THE Department of National Planning & Monitoring is aiming to get all Provincial and District Development Plans in the country aligned to the Medium Term Development Plan IV (MTDP IV) 2023-2027 by November 2023.
To achieve this, the department had commenced regional alignment consultative workshops covering all four regions in the country.
Highlands and Momase Alignment Workshops were conducted from 16th to 20th October in Mt. Hagen and Madang respectively by mobilizing all provinces and districts in the regions to fully align their five years development plans to MTDP IV framework.
Deputy Secretary for Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Mr Michael Kumung said the MTDP IV has been designed differently to the past plans with more focus on development in the provinces and districts.
He said the basic minimum services standards have been identified under the Service Delivery Framework for all provinces and districts to deliver over the next 5 years.
Mr. Kumung who is also the team leader for the regional alignment workshops said, all citizens in the country deserve the right to have access to basic necessities such as clean and safe drinking water, basic primary health care and facilities, early childhood and primary education, technical and skills training, access to transport connectivity, electricity, communication, financial services and markets.
“It is time we must now focus on changing the stories of our peoples’ living situations and give them every access and opportunities to enjoy their lives,” he said.
Mr Kumung said the Marape-Rosso Government is now focusing on transforming rural districts and communities through MTDP IV with increased funding allocations of PSIP and DSIP, District Infrastructure funding, sectoral programs, and facilitation of development support programs provided by development partners and others.
“The MTDP IV Alignment Plans is very important for all provinces and districts to identify their specific infrastructures, facilities and services that must be properly planned and aligned to the MTDP IV Strategic Priority Areas (SPAs) and their respective Deliberate Intervention Programs (DIPs) for the next 5 years, so that financial resources are mobilized according to the plan to achieve the desired outcomes.”
The deputy secretary informed the participants of Highlands and Momase Alignment workshops that the 2024 National Budget is the first budget under MTDP IV and the Government is serious about funding the plan to achieve its development targets.
The Highlands and Momase Alignment workshops ended successfully on Friday October 20 with the draft of all provincial and district plans developed.
Meanwhile, the MTDP IV Alignment Workshops for Southern and New Guinea Islands Regions are currently running in Port Moresby and Kokopo respectively and will end on Friday October 27.
