The premiers of Western and Guadalcanal provinces have jointly re-newed calls on the CNURA government on the review of the Federal Draft Constitution in the move towards statehood so it can be tabled in Parliament next year.
The Western Province premier, Alex Lokopio and his Guadalcanal counterpart, Stephen Panga, in a joint statement also called on the government to consider increasing grants to Western and Guadalcanal provinces in the view of resources and revenue derived from the provinces to the government.Mr. Lokopio welcomed the idea of strengthening relations with Guadalcanal and other provinces before establishing diplomatic relations with outside countries.
Both premiers thanked the C-NURA government on its policy to encourage peace and reconciliation with sister provinces, following the ethnic tension and the Bougainville crises.
They also called on the Minister for Tourism, Seth Gukuna, who made unfounded remarks about the premiers in Parliament, to apologise and refrain from making comments that are disrespectful to other people.
Source: SIBC