The mass rollout of ward governance mentoring in East New Britain in the past two weeks is an eye-opener for most members of Ward Development Committees (WDC) especially on the demarcation of roles and responsibilities.
The 21 days ward governance mentoring and WDC setup program initiated by the Division of Districts and LLGs Affairs under the ENB Provincial Administration is to address the weak system of governance displayed at the ward level.
On Thursday (Nov 24), the Balanataman LLG in Rabaul District successfully hosted a swearing-in occasion for 126 officials from its 18 wards. The officials included 18 ward members, 18 ward recorders and 90 chairpersons of sub-committees of identified priority government sectors including health, education, infrastructure, law and order, economic development.
Benson Papua, Chairman Infrastructure under the Volavolo/ Clifton Resettlement WDC said he was happy with the approach taken on by ENBPA to strengthen ward governance and clear the confusion regarding respective roles by committees under the WDC
“My sector has discussed many projects that we must initiate in our ward. In the past we did not know how to get funding for projects but the mentoring exercise has empowered us with information on which process to follow,” Mr Papua said.
John Burua, ward recorder for ward 1 Ratung said the mentoring training now clarifies and sets the different committees apart to place them in their rightful place to perform their roles in the WDC.
“Many times people think ward members must deal with all issues faced in the ward not knowing the ward member is just the chairman for WDC which makes decision on development issues in the ward. In turn, ward members must not be confused on their roles so they can delegate,” Mr Burua said.
For Robert Egan, chairman for law and order Tavui 2 WDC, he said the training clearly spells out roles and will help him to perform his role in his ward, to maintain peace and harmony.
Kunera Felix, ward recorder for economics sector under Volavolo WDC has served in this position for a term saying for the past two years, she has been confused over her role.
“This training has helped me to know my boundaries and not to bypass my duties. Now I will tackle some issues that concerns my sector which deals with generating internal revenue for my ward, which has never eventuated,” Mrs Felix said.