Revamp LLG system: Officer

 LOCAL level governments in East New Britain need an overhaul of their processes and systems to ensure the smooth operation of projects, acting Kokopo town manager Clement Irasua says.

He said it meant implementing programmed activities and procuring resources.

Irasua said since the channelling of more manpower and financial resources to districts and local level governments, the level of implementation had dropped. The links between districts and LLGs have deteriorated.

He said to improve these, there must be more checks and balances on the cash flow between the districts and LLGs.

He said if the province was serious about growing the local economy, it must ensure that commitment on expenditure was smooth, sufficient and timely.

Acting provincial administrator, Akuila Tubal, in a provincial corporate team meeting this week, said the option of beefing up the LLGs was to cater for increased funding sources from the government. It is facilitated through the provincial service improvement programme, district service improvement programme and the local level government service improvement programme.

“The purpose of beefing up the LLGs is to improve the systems to cater for the large amount of money coming into LLGs and districts,” he said.

“It is for LLG presidents and their workers to understand their roles and carry out their duties effectively.”

He said 2013 had been declared the year of implementation but only 75% had been achieved. 

As a result, there are no proper links and communication in the different levels of governments. 

“Sometimes the message from the provincial government does not reach those at the local level governments and, therefore, basic services are not delivered to communities,” Tubal said.