Barnabas Yenowi | The National
PAPUA New Guinea stands at an important political crossroads as citizens increasingly question traditional election promises and demand greater accountability from their leaders.
Across mainstream media and social platforms, many voters are expressing frustration with repeated claims of neglect and last-minute development initiatives that appear only before elections.
For many Papua New Guineans, the focus is shifting from political slogans to measurable results.
TVWAN Online News | 11th July 2026
Districts Development Authorities (DDAs) are now part of the Papua LNG Development Forum for the first time in a major LNG project in the country. The DDAs will represent landowners outside the host district in the benefits sharing agreement of the US$14.5 billion Papua LNG Development.
Editorial | The National | July 2, 2026
If it were within our power, we would call for a cessation of payment of all Services Improvement Programme (SIP) funds 12 months before any national elections.
There are two related reasons for our proposal.
Firstly, the funds will most certainly be directed to politically convenient avenues, including non-existent projects, just to garner support for the elections.
Eddie Tanago Paine | ACT NOW!
District Development Authorities were established in 2014 by Act of Parliament with the intention to decentralise powers and functions of government and key government agencies to lower levels.
It was done with good intentions, I would assume.
However, there are a number of issues that exists within DDAs and how they are operated.
One major issue is transparency and accountability in planning, expenditure and reporting.
Editorial | The National
THE Constitutional and Law Reform Commission (CLRC) has announced that consultations over a review of the laws on district development authorities (DDA) are expected to start soon.
As the mandated agency tasked to review and reforms laws in Papua New Guinea, the CLRC is expected to identify the necessary legislative and policy reforms that would address the various legal social and economic issues to the implementation of the roles and responsible of DDAs.
Reginal Renagi | The National
PRIME Minister James Marape recently stressed the importance of accountability and the proper use of public funds.
The fair distribution of District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP) and Provincial Services Improvement Programme (PSIP) funding to both Government and Opposition MPs reflects a positive democratic principle: national development should not depend on political loyalty.
Every district and province deserves equal opportunity for progress.
However, equitable funding alone is insufficient.
The National | 11th May, 2026
PEOPLE must demand accountability from their Members of Parliament (MPs) as districts and provinces have received “substantial funding” through their services improvement programme (SIP) funds, Prime Minister James Marape says.
Speaking at Bialla in Nakanai, West New Britain on Friday, Marape warned that citizens would increasingly demand accountability from MPs ahead of General Election 2027.
“By 2027, districts would have received between K70 million and K100 million,” he said.
“The people must see the work.
Editorial | The National | Wednesday 25th March, 2026
THE World Bank this week revealed two of the most significant flaws in PNG government financing arrangement in this country since Independence.
The first is an issue this newspaper has raised often in this space. This is the matter of the provincial and districts services improvement programme funds.
That second has to do with tax exemptions that the government seems to offer willy-nilly to all and sundry as incentives.
The National | February 3, 2026
THE Government has paid a whopping K1.162 billion last year to provinces and districts in service improvement funds that are under the control of Members of Parliament.
Finance Minister Thomas Opa said yesterday that no district and province had been left out in its Provincial (PSIP) and District Service Improvement Programme (DSIP) allocation of K10 million each.
He said the Finance Department payment records confirmed that it paid out K960 million to the 96 districts and K220 million to the 22 provinces.
By POSTCOURIER ONLINE | NOVEMBER 25, 2025 at 1:51 am
Prime Minister James Marape has emphasized the Government’s commitment to strengthening provincial health systems, releasing detailed funding figures and directing that all future district-level health investments in Hela Province must be channeled directly through the Hela Provincial Health Authority (PHA).
Cathy Tukne
This week, the government said to present the 2026 National Budget. Once again, the people of Papua New Guinea are bracing for promises of change.
The budget will include K20 million for each district through Service Improvement Programs known as DSIP and DIP. This money is meant for improving basic services like health, education, and roads in the community.
REPORTING of public funds by district administrations and other government agencies should remain a priority, says Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD) acting secretary Aihi Vaki.
Vaki said provincial and district administrators should not submit implementation reports simply because DIRD and the Ombudsman Commission (OC) are asking for the acquittals.
POST-COURIER | NOVEMBER 11, 2025 at 4:06 am
THE country’s audit office has failed to audit over K5 billion in district, provincial, statutory, and departmental budgets since 2024 due to chronic underfunding and management challenges, including the head of the office reportedly being sick.
And the Ombudsman Commission has called for all Members of Parliament, including Governors, to acquit their 2024 PSIP and DSIP funds by March 31, 2025, to ensure transparency and accountability
The National | Editorial | 2nd October 2025
AS PNG begins its next set of 50 years, adjustments, reviews and structural changes must be made to those laws, policies, systems, processes and institutions that have been found wanting in the first half century of independence.
One of them must be the District Development Authority.
In the first instance it is a legal anomaly, an aberration of sorts.
The National
MORE than K830 million in Government funds allocated to provinces and districts remain unaudited, according to the department of Implementation and Rural Development monthly report.
It blames this on the lack of proper oversight and accountability on the Provincial Service Improvement Programme (PSIP) and the District Service Improvement Programme (DSIP) funding.
Since 2018, 163 reports are yet to be provided for assessment. They include 74 DSIP and 19 PSIP reports yet to be submitted.