Civil Servants, including the Roko Tui’s and District Officers have been urged to be proactive in assisting villages across the country formulate Integrated Village Development Plans (IVDP).
During his visit to Nairai Island in Lomaiviti Province on August 30, 2023, Minister for Rural Development Hon. Sakiasi Ditoka emphasized that completed IVDPs should address challenges faced by villagers more comprehensively, not just fulfill requests.
"One thing I notice is that villages that have completed their IVDPs seem to have done so just to fulfill the request, but there needs to be deeper thought put into them to fully address the challenges faced by villagers,” the Minister stated.
“It's a positive thing that requires a whole-of-Government approach, a holistic approach, and I urge civil servants based in rural areas to actively participate in the formulation of IVDPs, especially in our rural and maritime sectors.”
“This will also ensure that these IVDPs are aligned with the Government's focus. We must collaborate to ensure that our IVDPs are sustainable, with plans to nurture them for achieving greater outcomes over the years,” the Minister added."
The Minister who is visiting 3 islands in Lomaviti continuously reiterated the importance of an VDP that is thoroughly discussed at village level.
“A IVDP that involves children, youth, womenfolk, menfolk and inputs from the divisional offices of Government can bear fruit and will be felt in the long term by villagers,” adds Minister Ditoka.
“Such Development plans when implemented on 5 to 10 years span will greatly enhance their sustainability and on the other hand also curb the rural to urban drift faced in many of our maritime communities.”
“We are also encouraging villages to involves themselves in businesses that can generate income not only for the village but the cross section of their communities as well. These businesses are to be based on the Co-operatives model as it is best for our rural communities and everyone benefits through dividends payouts which is an added incentive.”
Addressing connectivity challenges, the Minister acknowledged the necessity of modern communication in maritime areas and the ongoing efforts to find solutions.
“Connectivity is a must in this modern age and we can’t afford to move forward while our maritime zone continuously face communication difficulties.”
“We have officers from Telecom Fiji here with us and we hope to come up with a comprehensive solution that can assist villages facing issues with communications soon,” said Hon Ditoka.
“However, while these maritime areas face these challenges the bigger challenge is how we as a Government will action changes to alleviate the problems at hand,” the Minister cautioned.
“Thus, it is of paramount importance that linkages are in place and incorporated into IVDP’s to emphasis how our rural and maritime communities can move forward together to improve their livelihood and elevate their living standards to be on par with the urban and peri urban areas,” said Hon Ditoka.
“Our villages have their own Governance structure so it should be fairly easy to incorporate development plans based on good governance, accountability and transparency.”
“The time to sow the seeds of IVDP is now and our future generation will benefit from it hence we must be proactive and end the culture of total reliance on Government”.
The Minister also deliberated on available assistance at the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Natural Disaster such as ROI, housing scheme and seafarer’s assistance program.
Mata ni Tikina Nairai, Malanivosa Colati while briefing the Government delegation extended the Tikina’s appreciation for the 2023-2024 budget which addresses some of the major issues faced in our maritime areas.
“We do appreciate the assistance programs especially on housing, the Seafarers Assistance Program and the reintroduction of the Rural and Outer Island Development Program which will greatly assist our income generation capabilities,” he said.
“We now look forward to working together with the Coalition Government for the betterment of our rural and maritime communities.”