Solomon Islands has rejected claims made on the Australian ABC television network that Japan has poured money into the country in exchange for both support at the International Whaling Commission and cheap access to tuna.
Our correspondent Sean Dorney reports a senior Solomon Islands Fisheries Department official claims Taiwan gets better access to tuna in the Solomons than Japan.
The Solomon Islands Permanent Secretary for Fisheries, Tione Bugotu, was interviewed by Four Corners, and he told how money paid into the Fisheries Department in license fees had been diverted by some officials into their own pockets.
However, in a statement released by the Government in Honiara, Mr Bugotu, says the money, which disappeared, came from all the foreign countries fishing for tuna in Solomon Islands waters.
He describes as absolutely false the claim that Japan had paid for cheap access to tuna.
He says the question was: for supporting Japan on whaling how much more did Japan get in terms of access to tuna?
He says the answer is: no more access than Taiwan.
In fact, he says, Taiwan has more vessels than Japan licensed to fish in the Solomons.
The country's Prime Minister, Sir Allan Kemakeza, who has just returned to Honiara from a visit to Japan, is quoted by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation as saying Japanese investors are showing great interest in the Solomons and it stands to benefit more from the relationship.
Source: Four Corners