South Guadalcanal MP Rollen Seleso urges Government to refine the existing revenue sharing bill and advance decentralisation
Honiara, Solomon Islands – South Guadalcanal MP Hon. Rollen Seleso has urged the Government to build on existing work on provincial revenue sharing rather than starting the legislative process again from scratch.
Responding to the Government’s plan to review and consult on the Revenue Sharing proposal, Hon. Seleso told Parliament that a draft bill on the matter already exists.
“The Government should consider revisiting and refining that draft, rather than commencing the exercise afresh,” he said.
Hon. Seleso said using the existing draft could save time and resources and provide a more efficient pathway towards implementation.
He welcomed the Government’s stated commitment to strengthening provincial governance, decentralisation and community-led development.
He said revenue sharing was directly connected to whether Solomon Islanders could access government services in the places where they live.
“Decentralisation is not an administrative preference. It is the difference between a citizen of Guadalcanal Province receiving a service where they live and a citizen being told to travel to Honiara for it,” he said.
Hon. Seleso also called on the Government to finally gazette the regulations under the Constituency Development Funds Act 2023.
He said the Government’s commitment to review the Act and advance community-led auditing was welcome, but the outstanding regulations should now be completed.
“Let this be the Parliament in which they are finally gazetted, so that constituency funds are governed by law rather than by practice,” he said.
SOURCE//. Opposition Press Release
