CHIEFS and members of the Marovo Council of Chiefs (MCC) completed a three-day follow-up governance workshop at Chubikopi Village, Marovo Island, recently.
The purpose of the workshop is to provide chiefs and leaders in the communities knowledge on governance responsibilities and to further empower them of their customary roles and responsibilities.
The workshop was funded by the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace through its Western Peace and Reconciliation office.
This workshop is a follow-up program on the recommendations and resolutions of the previous workshop.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Director of Peace and Reconciliation Division, Ruben Lilo re-emphasized the seriousness of the DCC Government under its policy to make sure that traditional governance systems are being revived, recognised, strengthened, empowered and in full operation so that they operate effectively and efficiently.
Under the provisions of the Western Province Community Governance Ordinance, formal organisation and registration of governance structures will include the following levels:Council of Chiefs as the first level, the houses of chiefs and elders as the second level and the village community as the third level in the community governance structure.
Since the Marovo Council of Chiefs has been formally registered in 2013, the most immediate tasks for the attending chiefs and elders of this workshop were to get their village community and the House of Chiefs organised and registered.
Meanwhile, spokesman for the late chief of Nono Tribe, Gilisi Palmer commented:
“These programs are the ultimate answers to pave the way for organisation, peace and unity in our village, our regions and in the whole ofMarovo Lagoon.
“However, sadly we have been kept in the dark.
“It is now high time that we seriously implement all these programs and share this valuable information to all our people back home butall these can have more value if we receive continued support from the government and other appropriate stakeholders.”
The workshop ended with a number of resolutions to properly install the right chiefs, improve the operation of MCC, the House of Chiefs and Elders, and the village communities throughout Marovo Lagoon.
