Renbel Premier told to step down
Rennell and Bellona Premier Collin Singamoana is facing a motion of confidence which will tabled in the upcoming budget meeting later this month.
The looming motion of no confidence also comes with a call for the premier to immediately resign his seat due to lack of confidence in his leadership.
The motion is expected to be moved by Opposition group led by Nick Taika, MPA for Ward 9 of Central Bellona.
In a statement, Mr Taika said that the tabling of the motion of no confidence is necessary in light of a series of allegations that has come to light regarding the conduct of Premier Singamoana and his Executive members over the past years.
In the meantime, Mr Taika has called on Premier Singamoana to humble himself and step down and make way for an alternative government to form a new government to avoid further escalation of the provinces poor administration and financial state.
“While this proposed motion is in place, I kindly call on him as the incumbent Premier for our province to step down instead of waiting for the motion to be tabled so as to avert further tensions that might arise as a result of heated debates during the tabling of the motion of no confidence in the premier himself.”
The budget meeting is expected to begin on the third week of this month, March.
Mr Taika said during the past three and half years that the Premier Singamoana has held office, there has been ‘violations’ of the fundamental principles of democracy such as transparency, accountability and good governance.
“These three principles have been grossly violated and misconstrued resulting in the many abuses contained in the proposed upcoming motion of no confidence.
“This call has been made based on my personal conviction and a long assessment of the events that has unfolded in the last three and half years serving under his leadership as Premier of Rennell and Bellona Province,” Mr Taika said.
As an elected MPA representing the people of his Ward and as a concerned provincial leader, he is not ignorant about what has been going on in the political arena and the way Premier Singamoana has been conducting the affairs of the province, he said.
“However, as non-executive members of the Rennell and Bellona Provincial Assembly, those of us in the Opposition could only watch with dismay as the province has been brought to its knees by the Premier through his actions and by the way he has taken full control of the administration and financial functions of the Province.
“As responsible leaders we must stand to correct any matters that would have any bad or negative impressions on our people and our province before it gets out of hand and for this very reason I have determined to move this motion,” he said.
Mr Taika said the intention of the motion is to address those hiccups and to try and align them with relevant governance protocols and to redirect a ship that is heading to an unknown destination.
“I have taken this matter seriously bearing in mind our poor people’s struggle to make ends meet while the Premier is enjoying such luxurious environment at the expense of a sinking province.
“I am therefore obliged as an honorable MPA to briefly outline what is seen as the root cause of all the many abuses,” he said.
Mr Taika has revealed that the Premier has been allegedly enriching himself with public funds with no proper records which have raised a lot of questions regarding the way the premier has amassed wealth during his term as premier.
This includes the alleged abuse of funds meant for the 2018 Solomon Games earmarked for Rennell and Bellona Province which amounts to $0.85m.
Mr Taika said, “the involvement of the Premier in misusing the fund cannot be ruled out but demands his response.”
There have also been alleged involvement by the premier in official corruption and false pretence while operating a private business at the Tropicana Motel and trading under Horizon as a business name from 2014 to Sept. 2015.
“Additionally, reports have been sighted on excessive abuse of huge funds with unrecorded expenditure payments and a fine example is the one that appeared in a provincial financial report as sundry or miscellaneous expenses that amounts to $2.6m from 2016/17 which has raised a lot of eye brows,” he said.
“As a matter of fact, the accommodation of provincial executives and administration staff for over two years at the Green Hotel, Town Ground with no official provincial businesses is a big bluff,” he said.
He said as a matter of concern and for public interest, investigations have already been filed to ensure that justice is upheld so that the people of Rennell and Bellona will have a sense of belonging to a province that recognizes and cares for their well-being and not to succumb to such unethical behavior.
“I see this motion as timely although it might seem to be an overdue issue however, I simply raise this alarm because it appears that the Premier is making everyone a fool especially those who tend to put their total trust in him like his current Executive who dance to the tune of the many false expectations in terms of financial assistance and ward projects that will never eventuated seeing that the end of his term in office is but a few months away.”
Mr Taika said the province is in a state of financial insolvency and demands that leaders must speak out because investors are aware of what has been going on under Mr Singamoana’s administration and are beginning to close their doors for fear of being reprimanded in relations with such corruptions that might undermine their business interests.
“With this I therefore reiterated my call for the Premier’s resignation to safe guide his status as a leader and for the good of the Province and for the best interest of the people of Rennell and Bellona whom he represents,” he said.
Premier Singamoana leads a 5-member executive team in a nine-seat Rennell and Bellona Provincial Assembly.
Mr Singamoana could not be reached for comments last night.
