By RODRICK DESURI
Auki
More than 50 cloth vendors, mainly mothers in Auki, Malaita Province are asking what had happened to the $30,000 they had given to the Malaita provincial government.
The money was purposely for the provincial government to locate a space for the vendors to sell clothing.
The vendors last year contributed more than $30,000 and submitted the money to the Malaita Provincial Government last year, purposely to support the establishment of a new market area.
However, to date there is no progress on the proposed area near the betelnut market as construction work stopped in December.
In an interview with one of the vendors, Tafilia Lui said they are being left in the dark and are worried that their contributions may have been lost and used for other matters,
She said if the provincial government is not prioritising their need, they should not accept and agree on the agreement they made last year.
She said the hearsay information they heard is that Malaita Provincial Government is facing a hard wall as funds are not available to progress any work.
“This is frustrating when we have given our earnings (money) to establish a permanent market area, but the work isn’t progressing.
“We also worry that our contributions (money) might be gone and used for other matters without prioritising our need.
“Only what we head from the government staff and officials is that the government doesn’t have money and is waiting for their first quarter fund,” she said.
In the meantime, she appeals to the Malaita Provincial Government to quickly work on the area as they have waited for long.
She said they (cloth vendors) need the area to be cleared and fully fenced before they can restart their marketing.
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