Project yet to be implemented: Eoe

MORE processes need to be completed before the Rural Service Development Project (RSDP) reaches the implementation stage in Simbu, a minister says.
Minister for Inter-Government Affairs Soroi Eoe said his department needed to complete a ward development committee, followed by an LLG committee endorsement and once these processes were complete he would sign to open ward accounts so that funds could be transferred to start implementation.
Eoe said his department hoped to complete this during the first quarter of this year.
He made this statement in response to Kerowagi MP Francis Siune Kikin who wanted to know the status of the RSDPs.
Palma was concerned that he had heard nothing of projects being implemented in his district or his province (Simbu) or the other four provinces that were supposed to have piloted the RSDP.
The other provinces are East New Britain, Central, Western and West Sepik.
Eoe said the delay in project implementation was due to external factors such as the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the 2022 General Election.
He said there were also internal challenges faced like following strict financial management guidelines put in place by the World Bank.
Eoe said RSDP was a World Bank-funded programme that would complement the national government’s district improvement programme (DSIP) and the provincial services improvement programme (PSIP).
He added the national government had secured a concessional loan of US$23 million (about 81 million) in 2017 from the World Bank for the project with the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs the implementing agency.
He said the project aimed to implement physical projects identified by the local communities themselves at the ward level based on priorities and community needs.
Eoe said over the last four years, almost 30 per cent of the funds had been put into a total of 256 project proposals from the provinces involved.