MRD conducts CDF Act 2023 awareness sessions in Malaita Outer Islands to improve public understanding of constituency funds.
The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) has successfully conducted a series of community awareness sessions on the Constituency Development Funds (CDF) Act 2023 for the Malaita Outer Islands (MOI) Constituency from 3 to 8 October 2026.
More than 100 participants, including community chiefs, community and church leaders, and constituents, represented their communities at sessions held at Luaniua community on Luaniua Island and Pelau community on Pelau Island. The strong turnout reflected people’s eagerness to learn about the new Act and to see positive change in the CDF program that improves their social and economic livelihoods.
The sessions form part of the ministry’s ongoing efforts to educate the public on the new CDF legislation and the reforms MRD is undertaking. Beyond providing accurate information about the Act, the program helped constituents understand their roles and responsibilities under the new law.
The sessions were informative and interactive, giving participants the opportunity to ask questions and discuss openly with MRD the areas on which they wanted clarification. This helped to clear up many misunderstandings about the Act and how it is applied. The awareness covered key provisions of the Act, including the appointment and role of constituency officers, the constituency development plan, signatories to constituency bank accounts, constituency assets and reporting, and offences and penalties.
Community leaders expressed deep gratitude to MRD for the program. Willie, a former Malaita Provincial Government Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) for Luaniua Ward and now a community leader, said the awareness was the first of its kind for his community. He stressed that sharing such information is important to ensure constituents understand the new legislation and its provisions.
“This legislation is crucial to ensure communities and constituents who will be benefiting or receiving projects and support under this CDF program must comply and responsible for their conducts,” he said.
Jenny, the nurse in charge at Pelau, shared similar sentiments. She thanked the MRD team for reaching out to the MOI communities and said the awareness had corrected many of their misperceptions about the Act and its application.
“We are pleased with this awareness. Ensuring our rural people understand the provisions in the Act and how it will be implemented is very important,” she said.
MRD Deputy Secretary Technical and team leader, Noel Matea, said that sharing accurate information with the people who are the main beneficiaries of the law will help them understand it and apply it in their dealings with the CDF in their constituencies.
On behalf of MRD, Mr. Matea thanked the Member of Parliament for the MOI Constituency and the constituency office for their support, as well as the communities, participants and everyone involved in making the program a success.
“We should not be fearful of this law, as it is there to guide our conduct in working with and applying the CDF in our development processes,” he said.
The CDF Act 2023 was passed by Parliament on 22 December 2023 and came into effect on 5 January 2024. Its purposes are to strengthen good governance, to improve the delivery of the Constituency Development Funds, and to promote equal and inclusive participation of all Solomon Islanders in development.
MRD will continue to undertake similar awareness consultations in other constituencies and communities across the country.
SOURCE// MRD PRESS RELEASE
