District Development Authority not functioning well, says MP

THE newly created District Development Authority act which was passed by Parliament is not functioning well at the district.

The DDA act which was a brain child of the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and executed by the former Chief Secretary to the Government Manasupe Zureounoc to supersede Joint District Planning and Budget Priority Committee (JDP & BPC).

While presenting the acquittal reports to the Department of Implementation and Rural Development of the Obura Wanenara district for 2015 fiscal year, local MP Mehrra Kipefa expressed that the DDA act is not functioning well at the district level because there is no funding appropriated by the government to fully functional DDA.

“If there is funding being allocated to the DDA so as an authority that would see self-sustaining income revenue being generated into DDA account, then we say DDA is working.

“Otherwise it’s just the name amended to the existing JDP & BPC, as well as the district administrator’s title has been altered to Chief Executive Officer, which people thinks that DDA act is fully functional,” the first time MP stressed this while asked to comment his views on DDA act.

Mereha said that there is no budget allocated to successfully implement the DDA act.

He said there is no clarity on who the key players to ensure roles and responsibilities that leaders, public officials and non -state actors need to perform, specified in program policy guidelines, in planning and implementing projects under the SIP and Constitutional Grants.

Most of the MPs interviewed have expressed similar sentiments saying DDA has got no structure in place, no recurrent budget to cater for its operations.

Right now DSIP or development grants has been misapplied. DDA is an entity and should have its own re-current budget.

The Chief Executive Officers or the district administrators are caught in between whom to report whether to Provincial Administrator or the Chairman of the DDA board.

It has lot of political, legal and administration implication which the Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs need to address.

 Obura Wanenara MP Mehrra Kipefa 

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Source: PNG Facts / Port Moresby / 18/8/2016