CS will face less funds next year, says Simatab

National

MINISTER for Correctional Services Jim Simatab says finance will be the biggest challenge for them in 2017.
He revealed during the closing of the CS 2017 Annual Activity Implementation Planning workshop last Friday.
“I am more abreast now of the opportunities that face the CS daily. It is also disappointing that the general state of affairs in the department has not improved much since 2012,” he said.
Simatab said the availability of funding would dictate their level of success in future.
He said it was important that their list of priorities should be approved.
“It is, therefore, relevant that you were given sufficient guidance to deliberate on what should be a set of priority activities as we cannot implement all our needs at once because there will be less funds in 2017,” he said.
Simatab pointed out that the economy, though buoyant over the medium-term, was not showing any sign of a rapid recovery.
“The cash in the system is, therefore, very tight, and we now have no choice but to do more with less,” he said.
Simatab said it was only a month after the passing of the 2016 Supplementary Budget and a month from the handing down of the 2017 annual budget.
He said the plan they launched was a sound corporate strategy that must be maintained in the future.
Commissioner Michael Waipo urged the nine provinces under the public private partnership arrangement to immediately start work on the various infrastructure activities which were outstanding.
“Activities of land negotiation with provincial land authorities, mobilisation of concepts and doing awareness to all stakeholders who would be affected are a few,” he said.
Southern Region Correctional Services Assistant Commissioner Henry Wavik said they had secured land to build the Correctional Services institution in Gulf.
They are awaiting the surveyor to be paid to start work.