By EDDIE OSIFELO
Minister of Commerce, Industries, Labour and Immigration, Frederick Kologeto has updated some of the government’s project under the re-direction policy.
These include the Kirakira Cocoa Oil factory supposed to be completed this year, construction of Bonale pineapple factory this year and the Malu’u Fishery project.
Speaking during the Sine Die motion in Parliament, Kologeto said the delay of the Kirakira cocoa oil factory was due to re design.
He said the building should happen in 2022 and comes under the budget of the Government.
Furthermore, Kologeto stressed that the Bonale Pineapple project belongs to the government and not to the Provincial government.
He said the good news is the US SCALE project has told the Ministry to take on board the project, so it will progress next year.
Furthermore, Kologeto said the Ministry has also funded the Malu’u fishery project.
“We have renovated it and completed it,” he added.
According to the Government, the policy redirection aims to support the economy in response to negative impacts of COVID-19 while maintaining a continued long-term focus on developing Solomon Islands into an economically strong and vibrant nation and advance the livelihood of our people.
This will be achieved by investing heavily on the primary industries and downstream processing.
This includes providing price and support subsidies to the main agricultural export crops such as copra and cocoa, promote kava export and embark on a national expansion program for noni production.
“Some of these development initiatives will require partnership with the private sector hence, the government is formalizing the public private partnership (PPP) approach as one of the many approaches that DCGA will utilize to implement its policy redirection”, Sogavare told parliament recently.
