Draft report on Louisiade biased

I FIND certain sections of the second draft report entitled “Feasibility study on economic development Opportunities for the Louisiade archipelago” dated Sept 29 biased and highly exaggerated.
The consultant hired to carry out the study should have consulted with key individuals in the whole area consisting the mainland and outer islands that make up the Louisiade archipelago.
It was very disappointing to note in the report that the outer islands were not covered in the study due to the bad weather conditions, which was an unacceptable excuse.
As a result, the people of the outer islands were not happy because they were not included.
Secondly, the report stated two existing initiatives – Samarai-Murua agriculture rehabilitation and training (SMART) centre and the Kelababala self-reliance project (KSRP) – running concurrently to rehabilitate mining areas, smallholders and plantations outside the SML areas while it mentioned the duplication of resources.
The former Misima Mining Limited (MML) left SMART centre leaving the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL), and the Coconut Cocoa Research Institute (CCRI) to carry out the roles and backed the Misima Island sustainability plan for the people of Misima and Samarai-Murua areas.
Recently, the KSRP gained significance through playing a duplicating role to the one by SMART centre.
The KSRP was initially set up by the district education division to help school dropouts along the North Coast villages to prepare themselves with much needed basic skills in agriculture.
Through this initiative, the role has lately deviated to commercial and money-oriented agricultural activities.
This latest rivalry emerged because of K20 million Government funding for the island’s rehabilitation and the MP’s K10 million DSIP funds.
Lastly, and more seriously, the report contained defamatory remarks without any hard facts and evidence to back the allegations.
Something must be done about the allegations and the biased report before it becomes the final report.

Phillip Anselmo
Misima Island