Country’s 50 Constituency Offices Now Operational – Minister Seleso

The country’s 50 constituency offices are now in place and operational.

Honourable Minister for the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) Rollen Seleso informed Parliament during the Sine Die Motion, December last year.

“I am pleased to note to this Parliament that one of the key requirements under the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) Act 2023 is for the establishment of the Constituency Development Offices.

“All these have been established and the 50 offices of all the constituencies including the Constituency Development Officers, Project Officers and Accountants are now in place and are undertaking their roles in their respective offices and constituencies,” Hon. Minister Seleso said.

He added that the Constituency Offices are the delivery and the primary operation structures of the Constituency development program.

“I appeal to all our people to get familiar with your officers and seek information on your constituency matters through these offices.”

On support for the administration and set up of the Constituency Offices, Hon. Minister Seleso said that MRD will work with the 50 offices to develop a standard operations procedure to ensure that the constituency offices are administering and operating its functions within the provisions of the relevant regulations and rules including that of the CDF Act 2023.

Meanwhile, on governance and legislative reforms Hon. Minister Seleso said that his ministry (MRD) has begun the implementation of the CDF Act 2023 after it came into commencement on the 5th of January, 2024.

“The Act provides for the management and regulative oversight on the utilisation of the Constituency Development Funds under our Constituency Development Program.

“The CDF Act 2023 is a progressive and forward-looking legislation- meaning that whilst it is already commenced, the Act may need some settling-in -period before it is fully utilised as intended. All parties who are utilising the CDF may need some time to be socialised and made familiar with on the provisions of the legislation for its effective implementation. There may also be a need for a future review on some of its provisions where necessary to make it relevant to its context.

“…despite some sentiments raised calling it a ‘half-cooked legislation’, the CDF Act 2023 in my view has provided some progressive and significant reforms in how CDF is being managed by MRD and its Constituency Offices. Such minor but effective legislative changes must be celebrated by all of us,” the MRD Minister stressed.

Hon. Minister Seleso further said that one of the other significant governance structures within the legislative framework of CDF Act is the Constituency Development Committee (CDC).

“Speaker Sir, this is a critical governance structure for Constituency level development planning and it is now given guidelines in its roles and responsibilities under the new legislation.

“Whilst it is in its early stages in-terms of its set up, CDCs are anticipated to play a critical role in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Constituency Development Program in all Constituencies and communities throughout the Solomon Islands.

“On that note, Mr Speaker I must emphasise here that the success of the Constituency Development Program and utilising the CDF lies in part on the work and oversight of the CDC in each of the constituencies over its planning and implementation processes. Given this critical roles and responsibilities of the CDC, it is important that those appointed to each of the Constituency Development Committees to take their functions seriously and execute their mandates with their constituents in a more comprehensive, inclusive and non-discriminative manner,” Hon. Minister Seleso emphasized.

On the CDF Regulations, Hon. Minister Seleso said that MRD is working closely with the Attorney General Chambers for the finalisation of the regulations and get it to gazette by the first quarter of 2025.

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