SOLOMON ISLANDS Ports Authority (SIPA) says the reforms undertaken at the port are purely for the benefit of indigenous people of this country.
Chief Executive Officer Mr Colin Yow told the public during a public forum this week at the Heritage Park Hotel.
Mr Yow told the public the essence of these reforms aims at improving the standard of living of indigenous Solomon Islanders and help them realise SIPA is their company and they are the sole owners.
Yow said what people of this country fail to realise is that for the past 59 years, SIPA was not owned by the government nor the people of this country.
He said if one could look very carefully at how services and operations of the SIPA were for the past years since 1950, SIPA’s services has been poor, losing millions of dollars and yet no one bothered talking and complaining.
He said the reason was individuals and private firms were the sole beneficiaries who have taken over the operations of the Port as though it was owned by them.
Mr Yow questioned why companies and certain individuals are quite vocal about these reforms.
He questioned why businesses and individuals are now complaining and making a lot of noise when these reforms came in.
Yow further questioned private companies and individuals, asking them where they were the last 59 years.
He stressed that reforms they had implemented for the last 14 months have earned the country millions in revenue and have improved a lot of port services and infrastructure.
“Actually the reforms enabled us to take back total ownership of the port and this hurts many big businesses and individuals who have enjoyed the money for the past 59 years,” Yow said.
He said today the port has been returned back to indigenous Solomon Islanders.
He admitted that although they are not perfect in carrying out these reforms and meet public expectations, he promised the public they will get there to ensure efficiency and quality of services expected of the port are provided.
He said that they are only into 14 months of reforms and the public are starting to criticise.
He said he found it very interesting to see people criticising them for positive changes they have achieved whilst they welcome and did not complain about anything over the past 59 years.
Meanwhile, Yow said indigenous people of the government should all work with SIPA and the government to ensure benefits from the Port is maximised for the people of this country and not taken out from the country.
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