This is a continuation of a series of discussion around the concept of establishing Informal Economy Vendors Association (IEVA) in Papua New Guinea. Part 1 provided a background to the IEVA concept, part 2 explained the methodology and outlined the literature review. In this final part of the paper I provide my arguments of why PNG needs to organise informal economy vendors/participants into Informal Economy Vendors Associations. I conclude my discussion with a list of recommendations or wayforward.
Note: Discussions are extracted from a research paper written by Busa Jeremiah Wenogo as a partial fulfillment of the requirements of the NRI Diploma in Economic Policy Analysis Course of 2016
5. Discussion
In
this paper the proposed informal economy vendors associations covers every
sub-sector of the informal economy and it’s not limited to betelnut and
cigarettes sellers or market vendors for that matter. Beyond the betelnut and
cigarette vendors there are vendors who are engaged in varieties of informal
economic activities in the agriculture, artisan and crafts, floriculture and
horticulture industry. Outside of the markets there are street vendors, mobile
traders and peddlers who specialised in certain trades. At any one time any of
these sub-sector of the informal economy can organise themselves into a vendors
association to promote their trades and protect their interest. In essence,
informal economy vendors association is an attempt to “organize” the
“unorganised” informal economy for the purpose of influencing policy and
legislative reforms that will promote the interest of the informal economy in
PNG. At present informal economic activities in PNG are conducted without
proper control in place to curb its problems. In addition, being unorganised
informal economy participants are not able to band together as a group to
demand or voice their concern on issues of importance to them. The need to
introduce and strengthen a mechanism to allow better representation of the
informal economy participants in governance at the local government level was
one of the key recommendations of the CIMC Commissioned PNG Informal Sector
Study(Eugenio, 2001) .Furthermore the NRI
study on rural informal sector (economy) in PNG highlighted that 90% of the
respondents indicated having received no form of assistance. It attributes this
to the absence of institutions that are mandated to disseminate such
information(Sowei, Vatnabar,
& Lahari, 2010) . It highlights a gap in terms of
informal economy centred institutional set-up. Churches, schools, LLG,
councillors and non-government organization operating in most rural areas are
not able to address issues affecting the rural informal economy. The breakdown and
non-existence of cooperative societies further compounds the problem. This
demonstrates that the informal economy is operating in an institutional vacuum
or gap without any link to and is not represented in existing governance
structures. Thus informal workers are constrained by a lack of voice (in
opportunities to exercise influence and bargaining power), visibility (in data
and evidence on informal work) and validity (in legal identity and
recognition). These mutually reinforcing constraints mean that the informal
economy participants are not supported, represented and their contributions to
national and local economies go unrecognized and undervalued.(Klugman & Tyson, 2016) .
Thus
the
objective of creating informal economy vendors associations is to enhance
representation of interest groups involved in the informal economy in the
decision making processes of government at all levels so that harmonious
relationships are created in order for informal economy to be recognized and
provided a space to thrive alongside the formal sector. [b1] The
establishment of informal economy vendors associations is vital as most of the
vendors are aware of the importance and benefits of being organized, in terms
of being able to get assistance or aid from the government, obtaining vital
information and sharing it with the members, and being able to protect the
rights of the members(Eugenio, 2001) . Obviously
there is a danger that such a mechanism would come to be dominated by a
small group of big operators whose interests might be in opposition to those of
small operators. That is something that will require consistent feedback from
members of the associations about the running of the associations. This may
well be addressed through having a lean organizational structure (rather than a
more cumbersome and complex structure) that has a very effective network with
its memberships. This entails the free flow of information between it and its
memberships. However, this is an area that would require further research to
ensure that the chosen institution advocates and actions fairness and equity at
all cost.
5.1 Country Case Studies of Vendors Associations
This section summarises findings from
studies(Iriarte Quezada,
2014) ,
(Kusakabe, 2006) and update from(Kaugla &
Cheong, 2016) .
Case
Study 1
Country:
India
Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
Established
in 1972, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is a “movement” of
self-employed women in rural and urban India, and is the largest trade union of
the country. It has pioneered the empowerment of self-employed women and of
women employed in informal economy enterprises (i.e., small, unregistered
enterprises) and where 93 per cent of India’s female labour force is employed. SEWA
not only provides a voice to the numerous yet unprotected women workers, but
also seeks to ensure work and income security, food security and social
security for all its members and to promote women’s leadership at the micro,
meso and macro levels.
SEWA’s
key activities consist of organizing self-employed women to promote their
collective strength, cooperation and leadership at the grassroots level through
unions, cooperatives, producer groups and networks; facilitating their access
to social security and social protection through social service organizations;
advocating better social protection and labour standards for them at the macro-level;
and building their capacity through formal education and professional training.
Case
Study 2:
Country:
Cambodia
The Vendors Association
Having
a precarious status in the public place and at the same time being unable able
to build relationships of trust with other street vendors makes street vendors
very vulnerable to shock, since they have few people to rely on. The Vendors’
Association, organized in 1994, was an attempt to build 19 Country cases
relationships among vendors. Kusakabe et al.’s (2001) study showed that
association members displayed a higher sense of reciprocity, cooperation and
mutual help and hope for the future as compared to non-members. They also had a
higher sense of trust in the state and social system, and showed more
engagement in improving their and their fellow vendors’ livelihoods. The study
suggested that one of the ways to foster self-governance in street vending is
to strengthen such associations.
Case
Study 3
Country:
Papua New Guinea
UNWomen/NCDC Safe Cities Market Project – Lessons from Gerehu
and Gordons Market (Port Moresby)
In
addressing the issue of organising the informal economy participants into
vendors associations in PNG, UNWomen working in partnership with the National
Capital District Commission (NCDC) through the Safe Cities Market Project has
been able to undertake vendor identification and registration exercises which
have laid the platform for organizing vendors into groups (associations). The
two organisations then facilitated the election of executives for these groups.
The associations are supported by the NCDC Gender Desk which provides technical
guidance and logistic support. As of 2014 the project has covered the Gerehu
and Gordons Market and estimates are that the project has already created 14-17
vendor groups covering about 1500 vendors. Through the project women market
vendors have opened up basic savings accounts to save their daily takings. Basic
financial literacy training, and other types of training are also organized for
the registered vendors.The NCDC is able to collect fees through a Billpay
system although this is not currently used, and is separate to the vendors’
association.Through the vendors’ association, NCDC is able to communicate more
effectively through regular meetings. In addition, the vendors were also
consulted during the recent drafting of the Markets Policy and Markets Bylaws. Financial
institutions are also able to work with the vendors association to facilitate
financial literacy training (Kaugla &
Cheong, 2016) .
Lessons
learnt from this project can be extended with the establishment of informal
economy vendors associations which will have a broader focus. This is important
because the government is now at the threshold of creating a “national law” on
the informal economy. (Constitutional
and Law Reform Commission, 2014) . Thus lessons learnt
from this project needs to be replicated to other provinces albeit an increase
in the scope or focus given that the UNWomen/NCDC Safe Cities Market project
only focuses on addressing violence inflicted on women and girls in the
informal markets. Outside of the markets there are countless of peddlers and
mobile traders made up of self-employed men, women and youths who ply their
trades openly. This category of informal economy are at high risk of falling
victim to violence and abuse from criminals, police, enforcement authorities
such as the Betelnut Ban enforcers and the public at large(Kusakabe, 2006) . Most of them are
also “bread winners” of their family and they like the women in the informal
markets also need to be heard and represented. This is where the proposed
informal economy vendors associations can be their “mouthpiece” to bargain and
negotiate for a fairer deal. An association that represents the interest of the
informal economy participants can also project a “common voice” beyond ethnic
and socio-economic affiliation. A recent scoping study conducted by UNWomen
under its Safe Cities Market project found that there are limited organised
groups within the markets and the few existing grassroots organisations are
generally fractioned and divided by ethnicity. Market vendors associations are
non-existent which makes it harder for vendors at the market to voice their
concerns and demand their rights with local level government and the markets
management(UNWomen, 2011) . Also important to
include are concerns of informal economy participants operating outside of open
markets such as home based industries like cooking, sewing, room letting
and tuckshop owners.
5.2 Challenges confronting the proposed Informal Economy Vendors Associations
The
organization of the informal economy into the proposed informal economy vendors
associations is not the panacea to addressing problems plaguing the informal
economy. For a start, there is a high possibility that such an idea may become
a political football if executives of the association are easily moved by
political interest (Bhowmik, 2005) . Internally, there
is a danger of fragmentation where a small minority of members in collaboration
with the executives could dominate the association. Most often is the case the
formation of informal economy vendors associations does not guarantee automatic
recognition and support from the government. In some countries like Bangladesh
political parties continue to render lip service to street vendors although
they are organised into associations(Bhowmik, 2005) . To gain recognition
from the government the associations will have to conduct extensive advocacy
and awareness campaign on the importance of the informal economy as well as
lobby for political representation. Furthermore, political interest from both
outside and within can easily deviate the organization away from its core
mandate and could lead to its extinction. For instance, in India the growth of
SEWA’s membership to 1.75 million women has made it an important political
target for parties keen on using the organization as a “vote bank” for
elections. While the organization has always been clear about its intention to
avoid electoral politics, it needs to continuously ward off attempts by
political actors to manipulate its members(Iriarte Quezada,
2014) .
However, the paper argues that PNG with a large and growing informal economy is
now at a critical juncture of its development where it needs to link up the
informal economy with the formal sector inorder to address the exponential rise
in unemployment among the youths and the widening income disparity between the
rich and poor. Therefore, recognizing the valuable role of the informal economy
the PNG government needs to actively engage with the proposed vendors
associations. On their part the associations need to be independent (guided by
strong ethics and code of conduct) so that it remains a strong advocate of
informal economy. Governments will come and governments will go but it needs to
maintain its stance. It also needs to be managed and driven by competent people
who are passionate about addressing the issues impacting the informal economy. In
the case of UNWomen/NCDC Safe Cities Market Project, both organisation provide
supervision when it comes to the election of executives(Kaugla & Cheong, 2016) . Without their
support it is highly likely the election process could be high jacked and the
association dominated by a small group of people with their own interest. There
is also a high chance of executives been elected not on merit but on “whom you
know” basis. However, there are limitations or constraints most of which are
more in the area of capacity building. UNWomen and NCDC provide trainings in
the area of interpreting the association’s constitutions and how to conduct
elections of executives. In addition, the association and its members are made
aware of the rules and regulations so that they are able to conduct their
activities within the confinement of the law. Yet with a large illiterate
membership awareness campaigns has to be on an ongoing basis. There are also
issues with accessing trainings from government agencies such as the SME
Corporation to provide trainings on entrepreneurial and business development
skills crucial to up skilling the vendors so that they can move up into the SME
Sector. Most important of all the registration of informal economy vendors
associations with the PNG Investment Promotion Authority is an ongoing problem.
(Kaugla &
Cheong, 2016) .
This once again demonstrates the fact that even with the establishment of informal
economy vendors associations it does not guarantee a quick fix solution to
problems affecting the informal economy. Furthermore, if government agencies
like the PNG Investment Promotion Authority do not facilitate the formal set-up
of these associations one can expect the informal economy to continue operating
without conformity to established laws and regulations. External factors such
as bureaucratic “red tapes” can significantly affect the work of the
associations.
The
associations need to advocate for a gradual transitional process when it comes
to argument for the informal economy to move into the formal sector. There are
instances where “formalization” process may not yield the required results when
compliance issues are too bureaucratic and taxation policies are too tough.
This is when small newly registered businesses and to some degree established
businesses tend to go underground, back into the informal economy. It is the
role of the association to work with its members in partnership with government
to ensure that appropriate reforms in terms of policies and regulations are put
in place to encourage more informal economy micro-enterprises to transition
into the SME Sector. Yet once again this does not guarantee that with the
establishment of association informal economic enterprises will automatically
embrace the road to formality. Only few will quickly transition into the formal
sector while the rest will make their way into the formal sector after an
extended period of time. Others may not even make the journey to formality, but
increasing participation in economic activities that brings improvement in
human welfare is equally important. This requires patience from policy makers
and proponents of SME development and formal sector led growth.
Working
with the government through the existing governance structure also poses its
own challenge. For a start it will entail that the association will need to compromise
and find a balance in managing the expectation of its members and aligning the
organizations’ goals to that of the government. If the association decides to
break away and operate as a fully pledge CSO it will have to ensure that it
does not take a confrontational approach so as it cut off government support
and recognition altogether. On the other hand the association itself will also
need to be equipped with skilled managers and leaders who are able to lobby the
government to accept their position on issues of importance to their
membership. Apart from government they will also have to reach out to other
partners such as donors and development partners to support its work.
5.3 An examination of the current Political Governance system of PNG and its implication on the informal economy representation
In
his paper looking at the policy debate surrounding the informal economy in late
colonial Port Moresby, John Conroy contended that The PNG Constitution informed
by the Faber Mission Report of 1972 and Eight Aims officially recognized the
informal economy. The Report adopted (Keith) Hart's 'informal sector' construct
as its primary vehicle for increasing participation by Papua New Guineans in
the monetary economy, and the Eight Aims were suffused with concepts supportive
of the informal sector(Conroy, John, 2015) . Therefore, it can
be argued that for PNG establishing an entity such as the informal economy
vendors association can be linked to achieving the aspirations of the country.
However,
the current legislative frameworks that operationalised the prevailing governance
structure at the National, Provincial and LLG level that came into being after
the 1995 reforms on the Decentralisation failed to recognize and promote the
informal economy in PNG. The Organic Law on Provincial & Local Level
Government, the Provincial Administration Act 1997, Local Level Government
Administration Act 1997 and the recent District Development Authority Act 2015
are silent when it comes to “informal economy” representation. Although there
are provisions such as section 5 of the Provincial Administration Act (Independent State
of Papua New Guinea, Provincial Governments Administration Act 1997 (No 7 of
1997), 1997) and
Section 7 of the LLG Administration Act (Independent State
of Papua New Guinea, Local Level Governments Administration Act (No.33 of
1997), 1997) and
the creation of Provincial Coordination and Monitoring Committee under Provincial
& Local Level Services Monitoring Authority that provides opportunities for
informal economy representation in the Provincial and LLG Assembly(Independent State
of Papua New Guinea, Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level
Governments (No 29 of 1998), 1998) , to date no such
representation is in place anywhere in PNG. Even the Informal Sector
Development & Control Act 2004(Independent State
of Papua New Guinea, Informal Sector Development & Control Act 2004, 2004) ; a law meant to encouraged
the development of the informal economy in PNG did not provide a provision to
encourage the grouping of the informal economy let alone representation of the
informal economy in the governance system. Infact the law excluded the creation
of the informal economy vendors association when it excluded the Association
Incorporation Act in Section 18 (Exclusion Claus). The result has been a gross
abuse and total neglect of the informal economy with violence, harassment and
abuse still prevalent.
Furthermore,
women who make-up a large proportion of informal economy participants although
are well represented in the respective assemblies, the poor state of the
informal economy right across PNG leaves a lot to be desired about their
ability to convince the top brass of governance like politicians to address
issues affecting the growth of the informal economy. It’s fair to say that
women representatives in the two assemblies and the Joint Provincial Planning
& Budget Priorities Committee (JPP & BPC) and Joint District
Planning& Budget Priorities Committee (JDP & BPC) for that matter are
burdened with “shopping lists” of issues that make it very difficult to commit
adequate time and resources to address informal economy related issues. The
same can be said for the youth who are also a major player in the informal
economy. This is where informal economy representation is critical to promote
and advocate agendas that will accrue significant benefits to its members.
The
lack of attention given to the informal economy is partly a result of the
government’s shift in focus and priority away from the agriculture sector as
far as economic policy goes. The period between1975 and much of 1980s was a period
characterized by increased focus on achieving broad based economic development.
As such agriculture was seen as an important sector in achieving this goal.
However, since the commodity boom especially when the prices of mineral and
petroleum products went up, agriculture has struggled to gain attention and
recognition from the government (Miok K. Komolong,
2012) .
The knock on effect of that was that the informal economy never featured
prominently in successive government’s development agenda until 2004 when the
Somare led government passed the Informal Sector Development & Control Act
2004.This was immediately followed by the development of the National Informal
Economy Policy 2011-2015 which was launched in 2010. Yet these ground breaking
initiatives have not done much interms of garnering support and changing
government’s approach towards the informal economy. At present government
priority is still in the extractive sector while agriculture and informal economy
in general are languishing. Findings in Manila, Philippines have also
demonstrated that laws and policies that are meant to protect informal economy
participants are not translated into practice by the government. As a result
street vendors are still being victimised(Bhowmik, 2005) . This is where the
paper argues that organising PNG informal economy vendors into associations and
then providing these associations space in the governance
structure of the country is crucial to promoting and empowering informal
economy participants in the country. Just forming vendors associations is not
enough.
At
present there is a lack of close consultation between the informal economy
participants and the town and urban authorities. Key to this is the limited
amount of alienated land for new developments. Without adequate representation to
planners and policy makers, the priorities in the informal economy could be
increasingly marginalized from those engaged in formal employment.
Given
the governments’ push to drive the economy through stimulating growth in the
formal sector, more and more land may well be allocated for these investments
at the expense of the informal economy which caters for the majority of Papua
New Guineas’ urban and rural dwellers. Therefore, in light of this reality
urban planning may become biased infavour of formal business creating a situation
whereby informal economic activities may not be given space to operate in. In
light of the possibility of such situation arising the informal economy vendors
associations can advocate for the interests of the informal economy to be
explicitly captured in the planning process. In countries such as Colombia city
planners have attempted to cleanse the city of the informal economy. In this
case, provision of alternative space depends largely on how strongly the union
can press for this demand. It was possible to influence government through
unions of street vendors. In fact the government agreed to accommodate street
vendors in the World Market: Day and Night Bazaar due to the pressure exerted
on them by the vendors unions. (Bhowmik, 2005) . In other cases municipal
authorities or local authorities can partner with the vendors through the
associations to tackle problems related to littering, vandalism and petty
crimes. For instance in Philippines the government has introduced an MOU which
among other things mentions that the vendors associations would be encouraged
to take on the responsibility of regulating street vendors by ensuring
cleanliness on the streets and proper hygiene for food vendors. (Bhowmik, 2005) .This demonstrates
that rather than taking a confrontation approach municipal or local authorities
can explore innovative methods of addressing certain issues like cleanliness of
the city. However, the key here is that vendors need to first and foremost
organise themselves into associations. The associations then can become the
vehicle the government can use to drive change in the informal economy. Without
a grouping mechanism like associations problems associated with the spread of
the informal economy can persists.
Currently,
informal economy participants in PNG are scattered and the absence of informal
economy vendors associations couple with heavy handed tactic from the municipal
or local authorities can easily drive a lot of the people into extreme poverty.
Lack of consultation with the city, provincial and district authorities has led
to many problems. There is no link and influence over what is being done within
the informal economy setting. Establishing vendor associations for the informal
economy participants will bridge the gap in communication and would provide a
medium for the informal economy participants to be heard and given adequate
support and attention(Bhowmik, 2005) .In addition to that
developing this mechanism will allow balance to be achieved on both sides with
businesses within the informal economy conducted within the established
guidelines and issues, problems and challenges dealt with through constant
dialogue among each of the key stakeholders. On top of that the informal
economy will increasingly become a partner rather than being viewed as a
competitor to the formal economy, as this mechanism would provide for dialogue
between formal businesses and informal economy micro entrepreneurs. Through
this mechanism it is also hoped that vendors and city authorities will be made
aware of their various roles and responsibilities and that informal economy
participants will be protected from abuse and exploitation.
In
light of the LNG Project and other major pending projects, it will become even
more important for the government of PNG to listen to the “voice” of the small
people on the ground. Spill over effects from external investment such as
rising costs of living, changes in lifestyle; the rapid movement of people from
rural to urban centres and other social externalities may well make the
majority of Papua New Guineans eventually becoming spectators of development
benefits in their own country. Therefore, an association representing the bulk
of the low income population engaged in the informal economy will ensure that a
considerable effort is put into making the informal economy becoming that
“distributional focal point” for equity and efficiency so that income from the
mineral sector is diffused more equitably to the majority of the people.
Key stakeholders such as
the town planners, city authorities, business council and the formal sector
Chambers of Commerce such as the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce would be
invited to be part of this new body. With the establishment of this body
information relating to vendors will be, so far as possible captured in a
database, which would facilitate estimates of incomes and levels of activity in
the informal economy and support the sector's claims for political attention.
Data collection of vendors can be a daunting tasks but atleast by registration
the association can be able to develop a fair idea of the situation on the
ground. Issues raised by registered members can reflect the general consensus
and can also help the association to identify problems and challenges and
develop solutions or lobby the government to address these issues. The
association would be interested in this data purposely for identifying and
providing solutions to issues affecting informal economy. Progressively this
information can be used to assist in legitimatising the informal economy.
Furthermore, such information can assist in the development of transition
programs aimed at graduating the informal economy participants into the SME
Sector. Without such data it may be difficult for it to argue or lobby for
changes to policies or legislation that may well work against the interest of the
informal economy workers. Legislations and policies affecting the informal
economy need to be drafted in consultation with people affected by them, to
legitimize the regulations imposed as a nation. Of course the government has to
maintain standards of health and hygiene but it must also be aware of
heavy-handed interventions which defeat the purpose of stimulating informal
economic activities.
The need to profile the
vendors and have all the information put into a data base is also crucial for monitoring
and evaluation purposes. Apart from that the database would give the local
authority an idea of the number of people who are taking part in the informal
economy through the markets that have been set-up and therefore would assist
the local authority to invest in expansion or maintenance of market facilities
that may be deemed to be inadequate to accommodate for the exponential rise in
demand or run down facilities respectively.
Vendor
registration will also ensure that dissemination of vital information targeting
the informal economy participants such as health information on proper hygiene
and handling of food can be undertaken in a very effective manner by tapping
into the database and making use of the available technology such as mobile phones. Nevertheless, this information can
also be beneficial to the public as part of the consumer protection campaign.
Apart from that the establishment of the informal economy vendors associations
will also be able to provide useful information to informal economy
participants, and help them become aware of the laws and regulations affecting
their enterprises and how to protect their businesses.
6. Concluding Discussion
It
is suggested that the proposed informal economy vendors association be an
independent organization that will represent the interest of its members
without fear or favour. However it is important that inorder to advance its
interest the organisation will need to align its goals and objectives to key
government policies such as the Vision 2050, PNG Development Strategic Plan,
StaRS, MTDP, The National Informal Economy Policy, SME Policy and so forth. The
association will have its own constitution and code of conduct that will govern
its operations, its executives (leaders) of the entity and its members.
However, at the initial stage a mutual working environment will need to be
created to foster partnership and collaboration between the various parties
that are involved in the creation of the association. Overtime this partnership
will need to be sustained through signing of MOUs/MOAs or setting up of special
arrangement within the respective government processes to provide space for
informal economy to be heard. All these will be done while the association
operates as a fully pledged independent entity. Afterall, it is in the benefit
of everyone that informal economy prospers in a well-coordinated manner where
solutions are amicably identified and implemented. Research can be done to
consider the merits of such an approach.
Findings
from the research shows that the hypothesis that the establishment of the
informal economy vendors into association will empower informal economy
participants is partly true. While establishment of the vendor associations is
crucial it is only able to facilitate the empowerment of its membership when
the government gives it the due consideration and respect that it deserves.
This is where the paper argues that the informal economy vendors association
needs to be provided “space” in the governance system of this country so that
it can have a “voice” in the decision making process of this country. Therefore,
in the long run it is envisaged that the role and the representation from the
association will be inbuilt into the political/governance structure at the
ward, local level government, district, provincial and national levels. By this
way informal economy participants can have an active voice and play an active
role in resolving issues which affect them. This would be undertaken while the
association is still maintained and would play the role of the highest
representation of “voice” of the informal economy participants targeting the national,
provincial and local level government.
It
is hoped that through the proposed informal economy vendors associationsinformal
economic activities could be linked in with the formal sector of the economy.
This ensures that the formal sector continues to grow given that it (formal
economy) is heavily dependent on the informal economy. This concept will have
to be recognized in the current review on the Organic Law on Provincial &
Local Level Government and the amendments to the Informal Sector Development
and Control Act 2004.
7. Policy Implication
There
are several ways in which my findings in this paper would support the creation of
the informal economy vendors association and the subsequent informal economy
representation in the PNG’s governance system.
Firstly,
the membership composition of the Joint Provincial Planning & Budget
Priorities Committee, Joint District Planning & Budget Priorities
Committee,Provincial and LLG Assemblies should be broadened to include informal
economy vendors associations representation. Under the current set-up informal
economy representation is lacking or missing which simply means that informal economy
issues are not heard in the decision making processes. Often this results in
one-sided policy that are often discriminatory towards the informal economy
participants.
In
addition to the above, with no representation in the Joint District Planning
& Budget Priorities Committee and Joint Provincial Planning & Budget
Priorities Committee provincial and districts development plans and budget over
the years have not catered for the informal economy. With the provision of
space for informal economy representation priorities of the informal economy
can be reflected in the planning and budget allocation.
Lastly,
at present towns and urban development plans are been developed without
consideration of informal economy. Therefore, these developments are coming into
effect in direct conflict with the interest of the informal economy. Theis results
in a messy process where the government and the informal economy participants
are constantly confronting each other particularly around the issues of “space”.
This problem is bound to persist given alienable land is becoming scarce
especially in urban centers of the country. Therefore, urban planning and
development in PNG now needs to be inclusive with the inclusion of the informal
economy vendors association representatives.
8. Recommendations
The
overall objective of this paper was to contribute to the implementation of the
National Informal Economy Policy and Informal Sector Development & Control
Act 2004. In view of the problem confronting the informal economy in PNG in
particular the problem of lacking “voice” to get government attention, the
following policy recommendations are put forward for consideration.
1) The government of Papua New
Guinea amend the Organic Law on the Provincial & Local Level Government to
allow for Informal Economy Representation all levels of government (National,
Provincial and Local Level Government)
2) Subsequent amendments to follow
with the revised Informal Economy Development & Control Bill 2016
3) Department of Community
Development & Religion in partnership with the Consultative Implementation
& Monitoring Council to set-up a technical working committee to develop a
National Action Plan to implement the PNG Informal Economy Vendors Association.
4)
Conduct a comprehensive study
to clearly delineate non agriculture informal economic activities from
agriculture inclusive informal economy.
5) Conduct studies to look into
the contribution of each sub-sector of the informal economy to provide a much
accurate picture of each sub sector’s contribution’.
6)
Conduct a basic study or
analysis on the proposed PNG Informal Economy Vendors Association is proposed
for consideration in commencing this policy paper. Firstly, a literature review
should be undertaken on the idea and means of giving 'voice' to the informal
economy participants. Experiences in other countries can form the basis set up
an appropriate mechanism for informal economy participants in PNG. The
objectives of such a study of this nature would focus on addressing data gaps:
1) define who forms part of the informal economy in PNG 2) Identify the main
challenges faced by the informal economy and 3) identify international best practices to
empower/leverage the informal economy. [b2]
7) Further studies should be
conducted on the impact of grouping youths and men engaged in the informal
markets.
8) Following the above
UNWomen/NCDC need to conduct a situational analysis to see whether their
intervention through the Safe Cities Market Projects has changed the situation
on the ground.
9)
Studies should also be conducted
to determine the best approach towards organising the informal economy
participants.
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