Taiwan disburses $29M for constituency development fund
The Prime Minister and Taiwanese ambassador with senior officials. Photo: PMO
A $29.3 million payment from the Republic of China on Taiwan to Solomon Islands will support the Rural Constituency Development Fund.
The money was wired yesterday to the Solomon Islands Government to cover a series of outstanding rural development projects during the 2016-2017 period.
Of the total, $13.5 million was released as the second tranche payment for this year’s rural development projects for 45 constituencies.
Another $4.4 million was paid for rural social and economic development projects this year for 11 constituencies, while $300,000 was released as the first tranche payment for one constituency for the same period.
For the 2016 period, $10 million was released as the third tranche payment for 25 constituencies, while $800,000 was a third tranche payment for two constituencies. A second tranche payment of $300,000 for one constituency was made for the same period.
Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela signed documents to formally receive the funds on behalf of the Government in the presence of ROC Ambassador to Solomon Islands Roger Luo and senior officials from both the Taiwanese embassy and the office of the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Houenipwela assured the ROC Government that the Solomon Islands Government will strive to ensure individual Members of Parliament keep proper acquittal records of how the funds are spent on development projects in their constituencies.