GOVERNMENT Insiders say that the Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement (DCGA) failed again when Malaita Provincial Executive took a bold stand to reject Chinese Company to construct the new Fiu Bridge.
Speaking to this paper in anonymity over the weekend on government insider said this recent move by Malaita Premier and his executive does not go down well with the government.
“As we all know most of the Members of Parliament (MP) from Malaita formed the current coalition government under the leadership of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
“For Malaita provincial executive to come up with such bold stand against Chinese companies is like putting a ‘lime juice in a wound’ for DCGA and the Malaitan MPs in the current coalition,” the insider said.
The government will re-look into this issue according to the insider.
This paper understands that Malaita Provincial Government has passed a resolution rejecting the current proposal by the SIRAP NSC to approve China Harbour Engineering Company for the Fiu bridge project last week.
Malaita said their decision is based on the Auki communique not to accept any Chinese owned company to carry out any project on the island.
SIRAP- Solomon Island Roads and Aviation Project is aligned with the World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Solomon Islands for FY2018–2023 (Report No. 122600-SB).
The benefits of greater regional cooperation and global integration are maximized through a project that will strengthen the air transport regulatory environment and improve aviation safety and security to international standards.
They claimed that the Permanent Secretary (PS) for the Ministry of Communication and Aviation Aviation that led the SIRAP team into Auki, Malaita Province last Tuesday threatened to pull out the SIRAP project components from the Malaita Province.
He said that if the executive do not accept the Chinese Company that has been earmarked to build the Fiu Bridge.
He will pull out the SIRAP project from Malaita province. He said that everything depends on him and he will pull the plug if he wishes.
But one government official who spoke to this paper over the weekend said the whole thing was taken out of context.
“PS for Communication and Aviation did not at anyway threaten Malaita Executive,” the government official said.
But Solomon Star understand that Malaita Executive have taken their stand which also confirmed that they have taken up the matter with the World Bank.
By ANDREW FANASIA
Newsroom Honiara
