Government to decentralise Development

Editor's note: The TARD group view the current government's decentralisation policy as an important step towards the bottom-up developmental approach. Since independence past governments have placed more resources on centralised activities mainly in Honiara, thus pulling people from all the provinces, which eventually resulted in social problems. We believe that if development aspirations are decentralised and equally spread throughout the whole country, the urban migration trend can be reversed.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said his Coalition Government is committed to a nation-wide decentralisation policy geared towards development.

Mr Sogavare acknowledged that the country is obsessed with over centralization since Independence, leaving the most provinces as mere spectators in the development process.

He referred to the centralisation of all major developments in Honiara as a serious mistake that weakens the growth of Solomon Islands.

He said the ethnic crisis that brought the country down in the last five years is a demonstration of the negative results associated with over-centralisation.

Learning from this weakness, the Prime Minister said his government is committed to formulate joint policies that would centre on decentralisation of development.

News source: SIBC Online (http://www.sibconline.com.sb/main.asp)