76% of people surveyed do not understand national budget

The survey aims to find out whether citizens understand the contents of the national budget, simply where the government is spending their money annually.

Out of the 76%, which makes up a total of over 380 people, 10% said they do not care if they do not know about the national budget.

Some belief that the national budget document is for parliamentarians only.

However, the other 90% said they would like to know more about the national budget.

118 participants out of the 512 participants said they have read the national budget, and they said they were able to access the document via a government office, through family and friends and from the internet.

When asked how they comprehend the document, 77% said they found it difficult to understand.

Only 5% out of all the participants said they understand the document.

Other simple questions as: Do you know which ministry has the highest budget? Do you know the budget of a service that concerns you? Do you know the national revenue of 2017? were asked in the survey.

The majority gave a negative response, which is “No”.

These figures are worrying, said the Chairperson of TIV Dr Willie Tokon.

“If the survey was conducted in a very remote area it will certainly give a much lower result’, he said.

People need to be informed so that they can hold the government accountable and claim what they need, he stressed.

It’s a sad truth that many people still do not have an idea of what a national budget is, how much money is being spend in their constituencies or the services that concerns them, said Media Personal and Municipal Councillor, Moses Stevens.

“Many people still do not realized that it is their right to keep track of where their money is going.

“An individual citizen has the right to hold government accountable and get answers from civil servants or political leaders on any issue”, he said.

Without access to information and transparency, there will be no meaningful participation of citizens in governance process, said Wilson Toa from TIV.

The survey covered public servants, public transport owners, religious leaders, domestic workers, community leaders, religious leaders, business owners, sports athletes, people with disability, youth and youth leaders.

Funded by UNDP, UNODC, UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project ,the Citizens Budget Project aims to develop Vanuatu’s first ever ‘Citizen Budget’, a simplified version of the actual national budget that will be approved by the parliament later this year.

The Citizen Budget will be presented in a much simpler and less technical way for the public to understand.

Partners in this project include the Governments Right To Information Unit, and Department of Finance which provided insightful points during a workshop that was organized for the project’s 20 research assistants.

TIV Project Officer Kevin Henry assured continuous partnership until the projects objectives are materialized for the benefit of the people.