Did NCRA Achieve its 10 Key Priorities? Early this year Prime Minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo, announced the NCRA government’s priorities for 2014. Now the time is almost up. This week Parliament begun its final meeting before it dissolve on the 8th September 2014 With that in mind it is interesting to reflect on the government stated priorities to figure out what has been achieved and what has not. Because with the priorities been set, the Government has obligation to the public to see them achieved and stand accountable to critics raised from the public. Among the 10 top priorities, the first four on the list target corruption and promote good governance in the country, principles that Transparency Solomon Islands been advocating for since then. The Priorities includes: 1. National General Elections. NCRA wants to achieve a clean and effective election towards the end of the year (2014). 2. Improvement of the Governance process by introducing the Political Integrity Bill in Parliament and the new Leadership Code Act which aims to keep leaders in constant check. 3. CDF Regulations. NCRA wants to implement the CDF Act, therefore has prioritize bringing the regulations to parliament to support and enable its implementation. 4. Implementation of the full charter of Accounts under the new Public Finance Management Act. NCRA plans to implement it by the end of May to allow the new Government to have better access to information on Public Finance management for sound decision. Transparency Solomon Islands acknowledges NCRA for placing a high priority on these key areas which we believe can have an impact in reducing corruption and promoting good governance in Solomon Islands. Now let’s look at these four priorities in a little more detail, first up NCRA wants to achieve a clean and effective election this year. First TSI want to acknowledge the government for introducing the BiometricVoter Registration system which enables the development of a more accurate voters list and prevent people from voting more than once. But that alone won’t dismiss corrupt practices during election, nor can it guarantee clean and effective election. The dirty practice of selling and buying of voter ID cards has been seen. The “devil’s night” handout is likely to continue during this National General Election. Clearly these activities will threaten a “clean and fair” election. At TSI we believe clean and fair election can only be achieved by putting a full stop to card buying, vote buying or some gifts and promises in exchange for a vote On the second priority, TSI wants to congratulate the NCRA government for successfully passing the Political Party Integrity Act which will administer the business of political parties. This is a good step forward, but more work need to be done. The completion of its regulations, Integrity Standards, and the awareness on Political Parties remain a key challenge. However,TSI question the NCRA stated priority to reform the current Leadership Code Commission? Is this still a priority? TSI believes that it is extremely important to review the LCC Act in order to effectively hold leaders accountable for any act of misconduct.TSI understands that a draft Leadership Bill has been completed. We are concerned that the current Parliament will dissolve soon and it is obvious that NCRA will not pass this important piece of accountability legislation. It is sad to see that so much time and effort have been wasted on this reform. There has been a lot of talking by our leaders on the topic but in the end nothing has been achieved. The third NCRA priority is the CDF regulation. NCRA wants to implement the CDF Act, therefore has prioritize bringing the regulations to parliament to support and enable its implementation. When the CDF Act was brought before parliament in 2013 there was significant criticism that it was ill-prepared and required wider consultation, yet the energy of the government to ensure the Act passed was enormous But to date the cabinet is yet to gazette the long waited CDF Regulation. The Government should clearly explain the reason for this delay. TSI would like to congratulate NCRA for staying true to its word and successfully implementing the New Public Finance Management Act which is very vital to oversee how government spend and manage its finances Apart from the above priorities there are also other priorities; 5. Further improvement of educational institutions such as SINU and others. Reviewing the current Education Act to separate basic education and TVET from higher education with the view to establishing an Independent higher education commission with the long-term plan to making Solomon Islands as the higher education hub of the Pacific. 6. To continue to pursue customary land mobilization and reform by looking at ways to bring customary land into productive usage as land remains fundamental in the country. 7. Resolve the Honiara Boundary issue. This is to ensure the Honiara Boundary is resolved so that sensible discussions can begin to occur about developments outside the original Honiara boundary. 8. Building an Autonomous Solomon Islands Hospital. The priority will begin with working on a legal framework by May 2014 to enable building an Autonomous Solomon Islands Hospital. 9. Establishment of the country’s first fiber optic cable (fastest internet connection). NCRA will ensure that the country’s first fiber optic cable is established before the end of the year (2014) to enable users access the fastest internet connection. 10. Engagement with Multilateral and Bilateral partners. The tenth priority is to engage with our Multilateral and Bilateral partners with the hope for a higher-level meeting at the Ministerial level meeting between Solomon Islands and Australia taking place this year. Some of these priorities the government has already achieved, whilst many are still outstanding. Failing to implement these priorities will only bring more criticism and a lack of public confidence to the Hon. Gordon Dacy Lilo led-NCRA government. We want to know what you think about this issue. Call TSI on 28319, email [email protected] or get in touch via our face-book page facebook/TransparencySI
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 22:16:35 +0000
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