MRD successfully concludes Gao/Bugotu Constituency M&E tour

The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) through its Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit had successfully completed its monitoring of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) 2020 funded projects in Gao/Bugotu Constituency, Isabel Province.

The M&E survey which received an overwhelming support from the Gao-Bugotu Constituency Office in Honiara and the people in the Constituency commenced from 19^th to 29^th November, 2021.  

The objectives of the M&E were:

• To verify the implementation status of projects funded by CDF program in the constituency in 2020.
• To establish community participation in the CDF funded projects in the constituency. 
• To investigate the level of awareness of CDF among community members. 
• To determine the level of satisfaction of community members in CDF funded projects.    

MRD team did the monitoring of CDF projects and at the same time administered questionnaires to several social classes of people within the villages and communities with the determination to establish the M&E objectives.

“Constituency monitoring of CDF projects is part of the ministry’s ongoing activity on CDF funded programmes being implemented within the 50 constituencies. With financial support from government this year 2021 for Monitoring of CDF projects, it enabled officers to carry out the activity which focus mostly on projects funded by the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) including Peoples Republic of China (PRC) CDF supported projects for 2020,” a statement from the ministry said.

“It helps to assess the progress or status of CDF implemented projects and to ascertain whether the programme is on track or not so that changes can be made during the project execution.” 

The Ministry thanked the people of Gao-Bugotu constituency for participating in the M&E survey which will help the ministry in its current CDF planning reform on Constituency Planning Strengthening Project (CPSP) which aim to improve the CDF accountability for sustainable development results. 

Given the challenges the Gao-Bugotu constituency office had faced in relation to its growing population and budget constraints to fully assist the development initiatives within the constituency, the team however, witnessed important infrastructure developments emerging within the rural villages and specifically at the Tatamba station.

Some of the development initiatives/highlights witnessed by the team include;

• Permanent road development that connects almost 20 villages of Gao Bugotu Constituency. 

• Kolotevo Market House for surrounding villages such as Midoru, Lepi, Vulavu, and other nearby smaller settlements.

• The Lepi Fisheries centre that provides income generating services for surrounding fishermen and nearby villages. 

• Tatamba station that accommodates major building infrastructures including a fully operational courthouse with associated cell for convicts, and the constituency office complex that is expected to complete and set for official hand over by the first quarter of 2022. 

This office complex will accommodate separate office spaces for Gao-Bugotu constituency consultation, field extension offices for agriculture and forestry divisions for Isabel provincial government, a women resource centre and other important administration setups for both Gao-Bugotu Constituency and the Isabel Provincial Government. 

The team visited communities and villages which include; Lelegia, Talise, Midoru, Lepi, Vulavu, Binaboli, Sepi, Suva, Sigana, Nagholau, Horara, Huali, Tataba and Poro.

MRD acknowledged the village chiefs, elders, mothers, fathers, youths and children of the villages within the Gao Bugotu Constituency for their support and warmth welcome rendered to the team during the M&E visit to communities within the Constituency. Honourable Samuel Manetoali is the current Member of Parliament (MP) for Gao-Bugotu Constituency. 

Government through MRD supported the M&E activity.

MRD is fully committed to see that all rural Solomon Islanders become meaningfully participated in development activities to improve their social and economic livelihoods.

Below is a summary table of the SIG support of CDF for Gao/Bugoto Constituency for year 2020.

2020 SIG Support Constituency Development Projects allocations for Gao-Bugotu Constituency
Constituency	Sector	Amount
Gao-Bugotu	Income Generating	$200,000.00
Infrastructure (Housing scheme, road construction, sea transportation, solar lighting sets, water and sanitation, procurement of materials such as chainsaws, chains, frames and nails for recipients)	$2,649,968.00
Administration	$150,000.00
Total procured amount for year 2020	$2,999,968.00

The constituency was also allocated in 2020 the PRC CDF support of $1.8m to fund income generating, community infrastructure projects such as education and health facilities and community water and sanitation projects.

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MRD MEDIA