Jayapura, June 16, 2010 – The Papua Provincial Government and Cendrawasih University, together with the World Bank, today launched the 2009 Papua Public Expenditure Analysis at an event in Jayapura. The launch was attended by representatives from the local government as well as donors and civil society organizations. The 2009 Papua Public Expenditure Analysis is a Papua Provincial Government initiative funded by the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Development. It is the result of intensive collaboration between Cendrawasih University and the World Bank Indonesia team for Public Expenditure and Capacity Harmonization.
The 2009 Papua Public Expenditure Analysis is the second of its kind and highlights the progress that has been made since the 2005 analysis was published, including improvements in public financial management and public service delivery.
- Papua’s budget is now more people-oriented, with allocations for education, health and infrastructure all increasing since 2005 – rates of literacy, life expectancy and roads infrastructure have each improved during the period
- Public financial management is becoming increasingly integrated and work has commenced on establishing revenue-generating provincial enterprises
Earlier today, the Head of Papua Province’s Development Planning Agency, Alex Rumaseb said on behalf of the Governor of Papua, Barnabas Suebu that “I especially appreciate and say thank you to the World Bank / SOfEI and the research team for their cooperation. I hope this cooperation can be continued and enhanced in the future”.
World Bank Indonesia Economist Bastian Zaini added that, “We understand the depth of the challenge but we have seen some progress, such as greater allocations to strategic sectors. Also in terms of accountability, we are glad to see that Papua has received a qualified opinion from the Supreme Audit Agency.”
In addition to highlighting Papua’s recent achievements, the 2009 Papua Public Expenditure Analysis also details a range of recommendations, which include:
- Increasing locally-generated revenues and allocating greater resources toward sectors that will stimulate economic activity;
- Rationalizing the public service and enhancing its public financial management capacity;
- Enhancing coordination between the provincial and district governments, and improving the quality of their planning and budget documents; and
- Improving the transparency and efficiency of the management of Special Autonomy funds (OTSUS).
The World Bank’s Public Expenditure Analysis and Capacity Harmonization (PEACH) program supports committed local governments to increase the effectiveness of their development planning, budgeting and budget implementation. PEACH uses simple analytical tools to evaluate and identify ways to improve planning and budgeting processes. These findings are then translated into policy changes or capacity building activities.
