BY SAMIE WAIKORI
Premier of Guadalcanal province, William Atu calls on the national government to revisit the proposal to increase the number of constituencies in the country and the Revenue Sharing Bill.
The premier recently made the call, highlighting the support of his government behind this very two important undertakings.
He said in 2009, the national government through the Constituency Boundary Commission (CDC) proposed an additional 17 constituencies to the current 50 constituencies.
Atu stated that they also reiterate their call to the Constituency Boundary Commission and National Government to revisit the 2009 proposal for 17 new constituencies.
“I believe this is across the country, and three of which was proposed for Guadalcanal province.
“This proposal was made prior to the 2019 Solomon Islands National Population and Housing Census,” he said.
Atu explained that Guadalcanal province has a growth rate of 3.2 percent annually, surpassing the national population growth rate of 2.7.
He added that the population of Guadalcanal province now is approaching 200,000.
“Thus, Guadalcanal growing population and rural development demands to make this as a national imperative call,” said the premier.
On the same note, he also calls on the national government to prioritize the revenue sharing bill for the provinces.
“We would like to urge the retailing of the revenue sharing scheme bill to ensure provinces receive funding that matches the demographic and geographic realities, such as landmass, population density, poverty levels and economic contributions to GDP,” said Atu.
He stated that he understands that a preliminary discussion with the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) estimates that 15 percent of the domestic national revenue to be used for the revenue sharing scheme.
The Premier furthered that as far as Guadalcanal province is concerned, the province welcomes this proposed arrangement.
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