Solomons govt reiterates commitment to reviving downed industries

5:33 pm on 9 August 2016

The Solomon Islands Government says it's going ahead with plans to revive several failed or struggling major industries and agencies.

The sun sets over the Port of Honiara in Solomon Islands.

The Gold Ridge Mine in Solomon Islands. Photo: RNZI/Koroi Hawkins

This comes after opposition criticism over the creation of numerous cabinet-subcommittees, staffed by highly paid political appointees, to deliver on these promises.

Koroi Hawkins reports:

The revival projects include the closed Gold Ridge goldmine on Guadalcanal, the coconut plantations in the Russell Islands, which have been locked up in more than a decade of industrial disputes, as well as a bankrupt development financing institution and a struggling commodities export regulator.

A statement from the government said it would not be providing an update to the public because of the "complexities of the issues surrounding the projects."

It said at this stage consultations on these four important projects had progressed well in the last three months.

The statement said a lot of exciting investment opportunities lay ahead as the government seeks to revitalise Russell Islands Plantations Ltd, recapitalise the Development Bank of the Solomon Islands, Review the Commodities and Exporting and Marketing Authority and reopen the Gold Ridge Mine.

The secretariat to the government sub-committees said a statement outlining the progress made in these projects would be issued once cabinet endorses the consultation reports at the end of this month.

In respect of Russell Islands Plantation Ltd many governments have tried and failed to resolve the dispute, which is tied up in many complex law suits and counter claims.

These are further complicated by the fact that striking workers and their families have continued living on the island plantations, alongside disenfranchised landowning tribes, in defiance of the company and authorities, for well over a decade.