STAKEHOLDERS gathered in Honiara to discuss the implementation of the Domestic Maritime Support Project.
The $19 million dollar project is funded by Asian Development Bank, European Union and Government.
It is looking at upgrading the old and broken existing wharves in rural areas.
Ministry of Infrastructure permanent secretary, John Ta'aru said the workshop was to inform stakeholders on the 50 wharves engineers have investigated recently.
He said from the workshop, the project steering committee will identified the first 10 sites where work will start soon.
Donors and government are pushing to implement the project this year with the aim to address rural poverty.
Mr Ta'aru said: "Our country has been suffering from the biased urban concentration of development since independence, which is not properly addressed will see the dual population sector of urban rich and rural poor drifting further and further apart from each other."
He said infrastructure development especially in the rural area will bridge that gap between the rich and poor because its inclusivity, nobody can be denied, and everybody has equal right of use.
"Solomon Islands is an islands country with its population distributed over a vast area of ocean.
"Because of this geographical nature, it makes a lot of sense to concentrate on shipping, wharves and jetties and other maritime infrastructure," he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry is also preparing to implement the Shipping Franchise Scheme this year.
The scheme will see Government meet the cost of shipping to some of the uneconomical routes in the country.
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