THE Standing Committee on Planning in the Honiara City Council (HCC) made a decision regarding the Townground Plaza (Sol Plaza) in Honiara recently, calling for its demolition due to concerns about public safety.
The building has been deemed unsafe. According to an insider source, the owner has only applied a fresh coating and paint to the building to cover up existing cracks. “If there is an earthquake in the future, the building could collapse,” the source said.
The Standing Committee reportedly agreed that demolition should begin with the eastern and western wings of the building, with plans to reconstruct the entire structure thereafter.
According to HCC procedures, the Town and Country Planning Board is supposed to act in accordance with the decision made by the Standing Committee.
However, a planning officer from the HCC denied that any decision for demolition had been made, claiming that the plan was only for retrofit.
Retrofit refers to the process of updating or modifying a building or system with new components or technology to improve its safety or functionality.
There have been allegations that money may have influenced the decision not to follow through with the Standing Committee’s demolition order.
The Townground Plaza has a history of regulatory non-compliance. For example:
- In 2012, the managing director of China United (SI) Corporation Ltd., the company behind the plaza, was arrested for operating the building without an occupancy permit, following warnings from the city council.
- In 2015, the mayor publicly criticized the Sol Plaza project, insisting that it had failed to meet required standards and urging China United to comply with planning board directives.
- Most recently, in November 2023, the Honiara City Council ordered the closure of the plaza, citing several issues: unremoved shipping containers, unpaid fees, and unauthorized work. Safety concerns were also raised, especially after a roof collapse incident. Notably, the plaza owner, Zong Wu Zhou, was in China at the time and not directly overseeing operations.
Construction on the Townground Plaza began in 2007. The building includes:
- 23 shop spaces on the ground floor (all occupied)
- 15 office spaces on the first floor
- 3 multi-function halls
- 19 self-contained apartments
Given the safety concerns and ongoing issues with regulatory compliance, the future of the Townground Plaza remains uncertain. The decision for demolition or retrofit seems to be caught in internal disagreements within the Honiara City Council.
