government funds at the provincial, district and LLG levels.

A two-day awareness workshop on   guidelines and financial instructions at Madang’s Star International attracted more than 50 participants from districts and LLG offices in the province.

Secretary for Department of Implementation and Rural Development Paul Sai’i said the awareness workshop was to prepare district administrators, treasurers, LLG managers and departmental heads for proper handling of government funds.

Sai’i said Minister for National Planning and Monitoring Charles Abel put a huge responsibility on public servants as implementers of government plans, policies and as drivers of the development agenda.

“The onus is on you, the implementers of these programmes, to grasp contents of the guidelines for better performance and avoid  schemes that can deny tangible services to the people,”  Sai’i said.

He said K1.9 billion in  development grants was allocated under district services improvement between 2007 and 2012 and public servants involved in rolling out that  knew how they used it to bring about changes to their localities.

Sai’i said the government had agreed to give K10 million annually to each district.

He highlighted the need for further training for proper implementation of  funds.    

“So far each district in the country has received K2 million of the K10 million allocation and I advise them to produce their five-year plan 2013-2018 by next month to access the remainder,” Sai’i said.