BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Government has revoked its suspension of all sufferance wharves to unload imported goods.
Sufferance wharves are seen as hotspots for government’s revenue loss due to non-compliance and inability of Customs to adequately monitor these wharves’ activities.
On August 21, 2025 former finance minister Harry Kuma ordered the suspension of use of all sufferance wharves for unloading of imported goods.
Nine days later Mr Kuma was kicked out of the finance portfolio and reshuffled to the ministry of Commerce, Labour and Immigration (MCILI).
Trevor Hedley Manemahaga, MP for Gao-Bugotu, became the new finance minister. And, on September 4 Mr Manemahaga revoked the suspension of usage of the sufferance wharves for unloading imported goods.
Government even apologised in the letter to the owners of these illegal wharves for any inconvenience caused by the suspension issued by former finance minister Kuma.
The reasons for suspending the sufferance wharves as stated in the August-21 letter include:
“Serious concerns by the Ministry’s management and relevant authorities, including the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority regarding the Custom Division’s limited capacity to adequately monitor imports at these facilities (sufferance wharves).
Additionally, some sufferance wharves have been found to be non-compliant with international ship and port facility security (ISPS) standards, posing risks to national trade and revenue collection.”
The letter directed that all imported goods must only be unloaded at the following declared international seaports:
-SIPA International Seaport, Honiara
-Noro International Seaport
-Leeroy Wharf International Seaport, Ranadi (East Honiara)
The letter added that ‘all existing permits authorising the unloading of imported goods at any sufferance wharf in the country’ were hereby cancelled.
The suspension did not apply to loading of round logs and mineral-related products for export at the sufferance wharves.
Island Sun has been reliably informed that the reason for the reshuffling on August 30 of the finance and commerce ministers was the suspension of sufferance wharves.
“Kuma had stepped on toes in the cabinet and their logging masters when he ordered the suspension of sufferance wharves, and the loggers who owned these wharves demanded the cabinet to remove Kuma from the finance portfolio, and they did just that, replacing him with Manemahaga,” the source said.
Kuma was reported by In-Depth Solomons to be ‘shocked and unhappy’ at being reshuffled. He voiced his disappointment in cabinet last week, In-Depth Solomons reported on September 6.
And, true to its bidding to its logging masters, government revoked the suspension notice through its new finance minister Manemahaga on August 30.
The new finance minister’s renovation letter did not contain any reason for revoking the suspension notice. It instead apologised to the owners of the sufferance wharves for ‘any inconvenience caused during the period of suspension’, thanked them for their cooperation, and invited them to call the Customs office if they had any query.
Both Kuma and Manemahaga are from the OUR Party, the main party in the government coalition.
