BY INDY MAEALASIA

FINANCE Minister Manasseh Sogavare has refuted allegations regarding a controversial $29 million tax exemption granted to Wan Chen Company Limited, accusing the opposition and media of misleading the public with half-truths and political rhetoric.

In a press conference yesterday, Sogavare clarified that the exemption was intended to boost critical infrastructure projects, necessary for the country’s development.

In response, the finance minister explained that the company had proposed an investment in a wharf and warehousing upgrade of $40.9 million and $52.2 million in apartment and resort projects, bringing the total investment to $94 million.

Sogavare stated that the former finance minister granted tax and duty exemptions amounting to $29 million under two specific orders (0122-24 and 0125-24) on February 26, 2024, just before the national general election.

Following the government formation in early May and his appointment as finance minister, he was directed to issue new orders,

“On taking up the post, the exemption committee recommended that the minister issue new orders on the same exemption, replacing the orders mentioned, which is reviewable every six months,” Sogavare said.

He stressed that the orders will expire this November, allowing the government to review the implementation of the exemption, “that’s how it works.” Sogavare said.

The finance minister said that to adhere to current reviewing of exemptions, he has advised the company to submit a full report on the utilization of the exemptions to justify any extensions.

The finance minister claimed that these exemptions were “hardly utilized” and emphasized they have “very minimal loss of revenue.”

Regarding the proposed tourist resort, Sogavare clarified that the company was still in the process of backfilling the project site

“They have yet to import the materials required for the resort. Some works are going on the construction of the wharf and warehouse at the Ranadi compound,” he said.

Sogavare emphasized that attracting investors for critical infrastructure projects is essential for boosting the tourism sector.

“As the Minister of Finance, my duty is to ensure that government achieves its objective,” he stated

To demonstrate the government’s seriousness commitment, Sogavare said the Ministry of Culture and Tourism budget will increase in 2025.  

“This is to properly coordinate the development of this sector. This is how serious the government is. Now going forward, of course, as Minister of Finance, I also have the duty to protect government revenue,” he added.

Late last week Opposition came out with two episodes of revelations in which it produced documents showing government tax exemptions to few businesses totalling in the millions.

One Chinese business was granted $29 million in tax exemption, the documents showed.

Opposition criticised government over this saying that Finance Minister Sogavare had told parliament in June this year that he would halt all tax exemptions, which he described as a source of leak in the government’s revenue coffers.

Opposition’s revelations show that government is doing otherwise, continuing with its habit of issuing tax exemptions left and right, and secretly, to businesses it favours.

By Loretta B Manele

The recent bad weather has the police calling on the public to travel with caution in the capital.

Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau made the call during a press conference at the Police Headquarters yesterday.

He said right now the weather is not friendly so we have to make sure we travel safely by making sure to look left and right before crossing the roads and doing that when vehicles make a stop on the roads.

Mangau also calls on drivers to not use their phones when they are behind the wheel.

He said we must avoid doing things like this to avoid problems as such unnecessary things can even cost someone’s life.

Mangau pointed out that as we are heading into the Christmas season, there are a lot of incidents that might happen so we must look after ourselves when we travel.

“It’s also a busy time where people will be shopping, so if you are going somewhere make sure to tell a family member.”

He said Christmas is approaching and people will be celebrating soon however must also consider their safety.

Mangau said there are national games and a regional rugby 7’s game which will take place early next month followed by a Melanesian Cup game so people must respect the country’s laws and display good behaviour to show ambassadors from regional countries that Solomon Islands is a peaceful country.

BY INDY MAEALASIA

Citizens of the Solomon Islands and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will soon enjoy visa-free travel between the two countries following yesterday’s historic signing of the Mutual Visa Exemption Agreement.

The signing took place at the Prime Minister’s office, with delegates from the PM’s office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade and the media in attendance.    

Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele described the signing as an “important progress”, stating it will allow ordinary citizens to travel freely, embrace each other’s cultures, and promote greater understanding and respect, which he believed are “critical to our bilateral relations”.

Manele noted that the agreement is expected to attract a portion of China’s 130 million tourists, encouraging them to consider Solomon Islands as a preferred destination.

He further emphasised the commitment to strengthening relations between both countries, “This continues to demonstrate your commitment, enhance strategic communication, and deepen cooperation in various fields with the Solomon Islands to ensure the steady progress of the bilateral ties and bringing more benefits to our two peoples.”

Manele expressed the Solomon Islands’ appreciation to the PRC government, particularly for their swift response in facilitating the establishment of reciprocal visa exemptions.

Under the agreement, citizens from both countries with valid ordinary passports will be exempt from visa requirements for entry or transit, allowing them to stay for up to 30 days per visit, with a total stay not exceeding 90 days within any 180-day period.

PRC Ambassador Cai Weiming echoed similar sentiments, calling the agreement a further manifestation of the strong and growing cooperation between the two countries.

Following the signing, Acting Immigration Director Chris Akosawa explained that the next necessary step is to officially publish the agreement, enabling visa-on-arrival for Chinese citizens. China will also be added to the concessional visa category.

This process will be carried out in consultation with the Attorney General’s Chambers and Chinese authorities and should be completed soon.

In 2022, Solomon Islands and China signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, official, or service passports and passports for public affairs.

By Loretta B Manele

The police Reassurance Operation is in motion as they continue to carry out their work amid the recent alleged kidnapping and abduction scare that caused public panic last month.

Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau in a police press conference held yesterday told the media that their “reassurance operation” is currently being undertaken in areas like Honiara, the headquarters and Guadalcanal province.

He expressed that they have put a lot of resources and focus into this operation to reinstall confidence to our people in the capital.

Mangau said from this operation, six cases were under active investigation by their team during the reassurance operation.

He stated that three of these six cases were charged while the others are still being investigated.

Mangau mentioned that of these three cases, only one individual was remanded and the other two were released on bail to appear in court today.

He calls on the public to come forward to the police authorities to make reports if they hear anything that should be reported rather than jumping on social media to post about it which causes anxiety to our community.

“I encourage people to not use media to share information that is not true. Media is a good thing and it must be used the right way and not used to cause problems in our own communities.”

Mangau emphasised that crimes should be reported to the proper channel and that is the police.

He added that as part of the police reassurance operation, they are also engaging with communities to talk about how to deal with the issue that came about from social media.

Mangau stressed that as communities, we should work together and we cannot allow people to do things like spreading false information on social media to spark fear in our people.

“Schools were affected and services in the country were affected. Because of this people were not going to work.

“When we are spreading stories like this that cause fear in the public it slows down progress in our country.”

BY JOHN HOUANIHAU

National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) Director Jonathan Tafiariki has appealed to public not to make prank calls to toll-free numbers.

Mr Tafiariki also called on public to take safety measures during this tropical cyclone season.

“We have toll-free numbers that people can use to seek information or report incidents. Most time people abuse these numbers and thus, I like to appeal to the public to respect those numbers as they are important for emergency purposes. So don’t make prank calls on these numbers.

“Those are emergency numbers that exist for us in the country. (Police 999, Fire station 988, Marine 977, or 955 to report disaster impact, weather 933, Ambulance 111, public health emergency and surveilling unit is 115.

“Those numbers are to get information or report information during emergencies and I want people to respect them,’’ he said.

He stated that it’s more important for the general public to re-look back at safety measures and measures that are required during this Tropical Cyclone season.

“We have heard and are aware of the country’s TC outlook, it has become elevated. This means that the risk of TC to form our waters becomes high,’’ said the Director.

He said that many festive activities will happen in November and December, and the public needs to be aware of the high chance of Tropical Cyclone formation this season.

“Not only that we also want to ensure our people check weather updates or information daily from the local news outlets, such as radio, newspapers or the SI Met website or official FB page. As we know TC is associated with heavy rains, which will also threaten the general public.

He also calls the public service, NGOs, to reach out to NDMO to update their contacts.

“Some of the contacts are not functioning or used -so it is vital to revisit NMD to update the contacts,’’ said Tafiariki.

He said that the NDM will continue to reach out to the organization to update but it is also important for those that already subscribe to reconfirm those contacts with NDMO.