ICT minister calls for strong scrutiny of district funds

Informational and Communication Technology [ICT] minister and member for South Bougainville, Timothy Masiu, has urged the Department of Implementation and Rural Development [DIRD] and National Planning and Monitoring to thoroughly scrutinize how funds are used at district levels.

Minister Masiu made this call when submitting South Bougainville’s acquittals and reports on the use of the District Support Improvement Funds [DSIP] today.

He said many districts in the country lack tangible developments with funds intended for this purpose being misused, and these district executives need to be held accountable.

“I call on the department [DIRD] and also the department of national planning and monitoring to strengthen your role to inspect and ensure funds are used for their intended purposes,” he said.

“We must see real development that aligns with the reports we give in.

“I note that many have not acquitted properly the grants, and some have not therefore my call as this is public funds.”

Masiu presented a spending expenditure report totaling up to K500,000 covered from both the discretionary and non-discretionary funds.

The ICT minister pointed out that DSIP is a critical component of the country's social and economic growth pathway, and the prudent and effective use of these funds will see physical development and service delivery for people.

“Our people especially in the rural settings like my electorate while relying on other government services and funding also are reliant on the DSIP for service delivery and development,” Masiu said.

“It is my wish that as we work to strengthen our economy, we will increase funds for DSIP and other grants that go directly to the rural settings.

“With this we must improve accounting and monitoring of what the money is used for. For my district, I ensure we have regular reports of what the money is used for therefore it makes it easier to report.”

Masiu said his district currently has 45 ongoing projects that started in 2022 and is largely spread across the education and health sector.

He added that a new Buin International Market project is now before the National Procurement Commission for evaluation after bids were opened on Tuesday this week.

Masiu concluding by reiterating that DIRD should be effective in ensuring public funds are accounted for at the districts.