The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) yesterday took a major step towards improving accountability and transparency in the management of public funds through the introduction of an online financial management system.
The Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), introduced by the Department of Finance, was launched at the Konedobu Police Headquarters in Port Moresby yesterday.
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The system replaces the previous Papua New Guinea Government Accounting System and is designed to streamline financial processes, improve reporting and reduce delays in payments to suppliers and service providers.
Under the new system, payments will be processed electronically and transferred directly to suppliers’ bank accounts, reducing delays that previously took three, seven or even 30 days.
It will also facilitate payments to overseas suppliers and service providers.
For foreign currency transactions, payments will be made through a Bank of Papua New Guinea suspense account, where funds will be converted into the required currency and transferred.
However, some overseas payments may still experience delays due to differences in the systems and procedures used by foreign institutions.
Deputy Secretary Support Services of the Department of Finance, Gabi Kila, said the system was designed to improve accountability and transparency by giving authorized officers access to information on the management of public funds.
Mr. Kila said the system integrated several public finance functions, including accounting, reporting and budgeting, with the current focus on accounting and reporting.
He said the online system would allow financial transactions to be processed and reported more efficiently.
“Instead of raising cheques, we have introduced the Electronic Service Payment (ESP) system,” he said.
Mr. Kila said the system was expected to significantly reduce the time taken to process payments once finance personnel became familiar with it.
“Turnaround time for getting payments will be cut down from two days, three days, even seven days. It will be by seconds and minutes,” he said.
He said the IFMS was an integrated financial management system covering public finance functions and was not a payroll system.
Mr. Kila acknowledged that challenges could arise during the implementation of the system, including network connectivity and technical issues.
“I know there will be challenges along the way. The system is not going to be perfect, and we may experience some difficulties, including network connectivity and system issues,” he said.
He said the Department of Finance had not experienced security issues after implementing the system in about 18 national departments, although security remained an important consideration.
Kila said the department would continue to address security challenges as they arose.
He also said all government departments and agencies were expected to be integrated into the system by November 2027, unless critical issues prevented implementation.
The Department of Finance team, together with its information technology personnel and technical support partners, would provide training and ongoing assistance to RPNGC personnel.
Mr. Kila urged police personnel to report any difficulties promptly to ensure issues could be addressed without affecting payments and services.
He said delays in communication could affect both service providers and the organization.
Assistant Commissioner for Human Resources of the RPNGC, Gaiwary Tinga, said the new system would help the police force speed up its activities and improve operational efficiency.
“We are a big organization, and most of the time, the cheque payment process slows down our activities. This affects our operations, particularly police operations and the provision of support services and other benefits required to support the organization,” Mr. Tinga said.
He said the police force had been directed by its executive management to accept the change and ensure the system was adopted across the organization.
“All our finance and administrative personnel, together with some of our senior officers present here, have been directed to learn as much as possible and take this change on board to help move the organization forward,” he said.
Mr. Tinga thanked the Department of Finance for its support and said the RPNGC would continue to seek assistance as personnel familiarized themselves with the new processes.
He acknowledged that police personnel were not primarily trained in finance and that administrative staff were still learning the system.
“Whenever we encounter problems, we will continue to come to you for assistance and ongoing support until such time that we become familiar with and understand the system better,” he said.
Tinga said the launch marked the beginning of further improvements in the management of the police force’s financial operations.