PRIME Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says the Government is making progress to address issues of political instability to higher cost of running businesses especially electricity prices.
Speaking during the Australia Solomon Islands Business Forum and Trade Expo in Brisbane, Australia last Friday, Mr Lilo said those challenges are being worked on.
He said in the government’s bid to bring down the cost of electricity and improve reliability, the country has supported two renewable energy projects: Tina River Hydro River Project and the Savo Geothermal Project with smaller ones are also in the pipeline for Auki and the other provinces.
“The time horizons for these projects are three to four years and when they do come into operation, we expect to see an improvement in reliability and reduced cost for electricity,” Mr Lilo said.
On government finance accountability, the Prime Minister recalled that Parliament had passed a significant number of legislations which regulate the use of public finance and key amongst these is the Public Finance Management Act which provides a robust and transparent mechanism for the use of public monies.
Under the act, politicians and permanent secretaries are now placed under the spotlight for the authorizations and use of monies for development purposes.
Mr Lilo added that there have also been amendments made to the Mines and Minerals Act to allow for deductions to be made and just this week, the Business Names Act has been passed to clean the business registry and provide accurate information on the businesses that had been registered.
Mr Lilo encouraged members of the Forum to forge partnerships with Solomon Islanders in a way that is mutually beneficial.
“The Solomon Islands continues to provide you opportunities. It is our job to turn these into reality,” Mr Lilo.
Theme of the meeting was ‘From Opportunity to Reality’.
