Government is concerned that the Leader of Opposition has gone overboard to scheme up a plan to stall the 2023 Pacific Games.

Government revealed that Matthew Wale’s plan is detailed in a publication by THE STRATEGIST- an online website.

Government revealed that Wale has suggested to Australia to ‘review’ its aid support and specifically suggesting to Australia, United States and other aid donors to withhold support for the 2023 Pacific Games.

“The Leader of the Opposition went to the extent of suggesting to Australia and USA to influence other Pacific Countries not to participate in the 2023 Pacific Games,” the government stated.

Government is concerned that such a plan is designed to make Solomon Islanders to suffer. To achieve what? Just to turn the public against the Prime Minister so that he can be Prime Minister.

“This is a one-man crusade for power. Unfortunately, he has cunningly used our innocent people to execute this evil plan of his,” the government stated in a media release.

“Wale’s plan shows his lack of humility and empathy of the suffering our people have already suffered because of his planned November Riots. He does not care if people go to prison, all he cares about is removing the Prime Minister so that he can be Prime Minister”, the government statement pointed out.

Government further revealed that Wale’s selfish plans include asking Australia to prevent Solomon Islanders from traveling to Australia via Brisbane.

“Wale further claimed that ministers in the government are not happy with the security pact with Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) and claimed that this will be the cause of the downfall of the government. Wale seem to forget that Cabinet endorsed this Security Agreement and it was not one that was entered into by the Prime Minister,” the government statement added.

“What is more alarming, Wale is using the ignorance of the majority of Solomon Islanders to claim that everyone is against the security pact with PRC. Wale knows too well that the majority of Solomon Islanders are based in the rural areas, these are men and women who are concerned more about their day- today living than the political rhetoric in Honiara which Wale is huffing and puffing away with,” the government pointed out.

Government has made it clear that the security pact is to, amongst other things, protect and safeguard peace loving Solomon Islanders and their properties. It is to prevent what has happened in Myannmar from happening here in Solomon Islands.

“The Chinese built infrastructures are ours. Last Friday the training facility for our people and athletes was officially handed over to the Government and people of Solomon Islands,” the government said.

Government also highlighted that Wale’s continuous claim of an early warning he sounded to Australia’s embassy in Honiara is highly questionable as someone in the know claimed that the Australian ambassador never recalled having an audience with the Leader of Opposition in 2021 or thereabout.

Government has made it publicly that Australia remains the partner of choice in development needs of the country, and that sentiment will never change as long as the government is in power.

Government already had a fruitful meeting with a USA high level delegation and the meeting sets the basis for another meeting in September. On Monday the Government also had a meeting with a high level delegation who flew in from Tokyo.

“We have escalated our engagement with our bilateral partners and they have responded, all with the aim of developing our beloved country. Sadly, Wale is only interested in being the Prime Minister and not development,” the government stated added.

Wale’s hunger for power, is an open book. One has to go back to the election of the Prime Minister to the last motion of no- confidence to get to know the end-game that Wale has been aspiring for.

“Since his time as a Member of Parliament honorable Matthew Wale has been a minister only once and that was more than 10 years ago. His ambition to become Prime Minister has blinded him and he will go to the ends of the earth to achieve it, by using our unsuspecting people to do his dirty work,” the government concluded.

—PMO

OPPOSITION Leader Matthew Wale has highlighted the need for reasonable quality infrastructure in roads, bridges, wharves, airstrips and public amenities.

In his recent Budget Debate Speech, Wale said the Government does not have the resources to meet all the infrastructure needs in the country.

Therefore, he said it must be prioritized.

He said to prioritize infrastructure needs; the government must adopt a transparent set of guidelines and rules that apportions weight based on economic as well as social considerations in determining which projects make the priority list.

“Of course, there will always be political considerations to take into account. But to make politics the overriding determining factor for prioritization of infrastructure projects is neither good nor strategic, and is likely to result in poor quality expenditure,” he said.

Mr Wale said the quality of workmanship and therefore poor-quality outcomes continue to mark infrastructure investments by the government.

He said there is need to strengthen the technical capacity of contractors to ensure quality work and the need for the procurement system to eliminate poor quality contractors over time.

“The re-establishment of provincial PWDs needs to be fast tracked. These units need to be adequately equipped and trained to be responsible for the regular upkeep of provincial roads, bridges, airstrips & wharves,” he said.

The Opposition Leader said the technical capacity of the MID is overstretched for the workload funded in the 2022 budget, to say nothing of the broader infrastructure needs.

He said this has a significant bearing on all the issues affecting budget outcomes.

As part of the 2022 Budget, $12m is for the National Transport Initiative programme, comprising of and increase in number of shipping vessels in 2022 and procurement of plant & machineries.

Poor quality infrastructure is the result of underinvestment, underfunding, poor procurement systems, design issues, lack of robust timely inspections and accountability,” he said.

Wale said MID needs the technical capacity to consistently maintain high standards for infrastructure in the country.

“Government must invest in MID’s technical capacity. This budget underinvests in infrastructure. But even with this underinvestment, ministry capacity is a clear bottleneck for effective execution,” the Opposition Leader said.

—Opposition Press