6 Oct 2010

Solomons government unveils policy document

2:05 pm on 6 October 2010

Reform of land ownership is a key plank in the Solomon Islands government's new policy document.

Launching the document yesterday, the Prime Minister Danny Philip said the constitution, which states that natural resources are vested in the people and the state, must be changed or those resources will remain largely untapped.

He says the Customary Land Institutionalisation Bill will ensure customary land holding groups register their land for the purpose of socio-economic development.

The Prime Minister's press secretary Alfred Sasako says the government will become a facilitator to that development.

"To ensure that landowners become the true owners of their resources and when it comes to development they have a say in what goes on there, so that they speak on equal terms with potential investors."

Alfred Sasako says the reforms will assist the government's push to develop the tourism, agriculture, fisheries and minerals sectors.