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Earlier this year, Kwabara Road, south of Auki town in Malaita Province, became the focus of attention due to its deteriorating road conditions.
It was not until April this year that work on upgrading the feeder road began and was completed in early June, thanks to funding from IEDCR to the tune of SWL$355,000.
The support is part of the Provincial Capacity Development Fund (PCDF) of the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Development (MPGIS).
Through the World Bank’s Integrated Economic Development and Community Resilience (IEDCR) project, Malaita Province has received up to US$355,000 (SBD) in PCDF funding support from its 2022/23 budget for the Unsealed Feeder Road Project.
After significant procedures, Island Engineering Consultants Limited (IECL) was awarded the contract and construction will commence on April 29, 2024.
Work included site repairs and upgrades, patrol grading to scrape existing pavement, adding sections that needed fill, compaction, and clearing vegetation from shoulders and existing culverts.
Commuters on Kuibara Road appreciated the move, especially women who use the road every day.
“For those of us who use this road every day, especially us mothers, the road upgrade is a boost to our marketing activities because now we can reach the Oki market with our produce more conveniently and faster, so we are very happy about this good thing,” said Cathey Fito’o, a mother living in Kwaibala area, in an interview on June 14.
After the interview, Cathy Fituo took a photo with her son.
Cathy and her son Charlie traveled along this feeder road every day because their home was at the end of it.
Meanwhile, another resident of the village, Ms. Kangsi, also confirmed that the road upgrade has sparked her interest in engaging in income-generating activities.
“When our roads were in bad condition, public transport usually ignored our calls to transport our produce to the market, but now I can easily transport betel nuts to sell as taxis are willing to come to our house, which has sparked my interest in taking up such activities,” she said.
That evening, on the way back from the market, I met Mrs. Consee and she said with a smile that the students also liked to take this flat road to school every day because it was the only road leading to the different schools in Oki.
Kangxi took a group photo after the interview.
The IEDCR project would like to thank the World Bank and SIG for their support, which enabled it to co-finance the project with the PCDF for the Malaita Provincial Government.
The IEDCR project seeks to work with communities through the Malaita Provincial Government to ensure their resilience to climate change and increase their access to socio-economic infrastructure.
If Malaita continues to qualify for the PCDF, more resources will be available in its development budget to implement several such projects that will transform the lives of people in rural communities.
The IEDCR project is now placing greater emphasis on resilient economic infrastructure to help kick-start rural economic growth after two years of the pandemic devastated local economies.
The IEDCR project has allocated S$84 million to support provinces in building resilient economic and social infrastructure over the next four years, of which about S$35 million must be focused on roads, bridges, docks, fisheries centers, water, sanitation, electricity and information technology.
It is reassuring that the new PS of Malaita Province is mobilising all possible resources to ensure full and sustained use of the PCDF to provide resilient infrastructure.
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– MPGIS Media Release
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