Calls for accurate data

 By JENNIFER NKUI 

THE lack of good statistics has made it impossible to plan and measure the progress of developments in Papua New Guinea, an official said.

Acting Secretary for the Department of National Planning and Monitoring Juliana Kubak stressed the need for a strategy to guide development at the national stakeholders’ consultation meeting on the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) in Port Moresby on Tuesday. 

The NSDS is the government’s plan that will form the basis for the coordination and collection of quality, reliable and responsive data right through the country.

“It is very difficult to promote effective development, planning and programming when the existing statistics is poorly managed and coordinated,” Kubak said. 

“This country lacks sound evidence-based policy-making that results in poor policy decisions and poor development outcomes because our national statistical system (NSS) is fragmented and vastly uncoordinated. 

“My department is currently unable to produce the new population policy due to the lack of timely statistics.”

The NSDS will accommodate fitting legislation and institutional frameworks for PNG’s NSS to provide reliable and timely statistics, bridge the statistical capacity of the NSS in terms of human resources, financial capabilities, infrastructure and improvement programmes. 

It will strategise to produce relevant statistics and indicators to measure the country’s development plans, policies and goals. 

With the support of the National Planning Minister Charles Abel, who is the minister responsible for National Statistics Office (NSO)and Treasurer Don Poyle, Kubak appealed to all organisations for the provision of effective and accurate statistics of every statistical assessment. 

“This is a fundamental part of the NSDS formulation process and your utmost corporation is critically necessary, as our country deserves a very well crafted NSDS,” Kubak said.