NIP service plan endorsed

THE New Ireland provincial executive council last week endorsed the province’s revised public service realignment.
The PEC also directed the provincial administrator to finalise all job descriptions and advertise all positions by Nov 30.
This was among a number of issues and programmes discussed during the meeting.
The new provincial public service structure will expand the number of positions immediately from 390 to 435, with the intention to expand the number of positions even more in order to meet the needs of the province as it becomes more autonomous.
The expansion will focus on strengthening the administration at the LLG level and below. 
The intent is to have better contact with the village and ward levels and prepare the public service for autonomy. 
The guidelines for the 2013 provincial budget were also presented and endorsed, and the ceilings for each sector and division were discussed and endorsed in principle. 
A major emphasis of the 2013 budget will be to ensure that more resources are delivered to the LLGs, wards and villages.
The PEC also endorsed the sale of 19 public service houses.
This programme will have the double benefit of allowing public servants to own their own housing while reducing the cost of maintenance by the provincial government. 
This is the first phase of the sale of public service housing, and will be followed by the sale of an additional 21 houses. 
The PEC also approved funds to meet the commitment to Bol health centre to provide an ambulance, delivery beds and to upgrade housing for staff.  
The PEC was briefed about the provincial liquor licensing board plans to reduce liquor licences by 50% in the next year.
The PEC also confirmed the expansion of the roof over heads programme that is to be doubled from 20,000 next year. 
The administration was instructed to proceed with the order of 40,000 pieces of roofing sheets and to finalise logistics for distribution.