Dear Editor – I refer to a letter earlier this week re SOE [State Owned Enterprises] board appointments.
On checking I was informed the writer had never applied for a position on any SOE board.
All board appointments are governed by the SOE Act which requires the positions to be advertised and then go through a vetting [checking] process as laid down in the SOE Act.
May be time before it was “jobs for friends” but not since the SOE Act came into force several years ago.
When the board advertises a vacancy it has to set out the experience required [e.g. engineering, accounting, HR or others], the applications are received and checked against the SOE Act requirement list [e.g. not bankrupt, has no outstanding account with the SOE and many more checks].
After this process is completed a short list is sent to the 2 accountable Ministers.
For SIEA & SIWA they are the Ministers of Finance and Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification.
From the short list the accountable Ministers make the appointments.
Both Ministers have to agree to the appointment.
Weather a person male or female is a Solomon Island citizen or not should not affect their selection, it the qualifications and experience that is important.
It is good to see younger people with maturing experience joining boards.
Board appointments are for 2 years but can be renewed by the accountable Ministers and the appointed board members remain in office doing their job at the end of their term until advised otherwise by the Ministers.
SOE____s may be called Authorities but must be run as successful companies this required under several Acts.
A good balanced board is as important as a good management and workforce team.
Sorry if I have been a bit less frank and short as I usually am however I felt it was important to get the message across.
J.R Williams
Honiara
