A BUSINESS faction within the hardware industry is said to be responsible for putting together a 10-point Memorandum of Demands (MoD) on Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, sources have revealed.
The move is intended to dampen a price war that is brewing in the lucrative hardware industry, resulting in rival political factions being formed and established, sources said.
The first faction is allegedly linked to the Solomon Islands People First Party (SIPFP). This group is allegedly using the link to do its bidding at the political level. This is because of concerns its market share is being threatened by new arrivals who are seen to be aggressive players in the industry.
One such new arrival is BNBM Hardware & Home Centre, a subsidiary of CNBM which is the largest manufacturer of building materials in China. This is being described as the leading integrated service provider throughout the world.
CNBM is an acronym for China National Building Material Company Ltd. It is a manufacturing company specialising in building materials including cement, ready-mix concrete, gypsum board, glass fibre, wind blades and many more.
According to published reports, CNBM is present in 76 countries around the world, employing nearly 200, 000 people.
In the Pacific, the company has branches and subsidiaries in Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Solomon Islands is CNBM’s latest addition in the Pacific. Its presence in Honiara is being seen as a real threat to the market share of existing hardware operations.
One study reportedly found the government injected some SBD19 billion into the hardware industry over the last five years. These funds included CDF grants paid to MPs.
Now that the China National Building Material Company Ltd (CNBM) has a foot in the door only amplifies the fear of being wiped out of either takeovers or natural death.
Competitive pricing and readily available building materials are said to be the killer tools CNBM will deploy.
A price war is good for us because it will help bring down prices, one observer said.
By Alfred Sasako
