Matava: Address challenges

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday June 24th, 2013

 THE Government will continue to lose revenue unless state agencies and statutory bodies mobilise resources to address common challenges by consulting and co-operating with each other, acting East New Britain administrator Wilson Matava said last Friday.

Matava told senior officers from the National Fisheries Authority (NFA), National Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA), police, Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC), Customs, Internal Revenue Commission and senior officers from the East New Britain provincial administration in the fisheries and commerce division during a stakeholders consultation meeting at the Kokopo Village Resort.

He said while East New Britain played host to being the regional headquarters for the New Guinea Islands, there were many and varying challenges experienced in the course of regulating and enforcing government policy directives, management regimes and regulatory requirements.

“The Government loses revenue when our efforts in pulling together resources to address common challenges are lacking and mutual co-operation, consultation and collaboration do not exist,” Matava said.

He said National Planning and Commerce and Trade departments were implementing the Government’s infrastructures and economic corridor directives that provided the channel for trade and investment in the province and the country.

He said this created business and market opportunities that were an achievement of the local economy.

“At the end of this meeting, a common understanding among all agencies concerned must be established and a mutual way forward in creating an effective integrated monitoring control and enforcement system on combating, deterring and preventing violation against our policies and regulatory requirements is adopted,” Matava said.

He suggested the outcome of the meeting be made known to his office to enable the provincial management to follow up on deliberations.