ISABEL Province is worried that the delay of the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) will affect the development and implementation process of the proposed projects for the province.
In the event of a likely further delay all the projects will fall behind schedule, Isabel’s provincial secretary John Mark Lokumana said yesterday.
Mr Lokumana told the Solomon Star that Isabel province has been well prepared to work on the PCDF projects but the delay is worrying for them.
“We are well prepared to work on the projects as they have been tendered out to contractors, but our worry now is that if the ministry of provincial government is late in releasing the funds, this will set us well behind time frame.
“Our fear is that, we are only months away from the National General election and projects might not be implemented.
“However, we are waiting patiently for the project to come.”
The Government through the ministry of provincial government and institutional strengthening has released the first tranche of the fund worth SBD$16.1million in September 2013.
A statement from the Ministry of Provincial Government said the payment is being made to provincial governments that met the performance criteria for funding.
Overall a total sum of $27.7 million has been allocated for disbursement to provincial governments in 2013-14 fiscal years.
Isabel Province has a total of 17 projects worth at $2,784,438 to be funded under 2013 PCDF. Some has been completed and but some were yet to be completed.
Funding for 2014 projects were not available, thus none of the projects were done as yet.
Permanent Stanley Dick Pirione could not be reached yesterday for comments as he was away from the office.
By CHARLEY PIRINGI