Honiara’s recurring and serious traffic congestions has again got onto the nerve of the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), who today urged authorities to urgently address the issue.
“We are seriously concerned about the current traffic issues from East, Central and Western end of Honiara City,” SICCI said in a statement.
“In recent months, SICCI members have expressed dissatisfaction at the ineffective communication mechanisms concerning construction timelines and updates on periodical road maintenances, which contributes to traffic issues,” the statement said.
“As the organization responsible for private sector business in Solomon Islands, SICCI is raising its members’ concern to the government on the massive impact that the current traffic issue draws on private businesses in the country,” it added.
“SICCI is seeking proactive measures with key stakeholders, the RSIPF, MID, HCC and CCECC to mitigate the drastic impacts of traffic congestion on the business sector in the country.”
Speaking during a round table held on Monday 29th July 2024 at Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara, SICCI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James Dolarii said:
“Private sector business is the engine for economic growth in the country; and ensuring that we have an enabling environment is critical for business growth and expansion.
“This current traffic issue is imposing great loss to the business sector operations.”
Solaris said immediate intervention is required as prolonging the situation will force SICCI members to lose business and revenue.
“Small businesses with tight budget lines have felt the brunt of losing millions in such a slow-moving economy like Solomon Islands.
“This is due to delays of service deliveries, late arrivals of staffs, increased unbearable logistic costs, unbudgeted maintenance and repair costs, disruptions of appointments and meetings schedules”.
Dolarii said SICCI is looking to foster a close partnership, collaborations and coordination with RSIPF, HCC, MID & CCECC and other relevant stakeholders to identify potential strategies going forward to controlling traffic congestion, producing a conducive environment for private sector business operations in the country.
He however, acknowledged relevant authorities and other stakeholders for valuable collaborations, and that private sector concerns on traffic congestion doesn’t fall on deaf ears.
“We look forward to seeing improvements on traffic flows on East, Central and Western ends of Honiara, ensuring private sector business operate efficiently and profitably.
The daily traffic congestion was caused by current road works in both east and west sides of the city.
In the east, Solomon Water is laying underground pipes, resulting in the use of one side of the road only.
On the west side, Chinese company CCECC is working to tar-seal the road from White River to central Honiara. This road project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
According to SICCI, these are the challenges their members face:
Workforce challenges
Private businesses are facing difficulties in travelling to work on time. This affects business daily operations and timely delivery of services to customers. The traffic issue increased the travel times for employees, and business relying on human resources as the main sources of revenue had difficulties to commute to work promptly.
Operational setbacks.
Current traffic issue is making it difficult for private businesses to meet deadlines and operate efficiently. This leads to additional operational costs such as fuel costs, repair and maintenance costs as well as unnecessary overtime expenses. While business have less sales, businesses are having cost accumulations and businesses but less profits.
Client/customer services
The current traffic congestions resulted in longer travel times for staffs. Punctuality for meetings and appointments were affected. Delivery schedules has been disrupted leading to delays in meeting customer expectations. All of which has painted negative outlook on having foreign investors coming into the country.
Meanwhile, roads across Honiara’s suburbs continue to deteriorate with very little government intervention.