The Solomon Islands and Australia have officially teamed up to improve the country’s earthquake tracking and mining oversight with its Geoscience twinning partnership program.
This new twinning partnership focuses on strengthening earthquake monitoring and alert systems, and laboratory analytical capabilities to improve mining sector governance and compliance.
Minister of Mines Derick R Manu’ari and Australian High Commissioner Jeff Roach launched the new partnership in Honiara this morning.
Supported by Geoscience Australia, the disaster readiness initiative will place new earthquake sensors across major Honiara sites, such as the National Disaster Management Office, National Parliament, and the USP Centre, by 2028
Minister Manu’ari said, this technology will help to ensure a safer country for citizens.
“These instruments will feed data into a newly established server, ultimately guiding land-use decisions, infrastructure design, and safer construction for Honiara’s development,” he said. He also noted that five local officers will receive formal seismology training in 2027.
Beyond monitoring earthquakes, the initiative will upgrade local laboratory services so the government can accurately verify gold and other mineral exports.
To keep a closer eye on the mining sector, Manu’ari added, “Satellite imagery and remote sensing will be deployed to help the Ministry track changes in mining areas, complementing field inspections to better monitor mining operations.”
High Commissioner Roach said, this work is critical to everyday people, noting that the Solomon Islands sits on the highly active Pacific Ring of Fire.
“We seek practical assistance between our countries, this is a real partnership and cooperation is a fundamental first step,” Roach said. He also highlighted the need to keep the public informed during disasters, adding, “Communications with the community is very important about the seismic activities, this also involves software upgrades.”
Ultimately, the new partnership aims to use better technology to keep communities safe from natural disasters while ensuring the country’s mining operations are properly regulated.
