Council promotes budget transparency

 BUDGET transparency is a crucial and fundamental element for accountability in the governance process leading to better  results and allocations, an expert says.

Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council (CIMC) executive officer Wallis Yakam said to accommodate that, the budget committee was embarking on educating masses in rural districts about procedures, inputs and priorities.

She said a training programme called “budget tracking initiative” would be conducted in districts to provide simple information on government budgets, service delivery systems and processes.

In a meeting last Thursday, CIMC staff presented an overview of the committee’s functions and proposed undertakings to members of the CIMC budget committee that included Ombudsman Commissioner Rigo Lua, Auditor-General, Philip Nauga and acting director for PNG Institute of Public Administration Yala Yatu. 

Yakam said the budget committee and its district budget tracking training programme aimed to promote social accountability in a wider framework to allow for active local participation in the budgetary and decision-making processes.

Budget tracking initiative coordinator Elizabeth Evaisa said by having knowledge of the budget, people would be empowered to demand for better services and question the implementation of activities associated with the budget.

She said an example of an outcome from an earlier training in Northern resulted in locals forming a community monitoring group to check on earmarked projects within an electorate as allocated in the budget. 

The training includes basic elements of the organic law on provincial and local level governments, roles and responsibilities at various levels, types of grants (recurrent and development), who should participate at what level of the governing process and district services improvement programme.

It aims to educate LLG presidents, ward councillors, ward development committee members, church leaders, women and youth and NGO group leaders to empower them for equal participation in the budget  and implementation process at the sub-national level.