Updated data a good base to start from, says Speaker

 By ELLEN TIAMU

THE Morobe administration and districts in the province will be able to see improvements in the provision of services if their information data bases are up to date.  

Speaker of Parliament and Finschhafen MP Theodore Zurenuoc said most districts and local level governments in Morobe had been working on outdated data which was contributing to poor  planning. 

Zurenuoc said this when speaking in Lae last Saturday to mark the start of a project to improve and upgrade data in his Finschhafen electorate.

The 18-month project is to be conducted by Social Impact Consultancy, a team of specialist nationals.

The group had previously carried out a data survey of the Huon Gulf district in Morobe.

Zurenuoc said he wanted sustainable transformation to take place in Finschhafen. However, for this to happen, there had to be tangible and realistic figures and information available to work from, he said. 

Under the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Governments, it is a requirement that a plan  be in place before funding is disbursed and according to the speaker, good plans require good data and information.

Zurenuoc said the team, which included a doctor, engineer, political scientist, accountant and members of the Defence Force, was multi-skilled with the programme to involve a cross-section of the community.

Zurenuoc said he was excited about the exercise and urged the Morobe provincial government to   update its data bank as well.