Call for MPs to manage money wisely

By ERIC PIET
FINANCE Minister James Marape says more funding will be provided to districts and provinces if leaders and frontliners deliver to the people.
Speaking at the launch of Department of Implementation and Rural Development’s (Dird) policy documents yesterday in Port Moresby, Marape said Government stakeholders in charge of people’s money should prioritise their varied needs and deliver accordingly.
That included provincial and district services improvement programme administrative guidelines, financial instructions, Dird corporate plan 2018-2022, service improvement programme (SIP) annual report 2017, and district information management systems report.
He said the funding were not sufficient to meet the needs of people in the country, they should be managed wisely to touch lives of the people in remotest corners of the country.
Marape said since 2012-2017, each district received K42 million in DSIP funding. A total K1.64 billion was transferred to all provinces in the same period, but these funds were insufficient.
“The reality is that the need of the country is so huge, and the money we have available every fiscal year to get work done is quite small in the context of meeting those needs,” Marape said.
“We want to see that you use your DSIP and PSIP monies well on impact projects and programmes.”
Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan says the replacement of PNG Government Accounting System (PGAS) with a Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) was intended to manage huge modern budgets.
He said this yesterday at the launch of the Department of Implementation and Rural Development’s policy documents in Port Moresby.
Ngangan said IFMS was in full use in the national departments and it was now trialed in the six provinces of East New Britain, East Sepik, Central, Northern, New Ireland and West New Britain.