By GINNAH MINI
Namatanai MP Walter Schnaubelt has presented the Namatanai District Development Authority’s (DDA) District Service Improvement Program (DSIP) Acquittals for 2025 to the Department of Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD).
DIRD will assess the acquittals and advise whether to inspect development progress to ensure that DSIP and Provincial Services Improvement Program (PSIP) are contributing to the development of Namatanai District and New Ireland Province.
Mr Schnaubelt said his team had furnished and presented the 2025 DSIP acquittals as a mandatory requirement under the Service Improvement Program (SIP) administrative guideline and it’s Financial Instructions (FI).
For the year 2025, Namatanai DDA received a total of K9 million, which was shared under the following sectors:
- Administration – K967,000
- Health – K145,000
- Economic – K929,000
- Education – K2.1 million
- Law & Order – K500,000
- Infrastructure – K6 million
Mr Schnaubelt said that due to the untimely disbursement of DSIP funds, most projects in the district were ongoing.
DIRD Secretary Aihi Vaki commended Mr Schnaubelt for the acquittals and said that DIRD only concerned about the physical delivery of the projects.
“Election is coming up, it’s good to tidy up your backyard, so I encourage other provincial MP’s to do the same (provide DSIP acquittals),” Mr Vaki said. “We need to see the outcome of the projects and impacts of the funds.
“The SIP, DSIP, and PSIP can change faces of the districts and provinces and the country can change in no time if the 96 districts and 22 provinces use the funds wisely.”
Mr Vaki urged other MPs to present their districts acquittals to ensure there was transparency and accountability of public funds.