EU funds project to monitor government spending

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday 25th July, 2012

By SALLY TIWARI
MONITORING government spending is important to make sure state contributions translate into efficient public service delivery such as improved transport, infrastructure, education or health, European Union Ambassador Martin Dihm says.
Dihm said that during the signing of an agreement between the EU, Department of Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD) and Datec to implement the district information management systems (DIMS) project.
He said the DIMS project would serve to centrally monitor government spending at the sub-national level such as the district services improvement programme (DSIP), which had become a significant part of the national budget.He said the EU, through the European Development Fund, had provided K400,000 to buy critically needed information technology equipment for the DIMS project.
He expressed delight at the signing of agreement between the department and the National Research Institute, saying it would seal their collaboration on further development of the project.
He said the EU initially provided K4 million to DIRD to implement the project.
DIRD acting secretary Paiu Sai  said phase one of the project was almost completed, with 79 of 89 districts surveyed and data collected.
The data will be analysed by the National Research Institute and compiled into district profiles, while Datec will manage the system.
Sai thanked the European Union for the funding, saying the department looked forward to working in partnership with all the stakeholders in making the project a success.