BY BARNABAS MANEBONA
TWENTY-FIVE business houses visited recently by the Joint Committee of the Ministry of Commerce saw the closure of foreign business companies and ask for removal to others.
Out of the 25 business houses on the 27th of June, 13 foreign companies operating on Guadalcanal boundaries or jurisdictions such as at Kakabona, Lungga and GPPOL were closed down for business being asked to expand the size of their premises to 200 square metres.
According to Jack Gulauma from the Foreign Investment Division (FID) under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration, four foreign companies out of the 13 that were recently closed down have re-opened.
It is understood that these businesses have expanded the size of their buildings to 200 square metres (200m2) as required by law.
“For 10 foreign companies operating within the outskirts of Honiara, they were asked to close down and have to relocate their operations to the Central Business District (CBD) of Honiara City,” said Mr Gulauma.
It is understood that only two companies out of the 25 visited were owned by Solomon Islanders in which they were allowed to open their doors and continue with normal services.
