Merger of agencies to go ahead

The National Government will continue to examine the possibility of merging state agencies and in some cases abolishing others and transferring their functions.

Preliminary work has already been carried out with further options and strategies being explored on how best this reform can be achieved.

The merging of Government agencies with duplicate functions has made little progress since the first four mergers were agreed to in the 2013 National Budget. In 2014 a further three mergers were agreed too.

In 2016 The Public Sector Reform Working Group (PSRWG) consisting of the Departments of Personnel Management, Treasury, and Prime Minister and NEC, further progressed this by identifying additional agencies for possible merging.

The PSRWG will continue this in 2017 and examine the potential for co-location of agencies and merging corporate service areas.

Below is a table of the proposed mergers.

Agency

Merged Into

Public Service Commission

Department of Personnel Management

Office of Tourism & Culture and Arts

Tourism Promotion Authority

Department of Implementation and Rural Development

Department of National Planning and Monitoring

Coastal Fisheries Development Agencies

National Fisheries Authority

National Economic Fiscal Commission

Department of Treasury

National AIDS Council Secretariat

Department of Health

National Coordination Office of Bougainville Affairs (NCOBA)

PM & NEC

Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS)

Finance ICT Division

National Tripartite Consultative Council (NTCC)

Department of Labour & Industry Relation (DLIR)

National Narcotics Bureau

Department of Justice & Attorney General (DJAG)

Cocoa Coconut Industry

Kokonas Industri Koporation (KIK) & Cocoa Board

Office of Urbanization

Department of Lands

Border Development Authority (BDA)

Department of National Planning & Monitoring (DNPM),

Treasury and Department of Provincial Affairs (DPLGA)

Department of Public Enterprises

Department of Treasury

PNG Science Secretariat

Department of Higher Education Science and Technology (DHERST)

Source: Department of Treasury (2017 National Budget, Volume 1, Economic & Development Policies)

 

Picture credit: 2017 National Budget Press Lockup (Loop file photo)

Author: 
Cedric Patjole