The DDA Watch website is an impartial and non-partisan information resource for the general public, officials and academics.
The website provides access to information on Papua New Guinea’s District Infrastructure Support Program (DISP) and the work of all ninety-three individual District Development Authorities (DDAs).
The website is completely politically neutral and is not associated with any political party, any elected official or any intending candidate.
All DDAs are represented and the information about them is presented without any bias, favour or discrimination.
The DDA Watch website is an initiative of the community advocacy organization ACT NOW! It is designed to encourage public participation in the democratic process and social auditing and is funded through community donations.
The DDA Watch Scoring System
The DDA Watch website includes a rating score for each District Development Authority (DDA) and a ranking.
The rating score assesses the performance of each DDA against a number of fixed criteria as listed below and also incorporates a public satisfaction element.
The rating score and ranking does NOT reflect a comprehensive evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of a DDA or the quality of the services in a particular District. The score and ranking is merely an indicator of how a DDA rates against a set list of transparency and good governance indicators.
The maximum rating score for each DDA is 100 points.
Up to 70 points are awarded based on the public availability of key documents from the DDA and contact information:
- Current five-year development plan - 10 points
- Current annual budget - 10 points
- Acquittal report (previous year) - 10 points
- DIRD Inspection report (max 2 years old) - 10 points
- Audit report (max 3 years old) - 10 points
- Functioning email address - 10 points
- Postal address - 5 points
- Contact phone number - 5 points
All DDAs are encouraged to submit their plans, budgets, acquittals, inspection reports and audits and to provide their contact details for inclusion on the website - contact form.
Public satisfaction score
Up to 30 points are awarded to each DDA according to their average public satisfaction score. Any member of the public can submit their satisfaction score for a DDA via the website, as long as they have an email address or mobile telephone number.
The users contact details will be held on a secure server and will not be released to any other person or used for any other purpose than in relation to the DDA Watch website.
Satisfaction scores submitted by members of the public are recorded as 30 (very good), 20 (good), 15 (okay), 10 (bad) or 0 (very bad).
One person cannot submit a rating for more than one DDA and can only have one vote recorded. The satisfaction score used in the displayed DDA rating is the average of all the scores submitted by the public (total score divided by number of submissions).
Where no public satisfaction scores have been submitted for a particular DDA, the DDA is awarded 15 as its starting score.
The displayed rating score for each DDA is updated automatically and in real time as more documents are added to the DDA profile page and as more satisfaction scores are submitted by members of the public.
The ranking list displayed on the Home Page is also updated automatically and in real time as the rating scores are updated.
Moderating Comments
Users of the DDA Watch website are encouraged to upload comments about the performance of individual District Development Authorities for display on the relevant DDA page.
All user-submitted comments are reviewed by an ACT NOW staff member before they are approved for publication.
Any comments that include sexist, racist or homophobic language or hate speech, or language that is rude, obscene, offensive, bullying, intolerant or intended to scare or intimidate, and any comments containing personal details may be edited or deleted.
Users are also not allowed to post any links to or advertise any commercial products or services. Comments containing false, fake or misleading information will also be edited or deleted. If you think a comment has been incorrectly or unfairly deleted or edited you can ask for a review using the contact form.
The website will be completely politically neutral and the information about each District Authority will be presented without any bias, favour or discrimination.
The DDA Watch website will be completely free to access and is being funded through public donations. The website is funded though donatiions. There is a dedicated donation page. Please contact ACT NOW! if you want to donate or you can donate online at www.actnowpng.org/donate
