KOELA Community and its surrounding villages on Savo Island have thanked their Member of Parliament, Honourable Dickson Mua, for his continuous support of the enrichment of livelihoods in his constituency with the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
This was after officers from the Savo-Russell Constituency (SRC) office delivered livelihood projects funded by CDF to the Koela community on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
According to the Ministry of Rural Development, Koela Catholic Church received a 100-watt solar set, a 5KVA generator, and grass cutter apparatus in the delivery. The Catholic church building was also partly funded by the constituency office with its CDF allocation.
The support for the church was highly appreciated by the Koela Catholic leaders, members, and the community at large.
Also, 36 sets of 25-watt solar sets were delivered to the community for the remaining households that are yet to get their share of solar sets, followed by the Koela women’s group, which also received four sewing machines to assist them in their sewing and life skills program.
“These are generous supports, and we would like to thank our national government through our MP,” Koela women’s leader and Chairlady Susan Parua said.
She said the support, whether big or small, does not matter; what really matters is how it touches and transforms individual lives.
“The leadership level shown to our communities in terms of support toward livelihood improvement is profound.
“We have been struggling for years. But through the support of our MP and his constituency office through CDF, it enabled us to have a decent roof over our heads and enjoy other meaningful benefits in our communities,” Ms. Parua said.
Savo Island, which forms part of the Savo-Russell Constituency, has its own challenges in terms of its development aspirations. The growing population on the island is a challenge, as pointed out by some of the community leaders at Koela.
While acknowledging the challenges, Constituency Development Officer (CDO) Fred Vasivau said the constituency office, under the leadership and support of Hon. MP Mua, is committed and will continue to deliver and support livelihood improvement and development in the constituency.
He said the project delivery is part of the ongoing support provided by the constituency office to constituents under its CDF program.
“These are just small assistances, and they are part of our bigger projects as spelled out in our development plan.
“Our key target is mainly to improve the livelihood of Savo and Russell communities despite the challenges we continue to face.
“As we are all aware, our economy is not in a very good position at the moment, but lest we forget, our government is trying its best to continue to support our rural people,” CDO Vasivau highlighted.
The very brief but significant handover at Koela village was indeed a remarkable one as community leaders and chiefs came together to appreciate their constituency office, MP, and the government for touching their lives through CDF.
Chairlady Parua further said that the assistance they received has pulled together the politeness of all the people in their community and nearby villages to work together and ponder the way forward in terms of development for their communities.
“Let us work together for the betterment of our communities and the Savo-Russell constituency as a whole.
“The future and prosperity of our constituency depend entirely on our hands,” Ms. Parua emphasized.
The government, through the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), is committed to rural development and will continue to deliver and support the 50 constituencies to guarantee they accomplish their development aspirations by improving the social and economic livelihood of our rural people.
MRD believes that the current review work on the CDF Act 2013 will pave the way for more positive changes in our rural communities to ensure rural Solomon Islanders meaningfully participate in development activities to improve their socio-economic livelihood.
MRD press
