Mr. Speaker, Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen and the People of Kiribati
Kam Na Mauri
1. I wish to start by thanking the Almighty God for his continued blessings on us individually.
2. I stand before you this morning to present the Policy Statement that will, God-willing, guide our direction over the next four years
3. We have been elected by the people of this nation to lead them forward and we accept with humility the trust and confidence placed on us. We all know the significance and important responsibilities bestowed on all of us and hence it is my sincere wish and that of Cabinet that we will all work in cooperation to fulfill that trust and confidence with commitment and diligence for the betterment of this nation and its people.
4. As with any responsible Government we hold high the principles of democracy and good government. We are also committed to the pursuance of better welfare for the people of this nation now and in future. In this regard we want to focus on providing essential services that are both easily accessible and affordable. We also recognize the value of pursuing sustainable socio-economic development and thus must place importance on developing our vast human resources and our limited natural and physical wealth.
5. The statement of intent outlined in this document will be developed in detail through the National Development Plan and the various sector strategic plans and Operational Plans to be formulated by all Government organizations. This is a Statement of Intent not only to guide us but we stand ready to be judged against this.
1. GOVERNANCE
5, Kiribati is fortunate in that the basic principles of good governance are entrenched in our culture and traditions but we must be vigilant in aspiring for continued improvement and must stand ready to accept and advocate change if seen essential.
6. Thus it is our resolve to increase openness and transparency in our processes. We will ensure that the public is reliably informed and made aware of all Government activities, programs and projects. We welcome disclosure and publication of data and information that will help the people who elected us to hold us accountable for our decisions and use of public funds.
7. As leaders we must work together to create a strong and functional legal framework that will allow better transparency and accountability. In this connection laws governing leadership and operations of different sectors must be strengthened, modernized and updated to reflect the situation of today and in doing so ensure that Government is able to regulate competition and activity that prohibits corruption and abuse of office and public assets.
8. Government relies on the public service system for the delivery of services to the public. It is therefore important that current systems are reviewed and reformed where required and changes made to enhance cost effectiveness and efficiency of delivery to the public. The civil service and State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) will be subjected to greater scrutiny and strong but fair actions will be taken.
9. The civil service will be required to perform and must report on progress. Government will embark on a process demanding plans from the civil service and put in place effective monitoring and evaluation systems to keep track of where we are going and ensure decisions are implemented well. Regular reporting to Cabinet will be essential so that we in turn can report progress to Parliament and the public when required.
2. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT (Education and Training)
10. We know we are not well endowed with richness of natural resources. But we are blessed to have a young and growing population base and it is the important responsibility of Government to nurture and enhance positive human resources development that will in turn contribute to overall sustainable national development.
11. It is well received that early childhood education is an essential foundation for positive learning in later years and Government is committed to provide appropriate and affordable support to this level of education. The approach we want to take is to share responsibilities with communities because it is not possible for Government to do everything alone.
12. Government wants to focus more on the formal basic education levels and formal training institutions. It is important to adopt a multi-pronged approach to address the many issues we face. As a starting point we must establish clear and functional policy frameworks. Review of the Education Ordinance is a major priority of this Government and formulation of a practical policy for the advancement of Technical & Vocational Education and Training must also be completed early during this term.
13. At the formal primary and secondary levels we recognize the importance of effective service delivery and will seriously consider devolution of control and administration to island and school levels. This will not work without sufficient resources and Government is therefore prepared to work with the schools and community to provide necessary assistance.
14. Human resources development is not possible without good teachers and so it is an important priority to build capacity of teachers at all levels. This will also cover training on English teaching to address the critical decline of English competency within the country. In addition Government will consider recruitment of native English language speakers to teach English.
15. Good learning requires good facilities and resources. Government will continue rehabilitation of primary school infrastructure with a target to complete rehabilitation of 50% of the remaining 85 schools by the end of this term. We remain committed to improving facilities of other schools and local training institutions.
16. We must continually aspire to augment the capabilities of our people and the above are intended to achieve this important goal, however we must not always remain inward thinking. We must look externally to gain new ethics, ideas, knowledge and skills. In this regard Government supports overseas training to have qualified people to serve the country now and in years to come.
3. HARNESSING OF NATURAL RESOURCES FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENHANCING NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY
17. Being an ocean country we are the custodians of a huge Exclusive Economic Zone abundant in seabed minerals, fisheries and other marine resources. These are the basis of our nation’s natural wealth and we must endeavour to harness this wealth wisely not only to support our economic growth goals for today but must also conserve and safe-guard these resources to ensure sustainable livelihood for our future generations.
18. There are policies to be formulated and decisions to be implemented that will reap more gains from harnessing of our fishery resources where it is envisaged that revenue from fishing licenses will substantially increase. In addition we will continue pursuing the establishment of Joint Ventures with those who have expertise in processing in order for the Government to maximize more benefits from value adding processes and also provide more employment opportunities for our people.
19. It is also the intention of Government to commence sea-bed mining. The first exploration will be undertaken in the high seas bordering our EEZ in partnership with a well established company in this field.
20. Government also desires to increase local and international trade of value added local food stuff and other local commodities between the outer islands and Tarawa and abroad. Government is prepared to facilitate the promotion of agriculture and provide relevant machinery for processing agricultural products and also invite expertise to help our people in these new undertakings. We are also prepared to provide appropriate incentives to the private sector, specifically those venturing into these line products.
21. The underpinning motive for these interventions relates to the perceived need to reduce the dependence of our people on imported food stuff and create much needed domestic employment and cash generating opportunities for those on the outer islands.
3. ECONOMIC GROWTH
19. Our ultimate goal is economic growth to improve the welfare of the country and its people. We want to promote growth that is sustainable by implementing sound economic policies that will support a vibrant and stable economy. The broad sector strategy we want to pursue will include various macro strategies and policy initiatives.
20. We are prepared to consider difficult structural reforms, including civil service reform, economic reforms, and improving the performance of monopolies including State Owned Enterprises and removing government from areas best serviced by the private sector. In doing these we are mindful that necessary reforms must be carefully balanced against important community service obligations.
21. Not only will we strive to impose fiscal discipline but we also recognize the value of expanding our revenue base to finance investments aimed at achieving growth. We intend to achieve these through a mixture of interventions. A few of these interventions have already been mentioned without precluding the importance of safeguarding existing revenue sources.
22. We also want to continue development of the Tourism sector as a means of achieving our economic growth goals.
23. We understand that there are areas where we lack the knowledge and expertise and in this connection we see the need for increased direct foreign investment to operate on their own and where possible to enter into cooperation with Government owned entities or the private sector. Laws and regulations governing this area will continually be reviewed and improved.
22. Earlier on I mentioned the importance of developing our vast human resources as it is envisioned that with a good knowledge and skills base our people will be more employable domestically and abroad. We will continue to seek employment opportunities in countries we have relations with. At the domestic level we are keen to facilitate private sector development to expand the employment base.
4. CHALLENGES
23. Achieving sustainable growth through human resource development and good harnessing of our natural resources are not easily achievable for various reasons such as i) our isolation from major metropolitan centres, ii) rapidly growing population, iii) high cost of providing services due to scattered islands with small populations across vast ocean expanses, iv) poor state of infrastructure, v) environment problems and vi) heavy reliance on expensive fossil fuel source. We must therefore be prepared to address these challenges as best as we can through a number of measures as will be outlined below.
5. RAPID POPULATION GROWTH
24. The 2010 Population Census revealed some alarming information to Government and the public in general. The population of South Tarawa and Betio is now over 50,000. If the current growth rate continues there will be over 100,000 people on these places by 2025.
25. Not only that but the entire population of the country is now well over 100,000. To respond effectively to the serious problems that will arise from this un-sustainable growth rate Government will encourage active family planning at the family levels. Furthermore, efforts to increase awareness and action will be pursued in partnership with relevant stakeholders to address the serious problems of un-checked population growth.
26. Government however cannot tackle this sensitive area alone and should strengthen collaboration between government, non-government organisations (NGOs) and the community to address the challenges of a rapidly growing population.
6. HEALTH ISSUES
27. There is an alarming increase in the number of people afflicted with non-communicable diseases and the emergence of more communicable diseases and the Ministry of Health should continue and strengthen its on-going preventative health programmes.
28. In order for our people to continue enjoying good health and ensure they remain productive and contribute to national development, it is fundamental that Government continues to improve the services offered at the main hospitals at Nawerewere, Betio, Tabiteuea North and Kiritimati and through the health centres to acceptable standards. We will also assign the Health Ministry to progress work on procurement of more effective drugs through cost effective means. Training of medical doctors, nurses and other medically related professions will continue to be high priority.
7. ENVIRONMENT
29. This Government continues to recognise risks posed by environmental issues such as Climate Change to our development and our long term survival as a nation.
30. Our development strategies will take into consideration the climate change threat. We will continue to advocate for our plight in the international arena in order to draw attention to our vulnerability to this calamity and continue the push for increased assistance to enhance our ability to mitigate adverse impacts and adapt to the many faces of the climate change threat.
31. But we must be prepared also to make sacrifices. In this connection conservation efforts such as the Phoenix Islands Protected Area and the larger regional Pacific Oceanscape initiatives will continue to be promoted as our contributions to the saving of our planet. We will also seriously pursue achieving a target, to be set, of carbon emission reduction by end of 2015. An underpinning principle of our environmental policy will be promotion of habits to protect our environment, both our islands and our oceans.
32. To mitigate the possible adverse effects of climate change and rising seas there are strategies now in place or being developed to prepare our people and our atolls to cope with the increasing challenges from these calamities. It is the fervent hope of Government that implementation of such plans will not continually be delayed and we chould therefore be proactive in advocating for urgent and immediate action and ask for external assistance where needed.
8. COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORT
33. The geographical layout of our islands is a challenge and we cannot achieve our economic aspirations if transport and communication links are lacking. Satellite phone connections and telecentres have been established on the outer islands to improve connectivity within the country but there is still a lot to be desired in terms of accessibility and affordability and will explore options for joint management of TSKL or seek a second service provider to assist us in this regard.
34. Maritime transport is very important and in this connection there are plans to renew the KSSL fleet. Government will focus also on providing required infrastructure and services to increase efficiency and stronger regulation of the sector to enhance safety and good practice. The Search and Rescue operations will be improved to minimize the loss of lives and property. In addition Government will improve control of its Open Ship Registry to ensure that foreign vessels are properly registered under the Kiribati flag.
35. In terms of air transport it is acknowledged that services and infrastructure in both the Line and Gilbert groups must be improved. There are plans to work on these as a matter of priority, Government will continue to support Air Kiribati Ltd to provide the level of services required.
36. Improvements of the two international airports will soon be underway and hope this will boost tourism that can create much needed employment and revenue. Government will continue its efforts to seek better international airfares through negotiations with current providers and possible provision of competing services. Domestic airports on outer islands will be maintained for public needs and emergencies.
37. On the land transport side the rehabilitation of South Tarawa road is commencing soon and we will also be undertaking appropriate and affordable road improvements on the outer islands.
9. ENERGY EFFICIENCY
38. We rely heavily on imported fossil fuel for our energy needs. Fuel price is escalating and is outside of our control. In the short to medium term we have to consider purchase of fuel in bulk so as to cut transport costs and thus reduce landed cost. This could also reduce repeated risk of supply running out before arrival of the next tanker.
39. But in the long term we must reduce our dependence on this expensive source of energy. The logical energy source to invest in is solar energy and wind power to supplement our dependence on fossil fule energy.
40. There must be a revamp of the Solar Energy Company to assist people on the outer islands with their energy issues.
41. Government must also be prepared to formulate policies that will reduce the import of vehicles for transport needs.
10. POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC EQUITY
42. Due to the rapidly growing population, especially on Tarawa, poverty is increasing. We must not ignore this issue any longer, appropriate measures must be developed to alleviate poverty and we must act now.
43. Options to raise small capital for businesses in the rural areas and potential for micro-credit schemes will continue to be explored. The idea of establishing trust funds for each council will be considered where the funds can be a source of investment not only to council development but can also be borrowed by the private individual or group that wants to venture into a viable undertaking.
44. Women and youth comprise a high percentage of the population and contributions to national development must be recognized and fostered. Given the significance of gender parity we will be seeking the approval of Parliament to create a Ministry that will focus on women and gender issues in general.
45. One crucial challenge is the need to eliminate Gender Based Violence. Government is ready to introduce legislation that strongly prevents the abuse of women and the young. Awareness will be increased to send the strong signal that this violence is not sanctioned by society.
46. In a further effort to alleviate poverty and promote socio-economic equity we will retain the Elderly Support Scheme and other social welfare schemes but review operations for better management and also assess the genuine need and sustainability of new welfare arrangements such as assistance to the handicapped.
11. FOREIGN POLICY
47. We cannot survive in isolation and we need external interventions to take us forward. In this regard we will advocate a foreign policy to enhance relations with foreign governments, multilateral and regional organisations to advance our national interests and support our standing as good international citizens.
48. We will continue to participate actively in regional and international fora on important national issues such as the environment, specifically climate change and rising sea-level, fisheries, labour mobility, conservation and others.
12. CONCLUSION
49. Mr. Speaker, Members of Parliament, the people of Kiribati Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a statement on what we aspire to do over the next four years and we cannot be successful without your ongoing support. It is accepted that Government developments and activities are ongoing and I assure you that our plans for the next four years will certainly incorporate accomplishments of past administrations. This is part of reform. Thus if there are matters not mentioned which have commenced it is not the intention to leave them out. I strongly believe there are many aspects of this platform that you agree with and that through better collaboration the impacts of our efforts will be more far-reaching.
50. I extend this plea to church leaders, community leaders, the business community, non-government organisations and civil society in general and ask that we form a partnership for the betterment of the nation and the people of Kiribati.
51. I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the many valuable contributions of our development partners over the years. Since independence we have received aid in its various forms, be it in cash or in kind. These have eased the difficult challenges we face as a nation and on behalf of the Government and people of Kiribati I convey our sincere gratitude for the generosity extended over the years. I look forward to stronger cooperation so that assistance and contributions by all is not in vain but brings us closer to achieving the common goals we share for development of Kiribatiand its people.
52. In ending I bestow the traditional blessings of Temauri, Teraoi ao te Tabomoa on us all.