Ipatas’ call wins backing

 EAST New Britain’s autonomy committee has welcomed a suggestion by Enga Governor Peter Ipatas for the  Government to give greater responsibility to provincial governments.

Ipatas made the call last week to decentralise more powers after the Enga provincial assembly passed a resolution to ask the Government to give more responsibility to Enga.

He said responsibilities concerning people in local communities should be decentralised. 

These responsibilities included finance, law and order, health, agriculture and transport.

ENB autonomy committee chairman Sir Ronald ToVue said the committee welcomed the move by Enga. 

Sir Ronald commended Ipatas for the initiative because greater power-sharing with the Government meant a better degree of autonomy for provinces and would empower provincial governments to work harder  for their people. He said Ipatas was known as the “action governor” successful in bringing  developments to Enga.

Sir Ronald said ENB had been on the quest for autonomy for 13 years and today the Government was responding to the province’s call by drafting a new law on provincial and local governments.