13 Jan 2011

New Malaita Premier calls for more help from Solomons government

9:00 am on 13 January 2011

The new premier of the Solomon Islands province of Malaita is calling on the national government and aid donors to work with his administration to provide more opportunities for the people of his province.

Edwin Suibaea, who is a former deputy premier and planning minister in the provincial government, was elected premier this week.

He says given its population size, Malaita has been left behind in the quality of its infrastructure such as roading and energy.

He says past national governments haven't done enough for the province and he's calling on the current government to do more.

"The national ministries should start working very closely with my government so that we start speeding up some of these projects. I'm hoping that if the national government would work together with the Malaita provincial government then we should speed up the process because employment opportunities is one of the key areas that we are looking at, encouraging more investment so that we create employment opportunities for our youth."

Edwin Suibaea says education services also need to be improved and hospitals upgraded so the province is producing physically and mentally fit people.