BY LORETTA B MANELE

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MALD) welcomes the development of two new agriculture office buildings in Malaita and Makira/Ulawa Provinces.

Solomon Islands Agriculture Rural Transformation (SIART) Project in a statement yesterday said preparatory work is currently underway to construct two modern office buildings in Auki and Kirakira.

SIART said this initiative is funded under a partnership between MAL and the World Bank through the Solomon Islands Agriculture Rural Transformation (SIART) Project.

MALD Permanent Secretary, Samson Viulu highlighted that this development marks a significant step to achieve the two overarching policies the Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) have set for MAL and the agriculture sector in Solomon Islands.

“MAL is focused in ensuring agriculture becomes attractive in all levels of society and realize agriculture not only as the backbone of the country but also the economic backbone of Solomon Islands.

“It has become obvious that our young people are going overseas to work in the agricultural sector in other countries, and that is why we want to make the agriculture sector in Solomon Islands attractive for our people,” he said.

Viulu pointed out that MALD is not only about food production.

“It is also about making money. And in order to facilitate this overarching policy, we need to have good facilities in the provinces, which will in turn motivate our provincial officers in MAL to perform their duties as we are all aware of the challenges our officers are faced with in our provinces.

“For MAL, this is a big achievement and we sincerely thank the World Bank for supporting these two projects,” he said.

At the moment, only Isabel Province has a permanent agriculture office in its provincial capital, Buala.

SIART said once completed, the two provincial office buildings will mark a significant milestone in the agriculture ministry’s continuous effort to strengthen its presence and service delivery in the provinces.

The statement mentioned that two companies, following a competitive bidding process have been awarded contracts to implement the important projects.

ATL Construction is the awarded contractor to construct the new office building in Kirakira and JQY will be the contractor for Auki’s agriculture building.

“Both contractors are finalizing general site setting out ready for profiling while Environmental and Social Management Plans are in place for both sites,” said SIART.

Photos: SIART

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