scholarly journals Challenges to implementing of development plans at local-level government in Papua New Guinea

2015 ◽  
pp. 150-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Saimbel Barcson
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
Government Reforms ◽  
Infrastructure Services ◽  
Level Government

The 1995 local-level government reforms undertaken in Papua New Guinea (PNG) were largely in response to increasing concern that the public service was failing in its responsibility towards the people.  As a result, the 1995 Organic Law on Provincial and Local Governments (OLPLLG) was established.  The prime purpose of this was to address this issue through deeper engagement of the lower levels of government, particularly local-level governments (LLGs). Almost two decades on, poor socio-economic conditions and deterioration in infrastructure/services suggest that the proposed change has not materialised.  The purpose of this paper is to address the question of whether the lower tiers of government are capable of implementing the development plans under the reforms.  The paper finds that the 1995 reforms have made LLGs dependent upon their Joint District Planning and Budget Priorities Committee (JDP & BPC) and their district administration, which have become the main impediment to local government effectiveness.  This in turn has greatly hindered LLG capacity and has reinforced unequal relations, rather than assisting service delivery in PNG.  There is therefore a need to make LLGs more effective players.

scholarly journals Agriculture versus climate change – A narrow staple-based rural livelihood of Papua New Guinea is a threat to survival under climate change

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Patrick S. Michael
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Local Population ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Subsistence Agriculture ◽  
Underdeveloped Countries ◽  
The People ◽  
Rural Livelihood ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
Global And Local

This paper presents a synthesis related to the assessment of climate change and its impacts on productivity of staple crops in Papua New Guinea (PNG), paying close attention to the change in population in the next 80 years. As much as the changes in the climatic and environmental factors will affect agriculture, evidence available in the literature show increase in global and local population will put additional pressure on agriculture by competing with available land and other resources that support agricultural productivity. The developing and underdeveloped countries are considered to be largely vulnerable as more than 85% of the people depend on subsistence agriculture for rural livelihood. This synthesis showed more than 60–85% of the rural people in PNG depend on sweet potato, banana, Colocasia taro, and greater yam. Projection of the population showed there will be 22–31 million people by 2100 and will depend on narrow staple-based subsistence agriculture. The population projected means the density will be 42 people per km2, putting more pressure on limited land available. When that happens, PNG will not be prepared to mitigate, be resilient and adapt because of poor infrastructure, no development plans and lack of post-harvest technologies for loss management of the staples, most of which are root and tuber crops.

scholarly journals Can International Local Government Partnerships Make a Difference? Lessons from the Australia – Papua New Guinea Good Practice Scheme

2009 ◽  
pp. 68-91
Author(s):  
Donovan Storey
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Delivery Of Services ◽  
Successes And Failures

This article explores the contribution that local government to local government partnerships can make in bringing about more effective and sustained decentralisation through developing the capacity of local governments to deliver improved services to the communities they serve. After almost 15 years of decentralization many of Papua New Guinea’s local governments struggle to maintain essential functions. Building on existing relationships, the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme seeks to utilize the resources and knowledge of Australian local councils in partnership with those in Papua New Guinea to build capacity and improve the management and delivery of services to communities. This article examines the program to date, outlining both the successes and failures, but also the potential role such partnerships can play in the deepening of democratic governance at the local level.

scholarly journals Renewable Energy Attitudes and Behaviour of Local Governments in Poland

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2765
Author(s):  
Joanna Rakowska ◽  
Irena Ozimek
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Energy Behavior ◽  
Public Aid ◽  
Energy Projects

The deployment of renewable energy at the local level can contribute significantly to mitigating climate change, improving energy security and increasing social, economic and environmental benefits. In many countries local authorities play an important role in the local development, but renewable energy deployment is not an obligatory task for them. Hence there are two research questions: (1) Do local governments think investments in renewable energy (RE) are urgent and affordable within the local budgets? (2) How do they react to the public aid co-financing investments in renewable energy? To provide the answer we performed qualitative analysis and non-parametric tests of data from a survey of 252 local authorities, analysis of 292 strategies of local development and datasets of 1170 renewable energy projects co-financed by EU funds under operational programs 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 in Poland. Findings showed that local authorities’ attitudes were rather careful, caused by financial constraints of local budgets and the scope of obligatory tasks, which made renewable energy investments not the most urgent. Public aid was a factor significantly affecting local authorities’ behavior. It triggered local authorities’ renewable energy initiatives, increasing the number and scope of renewable energy investments as well cooperation with other municipalities and local communities. Despite this general trend, there were also considerable regional differences in local authorities’ renewable energy behavior.

Recent Changes in German Governmental Organization

1945 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-100
Author(s):  
Heinz Guradze
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Regional Labor ◽  
Economic Regions ◽  
The Military ◽  
Delegation Of Powers ◽  
Dominant Part

Within the last few years, changes have been carried out in the public administration of Germany which will affect the military government to be established during and after Germany's defeat. Their general trend has been to subordinate state (i.e., Reich, regional, and local) administration to the Party, which has been vested with more and more power. This is of particular interest in the light of the present “total mobilization,” in which the Party plays a dominant part. To some extent, the changes discussed in this note show a definite trend toward decentralization, although there has been no actual delegation of powers to smaller units, since all power remained in the hands of the Party—this being, of course, the reason why the Nazis could afford to “decentralize.” On the local level, the reforms aimed at tying together the loosening bonds between the régime and the people. Only the most recent emergency measures of “total mobilization” are touched on in this note.1. Gauarbeitsaemter. When the Reichsanstalt was created in 1927–28, the Reich was organized in 13 economic regions, each having one regional labor office (Landesarbeitsamt). The idea was to establish large economic districts containing various industries so that a crisis in one industry could be absorbed by the labor market of another within the same district, thus creating “ausgleichsfaehige Bezirke.”

Indigenous reporting of a national housing corporation

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Brown
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Local Level ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Corporation ◽  
Regulatory Instruments ◽  
National Housing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of reporting compliance achieved by the National Housing Corporation (NHC) of Papua New Guinea in terms of local indigenous reporting expectations. Design/methodology/approach Testing of a framework of indigenous accountability through indigenous enactments and regulations is conducted by textual analysis, which is informed by the theory of indigenous alternatives to assess the financial reporting compliance of the NHC of Papua New Guinea’s financial statements for years ending 2004-2013. Findings Documentary evidence of the state auditor reports of the NHC’s financial statements reveals that the corporation’s financial reports are not submitted for audit on a timely basis and receive disclaimed audit opinions. Despite the clear indigenous reporting expectations raised by local legislative and regulatory instruments, the NHC is unable or unwilling to provide an accurate account of their activities. Practical implications The lack of compliant reporting suggests that the planning, management and monitoring of the housing needs of residents of Papua New Guinea are compromised. There also appears merit in asking why parliament continues to fund the corporation given its difficulties in meeting local-level reporting expectations. Social implications The results have wider implications for the reporting ideologies of indigenous-run housing corporations operating in other developing countries. It might be fruitful to meet local reporting expectations before taking on the specialized reporting that accompanies introduced western-oriented policies on housing. Originality/value Accountability in relation to indigenous property management is constructed through a lens of reporting issues facing a developing country housing corporation.

scholarly journals Integration of the Urban Local Bodies for Disaster Mitigation in Aizawl City

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81
Author(s):  
Malsawmi Pachuau
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Management ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Rise ◽  
The People ◽  
Post Disaster

Local government plays an integral part in the mechanism of Disaster Management in Mizoram. The local bodies are the direct representatives of the local community and the local community places their full trust in them. Post disaster measures such as mock drills, training of search and rescue teams, physical and economic relief and rehabilitation are not something new to us, yet the aspect of disaster mitigation is something which has not bred familiarity among the Mizos. The need for sensitization of the public on the importance of Disaster Mitigation is a necessity. The saying ‘Earthquakes do not kill people; buildings do’ is pertinent in urban areas. Urban areas are congested and more prone to disasters. High rise buildings, squatter settlements due to high densities and low availability of land has endangered not just the lives of the public but has also caused a massive disturbance of the ecological system. The paper covers certain Acts and Regulations of the Aizawl Municipal Corporation dealing with structural mitigation and the detection of illegal construction, unsafe buildings, and encroachments on municipal and public properties. At the local level, the councillors are involved in making, unmaking and carrying out these rules and regulations, with direct bearing on the local people. The paper also gives an account of the need of reimplementation to generate awareness, knowledge and education on Disaster Management to the people of Mizoram.

scholarly journals Small Arms and Armed Violence in Papua New Guinea: Developing a demand-reduction agenda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bradley James Gibbons
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Level ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
National Government ◽  
Community Groups ◽  
Small Arms ◽  
Demand Reduction ◽  
Armed Violence ◽  
Light Weapons

<p>The Papua New Guinea government has adopted a range of measures aimed at reducing the supply of illicit small arms and light weapons in response to persistent problems with their use in inter-communal fighting and crime. However, these measures have been largely ineffective at reducing the level of armed violence in PNG, in part because of the failure to also address the demand that exists for these weapons. A nascent demand reduction agenda has emerged at the local level throughout Papua New Guinea in response to the failure of the national government to adequately address small arms and armed violence problems. This thesis provides a detailed overview of national, regional and international initiatives to address small arms issues and examines how they have been implemented in PNG. It then examines initiatives by local community groups and NGOs that are aimed at reducing small arms and armed violence and considers how successful they have been.</p>

scholarly journals Power, pork and patronage: Decentralisation and the politicisation of the development budget in Papua New Guinea

1970 ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Allen ◽  
Zahid Hasnain
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
State Development ◽  
Patronage Politics ◽  
History Of

This paper examines a number of recent empirical studies of local-level decision-making in relation to development planning and, especially, the allocation of state development funds in Papua New Guinea. The discussion is framed by the extensive theoretical and Papua New Guinea literature on patronage politics and political culture, by the recent history of decentralisation reforms, and by the frequently articulated, but largely anecdotal, observations about the functioning of district and local-level governance processes.In contrast to the anecdotal vision of widespread and chronic dysfunctionality, the studies considered here paint a picture of considerable spatial and regional variation. We offer some tentative hypotheses to explain this variation, while flagging the need for more empirical work. We outline how these preliminary findings have informed a program of research that is currently being undertaken at the district and local government levels with a view to gaining a better understanding of the extent and nature of spatial variation in the local-level governance of state development funds in Papua New Guinea.

scholarly journals Governance at the Local Level in Melanesia – Absent the State

2009 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hegarty
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Informal Governance ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Decentralised Systems ◽  
Tier System

At independence the three Melanesian states of the Pacific Islands region – Papua New Guinea (1975), Solomon Islands (1978) and Vanuatu (1980) – opted for decentralised systems of government. In all cases a three-tier system of national, provincial and local government was introduced, although the specific arrangements and allocation of powers differed substantially. Since that time there has been a good deal of analysis about the policy processes of decentralisation itself and about the effectiveness (or otherwise) of national-level governance in these countries; but until recently little has been written about the lower levels.This short article surveys some of the recent research and commentary on local-level governance relating particularly to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands. It focuses on both the poor condition of formal local-level government as well as on the rise of informal governance-type activity at the local level which might be described as ‘civil society in formation’.

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