Bina Harbour Processing Plant Project costs SB$1.6 billion to develop

The Bina Harbour Processing Plant project in Malaita Province is estimated to require a capital investment of SB$ 1.6 billion to develop.

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Hon. Nestor Giro highlighted this in Parliament on Monday this week in response to the Governor General’s Speech from the Throne at the opening of the Second Meeting of the 12th Parliament last month.

According to Hon. Giro, the Cabinet on 16 August 2024 approved a Business Case for the project with a total capital investment of USD 202 Million (approx. SBD 1.6 billion) to build port infrastructures and utilities including power and water supply.

In progressing this funding component, the Ministry of Fisheries is working closely with the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Ministry of National Planning and Development Coordination to secure financing for this major national project.

Minister Giro further informed Parliament that a total of 172 hectares consisting of 6 parcels of land has been registered, and work to consolidate the parcels into a single portion is underway by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey.

The Ministry of Fisheries with the support of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) continues talks with two large tuna investors including the preparation of investment packages for potential investors, while discussions are ongoing with two parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) countries that have interest in the Bina investment.

Furthermore, work on the harbor access is ongoing with the completion of the Indigenous Terrain Mapping (ITM) with 35 tribal parties claiming Harbour ownership. As part of the process, a Social Entry Framework (ENS) will be developed by the Ministry before the verification of the 35 groups.

Water and Waste Management is vital for such a huge development project and the Ministry of Fisheries is partnering with the Australian Government under the Solomon Islands Infrastructure Program (SIIP) on this component.

With the support of the SIIP, the Ministry has contracted and produced a feasibility report on Water source, supply, and wastewater management for the processing plant.  Discussions are now ongoing with the Ministry of Mines and Energy regarding water and energy works.

Other progress included the New Zealand Government-funded component that contracted Johnstaff International Development (JID) company to plan, manage, conduct, and facilitate work required to progress the Bina fisheries project on a 5-year contract from 2022 at a total cost of NZ$4.28 million.

Work on the ground continues with Geotechnical Investigations on site now scheduled for October 2024.

With the immense task of implementing such a huge national project, Minister Giro assured Parliament that his Ministry will ensure these are undertaken in an ecologically sustainable manner to safeguard the sustainability of our resources.

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