MEMBER of Parliament for Small Malaita, Hon Rick Hou expressed his utter dismay that the Child and Family Welfare Bill 2016 is deprived of sound advice and input from many groups that are already dealing with the matter.

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Member of the Bills and Legislation Committee (BLC) made the statement on the floor of Parliament.

He made the statement in his contribution to the Child and Family Welfare Bill 2016.

“During the BLC inquiries, it was revealed that faith-based organisations were not consulted.

“We were reminded that churches and community leaders are in fact at the forefront of this issue,” said Hon Hou.

Churches, he added, have their people in every village in this country and they are already working in locations where there is hardly a police officer, medical officer and least of all a social welfare officer.

The MP for Small Malaita strongly stated that their input would have been very useful in the drafting of the Bill especially on the practicality of its implementation.

“Unfortunately this Bill has suffered the same problem where everything is assumed to be like in

Honiara and other provincial centres.

“Needless to say, this Bill is for all the children and families in throughout this country, and therefore such an assumption has to be flawed,” Hou added.

This Bill, the Hon Rick Hou further reiterated, would have benefited from the input, not only from the churches that are already “on the job” in dealing with this important matter, but from community leaders involved in resolving issues to do with family protection.

“For example, community leaders could have explained by giving life examples of our traditional systems that are used in dealing with protecting children and families.

“The view and approach that our traditional values systems are somehow draconian or the same as ‘the law of the jungle’ and therefore can be dismissed in today’s civilised society, is to ignore the fact that these are the very norms and rules of society that have maintained civil order and have kept us for many hundreds of years,” Hon Rick Hou said.

He added that he would like to believe that the greatest majority of children and families reside, in the rural areas of this country and those people and groups that are now dealing with the matter at hand are out there with the rural populace.

He then concluded that it would have been most useful had we obtained their views and comments on this Bill at drafting stage.