When he delivered his budget speech in Parliament last Tuesday, the Minister of Finance and Treasury, Minister Harry Kuma, said the government had committed $938 million in the Development Budget to the country’s resource sectors.
Referring specifically to rural development, Minister Kuma said, and I quote.
“The government had decided to allocate $342 million, including $90 million from the People Republic of China (PRC) to support rural development and growth initiatives through the constituency development programme to establish small business, construct infrastructures, and create employment opportunities in the rural areas.”
As rural development has been promised for many years and plans such as the “Bottoms up Approach” and Rural Growth Centres floated by previous administrations, but never actually materialized, perhaps if not too premature a question, or imprudent, could the Minister of Finance, or a government spokesperson, just explain what is planned for small business development, the construction of infrastructure and for the creation of employment for rural people?
Most recently, and especially in Malaita, one has read of impassible roads, bridges damaged by flood waters after heavy rain or bridges that had collapsed due to lack of maintenance.
Infrastructure in terms of roads and bridges is certainly necessary in many parts of the country, and not just in Malaita, but could prove costly and take up a good portion of the proposed $342 million budget allocation mentioned by Minister Kuma.
Better road infrastructure would open up access to rural areas, but where will the jobs come from, or business development occur, given possible outside investment would be required and also given the complex situation of customary land ownership, often causing disputes over land tenure and ownership rights?
I wish only the best for the country’s rural development and jobs for the people, but I have waited more than two decades already to see the desired changes the Finance Minister recently outlined.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
