Draft Federal Constitution for Solomon Islands should be ready by July 2009: Lapli

A final draft federal constitution will be delivered to the Solomon Islands Government next year.

Chairman of the Joint Executive Committee of the Constitutional Congress and Eminent Persons Advisory Council, Sir John Ini Lapli says the time frame for the delivery of draft federal constitution was agreed on in a a three-day meeting of the executive last week.

Sir John says the Joint Executive Committee agreed on a timeline and process to complete the draft and deliver it to the Government by July 2009, but it is too early to set the exact date.

He says the Government has allocated one-point-five million dollars for the recurrent expenditures in the 2008 National Budget.

Sir John says another three-point eight million dollars has also been allocated under the Development Budget for the Constitutional Reform Project.

Meanwhile, he says the Secretariat of the Constitutional Reform Unit in the Prime Minister's Office will soon launch an awareness program to update the public on the progress of the constitutional reform in the media.

Source: SIBC