ADB reactivates multi-billion-dollar Greater Honiara City Plan, an Auki City Master Plan to follow suit
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) is believed to have indicated to the Government its willingness to reactivate plans for a Greater Honiara City Master Plan.
A similar design for the Greater Auki City would follow.
The multi-billion-dollar project is expected to be spread over two decades and will have several major components, including housing.
The project has been gathering dust in government offices since the ADB first raised it about seven years ago.
It is understood the ADB has had preliminary discussions with the Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) on the way forward in reactivating the plan.
It is also understood that retired Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination, Donald Kundu and the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, Peter Mae, have been approached to produce a skeleton of what the project entails.
Both have confirmed their engagements but are not prepared to discuss any details, saying only it is too early.
According to others, the scale of the project is mammoth in size and could spread over a 20-year period or more.
The coverage of the Greater Honiara City will extend to Kakabona in the west and Alligator Creek in the east, according to insiders.
One of the reasons the government has dusted the plan for extending the city boundary is because the population has out-grown services, leaving no room for the expansion of the housing sector.
For example, annual population growth in the Alligator Creek Area in east Honiara, where the new city boundary will end is estimated at 10 percent.
The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey has lost control of the need to monitor housing development in Honiara. As a result, the housing industry has gone out of control, they said.
“It is a mammoth task, which will require a coordinated approach involving the Honiara City Town and Country Planning Board, the Guadalcanal Province and the National Government.
A major component of the Greater Honiara City Plan will be housing.
In Malaita, the proposed coverage of the Greater Auki City expansion will start at Kwaibala in the west and ends at the Fiu Bridge in the east, insiders said.
It is unclear whether the ADB and the Government will go out in a major spending spree to buy out all the land needed for the expansion both in Honiara and Auki.
It is understood a team from the Manila-based ADB is due to arrive in Honiara next month for further discussion on the matter.
There are speculations the GNUT coalition government whose first 100 days in office is up on 18th September could announce this as a major policy achievement within the policy timeframe.
According to the ‘Greater Honiara Urban Development Strategy and Action Plan’ (GHUDSAP) document prepared in 2018, this undertaking by the Solomon Islands Government’s Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Survey (MLHS) with the support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to be done in three phases.
Guadalcanal Provincial Government is also supporting the plan during its initial stage.
The first phase, from 2018- 2022, was intended to prepare Greater Honiara Area (GHA) for the Pacific Games 2023.
The second phase of growth, from 2023-2027, shall emphasise the upgrading of the city centre to encourage investments in businesses, particularly tourism. This will also include the continuous upgrading of the Henderson airport as well as providing alternative east- west connectivity to alleviate traffic congestion along Kukum Highway particularly at the central business district.
The third phase of growth, from 2028-2035, focuses on strengthening the economic potential of the city centre further, by creating a tourism hub at Point Cruz. It also emphasises well-distributed growth by further catalysing developments in Henderson, and in the planned housing expansion areas at the south.
The plan seeks to address the challenges that have come to the fore in light of the rapid urban growth being experienced in Honiara City and adjacent areas of Guadalcanal Province particularly Tandai and Malango Wards.
By Alfred Sasako
