By Loretta B Manele
Government from now on will take on a new approach when visiting provinces for their second appointed day celebrations.
Prime Minister Manele raised this when he spoke about delivering on commitments made to provincial governments at a recent press conference.
He said the Prime Minister often gets invited to attend Second Appointed Day celebrations from each province.
Henceforth, he stated that from this year, prior to each visit, they will conduct an assessment of previous commitments made in past events.
Manele said they will send an advanced party to each province to work and identify key priorities that the provinces would like the central government to assist them with.
He also stated that this is so that the Prime Minister or his delegate to the event can provide an update on GNUT’s actions to progress commitments made or an update on new commitments to be announced.
Manele expressed that one example is that of the Choiseul Second Appointed-Day celebration on 25th Feb this year.
He said during that time, the Deputy Prime Minister and the minister of Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) saw the dilapidated state of the Taro provincial hospital.
Manele mentioned that they then took immediate action to present a case to cabinet to urgently mobilize resources to renovate, repair and refurbish the main hospital for Choiseul province.
He said as result, government submitted a funding request to a development partner to fund the upgrade work of Taro hospital at an estimated cost of SBD 19million dollars.
Manele expressed that they anticipate work on the renovation, repair and refurbishment of the Taro provincial hospital to commence this year and if possible to be completed by the end of this year.
To top that off, he said government has also elevated Choiseul Bay Township to be a national project.
“The time has come to demonstrate unity and transformation. We must walk the talk, we must come together as one people to unite and build our country.”
Manele noted that the elevation of the Choiseul Bay Township project to be a national project was also in agreement and a solution reached between the DPM and Premier of Choiseul during the Second Day Appointed celebrations.
He said GNUT will adopt the same approach in upcoming Second Day Appointed events in other provinces throughout the year.
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