BY SAMIE WAIKORI
AUKI
THE Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) officially opened its new property investment in the Malaita capital, Auki on Tuesday.
The magnificent ‘our telekom haus’ building was built by Tropical Glass Builders and has gone a step further in contributing to the facelift of Auki as the provincial town of Malaita and marks the first SINPF investment in the province.
Speaking during the ceremony yesterday, SINPF Chairman (acting), David Rupokets said the completion of the building marks the investment journey of the SINPF Board on the first substantial investment of its members in the province for their retirement and old age.
“This is now the 3rd provincial capital outside of Honiara that we have invested our members fund in. The province centres include, Solomon Tuna cannery at Noro, and property investments in Tulagi.
“The investment in this new building is part of a previous strategic decision that the Solomon Telekom Board took that the cash flow they have will be used only for the core business of the company and office buildings to be built by its shareholders,” he said.
Rupokets said with the completion of the building the board has invested up to $15 million from the acquisition of the land to the designing and construction of the SINPF Auki, Our Telekom Haus.
He said Malaita is the largest province in terms of population and SINPF is now positioning the funds in terms of improving its ability to consider potential future investment in the province.
“I would like to inform you that following this investment we will be looking at the feasibility of developing our second commercial property, the former Auki Plaza into our new commercial flagship of the province.
“This will be an exciting investment as the Malaita province economy continues to grow and the potential to expand further with various infrastructure investments that are planned for the province,” Rupokets said.
He said SINPF thanked the Director of Tropical Glass Builders, Justin Fu’oo for constructing the building, MPG through its Town Planning Board for guidance during construction and every stakeholders who have contributed towards the successful completion of the building.
