Rennell Bellona chamber project

DEAR EDITOR, the status of the Renbel Chamber Project is quite interesting and at the same time raised a lot of eye brows, speculations and suspicious.

Firstly, the Project has been pending for quite long time.

Last year 2017 was tendered out and so happened that contractors from Renbel have applied, except the contractor who was awarded the construction of that Mini Hospital at Tigoa.

This contractor was not applied as was busy with this project.

Interestingly, the award was never happened, until these poor contractors have surprisingly saw the re-advertisement notice again this year without any word of explanation as to why was the project was delayed.

If the fund was there, then who are we waiting?

Or do we wait for that Mini Hospital Project at Tiggoa to complete?

I don’t want to believe, but I was informed that the Renbel Chamber Project was pre-arranged already and that was the main reason behind this long delay.

Nevertheless, the tender will be closed on Monday 7 May 2018, and I believe there is still room to reconsider those kind of corruption practices or the pre-arrangement for inducement payment which is commonly practiced in the SIG sector now.

On that note, may I speak as a Rennell and Bellona Indigenous.

Whether those who have been mandated to administer this project from the national government and perhaps the province do realize or like it or not, this is unquestionable and that is this is our project and our share in the national distribution, and definitely our contractors from Renbel deserved this employment opportunity.

We need this employment opportunity just as much as we need this infrastructures development in our province.

Secondly, I understand that this is a national project and it is an open tender. However, having said that, this is more than just a common sense.

Unless we are totally incapable or not interest, my conscience tells me that the project should reserve for the original and based contractors from Rennell and Bellona.

Or even the issue of main contractor and the associate, at least both must be from Rennell and Bellona Province.

In add, to the national and provincial government, how can we expect our people in Rennell and Bellona to build up its capacity as you always advocated, if this opportunity is taken away, then what is the Institutional Strengthening?

What does it mean to capacitate our people?

How can you capacitate our people here in Renbel while such opportunity cannot be given to them?

To our Provincial and our National Leader, we cannot afford to lose all these opportunities.

We have lost the opportunity of having an additional constituency from some few very selfish leaders in our community, dreaming that they will remain in those offices for everlasting life?

Where are they now?

Please, do not repeat the same mistake.

Let alone our differences, and challenges, I urge you to be more diplomat, mature and be professional in our decision making and allow our province and constituency to process and move forward with our own resources.

At least Rennell and Bellona is a small community and I understand that we all know exactly as who we are. Unless you just come home, I know we are very familiarize with all our people so as our contractors here in Rennell and Bellona province, and even you should know by hard, who are the failed and who are the successful contractors here in Renbel Province.

Again, you don’t need to do any research to find out who they are. Of course, it will be very unfair for those successful contractors to be penalize simply because of someone else failure.

Likewise, I hope you don’t want to be assessed using other people’s weakness or failure, aren’t you?

Finally to the Premier, I appeal that you defend your people, no matter what.

I strongly believe that you have been voted in for such a time, for we cannot afford to lose this opportunity, as was happened to the additional constituency issue, as well our Mini Hospital Project.

Give our contractors a chance.

Stanton Ta’akihenua

White River

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