Govt focus on infrastructure

By GYNNIE KERO
DESPITE increasing the budget to fill the gaps in development efforts, the country lacks the human and physical capacity to service the entire population, MP and National Planning and Monitoring Minister Charles Abel says.
  The government is  focusing on the critical areas of infrastructure and growing the economy among other development.
He raised the factors of sustainability and the importance of investing in a new type of economy in response to over-population and climate change.
“In shorter term sense though, we are trying to grow our budget to fill the ‘gaps’ in the recurrent and development budget.
“Our government is undertaking a huge investment programme and we are going into deficit to do this so that we can grow the economy and create the base to fund this fiscal gap.
Abel said funding at district levels should be directed towards plans, which identified the physical and human capacity “gaps” in the form of roads, jetties and communications among others.
The National Economic and Fiscal Commission has developed a mechanism to measure the recurrent deficit at provincial level based on the cost of delivering a minimum level of essential functions.
Abel said based on the similar basis a mechanism should be developed for the “capital deficit” at provincial level.