Lack of Transparency Over Boat Tenders and Projects Sparks Minister’s Resignation
By ULUTAH GINA
Solomon Star Gizo
Allegations of improper conduct and a lack of transparency within the Western Provincial Government (WPG) have emerged following the resignation of a senior provincial minister during last week’s political unrest.
At a press conference held at the Gizo Hotel conference room on Friday, former Minister for Sports, Culture, and Tourism, Hon. Eric Hitu, voiced serious concerns about how internal tenders for provincial boats and major infrastructure projects have been handled.
Hon. Hitu, Member for Ward 22 (Nono), revealed that around seven provincial boats were recently offered through an internal tender process.
However, he claimed that neither the Planning Minister nor the Planning Division has provided any formal report outlining how the bids were assessed or awarded.
“There is something happening that is not appropriate,” he said.
He explained that although his ministry submitted a bid for one of the boats, it was unsuccessful.
He also noted that several Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) had applied for the tenders with the intention of passing the boats on to Ward Development Committees (WDCs) to support their communities. Despite this, he said the entire process lacked openness.
“During the last Executive meeting, I requested a full report from the Minister of Planning on the tendering process. To this day, no report has been provided. There is no transparency,” he stated.
As a result all the boats are gone.
Hon. Hitu also raised questions about the Bareho Bridge project in Ward 22 Marovo .
Originally approved under the previous Gina Government at a cost of $450,000, he said the figure has since increased to $510,000, according to Central Tender Board records.
He is now calling for a full acquittal of the project funds from the Planning Division, provincial engineers, and the contractor.
“Since the first assembly after the election, there has been no report on the full retirement of the bridge funds.
The same concerns apply to the CAUSE Project jetty wharves in Noro and Gizo,” he said, referencing his own site observations.
“The reason why I raise this is because compared to the Bareho bridge, the cost of the bridge should reach the amount of the $510,000.00 SBD or $450.000.00 SBD, I think it should be less than that, we need to see the full report,” Mr. Hitu said.
Citing the lack of accountability, Hon. Hitu resigned from his position as Minister for Sports and Tourism last week and moved to the Non-Executive side amid rising political tensions surrounding Premier Billy Veo’s leadership.
His resignation came at the same time a Motion of No Confidence (MoNC) was filed against Premier Veo. However, the motion was later withdrawn by Ward 7 MPA Hon. Rence Sore, who cited insufficient support to proceed.
Although Premier Veo’s administration has, for now, avoided a leadership challenge, the concerns raised by Hon. Hitu over the management of provincial resources and infrastructure spending remain unresolved.
Bareho and Tusungoete communities of Nono Ward in the Marovo Lagoon, Western Province, are now connected by a newly completed 18m x 1.2m footbridge, providing a direct link between the two villages.
The project was funded by the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) and its donor partners through the Provincial Government Capacity Development Fund (PCDF), under the Provincial Governance Strengthening Programme (PGSP) managed by the Ministry of Provincial Government and Institutional Strengthening (MPGIS).
In 2020, the Western Provincial Assembly endorsed a range of community-identified, climate-related priority projects under UNDP’s Government for Resilience (Gov4Res) initiative.
The Bareho–Tusungoete Footbridge was among these priorities, with a total cost of SBD510,060—SBD260,060 funded through the Western Provincial Government’s PCDF and SBD250,000 contributed by UNDP’s Gov4Res program.
Meanwhile, attempts to obtain comments from the Provincial Planning Minister and the Planning Division have been unsuccessful over the weekend.
Photo caption – Former Minister of Sports Tourism and Culture Hon. Eric Hitu MPA for Nono Ward 22.
