ANTHONY KAYBING
THE Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is embarking on measures to improve the efficiency, transparency and accountability of the Bougainville public service.
ABG chief secretary Joseph Nobetau said 2017 will be a period of consolidation and growth and the public service will position itself to respond efficiently and transparently to ever-increasing demands on government.
“Planning is the cornerstone of good governance,” Mr Nobetau said. “By undertaking planning we are able to identify priorities, determine actions and create a benchmark to measure progress.
“This is particularly important in a small and relatively young public service such as ours.”.
Mr Nobetau noted the need to clearly document corporate and strategic goals.
He emphasised that the corporate planning process must be undertaken at an agency level where each ABG department determines its key priorities for the year.
This requires ABG departments to undertake a comprehensive analysis of strengths and weaknesses along with opportunities and threats, and allows all departmental heads to determine how best to move forward with their initiatives that will deliver on the expectations of the ABG.
Mr Nobetau has already informed all departmental heads to identify the top four priorities for their departments.
“This is the first part of the planning process, once this has occurred I will ask that the departmental heads convene planning workshops to map out a plan for the year ahead,” he said.
“This is an opportunity to determine our own fate as Bougainville and I ask that all public servants participate and contribute, it must be a collective approach if we are to succeed.”