A West Kwaio Constituency meeting was held at Buma Parish in West Kwaio, Malaita Province, on Monday, 9 February 2026, bringing together constituency leaders, ward representatives, and community stakeholders to discuss development challenges and priorities for the year.
Speaking at the meeting, the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Kwaio Constituency, Honourable Claudius Teifi, emphasized that development is not about individuals but about providing essential services that improve the lives of all people.
He said true development means working together to ensure assistance reaches every community fairly.
Hon. Teifi called on all Constituency Development Committee (CDC) Sub-Committees to return to their respective communities and inform people about projects and support provided through constituency funds and donor partners.
He stressed that community participation is crucial to ensure projects are implemented on time.
West Kwaio, he noted, has one of the largest populations compared to other constituencies, which makes implementation more challenging. While some constituencies were able to complete projects as early as December 2025 or January 2026 by prioritizing smaller groups of voters, West Kwaio must carefully consider fairness and realism due to its size. He urged the CDC to work efficiently so materials and services can be delivered as quickly as possible.
Constituency Development Officer Bobby Siarani highlighted major challenges faced by the office in 2025, particularly the distribution of application forms under the Rural Constituency Development Fund (RCDF) Act.
He explained that delays from the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) caused significant pressure on the office, forcing staff to print and distribute forms independently after months of waiting for approval.
Mr. Siarani thanked the CDC and Sub-Committees for their hard work in distributing forms and assisting applicants.
However, he said many applications were incomplete, with missing names or incorrect information, creating serious difficulties during data entry.
A total of 3,788 applications were received, with a combined requested cost of over SBD 40.8 million. This far exceeded the available SBD 5 million budget, prompting the MP to return the applications to the CDC Sub-Committees for joint review and decision-making.
Hon. Teifi explained that delays in service delivery are often caused by late disbursement of funds from the national government, which prioritizes major national projects.
He confirmed that the 2025 constituency budget was only released in the first week of December.
West Kwaio Constituency Advisor Walter Maesugea urged all CDC members to work together to ensure smooth implementation in 2026. Validation of application forms by CDC Sub-Committees is scheduled for March 2026.
By Lesley Foinagwa
MASI Stringer
