Minister wants govt to integrate development plans

Minister for Communication, Information Technology and Energy Sam Basil wants the Government to strengthen the provincial and district development plans to be integrated into a one-stop plan.
Basil told Parliament on Friday that there were many challenges in implementing those plans, especially interference from outside organisations and development partners.
“The district development plans for the next five years to 2022 and also with due respect to the governors who have the provincial plans, we have to integrate these with the local level government plans by councillors,” he said.
“There are so many challenges in these plans, especially interferences, and I want to express concern about NGOs, donor partners, and community development officers from resources projects like mining.
“This Parliament must strengthen the district and provincial plans to make it a one-stop plan.”
Basil said any organisation wanting to carry out projects in districts or provinces must consult the district development authority and the provincial government to ensure that it was in line with the plans.
“If this is not addressed, we will feel the effect of it in the next elections,” he said.
“There are some people who are going to use the resources and projects to challenge us as MPs in the next election.
“We have experienced this already where they have used this opportunity to come against us in our Bulolo district, especially in the mining projects that we have.
“If we do not address this issue, it will affect our plans in the provinces and districts.”