23 February 2022
The Premier of Guadalcanal Province Hon. Francis Sade, says he supports Premier Stanley Manetiva’s (Central Islands Province) call for the national government and all premiers to have an urgent roundtable discussion on the SBD$40 million grant recently announced by the Asian Development Bank, ADB.
The fund is given by ADB to address the Covid-19 impacts in the provinces.
Premier Sade raises his concern this morning after Premier Manetiva made the call on Solomon Business Magazine Online yesterday.
“I acknowledge Premier Manetiva’s timely call to SIG and all premiers to have a roundtable discussion on the SBD$40 million under ADB in order to address Covid-19 impacts in the country,” Premier Sade says.
He continues “the national government should directly and proportionally disburse the SBD$40M to the nine provinces rather than channel it through the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. In doing so, our provincial governments will optimize the funding to address the Covid-19 outbreak swiftly”.
Premier Sade further stated that “Perhaps, the provincial governments’ dependency on the MHMS for the past two years has caught us [provincial governments] by surprise. Well it should not be a surprise, provincial governments should be given more funding to build their own provincial isolation and quarantine centers in anticipation of the Covid-19 outbreak two years prior”.
He then states “In the case of Guadalcanal Province, SIG should not be clustered under Honiara City Council or the National Referral Hospital, but rather as a ‘province’. The case on point is that Guadalcanal Province does not have a provincial hospital and a Second Level Medical Store (SLMS) compare to other provinces. This is why I make calls on behalf of my people every year for SIG to assist us with a provincial hospital”.
Premier Sade reiterates that he supports Premier Manetiva’s urgent call and looks forward to having a meaningful discussion not only on the ADB’s SBD$40M fund, but other issues pertaining to the healthcare system in the Province during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Sources: GP Media Release and Solomon Times Online.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
