The Solomon Islands police commissioner Matthew Varley says he is confident his officers are well prepared for the election this year.
It is the first since the departure in 2017 of RAMSI, a regional intervention force that was brought into Solomon Islands in 2003 to restore peace and rebuild the country after a bloody ethnic conflict at the turn of the century.
Nearly 360-thousand people have registered to vote on the third of April, 72,000 more than in 2014.
Solomon Islands' police commissioner Matthew Varley. Photo: Solomon Islands UNDP
Mr Varley said he was aware this was a historic election for the country and planning and preparation for it had been going on for over a year now.
"This includes our frontline planning for our operations out in the field. It includes our back-of-house planning for corporate support. Even down to things like our upgrades of our police fleet," Matthew Varley said.
"So we say that the preparations are going well. But obviously there is a big task ahead of us and we are not backing away from the challenge that we are facing in 2019."
Mr Varley said the geography of Solomon Islands, with its mountainous islands and vast archipelago, poses the biggest challenge to police operations.
