Vanuatu’s Council of Ministers has extended the term of the Programme Recovery Committee that is tasked to provide oversight and governance into recovery projects in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam.
The committee will continue its work into next year to ensure all the money in the recovery fund is spent and that the closure of the Recovery and Economic Strengthening Plan is smooth and efficient.
Chairperson of the PRC and parliamentarian, Johnny Koanapo Rasou says he is very pleased with the progress of the implementation of the rebuilding programme.
According to Mr Rasou, the government has been informed of the progress so far.
“We are now beginning to see some implementation in the Education sector, and I commend the Minister for Education for pushing the officials to try and expedite the reconstruction in this sector,” he said.
“Approvals were granted since last year, but we have been told that some hardware that had signed the contracts to supply the materials to schools do not have sufficient quantity available in stock. This is causing the delays also. These recovery and reconstruction programs will play a key role also in creating jobs and boost the economy.”
Mr Rasou also highlighted that the Government is also very pleased that contracts are also being awarded to many island-based contractors.
“We continue to talk to our donors about the joint monitoring and evaluation of the implementation progress,” he said.
A progress report said 3.5 bn vatu has been programmed or invested towards 42 recovery projects across several sectors.
Rapid progress has been enabled by four Project Management Units which were set up or strengthened in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Livestock and Biodiversity, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Health, Department of Water Resources and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities.
About 40 Ni-Vanuatu staff, many of them recent graduates work in project management, procurement and Monitoring and Evaluation roles across these units, further strengthening the Government’s capacity to deliver recovery projects.
A number of recovery projects have in the past few months been completed and handed over to the beneficiaries.
One of the projects is the Tavalapa Dispensary in Tongoa handed over on June 28, 2017 by Minister of Health Jerome Ludvaune and Australian High Commissioner, Jenny Da Rin.
Another project is the Ikiti Dispensary in Tanna handed over on July 12, 2017.
The Vanuatu Society for People with Disabilities building in Port Vila was also handed over on July 21, 2017 by MP Johnny Koanapo (Chairman of PRC) and the Australian High Commissioner, Jenny Da Rin.
In addition, contract signing and ground-breaking ceremonies have recently been held for Police staff houses in Tanna, Lamenu Stadium, and Vila Central Hospital.
The contracts were signed by the Police Commissioner and the Australian High Commissioner. Beyond hand-overs, key projects that focus on livelihoods rather are also complete or nearing completion; for example, during the second quarter of 2017 the Fisheries Department completed the delivery of the last set of Fish Aggregating Devices, as part of a 40m vt recovery project that involved fishing communities in all provinces of Vanuatu.
Similar project completions are taking place across the country in Water, Education, and Tourism sectors.