The Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua says his government is committed to the introduction of state government.
The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reports that he was responding to comments from a North-East Guadalcanal leader, Simon Tonavi, that the government did not see the state government system as a priority.
But Dr Sikua says to demonstrate his government's commitment, half a million US dollars has been allocated for constitutional reform and another 300,000 dollars for recurrent expenditure in this year's national budget.
Dr Sikua says as soon as the budget is passed, the Constitutional Congress and the Eminent Persons Advisory Council will begin advancing the task.
