Provinces, districts yet to give plan

The National National

By JEFFREY ELAPA
Sixty-four of the 89 districts and 20 of the 22 provinces are yet to submit their five-year development plans to the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, with the deadline being end of this month.
This is despite the enormous funding they are receiving from district and provincial services improvement programmes (SIPs).
Acting Secretary Koney Samuel said all 89 districts and the 20 provinces should submit their plans by the end of this month.
He said so far, 25 districts and two provinces had submitted their plans, but several had been told to redo them so they were aligned to the medium-term development plan III (MTDP II) of Government.
Samuel said it was important that all five-year developments plans were consistent and in alignment with the National Government’s plans of growing the economy.
He said it was important that provinces and districts also help Government to grow the economy, with no one district or province working in isolation.
Samuel said districts and provinces should align key trigger priority areas such as road infrastructure, bridges, education, health, agriculture and small-to-medium enterprises.
He said the department would be conducting four regional workshops starting this month:

  •  New Guinea Islands in Kimbe on March 28-29;
  •  Southern at 17-Mile outside Port Moresby on April 1-2;
  •  Mamose in Madang from April 4-5; and,
  •  Highlands from April 8-9.
    Samuel said all district and provincial officials engaged in planning should attend so they were able to align their district and provincial plans with the MTDP III and other Government plans.