The Government has pledged sweeping reforms to the country’s mining sector following the recent tragedy at Gold Ridge, declaring that Solomon Islands’ mineral wealth must benefit its people rather than leave communities bearing the costs.
Deputy Prime Minister Francis Sade made the commitment while responding to concerns raised by Guadalcanal Premier Willie Atu during the 42nd Second Appointed Day celebrations in Honiara, Monday.
Premier highlighted the recent incident at the Gold Ridge mine, where a ground collapse occurred in Pit 1, killing one person who, according to Gold Ridge Mining Ltd, entered the mine site illegally.
Addressing the issue directly, Sade said the Government would pursue policies aimed at ensuring greater national ownership and fairer distribution of benefits from the country’s mineral resources.
“The GREAT Coalition intends that the mineral wealth of this nation should increasingly remain within this nation through a Mining State-Owned Enterprise, a Mineral Holdings State-Owned Enterprise, and a gold trading and buying scheme through the Central Bank so that extraction serves development rather than merely accompanying it,” he said.
Referring to the recent incident at Gold Ridge, Sade said the tragedy underscored longstanding problems in the country’s resource sector.
“But you also spoke of the recurring deaths at Gold Ridge, and I will not pass over that in silence,” he said.
“When resource wealth flows out while grief flows in, history is teaching us again that minerals without justice do not enrich a people; they embitter them.”
The deputy prime minister and MP for Northwest Guadalcanal said fair compensation for customary landowners and meaningful national participation in mining projects should not be viewed as optional concessions but as essential foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development.
“Fair compensation for landowners and genuine national participation are not concessions to be negotiated grudgingly.
“They are the preconditions of peace on the tenements and dignity for the communities who own the ground,” Sade said.
He added that the Government’s approach had been shaped by Guadalcanal’s own experience with resource development.
“This is the philosophy behind the Government’s policy, and it is a philosophy Guadalcanal’s own experience has written in hard lessons,” he said.
Sade also announced that the Government will introduce legislation next year to establish a national Sovereign Wealth Fund, describing it as one of the GREAT Coalition’s flagship policies.
The announcement came after Premier Atu highlighted Guadalcanal Province’s own investment strategy, noting the province invested SBD1 million in Central Bank Treasury Bonds last financial year and intends to invest a further SBD1.5 million this year.
Commending the province’s financial management, Sade said Guadalcanal had set an example for the rest of the country.
“A government that saves is a government that believes in its grandchildren,” he said.
He said the proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund would ensure that revenues generated from the country’s finite natural resources continue to benefit future generations.
Quoting Prime Minister Matthew Wale’s Independence Day address, Sade said the fund would be “far more than a financial policy.”
“It is an inter-generational expression of justice. Natural resources are temporary. The wellbeing of future generations must not be. The revenues of today should become opportunities for tomorrow,” he said.
Sade also welcomed Premier Atu’s proposal that Guadalcanal Province and other provincial governments be allowed to invest in the future Sovereign Wealth Fund.
“Your request that Guadalcanal Province and indeed all provinces be given the opportunity to invest in the Sovereign Wealth Fund is clearly heard, and it will inform the design of the legislation,” he said.
“A fund built for the nation should carry the savings of the nation’s provinces within it.”
