Allegations unproven, says Oso
THE Office of the Prime Minister is standing by Skyline Investment Group despite allegation the Asian company is operating a scam.
The group has promised the government it would rehabilitate Honiara International Airport, upgrade the Henderson-Point Cruz road, and invest in tourism projects.
It also offered to build 5,000 homes for the government.
But a widely circulated email from China claimed one of the directors of the company, Jason Liu Tao, has defrauded up to 50,000 investors in China through a scam.
The claim had cast doubt over the credibility and genuineness of Skyline Investment Group as a credible investor.
However, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, Deli Oso, said the source of the allegation cannot be verified.
“How can we establish the truth about that claim,” she told the Solomon Star yesterday.
“The claims were contained in an unsubstantiated email whose source was unknown. How can we know it is legitimate?” Mrs Oso asked.
She said the email could be a move by someone to tarnish the reputation of the company by some people, so government cannot believe any email sent by a single person with false identity to rubbish others.
Mrs Oso also said the alleged victims must be identified so that the government could know where they are and where they live.
Mrs Oso revealed before inviting Skyline Investment into the country, government officials traveled to Hong Kong and met its officials there.
It’s understand Special Secretary to the Prime Minister Rence Sore and a foreign consultant working in the Prime Minister’s Office took the trip to Hong Kong.
Mrs Oso said Skyline Investment is currently operating in Fiji and Samoa.
She also stated the allegations against Mr Tao could have been made available to the office of the Prime Minister by Chinese authorities if it’s true.
Meanwhile, the Opposition had been calling on the Prime Minister to cancel any government dealing with Skyline Investment.
It also renewed its call for the sacking of Mr Sore and Commerce minister William Marau.
By AATAI JOHN
