New Zealand High Commission funds North Malaita water supply under TARD

The To’abaita Authority for Research and Development (TARD) student volunteer group is pleased to accept support for the Magwabaru Community Water Supply Project in North Malaita from the New Zealand High Commission in Honiara today.
TARD Chairman, Peter Fairamoa receiving the cheques from New Zealand High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Deborah Panckhurst in Honiara

Assistance towards the Magwabaru Water Supply Project is being funded under the Head of Mission Fund (HOMF), a small discretionary grants scheme managed by the New Zealand High Commission in Solomon Islands. Total funding approved for the water supply is SB$54,887.90.

Such substantial support and commitment by the New Zealand High Commission office in Honiara towards the Magwabaru Water Supply Project marks another unique milestone for the development aspirations of North Malaita, particularly the Magwabaru community which endured without proper water supply for the last thirty years.

The project was jointly formulated in consultation with the beneficiary community, the Malaita provincial member for Ward 9 Hon Levi Senley Filualea, and TARD. The application was submitted for consideration late last year.
TARD Chairman, Peter Fairamoa, handing the cheques to provincial member for ward 9 Levi Senley Filualea in the presence of TARD Honiara committee members

Materials for the water supply will be collected in Honiara and transported to North Malaita later this month. Ground work with the technical assistance and engineering expertise of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) office in Malaita should commence as soon as materials reach North Malaita. The water supply is expected to be officially handed over to the community in June.

In response, TARD sincerely thanks the New Zealand High Commission office in Honiara on behalf of the entire membership and North Malaita people, for recognising the vision and goals of the TARD student volunteer group as this would be TARD’s first community project with the respective donor.

The HOMF is a component of the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) official development assistance programme. In line with NZAID’s goal of a safe and just world free of poverty, the purpose of the HOMF is to flexibly support activities which manifestly and directly meet development needs in Solomon Islands, consistent with New Zealand’s diplomacy objectives.

The HOMF is primarily aimed at supporting small-scale development projects and activities. Recipients will normally be community groups engaged in development activities on a not-for-profit basis. Proposed activities are assessed on their individual merit consistent with the overall objectives for HOMF.