The Malaita Provincial Premier Daniel Suidani is not alone in his plan to take on the Rural Constituency Development Fund (RCDF) Scheme to court.
The idea suggested by the Premier of the most populated province in the country was widely welcomed by Premier Francis Sade of Guadalcanal, the province with the biggest landmass in the country.
Premier Suidani after making a public statement to take the RCDF Scheme to court visited Honiara last week, where he was invited by Premier Sade who assured the Malaita Premier of his support for his issued public statement in challenging the legality of RCDF Scheme in court.
Premier Sade signalled out the move to take the RCDF Scheme to court as an important move.
Premier Sade during a meeting with Premier Suidani stated, “Honourable colleague, my government has been discussing the matter with the same view you have had.”
“Thank you for taking the lead and that I and my government are in full support of this important move. I have also reached out to our other colleague premiers to support this important call.”
“So far many have shown support. As elected leaders of our peoples this is what we are elected to do, ensuring that schemes including the RCDF that are operated in this country are done within the bounds of our constitution and other relevant laws.”
“We can no longer watch and pretend all is good. That kind of thinking and behavior has no place in the modern Solomon Islands,” Sade told Suidani.
According to a statement from PARU Communication, the Guadalcanal Premier has assured the Malaita Premier that they are all in this business and that the two premiers have agreed on a framework to start pulling resources together for this court action.
The supporting statements of encouragement issued by both premiers regarding taking the RCDF Scheme to court were widely welcomed by members of the public.
The move by the two premiers to challenge RCDF in court is a historical one as RCDF has been left unchallenged over the years leaving the Members of Parliament (MPs) and their office barriers to abuse the funds.
Some political commentators are quick to point out that millions of dollars channelled through RCDF have nothing to show for when it comes to development on the ground in the 50 constituencies in the country.
Malaita, a province that has more access to RCDF through its 14 MPs, is no different from other provinces as the huge money obtained through RCDF is either pocketed or shared among voters of the MPs as bait to keep the MPs in power.
It is argued that the little Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) which channelled through the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS) to the Provincial Governments has more to show for on the ground when it comes to infrastructure development in the nine provinces compared to RCDF.
By WILSON SAENI
In Auki
