Highlights 2011

12 January

Change of leadership at South Pacific Subregional Office

Adrian Ruthenberg commenced as head of ADB's South Pacific Subregional Office (SPSO) in Suva, Fiji, on 12 January 2011, overseeing ADB's operations in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. This includes coordinating ADB's activities in these countries with development partners and preparing country operational strategies and ADB's project and technical assistance programs. He has extensive experience across Asia and the Pacific having served as country economist in the South Pacific, based in Vanuatu. In 2003 he was appointed Operations Coordination Director for Central Asia and Caucasus handling all strategy, programming, and economic work in that region. Prior to his current post he was Country Director for ADB's Mongolia Resident Mission.

Mr. Ruthenberg replaced R. Keith Leonard who retired as SPSO's Regional Director on 20 December 2010. Farewell Keith!
19 January

Fiji Road Upgrading Project (FRUP III)

A ground breaking ceremony to begin work on a final section of road funded through ADB, at a cost of $22 million, was held in the Tailevu province of Fiji on 19 January 2011. The output is a component of the Fiji Road Upgrading Project (FRUP III), which is supporting the completion of the circum-insular highway on Viti Levu, upgrading sections of the Kings and Lodoni Roads in Tailevu to sealed standard. At a total cost of $66.8m, work on this project commenced in January 1998 and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The China Railway First Group has been awarded the contract to complete the final section, which includes a nine-kilometer road from Wailotua to Nayavu and the construction of Naqia and Balekinaga bridges while Government is funding the upgrade of 8.5 kilometers of the Kings Road from Waito to Wailotua.

The project will benefit rural communities by establishing regular access to markets and services in the Suva area, particularly helping small scale fruit and vegetable farmers in the surrounding Wainibuka valley, and by reducing transport costs for dairy farmers located along the southern portion of the route. Inhabitants will also benefit from lower costs of transportation to health and educational services which is currently difficult to afford.

Project
24 February

Samoa Education Ministry Headquarters Inaugurated

Regional Director Adrian Ruthenberg, together with representatives of AusAID, the New Zealand Aid Programme, and the Samoan government opened the new Ministry of Education, Sports, and Culture headquarters on 24 February 2011. The building was constructed as part of the Samoa Education Sector Project II.

Components of the Education Sector Project II include:

  • Increasing equity in access to education. Through a series of subprojects, the Project will rehabilitate and, where required, expand the facilities of several primary and junior secondary satellite schools in the greater Apia area that may be expected to attract students who now attend school in Malifa; upgrade the building facilities of some district primary schools and junior secondary schools outside Apia to enable them, as a group, to offer the full secondary school curriculum to students in their catchment areas; restructure the three primary schools in Malifa—Apia Lower, Apia Middle, and Leififi Intermediate, which together enroll about 3,300 students—into one primary school, and refurbish and integrate the building facilities to serve up to 750 students living in villages in the immediate vicinity of Malifa; and refurbish the buildings of Leififi College in Malifa to allow the school to continue to offer the full senior secondary school curriculum, but to fewer students (750 versus the present 1,500).

  • Improving quality of education: (1) improve teaching resources (curriculum materials, teaching aids, library resources, and related educational inputs); (2) develop and implement an in-service training (IST) program for teachers; and (3) improve the planning and coordination of teacher training activities among the Education Department, the Public Service Commission, and the National University of Samoa.

  • Improving educational efficiency and institutional capacity: (1) promote the efficient use of resources; (2) improve the capacity of the Education Department to design, implement, and monitor education development programs; (3) develop optimal plans and specifications for buildings and fixtures for general and specific-purpose classrooms; and (4) support each school in instituting a school management development program and a facilities maintenance program through formal agreements between the Education Department and the school committee.

  • Providing project implementation support: The Project will (1) provide office equipment, supplies and services, and vehicles for program monitoring; and (2) implement a public awareness program to familiarize the community with the Project and promote ownership

Project

Pacific development effectiveness stakeholders to benefit from a knowledge management platform launched by ADB and partner agencies

Practitioners across the Pacific and abroad now have the opportunity to connect and share with and to learn from each other on how to better address development needs with the launch of the Pacific Solution Exchange Development Effectiveness Community (PSE_DEC).

The PSE_DEC is a facilitated knowledge service initiated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with ADB, the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), and the University of the South Pacific (USP). This cost-effective platform has the potential to improve the frequency and timeliness of knowledge sharing among Pacific practitioners.

Commencing with a six-month trial phase in October 2010, members are engaged in e-discussions via email supported by a team of facilitators. Based on the feedback from the trial, the community’s services could then be extended to allow members to ask queries and help each other by sharing knowledge and experience around common development challenges.
9 March

ADB-USP launch the Pacific Economic Monitor

ADB and University of the South Pacific presented and discussed contents of the Pacific Economic Monitor with over 80 participants from government, development partners, private sector, NGOs, and academia in Suva, Fiji on 9 March 2011. Welcome remarks were made by SPSO's Resident Director Adrian Ruthenberg. The PEM provides an update of economic developments in the region.

News release | Pacific Economic Monitor (Feb 2011)
17 March

ADB and Government sign loan to improve the safety and sustainability of Kiribati's roads

SPSO's Regional Director Adrian Ruthenberg and Kiribati's Minister of Finance Natan Teewe signed an agreement for a $12 million loan on 17 March 2011 for the rehabilitation of 40.5 kilometers of road on the atoll of South Tarawa.

At a cost of $38.85 million, the Government of Kiribati will provide $1.05 million. The World Bank and the Pacific Regional Infrastructure Facility (PRIF) will cofinance the project with grants of $20 million and $5.8 million respectively.

The road improvement project will benefit 42% of Kiribati’s population and will connect them better to clinics, markets, and other services in the administrative capital of Bairiki. The project will also improve links to the seaport of Betio and the airport for the people of South Tarawa, making it easier and safer for people and goods to move around.

Project
May

Accountability Mechanism Outreach in Fiji and Tonga

An Accountability Mechanism (AM) outreach was held in Suva, Fiji on 23-24 May 2011 and in Nuku’alofa, Tonga on 26–27 May 2011. The outreach was supported by TA 7572-REG Outreach for Good Governance and Development Effectiveness through the Accountability Mechanism under the responsibility of the Office of the Compliance Review Panel (OCRP). It involved a workshop-style meeting with Government executing agency representatives and a separate program with NGOs, civil society and affected persons.

The objective of the outreach was to facilitate the dissemination of information about the AM to affected persons and civil society organizations, to enable them to understand the processes and procedures to lodge a complaint with ADB’s Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF) and/or request the Office of Compliance Review Panel (OCRP) to review ADB’s compliance with its operational policies and procedures.
20-24 June 2011

Fiji Project Review Mission

A review mission was held on 20-24 June 2011 for three ongoing projects in Fiji. SPSO’s Project Officer, Eita Metai led the Nausori Water Supply & Sewerage (L2055/L2603-FIJ) project review, while Richard Phelps, Senior Infrastructure Specialist led the loan review for the Third Fiji Road Upgrading (L2514-FIJ) and Emergency Flood Recovery (L2541-FIJ) projects.

Meetings were held with the senior officials in the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Planning, Ministry of Works, Transport and Public Utilities, Ministry of Agriculture and Primary Industries, Ministry of Public Enterprises and other government officials.
23 June 2011

Assisting Schools In Tailevu

Following a recent upgrade, ADB’s South Pacific Subregional Office (SPSO) donated six replaced computers to schools in Tailevu, Viti Levu on 23 June 2011 during the Fiji Project Review Mission (20-24 June 2011).

SPSO has strong linkages with communities in Tailevu, with residents largely supported by subsistence and semi-subsistence farming. Relying on local knowledge and feedback from community members, four schools were identified to receive the computers. These were: Korovou Primary School (1), Wailotua District School (2), Natovi Primary School (1) and Dakuivuna Village School (2). In addition, Queen Victoria School, Ratu Kadavulevu School and Wailotua District School received boxes of ADB publications.

The donated computers, which will be used for school administration purposes and as a learning tool to showcase educational materials including documentaries and short videos, were greatly appreciated by the principals and teachers.