PM SAYS COUNTRY NEEDS TO PROBE WAYS TO ADVANCE INTO FUTURE

Prime Minister Manasseh Damukana Sogavare says, the country needs to probe ways to advance into the future.

In a recent radio talk-back show on SIBC, Prime Minister Sogavare said important questions such as whether the delivery channels are appropriate for its needs must be asked.

He asked whether the government system and its structure is appropriate and suitable for the diverse setting of the country and achievement of our development goals.

“This government system and its structure appropriate and suitable for the diverse setting of our country and for the achievement of our development goals? How effective are government ministries in delivering on government policies? Is the recurrent cost of maintaining the present size of the public service justified by the output? Is there room for right sizing without undermining the effectiveness of the public service? Are roles played by the different sectors and organizations are properly featured in our national development strategies? How are they to be featured? How can we improve the partnership between all sectors? National unity is a serious issue for the country.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister says the need to address the concern of national unity stems from issues that drove the country down the path of the ethnic crisis in 2000.

“The need to address this concern stems from the issues that drove the country down the path of the ethnic crisis in year 2000 and the implementation of the peace process has seen mixed results with a lot of outstanding major projects on Malaita and Guadalcanal not delivered. What are the expectations of our people on these projects? How are we to progress these projects in areas that are still subject to land disputes considering the fact that ownership of important resources that matter to the development of our country is in the hands of our people under customary ownership?”

The Prime Minister adds these and more questions will occupy the minds of government policy advisers in the next few days as they put together government policies.