PS Viulu; Proper Coordination of Donor Funded Projects in the Ministry Crucial for Achieving a Robust Sustainable Development of our Agriculture Sector

Permanent Secretary Dr Samson Viulu has hit the ground running at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) with the announcement that he is intending to create a new position that will be responsible to provide overall coordination to the many donors funded projects in the ministry.

PS Viulu stated that, despite the minimal funding support from successive governments, MAL has continued to enjoy numerous funding assistance from donor and multilateral partners.

And given the ongoing challenges with limited resources experienced by the ministry, PS Viulu has made it clear that he intends to utilize these donor-funded projects to address the fundamental issues and longtime challenges affecting agriculture development in Solomon Islands.

As such, PS Viulu who was officially sworn in as the MAL PS on Wednesday this week said the ministry in addressing this is creating a new position, the Deputy Secretary- Special Duties and has engaged Mr. Simon Baete in a short-term contract for the post.

As Deputy Secretary – Special Duties, Mr. Baete is mostly responsible to oversee all the donor-funded projects with the ministry.

“Mr. Baete will be mandated with the Oversight role of Coordinating and keeping track of all project activities to ensure project priorities are aligned with the National Government’s policy priorities. This is crucial in addressing the fundamental underlying issues of our agriculture sector.”

The PS further added he is also responsible for preparation of new project proposals and simultaneously seek funding support from external donors.

Baete holds a Master’s degree in Agri-Commerce (majoring in Agri-Business management, and Development management) from Massey University, New Zealand.

Another notable addition into the MAL managerial team is the retaining of former Deputy Secretary Technical (DST) Michael Ho’ota to the position.

Ho’ota was out of contract since October 2023 when his employment contract as MAL DST expired. His recall into MAL is a significant boost as he has wealth of technical experience with the Ministry, having held the various Senior and Director positions before taking up the DST position in 2020.

He holds a Master’s degree in Science from the institute of Tropical Agriculture from the National Pintung University of Science and Technology, Chinese Taipei.

The addition of Ho’ota and Baete now takes the MAL executive team to three Deputy Secretaries, Mrs. Elda Wate as the Deputy Secretary Cooperate Services (DSC), Mr. Michael Ho’ota Deputy Secretary Technical (DST), Mr. Simon Baete Deputy Secretary-Special Duties (DS-Special Duties) supporting Dr. Samson Viulu, the Permanent Secretary at the helm working together with the Honorable Minister Franklyn Derek Wasi to lead the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

MAL Deputy Secretary– Special Duties Mr. Simon Baete

MAL Deputy Secretary Technical (DST) Mr. Michael Ho’ota

Source: MAL Media