GOV’T QUESTIONED ON CLIMATE CHANGE PLANS
A taro garden in Sikaiana, which is also experiencing the effects of Climate Change on these gardens. Photo credit: SIBC.
Member of Parliament for Aoke Langalanga, Mathew Wale has questioned the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Meteorology and National Disaster Management, as to when vulnerable communities of climate change in the country are going to be relocated.
The Aoke Langalanga MP asked the question during the Public Account Committee hearing last week.
He said while the Ministry’s Development and Recurrent budgets are appropriate, they are only important transitionally.
“The things you are focussing on in your development budget and to an extent, in your recurrent budget are good, but they are not the most important things, they are only important transitionally so that your capacities and of other stakeholders can deal with the issues of disaster, climate change and so forth.”
Mr Wale emphasised that the most important thing now is to relocate vulnerable communities of climate change.
“The very need for the vulnerable communities is to move. We’re not responding to the need at all, for the last how many years the Ministry has been established. And so listening to you and reading these budget papers, it seems I am in a deep tunnel being unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel as to when are we going to finally have funds to relocate the communities.”