OUTGOING Member of Parliament (MP) for Rennell and Bellona Dr. Kaitu’u Angikimu’a says Rennell deserves better deals from the mining, unlike what they get today.
Speaking during the motion of Sine Die in Parliament last week Angikimu’a said resource owners did not get much from what they receive from the mining companies that extract bauxite on West Rennell.
He said he had been raising this during Cabinet meetings but no one seems to concern about striking a better deal for the land owners.
The former MP revealed that Cabinet members only replied that everything are in the hands of the landowners, so let them take care of the mining deals.
But Dr. Angikimu’a insists that a better deal to bring more benefits for his people must be agreed upon by the government, land owners and mining companies.
He then urges the new government that will come into office next year to deal with the issue of mining more seriously, claiming that his people are on the losing side.
He also admitted that Rennell has worse road condition which does not reflective of that island as a mining sites in Solomon Islands.
“Rennell has been contributing to the economy of the country over the years but it still has no wharves, no proper roads and no development on the only World Heritage site of the Country, located in his constituency,” he said.
He cautioned that this World Heritage site is now on the endangered list of the Unite Nation to be delisted, thus want government to be serious about developing Lake Tengano start next year.
By AATAI JOHN LAUNGI
