“Lack of Good Governance is one of the main contributing factor of corruption – and why Papua New Guinea is below the satisfactory levels set by the United Nations.”
This was remarked by the Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Conservation Simo Kilepa, when he is opened a 4-day awareness, testing and familiarization of the Bilum Platform, for sub-national administrations from Eastern Highlands, Simbu and Jiwaka in Goroka.
The Bilum Platform initiative was built by incorporating the governance framework of the service improvement program (SIP), at the both the Provincial & District Levels (PSIP & DSIP) to ensure & maintain compliance.
“I perceived that this Bilum Digital Platform will aid effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the SIP funds. All of this is part of good governance and to address abuse and mismanagement of development SIP funds.”
The Bilum Platform will be introduced by the Department of Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD) and is said to strengthen accountability, transparency and ultimately improve service delivery for our rural majority.
“The Bilum Digital Platform has the capacity to report on other development programs like Public Investment Programs, Section 119 and Section 114 reports though we have jurisdictional boundaries that guide these reports.”
He said over the years, SIP had done wonders in some provinces and districts but there was no visibility of impact development and service delivery for others.
He said the Government of PNG in its quest to improve good governance initiated countless legislative and structural reforms, but all these initiatives need real time data to make appropriate decisions and to assess if these reforms are working or not.
“Bilum Digital Platform is leading in this space to capture the development and service delivery data across the 22 provinces and 96 districts, and I think that it will be the second biggest Integrated Information Management System to Integrated Financial Management System- IFMS in this country.”
The Minister said DIRD Bilum Digital Platform promises to be the cornerstone for the future National Monitoring Authority under Medium Term Development Plan 4.
Mr. Kilepa further added that the role of DIRD in overseeing, coordinating, and reporting the GoPNG’s policies and priority programs, specifically SIP, is no small feat but they’ve understood the challenges and are not acting upon these challenges through collaboration with stakeholders.
The Digital Platform Reporting system is funded by the GoPNG and Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.