Village chiefs hail salary increase


Photo: Hmong village chielf in Luang prabang


The government has announced that it will increase salaries for village chiefs throughout the country in October.

Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh
 
made the announcement to officials and village chiefs in Xaythany district, Vientiane , on Sunday, but did not elaborate when the agreement for the salary increase had been reached.

He added that education training would also be necessary for chiefs to be able to work more effectively, as many of the country's problems occur at the village level and should be resolved there.

The government considers the strengthening of primary-level administration as essential for the more rapid development of the country.

The governor of Xaythany district, Mr Bounthong Phommachan, said yesterday that the salary increase was in response to the changing economic situation, and would encourage village chiefs to work harder with more responsibilities.

The governor explained that the idea of increasing salaries arose a few years ago, but the process had been delayed due to the government's financial difficulties.

During Sunday's meeting, Mr Bouasone talked about the Party and government's policy on poverty reduction and its intention to graduate from UN least developed country status by 2020.

He urged officials to identify the main causes of poverty and seek possible solutions while the government continues to create favourable conditions for people to earn a living.

He said the government also pledged to focus on education development, in both the short and long term.

“If we cannot give education to this generation, the next will suffer,” Mr Bouasone said.

He added that village authorities also needed to explore local potential, and identify a village's particular strengths, emphasising that unsolved issues would reflect only the weakness of the village authorities.

By Somsack Pongkhao
(Latest Update September 26, 2007)