The national government has been urged to build a proper permanent wharf specifically for cruise boats that are bringing in visitors in the Honiara in the future.
This call came following the successful visit by cruise boat MV Dawn Princess last Thursday.
Due to technical reasons the tourist boat was unable to berth at the main Ports wharf and as a result the boat had to anchor off the Point Cruz harbour forcing many tourists to jump into fast crafts and dropped off at the ports wharf before going for their tours.
Gomez George,24,a local craftsman while acknowledging the visit said this was one of the areas which needs to be addressed soon by the responsible government.
He said that most tourists that came were old and there needs to be proper facilities to cater for their arrival.
“Its very disappointing and shameful for me personally to see most of the tourists being transported in a boat over to the main wharf. And its not good for the sake of local tourism.
“Fortunately it was a fine day for them, otherwise it would have been a different turn out,” he said.
Its understood Solomon Island Ports Authority (SIPA) with the help of the Japanese government will expand the current wharf to build a much bigger permanent port terminal to cater for bigger cargo boats as well as tourist boats.
Construction of the interim terminal will start towards the end of this year.
By DENVER NEWTER
