New money system delays Northern’s K85mil budget

Northern was among the last provinces in the country to present its 2019 annual budget. It did on Wednesday.
The delay was due to the integrated financial management system (IFMS) being trialled in the province.
Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel, while receiving the budget of K85 million, said he was fully aware that Northern was the first province to roll out the IFMS and it was therefore expected to come in late.
“The Government has spent a lot of money on the IFMS rollout to improve the system,” he said.
“We want to get real-time results and address those issues affecting our financial systems. With Northern being the first in the country, better outcomes are expected in terms of financial management.
“More provinces are expected to carry out this significant financial system this year.”
Abel said it was important that smaller provinces such as Gulf, Western, West New Britain, Manus, Northern and Milne Bay get special support grants (SSG) from the government to boost their economies.
Governor Gary Juffa, who was there with his two MPs, was pleased that Abel was aware that the IFMS rollout delayed the budget presentation.
“We are one of the last provinces to submit our budget, but we are first to be fully aware of the new IFMS,” he said. “Therefore, we will be the first to deliver our next budget for 2020.”
Juffa was happy to work with the two MPs.
“We will work together to deliver basic services to our people, as you can see here,” he said. “We will need all the support we can get from the Government to deliver our projects.”
Juffa thanked the provincial committee that put the budget together.
He asked to Abel to help with the payment of money owed to the province from grants and the sale of Higaturu Oil Palm shares to Siam Darby and other such grants.