Provinces, DDAs need to furnish acquittals on time, says official

National

By KELVIN JOE
THE general election should not be used as an excuse for provincial governments and district development authorities to delay their acquittals of provincial and district services improvement funds, an official says.
Implementation and Rural Development Department (DIRD) secretary Aihi Vaki said as the election was progressing, provincial administrations and DDAs needed to meet their mandated responsibilities to provide reports on the distribution and achievement of DSIP and PSIP funds.
“I encourage the districts and provinces that you need to submit your reports (PSIP and DSIP acquittals) and don’t wait until the elections are over,” he said.
Vaki said while members of Parliament were going back to their respective electorates and provinces during the election period it did not mean that DDA and provincial government operations would come to a stop.
He said this yesterday when Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas and his provincial administrator Dr Samson Amen presented acquittals for 2019 and 2020 PSIP funds in Port Moresby.
Sir Peter said the presentation of the yearly acquittals was the responsibility of public servants and politicians had no authority over it.
He said the parliamentarians were legislators and they only passed the budget whereas public servants implemented them.
“There must be a clear demarcation between the roles of politicians and the public servants so that the implementation of the budget must solely be left to the public servants,” he said.