The West Sepik Provincial Administration has asked that government projects in the province be continued.
Provincial Administrator Conrad Tilau and his team met with secretary for National Planning and Monitoring Koney Samuel in Port Moresby recently to present to him the province’s 5-year development plan.
The provincial administrator said projects captured in the document are those that they believe provide the right environment for economic development, such as transport infrastructure.
“We hope to open up the province to have access to Vanimo and maybe Wewak. Also, our economic projects for instance, cocoa development and capturing oil palm development.
“We are also looking at how we can work and benefit from opening up of the border between between PNG and Indonesia. We hope we can develop in the next three to five years,” Tilau said.
One other significant key area captured are development projects the national government has been implementing, with key development partners.
“We want to thank the national government for funding some of the key infrastructure projects in the province. We want these projects to continue and be completed for instance the international airport development, the international wharf and airport. There are also ongoing projects like the hospital,” Tilau said.
Secretary Samuel said each district and provincial plan must be aligned to the Medium Term Development Plan III, for key indicators to be delivered within the given five years.
He said: “Basically it must fit with the Medium Term Development Plan III, and as soon as we see that the plan is in order, then we approve or endorse the plan and respecting provinces and districts can launch their plans and implement them.”
He said so far 59 districts have submitted their plans and launched them. There are an outstanding 30 districts.
For provinces, only 15 have submitted to date.