Prime Minister, James Marape says the Government will work closely with provinces to build the potential they have in investment and growth.
“The more we take back from our resources, we put into a basket, and we deliver to all parts of our country, fairly, equally and equitably.
“Equitably, means you must contribute, in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, provincial governors must lead from the front,” he said.
Prime Minister Marape said this when speaking about autonomy, where provinces must have the ability to raise revenue.
He wants to partner with provinces to reform our provincial government system, so that they are not just a call center or expenditure center but making money from resources in provinces.
“We will have a holistic review into the functionality of our provincial governments. We will look into the context of autonomy and what potential it has for us going forward.
“It must be a functional autonomy, where you must be able to raise revenue at the provincial levels. You send the residual to the national government and that the rest you keep to finance your provincial functions,” said PM Marape.
He added that this is an important intention, which will strengthen the provincial governments to be more self-reliant and explore ways of sustaining themselves instead of waiting for the national government to fund their operations.