By Mike Puia
A working group is now in place to work on the formation and activities of an association to represent members of the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) within its board.
Nine individuals have volunteered last night to commence work on drawing the terms and reference of the association and developing a constitution.
One of those who initiated the idea to form an association for SINPF members, Redly Raramo, said now that individuals have volunteered to take the initiative forward, the working group will start discussions around the terms and reference of the association.
Raramo said the interim working group will continue with consultations over a period of three months.
He said this will include consultation with unions and institutions and public forums for members.
Raramo said research will be a key task for the working group.
He said a proper committee to do the tasks of the association should be formed around mid this year.
Raramo said they have commenced consultations on online platforms and are planning more as the working group started its work purposely to get members aware of what the group stands for and what it will do.
“Members must know that millions of dollars of members’ contribution have lost as a result of bad decisions,
“This body will help curb the fund’s management and investment decisions,” Raramo said.
Another founding member of the initiative, George Kosui, said based on reports from the SINPF; there are a lot of figures that are questionable.
Unlike provident fund in other countries, Kosui said the SINFP has no self-checking systems.
He said the fund is not a lending institution yet it lends and most of its lending goes to risky investments.
“Many figures are not clear. Many investments are not repaid,” Kosui, a private consultant who has been very critical of SINPF dealings, said.
He said this warrant the creation of a body to look into and represent members in the SINPF board’s investment decisions.
