By Gary Hatigeva

SOLOMON Islands is amongst some of the Pacific Island nations that will benefit from an Australian massive aid sourcing, Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela confirms.

Prime Minister Hou revealed this when questioned over his trip to the APEC Summit after presenting the government’s motion of special adjournment, knowing Solomon Islands only holds an observer status to this international body.

The Prime Minister however clarified that within his scheduled trip, he will have a stopover meeting in Brisbane, Australia with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on important matters between the two countries.

He explained that both leaders have important matters to talk about, and added that some of the agenda in the discussion will be over bilateral matters, which will include Canberra’s proposed massive aid injection plans for the Pacific.

“We’ve got a lot to talk to Australia about, and if you might follow in the media, you would hear about the new policy outreach where the government of Australia announced earlier.

“In it, Solomon Islands is in fact the centre pieces of this new development assistance, and I’m hoping to continue discussing more matters with Australia during that time,” Prime Minister Hou explained.

On Wednesday last week, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his government’s adjusted policy intent of a $3billion aid funding, which he revealed for the Pacific Island Nations, and recipients will also include Solomon Islands.

In his speech PM Morrison revealed that the $3billion would use a combination of grants and concessional finance to develop infrastructure and related aspects, which according to reports, would restrict its activities to the Pacific.

The Prime Minister also announced callable capital of $1 billion for EFIC, Australia’s export credit agency, designed to support SME investment in the Pacific.

Meanwhile, in his respond to questions that were raised over the Special Adjournment regarding his PNG visit, Hou further clarified that it was to allow for the Public Accounts Committee to conduct its inquiry into the 2019 Appropriation Bill and the 2018 Supplementary Bill (2), as well as for him (PM) to attend the APEC Summit.

He said this particular trip to the APEC summit, it’s an invitation by one of the country’s very important friend, Prime Minister Peter O’Neil.

Hou therefore said he saw the invitation as an opportunity to hold discussions with PNG as there is so much to talk about with them.

“It’s not only on the bilateral assistance we get from them, but so as other matters, as now we are talking about the border.

“As for the APEC, it is a gathering of world leaders and it will be first time that it will be hosted by one of us in the region, and that invitation that the Prime Minister O’Neil has made, was extended to all of us Pacific Islands Forum leaders.

“He has made that appeal personally to all of us, and it’s quite important for us to attend, not only for the reason that I have alluded to earlier, but I think in a way, we want to give the support him when he hosted the meeting,” PM Hou shared.

Following his meeting in Australia, Prime Minister Hou revealed that he will accompany Prime Minister Morrison to the World Summit in PNG’s capital, Port Moresby.

By Gary Hatigeva

THE Solomon Islands Democratic Coalition for Change Government (SIDCCG) has been called on to set its priorities right on their bills that are before parliament for deliberation.

This comes as the country now counts down on the remaining life span of the 10th Parliament House, which will come to its natural death on December 17, 2018.

Parliament will only have around two weeks and three days to deal with the remaining businesses brought before it, when the house resumes.

However, there are worries over the limited timeframe before the dissolution, and people are expressing that the government should ensure that the two highlighted bills are prioritised for their passage as they will have direct impacts on the lives of people, both in and outside the country.

This is apart from the 2019 Appropriation Bill 2018 and the Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2018, which are currently before the Bills and Legislation Committee for inquiries.

The calls then suggested for the government to put less emphasis on the Payment System Bill as it can come in later time or be deferred to the next the 11th Parliament House.

Deliberations of the DBSI Bill experienced two adjournments after it was introduced in the Committee of the Whole House for its thorough scrutiny, and now with Parliament’s special adjournment, all eyes are banking on the resumption of the house.

But people are concerned that other bills including the Payment System Bill, the Supplementary Appropriation Bill and the 2019 Appropriation Bill, are also on the loop for deliberations, and questioned, what chances are there for the house to deliberate on the Dual Citizenship Bill, or the completion of Proceedings into the DBSI Bill, when parliament will only have two weeks before this term ends.

There is also the concern that with the ongoing issue on the lack of quorums due to low attendances by members of parliament, this in itself will likely be affecting the continuation of necessary proceedings into the, particularly, the Dual Citizenship, the DBSI and the Payment System Bills.

Constitutionally, the 2019 Appropriation Bill (Budget Bill) will have to be prioritised because it required, in order to avoid any constitutional crisis, let alone, economical set back, as far as government’s continued services deliveries, are concerned.

Why do we need the Dual Citizenship Bill prioritized?

If passed and enacted, it has been revealed over and over that the country will have a lot to look forward to, in terms of social and economic benefits.

And according to a mini survey conducted on this, results showed that if the proposed legislation is adapted, Dual Citizens whether indigenous or not, will have no hesitation to participate in economic activities, which may include investing in businesses or other economic activities, knowing that their rights to propriety will be guaranteed under the new citizenship law and the constitution.

This according to many, would also enhance the country’s foreign earnings and resulting in economic development.

Why is there need to prioritise the DBSI Bill?

The DBSI Bill on the other hand, will have the same impact, but from within the country’s economic circle, where the locals will have the opportunity to be involved directly and indirectly in the economic, so as the social developments of Solomon Islands.

As also being projected and objectively, based on the proposed legislation, if passed and enacted, the establishment will also give confidence to the local investors, and together, these two proposed acts can have a huge impact and would play vital roles in the fading economy, this country continues to experience.

Why not the Payment System Bill?

Regarding the Payment System Bill 2018, respondents, including many who advocate for the other two bills, stressed that even if it (Payment System Bill) does not make it, or not being deliberated on, the country will have nothing to lose, as there is a current system in place, which they thought is working fine.

While many agreed that the country needs an updated payment system, there is the notion that the current system can be relied on to buy time for it to be put forward to the next house, which was reiterated that the country will have nothing to lose out on.

By Gary Hatigeva

FINANCE Minister Manasseh Sogavare has presented the government’s Appropriation Bill to the National Parliament on Tuesday, seeking a total of $3,806,282,473 for the service of the state in 2019.

The Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, following the second reading of the 2019 Appropriation Bill 2018, delivered almost an hour of the Budget Speech where he enlightened the house on the insights of the bill, and justification for the projected total figure.

The Appropriation Bill actually sets out limits on new Government borrowing, for the purpose of relevant sections within the Financial Management Act 2013.

Under the borrowing status, the bill highlighted two categories of permitted borrowing, which includes borrowing by way of treasury bills to deal with exceptional circumstances, and borrowing from development partners or domestic financial institutions for the purpose of high priority infrastructures and development initiatives.

The Bill also included provisions relating to the issue by the Finance Minister of advanced warrants and contingency warrants during 2019.

Objectively, the Bill provides for a general warrant to be issue by the Minister of Finance of the total estimates, to the Permanent Secretary of Finance and Treasury.

And this according to the Minister when presenting the Bill, will further allows the issue of Accounting Warrants by the Permanent Secretary in accordance with section 56 and 57 of the Public Financial Management Act 2013.

In a general detail breakdown, the 2019 Appropriation has set out a total of $3,047,487,553 for the Recurrent Expenditure Estimates, which takes up three-quarter of the entire proposed budget for next year, with the Ministry of Education projected with the highest allocation of $1.17 Billion.

Second to it is the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, with an estimated allocation of $428,496,994 for its programmes.

Meanwhile, a total of $213,494,920 is highlighted under the Budget Support Estimates, for the benefit of five Ministries, namely, the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, with share of $65.2 Million, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, with just over $134 Million, the Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services, with an estimated allocation of $4 Million.

The other two included the Ministry of Fisheries, which is allocated an estimated $7.1 Million, and the $2.2 Million for the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, under the 2019 Budget Support Estimates.

As for the Development Expenditure, a total of $545,300,000 was projected from the Development Estimates, which will be coming out directly from the Solomon Islands Government’s funds or basket.

However, a further $100 Million plus, is also projected, and authorized under this Act when passed, forecasted to expended through statutory charges on the Consolidated Fund, which includes just over $78 Million to be expended on National Debt Repayments.

The government has on the other hand, agreed that this budget will certainly hurt some ministries, as their allocations are again minimized, but suggested that without the actions, the government risks increasing its fiscal deficit to an unsustainable level, losing its credibility amongst stakeholders.

It is however revealed that most of the minimizations done are to ensure that projections are realistic and credible, and therefore stressed that all budgetary allocations have to be supported with some assurance that the resources targeted will be delivered successfully.

The 2019 Appropriation Bill will now be laid before the Public Accounts Committee for its inquiries, and later be brought back for Parliament’s further and final proceedings before the House dissolves.

Following its Second Reading and the Minister presenting it in Parliament yesterday, the House was adjourned through a special adjournment motion, to the 27th of this month, with all debates also being adjourned to after the resumption date.