Australia has delivered project management and construction delivery training to 33 local contractors and officers from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development as part of its support for local infrastructure capacity.
The Australian High Commission said the training is aimed at strengthening the skills of local contractors and government officers to support the long-term delivery of quality infrastructure across Solomon Islands.
The workshops covered managing on-time and on-budget infrastructure delivery, including project planning, daily scheduling, quality management and procurement planning. Participants worked through real project examples to apply new planning and management techniques to common challenges on infrastructure projects.
Australian High Commissioner Jeff Roach said building government and industry skills is an important part of Australia's long-term support for better infrastructure in Solomon Islands.
"Good infrastructure needs people who are skilled at reducing costly rework on poorly managed construction projects," Roach said.
He said the workshops are helping contractors and ministry staff build the skills they need to work together, solve problems early and use public money cost-effectively.
Ministry of Infrastructure Development engineer Mowisha Angiki said the training provided the tools and awareness to work with local contractors.
Angiki said the training gave simple tools that participants can use straight away in their work, and that it was useful to hear from contractors and share ideas on how the two sides can work better together and keep projects running smoothly.
Australia's Solomon Islands Infrastructure Program has delivered skills development in the country's infrastructure sector to more than 500 workers and government officials, according to the release.