BY TONY IROGA
The South Pacific Economy and Technology Development Co Ltd (SPETD) has welcomed a meeting with opportunistic villagers mediated by police on Wednesday this week.
The meeting served to clarify a High Court Order served against the villagers who have been disturbing project operations.
The court order, granted by Justice Maina for the case 129 of 2026, prohibited the villagers from blocking the road access to the farm site, entering the farm or camp site, and demanding money.
Police were also directed by the Court Order to enforce it – take necessary steps to prevent or remove road blockages and arrest individuals breaching the Order.
On Monday this week, villagers blocked the road access to the farm site from company workers, and police did not make any arrest because its officers who tended to the matter were not familiar with the issue and the court order.
So, police instead proposed a meeting as a ‘second chance’ for the villagers to explain to them what the Court Order entails and also to allow the villagers to share their grievances.
From hereon, after the meeting on Wednesday, the villagers will no longer disturb the project’s operations because they should now be aware of the Court Order and the penalties once breached.
Island Sun was at the scene but was prohibited from covering the meeting.
“Police has a policy in which mediation meetings are not open for media coverage,” Guadalcanal provincial police commander Edwin Sevoa said.
The meeting was attended by the villagers, SPETD lawyers, presided over by PPC Sevoa and his officers, held at the Henderson police station.
On Monday this week, villagers set up a road block to the farm site. Police were called in and they persuaded the villagers to remove the road block.
Interestingly, the villagers used a constituency-donated red truck, plate number MD8075, to transport people to look after the road block.
The truck is one of 13 red trucks which had been distributed by the North Guadalcanal constituency on June 11 in a much-publicised ceremony to support existing initiatives within the 12 Green Economic Zones (GEZs) across the constituency.
It is unclear if transporting people to carry out illegal activities such as setting up road blocks is one of the intended purposes of these red trucks.
North Guadalcanal MP Dr Paul Popora Bosawai is in China and could not be reached for comments. His constituency development officer (CDO) has not responded to attempts by the paper for comments.
Meanwhile, the rice farm is being developed by SPETD, which is one of two plots that total to 495 hectares and together will become the country’s biggest rice farm once operational.
The second plot was officially launched on June 4 with a traditional chupu for the landowners.
It is progressing in its development, but is facing continuous disturbances by individuals from a nearby village with various demands.
So far, 40 hectares have been cleared with SPETD ready to sign a deal with a private bomb clearance company worth $1 million to have them clear the site from UXO (unexploded WWII ordnance).
Established early last year, SPETD began trial farming in another smaller plot in GPPOL which successfully resulted in the harvest and processing of fresh rice that was ready to hit the local market.
Prior scientific tests had allowed SPETD to bring in rice species and fertilisers which suited the soil type in the GPPOL plains.
SPETD aims for Solomon Islanders to access fresh rice at very affordable prices, which, once operations run smoothly, can be achieved in a couple of months.
Currently, prices of rice in Solomon Islands are becoming too expensive, and SPETD’s projects aim to reverse this.
The company also plans to venture into sharing their expertise in rice farming to interested local farmers.
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