BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
PREMIER of Western Province, Billy Veo, has called for a portion of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to be allocated through the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF), citing poor administration and limited development impact under the current CDF structure.
Speaking during the Western Day celebrations, Veo said there continues to be a “glaring mismatch” between how CDF and PCDF projects are administered, implemented and monitored. He said PCDF and other donor-supported mechanisms have clear reporting systems, strong governance requirements and stricter accountability—unlike the CDF, where the bulk of government development financing is directed.
Veo revealed that his government had consulted the Minister and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development to seek options for channelling a percentage of CDF funds to Ward Development Committees through the PCDF framework.
“Unfortunately, this was not provided for in the CDF Act and, as advised, it cannot be done. “I urge the government to seriously consider this proposal. It is sad that such arrangements are not institutionalised, making the funds more vulnerable to mismanagement and limiting their impacts on the ground,” he said.
Veo said channeling part of the CDF through PCDF would guarantee more tangible development outcomes because funds would be subject to a robust accountability framework and implementation guidelines.
“At the moment we can only plan and try our best to deliver on this 10-year strategic plan through the limited resources we work hard for under our annual PCDF assessment,” he said.
Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele acknowledged the proposal, noting that the idea of integrating aspects of the CDF into the PCDF would require amendments to existing laws, including the Constituency Development Act.
He said Solomon Islands’ development landscape and its fiscal decentralisation mechanisms are shaped by a complex political economy.
“Understanding the connections between political ideologies, power struggles, social forces and state–society relations are not straightforward,” Manele said.
He added that while the national government’s policy is to explore ways to merge the CDF and PCDF, progress remains slow because of these complexities and the need for broader structural reforms.
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