Millennium Talent Project launches bylaw and passbook

The Deputy Lady Mayor of Port Vila Municipal Council, Leimara Malachi, who is also a businesswoman, launched the bylaws and a passbook for her Millennium Talent Project credit scheme last week at Anabrou Park in Port Vila.

Cr and Deputy Lady Mayor Malachi launched her credit scheme four years ago and this is the first time for the Millennium Talent Project to have a passbook for clients and a set of bylaws to government the operation of the project.

Her guest of honor at the launching of the two documents was Jocelyn Mete, former First Political Adviser of the Ministry of Education.

The Millennium Talent Project (MTP) works in similar ways to the women’s Vanwods credit scheme but it particularly targets home improvement needs of its members.

To date the MTP has 600 members formed into 21 groups of between 10 and 30 women in a group. Members are spread from Etas, Eratap, and Erakor to Beverly Hills, Port Vila, Blacksands, Prima and Mele, but mostly in Port Vila. Next month she will target membership from North Efate and offshore islands.

Malachi says since the launching of the bylaws and the passbook, more women have formed groups and have been in contact with her and her two field assistants to join MTP.

“Members of the project attend weekly meetings and make deposits and loan repayments. Depending on the attendance and deposit performance, a member can get an invoice for any home improvement item of her wish and the Project will buy the item. The member will then repay the cost as a loan during the members’ weekly meetings at the same time as making the small deposits,” Leimara Malachi explained.