DEAR Editor,
First of all, I would like to congratulate and welcome all of the 26 Provincial Members of the Western Provincial Assembly for successfully securing a seat in their respective wards during the 14 December 2022 Provincial Election.
And very soon, you will get to choose from amongst yourselves the next Premier of the Western Province.
As you will recall from your political campaigns, nearly all of you have promised a change – a change that will improve the livelihood of the people in your respective wards.
My question is this. What changes are there to make and how will you achieve them? One thing is clear. A change does not happen if one very important resource is missing – money.
Unfortunately, you don’t have the money to allow for a change to take place and no one will give you the money either – not even the National Government.
This means that all your dreams about making positive changes will just come to nothing; they will just be an illusion.
But wait a minute and let’s take a look at something else. Some of the candidates, who were unsuccessful in their election and likewise some of you who were successful in your election bid have talked about the idea of adopting a Federal System of Government whereby the Present Provincial Governments would become state Governments.
Actually, this is very the wish of the people of the Western Province. Those of you who advanced the idea of pushing for the Federal System of Government, amongst other things, claimed that under the new system, a Western State for example, would have more powers to raise its own revenues from its own natural resources. And as such, it will retain most of it for its own development.
Again, another question comes to you all the 26 Provincial members. The question is ‘Will you have the guts or the will power to push for a state Government for the West?
We the ordinary citizens of the West are watching from behind the woods to see how things will go. As mentioned earlier, one thing is clear.
Our present System of Governing people does not allow you to make any meaningful change so forget about that dream.
Will you therefore take time to find a better way to allow for a real change to take place? Otherwise, it would seem that all of us will come back to square one.
Good luck to you all the 26 Provincial Members and try a little harder to find a new formular that will make a real change possible.
Phil Danky
Gizo
