Mr Lokopio told the 2007 premiers' conference that the current unitary system of government in Solomon Islands failed to deliver goods and services to improve the livelihood of its people as it was open to abuse and corruption.

"The current unitary system of government is an obstacle to the creation of national wealth, government revenue and hence, service delivery to the majority of Solomon Islanders."

"This system is open to abuse, corruption and may increase poverty and therefore it is high time the country ventures into a federal state government system to effectively deliver services to the people," he said.

Premier Lokopio said Western Province had invested a lot of resources and effort towards the adoption of the federal state government system and it would not back down.

The Western Provincial Premier, meanwhile, praised Prime Minister Sogavare for his 'principled, courageous and visionary' leadership. "Mr Sogavare is truly a man of principle, courage and vision. He implements what he thinks."

Premier Lokopio also thanked the Prime Minister and his Grand Coalition for Change Government's support for the staging of the premiers' conference and added that the choice of venue was inline with the government's Bottom-up Approach Development Policy.