The Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey has approved the New Ireland Provincial budget of K271 million. This includes K160 million of national government funding, a significant increase from K146 million in 2018. In addition, GST payments to New Ireland’s internal revenue have nearly quadrupled from K3 million in 2018 to an estimated K11.7 million in 2020. The Treasurer said “New Ireland is blessed with resources. Unlike many other smaller provinces, we are blessed with the resources from our mines, especially Lihir. Indeed, mining revenues have increased from K35 million in 2018 to an estimated K45 million in 2020. The mines also support the Province in other practical ways such as the fantastic work that is being through the WFA Buying Point which buys crops from local farmers and sells them to the National Catering Services (NCS) which provides catering for the Lihir gold mine. The Treasurer encouraged the Provincial Government to be inclusive in the distribution of funding across the Province. It was important to ensure that people were not denied their basic services but receive their fair share including of mining royalty funding. “I urge the Provincial Government to work more closely with the National Department of Planning and Monitoring. There is considerable scope to strengthen positive partnerships in this area, including support for Vision 2050. Cooperation with the Planning Department can only increase New Ireland’s share of the national Public Investment Program (PIP). This is a very large program. The national PIP program is budgeted to grow from K4,715 million in the 2019 Supplementary Budget to K6,281 million in 2020 and to K8,585 million by 2024. New Ireland must be smart to ensure it gets its share of this rapidly expanding national development pie. “The total spending on development activities in New Ireland from 2007 to currently is estimated in the Provincial Budget speech to be over K1 billion. I encourage the Provincial Government to focus more on community awareness of how this K1 billion has been spent and the benefits of where all the funds have gone. “New Ireland is of course a place I hold particularly dear. I love its people, its beauty and its potential. It is an honour to support the budget as presented to me” stated the Treasurer, Ian Ling-Stuckey. next : Author Somare Appears Before UBS Loan Inquiry Comments are closed.
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