THE Minister for Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS), Nestor Ghiro has visited some infrastructure projects funded by the Provincial Capacity development Fund (PCDF) in parts of Western province last week.
Mr Ghiro and his Permanent Secretary, Stanley Pirione and other Officials were in Gizo last week for an induction programme for members of the new Western Provincial Executive and the Provincial Assembly.
Ghiro traveled to Simbo Island on Thursday last week to see first-hand a newly constructed classroom building at Lengana Community High School and also met with members of the school board and teaching staff.
“I am very pleased to visit your school and I would like to assure you that the national government through the PCDF scheme will ensure a successful completion of this project as soon as possible,” the Minister said.
Final materials for the Lengana school project are now stocked-up in Gizo awaiting transportation to Simbo for the completion of the building.
Ghiro also traveled to Kukundu Adventist School on Kolombangara Island on Friday to see first-hand the progress of a dormitory funded by the PCDF scheme.
Permanent Secretary, Stanley Pirione said the Minister was impressed with the progress of the projects he has visited so far.
The scheme is a component of the Provincial Governance strengthening Programme (PGSP) which is administered by the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS).
The PGSP was initiated by the Solomon Island Government with the support of donors including the UNDP, UCDF, the EU and RAMSI) in July 2008 to strengthen the capacities of the nine provincial governments in Solomon Islands.
Its focus was initially on public expenditure management systems that would enable provinces to plan, procure and implement small scale infrastructure projects in needed areas.
Initially, from 2008 to 2011, the scheme has been allocated a total funding of SBD10.8m per annum.
The national Government up-scaled the fund from 2012 onwards resulting in the Government now funding 100 percent of the scheme after gaining confidence in the performance-based grant and the accountability conditions of the fund.
Since its inception, the programme has implemented more than 1,000 solid infrastructure projects and created more than 5,000 jobs nationwide.
–GCU
