We’re on target to meet goals, says Lelang

NATIONAL Planning and Monitoring secretary Joseph Lelang says the Government is committed to making more rapid progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This commitment was reflected in the 2010 Development Budget that contains a number of programmes directly addressing the MDGs.
They included the national HIV/AIDS programme (K9.6 million) and social development programme (K35 million).
These programmes made funds available to churches to assist in addressing the health and education components of the MDGs in line with the State-church partnership guidelines.
Also the Government had allocated a large share of the budget to improving national and rural roads.
The MDGs were part and parcel of the Medium Term Development Strategy (2005-10).
According to the department, the MTDS has guided Government expenditure, demonstrating policy consistency and commitment to improving the basic needs of Papua New Guineans.
On average, between 2005 and 2010, the Government was estimated to have allocated 78.6% of the
development budget towards seven MTDS expenditure priority areas (EPAs).
In 2010, this proportion stands at 73.1%.
The Government employed an array of strategies to ensure allocation between EPAs was allocated to achieve maximum development impact.
Total Government and donor allocations for the EPAs are transport rehabilitation and maintenance (K900.8 million), promotion of income earning opportunities (K524.7 million), basic education (K279.4 million), law and justice (K166.3 million), HIV/AIDS prevention (K117.1 million), primary and preventative health (K274.2 million) and development oriented adult education (K32.9 million).