WHILST congratulating the National Provident Fund (NPF) for its continuous participation in the local Real Estate Industry, Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) says consideration must also be given to small business men, women and groups.
The FSII’s call came after NPF’s announcement about its new modern facility near the NPF plaza which is currently under construction which they said will complete by the end of this year.
NPF Deputy General Manager, Mike Wate said the building is being built to replace the old thatch roof buildings, which were used by local business owners.
Mr Wate said the building with modern commercial facility is funded by NPF and is an investment for further facelift and to create additional space for offices and restaurants.
But FSII said while they appreciate and commend NPF for taking the lead in providing more space for business owners, affordability must be considered to cater for small businesses.
“We call for consideration to build cheaper or affordable office spaces for our small business men, women and groups who often struggled to operate their businesses in the midst of high over-head costs in Honiara,” FSII CEO Benjamin Afuga said.
Mr Afuga said the overhead cost to operate businesses in Honiara is choking many small local business owners in Honiara.
“Many of them are NPF financial contributors; therefore it is only proper that NPF take this into serious consideration, because many of the recent NPF property developments will not benefit NPF members in anyway.
“Whilst it is true that investments are aimed at making profits, members’ benefits must also be considered as a priority for NPF.
“Office rentals, electricity tariffs, water, Telephone and Internet costs remain the highest in the region; therefore running a business in Honiara is a real struggle.
“In fact many potential businesses are choked by high over-head costs including rentals, clearly resulting in close down of businesses.
“I sincerely call on NPF (if it still has land in Honiara) to build a new building that would house small office spaces to cater for local business owners (SMEs’) and local Civil Society groups who are struggling to rent office spaces to administer their businesses.
“It would be good if NPF consider the different types of businesses operating in Honiara. SMEs are often referred to as the engines of economic development in developing countries. And this is the group that NPF must not turn a blind eye on but encompass in its future investment plans.
Meanwhile the Deputy General Manager said that the new commercial building will house office space quarters and restaurants, but will give “First right of refusal” to people who have been operating restaurants in the area before the building was dismantled and rebuilt in 2012.
He confirmed that NPF will give spaces to those people because their tenancy agreements are still valid since 2012.
Many of the operators are businesswomen who ran local food dishes with affordable prices.
These locally owned restaurants often provided cheap nutritious food for the public and often provided convenient eating options for working class people around the Point Cruz vicinity.
– FSII News
