Kina: questionable action warrants investigation
By IAN M.KAUKUI
THE questionable actions and dealings of both the City Clerk Rence Sore and councillor John Szetu, owner of the Pinnacle Enterprises in Honiara, warrant a full-fledged investigation by responsible authorities.
This sentiment was echoed by John Kina, a long-time resident of Honiara.
Kina told the Solomon Star Sore’s reluctance to reveal the identity of the private entity that supplied the fire extinguishers to the council and his subsequent admission to the transaction which was alleged to be unbudgeted for amounts to gross negligence of due processes.
“To me, the issue of the fire extinguishers has already warranted criminal investigation because it has not been budgeted for in the first place,” he said.
He said Sore’s refusal to reveal the private entity whilst at the same time admitting to local transactions, is an indication that something fishy is going on at the highest level of the council.
Kina said that since Szetu has denied being part of the deal, he needs to prove his innocence that the property in which the fire extinguishers are stored upon arrival from china is someone else’s.
An insider within the HCC has revealed that the unloading of the fire extinguishers was done at Szetu’s warehouse at his Outback Shop at Rove, next to Children’s Park.
The insider further said that over the past months, Honiara residents have praised HCC without knowing some of the “corrupt dealings” which are amongst the worst if they are ever exposed.
The insider further says that Szetu not only involves in the Fire Extinguisher saga, he also supplies vehicles to the HCC including the CCTV cameras that were installed at the Central market and the HCC head office.
Meanwhile, the sacked Finance chairman Billy Abae earlier said he would soon file for criminal investigation with the police and the Leadership Code Commission (LCC) once he has all the reports ready.
Asked if the LCC office has already received any formal report requesting them for investigation either from Cr. Abae or the Clerk, the LCC Chairman Solomon Kalu said they haven’t received any as yet.
“We haven’t received any report from the HCC regarding the issue but we have noted what has transpired in the media,” he said.
However, Kalu said that even if LCC is in receipt of the report, it could only contribute via its investigative processes but not to make any final determination whatsoever.
“Currently if any report comes in, it has to go through the Commission before further action can be taken whether to carry out an investigation or not,” he said.
Kalu said that since they are still in recesses because of the COVID-19 scale down, they could only respond to urgent matters.
