ABOUT 67 new portable sawmills have been handed over by the Japanese Government to the Ministry of Forestry and Research on Friday.
The handing over ceremony was held at the Value-Added Timber Association (VATA) at Henderson in Central Guadalcanal last Friday.
The Ambassador of Japan to Solomon Islands, Miwa Yoshiaki officiated in the ceremony.
The 67 portable sawmills were distributed to 67 recipients, most of whom are from provinces straight after the official handover ceremony.
These sawmills mark a significant step towards sustainable forestry practices and economic empowerment in the in country
These sawmills were funded by the Japanese government through the Japanese Embassy in Honiara.
In his remarks, Ambassador Yoshiaki said, he believes the sawmills will promote lumbering in rural Solomon Islands and also maximize the revenue earnings of local communities.
“The 67 portable lumbering machines that we are handing over today are intended to strengthen the promotion of lumbering by rural communities.”
He said the returns to local communities from logging and export of logs by foreign companies is limited.
“Therefore, it is important that timber milling industry be developed in Solomon Islands to maximize the revenue earning of local communities through utilization of their forest resources in a sustainable way through their own efforts and initiatives.
“We strongly hope that the 67 portable lumbering machines will contribute to the development of these communities,” Ambassador Yoshiaki said.
Ambassador Yoshiaki said the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in July this year identified seven “priority areas of cooperation” and they are natural resources, economic development, infrastructure development, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
In response, the Minister of Forestry and Research, Makario Tagini thanked Japan for the partnership through which these portable mills were provided.
He said the machines will really assist the recipients with their timber milling productions and thereby their contributions to the local economy.
“This all also addresses one of the fundamental key policy areas of the government, which is promoting and encouraging timber downstream processing and valued-adding to enhance timber products,” Minister Tagini added.
Present at the ceremony were the MoFR Permanent Secretary Richard Raomae, Director of the Timber Utilization and Processing Division of MoFR and officials of both JICA and VATA.
Japan and Solomon enjoyed cordial relations and engaged in cooperation the infrastructure, fisheries, forestry, education and health sectors since Solomon Islands attainment of political independence in July 1978.
By JIMMY NOLAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
