Exploring the Relationship between the Level of Stakeholder Participation and Local-Level Government Performance in Papua New Guinea: The Case of Wampar Local Level Government in Morobe Province

Abstract

The position of the authors of this article is that local community stakeholder participation is vital for successful community development reform of service delivery. In our view critics of public service delivery in Papua New Guinea (PNG) ought to appreciate that the degree of stakeholder participation in enhancing the delivery of basic services is necessary so that intended government reforms in service delivery may be further developed and justified both within and outside of government so as to attract the financial and skill capacities needed by local governments. Stakeholder participation and local-level government management in PNG under the current reform initiatives need to be evaluated to assess the contribution of citizens to the performance of Local-Level Government (LLG) in Papua New Guinea. Research on seven cases of wards in Wampar LLG in Morobe Province (PNG) using the case study method reveals that stakeholder participation in Local-level Government (LLG) is both present to some degree and is vital for effective community development in PNG and other developing countries with needs similar to Papua New Guinea.