BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
A former senior public servant has argued that reviewing the provincial governance system will not pave the way for the establishment of a federal system in Solomon Islands.
Thornley Hite said the ongoing discussion on reviewing the governance structure is closely tied to the Draft Federal Constitution and should not be mistaken as a genuine step towards federalism.
He said current political moves to review the provincial governance framework could instead be a tactic aimed to strengthen external influence over Solomon Islands through collaboration with existing political leadership.
Hite said influential groups fear that a true federal system would significantly benefit citizens through greater decentralisation of powers and resources.
“I have seen better days under the Provincial Government Act 1981 than under the Provincial Government Act 1997 because I served as a Deputy Provincial Secretary and Provincial Secretary in Guadalcanal and Western provinces under these Acts,” he said.
Hite said the Provincial Government Act (PGA) 1981 provided a form of quasi-decentralisation within the country’s unitary system, where provinces functioned as agents of the national government exercising devolved powers defined under the Act.
He said many government functions were later recentralised under the PGA 1997 which he described as a legal framework that contributed to provincial underdevelopment and rising national unemployment.
Hite said political leaders are now beginning to recognise that the 1997 Act has limited the capacity of provinces to drive development, stressing that meaningful decentralisation remains essential for improving governance and economic opportunities across the country.
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