Doubts About Intentions On New Solomon Cannery Projectff
29 January 2009
Solomon Islands
Source: Letter to the Editor of Solomon Star
Dear Editor,
I read with interest the update from the proponents of the proposed tuna cannery on Malaita province.
Your paper carried the Moffat Mamu by-lined story on Wednesday 28 January 2009.
It’s interesting to note that there was no mention in the article of the Australian partner on the Gold Coast in the project.
Is it because of the fact that my Google search did not turn up anything about the Gold Coast company on fisheries?
Instead, they are more into selling phosphate rocks to Indian fertilizer manufacturers?
May I suggest that Mamu and others should call or email the US company Getax to establish the bona fides of the person purporting to be representing the company’s interest in fisheries matters in Solomon Islands, please?
In this way, the truth about the so-called proposal is established from the beginning.
I suspect the reason the Government, both national and provincial are keeping their distance is because they feel being ignored.
In my journalism days in PNG, a couple of gentlemen arrived in Port Moresby and did a similar thing.
They claimed they were representing the New York Times newspaper and were sent to do a special cover story for that paper to commemorate PNG’s 10th independence anniversary.
Just about all government departments got hooked on the project. I was asked to follow up the story.
The first thing I did was to place a call to the Editor of the New York Times newspaper. The paper denied any association or affiliation with the gentlemen. That ended that story. Finito.
In foreign investments, there’s only one door – the National Government via the Foreign Investment Board.
That’s a statutory requirement. Ignore it and you’ll be equally ignored.
Written by Alfred Sasako
