BY NED GAGAHE
Premier of Central Islands Province Michael Salini says Tulagi, former capital of Solomon Islands and once a proud capital, is now starting from scratch.
Salini uttered this statement when contributing to the Special Economic Zone Bill 2024 during Bills and Legislation Committee hearing in Parliament yesterday.
“Mr. Chairman, the story of my province, as you might have been aware, has been a sad one. As a host of the first capital of the country, we started off fairly well in terms of investment and some small but limited infrastructure in place.” He said.
Premier Salini said successive national governments have allowed this investment to either be taken away or allowed to deteriorate to the point where a lot of money is needed to rehabilitate them.
He said as far as CIP government is concerned; the province is basically just going to start from scratch again.
However, the Premier said the people of Central province need to be pulled out from the economic stagnancy and the level of poverty they are in.
He said if this bill is a way forward, they will be happy to support it.
“If the special economic zone can be an avenue to attract foreign investment, improve trade and perhaps provide economic opportunities for our people in terms of employment, then I think it’s a good idea.” Premier Salini said.
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