BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
THE Government for Reform, Empowerment, Accountability and Transformation (GREAT) has pledged to fast-track the long-awaited Revenue Sharing Bill, a move aimed at strengthening provincial autonomy and ensuring a fairer distribution of national resources.
Prime Minister Matthew Wale made the commitment during a meeting with Western Province Premier Billy Veo last week.
He said the government is determined to address long-standing concerns surrounding revenue sharing between the national government and the provinces.
Wale said progress on the bill will depend largely on the technical capacity of the responsible ministry and the ability of the Ministry of Finance to provide the necessary budgetary support for its implementation.
“We are still manageable because capacity of provinces is still thin. Funds will come but it will come with responsibility and functionality in terms of human resources and public service,” he said.
Wale emphasized that one of the major challenges will be ensuring that public servants are adequately distributed across the provinces to support the administration of revenue-sharing arrangements.
He said the successful implementation of the bill will require significant recruitment and capacity-building efforts within provincial governments to guarantee transparency, accountability and effective service delivery.
“It will take public service to be distributed across the nine provinces; the size of the public service will become huge and consume resources that should be part of service delivery.
“These are the things that we will weigh. I have an open-door policy—come and let’s discuss this in a genuine and sincere way to see what is best for this country and for our people,” Wale said.
He said the arrangement must serve the interests of citizens rather than becoming a tool for political gain.
The concept of a revenue-sharing framework is not new.
Island Sun understands that the proposal was first formally raised in Parliament in 2016 by former Member of Parliament, Derek Sikua.
Through Question No. 72 of Parliament Business, Sikua called on the then Minister of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening to establish a revenue-sharing scheme between the Solomon Islands Government and provincial governments.
Provincial leaders have consistently advocated for the legislation, arguing that the current system limits the ability of provinces to make independent development decisions and effectively manage their own resources.
Successive governments have pursued the proposal without achieving a breakthrough.
However, the GREAT Government now says it is committed to finally delivering on the long-standing aspiration of provincial leaders and communities across the country.
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